Three-Phase Unity Power Factor AC/DC Converter (PFC) with Dual Isolated DC/DC Converter for a Battery Charger

J. Herminjard

Three-Phase Unity Power Factor AC/DC Converter (PFC) with Dual

Isolated DC/DC Converter for a Battery Charger

J. Herminjard, EIVD-LEP, CH-1401 Yverdon,

e-mail: Joel.Herminjard@eivd.ch ; URL: http://www.eivd.ch
Phone: +41(0)244 232 272 / Fax: +41(0)244 250 050
C. Zimmermann, EPFL-DE-LEI, CH-1015 Lausanne
R. Monnier, R+D Leclanché SA, CH-1401 Yverdon

Acknowledgement
This development was supported by “Fonds pour Projets et Etudes de l’Economie Electrique” of
“l’Union des Centrales Suisses d’Electricité PSEL” and by the commission RDP of the ”Chambre
Romande d’Energie Electrique RDP-CREE”. We thank these organisations for their generous support.

Keywords
Battery charger, Control, Converter circuits, DSP, Efficiency, Harmonics, High frequency power
converters, Power factor correction, Power Quality, Simulation, Three phase systems

Abstract
In this article the development and realization of a 8 kW battery charger with Power Factor Correction
(PFC) is described. The converter consists of two parts: The first part is an AC/DC converter based on
a “VIENNA” topology with a controlled output voltage of 700V and midpoint connection [1],[2]. The
second part consists of two DC/DC converters with galvanic isolation and parallel outputs. The output
current and voltage can be controlled in the ranges 0-28A and 0-280V.

1 Introduction
The increasing number of electric vehicles demands battery chargers with high efficiency, low
harmonic distortion of the mains current and reduced weight and volume. For this reason two high
schools and a battery manufacturer have realized a battery charger prototype of 8 kW with unity
power factor and three-phase sinusoidal currents.
Figure 1.1 shows the principal parts of the realized installation. The “VIENNA” topology [1], [2] was
chosen for the realization of the AC/DC converter, due to the possibility of having two controlled
intermediate voltages with only three controlled semiconductors. This part was developed and
realized in the Laboratory of Power Electronics (Professor C. Yechouroun) of EIVD (Ecole
d'Ingénieurs du canton de Vaud) in Yverdon-les-Bains.
The two DC/DC switched mode converters use planar transformers working at 30kHz to generate an
isolated rectified output current for the battery. This part was realized in the Laboratory of Industrial
Electronics (Professor A. Rufer) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) with
help of the industrial partner Leclanché SA, Yverdon-les-Bains.

Fig. 1.1 : Global scheme of the installation

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Three-Phase Unity Power Factor AC/DC Converter (PFC) with Dual Isolated DC/DC Converter for a Battery Charger J. Herminjard

2 AC/DC Converter "VIENNA"

2.1 Circuit
The AC/DC Converter “VIENNA” is shown in Figure 2.1. This circuit draws three-phase sinusoidal
currents in phase with the mains voltage 400V/50Hz and produces two controllable intermediate
voltages Uz1 and Uz2 at 350V each. The control of the input currents can be made only if the sum of
the two output voltages is higher than the peak line-to-line main voltage.

Fig. 2.1 : AC/DC Converter “VIENNA”

2.2 Intermediate DC voltage control
The control of the two intermediate DC voltages must follow their references and maintain sinusoidal
current consumption in phase with the three mains. In our application the two voltage references are
identical.
2.2.1 Control circuit
Figure 2.2 represents the proposed circuit for the control of the two intermediate voltages.

Fig. 2.2 : Intermediate voltage control circuit

Studying the behaviour of the “VIENNA” converter (Fig. 2.1) we can find the two following facts:

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Three-Phase Unity Power Factor AC/DC Converter (PFC) with Dual Isolated DC/DC Converter for a Battery Charger J. Herminjard

• The load current i+ of capacitor C1 is provided by the sum of all positive main currents, if the
corresponding transistor is turned off.
• The load current i- of capacitor C2 is provided by the sum of all negative main currents, if the
corresponding transistor is turned off.

