A Three-Phase Current-Fed Push–Pull DC–DC Converter

In this paper, a new three-phase current-fed push–pull dc–dc converter is proposed. This converter uses a high-frequency three-phase transformer that provides galvanic isolation between the power source and the load. The three active switches are connected to the same reference, which simplifies the gate drive circuitry. Reduction of the input current ripple and the output voltage ripple is achieved by means of an inductor and a capacitor, whose volumes are smaller than in equivalent single-phase topologies. The three-phase dc–dc conversion also helps in loss distribution, allowing the use of lower cost switches. These characteristics make this converter suitable for applications where low-voltage power sources are used and the associated currents are high, such as in fuel cells, photovoltaic arrays, and batteries. The theoretical analysis, a simplified design example, and the experimental results for a 1-kW prototype will be presented for two operation regions. The prototype was designed for a switching frequency of 40 kHz, an input voltage of 120 V, and an output voltage of 400 V.      

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.     

High-Efficiency Isolated Boost DC–DC Converter for High-Power Low-Voltage Fuel-Cell Applications

A new design approach achieving very high conversion efficiency in low-voltage high-power isolated boost dc–dc converters is presented. The transformer eddy-current and proximity effects are analyzed, demonstrating that an extensive interleaving of primary and secondary windings is needed to avoid high winding losses. The analysis of transformer leakage inductance reveals that extremely low leakage inductance can be achieved, allowing stored energy to be dissipated. Power MOSFETs fully rated for repetitive avalanches allow primary-side voltage clamp circuits to be eliminated. The oversizing of the primary-switch voltage rating can thus be avoided, significantly reducing switch-conduction losses. Finally, silicon carbide rectifying diodes allow fast diode turn-off, further reducing losses. Detailed test results from a 1.5-kW full-bridge boost dc–dc converter verify the theoretical analysis and demonstrate very high conversion efficiency. The efficiency at minimum input voltage and maximum power is 96.8%. The maximum efficiency of the proposed converter is 98%.      

Interleaved soft switching resonant converter with a small input ripple current

ABSTRACT

An interleaved frequency control soft switching converter is studied for solar power or fuel cell power applications. The proposed circuit topology contains two parallel current-fed circuit cells with interleaved pulse-width modulation operation. Thus, the ripple currents at input and output terminals are decreased. In each circuit cell, the proposed current-fed dc-dc converter includes boost circuit and resonant circuit to achieve current ripple-free on low voltage side and less switching losses on active devices. The boost circuit and the resonant circuit have same active devices to decrease power switches. Due to the resonant behaviour, the reverse recovery current loss on secondary diodes is removed. The voltage doubler circuit topology is accomplished on secondary-side to reduce diode counts and conduction loss. The performance and effectiveness of the developed interleaved PWM current-fed converter are verified and confirmed by experiments.     

Effect of resonant transition on efficiency of forward converter with active clamp and self-driven SRs

Forward converter with active clamp is a suitable topology for a low output voltage and high output current dc-dc power supply module. The topology can be used in a resonant transition manner to obtain a low voltage over the main switch at turn-on instant. A low voltage can be obtained by adjusting the magnitude of the magnetizing current of the transformer and the delay between the two primary side switches. An increased magnetizing current, however, increases conduction losses in the primary side of the converter and may consume the advantage gained in the switching losses. The converter can also be easily used for self-driven synchronous rectification. However, pursue for low switching losses for the primary side switch may deteriorate performance of the self-driven synchronous rectifiers, particularly at high loads. This paper presents a study of the applicability and advantage of the use of the resonant transition in Forward with active clamp and self-driven synchronous rectifiers. The emphasis is on the comparison of the achieved efficiency with different voltage levels over the primary switch prior to turning on. Measurement results show that, at low loads, a reduced voltage level improves the efficiency but, on the other hand, at high loads the advantage is not so significant, or it may be totally lost, mainly due to the increased losses of the self-driven synchronous rectifiers. The paper includes discussion on the effect of the magnetizing inductance on the efficiency of the converter and the optimal voltage level at which the primary switch should be turned on. Measurement results from a 3.4-V 30-A prototype converter are included.     

A three-phase ZVS PWM DC/DC converter with asymmetrical duty cycle for high power applications

This paper proposes the application of the asymmetrical duty cycle to the three-phase dc/dc pulse-width modulation isolated converter. Thus, soft commutation is achieved for a wide load range using the leakage inductance of the transformer and the intrinsic capacitance of the switches, as no additional semiconductor devices are needed. The resulting topology is characterized by an increase in the input current and output current frequency, by a factor of three compared to the full-bridge converter, which reduces the filters size. In addition, the rms current through the power components is lower, implying the improved thermal distribution of the losses. Besides, the three-phase transformer allows the reduction of the core size. In this paper, a mathematical analysis, the main waveforms, a design procedure, as well as simulation and experimental results obtained in a prototype of 6 kW are presented.     

