• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.1349-1362
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• 2017

In order to further improve the harmonic suppression capability of conventional 12-pulse rectifiers, this paper proposes a low harmonic 12-pulse rectifier using an Active Inter-Phase Reactor (AIPR). Through a detailed analysis of the relationship between the input current, output current and circulating current of the DC side, the mechanism where the AC grid side current harmonics can be suppressed by the DC side circulating current is revealed. On this basis, an interleaved APFC controlled by a DSP is designed and used as an AIPR along with an interphase reactor. A simulation is carried out with MATLAB/Simulink and an experiment is performed on a 9-kVA prototype. The obtained results verify the feasibility and validity of the proposed approach. Compared with a traditional 12-pulse rectifier, the THD can be reduced to 1/5 of the original value, and the capacity of the AIPR is only 2% of the load power. Thus, it is suitable for high-power applications.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.23-31
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• 2010

In our previous work on levodopa delivery at pH 2.5 using iontophoresis, we found that cathodal delivery showed higher permeation than anodal delivery and electroosmosis plays more dominant role than electrorepulsion. In this work, we studied the transdermal transport of levodopa at very low pH (pH=1.0) where all levodopa molecules are cations, and evaluated some factors which affect the transdermal transport. The transport study at pH 2.5 was also conducted for comparison. The contribution of electrorepulsion and electroosmosis on flux was also evaluated. Using stable aqueous solution, the effect of electrode polarity, current density, current type and drug concentration on transport through skin were studied and the results were compared. We also investigated the iontophoretic flux from hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) hydrogel containing levodopa. In vitro flux study was performed at $33^{\circ}C$, using side-by-side diffusion cell. Full thickness hairless mouse skin were used. Current densities applied were 0.2, 0.4 or $0.6\;mA/cm^2$. Contrary to the pH 2.5 result, anodal delivery showed higher flux, indicating that electrorepulsion is the dominant force for the transport, overcoming the electroosmotic flow which is acting against the direction of electrorepulsion. Cumulative amount of levodopa transported was increased as the current density or drug concentration was increased. When amount of current dose was constant, continuous current was more beneficial than pulsed current in promoting levodopa permeation. Similar transport results were obtained when hydrogel was used as the donor phase. These results indicate that iontophoretic delivery of zwitterion such as levodopa is much complicated than that can be expected from small ionic molecules. The results also indicate that, only at very low pH like pH 1.0, electrorepulsion can be the dominant force over the electroosmosis in the levodopa transport.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.652-659
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• 2015

This paper presents a new hybrid soft switching dc-dc converter with a low circulating current and high circuit efficiency. The proposed hybrid converter includes two sub-converters sharing two power switches. One is a three-level PWM converter and the other is a LLC converter. The LLC converter and the three-level converter share the lagging-leg switches and extend the zero-voltage switching (ZVS) range of the lagging-leg switches from nearly zero to full load since the LLC converter can be operated at f_sw (switching frequency) $\approx$ f_r (series resonant frequency). A passive snubber is used on the secondary side of the three-level converter to decrease the circulating current on the primary side, especially at high input voltage and full load conditions. Thus, the conduction losses due to the circulating current are reduced. The output sides of the two converters are connected in series. Energy can be transferred from the input voltage to the output load within the whole switching period. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed converter is verified by experiments with a 1.44kW prototype circuit.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.1632-1642
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• 2014

This paper presents an interleaved resonant converter to reduce the voltage stress of power MOSFETs and achieve high circuit efficiency. Two half-bridge converters are connected in series at high voltage side to limit MOSFETs at $V_{in}/2$ voltage stress. Flying capacitor is used between two series half-bridge converters to balance two input capacitor voltages in each switching cycle. Variable switching frequency scheme is used to control the output voltage. The resonant circuit is operated at the inductive load. Thus, the input current of the resonant circuit is lagging to the fundamental input voltage. Power MOSFETs can be turn on under zero voltage switching. Two resonant circuits are connected in parallel to reduce the current stress of transformer windings and rectifier diodes at low voltage side. Interleaved pulse-width modulation is adopted to decrease the output ripple current. Finally, experiments are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed converter.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.79-86
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• 2016

In this paper, we propose a current-driven synchronous rectifier driver circuit for LLC resonant half-bridge converters. The proposed driver circuit detects a relatively low current in the primary side of the transformer although a large current is flowing in the secondary side. Due to this feature, the driver circuit has a simple circuit structure and stabilizes the switching operation with a logic-level switching voltages for the synchronous rectifier. The operation and performance of the proposed driver circuit are confirmed with a prototype of 1kW class LLC resonant half-bridge converter. The experimental results proved that the proposed synchronous rectifier driver method improves the power conversion efficiency by around 1% and reduces the internal power loss by 17W.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1429-1437
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• 2015

