1. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ELECTRONICS AND
COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (IJECET)
ISSN 0976 – 6464(Print)
ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online)
Volume 4, Issue 1, January- February (2013), pp. 85-91
IJECET
© IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijecet.asp
Journal Impact Factor (2012): 3.5930 (Calculated by GISI) ©IAEME
www.jifactor.com
A REVIEW OF PFC BOOST CONVERTERS FOR HYBRID ELECTRIC
VEHICLE BATTERY CHARGERS
1
M. Daniel Pradeep, 2S.Jebarani Evangeline
1,2
School of Electrical Sciences, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering,
Karunya University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
ABSTRACT
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Electric Vehicles (EVs) are an
emerging trend in the field of automotive engineering. At the same time, consumer’s interest
is growing rapidly. With the fluctuations in the universal supply, it is mandatory to maintain
unity power factor. Power factor correction is essential to meet the efficiency and regulatory
standards for the AC supply mains. Four types of PFC converters have been investigated and
the results have been discussed. Out of which bridgeless interleaved PFC converter is suited
for power levels up to 5kW.
Keywords: AC-DC Converter, Boost Converter, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle Battery
Charger (PHEV), Power Factor.
I. INTRODUCTION
A Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) is a hybrid vehicle which uses
rechargeable batteries or another energy storage device that can be restored to full charge by
connecting a plug to an external electric power source such as electric wall socket. A PHEV
has the characteristics of both a conventional hybrid electric vehicle which is having an
electric motor and an internal combustion engine (ICE) and of an electric vehicle.Today most
of the PHEVs on the road are passenger cars. With the advancements in the technologies,
PHEV vehicles also exist in the form of commercial vehicles such as vans, trucks, buses,
motorcycles, scooters, and military vehicles. The block diagram of charger which is used to
charge PHEV contains the following blocks in common. It includes an AC-DC converter
with power factor correction (PFC), an isolated DC-DC converter, input and output EMI
filters, as shown in Fig. 1 [1]. The whole arrangement is integrated together, called as battery
charger and attached inside the PHEV.
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2. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN
0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) Volume 4, Issue 1, January- February (2013), © IAEME
Fig.1 Simplified System Block Diagram of a Universal Battery Charger.
In the following sections, four common types of PHEV battery chargers are
investigated and their output power, efficiencies are compared.
II. CONVENTIONAL PFC BOOST CONVERTER
In common, the conventional boost topology is popularly used for PFC applications.
It uses a dedicated diode bridge which is used to convert the AC voltage to DC voltage,
which is then followed by the boost Converter, as shown in Fig 2.
Fig. 2 Conventional PFC Boost Converterand Its Input Voltage &Current.
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3. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN
0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) Volume 4, Issue 1, January- February (2013), © IAEME
Fig. 3 Bridgeless PFC Boost Converterand Its Input Voltage &Current.
In this topology, the output capacitor ripple current isvery high [4] and is the
difference between diode current andthe dc output current. Furthermore, as the power
levelincreases, the diode bridge losses significantly reduce theefficiency, so the heat
dissipation in a limitedarea becomes challenging.
Anotherchallenge is the power rating limitation for current senseresistors at high
power. Due to these constraints, thistopology is good for the low to medium power range, up
to approximately 1 kW. For power levels greater than 1 kW, the inductor volume becomes a
problematic design issue at high power because of the limited core size available for the
power level and the heavy wire gauge required for winding [3].
III. BRIDGELESS PFC BOOST CONVERTER
With little improvement to the conventional boost converter, a bridgeless boost
converter is developed. The bridgeless configuration topology avoids the need for the
rectifier input bridge yet maintains the classic boost topology, as shown in Fig. 3. It is an
attractive solution for applications greater than 1kW. The bridgeless boost converter solves
the problem of heat management in the input bridge rectifier, but it introduces increased EMI.
Another disadvantage of this topology is the floating input line with respect to the
PFC stage ground, which makes it impossible to sense the input voltage without a low
frequency transformer or an optical coupler. Complex circuitry is needed in order to sense the
input current in the MOSFET and diode paths separately, since the current path does not
share the same ground during each half-line cycle [4].
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4. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN
0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) Volume 4, Issue 1, January- February (2013), © IAEME
IV. INTERLEAVED PFC BOOST CONVERTER
Fig. 4 shows the interleaved boost converter, it operates depending upon the
Interleaving property. The circuit contains two boost converters in parallel operating 180° out
of phase. The inductor’s ripple currents are out of phase, so they tend to cancel each other
and reduce the input ripple current caused by the boost switching action. The input current is
the sum of the two inductor currents ILB1 and ILB2.