Analysis and implementation of active clamp SEPIC converter with synchronous rectifier

An active clamp SEPIC converter with synchronous rectifier is presented to achieve zero voltage switching (ZVS). The active clamp circuit is adopted in the proposed converter to absorb the energy stored in the leakage inductance of the transformer and limit the peak voltage stress on the switching devices. The resonance during the transition interval between the switching devices will help the power switches to turn on at ZVS. Therefore, the switching losses of switches are effectively reduced. The synchronous rectifier is used at the secondary side of the transformer to further reduce the conduction loss. The principle of operation and the steady-state analysis of the proposed converter are presented. Finally, the experimental results taken from a laboratory prototype with 240 W (12V/20A) rated power are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.     

A Soft-Switching Scheme for an Isolated DC/DC Converter With Pulsating DC Output for a Three-Phase High-Frequency-Link PWM Converter

This paper outlines a soft-switching mechanism based on zero-voltage-zero-current-switching (ZVZCS) principle for the front-end isolated dc/dc converter of an isolated three-phase rectifier-type high-frequency-link bidirectional power converter. In conjunction with a back-end dc/ac converter operating with a novel patent-filed hybrid modulation scheme outlined in , , and that reduces the number of hard-switched commutation per switching cycle, the proposed ZVZCS scheme can lead to less overall switching losses than other conventional switching schemes. The proposed ZVZCS scheme is effective for various load conditions, operates seamlessly with a simple active-clamp circuit, and is suitable for applications where low-voltage dc to high-voltage three-phase ac power conversion is required.      

Analysis and Implementation of a ZVS-PWM Converter With Series-Connected Transformers

This brief presents the analysis, design, and implementation of zero-voltage switching (ZVS) active clamp converter with series-connected transformer. A family of isolated ZVS active clamp converters is introduced. The technique of the adopted ZVS commutation will not increase additional voltage stress of switching devices. In the adopted converter with series-connected transformer, each transformer can be operated as an inductor or a transformer. Therefore, no output inductor is needed. To reduce the voltage stress of the switching device in the conventional forward converter, the active clamp technique is used to recycle the energy stored in the transformer leakage back into the input dc source. Finally, experimental results are presented taken from a laboratory prototype with 100-W rated power, input voltage of 155 V, output voltage of 5 V, and operating at 150 kHz. [All rights reserved Elsevier].     

Three-Phase Three Level, Soft Switched, Phase Shifted PWM DC–DC Converter for High Power Applications

A new three-phase, three-level dc to dc phase shifted pulsewidth modulation (PWM) converter is proposed for high power and high input voltage applications. Output voltage is controlled by incorporating phase shift PWM. Clocked gate signals of each leg are phase shifted by 2pi/3 from each other. Major features of the converter include: (1) outer two switches of each leg are turned on and off as zero voltage switching, (2) inner two switches of each leg are turned on and off as zero current switching, and (3) this is achieved without involving any extra passive or active components. The secondary side of the converter is of center tapped full-wave current tripler type. This results in an increase of ripple frequency by a factor of six, leading to a significant reduction in size of the output filter. In order to obtain behavioral and performance characteristics of the proposed converter topology, detailed analytical and simulation studies are carried out. Finally the viability of the scheme is confirmed through detailed experimental studies on a laboratory prototype developed for the purpose.     

A Nonisolated Single-Phase UPS Topology With 110-V/220-V Input–Output Voltage Ratings

A circuit configuration of a single-phase nonisolated online uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with 110-V/220-V input–output voltage ratings is proposed, allowing the bypass operation without a transformer even if the input voltage is different from the output voltage. The converter consists of an ac–dc/dc–dc three-level boost converter combined with a double half-bridge inverter. In this type of configuration size, cost and efficiency are improved due to the reduced number of switches and batteries, and also, no low-frequency isolation transformer is required to realize bypass operation because of the common neutral connection. Both stages of the proposed circuit operate at high frequency by using a passive nondissipative snubber circuit in the boost converter and insulated-gate bipolar-transistor switches in the double half-bridge inverter, with low conduction losses, low tail current, and low switching losses. Principle of operation and experimental results for a 2.6-kVA prototype are presented to demonstrate the UPS performance.      

A high-performance, integrated magnetics scheme for buck-cascaded push-pull converter

This letter proposes a new integrated magnetics scheme for the buck cascaded current-fed push-pull converter. While integrating the transformer and inductor into a common structure, the proposed scheme also alters the operating characteristics of the basic converter. This leads to several advantages such as, continuous output current, zero voltage switching (ZVS), and zero current switching (ZCS) for the switches of the push-pull stage, and reduced conduction losses. The principle of operation of the proposed scheme is analyzed using the gyrator-capacitor model. Experimental results from a 12 V/5 A proof-of-concept prototype are presented demonstrating the advantages of the proposed scheme.     

A three-phase ZVS PWM DC/DC converter with asymmetrical duty cycle associated with a three-phase version of the hybridge rectifier

This paper proposes the use of a three-phase version of the hybridge rectifier in the three-phase zero-voltage switch (ZVS) DC/DC converter with asymmetrical duty cycle. The use of this new rectifier improves the efficiency of the converter because only three diodes are responsible for the conduction losses in the secondary side. The current in the secondary side of the transformer is half the output current. In addition to this, all the advantages of the three-phase DC/DC converter, i.e., the increased frequency of the output and input currents, the improved distribution of the losses, as well as the soft commutation for a wide load range, are preserved. Therefore, the resulting topology is capable of achieving high efficiency and high power density at high power levels. The theoretical analysis, simulation, and experimental results obtained from a 6-kW prototype, and also a comparison of the efficiency of this converter with the full-bridge rectifier are presented.     

