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ships derived through analysis have shown that the converter has a simple bidirectional control scheme. Also, methods to reduce the rms currents in the HV source and link capacitor have been suggested. To verify the performance, a 2-kW prototype converter with 90-kHz switching frequency has been implemented with design guidelines derived based on rms current reduction. The experimental results show that above 94.1% of efciency has been obtained irrespective of the power ow direction. Therefore, it may be suitable for isolated/ bidirectional converters with a high voltage gain. R EFERENCES
[1] W. Jiang and B. Fahimi, Active current sharing and source management in fuel cell battery hybrid power system, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 752761, Feb. 2010. [2] C. S. Leu and M. H. Li, A novel current-fed boost converter with ripple reduction for high-voltage conversion applications, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 20182023, Jun. 2010. [3] M. J. Vasallo, J. M. Andujar, C. Garcia, and J. J. Brey, A methodology for sizing backup fuel-cell/battery hybrid power systems, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 19641975, Jun. 2010. [4] Z. Amjadi and S. S. Williamson, A novel control technique for a switched capacitor converter based hybrid electric vehicle energy storage system, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 926934, Mar. 2010. [5] K. Wang, C. Y. Lin, L. Xhu, D. Qu, F. C. Lee, and J. S. Lai, Bi-directional DC to DC converters for fuel cell systems, in Proc. PET , 1998, pp. 4751. [6] J. Wang, L. Zhu, D. Qu, H. Odendaal, J. Lai, and F. C. Lee, Design, implementation, and experimental results of bi-directional full-bridge DC/DC converter with unied soft-switching scheme and soft-start capability, in Proc. Power Electron. Spec. Conf., 2000, pp. 10581063. [7] S. J. Jang, T. W. Lee, W. C. Lee, and C. Y. Won, Bi-directional DCDC converter for fuel cell generation system, in Proc. Power Electron. Spec. Conf., 2004, pp. 47224728. [8] Y. Lembeye, V. D. Bang, G. Lefebre, and J. P. Ferrieux, Novel halfbridge inductive dcdc isolated converters for fuel cell applications, IEEE Trans. Energy Convers., vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 203210, Mar. 2009. [9] F. Z. Peng, H. Li, G. J. Su, and J. S. Lawler, A new ZVS bidirectional dcdc converter for fuel cell and battery application, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 5465, Jan. 2004. [10] J. M. Kwon, E. H. Kim, B. H. Kwon, and K. H. Nam, High-efciency fuel cell power conditioning system with input current ripple reduction, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 826834, Mar. 2009.

Fig. 5. Measured waveforms and efciency plots under Po = 2 kW (VH = 200 V and VL = 24 V).

is the limit gain in general boost converters. Accordingly, the selection range of n becomes VL,max /VH,min < n < kVL,min /VH,max . (5) If the calculated n does not meet this condition, some adjustment should be performed. IV. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS The proposed converter has been designed with 2 kW (VH = 200300 V, VL = 1830 V (24-V battery), IVL,max = 83 A) and 90-kHz switching frequency for both stages. The selected switching devices are M1 = M2 = FCA47N60 2 and M3 M6 = FDP3632 3. With Dripple , the calculated n is 0.266, which meets the selection range of n = 0.150.3. The transformer is constructed with two PQ4040 ferrite cores (15 T:4 T) in parallel. Since each transformer has a primary leakage inductance of 12.1 H, 7.4 F is selected for Cr to make fr equal to fs . From the Lm selection inequality, the maximum Lm is calculated as 165 H with Tdead = 200 ns, and 150 H is used. Cb and Lb are designed as 100 F and 20 H, constructed with a lm capacitor and a high-ux toroidal core, respectively. The controller has been implemented with TMS320F28335. Fig. 5 shows the measured waveforms and efciency plots under bidirectional operation. The waveforms agree well with the theoretical analysis, and ZVS is well accomplished during Tdead . Also, it shows that the efciencies of buck and boost modes have similar trajectories. The measured efciency has been recorded above 94.1%. The operational duty ratios according to VH changes are located between 0.30 and 0.45 under the maximum charge current condition so that Ic,rms has 27%36% of IVL,max . V. C ONCLUSION A two-stage isolated/bidirectional dc/dc converter with three bridges has been proposed and analyzed. The input-to-output relation-

Comments on Three-Arm AC Automatic Voltage Regulator

Jung-Min Kwon, Kyu-Tae Kim, and Bong-Hwan Kwon

AbstractSome errors in the three-arm automatic voltage regulator in the paper Three-Arm AC Automatic Voltage Regulator by Wu et al. (IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 567575, Feb. 2011) are pointed out, and a technique for correcting these errors is given. Index TermsAutomatic voltage regulator (AVR), three-arm.

