• Journal of IKEEE
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.1006-1011
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• 2018

This paper proposes a three level buck converter utilizing multi-bit flying capacitor voltage control. The conventional three-level buck converter can not control the flying capacitor voltage, so that the operation is unstable or the circuit for controlling the flying capacitor voltage can not be applied to the PWM mode. Also when the load current is increased, an error occurs in the inductor voltage. The proposed structure can control the flying capacitor voltage in PWM mode by using differential difference amplifier and common mode feedback circuit. In addition, this paper proposes a 3bit flying capacitor voltage control circuit to optimize the operation of the three level buck converter depending on the load current, and a triangular wave generation circuit using the schmitt trigger circuit. The proposed 3-level buck converter is designed in $0.18{\mu}m$ CMOS process and has an input voltage range of 2.7V~3.6V and an output voltage range of 0.7V~2.4V. The operating frequency is 2MHz, the load current range is 30mA to 500mA, and the output voltage ripple is measured up to 32.5mV. The measurement results show a maximum power conversion efficiency of 85% at a load current of 130 mA.

• International Journal of Automotive Technology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2002

Increasingly stringent emission regulations of EU and CARB (California Air resource Board) require mandatory OBD (On Board Diagnostics) far the catalytic converters of a vehicle. It demands that MIL(Malfunction Indication Light) should be tuned on to inform the driver of catalytic converter failures. Currently dual oxygen sensor method Is widely used for the converter OBD. However, since it works only alter converter light-off, it has a serious limitation when applied to TLEV or more stringent emission regulations where more than 85% of total emission is coming out before converter light-off. In addition, a recent development in catalyst material. coating technology and additive catalysts leads to a much improved OSC (Oxygen Storage Capacity) after converter light-off, current methods are very difficult to determine levels of converter aging. Therefore, it is desired to develop an OSC detecting method before converter light-off to diagnose converter failures with higher reliability. In this study, OSCs of converters are measured by an absolute measuring method and a dynamic measuring method, and some of fundamental ideas are suggested about converter OBD before converter light-off. The converters are aged with two different aging methods; those are a furnace aging and an engine bench aging: to represent aging conditions in actual field applications. Dual oxygen sensor method at the lower temperature than light-off is also studied at a model gas bench with the converters. It is fecund that there is a certain point in temperature lower than light-off where difference due to aging level becomes maximum, thus a proper dynamic method to effectively monitor catalytic converters could be implemented fur the range lower than light-off temperatures. With this result, the aging level of converters is examined at an engine bench.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.267-274
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• 2016

In this study, a fast charger for electric vehicle with wide charging voltage range is proposed. To achieve high efficiency, three-level topologies are employed for the AC-DC and DC-DC converters. Given that the output range of the DC-DC converter in fast chargers is quite wide, the circulating current of conventional three-level converter will increase under low voltage condition. The proposed hybrid switching method mitigates this issue. When a coupled inductor is used on the output side, the circulating current is further reduced, and the switches $S_2$, $S_3$, $S_6$, and $S_7$ achieve turning-off under the ZCS condition. Experimental results from a 50 kW prototype are provided to validate the proposed charger, and a rated efficiency of 95.9% is obtained.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.23 no.6_2
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• pp.989-998
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• 2020

Recently, demands for large-capacity electronic loads are increasing in various industries such as a reliability test for the performance of a DC power supply device or a dummy-load for improving the stability of an independent microgrid to be actively built in the future. The electronic load required in these various fields requires an operation such as a continuously variable resistance load while minimizing the switching harmonic component generated in the electric load current in order to reduce the influence of interference from the load peripheral device. Electronic loads require a system that minimizes switching current ripple for load control. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a three-level module converter structure to reduce the current ripple of an electronic load, and a multilevel interleaved power converter topology to reduce the current ripple. The validity of the proposed electronic load, 3-level 6 interleaver converter, was verified by simulation and experiment. In addition, the user's convenience was provided by applying the emotional command curve interface method.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.8-15
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• 2013

This paper proposes a DC-link voltage variation compensation method for a 3-level single phase converter for high-speed trains. Since 3-level NPC(Neutral Point Clamped) type converters have the split DC-link causing the inherent problem of voltage fluctuations in the upper and lower capacitors, reducing the voltage difference between the top and bottom capacitors is required. In this paper, compensation time proportional to the voltage difference is added to PWM switching time to solve the voltage variation. The compensation time is obtained by a PI controller. Simulation results demonstrate the validity of the proposed method.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.336-344
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• 2018

This study proposes a new PWM method for leakage current reduction and neutral point (NP) current control in three-phase three-level converter employed in bipolar DC distribution systems. The proposed PWM method uses medium vectors only when there is no need to control the NP current. Thus, common mode voltages are held constant to realize zero leakage current. Some space vectors that produce low-frequency common mode voltages are employed to minimize leakage currents when the average NP current needs to be a positive or negative value. The proposed space vector PWM is implemented based on barycentric coordinate. The validity of the proposed PWM method is verified by simulations and experiments.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2005.07a
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• pp.102-105
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• 2005

For transferring the primary power to the secondary one, the high frequency series resonant converter has been widely used for the contactless power supply system. However, the high frequency series resonant converter has the disadvantages such as the low efficiency, the high voltage gain characteristics and deviation of the phase angle in the overall load range. To improve this disadvantage, In this paper, the characteristics of the high efficiency and unit voltage gain as well as in phase are revealed in the proposed three-level LCLC ( Inductor - Capacitor - Inductor -Capacitor)resonant converter. The results are verified on the simulation based on the theoretical analysis and the 4kW experimental prototype.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.103-107
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• 2021

In this paper, a capacitive water level sensor for boilers was developed. In order to accurately monitor the water level in a high-temperature boiler that generates a lot of precipitates, the occurrence of precipitates on the surface of the water level sensor should be small, and a sensor capable of measuring even if the sensor surface is somewhat contaminated is required. The capacitive water level sensor has a structure in which one of the two electrodes is insulated with Teflon coating, and the stainless steel package of the water level sensor is brought into contact with the water tank so that the entire water tank becomes another electrode of the water level sensor. A C-V converter that converts the capacitance change of the capacitive water level sensor into a voltage change was developed and integrated with the water level sensor to minimize noise. The performance of the developed capacitive water level sensor was evaluated through measurement.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.748-755
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• 2009

This paper proposes a 18-step back-to-back voltage source converter using four sets of 3-Level converter module with auxiliary circuit to increase the number of steps. The proposed back-to-back voltage source converter has an independent control capability of active power and reactive power at the interconnected ac system. The operational feasibility of proposed system was verified through computer simulations with PSCAD/EMTDC software. The feasibility of hardware implementation was verified through experimental results with a scaled hardware model. The proposed back-to-back converter can be widely applied for interconnecting the renewable energy source to the power grid.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.68-71
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• 2020

As a T-type three-level PWM converter has several intrinsic advantages, it has been widely studied for many applications. However, it requires an additional voltage control loop for balancing each DC link voltage. Generally, satisfying this requirement involves the use of an offset voltage to provide a neutral point current without affecting other variables, such as the total DC link voltage and three-phase input current. In this study, the theoretical relationship between the offset voltage and the neutral point current is analyzed. The results can be beneficial for effective voltage balancing controller design. The effectiveness of the analytical modeling is verified by simulation and experimental results.