Let’s suppose that the output of the voltage control for uz1 gives the reference ic+ and uz1 is below its
reference. The voltage control (block no. 1 in Figure 2.2) will react and increase the reference for the
current i+ which is provided by the sum of all positive main currents, but only if the corresponding
transistors are turned off. We know that, for increasing the main current the transistor should be
turned on most of the time, but this leads to a decreasing current i+. This is contradictory to the
desired control supposed before. To resolve this problem, we simply interchanged the two current
references given by the two voltage regulators (block no. 1).
The block no. 2 gives only the negative parts of the three-phase references which are in phase with
their main voltages, and the block no. 3 gives the three-phase references for the positive parts. Taking
the sum of the outputs of these two blocks leads to a three-phase sinusoidal reference for the three
phase current regulators (block no. 4). These regulators are tolerance band current controllers and
allow the AC/DC converter to draw the correct currents from the mains. The commands of the
transistors depend on the signs of the line voltage ui, therefor a logic block no. 5 must be added with
the functional behaviour resumed by (2.1) and (2.2).

0 if im > ic + h
d'i =  i = 1,2,3 (2.1)
1 if im < ic − h
 d'i if ui ≥ 0
di =  i = 1,2,3 (2.2)
inv d ' i if ui < 0

where h represents the hysteresis of the current control.

2.2.2 Transfer function

Considering that the input power of the converter is equal to the output power, the following equation
in p.u. (2.3) can be derived :
3
i+ = ⋅ i1 (2.3)
2 ⋅ u z1
I I I U
with: i1 = 1 = 2 = 3 ; u z1 = z1
In In In Un
Un = nominal effective main voltage; In = nominal effective main current

For small variations of the current i1 and supposing that uz1 remains almost constant during this time it
is possible to write:
∆i + = K i ⋅ ∆i1 (2.4)
where
3
Ki =
2 ⋅ u z1c
We express the variation of the voltage uz1 in equation (2.5)
1
u z1 ( s ) = ⋅ ic + (2.5)
sT
U
with the time constant of the load: T = RnC ; Rn = n
In

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Three-Phase Unity Power Factor AC/DC Converter (PFC) with Dual Isolated DC/DC Converter for a Battery Charger J. Herminjard

2.2.3 Calculation of the voltage control parameters

Figure 2.3 shows the block diagram of one of the two PI control loops to obtain an intermediate DC
voltage.

Fig. 2.3 : Block diagram of the voltage control

In this figure we distinguish the voltage regulator (block no. 1), the simplified transfer function of the
closed loop of the current control modelled by a small time constant Tp (block no. 2), block no. 3
represents the factor between input and output current (expression 2.4) and finally the transfer
function of the load (block no. 4). ∆ich represents the variation of the load current.

The parameters Tn and Ti were determined according to [3]:

2
Tn T Tp
= ; Ti = 8
Ti 2 ⋅ T p T

Tp is a small time constant modelling the current control, and T = RnC is the time constant of the load.

2.3 Simulation and measurements

The simulation allows to verify if the theoretical developments correspond in a sufficient exact
manner with the measurements [4].

2.3.1 Drawn main currents

Figure 2.4a shows the simulation of the three currents drawn from the 400V main in stationary
operation and symmetrical load of 2 x 4kW. The measures in Figure 2.4b are made for an output
power of 5,5 kW.

i1 ,2 ,3 [ p . u . ]

1 .5

1 .0

0 .5

0 0

-0 .5

-1 .0

t [m s ]
-1 .5
0 1 0 2 0

(a) Simulation (b) Measurement

Fig. 2.4 : Waveforms of the three phase currents drawn from the main

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Three-Phase Unity Power Factor AC/DC Converter (PFC) with Dual Isolated DC/DC Converter for a Battery Charger J. Herminjard

2.3.2 Step response of the voltage control loop

Figure 2.5a shows the behaviour of the voltage uz1 after a step of its reference. Figure 2.5b represents
the variation of the voltage uz1 after a sudden load reduction of 50%.

