IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO.

5, MAY 2023 4831

A Multiport DC Power Flow Controller

Embedded in Modular Multilevel DC Transformer
Jianwen Zhang , Senior Member, IEEE, Yuwen Liu , Jiajie Zang , Member, IEEE,
Jiacheng Wang , Member, IEEE, Jianqiao Zhou , Member, IEEE, Gang Shi , Member, IEEE,
Xu Cai , Senior Member, IEEE, and Yunwei Li , Fellow, IEEE

Abstract—Meshed dc or hybrid ac/dc distribution grids

have attracted increasing interest lately and their power
flow control is a major topic of study. Since the dc grids
implemented with the existing power converters lack suf-
ficient control freedoms for proper power flow adjustment,
it is necessary to develop new dc power flow controllers
(DCPFCs) to effectively mitigate power flow congestion and
line losses by optimizing the power flow of the connected
feeders. Unlike previously introduced solutions, in this ar-
ticle, we propose a DCPFC directly integrated in a modular
multilevel dc transformer. The proposed DCPFC does not
require external power supply and high-voltage isolation
Fig. 1. Brief layout of a hybrid ac/dc distribution network.
transformer, and features a simple structure, convenience
for multiport extension and bidirectional power flow adjust-
ment capability. The power flow control strategy and its
energy balance scheme based on the phase-shifted mod- characteristics in terms of efficiency, controllability, reliability,
ulation are elaborated. The proposed topology and its per- power quality, and investment [1]. Since ac systems still con-
formance are verified through a scaled-down experimental stitute the majority of the existing grids, distribution networks
platform under typical operating conditions. are expected to evolve into meshed dc or hybrid ac/dc forms
Index Terms—DC power flow controller (DCPFC), dc with the gradual adoption of dc systems [2]. The development
transformer (DCT), flexible dc transmission and distribu- of the dc grids will go through three stages in terms of structure
tion, modular multilevel converter, multiport dc power flow and layout, including the point-to-point type, multiterminal type,
control. and meshed types. The meshed dc grids can facilitate the energy
interaction between regions, multiterminal consumption of re-
I. INTRODUCTION newable energy, and power flow optimization across the network
[3]. As depicted in Fig. 1, the meshed multiterminal dc (MTDC)
OMPARED with the traditional ac distribution net-
C works, dc distribution grids in theory possess favorable
system is essential in such a hybrid grid, where different dc
feeders can be interconnected to optimize the power flow [4]. In
the meshed MTDC system, the dc grid power flow is determined
Manuscript received 1 February 2022; revised 23 May 2022; accepted by the control of the power stations and the line impedance of the
20 June 2022. Date of publication 7 July 2022; date of current version
3 January 2023. This work was supported in part by the National connected feeders. Full power flow control cannot be realized
Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 51877136, in part when the total number of feeders is greater than or equal to the
by the Shanghai Committee of Science and Technology under Grant total number of connected converter stations [5]. Alternatively,
19DZ1205403, and in part by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Re-
gion Committee of Science and Technology under Grant 2020GG0299. the power flow will be naturally distributed depending on the
(Corresponding author: Jianwen Zhang.) line impedance, resulting in high loss and even overload issues.
Jianwen Zhang, Yuwen Liu, Jianqiao Zhou, Gang Shi, and Xu Cai Therefore, dc power flow controllers (DCPFCs) are expected to
are with the Key Laboratory of Control of Power Transmission and Con-
version of Ministry of Education, Department of Electrical Engineering, boost the power controllability of the adjacent feeders.
School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering, Shanghai According to their operating principles, the existing DCPFCs
Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China (e-mail: icebergzjw@sjtu. can be generally categorized into the following types, i.e., the
edu.cn; [email protected]; [email protected]; gangshi@
sjtu.edu.cn; [email protected]). variable resistance type [6], the dc transformer (DCT) type [7],
Jiajie Zang and Jiacheng Wang are with the School of Mechatronic the series adjustable voltage-source type [8], [9], the interline
Systems Engineering, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC V3T 0A3, power flow controller type [10], and the embedded DCPFC
Canada (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]).
Yunwei Li is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engi- (eDCPFC) type [11]. Illustrative diagrams of these DCPFCs are
neering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada (e-mail: shown in Fig. 2. The variable series resistance scheme controls
[email protected]). the power flow by varying the line impedance value [6], [12].
Color versions of one or more figures in this article are available at
https://doi.org/10.1109/TIE.2022.3187584. Although this device features a simple structure and low cost,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2022.3187584 it can only achieve unidirectional power flow regulation with
0278-0046 © 2022 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See https://www.ieee.org/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
4832 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 5, MAY 2023

Fig. 2. Different types of DCPFC. (a) Variable series resistor type.

