2003 International Future Energy Challenge Competition

Final Report
A 10KW Fuel Cell Inverter System

Submitted by

Seoul National University of Technology

Student Team

Faculty Advisor

Dr. Sewan Choi

May 18, 2003

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction

2.

3.

4.

Management
2.1

Team Organization

2.2

Education Impact

2.3

Project time line

2.4

Project Budget

3
4

5
5

Topology Evaluation

3.1

Two Topologies

3.2

Power Component Design

3.3

Cost Evaluation

3.4

Efficiency Evaluation

Design Rationale

12

4.1 Front end DC-DC Converter

4.2

Inverter

4.3

Bi-directional DC-DC Converter

14
14

21
28

4.4 System Interface 35

4.5

Heat Sink and Packaging

5. Simulation

37

41

6.

Experimental Result

7.

Performance Evaluation

8.

Bill of materials

9.

Cost Analysis

10.

Conclusion

11.

Reference

43
46

47

47

49

ii

50

List of Figures
Fig. 2.1

SNUT student team Organization Chart

Fig. 3.1

Proposed power circuit topologies

Fig. 4.1

Block diagram of the SNUT fuel cell inverters systems

14

Fig. 4.2

Circuit diagram of front end DC-DC converters

15

Fig. 4.3

Main waveforms of the front end DC-DC converters

15

Fig. 4.4

Control block diagram for front end DC-DC converters

20

Fig. 4.5

Circuit diagram of the inverter

21

Fig. 4.6

Equivalent circuit for a LC output filter

24

Fig. 4.7

Equivalent circuit for a non-linear load

25

Fig. 4.8

Control method of balancing the capacitor voltages 27

Fig. 4.9 Bi-directional DC-DC converter 29

Fig. 4.10 Control block diagram for the bi-directional
DC-DC converter 30
Fig. 4.11 Inductor voltage & current waveforms 31
Fig. 4.12

Display of RS-232

36

Fig. 4.13

Thermal equivalent circuit

39

Fig. 4.14

Heat sink for front-end DC-DC converter

40

Fig. 4.15

Heat sink for inverter and bi-directional converter

41

Fig. 5.1

Simulated waveforms

42

Fig. 6.1

Experimental waveforms (4.4kW load)

44

Fig. 6.2

Experimental waveforms ( 2KW 2.7KW )

45

Fig. 6.3

Photograph of the SNUT fuel cell Inverter

46

iii

List of Tables
Table 2.1

Project budget

Table 3.1

System parameters for power circuit design

Table 3.2

Component ratings of Scheme I 10

Table 3.3 Component ratings of Scheme II 11

Table 3.4 Cost estimates 12
Table 3.5

Power loss estimates 13

Table 4.1

47054-EC Magnetic data

Table 4.2

Voltage and current ratings of the switch 34

Table 4.3

Power dissipation in the device used 40

Table 4.4

Thermal characteristics for the heat sink design 40

Table 7.1

Experimental performance (no load to 4.4kW load) 47

Table 8.1

Bill of Materials

48

Table 9.1

Cost spread sheet for front end DC-DC converter

48

Table 9.2

Cost spread sheet for inverter 49

Table 9.3

Cost spread sheet for bi-directional converter 49

19

Appendices
Appendix
A.1 : Schematic for the sensing board
A.2 : Schematic for the sensing and protection
A.3 : DSP board
A.4 : Inverter gate driver
B

: Project time line

: Transformer core selection by area product distribution

iv

51

SNUT Fuel Cell Inverter Team

Student Members

Minsoo Jang

Min Koo

Jaehyuck Jung

Sangmin Jung

Taehoon Kim

Jinwook Oh

Hyunjung Kim

Namki Lee

Jinhee Lee

Joonseo Lee

Jinsang Jo

Kangsuk Lee

Minkook Kim

Byungsoo Nho

Seungjoo Cheon

Summary
The objective of the 2003 Future Energy Challenge competition is to develop a low cost
10kW power processing unit for a fuel cell system. The SNUT team, which is composed of
senior undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty advisors, has been launched for the
competition.
This report discusses the power circuit topologies for the SNUT inverter system by evaluating
the topologies in a practical way. After researching several topologies a topology is chosen and
the component ratings are designed along with through analysis on the chosen topology. The
simulation is performed to verify the design and control of the proposed topology. A hardware
prototype capable of supplying 10kW load was built and tested in the laboratory of SNUT.
Experimental performances on some design items are compared to minimum target
requirements of the inverter system. The cost analysis is done based on the spreadsheets
evaluation forms provided in the 2003 FEC workshop. Some conclusions are made to meet the
minimum target requirement in the final competition.

1. Introduction
The environmental concern is now the driving force for alternative energy. Fuel cell power
generation systems are expected to see increasing practical use due to the several advantages
over conventional generation systems. These advantages include 1) low environmental pollution
2) highly efficient power generation 3) diversity of fuels(natural gas, LPG, methanol and
naphta) 4 ) reusability of exhaust heat 5) modularity and 6) faster installation [1]. Fuel cells are
generally characterized by the type of electrolyte that they use. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC)
have grown in recognition as a viable high temperature fuel cell technology. The most striking
quality of SOFCs is that the electrolyte is in solid state and is not a liquid electrolyte. The high
operating temperature up to 1000C allows internal reforming, promotes rapid kinetics with
non-precious materials and produces high quality byproduct heat for cogeneration or for use in a
bottoming cycle. A number of different fuels can be used from pure hydrogen to methane and
carbon monoxide. The major advantage of SOFC lies in its efficiencies raging from 55 to 60%
[2].
In general, the function of a power conditioning system in a fuel cell generation system is to
convert the DC output power from the fuel cell to regulated AC power. There may be two stages
of power converters. A DC-DC converter converts the low voltage DC output from the fuel cell
to a level at which an inverter can safely operate. The inverter is used to invert the DC output
from the DC-DC converter to a suitable AC voltage. The power conditioning unit that basically
consists of an inverter is required to have the following characteristics: 1) allowable for wide
output voltage regulation of fuel cell 2) controllability of output voltage 3) available for isolated
operation and line parallel operation 4) fast reactive power dispatch 5) low output harmonics 6)
high efficiency and 7) suitable for high power system [3]. Fuel cell production costs are
currently decreasing and have nearly achieved energy costs that are competitive with local
utility rates. The inverter cost must also decrease while at the same time increasing efficiency,
reliability, and power quality levels. The cost reduction of the power processing unit will enable

the fuel cell systems to penetrate rapidly into the utility market.
The objective of the Fuel Cell Inverter Challenge is to develop a 10kW low-cost power
processing systems that support the commercialization of a SOFC power generation system to
provide non-utility and ultra-clean residential electricity. The target cost of the stand-alone
10kW power processing unit will be less than $40/kW in high volume. Further, emphasis will
also be placed on high energy efficiency as this has direct impact of size and cost of the SOFC
system and overall system fuel efficiency. Another key objective of this competition is to
promote design education in the undergraduate curriculum at Seoul National University of
Technology in conjunction with faculties and industry experts in the power electronics and
energy conversion area.

2. Management
2.1 Team Organization
The Seoul National University of Technology (SNUT) has formed a multi-disciplinary team
consisting of nine undergraduate and six graduate(master) students and three faculty advisors.
The undergraduate students from Department of Control and Instrumentation Engineering(CIE),
Department of Electrical Engineering(EE), and Department of Mechanical Design(MD) have
been selected by public notice in our university. The students are divided into six sub-teams (1)
Inverter and DSP (2) Front-end DC-DC converter (3) Bi-directional DC-DC converter and
Battery control (4) Sensors and Protection (5) System integration and Interface (6) Heat sink
and Packaging.

The current organizational chart is shown in Fig. 2.1. This interdisciplinary

approach will allow the team to address thermal management, packaging and case issues.
Dr. Sewan Choi, professor in the power electronics area, served as the lead Faculty Advisor
for the team. Other faculty advisors to this project include: Dr. Kiyong Kim with expertise in
control systems and Dr. Youngseog Kim, professor in the mechanical design area, with expertise
in heat sink design and packaging.

Inverter & DSP

Minsoo Jang (CIE, G)
Jinwook Oh (CIE, UG)
Front-end DC-DC converter
Jinhee Lee (CIE, G)
Namki Lee (CIE, UG)

Faculty Advisors
Dr. Sewan Choi (CIE)

Bi-directional DC-DC converter and Battery control

Jaehyuck Jung (CIE, G)
Jinsang Jo (CIE, G)
Kangsuk Lee (EE, UG)

Dr. Kiyong Kim (CIE)

Sensors and Protection
Hyunjung Kim (CIE, G)
Taehoon Kim (CIE, G)

Dr. Youngseog Kim (MD)

System integration and Interface

Min Koo (CIE, UG)
Sangmin Jung (CIE, UG)
Joonseo Lee (CIE, UG)
Heat sink and Packaging
Minkook Kim (CIE, UG)
Byungsoo Nho (MD, UG)
Seungjoo Cheon (CIE, UG)

Fig. 2.1

SNUT team Organization Chart

2.2 Educational Impact

The undergraduate students in most departments in our university are required to take Design
Project Courses. For example, the students in the Department of Control and Instrumentation
Engineering must take Design Project I(CIE322) and Design Project II(CIE415) through the fall
semester of junior year and the spring semester of senior year. Throughout the courses, the
undergraduate students choose their own topic, do some research on the topic, design and build
the hardware prototype. In the department of CIE, as a mandatory graduation requirement, all
the senior students should submit a written report, present what they have worked on with
working prototype and be judged by the committee from faculty members.