The simulation parameters are: R1,2 = 35 [Ω] C1,2 = 1 [mF]

Tn = 2 [ms] Ti = 400 [us]

...

(a) reference step (b) load step

Fig. 2.5 : Voltage control

The measurements in Figure 2.6 show the step response of the output voltage.

Fig. 2.6 : Output voltage response of the AC/DC converter to a voltage reference step
from 1,6 to 1,7 p.u.

2.4 Conclusions
This research has permitted to develop an original voltage control, which allows even non-
symmetrical output voltages and loads. Note that for our application a symmetrical voltage is
requested. The results of simulations and measurements confirmed the validity of the proposed
control for the AC/DC converter. The obtained efficiency of this converter is high (η = 0,96).

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Three-Phase Unity Power Factor AC/DC Converter (PFC) with Dual Isolated DC/DC Converter for a Battery Charger J. Herminjard

3 DC/DC Converter
3.1 Description of the DC/DC converter with two shifted channels
The 8kW DC/DC converter (Fig. 3.1) must be able to supply 280V at 28A continuously in order to
charge the batteries. The use of a two stage converter, where the inputs of the inverters are connected
in series and the outputs of the rectifiers in parallel, allows :
• The reduction by a factor of 2 of the breakdown voltage of the semiconductors
• Less electromagnetic emissions (EMI)
• A reduction of the current ripple iL by addition of the two currents iL1 and iL2, shifted by 180°.
fp = 30 kHz 60 kHz 120 kHz
RDC1 L1 iL1 iL iout

ud1δ ic
Uz1 up1

N1 : N2 RDC2 L2 C
iL2 Uout
26 : 21

Uz2 up2 ud2δ

up1 δ
UZ1 ud1δ iL1 i

ωt ωt ωt ωt

0 π/2 π 3π/2 0 π/2 π 3π/2 0 π/2 π 3π/2 0 π/2 π 3π/2

up2 ud2δ iL2

ωt ωt ωt

Fig. 3.1 Basic circuit structure of the DC/DC converter with voltage and current waveforms

The switching frequency, fixed at 30kHz in order to match planar transformers available on the
market today, allows a substantial reduction of the volume and weight of the converter’s passive
elements. Such a high frequency has further the advantage of being inaudible. Ultra rapid IGBT of the
4th generation are used for the inverters (IRG4PC50UD, VCES=600V,VCE(on)=1,65V, IC=27A, TO-247).

Since the two inverters are driven with a phase shift of 90° (Fig. 3.1), the two currents applied to the
two transformers are also shifted by 90°. The pulsating frequency of 30kHz becomes 60kHz after the
rectifier, and the shift between the ripples of the two currents iL1 et iL2 is now 180°. The addition of
these two signals will reduce the current ripple of iL, which has now a frequency of 120 kHz. This
method of running the converter minimises the required value of the filter capacitor C.
Theoretically, in normal operation the value of the two voltages ud1δ et ud2δ will depend linearly on the
pulse width δ (Fig. 3.1) between 0 and π, according to the formula
N2 δ
U d1δ = U z1 ⋅ ⋅ (3.1)
N1 π
On the other hand, for small loads, the current ripple in the inductor L1 is bigger than the current
continuously demanded by the load. This will lead to a discontinuous-conduction mode and the output

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voltage will be higher than would be calculated by (3.1). Moreover the circuit will loose its integral
behaviour [5]. In reality, the output voltage of the non controlled converter depends on the internal
resistance and the load. This internal resistance consists of the resistances of the transformer as seen
from the transformer’s secondary side and the resistance of the filter inductor. The internal resistance
of one converter is
R DC1 = R cc1 + R L1 = 0,038Ω + 0,02Ω = 0,058Ω (3.2)
The total internal resistance RDC of the two converters in parallel is 29mΩ. The resulting voltage drop
across the converter is very low, therefore one can consider this converter as an ideal voltage source.
3.2 Control requirements of the battery
The charging principle of lead-acid batteries is based on current and voltage limitation as shown in the
graph below. Obviously, regulation of the current and voltage is necessary.