(b) DCT type. (c) Adjustable dc voltage-source type. (d) Interline type.
(e) Embedded type.

a larger heat dissipation system. The DCT type power flow

controller regulates the transformer’s node voltage to control
the power flow. Nevertheless, the circuit components of the
DCPFC need to sustain the full voltage and power, which
increases the loss and initial cost of the system. As such, it is
uneconomical to be used only as a DCPFC. Essentially, both
series adjustable voltage-source type and interline type power
flow controller adopt low-capacity series-connected controllable
voltage-source converters (VSCs) to regulate the power flow.
The internal power exchange of the VSCs needs energy balance
control strategies to maintain the system’s normal operation.
The series adjustable voltage-source method adopts an isolated
ancillary power supply to realize the internal energy balance.
Alternatively, the internal energy balance of the interline power
flow controller is achieved by coupling the energy of multiple
Fig. 3. Topology of the M2 DCT-DCPFC.
feeders.
However, more lines may be integrated by one node in a
highly meshed HVdc grid to improve the flexibility of the power distribution [13]–[15]. Among all the potential DCT topologies,
flow management. As a result, multiport DCPFC structures the isolated modular multilevel dc–dc transformer (M2 DCT) is
are more favourable under this condition [2]. Zhang et al. selected in this article to develop the DCPFC because it combines
[11] proposed a multiport DCPFC embedded in the modular the merits of the dual active bridge converters and the MMCs
multilevel converter (MMC) converter at the ac/dc conversion [16]. Besides, it can synthesize square wave voltages toward the
stage, which can integrate different dc feeders and control the ac link, increasing the dc voltage utilization ratio and enabling
power flow flexibly in a typical meshed dc distribution system. the zero-voltage switching operation [17]–[20].
Although eDCPFC adopts low-capacity series-connected con- To enhance the capabilities of power flow control and port
trollable VSCs to regulate the power flow as series adjustable extension of the M2 DCT, as shown in Fig. 3, this article proposes
voltage-source type and interline type power flow controller, the an eDCPFC directly embeded in the DCT. It offers an integrated
internal energy balance of the eDCPFC is realized through the solution, similar to an MMC-based eDCPFC, to regulate the
coordinated control between eDCPFC and MMC. In a hybrid power flow. The main features of the proposed e-DCPFC are
ac/dc distribution network, in addition to the ac/dc conversion listed and briefly compared with other DCPFC solutions, as
stages as interfaces between the ac and dc systems, there are given in Table I. In addition to the eliminated extra power supply
also a large number of dc/dc conversion stages. In this case, the and high-voltage isolation, this device also has the advantages of
DCTs are necessary to control the dc grid voltages with different simple structure, wide operation range, bidirectional power flow
levels. So far, various DCTs based on the modular multilevel or control, and easy port extension. However, the energy coupling
input-series output-parallel techniques have been proposed for mechanism and coordinated operation between the eDCPFC
high-voltage and high-power scenarios, such as MVdc power and its host M2 DCT are completely different from those of an

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
ZHANG et al.: MULTIPORT DCPFC EMBEDDED IN MODULAR MULTILEVEL DC TRANSFORMER 4833

TABLE I the MFT; Up , Us , and Is are the amplitudes of up , us , and is ;

COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF DCPFCS
N is the turns ratio of the MFT; LT is the LV-side equivalent
inductance of the MFT; each arm of the M2 DCT MV side has
m HB submodules (SMs) and one arm inductor Ls ; the dc and
ac components of the arm voltages and currents are denoted as
Uyz , uyz , Iyz , and iyz (y = a, b stands for phase-A or phase-B, z =
p, n represent the upper or lower arm). Uc is the dc bus voltage
of the DCPFC; IAi+ and IAi- are the dc bus input currents of
DCPFC-A port; IAo+ and IAo- are the dc bus output currents of
DCPFC-A port. The input voltage of the DCPFC is denoted as
uPFC . Each module of the DCPFC contains m output ports. Lo
is the inductance at the output port of the DCPFC; Rok is the
resistance of the kth feeder. Uok and Iok are the output voltage
and current of the kth feeder (k = 1, 2, 3, …, m).
MMC-based eDCPFC. Hence, this article focuses on developing
the detailed operating principle and control strategies of the B. Modulation Scheme
proposed M2 DCT-based eDCPFC.
The phase-shift modulation scheme is utilized to achieve the
The rest of this article is organized as follows. The operating
bidirectional power flow control of the M2 DCT. On the MV
principle and modulation scheme of the M2 DCT-DCPFC are
side of the M2 DCT, a quasi-two-level modulation scheme is
presented in Section II. Section III introduces the device’s
applied to reduce the voltage fluctuation [16], [21]. Moreover,
energy balance principle and its control strategies, including
this method can maintain the energy balance of SMs on the same
the M2 DCT energy transfer principle and control, the M2 DCT-
arm without measuring the arm currents [16], [21]. Owing to
DCPFC energy exchange mechanism and the coordinated con-
the relatively small phase shift generated by the quasi-two-level
trol, the DCPFC power flow regulation, and the multiport power
modulation scheme, the corresponding phase shift is ignored to
flow control strategy. In Section IV, the simulation and ex-
simplify the analysis where the modulation of the M2 DCT can
perimental results are provided to verify the feasibility and
be regarded as the typical two-level modulation, as shown in
performance of the proposed topology and control schemes.
Fig. 4. d is the ratio between the phase-shift angles φ and π. dM
Finally, Section V concludes this article.
denotes the phase-shift ratio between up and us .
II. TOPOLOGY AND MODULATION SCHEME ϕup −us t1 − t0
dM = = . (1)
π T
A. Topology
Fig. 3 illustrates the proposed topology formed by the com- The voltages of the output ports are maintained by adjusting
bination of an M2 DCT and a symmetrical DCPFC. According the duty cycles of the HB converters. Besides, the upper and
to the power and voltage rating of the low-voltage (LV) dc grid, lower module output terminals’ switching states of the DCPFC
the LV side of M2 DCT can use different topologies, such as are operating in a complementary manner, i.e., the duty cycles of
the typical H-bridge, H-bridge with parallel-connected power the kth DCPFC-A upper and lower modules are dok and (1−dok ),
switches, or multilevel structures. For simplicity of explanation, while the duty cycles of the kth DCPFC-B upper and lower
in this article, the M2 DCT adopts an H-bridge topology on the LV modules are (1−dok ) and dok , respectively. Various duty cycles
side and the modular multilevel structure on the medium-voltage applied to different ports will generate voltage deviations on the
(MV) side. dc feeders. The adjustment of the voltage deviations can realize
The eDCPFC is composed of two symmetrical modules, bidirectional power flow among the adjacent dc feeders.
where each module contains an H-bridge serving as the input Due to the influence of the dc–dc converter control, the im-
part and m half-bridge (HB) dc–dc converters working as the balance between IAo+ and IAo- will induce the power exchange
output parts of the DCPFC. The output terminals provided by between the DCPFC dc buses and the connected distribution
the upper and lower modules work in pairs to form different dc lines. This amount of power needs to be balanced through
ports. The voltage differences among the ports are controlled by the DCPFC input terminal power control so that the dc bus
the duty cycle of the dc–dc converters to realize flexible power voltage of the DCPFC can remain constant. The DCPFC input
flow regulation of the connected feeders. The input terminals of terminal adopts a bipolar pulsewidth modulation scheme with
each DCPFC module are series connected to the M2 DCT arms 50% duty cycle. Here, uPFC is a two-level square waveform.
to build the energy exchange path. With coordinated control, The phase-shift modulation scheme is also used between the
the energy balance between the M2 DCT and the DCPFC can be input terminal of the DCPFC and the M2 DCT. The upper and
maintained. lower modules input terminals’ switching states of the DCPFC
In Fig. 3, Ui and Ii represent the average values of the LVdc- are operating in the same manner, as shown in Fig. 5. dp is the
side voltage and current, respectively. up and ip are the LV- phase-shift ratio between uPFC and up
side instantaneous voltage and current of the medium-frequency ϕup −uPFC t2 − t0
transformer (MFT); us and is are the MV-side counterparts of dP = = . (2)
π T

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
4834 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 5, MAY 2023

Fig. 4. Voltages and currents of the M2 DCT under different modes. (a) dM >0 and dP >dM . (b) dM >0 and dP < dM . (c) dM <0 and dP >0.
(d) dM <0 and dP <0.

Fig. 5. Voltages and currents of the DCPFC input terminal under different states. (a) 0.5dM <dP <dM . (b) dM <dP <1. (c) 1<dP <1+0.5dM .

In Fig. 5, the upper and lower square waveforms of the DCPFC The quasi-two-level modulation scheme maintains the SM
input terminals are coupled with the MV-side arm currents of the capacitor voltage balance of the MV side of the M2 DCT. On this
M2 DCT to realize the power exchange, which can be controlled basis, the dc components of the upper and lower arm voltages
by dp . The dc bus voltages of the M2 DCT are maintained via are equal, and their ac components share the common amplitude
adjusting dp . Slight distortion appears in us due to the phase- with opposite phases. us shares the common phase shift as uan .
shift modulation used between the DCPFC and the M2 DCT, Therefore, the following equations of the ac equivalent can be
as illustrated in the waveform of us in Fig. 4. Moreover, the obtained:
voltage over LT (uLT ) and the transformer current (is ) are also ⎧
depicted in Fig. 4. It should be noted that the values of dM and dp ⎪ uan = −uap = ubp = −ubn = 0.5us
⎪
⎨
Uan = Uap = Ubp = Ubn = 0.5Us
will affect the voltage and current waveforms. However, since (4)
⎪
⎪ uAan = −uAap = uAbp = −uAbn = 0.5uPFC
the waveform change caused by dM and dp is relatively small ⎩
UAap = UAan = UAbp = UAbn = 0.5UC .
(1–5%) [3], the waveform of us will be used in the energy balance
analysis instead of us for simplification. Substituting (4) into (3), we have

