Compensation of dead-time effects in three-level neutral point clamped inverters based on space vector PWM

In this study the effects of dead-time in three-level neutral-point-clamped (NPC) inverter is analyzed and a compensation algorithm based on space vector pulse width modulation (PWM) is proposed. In three phase inverter applications, different modulation techniques are utilized depending on the application. Among these, space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) technique is the modulation technique with which best bus bar utilization is achieved. This modulation technique is also applicable to three-level NPC inverters. The most common space-vector modulation technique for three-level NPC inverters is the Nearest Triangle Vector (NTV) SVPWM technique. This paper focuses on the effects of dead-time in three-level neutral point clamped inverters based on NTV SVPWM. The proposed algorithm is implemented on software and does not require an additional hardware. The analysis and compensation algorithm are verified by computer simulation.