The students have

to take all the courses necessary to complete the project. The 2003 Future Energy Challenge
provided a good topic for the undergraduate students to participate in the competition. All the

undergraduate students on the team will receive credits in Design Project courses(CIE322 and
CIE415).
The SNUT team has been holding weekly meetings with all of its members to discuss the
project. We have had a series of technical seminars mostly by ourselves to get the practical
background on design of the fuel cell power processing system. Each of graduate student led the
seminar on some specific topic. Some experts from industries had been sometimes invited to
give students a practical knowledge.
These kinds of efforts have been shown to be successful in attracting students. In fact, in the
spring semester of 2003 two student members, Jinhee Lee and Jinsang Jo, joined the graduate
program in power electronics of SNUT and continue participating this 2003 FEC competition.
In the spring semester of 2004 four student members will apply for the graduate program in
power electronics.
2.3 Project Timeline
The project time line for the SNUT team is sown in Appendix B.

The team plans to

construct the prototype in two steps ; the preliminary prototype by the mid of November 2002
and the final prototype by the end of February 2003. In November 2002, the team submitted the
written report and presented working prototype as a graduation requirement. The preliminary
prototype was evaluated by peer reviews from faculty advisors and industry experts. The team
incorporated feedback from reviewers and any design changes to final prototype.
2.4 Project Budget
The project budget for the SNUT Future Energy Challenge team is shown in Table 2.1.

The

budget only takes into account parts for the power processing system and travel for fundraising
and the competition excluding any labor and equipment. The undergraduate students take part in
the competition as a choice of topic for the Design Project course and the graduation
requirement. Also, the department of CIE, SNUT already has laboratory facilities equipped with
many power electronics instruments and equipments.

Table 2.1 Project budget for the SNUT Future Energy Challenge team
Classification

Amount

Power Device
(IGBT, MOSFET, DIODE)

$ 2,000

Battery

$ 700

DSP Evaluation

$ 500

PCB

$ 1,500

Sensors

$ 700

Inductors

$ 800

Capacitors

$ 500

Transformer

$ 2,000

Analog & Digital Ics

$ 1,000

Cable, bus bar and case

$ 2,000

Company Presentations

$ 1,000

Work shop
Final Competition

$ 5,000
$ 10,000

Copies

$ 300

Lab supplies

$ 500

Parts

Travel

Miscellaneous
Sub Total

$ 28,000

Support from our university and industries is essential to the teams successful project
performance not only for financial sponsorship, but also for industrial experience. The SNUT
team faculty advisors and students have been trying to secure the necessary funding for this
project from the school, industries including national laboratories. The SNUT team secured the
sponsorship and commitment from the school and some industries, and has been trying solicit
additional support for the proposed project.

3. Topology Evaluation
3.1 Two Topologies
The SNUT team decided to use the low voltage (48V) battery, which is supposed to be
provided at the competition test site, as a secondary energy storage to supply transient loads.
The SNUT team considered two types of power circuit topologies for the SOFC power

processing system : Scheme I shown in Fig. 3.1(a) and Scheme II shown in Fig. 3.1(b). In
Scheme I, as shown in Fig. 3.1(a), the DC voltage from the fuel cell, 29VDC nominal, is first
boosted to 48V via a non-isolated boost converter. The 48V battery bank in the fuel cell system
is connected to the 48V DC link so that power flow to and from the battery is controlled by the
current control of the boost converter. The 48VDC from the boost converter is then converted to
400VDC via an isolated high frequency DC-DC converter. The high frequency DC-DC converter
could be push-pull, half-bridge or full-bridge types. The full-bridge type is considered suitable
for 10KW of high frequency DC-DC conversion.
D1
L1

L2
S2

D2

S3

S6

Fuel Cell
22 ~ 41V

S1

S7

C2

T1

L4

D3

C4

120Vac
60HZ

Vdc
400v

240Vac
60HZ

C1

Battery
48V

S8

S4

D4

S5

D5

S9
C5

C3

120Vac
60HZ

L3

L5

(a) Scheme I
L3
S1

D2

D1

S2

L1

S5

S6

C1

T1

D3

C3

D4

120Vac
60HZ

Vdc
400V
C in

Fuel Cell
22 ~ 41 V

D5
S3

D6

L2
S7

S4

S8
C4

C2
D7

S11

S12

S13

S14

T2
L5

S9

S10

120Vac
60HZ

D8

Battery
48V

120Vac
60HZ

(b) Scheme II
Fig. 3.1 Proposed power circuit topologies

L4

The DC-DC conversion stage includes a transformer isolation for safety, protection and to
meet the stringent FCC Class-A standards. The 400V DC-DC converter output is then converted
to 120V/240V, 50/60 Hz, single-phase AC by means of a PWM inverter stage. An output L-C
filter stage is employed to reduce the ripple component and draw a low THD AC waveform.
Fig.3.1(b) shows an alternative power circuit configuration (Scheme II) for the SOFC inverter
system. The DC voltage from the fuel cell , 29VDC nominal, is first converted to 400VDC via an
isolated high frequency DC-DC converter. The high frequency DC-DC converter could be pushpull, half-bridge or full-bridge types. The full-bridge type with two diode bridges connected
in series at the secondary was chosen as a 5KW of front-end DC-DC conversion. The DCDC conversion stage also includes a transformer isolation for safety, protection and to meet the
stringent FCC Class-A standards as well. The 48V battery bank in the fuel cell system is
connected to the 400V DC link via a bi-directional DC-DC converter which is also operated at
high frequency. The low voltage(48VDC) battery side and the high voltage(400VDC) dc link side
of the bi-directional DC-DC converter could be current-source full-bridge type and voltagesource full-bridge type, respectively, or vice versa. A current-sourced push-pull type using
MOSFETs and a voltage-sourced full-bridge type using IGBTs were chosen at the battery
side and the dc link side, respectively. The 400V DC-DC converter output is then converted to
120V/240V, 50/60 Hz, single-phase AC by means of a PWM inverter stage. An output L-C filter
stage is employed to reduce the ripple component and draw a low THD AC waveform.
The common topology chosen for both of the schemes to provide the split phase output
was two half-bridge inverters. Both of the topologies have thoroughly been examined from
cost and efficiency standpoint, and one of them was adopted for this project.
3.2 Power Component Design
In this section power components of the two schemes are designed so that the designed
values are used to compare cost and efficiency of the two schemes. The output displacement
factor is assumed to be unity for design of the fuel cell power processing system rated at

10KW. Table 3.1 shows some system parameters for power circuit design of the two
schemes.
Table 3.2 and 3.3 list the designed ratings of the power components in the two schemes
using system parameters in Table 3.1. Based on the designed values, actual devices were
selected from some manufactures. Appropriate safety margins were considered for actual
device selection. The design procedure and device selection presented here is not unique,
but they could be used to relatively compare both of the schemes from cost and efficiency
standpoint.
3.3 Cost Evaluation
In this section the two schemes are compared each other from a cost standpoint. The
spreadsheets evaluation forms presented at the 2003 FEC workshop is used to perform
relative cost estimates. Cost factors have been obtained based on the designed vales, shown
in Table 3.2 and 3.3, without safety margin. The resulting cost estimates of the two schemes
is shown in Table 3.4. It can be noticed from Table 3.4 that power switches, capacitors,
transformers employed in both schemes did not give much difference in cost. However, the cost
of the inductor in the non-isolate boost converter section of Scheme I is significant due to its
high current capacity. Therefore, it can be concluded that Scheme II is superior to Scheme I in
cost.
Table 3.1 System parameters for power circuit design of the two schemes.
Scheme I

Scheme II

Non-isolated
Boost

Isolated
DC-DC

Inverter

Front-end
DC-DC

Inverter

Bi-directional
DC-DC

Switching
frequency

40kHz

20kHz

20kHz

25kHz

20kHz

20kHz

Input
voltage

22 ~ 41V

42 ~ 57.6V

400V

22 ~ 41V

400V

42 ~ 57.6V

Output
voltage

42 ~ 57.6V

400V

60Hz 120VAC
(Split phase)

400V

60Hz 120VAC
(Split phase)

400V

Table 3.2 Component ratings of Scheme I

Section

Non
-isolated
Boost

Isolated
DC-DC

Inverter

Component

Designed value

Actual device Selection

APT
APT10M07JVR
(100V, 225A, 7m)

MOSFET
(S1)

Vpeak (V)

57.6

Irms (A)

214.4

Diode
(D1)

Vpeak (V)

57.6

Irms (A)

266.2

Inductor
(L1)

Inductance

50 uH

Irms (A)

272.5

Capacitor
(C1)

Capacitance

3300uF

Vpeak (V)

77.7

MOSFET
(S2, S3, S4, S5)

Vpeak (V)

57.6

Irms (A)

336.66

Transformer
(T1)

Vrms (V)

47.3

Irms (A)

389.8

Diode
(D2 ~ D9)

Vpeak (V)

410

Irms (A)

13.75

Inductor
(L2, L3)

Inductance

100 uH

Ipeak (A)

27.3

Capacitor
(C2, C3)

Capacitance

5000 uF

Vpeak (V)

210

IGBT
(S6, S7, S8, S9)

Vpeak (V)

420

Irms (A)

50

Inductor
(L4, L5)

Inductance

93 uH

Irms (A)

42A

Capacitor
(C4, C5)

Capacitance

16uF

Digital Tech

Vpeak (V)

170V

(250V, 15uF, ESR 0.04)

10

IXYS
DSEI2x161-12P
(1200V, 2X128A, trr = 35ns)
MAGNETICS
43208 (EI)
Samwha
SZ2A338M35100
(100V, 3300uF, ESR 0.08)
IXYS
IXFN340N07
(70V, 340A, 4m)
MAGNETICS
49925 (U)
IXYS
DESI 30-10A
(1000V, 30A, trr = 50ns)
Chang-sung
CH270125E (Toroid)
Samwha
GF2G688M76160
(400V, 6800uF, ESR 0.04)
TOSHIBA
MG50Q2YS50
(600V, 50A, VCE(sat) 2.7V)
Chang-sung
CH572060E (Toroid)

Table 3.3 Component ratings of Scheme II

Section

Component
MOSFET
(S1, S2, S3, S4)

Transformer
(T1)

Front-end
DC-DC

Diode
(D1 D8)

Inductor
(L1, L2)

Capacitor
(C1, C2)

IGBT
(S5, S6, S7, S8)

