Modular High-Power Shunt-Interleaved Drive System: A Realization up to 35 MW for Oil and Gas Applications

This paper describes the experimental results of a medium-voltage modular 35-MW drive for oil and gas applications realized by interconnecting voltage-source three-level converters equally sharing the motor current. Drives rated for tens of megawatts are increasingly needed as torque helpers for gas turbines in the oil and gas industry, and one envisions that they will replace them completely in the future. These drives must be very reliable, often capable of reversible power flow and high power quality when connected to weak grids in remote areas. The pronounced torsional eigenmodes of large compressors and gas turbines demand for very low torque harmonic content.