PCIM: UK-based Amantys develops next generation IGBT gate drive

UK power firm Amantys Power Electronics has developed its next generation IGBT gate drive technology which is being demonstrated this week at the PCIM exhibition in Nuremberg.

NG Gate Drive

Called NG Gate Drive, it has been designed to be compatible with IGBT modules known as LinPak, XHP, nHPD2 and SemiTrans20 that are available from several power semiconductor manufacturers.

See also: PCIM (Power Conversion Intelligent Motion) news roundup

This is achieved because IGBT module variation, such as the position of gate drive connections, is accommodated through use of a module interface card which means the NG Gate Drive can target modules from 1700V to 3300V, and up to 6500V in the future.

It will drive up to six IGBT modules in parallel.

The company has incorporated its own two-way communication protocol between the gate drive and a central controller, allowing configuration of the gate drive in the target power stack.

Configurable parameters, include the gate resistors (Rgon, Rgoff and Rgsoftoff), gate-emitter capacitor (Cge), operating mode (two level or three level) and timeouts such as the fault lock out time and dead time.

Module also features multi-level desaturation detection for improved protection of the IGBT module. It records faults that the gate drive has seen during operation.

Potential applications could include traction, wind energy and medium voltage motor drives.