Switched reluctance motor drive converter operating in continuous conduction mode with high demagnetisation voltage

A new switched reluctance motor (SRM) drive converter requiring only one switch per phase with the capability of providing high demagnetisation voltage is presented. To increase the output torque of the SRM drive system, the phase excitation area must be increased; however, during the demagnetisation interval, this would cause the phase current to extend into the negative torque generation area. To eliminate this problem, the proposed converter provides high demagnetisation voltage in order to perform the phase current commutation faster. The proposed converter inherently operates in continuous conduction mode (CCM); thus, innovative aspect of the proposed converter is exploiting the advantages of operating with high demagnetisation voltage in CCM. The converter operating modes are analysed and the effectiveness of the proposed converter on improvement of SRM drive torque per ampere capability is demonstrated by simulation and experimental results.