This paper proposes an in-depth analysis from the control point of view of dynamic models of a Modular Multilevel Converter (MMC) for high-voltage direct current (HVDC) application. Firstly, a generic method of analysis is presented for a natural arm-level state-space model. Its structural analysis highlights the decoupled nature of the MMC. Secondly, the well-known sum and difference of the upper and lower arm state and control variables is considered to obtain a (S/D) model. This transformation leads to a coupling between state and control variables and to an increase of the system complexity. Using the analysis results of the natural model and the (S/D) model, an original arm-modular control is finally proposed. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed control, which is simpler to design compared to a conventional (S/D) control.

In AC electric trains, power electronic traction transformers (PETT) are multilevel single phase AC/DC converters connected to the AC medium voltage overhead line. For indirect topologies, DC/DC isolated converters are key elements of PETTs. This paper shows a method to design such DC/DC converters, and several variants are considered. Finally, the comparison results, in the case of a 25 kV / 50 Hz power supply and 3.3 kV SiC MOSFETs, show that the variant with a resonant AC link, with only one controlled bridge and a switching frequency lower than the resonant frequency, offers the best efficiency at rated power for a given volume.