III. ENERGY EXCHANGE ANALYSIS AND CONTROL STRATEGY dis

us = us + uPFC + Ls . (5)
2 dt
A. M DCT Energy Transmission Analysis and Control
Strategy Based on (5), us is formed by us , uPFC , and the voltage over
the arm inductance. Moreover, the waveform of us will vary
Fig. 6 depicts the ac and dc equivalent circuits of the MV-side
when the phase-shift angle changes, as shown in Fig. 4.
M2 DCT and DCPFC based on the superposition principle. From
According to Fig. 3, the state equation of the MFT LV-side
the ac equivalent circuit, the phase voltage can be expressed as
series-connected inductance can be expressed as follows:
follows:
dis dip u
us = ubp − uap + Ls + uAbp − uAap . (3) LT = up − s (6)
dt dt N

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
ZHANG et al.: MULTIPORT DCPFC EMBEDDED IN MODULAR MULTILEVEL DC TRANSFORMER 4835

Fig. 6. AC and DC equivalent circuit of M2 DCT-DCPFC. (a) AC equivalent circuit of MV side of M2 DCT and the input terminal of DCPFC. (b) DC
equivalent circuit of MV side of M2 DCT and the input terminal of DCPFC.

Fig. 7. Control diagram of the M2 DCT-DCPFC. (a) M2 DCT power control. (b) DCPFC energy balance control. (c) Multiport current flow control.


where (6) can be simplified by combining with (5) PDCT = PDCT + Padd . (10)
dip 1
Lac = up − (us + uPFC ) (7) Since Uc is limited within 5% of the system rated voltage
dt N [3], the change of dp will not influence PDCT 
severely. The
where Lac (= LT +Ls /N2 ) denotes the total equivalent induc- LV-side voltage is compared with its reference value, and the
tance. difference between these two values is fed to a proportional
The exchanged power PDCT and Padd , respectively, can be integral (PI) controller to obtain dM so that the LVdc bus voltage
gained through coupling up with us and uPFC . The correspond- can be closed-loop regulated. As shown in Fig. 7(a), the total
ing power can be calculated according to [22] transferred power can be controlled by dM to maintain the LVdc

bus voltage. According to (9) and (10), dp can also affect PDCT .
dM (1 − |dM |) Up Us
PDCT = , −0.5 < dM < 0.5 (8) However, the influence caused by dp is relatively small, which
2N Lac f can be addressed by using the closed-loop control, as shown in
Padd Fig. 7(a).
d The M2 DCT’s normal operation is guaranteed by keeping the
P (1−|dP |)Up UC
, −0.5 < dM < 0, d2M < dP ≤ 1+ d2M internal balance among the phases, arms, and the SM capacitor
= 2N Lac f
(dP−1)(|dP−1|−1)Up UC
, 0 < dM < 0.5, d2M < dP < 1+ d2M voltages in the same phase. Two approaches can be adopted to
2N Lac f
(9) suppress the imbalance issues caused by the circulating current.
In this article, the quasi-two-level modulation strategy is utilized
where f is the switching frequency. to maintain the arm voltages as well as SM capacitor voltages in
According to the superposition principle, the total transferred the same arm under various operational states [23], [24]. More-

power PDCT can be calculated by combining (8) and (9). over, the coupled arm inductors can also be used to suppress the

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
4836 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 5, MAY 2023

interphase circulation current in M2 DCT to prevent imbalance

issues [23].

B. DCPFC Power Flow Adjustment Analysis and Control

Strategy
The dc equivalent circuit of the DCPFC is depicted in
Fig. 6(b). The power transfer is achieved by adjusting the voltage
difference between the ports of the output terminals. The out-
Fig. 8. Simulation platform.
put terminals of the upper (DCPFC-A) and lower (DCPFC-B)
modules operate complementarily. Assuming the duty cycle of
the upper module output terminal of the kth DCPFC is dok (k = input terminal power are expressed in (15) and (16), respectively
1, 2, …, m), the output voltage and transferred power of the kth
PP i−dc = 2 · (0.5UC · IAi+ − 0.5UC · IAi− )
line can be expressed as follows:
= UC (IAi+ − IAi− )
Uok = Us + UC − 2dok UC (11)
= 0. (15)
Pok = Uok Iok . (12)
Under normal condition, the power of the DCPFC should obey
The power flow is controlled by the voltage difference be- the following criteria:
tween the feeders and is related to dok . The DCPFC power
PDCPFC = PP i−ac + PP i−dc + PP o = 0. (16)
flow control diagram is illustrated in Fig. 7(c). Since the total
transferred power of the M2 DCT-DCPFC is determined by the According to (17), the internal energy balance can be main-
LV side and the power conservation, the mth line will serve as the tained through dp adjustment, and the corresponding control
balancing node, while the rest of the feeders are under control. diagram is shown in Fig. 7(b).
According to the reference power Pok of each dc feeder, the cur-
4 2T
rent reference I∗ ok can be calculated and will be compared with PP i−ac = uAap (t) iAap (t) dt
the sampled Iok . The difference will be fed to a PI controller to 2T 0
⎧
generate the duty cycle of the output terminal dc–dc converters. ⎪ 4(dP −0.5dM )2
⎪
⎨
Is UC
4 2 − dM − dM , 0.5dM < dP ≤ dM
= (1 − 2dP + dM ) , dM < dP ≤ 1
Is UC
C. M2 DCT-DCPFC Energy Exchange Analysis and ⎪
⎪
2 2
⎩ Is UC dM −2+ 4(1−dP +0.5dM ) , 1 < dP < 1 + 0.5dM .
Control Strategy 4 dM

