Mustansir H. Kheraluwala

Performance characterization of a high-power dual active bridge DC-to-DC converter

The analysis, control, and performance of a high-power, high-power-density DC/DC power converter that is based on the single-phase dual active bridge topology is described. For high-output voltages, on the order of kilovolts, a cascaded output structure is considered. The impact of snubber capacitance and magnetizing inductance on the soft switching region and various control strategies are discussed. Computer simulation results of a current mode controller are presented. Since the leakage inductance of the transformer is the main energy transfer element, special transformer design techniques are utilized to carefully control this parameter. The layout for a completed prototype 50 kW, 50 kHz unit operating with an input voltage of 1600 VDC is presented. Some experimental results are also presented.<<ETX>>

Characteristics of load resonant converters operated in a high-power factor mode

The performance of the parallel resonant power converter and the combination series/parallel resonant power converter (LCC converter) when operated above resonance in a high power factor mode are determined and compared for single phase applications. When the DC voltage applied to the input of these converters is obtained from a single phase rectifier with a small DC link capacitor, a relatively high power factor inherently results, even with no active control of the input line current. This behavior is due to the pulsating nature of the DC link and the inherent capability of the converters to boost voltage during the valleys of the input AC wave. With no active control of the input line current, the power factor depends on the ratio of operating frequency to tank resonant frequency. With active control of the input line current, near-unity power factor and low-input harmonic currents can be obtained. >

A comparative evaluation of new silicon carbide diodes and state-of-the-art silicon diodes for power electronic applications

Recent progress in silicon carbide (SiC) material has made it feasible to build power devices of reasonable current density. This paper presents recent results including a comparison with state-of-the-art silicon diodes. Switching losses for two silicon diodes (a fast diode, 600 V, 50 A, 60 ns Trr), an ultra-fast silicon diode (600 V, 50 A, 23 ns Trr) and a 4H-SiC diode (600 V, 50 A) are compared. The effect of diode reverse recovery on the turn-on losses of a fast WARP/sup TM/ IGBT are studied both at room temperature and at 150/spl deg/C. At room temperature, SiC diodes allow a reduction of IGBT turn-on losses by 25% compared to ultra-fast silicon diodes and by 70% compared to fast silicon diodes. At 150/spl deg/C junction temperature, SiC diodes allow a turn-on loss reduction of 35% and 85% compared to ultra-fast and fast silicon diodes respectively. The silicon and SiC diodes are used in a boost power converter with the WARP/sup TM/ IGBT to assess the overall effect of SiC diodes on the power converter characteristics. Efficiency measurements at light load (100 W) and full load (500 W) are reported. Although SiC diodes exhibit very low switching losses, their high conduction losses due to the high forward drop dominate the overall losses, hence reducing the overall efficiency. Since this is an ongoing development, it is expected that future prototypes will have improved forward characteristics.

Coaxially wound transformers for high-power high-frequency applications

Design considerations for transformers utilized in high-power high-frequency DC/DC converters are addressed. Major areas of concern are core-material selection, minimization of copper losses due to skin and proximity effects, and the realization of controlled leakage inductances. Coreless characteristics for various high-frequency materials are presented, and the influence of various conventional winding arrangements on the copper losses and leakage field is also demonstrated. Coaxial winding techniques (used commonly in high-frequency transformers) are investigated next as a feasible solution for containing the leakage flux within the interwinding space, thus preventing it from permeating the core and resulting in lower core losses and the avoidance of localized heating. Added benefits of this technique are reduced forces within the transformer, lower copper losses, and robust construction. The performances of two experimental single-phase 50 kW, 50 kHz units are reported. A three-phase version of coaxially wound transformers is also presented. >

Single phase unity power factor control for dual active bridge converter

An AC line fed switching power supply with a single power converter stage is described which operates with high input power factor while maintaining good regulation of the desired output DC voltage. The single-power converter is a dual active bridge DC-to-DC power converter (DABC), comprising high-frequency transformer-coupled input and output bridge converters. The DABC receives a rectified AC line voltage via a diode-bridge rectifier connected to a small, high-frequency filter capacitor. The two active bridges, generating edge-resonant square waves at their transformer terminals, appropriately phase-shifted from each other to simultaneously perform the high-efficiency DC output regulation while maintaining unity power factor at the AC input. The soft-switching nature of the converter allows increased performance (in terms of efficiency and stresses) and reduction in size/weight at operating frequencies in the range of 50-250 kHz. Simulations, and experimental results are presented to corroborate the analysis.<<ETX>>

EMI comparison of hard switched, edge-resonant, and load resonant DC/DC converters using a common power stage

This paper compares conducted EMI of hard switched, edge-resonant, and series resonant power converters. All of the DC/DC converters use a common power stage, output filter, transformer, and gate drive electronics, with minimal modifications to support the different topologies and control approaches. The edge-resonant converter has the lowest conducted EMI emissions at light load conditions, and the lowest differential mode EMI for heavy load conditions. The paper also discusses the importance of maintaining balance and symmetry when decoupling the common mode and differential mode noise components from the LISN voltages.