Current-fed three-phase and voltage-fed three-phase activeconverters with optimum PWM pattern scheme and their performanceevaluations

This paper describes a new approach to select the optimum sinewave pulsewidth modulation (PWM) patterns suitable for a large-capacity current-fed active PWM power converter and a practical design procedure to determine circuit constants of a low-pass filter connected to suppress higher line current harmonics flowing into the utility-grid AC power source. A feasible test is implemented by building a prototype 500 kW three-phase current-fed PWM power converter which is designed and controlled on the basis of the proposed considerations. It is verified from a practical point of view that these new conceptual considerations are more effective and acceptable to minimize higher harmonic current components flowing into the utility-grid AC power source. This experimental setup provides highly efficient steady-state characteristics of the current-fed three-phase PWM power converter under the operating condition of a unity power factor correction and sinewave line current shaping schemes. Furthermore, this unique optimum PWM pattern derived from the theoretical method proposed here is conveniently applicable to a voltage-fed three-phase PWM converter. It is verified that this optimum PWM pattern provides excellent switching performance with a lower switching frequency mode than the conventional carrier-based PWM scheme     

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).      

Bidirectional DC resonant converter with magnetic-coupling current balance

This paper studied a bidirectional frequency-control dc converter with magnetic-coupling to achieve 1) current balance on low voltage side, 2) low switching losses on power devices, and 3) bidirectional power transfer capability. The developed circuit is basically constructed by half-bridge circuits on input and output sides. LLC resonant tank with frequency-control is used to obtain low switching losses on power devices. Magnetic-coupling element is used to achieve current balance on low voltage side. Synchronous rectifiers are employed on low voltage and high current side to decrease power losses and increase circuit efficiency. The effectiveness of the studied circuit is verified from a 720 W laboratory prototype.     

Improved Direct Power Control of Grid-Connected DC/AC Converters

This paper proposes new direct power control (DPC) strategies for three-phase dc/ac converters with improved dynamic response and steady-state performance. As with an electrical machine, source and converter flux, which equal the integration of the respective source and converter voltage, are used to define active and reactive power flow. Optimization of the lookup table used in conventional DPC is outlined first so as to improve power control and reduce current distortion. Then, constant switching frequency DPC is developed where the required converter voltage vector within a fixed half switching period is calculated directly from the active and reactive power errors. Detailed angle compensation due to the finite sampling frequency and the use of an integral controller to further improve the power control accuracy are described. Both simulation and experimental results are used to compare conventional DPC and vector control, and to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control strategies during active and reactive power steps, and line inductance variations.      

A Multilevel Modular Converter for a Large, Light Weight Wind Turbine Generator

In an onshore horizontal axis wind turbine, generator and converter are usually in the nacelle on the top of the tower, while the grid step-up transformer is placed at the bottom. Electric power is transmitted down through flexible cables of high current rating which are expensive and can suffer from large I² R loss. An offshore wind turbine usually has to include the step-up transformer in the nacelle. This adds significantly to the mechanical loading of the tower even new designs aim to reduce the transformer size and weight. In either case, a transformer-less, high voltage, high reliability generating unit for nacelle installation would be an attractive technology for large wind turbines. This study presents a power electronic solution based on a permanent magnet generator design. A multilevel cascaded voltage source converter is developed to synthesize a high sinusoidal output voltage. The dc link voltages of inverter modules are balanced by rectifiers fed from isolated generator coils while the inverter switching strategy equalizes the power sharing between the modules. The switching strategy also reduces the low order harmonics to constrain the sizing of the dc link capacitors. The modulating effect between the ac and dc sides of the inverter is taken into account. This paper describes the generator-converter arrangement, analyzes the inverter switching effects and derives the switching strategy which is verified by simulation and laboratory experiment.     

New high power DC-DC converter with loss limited switching and lossless secondary clamp

A new isolated high frequency high power DC-DC converter full bridge topology employing one resonant "soft" switching pole that is zero voltage switched and one phase-shifted hard switching pole with loss limited switching for primary switching is presented. The devices in the loss limited pole do not have resonant capacitors across them, but exhibit significantly lower losses than conventional hard switching as the energy dissipation is limited by the finite energy stored in the leakage inductance. This unique combination of zero voltage switching and loss limited switching reduces the switching loss in all primary devices to lower levels. Isolation is achieved by a coaxially wound high frequency transformer with ultra low leakage which increases throughput and efficiency. A novel nondissipative secondary rectifier clamp allows excellent control of reverse recovery energy. Converters that produce 128 kW at 25 kHz have been developed and are commercially available. As this topology exhibits complete control of all parasitic loss mechanisms, it can be easily scaled to higher power levels.