The output terminal currents of the DCPFC, IAo+ and IAo- , (17)
and the feeder’s current Iok have the following relationship: The difference between UC and UC∗
is fed into a PI controller
⎧ m to obtain the phase-shift ratio dP . From Fig. 4, it can be seen that
⎪ 
⎪
⎨ Iok dok = IAo+ dM determines the current of the DCPFC input terminal so that
k=1 (13) the direction of the Ppi will be changed. Therefore, the output
⎪ m
⎪
⎩ Iok (1 − dok ) = IAo− . of the PI controller should be modified by multiplying with the
k=1 sign of dM .
It can be seen that IAo+ and IAo- are controlled by Iok and dok .
According to Fig. 6(b), the power Ppo , exchanged between the IV. SIMULATION AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
DCPFC and its connected feeders, can be derived as follows: A. Simulation Results

m
As shown in Fig. 8, a simulation model of the proposed
PP o = [UC (1 − dok ) Iok (1 − dok ) −UC dok Iok dok ] M2 DCT-DCPFC with three MVdc output ports is constructed
k=1
in MATLAB/Simulink to verify the feasibility and effectiveness

m
of the system and control. According to [25], the capacitor and
= UC Iok (1 − 2dok ) inductor parameters of M2 DCT can be designed to limit voltage
k=1
and current ripple. Since the eDCPFC input terminal adopts
= UC (IAo− − IAo+ ) . (14) the buck–boost topology, the filter inductor can be designed
according to the guidance, as shown in [26]. The design of the
From (14), when IAo+ ࣔIAo- , there will be the amount power eDCPFC’s dc bus capacitor is related to the input and output
of Ppo exchanged between the DCPFC and its connected feeders. terminals’ power conversion stage.
The M2 DCT and the DCPFC should coordinate to keep the
UN
energy balance of the dc buses. As shown in Fig. 5, the input Lo = (18)
terminal power of the DCPFC, Ppi , is controlled by the corre- 4f IN γ
sponding phase-shift ratio dp . With reference to the ac equivalent 2IN T + (2 − dM ) Im T
circuit, as illustrated in Fig. 6(a), the dc and ac components of the CDCPFC = . (19)
2εUN

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
ZHANG et al.: MULTIPORT DCPFC EMBEDDED IN MODULAR MULTILEVEL DC TRANSFORMER 4837

TABLE II
PARAMETERS OF THE SIMULATION SETUP

TABLE III
OPERATIONAL STATES
Fig. 10. M2 DCT-DCPFC waveforms. (a) Input voltage of the LVdc side.
(b) Input current of the LVdc side. (c) M2 DCT SM capacitor voltage.
(d) DCPFC dc bus voltage.

Fig. 9. Overall output voltage and current of the MVdc side.

Fig. 11. Simulation results of MFT’s current and voltage waveforms.
(a) Overall. (b) State 2. (c) State 3.

Here, f is the switching frequency, UN is the rated DCPFC

voltage, IN is the rated current, dM is the phase-shift ratio of the waveforms with the reversed power flow are shown in States 2
M2 DCT, Im is the amplitude of the trapezoidal current in MFT, and 3, respectively.
ε is the capacitor voltage fluctuation rate, and γ is the ratio of The LVdc-side input voltage and current waveforms, the
the maximum allowable current ripple. The detailed parameters M2 DCT SM voltage waveform, and the dc bus voltage wave-
for the simulation platform are listed in Table II. forms of the DCPFC are illustrated in Fig. 10. When the
The simulation results are presented in Figs. 9–14. Fig. 9 magnitude or direction of the LVdc-side power changes, the
shows the overall output voltages and currents of the MVdc LVdc-side voltage remains stable. The simulation results prove
side. Four states are considered in the simulation, as shown that the proposed control strategies can effectively control the
in Table III. The DCPFC modules do not participate in the bidirectional power flow. Besides, the M2 DCT SM voltage and
normal operation under State 1, and the currents are not equal the DCPFC dc bus voltage are kept constant under different
owing to the different line impedances. When the system runs operation states, indicating that the internal balance of the sys-
under State 2, the DCPFC modules are activated to control the tem is well-regulated. The expanded simulation results of the
currents of the three MVdc feeders to be equal. Likewise, the transformer’s current and voltage waveforms are illustrated in

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
4838 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 5, MAY 2023

Fig. 12. Waveforms of the transient state between States 2 and 3.

(a) DC port voltages. (b) DC port currents.

Fig. 13. Waveforms of the M2 DCT-DCPFC during the transient state

between States 2 and 3. (a) Input voltage of the LVdc side. (b) Input
current of the LVdc side. (c) M2 DCT SM capacitor voltage. (d) DCPFC
dc bus voltage.
Fig. 15. Experimental setup of M2 DCT-DCPFC. (a) Experimental plat-
form. (b) Experimental equivalent circuit.