Inverter

Inductor
(L3, L4)

Capacitor
(C3, C4)

MOSFET
(S9, S10)

Bi Directional
DC-DC

Transformer
(T2)

Inductor
(L5)

IGBT
(S11,S12, S13,S14)

Designed value

Actual Device Selection

Vpeak (V)

41

IXYS
IXFN340N07

Irms (A)

177.4

(70V, 340A, 4m)

Vrms (V)

47.3

Irms (A)

389.8

Vpeak (V)

410

Irms (A)

8.8

Inductance

100 uH

Irms (A)

12.6

Capacitance

5000 uF

Vpeak (V)

210

Vpeak (V)

420

Irms (A)

50

Inductance

93 uH

Irms (A)

42A

Capacitance

16uF

Digital Tech

Vpeak (V)

170V

(250V, 15uF, ESR 0.04)

Vpeak (V)

140

APT
APT20M20JFLL

Irms (A)

77.5

(200V, 104A, 20m)

Vrms (V)

58

Irms (A)

73.3

Inductance

40 uH

Irms (A)

113

Vpeak (V)

420

Irms (A)

13.1

11

MAGNETICS
49925 (U)
IXYS
DESI 30-10A
(1000V, 30A, trr = 50ns)
Chang-sung
CH270125E (Toroid)
Samwha
GF2G688M76160
(400V,6800uF, ESR 0.04)
TOSHIBA
MG50Q2YS50
(600V, 50A, VCE(sat) 2.7V)
Chang-sung
CH572060E (Toroid)

MAGNETICS
49925 (U)

Chang-sung
CH572060E (Toroid)
TOSHIBA
MG50J2YS50
(600V, 50A, VCE(sat) 2.7V)

Table 3.4 Cost estimates of the two schemes according to FEC 2003 cost spreadsheet
Scheme I
Component

MOSFET

Scheme II

Desig.

Qty

Cost
Factor

Unit
Cost ($)

Extended
Cost ($)

Desig.

Qty

Cost
Factor

Unit
Cost ($)

Extended
Cost ($)

S1

12349

10,44

10.44

S1 ~ S4

7273.4

7.71

30.85

S2 ~ S5

22419

14.75

50.01

S9, S10

10850

9.64

19.27

D1

15333

3.45

3.45

D1 ~ D8

3608

2.38

9.55

D2 ~ D5

5637

2.57

10.30

S5 ~ S9

21000

8.43

33.7

S5 ~ S8

21000

8.45

33.7

S11~S14

5502

2.3

9.2

T1

18437

24.7

24.7

T2

4251.4

10.94

10.94

Diode

IGBT

T1

18437

26.55

26.55

Transformer

Inductor

Capacitor

L1

3.69

249.51

249.51

L1, L2

0.01

41.8

83.7

L2, L3

0.07

44.5

89

L4, L5

0.16

49.81

99.62

L4, L5

0.16

49.81

99.62

L5

0.5

68.7

68.7

C1

19.92

2.85

2.85

C1, C2

220

30.63

61.27

C2, C3

220

30.63

61.26

C4, C5

0.46

0.16

0.32

C4, C5

0.46

0.16

0.32

Total Cost

636.97

451.82

3.4 Efficiency Evaluation

In this section, efficiency is compared each other by means of power loss calculation.
For reasonable efficiency comparison the power loss is calculated based on when the output
power is 5KW. That is, efficiency is evaluated at the steady-state load condition excluding
battery operation. As shown in Table 3.2 and 3.3, actual devices from some manufactures
have been selected with appropriate safety margin based on the designed value. From the
datasheet of the selected devices, the power loss can be calculated in the following manner.
The switching loss and conduction loss are considered for power switching devices such as
diodes, MOSFETs and IGBTs. The core loss and copper loss of the transformer can be
calculated from the selected core and wire from the manufacture. Only copper loss has been

12

considered for inductor since copper loss dominates when an inductor is operated as a filter
at high frequency. Capacitor loss is calculated using ESR of the selected capacitor.
The efficiency of the both schemes can be obtained based on the power loss estimates in
Table 3.5. The estimated efficiencies are 85.4% for Scheme I and 94.6% for Scheme II,
respectively. Losses in the diode and the MOSFET in the non-isolate boost converter section of
Scheme I are significant. The losses in the two switches exceed 50% of the total loss of Scheme
I. Scheme II is superior to Scheme I in both cost and efficiency. In conclusion, the SNUT team
decided to choose Scheme II for the power circuit topology.
Table 3.5 Power loss estimates of the two schemes based on manufactures datasheet
Scheme I
Device

Switching loss

0.012

Conduction loss

63.3

Switching loss

29.8

Conduction loss

36.7

Switching loss

29.4

Core loss

15.9

Copper loss

24.87

Copper loss

0.074

Core loss

1.65

Copper loss

0.007

C1, C2

Capacitor loss

0.0036

C3, C4

Capacitor loss

69.2

Switching loss

0.875

Conduction loss

20.62

Switching loss

0.024

Conduction loss

122.1

Switching loss

40.69

Conduction loss

63.3

Switching loss

29.8

Conduction loss

36.7

Switching loss

29.4

Core loss

31.84

Copper loss

45.77

L1

Copper loss

7.77

L1, L2

L2, L3

Copper loss

0.148

L3, L4

Core loss

1.65

Copper loss

0.007

C1

Capacitor loss

29.15

C2, C3

Capacitor loss

0.15

C4, C5

Capacitor loss

69.2

S1
MOSFET
S2 ~ S5

S6 ~S9

T1

L4, L5

Total Loss

13.2

335.6

D2 ~ D5

Capacitor

Conduction loss

Conduction loss

Diode

Inductor

Extended
Loss (W)

Extended
Loss (W)

D1

Transformer

Loss

Loss

Desig.

IGBT

Scheme II

864.8

13

Desig.
D1 ~ D8

S1 ~ S4

S5 ~ S8

T1

284.12

4. Design rationale
According to the topology evaluation in Section 3, the SNUT team decided to choose
Scheme II, shown in Fig. 3.1(b) , for the power circuit topology. The block diagram for the
SNUT fuel cell inverter system is shown in Fig. 4.1. The inverter system consists of a front
end DC-DC converter, a DC-AC inverter and a bi-directional DC-DC converter. Both the
fuel cell current control and the dc link voltage control are performed for the front end DCDC converter to improve dynamic performance of the system during a transient state.
The bi-directional DC-DC converter is operated to charge or discharge the battery according
to the current reference and the mode of operation determined by the DSP. The two PWM
controllers are employed for charge and discharge modes of operation, respectively.

IFC

Fuel Cell

22~41V

IBatt

IBatt
VBatt

Idc

Io
Inverter

Vdc

+ Vo
-

DSP
320LF2407

UCC 3895

48V

400V

VFC

IFC
VFC
Idc
Vdc
Battery

Front-end
DC-DC

Load
120V/240V
60HZ
AC output

Io
Vo

Bi-directional
DC-DC

VBatt

UCC 3895
&
UCC 3825

Fig. 4.1 Block diagram of the SNUT fuel cell inverter system
4.1 Front end DC-DC converter
A Front end DC-DC converter is required to boost a unregulated fuel cell voltage of 29V
nominal to a regulated 400V, as shown in Fig. 4.2. The full-bridge type is a topology of
choice with which a phase-shift PWM technique can be implemented.

14

I L + VL +

S1

D1

S2

Fuel Cell
22 ~ 41 V

Vin

C in

Vpri2

D3

C1

D4

Vsec1

Vsec2

I dc

L1

Vd

T1
Vpri1

D2

D5

D6

D7

D8

Vdc
400V

L2

N p : Ns
S3

S4

C2

Fig. 4.2 Circuit diagram of front end DC-DC converter

The phase shift control can achieve zero voltage switching, reducing the losses in the
switch and therefore increasing system efficiency. High frequency transformers are
employed to allow a low voltage to be boosted to two split 200VDC buses for the DC link to
the Inverter. The two high frequency transformers connected in parallel supply two separate
diode bridges connected in series. The reason why two 2.5kW high frequency transformers
are employed instead of using a 5kW high frequency transformer is to reduce the leakage
inductances and therefore to reduce the duty loss.

Fig. 4.3 Main waveforms of the front-end DC-DC converter

15

The reduce duty loss also reduces turns ratio of the transformer. This reduces the voltage
rating of diodes in the secondary side and current rating of MOSFETs in the primary side.
Fig. 4.3 shows the main waveforms of the front-end DC-DC converter.
From the inductor voltage VL an equation can be written as,

Ns 1
DT 1
T (1 D)
Vdc )
= Vdc

Np 2
2
2
2

(Vin

(1)

Therefore, the duty cycle of the proposed front-end DC-DC converter is obtained by,

D=

N p Vdc

(2)

4 N s Vin

According to eqn.(2), the duty cycle ranges 0.24 to 0.45 to regulate the dc link voltage of
400V when the fuel cell voltage varies between 22V and 41V.
4.1.1

Power component design

The power components of the front end DC-DC converter are designed in this section
with the following system parameters.

