A Novel Driving Scheme for Synchronous Rectifiers in LLC Resonant Converters

This paper proposes a novel synchronous rectifier (SR) driving scheme for resonant converters. It is very suitable for high-frequency, high-efficiency, and high-power-density dc–dc resonant converters with SRs. In this paper, an LLC resonant converter with the proposed synchronous rectification is designed and analyzed. With the proposed driving scheme, the SR body diode conduction is reduced to almost zero. The driving scheme eliminates the reverse-recovery problem of SRs. Both current and voltage stresses are greatly decreased, and the conduction loss and switching loss of SRs are also reduced considerably. The experimental results show that the proposed LLC resonant converter with SRs can achieve low stress, high efficiency, and high power density.      

Analysis, Design, and Implementation of a Parallel ZVS Converter

A soft-switching converter is presented in this paper to achieve a zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) turn on for all switches. Two half-bridge converters with asymmetric pulsewidth-modulation scheme are connected in parallel to control the output voltage at the desired value and achieve load-current sharing. Based on the output capacitance of power switches and the resonant inductance, including the external inductance and the transformer leakage inductance, the resonance can be achieved at the transition interval of power switches. Therefore, the ZVS turn on of power switches can be realized. The peak voltage of the power switches is limited to input dc voltage. The center-tapped rectifier is adopted at the transformer secondary side to achieve a full-wave rectification. Operation principles, steady-state analysis, and design equations of the proposed converter are discussed in detail. Finally, experimental results based on a 240-W prototype are provided to verify the performance and the feasibility of the proposed converter.     

Integrated ZVT auxiliary commutation circuit for input stage of double-conversion UPSs

This paper proposes an integrated zero voltage transition (ZVT) auxiliary commutation circuit applied to a universal input ac/dc system with a bidirectional converter for dc bus and battery bank interface. With the bidirectional converter it is possible to reduce the cost of the battery bank and virtually eliminate both low and high frequency current ripple in the batteries. An integrated ZVT auxiliary commutation circuit has been included to the system to achieve ZVT commutation at the main switches in all operation modes. In addition, this auxiliary commutation circuit controls the di/dt of the resonant process, allowing the utilization of slow diodes [intrinsic diodes of metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs)] in the bidirectional converter and, therefore, reducing the overall system cost. Integrated commutation circuit is based on a new concept in which the energy involved in one or more commutation processes is utilized to assist another commutation processes. Moreover, a control system has been developed and analyzed for the correct operation of the proposed system. Experimental results based on a 580-W prototype are presented to demonstrate the good performance of the proposed system.     

Application of novel D/sup 2/T control to single-switch two-output switching power converters

A novel method for programming current in dc/dc converters operating in discontinuous conduction mode is described in this paper. The control variable is the product of the square of the duty cyle and the switching period, i.e., D/sup 2/T, which is directly proportional to input and output currents of a discontinuous-mode converter. A method of controlling D/sup 2/T is applied to converters that utilize one switch (or one set of synchronous switches) for achieving two control functions. In particular a single-switch two-output boost converter, in which a continuous-mode converter and a discontinuous-mode converter share one active switch, is studied. In this system, current-mode control is used to regulate the output voltage of the continuous-mode converter and the proposed D/sup 2/T control is used to regulate the other discontinuous-mode converter. The result is a generic current-mode controlled two-output converter.     

Resonant link bidirectional power converter. I. Resonant circuit

This paper proposes a novel resonant circuit capable of PWM operation with zero switching losses. The resonant circuit is aimed at providing zero voltage intervals in the DC link of the PWM converter during the required converter device switching periods, and it gives minimum DC bus voltage stresses and minimum peak resonant current. It requires only two additional switches compared to a conventional PWM converter. It is observed that the resonant circuit guarantees the soft switching of all the switching power devices of converters including the switches for resonant operation. Simulation results and experimental results are presented to verify the operating principles     

A New Method of Integration Control With Instantaneous Current Monitoring for Class D Series-Resonant Converter