B. Experimental Results
The simulation results validate the feasibility and effective-
ness of the topology working principle and the coordinated con-
trol strategy. Moreover, a scaled-down prototype is designed and
built for further verification. The schematic of the experimental
platform is shown in Fig. 15. Due to the large number of SMs,
the experimental platform adopts a layered distributed control
system. The host computer controls the main controller, and
Fig. 14. Waveforms of the MFT during the transition between States 2 the main controller controls the subcontrollers in each cabinet,
and 3.
respectively. For the low-power prototype, the experimental
conditions are the same as those of the simulation, as shown in
Fig. 11 to show the details of the proposed control strategies Table III. The experimental parameters are shown in Table IV.
under different operation states. Similar to the simulation results, the experimental waveforms
Fig. 12 shows the transient state of power flow adjustment are expanded in Figs. 16 –18. Fig. 16 shows the overall output
and reverse power transmission between states 2 and 3. In voltages and currents of the MVdc side. The DCPFC modules
Fig. 13, the LVdc bus voltage, the M2 DCT SM capacitor voltage, do not participate in the normal operation under States 1 and 4
and the DCPFC dc bus voltage can remain constant during such that the MVdc port currents are not identical because of line
this transient state. Additionally, the detailed MFT voltage and impedance difference. In States 2 and 3, the DCPFC modules
current waveforms during the transition between states 2 and 3 are activated, and the currents of the two MVdc feeders are equal
are depicted in Fig. 14. to each other.

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
ZHANG et al.: MULTIPORT DCPFC EMBEDDED IN MODULAR MULTILEVEL DC TRANSFORMER 4839

TABLE IV
PARAMETERS OF THE EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPE

Fig. 18. Experimental results of MFT’s current and voltage waveforms.

(a) Overall. (b) State 2. (c) State 3.

V. CONCLUSION
In this article, we proposed an M2 DCT-DCPFC for the future
meshed dc or hybrid ac/dc distribution systems to enhance the
power flow controllability. According to the theoretical analysis
Fig. 16. Overall output voltage and current of the MVdc side. and the experimental results, several conclusions can be drawn.
1) The DCPFC contains several parallel-connected dc–dc
converters allowing for the interconnection of multiple
feeders. By adjusting the voltage difference between the
feeders, bidirectional power flow control can be realized.
2) The input terminal of the DCPFC is series connected to the
M2 DCT. The energy exchange between these two parts
is achieved by changing the corresponding phase-shift
ratio. Besides, the dc bus voltages of the DCPFC can be
maintained as well.
3) Due to the unique embedded topology, no extra isolated
power supply is required. Therefore, compared with series
adjustable voltage-source type DCPFCs, the cost and
losses of the proposed system can be further reduced.
Fig. 17. M2 DCT-DCPFC waveforms. (a) Input voltage of the LVdc
side; input current of the LVdc side. (c) M2 DCT SM capacitor voltage. REFERENCES
(d) DCPFC dc bus voltage.
[1] D. Das, V. M. Hrishikesan, C. Kumar, and M. Liserre, “Smart transformer-
enabled meshed hybrid distribution grid,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.,
vol. 68, no. 1, pp. 282–292, Jan. 2021, doi: 10.1109/TIE.2020.2965489.
The experimental results are consistent with the simulation [2] O. Gomis-Bellmunt, J. Sau-Bassols, E. Prieto-Araujo, and M. Cheah-
results. The LVdc-side input voltage and current waveforms, Mane, “Flexible converters for meshed HVdc grids: From flexible ac trans-
mission systems (FACTS) to flexible dc grids,” IEEE Trans. Power Del.,
the M2 DCT SM voltage waveform, and the dc bus voltage wave- vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 2–15, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.1109/tpwrd.2019.2939588.
forms of the DCPFC are presented in Fig. 17. Under different [3] J. Priebe, N. Wehbring, and A. Moser, “Design of medium
operational states, the internal voltage and current remain stable, voltage dc grids—Impact of power flow control on grid struc-
ture,” in Proc. 53rd Int. Univ. Power Eng. Conf., 2018, pp. 1–6,
indicating that the proposed control strategies can control the doi: 10.1109/UPEC.2018.8542045.
power flow bidirectionally without causing an internal power [4] H. Shuai, J. Daozhuo, D. Yi, and Y. Qunmin, “Research on the feasibility of
imbalance. In addition, the expanded experimental results of ring structure of dc distribution network,” in Proc. 2nd Int. Symp. Instrum.
Meas. Sensor Netw. Autom., 2013, pp. 1075–1077, doi: 10.1109/IM-
the transformer’s current and voltage waveforms are illustrated SNA.2013.6743467.
in Fig. 18 to show the voltage and current profiles of the [5] X. Zhong, M. Zhu, Y. Chi, S. Liu, and X. Cai, “Composite dc power flow
MFT. controller,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 3530–3542,
Apr. 2020, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2019.2936773.

