2016 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC 2016).

Ixtapa, Mexico

High-Boost, Resonant-Type DC-DC Converters at

Power Interfaces for Interconnecting DC Generation
To AC Main Grids
O. Miguel-Sánchez, G. A. Anaya-Ruíz, L. G. Zuñiga-García, L. E. Ugalde-Caballero, E. L. Moreno-Goytia, V.
Venegas-Rebollar.
Posgrado en Ingeniería Eléctrica
Instituto Tecnológico de Morelia
Morelia, Michoacán, México

Abstract—this paper presents the design, simulation and
experimental performance of a scaled-down advanced DC-DC
converter prototype. The configuration uses soft-switching and
combines a resonant circuit with a boost converter resulting in a
voltage-gain of 10 and. Through a cascade arrangement of
converters, the voltage gain is increased to 50. The DC-DC
converter is primarily designed as converter station operating as
part of a modified HVDC link which interconnects DC power
into the AC system. Once the converter is mathematically
described, a number of cases of study for open-loop and closed-
loop conditions are presented. In order to confirm the DC power
transfer, the modified HVDC link -using a 21-level MMC power
station at the AC-side- is simulated. The experimental results are
presented at final section. The DSP-based control is implemented
in the TMS320F28335.
Keywords—MMC, Resonant boost converter, DC-DC
converters, DC grids, HVDC, Transmission network.
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, the demand for renewable energy supply, such
as solar, wind, fuel cells, has steadily increasing. The
interconnection of renewable energy to power grids still has
several challenges to overcome. Examples of these are: low
voltage levels (generation) and voltage variations
(intermittency). This interconnection can be improved using
step-up DC-DC power interfaces as enabling technology to
couple the generated power to voltage distribution or
transmission levels [9][12][13].
The HVDC (High Voltage Direct Current) technology has
proven its efficiency and applicability over the years. Today,
one of the technological challenges in DC grids, HVDC
included, is the step-up voltage to achieve grid-to-grid, and
generation-to-grid connections operating at different voltage
levels. DC links can improve grid efficiency and
controllability. In a DC generation context, the DC-DC
converter is a key enabling technology capable of providing a
sort of cutting edge solutions [1][4].
Hz), and c) AC-DC converter [2][9]. Converters of the second
type using inductors and capacitors like key elements for
stepping up voltage. Regarding latter type, a converter with
voltage gain of 20 is presented in [17][18]. The structure is
implemented cascading a DC-AC converter with a AC-DC
converter coupled in-between with a capacitor, thus obtaining a
voltage gain of 20. Other DC-DC converter proposal, named
BRC (Boost-Resonant Converter) is presented in [8]. The BRC
is a transformerless structure combining a boost converter and
a resonant circuit. This converter has 2 inductors and 2
capacitors and uses soft-switching, which results in low voltage
stress on the semiconductor switches. Various converters can
be cascaded to obtain voltage gains of 20 or higher. Due to its
relative advantages, the BRC-type topology is used in this
work.
In Section II, BRC fundamentals and simulations are detailed.
Section III presents the design of the PI control and cases of
study of the BRC in close loop. Section IV presents simulation
of cascading two BRC (DBRC). In Section V, the operation of
the modified HVDC link (a DBRC in the sending node and 21-
levels MMC in the reception node) is shown. Section VI details
the experimental results obtained with a scaled-down
prototype.
II. TRANSFORMERLESS DC-DC
Forced switching in boost DC-DC converters is associated with
current stress on switches and switching losses both of which
increases with increasing duty cycle (D) [5][6][11].
The BRC configuration is shown in Fig 1. The operation of
BRC is based on the switching states of 𝑆𝑆1 and 𝑆𝑆2 at the same
frequency of the resonant circuit. This circuit comprises 𝐿𝐿𝑏𝑏 ,
𝐶𝐶𝑟𝑟1 , 𝐿𝐿𝑟𝑟 , and 𝐶𝐶𝑟𝑟2 , and ensures continuous and discontinuous
current operation modes. Positive half-cycle of the high-
frequency signal, generated by the resonant circuit, is rectified
by 𝐷𝐷4 and 𝐷𝐷5 while 𝐶𝐶1 is charged. Likewise, 𝐶𝐶2 is charged
through 𝐷𝐷1 and 𝐷𝐷3 during the negative half-cycle [8].

Among the different topologies of DC-DC converters two Using D=50%, the BRC has a voltage gain of 10. The
types have been used for implementing HVDC links. These converter also has the following advantages [8]:
are: 1) transformer-type converter and 2) LC-type converter.
Converters of the first type commonly have three blocks: a)
DC-AC converter, b) fundamental-frequency transformer (60

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 2016 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC 2016). Ixtapa, Mexico

• Switches (𝑆𝑆1 , 𝐷𝐷2 ) and (𝑆𝑆2 , 𝐷𝐷1 ) are subjected to Fig. 2 shows input and output voltages of the BRC, when
low voltage stress due to soft switching. working in open-loop.
• Switches (𝑆𝑆1 ,𝐷𝐷2 ) and (𝑆𝑆2 , 𝐷𝐷1 ) do not drive the
rated input current. Current is divided into two
branches, avoiding overcurrent and heating.
• The resonant circuit ensures soft-switching in
semiconductor switches.