Moreover, the effective switching frequency is increased by switching 180° out of
phase and introduces smaller input current ripples. So the EMI filters in the input side will be
smaller. At the same time, the problem of heat management in the input bridge rectifier is still
present. This configuration is well suited for power levels up to 3 kW [6].
Fig. 4 Interleaved PFC Boost Converterand Its Input Voltage & Current
V. BRIDGELESS INTERLEAVED PFC BOOST CONVERTER
The bridgeless interleaved topology, shown in Fig.5,was proposed as a solution to
operate at power levels at andabove 5kW. In comparison to the interleaved boost PFC,
itintroduces two MOSFETs and also replaces four slow diodeswith two fast diodes. The
gating signals are 180 ° out ofphase, similar to the interleaved boost. This converter topology
shows a high input powerfactor, high efficiency over the entire load range and lowinput
current harmonics.Since the proposed topology shows high input powerfactor, high efficiency
over the entire load range, and lowinput current harmonics, it is a potential option for
singlephase PFC in high power level II battery chargingapplications.
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5. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN
0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) Volume 4, Issue 1, January- February (2013), © IAEME
4
VI. RESULT ANALYSIS
The various topologies are simulated and their test results are compared in this
section. The power factor is corrected nearly to unity, i.e. 0.998 for all the types of
unity,
topologies. The conventional boost converter is applied an input voltage of 230V AC
and it is converted to DC voltage and boosted to 400V. It has an input power of
1.7kW and its output power is 1. 1.6kW. On the other hand, the bridgeless PFC boost
converter is able to supply an output power of 3kW.
3kW
Whereas the interleaved PFC boost converter is used to convert AC to DC with
an output power of 4kW. And the Bridgeless interleaved PFC boost converter is used
to convert the AC voltage to DC voltage with the output power of 5.2kW.
Fig. 5 Bridgeless Interleaved PFC Boost Converter and Its Input Voltage & Current
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6. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN
0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) Volume 4, Issue 1, January- February (2013), © IAEME
Fig. 6a
Fig. 6b
Fig. 6 Output Voltage &Current
VII. CONCLUSION
The various types of PHEV battery chargers were reviewed in this paper. The
conventional boost converter is well suited for low power applications and it has a poor
efficiency. The bridgeless PFC boost converter is suited for power levels greater than 1kW
and its efficiency is fair. Whereas the interleaved PFC boost converter has high efficiency but
the problem of heat dissipation in the rectifier bridge is still present. The Bridgeless
Interleaved PFC boost converter is suited for power levels of 5kW and above. It eliminates
the diode rectifier bridge and therefore the heat losses are reduced. Further research in the
field of PFC boost converters may result in higher efficiency and unity power factor.
REFERENCES
[1] K. Morrow, D. Karner, and J. Francfort, Plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charging
infrastructure review, U.S. Dept. Energy Vehicle Technologies Program, Washington,
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[2] B. Singh, B. N. Singh, A. Chandra, K. Al-Haddad, A. Pandey, and D. P. Kothari, A
review of single-phase improved power quality AC–DC converters, IEEE Trans. Ind.
Electron., vol. 50, no. 5, pp. 962–981, Oct. 2003.
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7. International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN
0976 – 6464(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6472(Online) Volume 4, Issue 1, January- February (2013), © IAEME
[3] Chan, CH; Pong, MH., Fast response Full Bridge Power Factor Corrector, Pesc
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Technology (IJEET), Volume 3, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 242 - 249, Published by IAEME.
[8] P.Vishnu, R.Ajaykrishna and Dr.S.Thirumalini, “Recent Advancements and
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[9] M.Gopinath, “Hardware Implementation Of Bridgeless Pfc Boost Converter Fed Dc
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Volume 3, Issue 1, 2012, pp. 131 - 137, Published by IAEME.
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Drive” International Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology (IJEET),
Volume 3, Issue 1, 2012, pp. 131 - 137, Published by IAEME.
M. Daniel Pradeepwas pursuing his M.Tech degree in Power Electronics and Drives from
Karunya University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. He has completed his B.E in Electrical
and Electronics Engineering in Hindusthan College of Engineering and Technology,
Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. His research area includes Power Electronics, Energy
Generation and Renewable Energy.
S. Jebarani Evangeline was pursuing her Ph.D., from Anna University. She has completed
her M.Tech degree from Karunya University, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. She has a
working experience of 9 years.Her research area includes Power Electronics & Drives and
Automotive Electronics
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