Characteristic of induction motor drives fed by three leg and five leg inverters

This paper aims to compare the performance of three phase induction motor drives using Five Leg Inverter (FLI) and Three Leg Inverter (TLI) configurations. An Indirect Field Oriented Control (IFOC) method using a TLI is well established and incorporated for high performance speed drives in various industries. The FLI dual motor drive system on the other hand shows good workability in the independent control of two induction motor drives simultaneously. In this experiment, the IFOC method is utilized for both drive systems, and Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation (SVPWM) is used to generate pulses for both inverters. For the FLI, the Double Zero Sequence (DZS) Injection technique is used to generate the modulation signal. The complete experiment setup is done by using a DSpace 1103 controller board. The individual motor performances are analyzed using similar schemes, equipment setups and controller parameter values. The results show similar speed performance response capability between the single motor operation using a TLI system and the two motor operation using a FLI system based on the variable speed range either in forward or reverse operation. They also show similar load rejection abilities. However, the single motor with a TLI has a better power quality aspect such as ripple current and total harmonics distortion (THD)