In this paper, the application of the integration control method for class D transistor voltage source series-resonant converters used as dc/dc and dc/ac converters is presented. First, the integration control of the signal as a combination of the resonant frequency and its subharmonics (subharmonic integration control) is discussed. Second, the modulation density of the pulses shorting the bridge diagonal for one current half wave (semi wave integral pulse density modulation) is explained. A detailed control circuit operation, referred to as the four basic algorithms of the resonant current control, is given. The method for the calculation of the value and sequence of the current increments for a dc/dc converter is presented. The results of computer simulations and laboratory experiments demonstrate that the proposed methods allow controlling the converter output quantities fulfilling soft switching conditions (zero-current switching) and provide higher efficiency in comparison to other known methods     

An improved ZCS-PWM commutation cell for IGBT's application

An improved zero-current-switching pulsewidth-modulation (ZCS-PWM) commutation cell is proposed, which is suitable for high-power applications using insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) as the power switches. It provides ZCS operation for active switches with low-current stress without voltage stress and PWM operating at constant frequency. The main advantage of this cell is a substantial reduction of the resonant current peak through the main switch during the commutation process. Therefore, the RMS current through it is very close to that observed in the hard-switching PWM converters. Also, small ratings auxiliary components can be used. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed ZCS-PWM commutation cell, it was applied to a boost converter. Operating principles, theoretical analysis, design guidelines and a design example are described and verified by experimental results obtained from a prototype operating at 40 kHz, with an input voltage rated at 155 V and 1 kW output power. The measured efficiency of the improved ZCS-PWM boost converter is presented and compared with that of hard-switching boost converter and with some ZCS-PWM boost converters presented in the literature. Finally, this paper presents the application of the proposed soft-switching technique in DC-DC nonisolated power converters     

A New PWM-Controlled Quasi-Resonant Converter for a High Efficiency PDP Sustaining Power Module

A new pulsewidth modulation (PWM)-controlled quasi-resonant converter for a high-efficiency plasma display panel (PDP) sustaining power module is proposed in this paper. The load regulation of the proposed converter can be achieved by controlling the ripple of the resonant voltage across the primary resonant capacitor with a bidirectional auxiliary circuit, while the main switches are operating at a fixed duty ratio and fixed switching frequency. Hence, the waveforms of the currents can be expected to be optimized from the view-point of conduction loss. Furthermore, the proposed converter has good zero-voltage switching (ZVS) capability, simple control circuits, no hign-voltage ringing problem of rectifier diodes, no dc offset of the magnetizing current and low-voltage stresses of power switches. Thus, the proposed converter shows higher efficiency than that of a half-bridge LLC resonant converter under light load condition. Although it shows the lower efficiency at heavy load, because of the increased power loss in auxiliary circuit, it still shows the high efficiency around 94%. In this paper, operational principles, features of the proposed converter, and analysis and design considerations are presented. Experimental results demonstrate that the output voltage can be controlled well by the auxiliary circuit using the PWM method.      

Soft switching resonant converter with duty-cycle control in DC micro-grid system

Resonant converter has been widely used for the benefits of low switching losses and high circuit efficiency. However, the wide frequency variation is the main drawback of resonant converter. This paper studies a new modular resonant converter with duty-cycle control to overcome this problem and realise the advantages of low switching losses, no reverse recovery current loss, balance input split voltages and constant frequency operation for medium voltage direct currentgrid or system network. Series full-bridge (FB) converters are used in the studied circuit in order to reduce the voltage stresses and power rating on power semiconductors. Flying capacitor is used between two FB converters to balance input split voltages. Two circuit modules are paralleled on the secondary side to lessen the current rating of rectifier diodes and the size of magnetic components. The resonant tank is operated at inductive load circuit to help power switches to be turned on at zero voltage with wide load range. The pulse-width modulation scheme is used to regulate output voltage. Experimental verifications are provided to show the performance of the proposed circuit.     

Research on the Reverse Conduction of Synchronous Rectifiers

Research on the reverse current phenomenon in synchronous rectifiers (SRs) is presented in this paper. For loss reduction, the SRs composed of metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) have recently been employed to replace the conventional rectifiers with diodes in low-voltage and high-current applications. Because the MOSFETs in the SRs are used as bidirectional switches, reverse current flow will probably occur. The reverse current phenomenon will cause undesired power loss. To clarify the effects of the reverse current on the forward converter with an SR, both the experiment and the analysis are performed. Furthermore, the concepts and methods for dealing with this phenomenon are clearly described in this paper.     