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
4840 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 70, NO. 5, MAY 2023

[6] Q. Mu, J. Liang, Y. Li, and X. Zhou, “Power flow control devices in dc [25] L. Zhang, J. Qin, Q. Duan, and W. Sheng, “Component sizing and voltage
grids,” in Proc. IEEE Power Energy Soc. Gen. Meeting, 2012, pp. 1–7, balancing of MMC-based solid-state transformers under various ac-link
doi: 10.1109/PESGM.2012.6345674. excitation voltage waveforms,” in Proc. IEEE Appl. Power Electron. Conf.
[7] U. Vuyyuru, S. Maiti, C. Chakraborty, and E. I. Batzelis, “Univer- Expo., 2019, pp. 371–375, doi: 10.1109/APEC.2019.8721891.
sal active power control converter for dc-microgrids with common [26] R. W. Erickson and D. Maksimović, Fundamentals of Power Electronics,
energy storage,” IEEE Open J. Ind. Appl., vol. 2, pp. 21–35, 2021, 3rd ed. New York, NY, USA: Springer, 2020.
doi: 10.1109/OJIA.2021.3063625.
[8] P. Purgat, N. H. van der Blij, Z. Qin, and P. Bauer, “Partially rated power
flow control converter modeling for low-voltage dc grids,” IEEE J. Emerg.
Sel. Topics Power Electron., vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 2430–2444, Sep. 2020, Jianwen Zhang (Senior Member, IEEE) re-
doi: 10.1109/JESTPE.2019.2915166. ceived the B.Eng., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in
[9] W. Wu, X. Wu, Y. Zhao, L. Wang, T. Zhao, and L. Jing, “An improved electrical engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong
multiport dc power flow controller for VSC-MTDC grids,” IEEE Access, University, Shanghai, China, in 2003, 2006, and
vol. 8, pp. 7573–7586, 2020, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2964309. 2014, respectively.
[10] J. Sau-Bassols, R. Ferrer-San-José, E. Prieto-Araujo, and O. Gomis- He was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Bellmunt, “Multiport interline current flow controller for meshed HVdc with the School of Mechatronic Systems Engi-
grids,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 67, no. 7, pp. 5467–5478, Jul. 2020, neering, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC,
doi: 10.1109/TIE.2019.2934058. Canada, from 2015 to 2016. He is currently an
[11] J. Zhang et al., “A multiport embedded dc power flow controller for Associate Professor with Wind Power Research
meshed dc distribution grids,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 69, no. 11, Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His cur-
pp. 11304–11313, Nov. 2022, doi: 10.1109/TIE.2021.3126983. rent research interests include topology, operation, and control of wind
[12] D. Jovcic, M. Hajian, H. Zhang, and G. Asplund, “Power flow control in power conversion systems and power electronic applications in power
dc transmission grids using mechanical and semiconductor based dc/dc systems.
devices,” in Proc. 10th IET Int. Conf. AC DC Power Transmiss., 2012,
pp. 1–6, doi: 10.1049/cp.2012.1972.
[13] M. Ashraf, Y. Nazih, F. Alsokhiry, K. H. Ahmed, A. S. Abdel-Khalik,
and Y. Al-Turki, “A new hybrid dual active bridge modular multi-
level based dc–dc converter for HVdc networks,” IEEE Access, vol. 9,
pp. 62055–62073, 2021, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3074543. Yuwen Liu received the B.S. degree from the
[14] R. Li, W. Chen, S. Shao, H. Jin, L. Shu, and S. Gao, “A novel hybrid dc Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China, in
transformer combining modular multilevel converter structure and series- 2021. He is currently working toward the M.S.
connected semiconductor switches,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 37, degree in electrical engineering with the School
no. 5, pp. 5699–5713, May 2022, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2021.3133015. of Electronics Information and Electrical Engi-
[15] H. Jin, W. Chen, K. Hou, S. Shao, L. Shu, and R. Li, “A sharing-branch neering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shang-
modular multilevel dc transformer with wide voltage range regulation hai, China.
for dc distribution grids,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 37, no. 5, His research interests include dc transformer,
pp. 5714–5730, May 2022, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2021.3133302. dc power flow controller, and meshed multiter-
[16] C. Sun, J. Zhang, X. Cai, and G. Shi, “Analysis and arm voltage control minal dc system.
of isolated modular multilevel dc–dc converter with asymmetric branch
impedance,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 32, no. 8, pp. 5978–5990,
Aug. 2017, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2016.2618773.
[17] S. Kenzelmann, A. Rufer, D. Dujic, F. Canales, and Y. R. D. No-
vaes, “Isolated dc/dc structure based on modular multilevel converter,”
Jiajie Zang (Member, IEEE) received the B.Sc.
IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 89–98, Jan. 2015,
degree in electronic information engineering
doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2014.2305976. and the M.Sc. degree in radio physics from
[18] Z. Xing, X. Ruan, H. You, X. Yang, D. Yao, and C. Yuan, “Soft-switching
Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China, in
operation of isolated modular dc/dc converters for application in HVdc
2012 and 2015, respectively, and the Ph.D. de-
grids,” IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 2753–2766,
gree in mechatronic systems engineering from
Apr. 2016, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2015.2448125. Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC, Canada, in
[19] C. Sun, X. Cai, J. Zhang, and G. Shi, “Suppression of reactive power in
2022.
isolated modular multilevel dc–dc converter under quasi square-wave mod-
His research interests include solid-state
ulation,” IEEE Access, vol. 7, pp. 23940–23950, 2019, doi: 10.1109/ac-
transformers, multilevel converters, bidirectional
cess.2019.2899158. dc–dc converters, and hybrid ac–dc distribution
[20] J. Sheng et al., “Control optimization of modular multilevel resonant
networks.
dc converters for wide-input-range MVdc to LVdc applications,” IEEE
Trans. Power Electron., vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 5284–5298, May 2022,
doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2021.3133174.
[21] C. Sun, J. Zhang, G. Shi, and X. Cai, “Inter-arm phase-shift modula-
tion scheme for isolated modular multilevel dc-dc converter,” in Proc.
IEEE 8th Int. Power Electron. Motion Control Conf., 2016, pp. 53–58, Jiacheng Wang (Member, IEEE) received the
doi: 10.1109/IPEMC.2016.7512261. B.Sc. and M.A.Sc. degrees from Shanghai Jiao
[22] C. Mi, H. Bai, C. Wang, and S. Gargies, “Operation, design and control Tong University, Shanghai, China, in 2001 and
of dual H-bridge-based isolated bidirectional dc–dc converter,” IET Power 2005, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree from
Electron., vol. 1, no. 4, pp. 507–517, 2008, doi: 10.1049/iet-pel:20080004. Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada, in
[23] S. Shao, M. Jiang, J. Zhang, and X. Wu, “A capacitor voltage balancing 2012, all in electrical engineering.
method for a modular multilevel dc transformer for dc distribution system,” He was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with
IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 3002–3011, Apr. 2018, the Centre for Urban Energy, Ryerson Univer-
doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2017.2703902. sity, from 2011 to 2013. His industrial experi-
[24] L. Zhang, J. Qin, Y. Zou, Q. Duan, and W. Sheng, “Analysis of capacitor ences include stints in industrial automation, au-
charging characteristics and low-frequency ripple mitigation by two new tomotive electronics, and IT sectors. He is cur-
voltage-balancing strategies for MMC-based solid-state transformers,” rently an Associate Professor with the School of Mechatronic Systems
IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 1004–1017, Jan. 2021, Engineering, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC, Canada. His research
doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2020.3000717. interests include various power and energy systems and applications.