DC link power Pdc : 5kW

Switching frequency fs : 25kHz

Input voltage Vin: 22 ~ 41V

DC link voltage Vdc : 400V

Transformer turns ratio Np : Ns = 1 : 10

The maximum current at the dc link is,

I dc =

Pdc
= 12.5 A
Vdc

(3)

Filter inductor Design

DT
, the inductor voltage becomes,
2
N
1
VL = Vin s Vdc
Np 2

During 0 < t <

16

(4)

This inductance can be obtained by combining eqns.(2) and (4),

(1 2 D ) (
L=

Ns
) Vin D
Np

(5)

I f s

Assuming a permissible ripple current on the inductor to be 50% of the maximum current
at the dc link or 6.25A peak to peak, the inductance can be calculated using eqn.(5) to be L
= 100 uH. The peak inductor current can also be calculated as,

1
I L, peak = I dc + I = 15.6 A
2

(6)

From Fig. 4.3, the rms value of inductor current can also be calculated as,

I L,rms = 12.6 A
Power switch design
The voltage rating of diodes and MOSFETs are calculated based on the moment at which
the fuel cell outputs a maximum of 41V at a minimum duty cycle of D = 0.24. The current
rating of diodes and MOSFETs are calculated based on the moment at which the fuel cell
draws a maximum current of 275A at a maximum duty cycle of D = 0.45.
a. Diodes
When the fuel cell voltage is 41V, the secondary winding voltage becomes 410V,
therefore, the peak voltage of a rectifier diode is 410V. A safety margin should be
considered due to the ringing phenomenon at the secondary winding of the high frequency
transformer. The voltage rating of the diode is determined to be 600V. A ultra-fast recovery
diode is chosen to lower the switching loss due to the high switching frequency
operation(25kHz). As the diode always conducts half of a switching cycle, the average
current rating of the diode can be obtained by,

I D ,av =

1
I dc = 6.25 A
2

(7)

The peak current of the diode is identical to the peak current of the inductor. Then,

I D , peak = I L, peak = 15.6 A

(8)

17

A ultra-fast recovery diode with a rating of 600V, 20A was selected from a manufacture.
b. MOSFETs
Power MOSFETs were selected as a switching device for the front-end DC-DC converter
since they should operate under the low voltage and high current condition. The peak
voltage of a MOSFET is 41V which is the maximum fuel cell voltage. Considering a safety
margin due to voltage spikes originated from the leakage inductance of the high frequency
transformer, the device voltage rating over 70V should be acceptable. By multiplying the av
and peak value of the diode by the turns ratio of the transformer, the av and peak values of
the MOSFET can be calculated be 125A and 275A, respectively. Considering safety
margins, MOSFETs with ratings of 70V, 340A were selected from a manufacture.
Transformer Design
As mentioned at the above, two 2.5KW high frequency transformers are employed and the
transformer design for the 2.5KW transformer is described in the following.
a. Core material
Ferrite is an ideal core material for transformers and inductors in the frequency range 20 KHz
to 3MHz, due to the combination of low core cost and core losses. Ferrite core is chosen as a
material of a high frequency transformer.
b. Core size
The power handling capacity of a transformer core can be determined by its area product
WaAc, where Wa is the available core window area, and Ac is the effective core cross-sectional
area. The SNUT team would follow the procedure for transformer core size selection provided
by Magnetics Co [8].
The area product is given by,

Wa Ac =

Pdc C 108
4 e B fs K

(9)

where Pdc is output power, C is current capacity, e is transformer efficiency, B is flux density,

18

Table 4.1 47054-EC Magnetic data (MAGNETICS Inc.)

AL values (mH/1000turns)

Minimum
Area

Materials

Combination
2300
K
(min.)

2500
R
(min.)

3000
P
25%

5000
F
(min.)

Ie

Ae

(cm)

(cm2)

2,440

2,650

4,240

23.1

3.39

EER

Ve

SET
NOM.
Wt.

(cm2)

(cm3)

(gms)

3.14

78.6

396

WaAc
(cm4)

34

fs is switching frequency and K is winding factor. The core type of choice is EER core, then
C = 5.07 103 cm2 / Amp

(10)

The transformer efficiency is assumed to be 90%. The winding factor is K = 0.3 (primary side
only). The flux density B is assumed be 4500(gauss). Then, the WaAc product is calculated as,
Wa Ac = 23.47cm 4

(11)

Using the core selection table by area product distribution (refer to Appendix C), the core of
47054-EC was selected. Magnetic data for the selected core is shown in Table 4.1.
c. Number of turns
Once a core is chosen, the calculation of primary and secondary turns and their wire sizes are
readily accomplished. The number of primary turns is given by [8],
Np =

VP 108
41108
=
= 6.02turns
4 B A f s 4 2000 3.39 25000

(12)

Here, Vp is the peak primary voltage is and A is the cross-sectional area of the core, which are
given in Table 4.1. Considering duty loss of 20% at the secondary winding of the transformer
originated from the leakage inductance, the final number of turns for primary and secondary
windings are determined to be,
Np : Ns = 6 : 90
d. Wire size
The wire size of the transformer windings is calculated based on the rms value of the winding
current. Since the winding current is 2 times larger than the switch current at each side of the
transformer, the rms vales of the primary and secondary winding currents can be calculated to

19

be 187A and 12.5A, respectively. Then, at 500 circular mils per rms ampere the required number
of circular mils is obtained by [9],
Primary circular mil requirement

= 500 I rms = 93,500

Secondary circular mil requirement = 500 I rms = 5,900

Hence, the wire sizes AWG 0 and AWG 12 are selected from AWG table for the primary and
secondary wires, respectively.
4.1.2 Control Method
Fig. 4.4 shows the block diagram for the feedback control of the front end DC-DC
converter. The first goal of the control is to regulate the dc link voltage. A PI compensator
is used for the voltage control. A current control is also implemented to improve the
dynamic characteristic of the system and to reduce current ratings of the power components
during load transient condition.
The current reference is restricted by a current limiter whose value is adjusted by a signal
from the DSP based on the fuel cell current command so that the power drawn from the fuel
cell does not exceed its capability. A low cost phase shift PWM controller UCC3895 is
employed for control of the front-end DC-DC converter. The UCC3895 implements control
of a full-bridge power stage by phase shifting the switching of one half-bridge with respect
to the other. It allows constant frequency PWM in conjunction with resonant zero-voltage
switching to provide high efficiency at high frequencies. A useful feature provided by the
UCC3895 is soft start capability that allows the system to be protected from capacitor
inrush currents.
FCC
Current Command
Voltage
Ref.

Fuel Cell Current

Current
Ref.

Voltage
Controller

Current
Controller

Fuel Cell
DC Power Input

Front end
DC-DC Converter

Current limiter
DC link Voltage

Fig. 4.4 Control block diagram for front end DC-DC converter
20

To Inv

4.1.3 Sensing & Protection

The front-end DC-DC inverter provides the protection capability of over current, over/under
voltage and over temperature in the circuit. The UCC3895 provides the capability to detect any
fault signal through an input pin of the chip and will shut down the chip by disabling all the gate
signals to the front-end DC-DC converter.
This shutdown process is accomplished by any one of the following conditions : 1) the dc
link voltage measured exceeds a threshold voltage of 500V. 2) the fuel cell voltage goes over
41V or under 22V. 3) the temperature of a bimetal that is mounted on the heat sink of the DCDC converter rises over 80C. 4) the current drawn from the fuel cell exceeds 100% of the
maximum fuel cell current during longer than 1 minute . A resistive divider followed by an
isolation amplifier has been used as a voltage sensing circuit. The fuel cell current is sensed
through a low resistance shunt resistor for over current protection. Fast fuses have been
used to protect the DC-DC converter itself from being damaged by any fault of the other
section of the inverter system. The schematic diagram for the sensing circuit is shown in the
Appendix A.1.

4.2 DC-AC Inverter

The DC-to-AC inverter section, shown in Fig. 4.5, is located between the DC-DC converter
and the load.
IC1

SW3

C1

SW1
Lf

I SA

Ia

Lf

400VDC
SW4

Ib

Vab

A
B

SW2

Vb

C2
Cf

Va

Cf
N

Fig. 4.5 Circuit diagram of the inverter

21

The inverter system consists of two half-bridge inverters, utilizing center tapped dc link
capacitors followed by output filters. The front-end DC-DC converter maintains equal 200V
on the dc-link capacitors, and two inverter legs are operated to generate a split single-phase
120/240Vac, 60Hz output.
A low cost DSP is implemented to provide the control scheme for the inverter system. A
digital PI compensator is employed to regulate the output voltage under varying load condition.
4.2.1

Inverter design

In this section the ratings of the power components in the inverter system are determined. A
detailed list of the inverter requirement for our inverter design is,
- 5kW continuous @ displacement factor 0.7 leading or lagging, 10kW overload for 1 min.
- Output voltage : 120/240V(split-phase).
- Output frequency : 60Hz0.1Hz.
- Output voltage THD : less than 5% when supplying a stand nonlinear test load.
- Output voltage regulation quality : output voltage tolerance no wider than 6%.
DC Link Capacitors
For a worst case, 10KW overload for 1 minute at displacement factor of 0.7 is considered,
then the output VA becomes,

VAout =

10000
= 14280VA
0.7

(13)

The full load current of each phase is given by,

I a , rms =

14280
= 59.5 A
2 120

(14)

For the sake of simplicity, the output current ia is assumed to consist of only fundamental (Ia,1)
and third harmonic (Ia,3). Further, assuming Ia,3 = 0.7Ia,1 since this is a typical case of a single
phase rectifier type nonlinear load [5],
2

I a . rms I a ,1 + I a ,3 = 1.22 I a ,1

(15)

Therefore, the fundamental rms value of each phase output current becomes,

22

I a ,1 =

59.5
= 48.77 A
1.22

(16)

The most dominant component of the DC-link capacitor current ic1 is the fundamental
frequency current, the rms value of which equals,

I c1,1

1
I a ,1 = 24.3 A
2

(17)

For a permissible voltage ripple Vc1 less than 10% or 20V, capacitance can be obtained by,

I c1,1
24.3
=
= 3222 F
Vc1 2 60 20

C1 =

(18)

The peak voltage rating of the dc link capacitor C1 becomes,

1
1
Vc1, peak = VDC + Vc1 = 210V
2
2

(19)

Based on these designed values, an actual device of 250V 3300uF was selected from a
manufacture.
Inverter switches
The av current rating of an inverter switch can be obtained by,

I SA,av = 28 A

(20)

The peak voltage rating of each IGBT is 420V which is the peak dc link voltage.
Based on these designed values, IGBTs with 600V 50A rating were selected from a manufacture.
Output filter design
Assuming the switching frequency fs to be 20kHz, the frequency ratio is,

n=

fs
= 333.3
f1

(21)

An equivalent circuit for output filter design is shown in Fig. 4.6. The transfer function Hn for
the equivalent circuit can be obtained by,

