Control and Topologies of Current Source Inverters

Dear Colleagues,

Transportation electrification, renewable energy sources (RES) exploitation, and industrial automation are just a few of the fields of application for power electronic converters. Because of the increase in electrical power demand, high efficiency, high power density, and reduced stress on insulation for drive longevity are all key aspects.

The advent of new devices, specifically wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, allowed for an increase in both switching and fundamental frequencies, facilitating high speed drive implementation, while on the other hand, the resulting large dv/dt increased the stress on the machine’s insulation and the severity of common mode disturbances.

CSI topologies are traditionally relegated to large power sizes, but can benefit from the WBG and become attractive in medium/low power applications.

The lower harmonic content of the output waveforms as a result of reduced dv/dt results in lower stress on the electric machine winding insulation. The inherent boosting capability enables the use of CSI as a single stage grid-connected converter for RES-based applications. In addition, modular CSI converters’ parallelization can be used to increase current rating and has several potential advantages compared with monolithic converters. Finally, CSI topologies would benefit from further improvements, both in terms of developing new additional circuits, control, and modulation techniques to improve efficiency and reduce common mode voltage.

This Special Issue is intended to give insights into the latest studies concerning the design and development of current source topologies, as well as the mitigation of the associated issues. We encourage all researchers and engineers working in this area to submit original works for review and publication in this Special Issue.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Traditional and innovative CSI topologies in various applications.
• Modeling, design, and application of different types of CSI converters.
• Design and control of power-dense and efficient CSI converters for industry, transportation, and power generation applications.
• Dedicated CSI control algorithms for electric drives applications.
• Optimized CSI modulation techniques to improve efficiency, power quality, and harmonic content, and to mitigate common mode disturbances.
• Bi-directional and/or multilevel CSI

Prof. Dr. Fabio Immovilli
Prof. Dr. Emilio Lorenzani
Guest Editors