Fig.2. BRC behavior at steady-state.

III. BRC CONTROL

The DC voltage levels generated in plants of medium and large
Fig.1. Boost-Resonant Converter (BRC). scale (PV for instance) are lower than 1kV. These DC voltage
levels cannot be directly interconnected to DC bus at the input
The components values are obtained with (1)-(5) [8]. The boost of the modified HVDC transmission system [9][12][13].
inductance 𝐿𝐿𝑏𝑏 is given by (1): Therefore, the DC-DC step-up converters -like BRC- are
necessary to integrate the DC generation in the DC bus of the
RL2 (1−d−t1 )2 (d−t1 ) modified HVDC. Fig. 3 shows the response of the BRC output
Lb = (1)
2fs voltage with different input voltages, the BRC is working in
Where 𝑅𝑅𝐿𝐿2 = 0.05R L is the BRC effective resistance; 𝑅𝑅𝐿𝐿 = open-loop.
V0 2
P
= Load resistance, Vo is the output voltage and Po is the
o
𝜋𝜋
output power; 𝑡𝑡1 = and 𝑓𝑓𝑠𝑠 = Switching frequency.
4𝜋𝜋𝑓𝑓𝑠𝑠

𝐿𝐿𝑟𝑟 , 𝐶𝐶𝑟𝑟2 and 𝐶𝐶𝑟𝑟1 are calculated using (2), (3) and (4),
respectively:

Por,max �VC1 −Vin,r �

Cr2 = (2)
4Vin,r VC1 2 fs

Vin,r Vc1 2
Lr = (3)
π2 fs Por,max �VC1 −Vin,r �
Fig.3. Vout response with different input voltages.
Cr Cr2
Cr1 = (4)
Cr2 −Cr
A PI controller was designed to regulate the DC output voltage
Where 𝑃𝑃𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑟,𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 = 0.6Po is the resonant circuit power, 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖,𝑟𝑟 = of the BRC. Fig. 4 shows the BRC control.
0.45Vin is the input voltage at the resonant circuit and 𝑉𝑉𝐶𝐶1 =
0.6𝑉𝑉𝑂𝑂 is the voltage across 𝐶𝐶1 . The output capacitors 𝐶𝐶1 y C2
are given by (5).
Vout
C1 = C2 = (5)
4Vin RL

The BRC parameters used for simulation are shown in Table I.

Fig.4. BRC control.
TABLE I. BRC parameters used for simulation
Parameter Symbol Value The PI controller gains are:
Input voltage Vin 2kV
Output voltage Vout 20kV 𝐾𝐾𝑝𝑝 = 0.001403 (6)
Gain voltage g 10
Boost inductance Lb 312 µH
𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 = 0.06889 (7)
Resonant capacitor Cr1 3.24 µF TM
Both values are calculated using the PID block Simulink .
Resonant inductance Lr 493 µH The approach is presented in [19] and [20].
Resonant capacitor Cr2 3.24 µF
Output capacitor C1 1 mF PI controller maintains the output voltage constant with
Output capacitor C2 1 mF different input voltages with time response lower than 50 ms.
BRC Resistance RL 500 Ω
Switching frequency fs 5 kHz
 2016 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC 2016). Ixtapa, Mexico

Fig. 5 shows the output voltage response (𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 ) of the BRC

operating in closed-loop with different input voltages 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 .
Vin
BRC Vout1 BRC Vout2

Module 1 Module 2
Fig.8. Double-Boost-Resonant Converter.

Fig. 9 shows the DBRC control, the gains 𝐾𝐾𝑝𝑝 and 𝐾𝐾𝑖𝑖 are the
same than the gains obtained in Section III.

Fig.5. BRC closed-loop response with different input voltages.

Fig. 6 shows the details of the dotted section of Fig. 5 The

output voltage remains regulated with ±150V deviations. The
recovery time is 50ms at the rising edge and the falling edge.
Fig.9. DBRC control.
The parameters for each module of the DBRC are shown in
Table I. The input and output voltages are: 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 = 2 kV and
𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 = 100 kV respectively. The DBRC voltage gain is 50.
This can be observed in Fig. 10.

Fig.6. Zoom to BRC closed-loop response with different input voltages.

Moreover, if a lower or higher voltage is needed at the output,

the control must be able to adjust 𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 to the demanded value.
This is shown in Fig. 7.
Fig.10. DBRC simulation results.
The output voltage ( 𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 ) remains regulated with different
input voltages, as showed in Fig. 11. The lower graph
corresponds to different input voltages and the upper graph
shows the output voltage DBRC.

