A novel commutation method of matrix converter fed induction motor drive using RB-IGBT

A 3-phase to 3-phase matrix converter is developed based on 600 V/100 A RB-IGBT (Reverse Blocking IGBT). This RB-IGBT is newly developed based on ultra-thin wafer technology and one important feature of it is reverse leakage current is mostly affected by Vge. Under the same temperature condition, when Vce is negative, a positively biased Vge leads to the great reduction of the reverse leakage current therefore, a novel commutation method is proposed for reducing the losses caused by this reverse leakage current. The realization of this method is based on output current direction and certain voltage polarities of bi-directional switches and it is featured as a 2-step commutation. A simple circuit in the designed RB-IGBT drive circuit is used to obtain the required signals by sensing Vce of RB-IGBT. Then the constant Volts/Hz method is employed for controlling the matrix converter induction motor drive. Finally, detail experimental results and analysis are presented.