Resonant Converter for High-Input Voltage and High-Output Current Applications

ABSTRACT

A new resonant converter for high-input voltage and high-output current applications is presented to realize the advantages of low turn-on switching losses, low reverse recovery losses, and low voltage stress of power semiconductors. The series-connected half-bridge converter is used to lessen the voltage stress of power switches at V _in/2. Therefore, power switches with low voltage stress and low turn-on resistance can be used to reduce the conduction losses on the primary side. For high-output current applications, two transformers series-connected on the primary side and parallel-connected on the secondary side are used to automatically balance the load current so that the low current stress of fast recovery diodes can be used at the output side. The operated switching frequency is controlled to be less than the series resonant frequency of the resonant converter. Therefore, power switches can be turned on at zero-voltage switching and the rectifier diodes can be turned off at zero-current switching. Experimental verifications with a laboratory prototype are provided to demonstrate the performance of the proposed converter.

KEYWORDS:

• PWM converter
• Resonant converter
• Zero-current switching
• Zero-voltage switching

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This project was supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan under Grant NSC 102-2221-E-224 -022 -MY3. Author also thanks Mr B. R. Hou for his experiments and measurement.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan [grant number NSC 102-2221-E-224 -022 -MY3].

Notes on contributors

B. R. Lin

Bor-Ren Lin received his BS degree in Electronic Engineering from the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, in 1988, and his MS and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA, in 1990 and 1993, respectively. From 1991 to 1993, he was a research assistant with the Power Electronic Research Center, University of Missouri. Since 1993, he has been with the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Douliou, Taiwan, where he is currently a distinguished professor. He is an associate editor of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Proceedings – Power Electronics. His current research interests include power-factor correction, multilevel converters, active power filters, and soft-switching converters. He has authored more than 220 published technical journal papers in the area of power electronics. Dr Lin is an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. He was a recipient of the Research Excellence Awards in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2011 from the College of Engineering and the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology. He received the Best Paper Awards from the 2007 and 2011 IEEE Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ICIEA), 2007 Taiwan Power Electronics Conference, 2009 IEEE – Power Electronics and Drive Systems Conference (PEDS), the 2012 Taiwan Electric Power Engineering Conference, and the 2014 IEEE – International Conference on Industrial Technology (ICIT).

E-mail: [email protected]