Fig.7. BRC response with different output voltages.

IV. BRC IN CASCADE

Fig.11. DBRC closed-loop response with different input voltages.
To obtain voltage gains greater than 10, two BRC can be
connected in series in a configuration named Double Boost
resonant Converter (DBRC). The configuration DBRC is When demand at the output voltage is increased, the control
shown in Fig. 8. must be able to adjust the output voltage DBRC (𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 ) the
desired value, as is showed in Fig. 12.
Both modules in the DBRC operate at the same frequency.
That is, switches 𝑆𝑆1 and 𝑆𝑆2 of both converters commutes at the
same time.
 2016 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC 2016). Ixtapa, Mexico

Fig.12. DBRC response with different output voltages.

In the next section, the operation of the DBRC attached with a
21-level MMC (Modular Multilevel Converter) of the HVDC Fig.15. 21-levels MMC response with different output voltages.
modified is presented. MMC converters play an important role
in building DC networks and the integration of renewable VI. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
energy to power grids [7][14][15]. A BRC prototype was designed to have a voltage gain of 10
and output power of 220W. The parameters for the BRC
V. DBRC- MMC prototype are shown in Table III.
The block diagram of the DBRC connected with a 21-level
MMC is shown in Fig 13. This is called modified HVDC. The TABLE III. Parameters for the BRC prototype.
Parameter Symbol Value
DC link has a 75km transmission line with the following
Input voltage Vin 40V
parameters: 13.9 mΩ/km, 159 μH /km and 231 nF/km [16]. Output voltage Vout 400V
Output power Po 220W
Boost inductance Lb 1 mH
Resonant inductance Lr 1.58 mH
Resonant capacitor 1 Cr1 1.01 µF
Resonant capacitor 2 Cr2 0.642 µF
Load resistance RL 1.6 kΩ
Switching frequency fs 5 kHz
Duty cycle d 0.5
Fig.13. Modified HVDC. Resonant frequency fr 5 kHz

Fig. 14. Shows the 21-level MMC output voltage.

IRG4PC40UD IGBTs are used for switches S1 and S2 and
MUR860 ultra-fast recovery diodes are used for D1 and D2. A
T400-26 toroidal core from MicrometalsTM is used to build the
resonant and boost inductance. The control was implemented
in the TMS320F28335 DSP. The open-loop block diagram
implemented in SimulinkTM is shown in Fig. 16.

Fig.16. Open-loop block diagram implemented in SimulinkTM.

Fig.14. 21-levels MMC output voltage.
Table II and Fig. 15 show the output voltages at the DBRC
and MMC modules when demand for the output voltage is
increased with a fixed input voltage of 2 kV.
Fig.17 presents the PWM signals generated by the DSP and the
PWM signals at the gates of the IGBTs, which are
complementary due to signal conditioning.

TABLA II. Output voltage at BDRC and MMC modules.

𝐕𝐕𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢 𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫 (𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌) 𝐕𝐕𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫𝑫 (𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌) 𝐕𝐕𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑴𝑫𝑫(𝒌𝒌𝒌𝒌 𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓𝒓)
2 50 17
2 80 27
2 100 34
2 120 41

Fig.17. PWM signals at DSP terminals and PWM signal at IGBTs gates.
 2016 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC 2016). Ixtapa, Mexico

Fig.18 shows the transient and steady state response of the

BRC, with input voltage of 43V and output voltage of 422V.

Fig.21. 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 and 𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 signals with 20 % step-up 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

Fig.18. 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 and 𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 signals

Fig. 19 shows the input current of the BRC (𝐼𝐼𝐿𝐿𝑏𝑏 ) and in the Fig.
20 shows the output current of the BRC (𝐼𝐼𝑅𝑅𝐿𝐿 ) for a voltage gain
of 10. The BRC has a resonant frequency of 5 kHz, which is
the same that the switching frequency.

Fig.22. 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 and 𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 signals with 20 % step-down 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖

Fig. 23 illustrates the implementation of the control system in

the TMS320F28335 DSP.

Fig.19. BRC input current.

Fig.23. Closed-loop SimulinkTM diagram implemented at the DSP.

Figs. 24 and 25 shows that the BRC output voltage remains

constant against set-up and step-down variations at the input
voltage. This is due the control system implemented at the
DSP.

Fig.20. BRC Output current.

The input power for figs. 18, 19 and 20 is 253.7W, whereas the
output power is 223.6W. This means that the converter
efficiency is around to 90%.
Figs. 21 and 22 show the behavior of the BRC output voltage
in open-loop to a voltage step at input. The output voltage
follows the input voltage variations.
Fig.24. 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 and 𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜 signals with 20 % up variation in 𝑉𝑉𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
 2016 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC 2016). Ixtapa, Mexico

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