MODULAR MULTI-POINT CONVERTER WITH MODULAR STORAGE UNITS

Abstract

A converter assembly has a converter with multiple converter valves, each with a plurality of semiconductor switches, and with a stored energy source branch which is connected in parallel with at least one of the converter valves. The stored energy source branch has voltage converter modules and stored energy source modules. The voltage converter modules are connected to one another in a series circuit on the input side and to the respectively associated stored energy source module on the output side. There is also described an assembly having the stored energy source branch and a method for stabilizing an alternating current system by way of the converter assembly.

Claims

1-17. (canceled)

18. A converter arrangement, comprising: a converter with a plurality of converter valves, each of said converter valves having a multiplicity of semiconductor switches; an energy storage branch arranged in parallel with at least one of said converter valves; said energy storage branch having voltage converter modules and energy storage modules assigned to said voltage converter modules, said voltage converter modules being interconnected in a series circuit on an input side and having an output side connected to the respectively assigned said energy storage module.

19. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, further comprising a regulation unit to regulate an energy intake and an energy withdrawal of said energy storage modules of said energy storage branch.

20. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, wherein each of said voltage converter modules comprises at least four interruptible semiconductor switches and an intermediate circuit capacitor.

21. The converter arrangement according to claim 20, wherein said energy storage module is connected to said voltage converter to enable said energy storage module to be bypassed by way of one of said semiconductor switches of said voltage converter module.

22. The converter arrangement according to claim 20, wherein at least a first semiconductor switch and a second semiconductor switch of said energy storage module are connected to said intermediate circuit capacitor in a half-bridge circuit.

23. The converter arrangement according to claim 22, wherein a third semiconductor switch and a parallel circuit connected in series thereto consisting of a fourth semiconductor switch and said energy storage module are arranged in parallel to said intermediate circuit capacitor.

24. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, wherein an input connection of said voltage converter module is connected directly to an output connection of said voltage converter module.

25. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, wherein said voltage converter module and said energy storage module are galvanically isolated.

26. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, further comprising at least one interlock switch configured to selectively disconnect an electrical connection between said voltage converter module and said energy storage module.

27. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, further comprising a grounding device for grounding said energy storage module.

28. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, wherein said energy storage module comprises a supercapacitor, a battery, or a flywheel energy storage device.

29. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, wherein said energy storage modules are different energy storage modules having energy storage devices with different storage characteristics.

30. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, wherein said converter is a modular multilevel converter.

31. The converter arrangement according to claim 18, which comprises separate housings for a respective said voltage converter module and the assigned said energy storage device.

32. An arrangement for providing an electrical active power, the arrangement comprising: an energy storage branch to be connected to a converter valve of a converter; said energy storage branch including voltage converter modules and energy storage modules assigned to said voltage converter modules; said voltage converter modules having an input side interconnected in a series circuit and an output side connected to the respectively assigned said energy storage module.

33. A method for stabilizing an AC voltage network, the method comprising: providing a converter arrangement according to claim 18; and selectively feeding a reactive power and/or an active power into the AC voltage network or withdrawing a reactive power and/or an active power from the AC voltage network by way of the converter arrangement.

34. The method according to claim 33, which comprises exchanging electrical power between the energy storage devices of the energy storage modules.

Description

[0038] The invention is further explained below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

[0039] FIG. 1 shows a first example embodiment of a converter arrangement according to the invention in a schematic view;

[0040] FIG. 2 shows an example of an energy storage branch of the converter arrangement from FIG. 1 in a schematic view;

[0041] FIG. 3 shows an example of a voltage converter module and an energy storage module in a schematic view;

[0042] FIG. 4 shows a further example of an energy storage branch in a schematic view.

[0043] FIG. 1 shows a converter arrangement 1. The converter arrangement 1 has an AC voltage side with a three-phase AC voltage connection 2 for connecting to an AC voltage network, and a DC voltage side with a first DC voltage pole 3 and a second DC voltage pole 4. The converter arrangement 1 comprises a converter 6 which is of three-phase design. The converter 6 accordingly has a first phase branch 7a, a second phase branch 7b and a third phase branch 7c. All three phase branches 7a-c extend between the DC voltage poles 3 and 4. Each phase branch 7a-c comprises a first or upper converter valve 8a-c which is arranged between the first DC voltage pole 3 and the AC voltage connection 2, and a second or lower converter valve 9a-c which is disposed between the AC voltage connection and the second DC voltage pole 4.

[0044] The converter 6 is a modular multilevel converter. Each of the converter valves 8a-c, 9a-c is designed as a converter arm having a series connection of two-pole switching modules 10. The number of switching modules 10 in one of the converter arms is essentially arbitrary and is adapted according to the respective application. The switching modules 10 are designed, for example, as full-bridge circuits or half-bridge circuits having interruptible semiconductor switches, although other circuit variants are also conceivable. An arm inductor 11 is further arranged in each of the converter arms. In the example shown in FIG. 1, all switching modules 10 are of similar design, although this does not generally have to be the case.

[0045] The converter arrangement 1 further comprises a first energy storage branch 12. The first energy storage branch 12 extends between the two DC voltage poles 3, 4 on the DC voltage side of the converter 6. Voltage converter modules 13 which are interconnected in a series circuit on the input side are arranged in the first energy storage branch 12. An energy storage module 15a-f is connected to an output 14 of each voltage converter module 13. The design of the voltage converter modules 13 and the energy storage modules 15a-f will be examined more closely in the following FIG. 2. Each of the energy storage modules 15a-f comprises an energy storage device. Different energy storage types are used in the converter arrangement 1. The energy storage modules 15a-c can thus comprise, for example, battery storage devices, whereas the energy storage modules 15d,e can in each case comprise supercapacitors or ultracaps, and the energy storage module 15f can comprise a storage device operated by an electrolyzer.