A new parallel hybrid soft switching converter with low circulating current losses during the freewheeling state and a low output current ripple is presented in this paper. Two circuit modules are connected in parallel using the interleaved pulse-width modulation scheme to provide more power to the output load and to reduce the output current ripple. Each circuit module includes a three-level converter and a half-bridge converter sharing the same lagging-leg switches. A resonant capacitor is adopted on the primary side of the three-level converter to reduce the circulating current to zero in the freewheeling state. Thus, the high circulating current loss in conventional three-level converters is alleviated. A half-bridge converter is adopted to extend the ZVS range. Therefore, the lagging-leg switches can be turned on under zero voltage switching from light load to full load conditions. The secondary windings of the two converters are connected in series so that the rectified voltage is positive instead of zero during the freewheeling interval. Hence, the output inductance of the three-level converter can be reduced. The circuit configuration, operation principles and circuit characteristics are presented in detail. Experiments based on a 1920W prototype are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.1469-1479
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• 2017

Primary-side regulation (PSR) scheme is widely applied in low power applications, such as cell phone chargers, network adapters, and LED drivers. However, the efficiency and standby power requirements have been improved to a high standard due to the new trends of DOE (Department Of Energy) Level VI and COC (Code Of Conduct specifications) V5. The major drawbacks of PSR include poor regulation due to inaccurate feedback and difficulty in acquiring acceptable regulation. A novel adaptive blanking strategy for constant current and constant voltage regulation is proposed in this paper. An accurate model for the sample blanking time related to transformer leakage inductance and the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) parasitic capacitance is established. The proposed strategy can achieve accurate detection for ultra-low standby power. In addition, numerous control factors are analyzed in detail to eliminate the influence of leakage inductance on the loop stability. A dedicated controller integrated circuit (IC) with a power MOSFET is fabricated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy. Experimental results demonstrated that the prototype based on the proposed IC has excellent performance.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.64 no.9
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• pp.1288-1296
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• 2015

The ac side current of a line commutated converter(LCC) high voltage direct current (HVDC) is characterized by highly non-sinusoidal waveform. If the harmonic current is allowed to flow in the connected ac network, it may cause unacceptable levels of distortion. Therefore, ac side filters are required as part of the total HVDC converter station, in order to reduce the harmonic distortion of the ac side current and voltage to acceptably low levels. The ac filters are also employed to compensate the requested reactive power because LCC HVDC also consume substantial reactive power. Among different types of filters, triple-tuned filters have been widely utilized for HVDC system. This paper presents two design methods of triple-tuned filter; equivalent method and parametric method. Using a parametric method, in particular this paper proposes a design algorithm for a triple tuned filter. Finally, the performance of the design algorithm is evaluated for a 250kV HVDC system in Jeju island. The results cleary demonstrate the effectiveness of proposed design method in harmonics reduction.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.92-97
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• 2013

This paper proposes DC offset current compensation method of transformerless fuel cell/PV PCS. DC offset current is generated by the unbalanced internal resistance of the switching devices in full bridge topology. The other cause is the sensitivity of the current sensor, which is lower than DSP in resolution. If power converter system has these causes, the AC output current in the inverter will generate the DC offset. In case of transformerless grid-connected inverter system, DC offset current is fatal to grid-side, which results in saturating grid side transformer. Several simulation results show the difficulties of detecting DC offset current. Detecting DC offset current method consists of the differential amplifiers and PWM is compensated by the output of the Op amp circuit with integrator controller. PSIM simulation verifies that the proposed method is simpler and more effective than using low resolution current sensor alone.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.206-215
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of foodservice management in organizations delivering meal boxes for low-income children during summer vacation. A survey was conducted with persons in charge of meal box production and service of these organizations via mail. Out of 114 questionnaires distributed nationwide, 100 were analyzed(87.8% analysis rate). Over half(53%) of the organizations delivered meal boxes consisting of rice and side dishes while the rest delivered side dishes only. About 81% of the organizations received KRW 3,000 per meal from their local governments and the rest received KRW 3,500. Only 28% of organizations had employed a dietitian. Over one-third(38%) of the respondents were unaware of the official nutritional standard of the foodservice program for low-income children during vacation. Most of the organizations(94%) had menu planned in advance. The average percentage of food cost was 84.1%. Over 40% of the organizations did not keep food samples for sanitation test(43%) and did not take any measures for keeping food temperature during delivery(45%). The organizations delivering rice and side dishes were more likely to be located in cities rather than rural areas and received higher reimbursement rate. The organizations receiving reimbursement of KRW 3,500 or hiring a dietitian were more likely to use standardized recipes, keep food samples for sanitation test, or take measures for keeping food temperature during delivery compared to the counterparts. Respondents reported that increasing reimbursement rate was the most necessary for improving the quality of meal box. This study results showed that the meal box delivery service for low-income children was not properly managed during the vacation, with regards to menu planning and food production. It is recommended that reimbursement rate for meal boxes should be adjusted depending on meal box types and local conditions.