Model-Free Predictive Current Control based on ARX Representation of a Seven-Level Inverter

Multilevel converters emerge as a promising technology for high-power medium-voltage applications due to their different advantages. On the other hand, model predictive control (MPC) is one of the control techniques that has been widely used in different applications because of its features, such as fast transient response and flexibility to include nonlinearities. The finite control set MPC (FCS-MPC) approach for a seven-level topology converter reduces the number of calculations significantly, nevertheless depends on the circuital model making it sensitive under uncertainties. On the other hand, model-free predictive control (MF-PC) has gained attention due to its accurate prediction without previous knowledge of the power system. This paper proposes MF-PC to predict the current for each phase for the seven-level topology converter. Moreover, simulation results demonstrate superior performance and feasibility of the developed control method compared to the FCS-MPC approach applied to a seven-level topology converter.