The paper [1] proposes a novel three-arm automatic voltage regulator (AVR) with voltage up/down capability. Fig. 1 shows the
Manuscript received March 1, 2011; revised June 1, 2011; accepted August 5, 2011. Date of publication August 30, 2011; date of current version October 4, 2011. J.-M. Kwon is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Hanbat National University, Daejeon 305-719, Korea (e-mail: jmkwon@hanbat.ac.kr). K.-T. Kim and B.-H. Kwon are with the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea (e-mail: ben.kim@postech.ac.kr; bhkwon@postech.ac.kr). Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TIE.2011.2166234

0278-0046/$26.00 2011 IEEE

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Fig. 1.

Circuit conguration of the previous AVR in [1].

circuit conguration of the previous three-arm AVR. This three-arm AVR consists of a three-arm converter, an input inductor LA , a small dc-link capacitor CA , and an output lter LB , CB . The three-arm converter of the previous AVR acts as an ac boost converter when the utility voltage is lower than the reference output voltage and acts as an ac buck converter when the utility voltage is higher than the reference output voltage. Thus, the output voltage of the AVR can be maintained at the reference voltage. However, some errors are founded in the circuit of the previous AVR. A. AC Boost Mode In the previous AVR under the ac boost mode, the rst and third arms are controlled by a square signal with the utility frequency, and the second arm is controlled by a high-frequency pulsewidth modulation (PWM) signal. Fig. 2(a) shows the operating circuit of the previous AVR under the ac boost mode when the utility voltage is in the positive half cycle, and Fig. 2(b) shows the control signals and voltage waveforms of the previous AVR under the ac boost mode. G1 and G6 are always on, and G2 and G5 are always off. G3 and G4 are controlled by a high-frequency PWM signal. However, the closed loop is formed regardless of the operations of G3 and G4 . CA is shorted in the closed loop. Since CA cannot charge and discharge, the previous AVR does not operate as an ac boost converter. Fig. 2(b) shows the control signals and voltage waveforms of the previous AVR under the ac boost mode. Since the control signals of the previous AVR are incorrect, this AVR does not operate as an ac boost converter. Similarly, the AVR has the same errors when the utility voltage is in the negative half cycle. Fig. 2(c) shows the simulation waveforms of the previous AVR under the ac boost mode when the input voltage is 77 V and a resistive load. The simulation parameters and specications are shown in Table I. As shown in Fig. 2(c), the dc-link voltage vc and the output voltage vo are zero with a large input current is . Thus, the previous AVR does not operate as an ac boost converter. Fig. 3 shows the modied AVR under the ac boost mode. The rst arm is controlled by a high-frequency PWM signal, and the second and third arms are controlled by a square signal with the utility frequency. Fig. 3(a) shows the operating circuit of the modied AVR under the ac boost mode when the utility voltage is in the positive half cycle. G4 and G5 are always on, and G3 and G6 are always off. G1 and G2 are controlled by a high-frequency PWM signal [2], as shown in Fig. 3(c), which gives the control signals and voltage waveforms. Fig. 3(b) shows the operating circuit of the modied AVR under the ac boost mode

Fig. 2. Previous AVR under the ac boost mode. (a) Operating circuit in the positive half cycle. (b) Control signals and voltage waveforms. (c) Simulation waveforms.

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TABLE I PARAMETERS AND S PECIFICATIONS OF THE P ROTOTYPE

Fig. 4. Experimental waveforms of the modied AVR under the ac boost mode when the input voltage is 77 V and a resistive load. (a) Input voltage vs , input current is , dc-link voltage vc , and output voltage vo . (b) Control signals.

as an ac boost converter. The control concept of the modied AVR is based on that in [2]. The prototype of the modied AVR is implemented for 1-kW rated power. The modied AVR is implemented with high-frequency PWM signals G1 and G2 as shown in Fig. 3(c). The major parameters and specications of the hardware circuit used for experiments are presented in Table I. Fig. 4 shows the experimental waveforms of the modied AVR under the ac boost mode when the input voltage is 77 V and a resistive load. As shown in Fig. 4(a), the output voltage is still almost sinusoidal and is regulated at 110 V. Fig. 4(b) shows the related control signals of the power switches and the input voltage. Thus, the modied AVR operates as an ac boost converter.