Series resonant converter with auxiliary winding turns: analysis,design and implementation

Conventional series resonant converters have researched and applied for high-efficiency power units due to the benefit of its low switching losses. The main problems of series resonant converters are wide frequency variation and high circulating current. Thus, resonant converter is limited at narrow input voltage range and large input capacitor is normally adopted in commercial power units to provide the minimum hold-up time requirement when AC power is off. To overcome these problems, the resonant converter with auxiliary secondary windings are presented in this paper to achieve high voltage gain at low input voltage case such as hold-up time duration when utility power is off. Since the high voltage gain is used at low input voltage cased, the frequency variation of the proposed converter compared to the conventional resonant converter is reduced. Compared to conventional resonant converter, the hold-up time in the proposed converter is more than 40ms. The larger magnetising inductance of transformer is used to reduce the circulating current losses. Finally, a laboratory prototype is constructed and experiments are provided to verify the converter performance.     

Control techniques for a high power factor multilevel rectifier based on double boost converter

In this paper three novel control schemes for the single-phase ac/dc converter with two-level or three-level pulse width modulation are proposed to improve the power quality. A diode rectifier with two power switches is adopted as a power factor correction circuit to achieve high power factor and low harmonic distortion. The proposed control schemes are based on look-up tables with a hysteresis current controller instead of the conventional complex control algorithm. The proposed control scheme can (1) draw a sinusoidal line current, (2) achieve a unity power factor and (3) improve voltage unbalance problem on the dc bus capacitors. The software simulations and experimental results are shown to verify the proposed control algorithms. It is shown that the measured harmonic currents and input power factor satisfy the international standard requirements such as International Electrotechnical Commission 1000-3-2.     

Design and analysis of a novel zero-voltage-transition interleaved boost converter for renewable power applications

High-efficiency stepping up operation is an important feature of the converters used in renewable power applications due to the low voltage level of photo-voltaic arrays and fuel cells. Decreasing the switching losses of the converters is an effective solution for increasing the converter efficiency, especially in high-power applications. This article presents a novel zero-voltage-transition (ZVT) interleaved dc–dc boost converter that can be used in renewable power sources to reduce switching losses. The auxiliary circuit used in the proposed converter is composed of only one auxiliary switch and a minimum number of passive components without an important increase in the cost and complexity. The main advantage of the proposed converter is that it not only provides ZVT in the boost switches but also provides soft switching in the auxiliary switch. Another advantage of the proposed topology is that the semiconductor devices used in the converter do not have any additional voltage or current stresses. Also, it has a simple structure, low cost and ease of control. In this article, a detailed steady-state analysis of the proposed converter is presented. The theoretical analysis is verified via simulation and experimental studies which are in very good agreement.     

Performance Comparison of Single-Stage Three-Level Resonant AC/DC Converter Topologies

In this paper, the performance of different three-level resonant converters is studied for single-stage power factor correction operation. These converters are suitable for power ranges higher than that in the currently available single-stage converters, due to their high efficiency and reduced component stresses. All the converters presented here are characterized by their ability to regulate the output voltage as well as the dc bus voltage. This leads to lower voltage stresses, wider input voltage range, higher output power applications, and improved efficiencies compared to existing single-stage topologies. Due to the availability of more degrees of freedom in the presented converters, two types of control strategies can be used for this purpose: variable frequency asymmetrical pulsewidth modulation control and variable frequency phase-shift modulation control. Three resonant converters will be studied in this paper and their performances as well as the applicability of the aforementioned control methods for each converter are compared. A 2.3-kW, 48-V converter with input voltage range of 90-265 V_rms is used to study the performance of each case.     

Electronic step down (220/110 V) transformer using a new quantumseries resonant converter

A novel quantum series resonant converter (QSRC) topology for a pure sinewave 60 Hz AC chopper is proposed. It has three bidirectional switches and operates at high switching frequency with low switching loss. Bidirectional power flow is possible, and the switches can operate in either zero current switching (ZCS) mode or zero voltage switching (ZVS) mode by slight modification. The QSRC is thought to be suitable for such a system with fixed voltage conversion ratio. The proposed converter is applied to an electronic 220/110 V transformer. Detailed analyses and experimental results for 1 kVA are presented     

A Novel High-Power-Density Three-Level LCC Resonant Converter With Constant-Power-Factor-Control for Charging Applications