Hn =

Va , n
jX c Z L , n
=
Vin nX L X c + jZ L , n (n 2 X L X c )

23

(22)

jnX L

Vin

Ia
-jXc
n

Va,h

ZL,n

Fig. 4.6 Equivalent circuit for a LC output filter

The gain of the transfer function at fundamental frequency, H1, approximates unity if

X L X c

(23)

Va,n : output voltage harmonic

Vin : input voltage harmonic
Xc : impedance of capacitor
XL : impedance of inductor
ZL,n : impedance of load
n : harmonic due to the switching
As the load impedance ZL,n approaches to infinity, that is, at no load condition the gain at
harmonic frequency,Hn, approximates in the following,

Hn =

Xc
1
=
n X L X c n2 X L 1
Xc

(24)

Therefore, to satisfy THD requirement of less than 5%, only the switching frequency
component is considered as [5],

1
0.045
2 XL
1
n
Xc

(25)

To limit the ripple voltage across the filter capacitor generated from the third harmonic load
current, an equivalent circuit is considered as shown in Fig. 4.7. The current flowing through the
filter capacitor is,

24

jnX L

Ic
-jXc
n

Va,h

Ia,h

Fig. 4.7 Equivalent circuit for a non-linear load

Ic =

jhX L

jX
C + jhX L
h

I a,h

(26)

Then, the voltage across the filter capacitor at a harmonic frequency becomes,

Va,h : equivalent voltage

Ih : current at harmonic
Xc : impedance of capacitor
XL : impedance of inductor

h : harmonic due to non-linear load

Va , h =

jhX L
I a,h
2 XL
1 h
XC

(27)

This can further approximate,

Va , h hX L I a , h

(28)

XL
1
XC

if h 2

(29)

For the third harmonic h = 3,

Va ,3
Va ,1

3 X L I a ,3
Va ,1

(30)

The capacitor ripple voltage at the third harmonic frequency is limited to 3% of the fundamental
output voltage. Then, the impedance of the filter inductor can be determined by,

XL

0.03 Va ,1
3 I a ,3

0.03 120
= 0.035
3 (34.14)

25

(31)

Then, the filter inductance becomes,

Lf =

XL
0.035
=
= 92.84H
2f1 2 60

(32)

From eqns. (25) and (31) the impedance of the capacitor can be obtained by,
XC = 167.46

(33)

Then, the filter capacitance becomes,

Cf =

1
= 16 F
2 f1 X c

(34)

Based on these designed values, inductors with 100H and capacitor with 20F were selected
from a manufacture.
4.2.2

Inverter control by using a DSP

The control for the entire SNUT inverter system is done with the Texas Instrument
TMS320LF2407 DSP [7]. The DSP is a 40MIPS, fixed-point processor. This chip has 16 PWM
signals, 41 general purpose digital I/O pins, 16 high-speed A/D converter inputs, and a serial
communication port. By implementing the control via DSP, the proposed inverter system will
offer increased flexibility and will minimize component cost. The goal of the DSP control is as
follows: 1) the PWM gating signals for IGBTs in the inverter stage are generated according to
the modulation index 2) all of the sensing parameters are sent back to the DSP and are
monitored for control and for fault conditions 3) output voltage regulation is implemented to
meet THD specifications under varying load conditions 4) communication between the DSP in
the inverter system and the fuel cell controller are provided through RS485 and two TTL signals
5) The current reference for the bi-directional DC-DC converter is calculated by comparing the
fuel cell current command to the output real power, and the resultant reference with
charge/discharge mode is sent to the bi-directional DC-DC converter.
4.2.3

Voltage regulation method

Output voltage tolerance should not be wider than 6% over the full line voltage and
temperature range, from no-load to full-load. To meet the output voltage tolerance requirement

26

the AC output voltage is sensed and a closed-loop control is implemented with a digital PI
compensator in the DSP.
The AC output voltage sensing circuit consists of a potential transformer (PT), a gain stage, an
offset stage and a filtering stage. The PT is low in cost and has an isolation. The output of the
gain stage is sent to the offset stage, which is necessary because the A/D converter in DSP is
unipolar. The last stage is a high frequency noise filter which is the unity gain, non-inverting 2th
order Butterworth with cutoff frequency of 5kHz. The output voltage from the sensing circuit is
fed to the DSP and is subtracted from a sine wave reference. This error signal is applied to a PI
compensator and then the resultant signal is compared to a triangular wave of 20KHz. A
sinusoidal PWM signal is generated and sent to the gate drive circuit for IGBTs. All the PI
compensation and the sinusoidal PWM generation are implemented within the DSP. Thus, the
DSP will adjust the modulation index to keep the output voltage regulated under unbalanced
load condition and from no-load to full-load. The circuit diagram for the DSP board and the gate
driver are shown in the appendix A.3 and A.4.
4.2.4

Capacitor voltages balancing

Unbalance in dc-link capacitor voltages causes generation of even harmonics in the inverter
output voltages. A control method of balancing the capacitor voltages is shown in Fig. 4.8.
Va*
Vb*
Va.dc*= 0
+

Va

PWM.A

INV

PWM.B

Phase.A offset
Va.dc

LPF

Fig. 4.8 Control method of balancing the capacitor voltages.

27

Vb

Suppose output voltage Va has a positive dc offset, which means that the upper capacitor voltage
is greater than the lower capacitor voltage. The output voltage Va is sensed and passed through a
low pass filter to obtain a dc component of voltage Va. This causes addition of a positive value
to the reference output voltage Vb* resulting in a decrease in upper capacitor voltage and an
increase in lower capacitor voltage.
4.2.5

Sensing and protection

The SNUT DC-to-AC inverter provides the protection capability of over-current, short circuit,
and over temperature in the circuit to prevent damage to the front-end DC-DC converter stage,
fuel cell and inverter itself. Over-current protection is implement by using a current transformer
followed by several op-amp stages. If the output current measured ranges between 100% and
110% of full load current over 1 minute, a signal is sent to the gate drive for shutdown and to
the DSP to light up the over current fault LED. Also, the DC-to-AC inverter can be protected
from output short circuit. If the output current measured exceeds a threshold of 110% of full
load current, a signal is sent to the gate drive for immediate shutdown and to the DSP to light up
the short circuit fault LED. Temperature protection is implemented by using a bimetal as a
temperature sensor that is mounted on the heat sink of the inverter. If the temperature of the
sensor rises over 60C a fan on the heat sink starts to operate. If the temperature of the sensor
rises over 80C a signal is sent to the gate drive for immediate shutdown and to the DSP to light
up the over temperature fault LED. The inverter also shuts down for safe operation if the DC
link voltage goes over 500V or under 300V. The schematic diagram for the sensing circuit is
shown in the Appendix A.2.

4.3 Bi-directional DC-DC converter

4.3.1 Description and Approach
The fuel cell has a slow response, and therefore power demand from the load and power
supply from the fuel cell does not coincide during the transient load condition.

28

Fig. 4.9 Bi-directional DC-DC converter

Therefore, a secondary energy source is required to match the power difference between the
fuel cell and the load. The SNUT team decided to connect the 48V lead acid battery pack that
will be provided at the competition site into the 400V dc link of the SNUT inverter system.
Therefore, a bi-directional DC-DC converter is employed to charge or discharge the battery.
High voltage batteries could be directly connected to the 400V dc link without any intermediate
power converter, but the high voltage battery is relatively expensive and may have the battery
cell unbalance problem. The power converter topology of choice between the battery and the dc
link is the high frequency bi-directional DC-DC converter as shown in Fig. 4.9. The currentsource push-pull converter on the battery side is operated to discharge the battery whereas the
voltage-source full-bridge converter on the dc link side is operated to charge the battery. The
push-pull converter employs MOSFETs as switching devices due to its low voltage and high
current operation whereas the full-bridge converter employs IGBTs due to its high voltage and
low current operation.
According to the recently changed battery management policy by FCT, the battery
management is performed by the fuel cell system.
The DSP in the inverter system is required to determine current reference for the bidirectional DC-DC converter by calculating the difference in real power between the fuel cell
system and the load.
29

Fig. 4.10

Control block diagram for the bi-directional DC-DC converter

Then, the bi-directional DC-DC converter is operated to charge or discharge the battery
according to the current reference and the mode of operation determined by the DSP. The two
PWM controllers, UCC3825 and UCC3895, are employed for charge and discharge modes of
operation, respectively. The control block diagram for the bi-directional DC-DC converter is
shown in Fig. 4.10. The PI control is implemented for current control of both converters. The
inductor current is sensed and compared to a reference determined by the DSP, and then the
error is applied to a PI compensator.
The PWM controller generates the gating signal for switching devices of a converter. Only
one of the two converters should be in operation while the other is in idle state. If the current
drawn from the battery exceeds 120A which is the maximum discharging current, the chip will
shut down the bi-directional DC-DC converter by disabling all the gate signals. The battery
voltage is fed to the DSP and is used for the calculation of the charging current reference. When
the battery is in deep discharge (< 42V) or over charge (>56.7V) states, the DSP will shut down
the bi-directional DC-DC converter to protect the battery from being damaged.
Fig. 4.11 shows the inductor voltage and current waveforms for charge and discharge modes,
respectively. Let us define the turns ratio n2 of the high frequency transformer T2 to be,
n2 =

Ns
Np

(35)

30

(a) Charge mode

Fig. 4.11

(b) Discharge mode

Inductor voltage & current waveforms

During the charge mode, we have

(Vbatt

Vdc
1
) DTS = Vbatt ( D)TS
2
n2

(36)

which gives

Vbatt 2 D
=
Vdc
n2

(where, 0 < D < 0.5)

(37)

During the discharge mode, we have

Vbatt Dd TS = (Vbatt

Vdc
1
) ( Dd )TS
n2
2

(38)

which gives

Vdc
n2
=
Vbatt (1 2 Dd )

(0 < Dd < 0.5)

(39)

Vdc
n2
=
Vbatt 2(1 D)

(0.5 < D < 1, where D = 0.5+Dd)

(40)

4.3.2 Power component design

In this section the power component ratings of the bi-directional DC-DC converter is
determined. The system parameters for the design are given in the following.

