A practical control method for single-phase input PMSM drives with small DC-Link capacitor

The primary function of the large electrolytic dc-link capacitor in the single-phase input motor drives is to enhance dc voltage stability by minimizing voltage fluctuations. Because they are both bulky and unreliable components, reducing the size of dc-link capacitors or substituting them with significantly low capacitance value film capacitors offers numerous advantages. This article introduces a method that allows using a voltage source inverter with a small film dc-link capacitor, which results in equivalent performance to high-value capacitor drives. In this approach, the effect of dc-link voltage ripple is designed as a periodic disturbance in the current loop. A proportional-integral-resonant (PIR) control strategy is implemented to eliminate the designed double-line frequency disturbance observed in motor currents, thereby ensuring a smooth motor torque response. This solution meets crucial criteria for home appliances, specifically addressing input current harmonic requirements through power factor correction while effectively reducing the adverse effects of substantial dc-link ripple on motor torque, even when employing a film capacitor (10–50 µF range). The proposed framework is experimentally tested on permanent magnet synchronous motors with fan-load and dynamometers. Experimental results demonstrate, with PIR, an 80% reduction in current and torque ripple occurring due to the use of a low-value dc-link film capacitor. This also achieves performance within ±5% of the results obtained with a drive equipped with a 1200 µF dc capacitor. In addition, the line-side power factor exceeds 0.98 for loads exceeding 8% of the rated power.