B. AC Buck Mode The rst and second arms are controlled by a square signal with the utility frequency, and the third arm is controlled by a high-frequency PWM signal. Fig. 5(a) shows the operating circuit of the modied AVR under the ac buck mode when the utility voltage is in the positive half cycle. G1 and G4 are always on, and G2 and G3 are always off. G5 and G6 are controlled by a high-frequency PWM signal. Fig. 5(b) shows the operating circuit of the modied AVR under the ac buck mode when the utility voltage is in the negative half cycle. G2 and G3 are always on, and G1 and G4 are always off. G5 and G6 are controlled by a high-frequency PWM signal. The control signals and

Fig. 3. Modied AVR under the ac boost mode. (a) Operating circuit in the positive half cycle. (b) Operating circuit in the negative half cycle. (c) Control signals and voltage waveforms.

when the utility voltage is in the negative half cycle. G3 and G6 are always on, and G4 and G5 are always off. G1 and G2 are controlled by a high-frequency PWM signal. Thus, the modied AVR operates

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Authors Reply to Comments on Three-Arm AC Automatic Voltage Regulator

Jinn-Chang Wu, Hurng-Liahng Jou, Kuen-Der Wu, and Shiue-Jung Jan The authors are very much thankful for the comments. The original paper [1] was organized and written according to the patent [2] invented by Wu et al., and the function of the patent was veried in Jans Masters thesis [3]. The authors have checked the original simulation les and schematic circuit of the developed automatic voltage regulator (AVR). Errors were found in drawing the circuit conguration of the original paper. However, the components, control principle, and experimental results of the proposed AVR are accurate. The mistakes occurred in the rearranged process. The corrections of the original paper are as follows. I. C IRCUIT C ONFIGURATION The circuit conguration of the proposed three-arm AVR is shown in Fig. 1. The proposed three-arm AVR acts as an ac boost converter when the utility voltage is lower than the specied voltage, and it acts as an ac buck converter when the utility voltage is higher than the specied voltage. Hence, the output voltage of the AVR can be maintained at the specied voltage. The salient feature of this AVR is that only one arm is switched in high frequency, while the other two arms are switched in low frequency regardless of whether the utility voltage is lower or higher than the specied voltage. Hence, the switching loss of this AVR can be reduced. Moreover, the capacitance of the dc capacitor (CA ) in the three-arm power converter is very small. A. AC Boost Mode In this situation, the rst and third arms are controlled by a square signal with the fundamental frequency of the utility, and the second arm is controlled by high-frequency pulse-width modulation (PWM) signals. Fig. 2 shows the operating circuit of the proposed AVR under the ac boost mode. The inductor LA acts as the energy-storage element when the three-arm power converter operates as an ac boost converter. Fig. 2(a) shows the operating circuit of the ac boost converter when the utility voltage is in the positive half cycle. As shown in Fig. 2(a), G1 and G6 are always on, and G2 and G5 are always off. When G3 is on and G4 is off, the inductor LA is energized by the utility through G1 and G3 . The energy stored in inductor LA will be released through G1 , CA , and G4 when G3 is off and G4 is on. Fig. 2(b) shows the operating circuit when the utility voltage is in the negative half cycle. As shown in Fig. 2(b), G2 and G5 are always on, and G1 and G6 are always off. The inductor LA is energized by the utility through G2 and G4 when G4 is on and G3 is off, and the energy stored in inductor LA will be released through G2 , CA , and G3 when G4 is off and G3 is

Fig. 5. Modied AVR under the ac buck mode. (a) Operating circuit in the positive half cycle. (b) Operating circuit in the negative half cycle.

voltage waveforms of the modied AVR under the ac buck mode are equal to those of the previous AVR. R EFERENCES
[1] J.-C. Wu, H.-L. Jou, K.-D. Wu, and S.-J. Jan, Three-arm AC automatic voltage regulator, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 567575, Feb. 2011. [2] T. W. Kim, J. H. Choi, and B. H. Kwon, High-performance line conditioner with output voltage regulation and power factor correction, Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng.Elect. Power Appl., vol. 151, no. 1, pp. 9197, Jan. 2004.

Manuscript received August 6, 2011; accepted August 12, 2011. Date of publication August 30, 2011; date of current version October 4, 2011. J.-C. Wu is with the Department of Microelectronics Engineering, National Kaohsiung Marine University, Kaohsiung 81157, Taiwan (e-mail: jinnwu@ mail.ksut.edu.tw). H.-L. Jou and K.-D. Wu are with the Department of Electrical Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung 80778, Taiwan (e-mail: hljou@mail.e.kuas.edu.tw; kuender@mail.ee.kuas.edu.tw). S.-J. Jan is with the R&D Division, HIWIN Technologies Corporation, Taichung 40707, Taiwan (e-mail: onlypell@gmail.com). Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TIE.2011.2166238 0278-0046/$26.00 2011 IEEE