The switching frequency for both modes are assumed to be 20kHz

31

 Battery voltage Vbatt : 48V nominal ( 42V~56.7V)

DC link voltage Vdc : 400V nominal ( 380V~420V assuming 10% of ripple)
Output power at the dc link Pdc = 5000W (max. 1 min.)
Turns ratio of the high frequency transformer
It can be seen from Fig. 4.13 that
Vbatt

Vdc
<0
n2

(41)

For the above equation to be always satisfied, the turns ratio is,
n2 < 6.597

(42)

The turns ratio should be selected as large as possible due to the fact that larger turns ratio gives
smaller inductance L, smaller voltage rating of MOSFETs and smaller current rating of IGBTs.
Therefore, the turns ratio is determined to be n2 = 6.
Inductor design
When the battery is being charged, ripple component in the charging current should be
restricted by inductor L on the battery side. The magnitude of the charging current depends on
the capacity of the battery. The maximum charging current is assumed to be 45A since the
capacity of the battery in the FCT fuel cell system is known to be 155Ah. We allow the ripple
current to be 20% of the maximum charging current, that is, iL = 9A
During the charge mode, it can be seen from eqn (37) that the duty ratio D lies between
0.33 < D < 0.5

(43)

When the switches S3 and S6 are turned on during the charge mode we have (See Fig. 4.14(a)),
(Vdc / n2 ) Vbatt
i
= L
L
DTS

(44)

Then, combining eqns. (37) and (44) the inductance is obtained by,
L =

(1 2 D) D
Vdc
n2 iL f s

(45)

The worst case value of the inductance becomes L = 39uH.

The current rating of the inductor is dominated by discharge mode of operation since the bi-

32

directional DC-DC converter should be able to supply full power of 5KW at a maximum load of
10KW. The maximum dc current at the output can be calculated as,
I dc =

Pdc
= 12.5 A
Vdc

(46)

Ignoring power loss in the bi-directional DC-DC converter, average power on the battery side is
the same as average power on the dc link side. Then, the average inductor current become,
IL =

n2 I dc
2(1 D)

(47)

Then, the average inductor current at a maximum discharge becomes,

IL = 113.6 (A) when D = 0.67.
When switches S1 and S2 are turned on during the discharge mode we have (See Fig. 4.14(b)),
Vbatt
i L
=
L
Dd TS

(48)

Then, combining eqn. (48) and D=0.5+Dd the ripple current can be determined by,
i L =

( D 0.5)
Vbatt
L fs

(49)

From eqns. (47) and (49), the rms current rating of the inductor becomes
I L rms = 113 A

(50)

Therefore, we choose an inductor with the inductance of 39uH and the rms inductor current
rating of 113A.
Switch ratings
Since the maximum battery discharge current is much larger than the maximum battery
charge current, the switch ratings of the bi-directional DC-DC converter should also be
determined based on the discharge mode of operation at full load (5KW, 1min.).
The voltage and current ratings at the worst case are listed in Table 4.2. Actual devices have
been selected from a manufacture.

33

Table 4.2 Voltage and current ratings of the switch based on maximum discharge operation
Devices

Current rating

MOSFETs

Ipeak = 119.6A

S1,S2

Iav = 60A

IGBTs

Ipeak = 19.93A

S3~S6

Iav = 9.5A

Voltage rating

Actual device selected

Vpeak = 140V
Vpeak = 420V

200V. 100A
MOSFETs
600V. 20A
IGBTs

Transformer Design
In order to reduce the leakage inductances of the high frequency transformer two 2.5KW
transformers are connected in parallel to form a 5KW transformer. The reduced transformer
leakage inductance s results in reducing the rating of the snubber mounted on the primary side.
The 2.5KW transformer design is described in the following.
a. Transformer core material
Ferrite core is chosen as a material of a high frequency transformer due to its low cost
and low losses characteristics for transformers and inductors in the frequency range 20 KHz
to 3MHz.
b. Transformer core size
The SNUT team would follow the procedure for transformer core size selection provided by
Magnetic Inc. [8]. The core type of choice is EER core, then
C = 5.07 10 3 cm 2 / Amp

(51)

The transformer efficiency is assumed to be 90%. The winding factor is K = 0.3(primary side
only). The flux density B is assumed be 2000(gauss) and fs = 20KHz.
Then, from eqn(9) the WaAc product is given by,
Wa Ac =

2500 (5.07 10 3 ) 10 8
= 29.34cm 4
4 0.9 2000 20000 0.3

(52)

Using the core selection table by area product distribution, a core of 47054-EC(MAGNETICS
Inc.) was selected. Magnetic data for the selected core is shown in Table 4.1.
c. number of turns
The number of primary turns is given by [8],

34

Np =

VP 108
140 108
=
= 25.81turns
4 BAf s
4 2000 3.39 20000

(53)

From the turns ratio which has been obtained by n2=6, the final number of turns for primary and
secondary windings are determined to be,
Np : Ns = 26: 156
d. wire size
At a discharge mode of operation at the full load (5KW, 1min.), the rms vales of the primary
and secondary winding currents are 39.2A and 8.4A, respectively. Then, at 500 circular mils per
rms ampere the required number of circular mils is obtained by [9],
Primary circular mil requirement = 500 I rms = 19,600
Secondary circular mil requirement = 500 I rms = 4,200
Hence, the wire sizes AWG 7 and AWG 13 are selected from AWG table for the primary and
secondary wires, respectively.

4.4 System interface

4.4.1 Communication interface
The SNUT team will connect a PC into the inverter system so that the output phase
voltage, the output phase current, the output power, the frequency of the output voltage and
some inverter status including faults, etc. could be monitored. All the data monitored are
also recorded in the PC and updated every two minutes so that inverter status could be
interpreted after the fault has occurred. The programming language, Visual C++, has been
used for PC monitoring program.
4.4.2 Monitoring Function
Fig. 4.13 shows an example view of the PC monitor display. The explanation on the display
menu is given in the following.
Inverter System Status
Input Voltage : Display actual input voltage of the front-end DC-DC converter.

35

Fig 4.12 Display of RS-232

Input Current : Display actual input current of the front-end DC-DC converter.
Input Power : Display actual input power of the front end DC-DC converter.
Output Voltage : Display actual output voltage between phases A and B of the inverter.
Output Current : Display actual output current between phases A and B of the inverter
Output Power : Display actual output average power between phases A and B of the
inverter
OL time : Display actual over load time.
DC Link Voltage : Display actual dc-link voltage.
Bi-direction System Status
D_charge ref. : Display the current reference for battery discharge
Charge ref. : Display the current reference for battery charge.
Battery Voltage : Display actual battery voltage.
36

Inverter Output : Phase A / B

Frequency : Display actual frequency of the Inverter output voltage.
Voltage : Display actual inverter output voltage in rms.
Current : Display actual inverter output current in rms.
V_mean : Display actual inverter output voltage offset.
Power_avg : Display actual real power(W) at the inverter output.
Power_app : Display actual apparent power(VA) at the inverter output.
P_factor : Display actual power factor at the inverter output.
Fault Status
Over Load (5kw for a minute) : Over Load LED
(when the over load continue for a minute)
Under Voltage Trip (21V) : Under Voltage Trip LED
(when the input voltage is under 21V)
DC Link Fault (higher than 480V) : DC Link Fault LED
(when the DC-DC converter Output is higher than 480V)
DC Link Fault

(lower than 300V) : DC Link Fault LED

(when the DC-DC converter Output is lower than 300V)

Low Battery Fault (lower than 48v) : Low Battery Fault LED
(when the battery voltage is under than 48V)

4.5 Heat sink analysis

4.5.1 Thermal analysis
The heat generated by electrical loses from the switching devices should be dissipated to
avoid the performance degradation or failure. The heat sink is a crucial and a costly
component of the power processing unit. The factors to be considered for designing the heat
sink are material, weight, size, maximum heat load, surrounding temperature and cost. A
fan will be employed to increase the rate of convection heat transfer rate of the heat sink
37

making the size of the heat sink smaller. In this section the design of the heat sink for the
SNUT inverter system is detailed. The operating parameters such as total power dissipation
are defined and thermal circuits of the switching devices mounted on the heat sink are
established and analyzed. The first step is to calculate the power dissipation of a switching
device according to the equations below.
MOSFETs
Switching loss Psw =

1
I ds ( rms ) Vdc ( peak ) f s [t on + t off ]
2

Conduction loss Pcon = I 2 SW ( rms ) RDS ( on )

ton
ts

Total loss P = Pcon + Psw

(54)

(55)

(56)

IGBTs
Switching loss Psw =

1
Vdc ( peak ) I CE ( rms ) f s [ton + toff ]
2

Conduction loss Pcon = VCE ( sat ) I CE ( rms )

ton
ts

Total loss P = Pcon + Psw

(57)

(58)

(59)

Then, a thermal equivalent circuit for analyzing thermal characteristic of the heat sink is defined
as shown in Fig. 4.13 when two kinds of power devices are mounted on a heat sink.
Given power loss Pl (where, l = 1 or 2) of a switching device, junction to case thermal
resistance Rjc,l case to heat sink thermal resistance Rch,l ambient temperature Ta, and juntion
temperature Tj,l heat sink to ambient thermal resistance Rha can be obtained in the following
procedure.
The case temperature Tc,l can be given as,

Tc ,l = T j ,l Pl R jc ,l

(60)

38

Fig. 4.13 Thermal equivalent circuit

Then, heat sink temperature Th,l can be given as,

Th ,l = Tc ,l Pl Rch ,l

(61)

Then, the total heat sink temperature Th is,

Th = Th ,1 + Th , 2

(62)

Finally, heat sink to ambient thermal resistance Rha is obtained by,

Rha =

Th Ta
P1 + P2

(63)