I, U

Uc
2,44V/element

IcBat

Constant charge curent Constant charge voltage t

Fig. 3.2 : Relation between current and voltage during charging

The current of each DC/DC converter connected in parallel is controlled separately. For the first
converter (Fig. 3.3), the control parameters are calculated by the pseudo-continuous model. Then, the
parameters are applied to the second.
iout
Voltage source controlled by δ RDC1 L1 2Rb
iL1 2
ic/2
Uz1 ud1δ C Ub
uout
2

δ1

Fig. 3.3 : System to control represented by the first DC/DC converter with its load
3.2.1 Current control
From the electric circuit of Figure 3.3 follow the two formulas here below:
2  uout − U b 
uout =
C ∫  iL1 −
2R b 
dt (3.3)

diL1
ud1δ = iL1 ⋅ R DC1 + L1 + uout (3.4)
dt
Combining these equations and applying the Laplace transform gives:
2R b
U d1δ (s) = I L1 (s) ⋅ R DC1 + I L1 (s) ⋅ sL L1 + I L1 (s) ⋅ (3.5)
1 + sR b C
From (3.5) the transfer function can be derived:

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Three-Phase Unity Power Factor AC/DC Converter (PFC) with Dual Isolated DC/DC Converter for a Battery Charger J. Herminjard

I L1 (s) 1 1 + sR b C
G i (s) = = ⋅ (3.6)
U d1δ (s) 2R b + R DC1 R DC1  L  Rb
1+ s ⋅ ⋅  R b C + 1  + s 2 ⋅ L1 C ⋅
2R b + R DC1  R DC1  2 R b + R DC1

One can find a resonant circuit where the damping depends on the load resistance. In our case this
resistance is Rb, the internal resistance of the battery. The used lead-acid battery has a nominal voltage
Ub of 180V and a low internal resistance Rb of about 1Ω. Numerical simulations with Simplorer
have shown that with our electric values (RDC1 = 58mΩ ; C = 110µF) the step response of the current
iL1 after an input voltage step ud1δ is rapid and not oscillating. So this system can be approximated by a
simple RL circuit if the time constant of RbC is very low versus the time constant composed by L1,
RDC1 and 2Rb. In this case the transfer function (3.6) can be approximated by
1
G si (s) ≅ K si ⋅ (3.7)
1 + sTL1

The degree of our system to control is now reduced to one and has a dominant time constant TL1
calculated in (3.8), which depends on the internal resistance of the converter and the battery.
L1
TL1 = (3.8)
2R b + R DC1

The gain depends also on these two resistances

1
K si = (3.9)
2R b + R DC1
The dimensioning of the current controller GRi(s) is made in a classical manner. Since the degree of
the system is one we chose a PI controller with the following transfer function:
1 + sTni
G Ri (s) = (3.10)
sTii
With the time constant Tni of the current regulator we compensate the time constant of the system TL1.
The integration time constant of the regulator is obtained by:
Tii = 2K i TpEi (3.11)
Here Ki is the total system gain resulting from the driver Kcmi and from the system Ksi :
K i = K cmi K si (3.12)
The time constant TpEi, is the sum of all small time constants in the control loop including the time
constant related to the PWM-Modulator, the sampling time constant of the controller and also the time
constant of the measurement [6].
In closed loop, this current control circuit has a transfer function which can be replaced by an
equivalent time constant Tei.
Tei = 2TpEi (3.13)

3.2.2 Voltage control

The voltage regulator Gru(s) superposes the two current controllers. Its output value, limited to the
maximum battery charging current IcBat, gives the two current references iL1c and iL2c (Fig. 3.4). When
the output voltage Uout reaches the value of Uc the current references will decrease slowly until it
reaches the value of leakage current of the battery.
The output voltage changes very slowly because the system to control Gsu(s) is a battery without any
dynamical requirements. That is why the voltage regulator is an integrator with a large time constant.

