Electrothermal model of IGBT three-level neutral-point-clamped rectifier for synchronous reluctance generator in wind power application

This paper proposes the utilization of an analytical electrothermal model for evaluating the performance of the IGBT based three-level neutral-point-clamped rectifier for the synchronous reluctance generator in the wind power application. The proposed model is used for evaluating the losses of the generator-side three-level neutral-point-clamped rectifier topology that is utilized in the wind turbine together with a 2.0MW synchronous reluctance generator. This model is based on the analytical calculations of the dissipated power of the generator-side three-level neutral-point-clamped rectifier. The calculations of the power dissipation consider the characteristics of the semiconductor switches such as the blocking voltage, the junction temperature and the load current. An analytical thermal model of the semiconductor switches based on RC network is also utilized. The dissipated power of the semiconductor switches is then used by the thermal model in order to calculate the junction temperature of the corresponding power module. The cooling conditions are analyzed based on the proposed model in order to ensure the thermal stability of the power converter.