4.5.2 Heat sink design

In this section the heat sink for SNUT inverter system is designed based on the actual devices
selected in the previous section. The switching loss, the conduction loss and the total power loss
of MOSFETs and IGBTs in each section are calculated using eqns. (54) to (59) and listed in
Table 4.3. A heat sink will be used for each section of the converters.
Now, the ambient temperature Ta, which is the temperature inside the package, is assumed to
be 40C. The case to heat sink thermal resistance Rch is usually considered to be 0.3C/W if a
thermal grease is applied between the case and the heat sink. The junction temperature Tj is
given in the data sheet of the power device. Then, the case temperature Tc, the heat sink
temperature Th and the heat sink to ambient thermal resistance Rha can be obtained using eqns.
(60) to (63) Table 4.4 summarizes the thermal characteristics required for the heat sink design.
Using the heat sink to ambient thermal resistance, the area of the heat sink required can be

39

calculated or the heat sink can directly be selected from a manufacture by the heat sink to
ambient thermal resistance obtained. Fig.4.14 to Fig.4.15 shows the heat sinks of each section
selected based on the heat sink to ambient thermal resistance Rha. A safety margin was
considered for actual heat sink selection from the manufacture.
Table 4.3 Power dissipation in the device used
Section

Device

Switching loss per unit

(Psw)

Conduction loss per unit

(Pcon)

Total loss per unit

(P)

Front-end
DC-DC

MOSFET

16.7

32.2

48.9

Diode

0.012

13.2

13.21

Inverter

IGBT

70.56

50.4

120.96

Bi-directional
DC-DC

MOSFET

48.3

59.4

107.7

IGBT

34.9

39.9

Table 4.4 Thermal characteristics for the heat sink design

Section

Device

Q`ty

Rjc(C/W)

Tj(C)

Tc(C)

Front-end
DC-DC

MOSFET

12

0.21

70.26

60

Diode

1.25

65.85

49.34

Inverter

IGBT

0.22

112.5

85.9

Bi-directional
DC-DC

MOSFET

0.18

103.3

80.92

IGBT

0.31

67.54

55.17

Th(C)

Rha(C/W)

45.38

0.11

49.7

0.08

Fig. 4.14 Heat sink for front-end DC-DC converter (Rha=0.09C/W)

40

Fig. 4.15 Heat sink for inverter and bi-directional (Rha=0.08C/W)

5. Simulation
In this section the whole inverter system designed in the previous section is simulated using
PSIM to validate the proposed design concept. The simulation was done with realistic
parameters of the selected device if possible. Fig. 5.1 shows the simulated waveforms for a
worst case of load transient from 5KW to 10KW and back to 5KW again. Fig. 5.1(a) shows the
inverter current on the dc side demonstrating an increase and a decrease in average value
according to the load change. Fig. 5.1(b) shows the output current of the front-end DC-DC
converter. The average value of the current did not change during the transients even if the
ripple was increased due to the operation of bi-directional DC-DC converter. The dc link
voltage was well regulated at 400V, as shown in Fig. 5.1(c). Fig. 5.1(d) and (e) shows the
current waveforms of the dc link side and the battery side of the bi-directional DC-DC converter,
respectively. This illustrates that for a sudden load change the bi-directional DC-DC converter
draws an amount of power from the battery, which is difference in power between the fuel cell
and the load. The output phase voltage was well regulated during the load transient while the
output current shows an increase and a decrease according to the load change.

41

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

Fig. 5.1 Simulated waveforms (5KW 10KW 5KW) (a) inverter current on the dc side,
(b) output current of the front-end DC-DC converter, (c) dc link voltage, (d) current
waveforms on the dc link side of the bi-directional DC-DC converter, (e) current
waveforms of the battery side of the bi-directional DC-DC converter, (f) output phase
voltage, (g) output phase current

42

6. Experimental Result
A 10KW prototype inverter has been built in the laboratory of SNUT, and experimental
waveforms are presented in this section. A programmable DC power source capable of
supplying 5KW was used instead of the fuel cell. Four 12V, 80AH batteries are connected in
series to form a 48V battery.

The experimental waveforms for a steady state condition at

4.4KW load level are shown in Fig. 6.1. Fig. 6.1(a) shows the output phase voltages VAN and
VBN, respectively. Fig. 6.1(b) shows the output voltage VAB and current with a linear load.
The experimental waveforms were obtained for a transient discharge mode of operation, that
is, a load increase from 2kW to 2.7kW. The upper trace in Fig. 6.2(a) shows the output current
of the front end DC-DC converter whose average value did not change after the transient even if
the ripple was slightly increased due to operation of bi-directional DC-DC converter. The lower
trace in Fig. 6.2(a) shows the dc link voltage, which undergoes an overshoot and is stabilized.
Fig. 6.2(b) shows the inverter current on the dc side indicating an increase in average value
according to the load increase. Fig.6.2(c) and (d) show the PWM current waveform on the dc
link side of the bi-directional DC-DC converter and its extended waveform in time scale,
respectively. Fig. 6.2(e) and (f) show the current waveform on the battery side of the bidirectional DC-DC converter and its extended waveform in time scale, respectively. This
demonstrates that for a sudden load increase the bi-directional DC-DC converter would quickly
draw an amount of power from the battery, which is difference in power between the fuel cell
and the load. The upper trace in Fig. 6.2(g) shows the output phase voltage which is well
regulated during the load increase. The lower trace in Fig. 6.2(g) shows a magnitude increase of
the output phase current indicating load increase. Fig. 6.2(h) shows the extended waveforms in
time scale for Fig. 6.2(g).
Photograph of the SNUT fuel cell inverter system is shown in Fig. 6.3..

43

(a) output voltages : phase AN and phase BN

(b) output voltage and current : phase AB

Fig. 6.1 Experimental waveforms (4.4kW load)

44

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

(g)

(h)

Fig. 6.2 Experimental waveforms ( 2KW 2.7KW ), (a) upper : output current of the front
end converter ; lower: dc link voltage, (b) dc side inverter current, (c) output current of the
bi-directional converter, (d) extended waveform of (c), (e) battery current, (f) extended
waveform of (e), (g) output phase voltage and current, (h) extended waveforms of (g)
45

Fig. 6.3 Photograph of the SNUT fuel cell inverter

7. Performance evaluation
The 10kW prototype inverter system was tested from no load to 4.4kW load. Experimental
performances of some important design items have been obtained and compared to minimum
target requirement of the inverter system as shown in Table 7.1. The SNUT prototype inverter
met the minimum target requirements for most of the design items such as frequency regulation,
THD of the output voltage, output voltage regulation and input current ripple. The SNUT
prototype demonstrated a good performance, especially in THD of output voltage and output
voltage regulation. The efficiency of the front end DC-DC converter section was 90% and that
of the inverter section was 97% resulting in total system efficiency of 88%.
The SNUT team is trying to increase the efficiency by optimizing design and selection of the
devices.

46

Table 7.1 Experimental performance (no load to 4.4kW load)

Design Item

2003 FEC
Specification performance

SNUT team
Experimental performance

Frequency

60Hz 0.1Hz

59.95Hz ~ 60.09Hz

THD (Output voltage harmonic)

5%

Lower than 1.94%

Regulation

6%

-2.4% ~ +0.2%

Input current ripple

3%

Lower than 2.2%

Efficiency (measured at 4.4kW load)

Higher than 90%

Total 88%
(DC-DC:90%, INV:97%)

8. Bill of Materials
A detailed bill of materials for the front end DC-DC converter, the DC-AC inverter, and the
bi-directional DC-DC converter sections is listed in Table 8.1. We could not find some electrical
parts such as power switching devices and transformer cores in Korea. Therefore, we sometimes
had to use parts which has much larger ratings than the designed value.

9. Cost analysis
The SNUT team has been placing great emphasis on cost through the whole design process.
There are many factors to purchasing electrical parts. The cost analysis is based on the
spreadsheets evaluation forms provided in the 2003 FEC workshop. The result of the cost
analysis for the front end DC-DC converter, the DC-AC inverter and the bi-directional DC-DC
converter are shown in Table 9.1 to 9.3, respectively. The cost of the front end DC-DC converter
was $233.23. The cost of the DC-AC inverter was $150.06. The cost of the bi-directional DCDC converter was $121.1. The total cost of the 10kW SNUT fuel cell inverter system was
$504.39. The values in the table indicate only preliminary, relative cost estimates, not dollars. A
detailed bill of material will be developed and provided in the final report for evaluation of
actual cost of product.

47

Table 8.1 Bill of materials

Component (Rating)

Manufacturer (Part number)

Qty.