[0046] The converter arrangement 1 further comprises a second energy storage branch 16. The second energy storage branch 16 extends between the two DC voltage poles 3, 4 on the DC voltage side of the converter 12 and parallel to the first energy storage branch 12. Voltage converter modules 13 which are interconnected in a series circuit on the input side are arranged in the second energy storage branch 16. An energy storage module 15g-1 is connected to an output 14 of each voltage converter module 13. The design of the voltage converter modules 13 and the energy storage modules 15g-1 will be examined more closely in the following FIG. 2. Each of the energy storage modules 15g-1 comprises an energy storage device. Different energy storage types are used in the second energy storage branch 16. The energy storage modules 15g-j, for example, can comprise battery storage devices, the energy storage module 15k can comprise a flywheel energy storage device, and the energy storage module 151 can in turn comprise a battery.

[0047] The converter arrangement 1 further comprises a regulation unit 17 for regulating the energy input and energy withdrawal of the energy storage modules 15a-1. Semiconductor switches, in particular, of the voltage converter modules 13 can be controlled by means of the regulation unit 17. A higher-level regulation unit or control unit can be provided, for example, to coordinate the regulation unit 17 and a regulation unit of the converter 6 (not shown in the figures).

[0048] FIG. 2 shows an example of an energy storage branch 20, which is usable as one of the energy storage branches 12, 16 of the converter arrangement 1 from FIG. 1. The energy storage branch 20 comprises a first connection 21 for connecting to a first DC voltage pole, and a second connection 22 for connecting to a second DC voltage pole. The energy storage branch 20 further comprises a branch choke 23. The energy storage branch 20 further comprises voltage converter modules 24 having an input side 25 and an output site 26. The voltage converter modules 24 are interconnected in a series circuit on the input side. Each voltage converter module 24 is connected to an energy storage module 27 assigned to it by means of interlock switches 28a,b on the output side.

[0049] The voltage converter module 24 comprises a first interruptible semiconductor switch 31, a second interruptible semiconductor switch 32, and an intermediate circuit capacitor 35 which are interconnected in a half-bridge circuit. The voltage converter module 24 further comprises a third interruptible semiconductor switch 33 and a fourth interruptible semiconductor switch 34, wherein the energy storage module 27 is bypassable by means of the fourth semiconductor switch 34. The voltage converter module 24 further comprises an inductor 36 which is arranged electrically in series with an energy storage device 37 of the energy storage module 27.

[0050] An energy storage voltage which is between 100 V and 10 kV in the fully charged state of the energy storage device 37 drops on each of the energy storage devices 37. A total energy storage branch voltage UDC can accordingly be in the range up to 500 kV in the example shown.

[0051] IGBT switches, for example, or other suitable interruptible semiconductor switches known to the person skilled in the art can be used here as interruptible semiconductor switches.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows an example of a voltage converter module 40 and an energy storage module 41 in a non-isolating design. This means that the voltage converter module 40 and the energy storage module 41 are not galvanically isolated from one another during their operation.

[0053] The voltage converter module 40 comprises four semiconductor switches 31-34 in the form of IGBTs, wherein a free-wheeling diode D is connected antiparallel to each of the semiconductor switches 31-34. The design of the voltage converter modules 40 otherwise corresponds to that of the voltage converter module 24 from FIG. 2, to which reference is made accordingly herewith. The same applies to the design of the energy storage module 41 whose design corresponds to that of the energy storage module 27 in FIG. 2.

[0054] The voltage converter module 40 and the energy storage module 41 in each case have their own housing 45 and 46 respectively which are detachably interconnectable via a first mechanical interlock switch 42 and a second mechanical interlock switch 43. An earthing switch 44 is provided for the earthing of the energy storage module 41. The interlock switches 42 and 43 are closed during operation, so that an electrical connection is established between the voltage converter module 40 and the energy storage module 41. The earthing switch 44 is opened. In the event of maintenance or servicing, the interlock switches 42 and 43 are opened so that the electrical connection between the voltage converter module 40 and the energy storage module 41 is interrupted. Conversely, the earthing switch 44 is closed.

[0055] FIG. 4 shows a further example of an energy storage branch 50 which is suitable, for example, for the converter arrangement 1 from FIG. 1. The design of the energy storage branch 50 corresponds largely to that of the energy storage branch 20 in FIG. 2. In FIGS. 2 and 4, elements which are identical or of the same type are denoted with the same reference numbers so that only the differences between the energy storage branches 20 and 50 will be examined more closely below.

[0056] The voltage converter modules 24 of the energy storage branch 50 are arranged in a container 51. The arrangement of the voltage converter modules 24 corresponds to a U-shaped arrangement. The U-shaped arrangement of the voltage converter modules 24 allows the container 51 to be positioned spatially midway between the energy storage modules 55. Each of the energy storage modules 55 has its own container housing 52, so that the energy storage modules 55 can be arranged externally in arrangements 53, 54 alongside and/or above one another. This simplifies access to the energy storage modules 55 in the event of maintenance or servicing.

[0057] Unlike the energy storage modules 24 from FIG. 2, each of the energy storage modules 55 of the energy storage branch 50 comprises a multiplicity of energy storage devices 56 which are interconnected in an electrical parallel connection.