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3.2.3 The complete control circuit

Figure 3.4 shows the functional scheme of the closed loop control circuits. We consider only small
variations around a stable operating point. Thus the constant battery voltage Ub is not shown.
The input of the voltage regulator GRu(s) is the error between the voltage reference uoutc and the output
voltage uout , and the output is the current reference divided into the two equal values of iL1c and iL2c.
The two internal current regulators GRi1(s) and GRi2(s) work in parallel, and they control iL1 and iL2
respectively.

- ∆ucm1 ∆ud1δ ∆iL1

GRi1(s) Gcm1(s) Gsi1(s)
∆iL1c
∆uoutc + ∆iout ∆uout
GRu(s) ½ Gsu(s)
- +
∆iL2c
∆ucm2 ∆ud2δ ∆iL2
GRi2(s) Gcm2(s) Gsi2(s)
-

Fig. 3.4 Complete control circuit with voltage and current control
3.3 Measure of the output current step response
To verify the correct behaviour of the controlled system we apply on the reference a current step of
2 A. The following measurement (Fig. 3.5) shows a response time of 700µs for the current iout.

iout [A]

15.00

14.00

13.00

12.00

11.00

10.00 t [ms]
0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0

Fig. 3.5 : Step response of the output current iout

3.4 Conclusions
The model for the current controller was correct and the calculated parameters can be used. Further
the output current and voltage ripple are very low. The use of this DC/DC converter topology satisfies
the demands of high efficiency (η= 0.93) and low weight.

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4 Realized battery charger prototype

Figure 4.1 shows the realized battery charger prototype, consisting of a three phase unity power factor
AC/DC converter (PFC) and a dual isolated DC/DC switched mode converter. The control of each
converter is made by easily programmable floating point DSP cards with fast A/D converters and a
fast link to a host PC in order to have online measurement and supervision possibilities. The
references for battery charge current and voltage can also be modified any time by potentiometers on
the front panel. On the DSP card, a large FPGA circuit is used, in which the modulation functions are
implemented [7].

Fig. 4.1 : Prototype of a three-phase unity power factor AC/DC converter (PFC )
with dual DC/DC converter for a battery charger

The AC/DC converter draws a sinusoidal current in phase with the main voltage of 400V and the
output of the DC/DC converter is fully controllable in current and voltage up to 28A and 280V. The
efficiency of the installation reaches η = 0,90.

References
1. J.W. Kolar, F.C. Zach: A Novel Three-Phase Tree-Switch Tree Level Unity Power Factor PWM Rectifier,
Proceedings of the 28th Power Conference, Nürnberg, Germany, June 28-30. pp. 125-138 (1994)
2. J.W. Kolar, U. Drofenik, F.C. Zach, DC Link Voltage Balancing of a Three-Phase/Switch/Level PWM
(VIENNA) Rectifier by Modified Hysteresis Input Current Control, Proceedings of the Power Converson
Conference, pp. 443-465 (June 1995)
3. H. Bühler, Electronique de réglage et de commande, Traité d'Electricité, Presses polytechniques romandes,
Lausanne 1987
4. SIMEC. Simplorer 4.0. http://www.simec.com
5. N. Mohan, T. M. Undeland, W.P.Robbins, Power Electronics : converters, applications, and design, John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1995)
6. H. Bühler, Réglage des systèmes d’électronique de puissance, Volume 1, Presses polytechniques romandes,
Lausanne 1997
7. Sharc DSP for Power Electronic Applications: http://leiwww.epfl.ch/sharc

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