IXYS (IXFN180N10)
IXYS (IXFN180N20)
Fuji (2MBI200N-060)
Toshiba (MG50J2YS50)
IXYS (DESI 2X31-10B)

12
2
2
2
5

Chang-Sung (CH270125E)
Chang-Sung (CH572060E)
Magnetics (K5528B026)

2
2
1

ISU ceramics (EE118)

Agilent (HCPL-316J)

2
2
14

TI (TMS320LF2407)
Unitrode (UCC3895)
Unitrode (UC3825)

1
2
1

Burr-Brown (ISO122)
Burr-Brown (INA126)
Burr-Brown (INA117)
National (LF353)
Fulltech (UF15P-12H)

2
2
1
20
3

LEM (HAS 400S)

LEM (HAS 200S)

1
3

Power switch
MOSFETs (100V, 180A)
MOSFETs (200V, 180A )
IGBTs (600V, 200A )
IGBTs (600V, 50A)
Diodes (1000V, 2X30A )
Inductor
MPP core (100uH, 15A)
MPP core (93uH, 60A)
MPP core (40uH, 120A)
Transformer
Ferrite EE core (2.5kW)
Capacitor
Electrolytic (400V, 1000uF)
Electrolytic (400V, 3300uF)
Opto-isolated gate driver IC
Control
DSP controller
PWM controller
Amplifier
Isolation amplifier
Instrumentation amplifier
Differential amplifier
Op-amp
Fans (120Vac, 33W)
Sensor
Hall current (400A)
Hall current (200A)

Table 9.1 Cost spread sheet for front end DC-DC converter
DEVICE

QTY DESIG

UNIT MEASURE

VOLT
(Vpk)

VOLT
(Vrms)

CUR
(Avg)

CUR
(Arms)

UNIT EXTENDED
COST
COST

DIODE

8 D1~D8

410

6.25

2.29

18.34

MOSFET

4 S1~S4

41

125

6.56

26.24

CAP (ALUM)

2 C1,2

19.78

39.55

TRANSFORMER

1 T1

389.8

26.57

26.57

CHOKE

2 L1, 2

12.6

41.40

82.79

34.73

34.73

LOSSES

3222 uF

210
47.3

100 UH
416.8 W

CONTROL

5.00

TOTAL

233.23

48

Table 9.2 Cost spread sheet for inverter

DEVICE

QTY DESIG

UNIT MEASURE

IGBT

2 S1~S4

CAP (ALUM)

2 C3,4

16 uF

CHOKE

2 L3,4

93 UH

LOSSES

VOLT
(Vpk)

VOLT
(Vrms)

420

CUR
(Avg)

CUR
(Arms)

28

170
60

134.4 W

UNIT EXTENDED
COST
COST
4.77

9.53

0.17

0.33

59.50

119.00

11.20

11.20

CONTROL

10.00

TOTAL

150.06

Table 9.3 Cost spread sheet for bi-directional converter

DEVICE

QTY DESIG

UNIT MEASURE

VOLT
(Vpk)

VOLT
(Vrms)

CUR
(Avg)

CUR
(Arms)

UNIT EXTENDED
COST
COST

IGBT

2 S11~S14

420

9.5

1.69

3.38

MOSFET

2 S9, S10

140

60

8.32

16.65

CHOKE

1 L5

113

69.49

69.49

TRANSFORMER

1 T2

73.3

10.95

10.95

12.63

12.63

LOSSES

40 UH
58
151.5 W

CONTROL

8.00

TOTAL

121.10

10. Conclusion
The objective of this project is to develop a low cost, high efficiency 10kW inverter system
for a SOFC system. In this report a power circuit topology for the inverter system has been
chosen after evaluating two possible topologies in a practical way proposed. All the component
ratings were designed along with thorough analysis on the chosen topology. A hardware
prototype capable of supplying 10kW load was built and tested at a laboratory of Seoul National
University of Technology. The SNUT prototype inverter met the minimum target requirements
and demonstrated a good performance in most of the design items. The SNUT team has been
trying to increase the efficiency and to decrease the cost by optimizing design and selection of
the devices. The SNUT team strongly believes the final prototype meet the efficiency and cost
requirements.

49

11. Reference

[1] R. Anahara, S. Yokokawa and M. Sakurai, Present Status and Future Prospects for Fuel Cell Power
Systems, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 81, no. 3, March 1993, pp.399-407
[2] A. Emadi and S. Williamson, Status Review of Power Electronic Converters for Fuel Cell
Applications, Journal of Power Electronics, vol. 1, no. 2, Oct. 2001, pp.133-144
[3] N. Azli, A. Yatim, DSP-based Online Optimal PWM Multilevel Control for Fuel Cell Power
Conditioning Systems, IEEE IECON conf. rec, 2001, pp.921-926
[4] Final Reports from the 2001 Future Energy Challenge, Available:

http://www.energychallenge.org

[5] R. Gopinath, D. Kim, J. H. Hahn, M. Webster, J. Burghardt, S. Campbell, D. Becker, P. N. Enjeti, M.

Yeary, J. Howze, Development of a Low Cost Fuel Cell Inverter System with DSP Control, Power
Electronics Specialists Conference, 2002. pesc 02. 2002 IEEE 33rd Annual , Volume: 1 , 2002, pp. 309314
[6] The 2003 International Future Energy Challenge
http://www.energychallenge.org/
[7] Texas Instruments, http://www.ti.com/
[8] Design application note MAGNETICS. INC.
[9] A. I. Pressman, Switching Power Supply Design. McGRAW-HILL INTERNATIONAL, 1999.

50

Appendices

Appendix A.1 Schematic for the sensing board

SMPS(+15V)
1

Vin

200k

Vout(+)

0.1u
2

GND

<NO.2>DC-DC(+15V)

Vout(-)

<NO.2>DC-DC(-15V)

GND

SMPS(-15V)

<NO.2>DC-DC converter(15v)

SMPS(+15V)
0.1u
0.1u

10k

1M
10n

Vout DC 400V

2
0.1u

V+

Vin+

10n

Vin-

1k

Vo

V-

GND

10

+Vs2

GND

-Vs2

Vout

8
7

V_Sensing

7
6

15
10k

16

Vin
GND

0.1u

-Vs1

<NO.2>DC-DC(-15V)

+Vs1

<NO.2>DC-DC(+15V)

ISO122

INA 126
10k

0.1u

0.1u

0.1u

0.1u

200k

Appendix A.2 Schematic for the sensing and protection

50k

+15

U11

VR1
+5

10k
1

D2

U2A
LF353
1

10k
C18
47uF

Ian_rms
+

DIODE

11
1

+5

0.1uF

10K

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

0.1uF

1
3

G3

LE
OE

4081
U6C

14
G2

8
10

G1
-15

10k

0.1uF

4
Ibn

10k

U1B
LF353
7

C18
47uF

Ibn_rms
+

+15

+5

8
0.1uF
10k

OV_Ian
D3

4081

U7B

4081

D5

20k

-15

U7A

1
2

R3

20k

14

10k

OV_I SET 3

U8A
LF353
1

14

1N4148

Ian_rms

+5

D5
4

+15
+15

ON : OV_I 1N4148

10k
0.1uF

R2

2
3

470

6
5

U3B
LF353
7

4148

+15
10k
C18
4.7uF

+5

Van_rms
10k

D5
4

D2

U3A
LF353
1

6
OV_I SET 5

+15

1k

10k
OV_Ibn

Ibn_rms

0.1uF
R3

TRAN_HM31

1N4148
U8B
LF353
7
D3

20k

ON : OV_I 1N4148
R2
300

10k

3
5

470

6
5

4148

U4B
LF353
7

R1
10k

10k

Vbn_rms

TRAN_HM31

4081

10
D3

0.1uF

SW1
SD_ON

ON : SD
OFF :

R3
1k

U7C

8
9

C18
4.7uF

D2

U4A
LF353
1

14

4
10k

Vbn_6V

360

T1

Vbn

+5

0.1uF

+15

51

D5

20k
-15

5
6

R3
8

10k

Van_6V

360

T1

300

Van

11

13

10k

100

0.1uF

D2

DIODE

0.1uF

10K

U2A
LF353
1

101

4
-

-15

EL25P1

U1A
LF353
1

10K

ON :

R2
300

SD

U6D

12

0.1uF

-15

201

SG2

4081

14

10k

0.1uF

VR1

SG3

+15

50k

+15

U11

SG4

4081
U6B

74HC573

+15

U6A

14
G4

19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12

Q0
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5
Q6
Q7

D0
D1
D2
D3
D4
D5
D6
D7

U1B
LF353
7

U8
PWM4
PWM3
PWM2
PWM1

14

10k

8
101
100

0.1uF

10k

0.1uF

4
Ian

4
3

-15

EL25P1

U1A
LF353
1

10K

-15

0.1uF

-15

201

0.1uF

4081

SG1

Appendix A.3 DSP board

52

Appendix A.4 Inverter gate driver

+5

+5

D2

100

100

SG1

SG3

1
3.3K

2
3

0.1uF

4
5

FAULT 3

6
7

330pF

Vin+

VE

Vin-

V LED2+

Vcc1
GND1

DESAT
Vcc2

RESET
FAULT

Vc
Vout

V LED1+

V EE1

V LED1-

V EE2

16
15

DIODE

+15
0.1uF

1
3.3K

100pF

14

0.1uF

13

Q6

12
11

BDW93C

10

10 1W

G3

FAULT 1

10

Q8

BDW94C

330pF

D1
1N4746

HCPL-316J

0.1uF

GND_1 GND_1GND_1

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

330pF

GND1

V LED2+
DESAT
Vcc2

RESET

Vc

FAULT

Vout

V LED1+
V LED1-

V EE1
V EE2

14

+15
0.1uF

100pF

13

Q6

12
11

BDW93C

10

10 1W

G1

10
Q8

BDW94C

HCPL-316J

D1
1N4746
47K
D1
1N4746

S3

0.1uF

0.1uF

S1

-15

+5

D2

100

Vin+

VE

Vin-

V LED2+

Vcc1
GND1

DESAT
Vcc2

RESET

Vc

FAULT

Vout

V LED1+

V EE1

V LED1-

V EE2

16
15

DIODE

+15
0.1uF

3.3K

2
3

0.1uF

Q6

12
11

100pF

14
13

BDW93C

10

5
10 1W

G4

FAULT 2

6
7

10

Q8

BDW94C

330pF

D1
1N4746

HCPL-316J

Vin+

VE

0.1uF

DC LINK

Vin-

V LED2+

Vcc1
GND1

DESAT
Vcc2

RESET

Vc

FAULT

Vout

V LED1+

V EE1

V LED1-

V EE2

DIODE

16
15
14

+15
0.1uF

100pF

13

Q6

12
11

BDW93C

10

10 1W

Q8

BDW94C

HCPL-316J

D1
1N4746
47K
D1
1N4746

S4

0.1uF

-15

53

G2

10

47K
D1
1N4746
0.1uF

D2

DC LINK
SG2

FAULT 4

Vcc1

15

GND_1

100

0.1uF

DC LINK
DIODE

16

-15

+5

3.3K

Vin-

VE

SG4

Vin+

47K
D1
1N4746
0.1uF

D2

DC LINK

0.1uF

-15

S2

Appendix B. Project time line

54

Appendix C. Transformer core selection by area product distribution

[Design application notes,

MAGNETICS Inc.]

55