This paper proposes a variable-frequency zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) three-level LCC resonant converter that is able to utilize the parasitic components of the high turns-ratio transformer. By applying a three-level structure to the primary side, the voltage stress of the primary switches is half of the input voltage. Low-voltage MOSFETs with better performance can be used in this converter, and zero-current-switching (ZCS) is achieved for rectifier diodes. By applying a magnetic integration technique, only one magnetic component is required in this converter. The power factor concept of resonant converters is proposed and analyzed, and a novel constant power-factor control scheme is proposed. Based on this control strategy, the circulating energy of resonant converters is considerably reduced. High efficiency can be obtained for high-voltage high-power charging applications. The operation principle of the converter is analyzed and verified on a 700-kHz, 3.7-kW prototype, with which a power density of 72 ${hbox {W/inch}}^{3}$ is achieved.      

A Three-Level Resonant Single-Stage Power Factor Correction Converter: Analysis, Design, and Implementation

This paper presents a new single-stage power factor correction ac/dc converter based on a three-level half-bridge resonant converter topology. The proposed circuit integrates the operation of the boost power factor preregulator and the three-level resonant dc/dc converter. A variable-frequency asymmetrical pulsewidth modulation controller is proposed for this converter. This control technique is based on two integrated control loops: the output voltage is regulated by controlling the switching frequency of the resonant converter, whereas the dc-bus voltage and input current are regulated by means of duty cycle control of the boost part of the converter. This provides a regulated output voltage and a nearly constant dc-bus voltage regardless of the loading condition; this, in turn, allows using smaller switches and consequently having a lower on resistance helping to reduce conduction losses. Zero-voltage switching is also achieved for a wide range of loading and input voltage. The resulting circuit, therefore, has high conversion efficiency making it suitable for high-power wide-input-voltage-range applications. The effectiveness of this method is verified on a 2.3-kW 48-V converter with input voltage (90–265 Vrms).      

Switched-capacitor DC/DC converters with resonant gate drive

In this paper, we examine how switched-capacitor (SC) converters can be used in low-voltage low-power DC/DC applications with power management. Analysis of losses is presented to facilitate SC converter design and optimization. A resonant gate drive is proposed to reduce switching losses and simplify control of switches in SC converters. A closed-loop controller is designed to enable and disable oscillations of the resonant gate drive so that the output DC voltage is well regulated down to zero load and so that high efficiency is maintained for a very wide range of loads. Results are experimentally verified on two low-power (0.2 and 5 W) five-one step-down converters with regulated 3 Vdc output and efficiency greater than 80% in a 100-1 load range     

A new soft-switched PFC boost rectifier with integrated flyback converter for stand-by power

This paper presents a magnetic integration approach that reduces the number of magnetic components in a power supply by integrating magnetic components in two conversion stages. Specifically, in the proposed approach, a single transformer is used to implement the continuous-conduction-mode boost power-factor-corrected (PFC) converter and the dc/dc flyback converter. The integrated boost and flyback converters offer soft switching of all semiconductor switches including a controlled di/dt turn-off rate of the boost rectifier. The performance of the proposed approach was evaluated on a 150-kHz, 450-W, universal-line range boost PFC converter with 12-V/2.2-A integrated stand-by flyback converter.     

A Novel Soft-Commutating Isolated Boost Full-Bridge ZVS-PWM DC–DC Converter for Bidirectional High Power Applications

A soft-commutating method and control scheme for an isolated boost full bridge converter is proposed in this paper to implement dual operation of the well-known soft-switching full bridge dc/dc buck converter for bidirectional high power applications. It provides a unique commutation logic to minimize a mismatch between current in the current-fed inductor and current in the leakage inductance of the transformer when commutation takes place, significantly reducing the power rating for a voltage clamping snubber and enabling use of a simple passive clamped snubber. To minimize the mismatch, the method and control scheme utilizes the resonant tank and freewheeling path in the existing full bridge inverter at the voltage-fed side to preset the current in the leakage inductance of the transformer in a resonant manner. Zero-voltage-switching is also achieved for all the switches at the voltage-fed side inverter in boost mode operation. The proposed soft-commutating method is verified through boost mode operation of a 3-kW bidirectional isolated full bridge dc/dc converter developed for fuel cell electric vehicle applications. The tested result verified the isolated boost converter can operate at an input voltage of 8.5–15V and an output voltage of 250–420V with a peak efficiency of 93% and an average efficiency of 88% at 55-kHz switching frequency with 72$^circ$C automotive coolant.