• 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.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.191-199
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• 2016

Conventional two-level Zeta converters have drawbacks, such as high voltage stresses and high current ripples. To address these problems, a three-level Zeta converter that uses a couple inductor is proposed in this study. The proposed converter utilizes the three-level power switching circuit to reduce the voltage stresses and inductor current ripples. Compared with the conventional converter, the proposed converter can improve power efficiency and power density. A 500 W prototype circuit is used to verify the operation and performance of the proposed converter via experimental results.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.248-258
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• 2008

The Voltage Source Converter (VSC) is replacing the conventional line commutated current source converters in High Voltage DC (HVDC) transmission systems. The control of a two-level voltage source converter and its design dealt with HVDC systems and various factors such as reactive power, power factor, and harmonics distortion are discussed in detail. Simulation results are given for the two-level converter and designed control is used for bidirectional power flow. The harmonics minimization is taken by extending the 6-pulse VSC to multipulse voltage source converters. The control is also tested and simulated for a 12-pulse voltage source converter to minimize the harmonic distortion in AC currents.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.447-454
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• 2016

A single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) features low input current ripple and output voltage up/down capability. However, the switching devices in a two-level SEPIC suffer from high voltage stresses and switching losses. To cope with this drawback, this study proposes a three-level SEPIC that uses a low voltage-rated switch and thus achieves better switching performance compared with the two-level SEPIC. The three-level SEPIC can reduce switch voltage stresses and switching losses. The converter operation and control method are described in this work. The experimental results for a 500 W prototype converter are also discussed. Experimental results show that unlike the two-level SEPIC, the three-level SEPIC achieves improved power efficiency with balanced capacitor voltages.

• 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.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.183-187
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• 2005

A Zero-Voltage-Switching(ZVS) Three-Level Converter realizes ZVS for the switches with the use of the leakage inductance(or external resonant inductance) and the output capacitors of the switches, however; the rectifier diodes suffer from recovery which results in oscillation and voltage spike. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel ZVS Three-Level converter, which introduces two clamping diodes to the basic Three-Level converter to eliminate the oscillation and clamp the rectified voltage to the reflected input voltage, the proposed ZVS Three-Level converter can be simplified by removing the two freewheeling diodes.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.342-348
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• 2013

In this paper, an improved non-isolated 3-level high step-up boost converter is proposed. By using the well known duality principle, the proposed converter is derived from two-phase buck converter. Compared with the traditional boost converter and 3-level boost converter, the proposed converter can obtain very high voltage conversion ratio and the voltage stress of switching devices and diodes is only 1/4 of the output voltage. A 1 kW prototype converter is built and tested to verify performances of the proposed converter.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2015.07a
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• pp.357-358
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• 2015

This paper provides a comparison of power converter loss and thermal description for voltage source and current source type 5MW-class medium voltage topologies of wind turbines. Neutral-point clamped three-level converter is adopted for voltage source type topology while two-level converter is employed for current source type topology considering the popularity in the industry. In order to match the required voltage level of 4160V with the same switching device of IGCT as in voltage source converter, two active switches are connected in series for the case of current source converter. The loss analysis is confirmed through PLECS simulations. In addition, the loss factors due to di/dt and dv/dt snubber and ac input filter are presented. The comparison result shows that VSC-based wind turbine system has a higher efficiency than that of CSC under the rated operating conditions.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.269-278
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• 2020

In this paper, two types of DC/DC converters in a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid railway vehicle system, which serve to charge high-voltage battery and supply power to an inverter for driving a driving motor, were compared and analyzed. A two-level interleaving boost converter and a three-level boost converter were compared and analyzed, and a theoretical design method was proposed to have an efficiency characteristic of over 95%. In addition, a digital controller design method considering the digital phase delay component of DSP (TMS320F28335) is presented. Finally, the validity of the theoretical design of the converter with 20kW power was verified through static and dynamic experiments respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Illuminating and Electrical Installation Engineers
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.101-108
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• 2013

This paper presents A Zero-Voltage-Switching(ZVS) Three-Level DC/DC Converter using Primary Clamping Diodes. The Previous ZVS Three-Level DC/DC converter realizes ZVS for the switches with the use of the leakage inductance(or external resonant inductance) and the output capacitors of the switches, however the rectifier diodes suffer from recovery which results in oscillation and voltage spike. In order to solve this problem, this paper proposes a novel ZVS Three-Level DC/DC converter, which introduces two clamping diodes to the basic Three-Level converter to eliminate the oscillation and clamp the rectified voltage to the reflected input voltage.