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
ZHANG et al.: MULTIPORT DCPFC EMBEDDED IN MODULAR MULTILEVEL DC TRANSFORMER 4841

Jianqiao Zhou (Member, IEEE) received the Xu Cai (Senior Member, IEEE) received the
B.Sc. degree in electric engineering from Xi’an B.Eng. degree from Southeast University, Nan-
Jiao Tong University, Xi’an, China, in 2014, jing, China, in 1983, and the M.Sc. and Ph.D.
and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering degrees from the China University of Mining and
from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, Technology, Xuzhou, China, in 1988 and 2000,
China, in 2020. respectively, all in electrical engineering.
He is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fel- He was an Associate Professor with the De-
low with Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His cur- partment of Electrical Engineering, China Uni-
rent research interests include solid-state trans- versity of Mining and Technology, from 1989
former, multiport converters, and ac/dc hybrid to 2001. In 2002, he joined as a Professor
distribution system. with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai,
China, where he has been the Director of Wind Power Research Cen-
ter, since 2008. His research interests include power electronics and
renewable energy exploitation and utilization.

Yunwei Li (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.Sc.

Gang Shi (Member, IEEE) received the B.Eng., degree from Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, in
M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineer- 2002, and the Ph.D. degree from Nanyang Tech-
ing from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shang- nological University, Singapore, in 2006, both in
hai, China, in 2007, 2009, and 2014, respec- electrical engineering.
tively. In 2005, he was a Visiting Scholar with Aal-
He was a Research Fellow with the School borg University, Denmark. From 2006 to 2007,
of Engineering, Aberdeen University, Aberdeen, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with
U.K., in 2015, and with the School of Electronic Ryerson University, Canada. In 2007, he also
Electrical and Systems Engineering, University worked with Rockwell Automation, Canada, be-
of Birmingham, Birmingham, U.K., from 2017 fore he joined the University of Alberta, Canada,
to 2018. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the same year. Since then, he has been with the University of Alberta,
with Wind Power Research Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His Edmonton, AB, Canada, where he is currently a Professor. His research
current research interests include topology, operation, and control of interests include distributed generation, microgrid, renewable energy,
hybrid ac–dc grids. high power converters, and electric motor drives.

Authorized licensed use limited to: KTH Royal Institute of Technology. Downloaded on March 01,2023 at 12:54:43 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.