Fault-Tolerant D-STATCOM based Matrix Converter

Practical experiences have demonstrated that power semiconductor devices are vulnerable to failures, which challenges the reliability of power converters. One of the effective approaches to enhance the reliability of the power converters is to use fault-tolerant topologies and control techniques. In this paper, a fault-tolerant static synchronous compensator (D-STATCOM) based matrix converter (MC) system for low voltage distribution network is presented. The MC system performance under normal operation and an open-circuit fault are presented. A fault detection strategy is has been implemented based on the comparison of the predicted and measured output voltages. The fault-tolerant converter is able to detect the faults quickly and reconfigure the converter to ensure continuous operation of the D-STATCOM system with good performance. Simulation results are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed fault-tolerant D-STATCOM.