A Review of Open-Circuit Switch Fault Diagnostic Methods for Neutral Point Clamped Inverter

Abstract

Due to numerous advantages, a neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter is a preferred choice for high-power applications and renewable technology. The reliability of the NPC inverter is a major concerning factor during the assessment of system performance as power semiconductor switches are vulnerable to abnormal conditions. Open-circuit (OC) switch faults are not as dangerous as short circuit (SC) faults but eventually have enough potential to cause cascaded failure to other components in the system and thus need to be supervised carefully. The OC faults result in a distortion of voltage and current signals in the NPC converter. Based on these signals, over the past few years, many efforts have been made to identify and localize the OC switch fault to the switch level in the NPC topology. In this paper, a review of different OC switch fault diagnostic methods is provided. Starting from the NPC inverter operation under healthy and faulty conditions, the various possible and unavailable switching states along with the deviation in pole voltage under different switch fault conditions is discussed. Then, based on the approach used for system-based fault detection, the OC fault detection methods are classified. The various OC methods are further discussed on the basis of signal, i.e., current, voltage or a combination of both signals used as a signature for fault detection. Emphasis is given to the principle involved, diagnostic variables utilized, the implementation approach and the diagnostic time required. Finally, the approaches are tabulated so as to provide a quick reference for NPC fault diagnostics.