Power Electronics

Prof. E. Matlotse
DC – DC Conversion
 DC – DC Conversion
• In Many Industrial Applications, It’s Required
To Convert A Fixed Voltage DC Source Into A
Variable Voltage DC Source.
• A DC Chopper Converts Directly From DC to
DC and It’s Also Known As A DC-to-DC
Converter.
• A Chopper Can Be Considered As A DC
Equivalent To An AC Transformer With A
Continuously Variable Turns Ratio.
 DC – DC Conversion
• Like A Transformer, It Can Be Used To Step-
Down or Step-Up A DC Voltage Source.
• The DC-to-DC Converters Come In Three
Different Configurations:
i) Buck Converter (Step-Down)
ii) Boost Converter (Step-Up)
iii) Buck/Boost Converter (Step-Down or Step-
Up)
 DC – DC Conversion
• Buck Converter

Fig.1(a): A Buck Converter Circuit Diagram

Fig.1: Buck Converter (b) Voltage At Node X (c) Current Waveform (d) Voltage Across Inductance
 DC – DC Conversion
• A Buck Converter Is A DC-DC Converter, Whose
Output Voltage VLoad Is Less Than or Equal To
The Supply Voltage Vs.
• Figure In Previous Slides Depicts The
Configuration Of A Switch, A Capacitor, An
Inductor And A Diode That Satisfies This
Characteristic.
• The Issue Is To Find the Load Voltage VLoad in
Terms of Supply Voltage Vs and The Duty Cycle m.
 DC – DC Conversion
• where: m  t on ...............................(1)
T
t on is the time when the thyristor TH is
turned on.

T = period = ton + t off

t off is the time when the thyristor TH is

turned off.
 DC – DC Conversion
• It’s Assumed That The Conditions Are In
Steady-State And The Chopping Action Is
Periodic.
• Also, It’s Assumed That The Load Voltage
VLoad is Maintained Reasonably Constant By
The Capacitor C.
• Action of Switching The Thyristor On and Off
In Sequence Gives Rise To The Node X Voltage
V Waveform As Shown In Fig. (b).
 DC – DC Conversion
• While Thyristor TH Is On, Voltage VL Across
The Inductor L Is

di
VL  VS  VLoad  L  Cons tant .........(2)
dt
• Thus, While TH Is On, The Inductor Current i is

VS  VLoad
i t  I min .....................(3)
L
 DC – DC Conversion
• While The Switch TH Is Off, The Voltage Drop
Across The Inductor L Is

di .............(4)
VL  VLoad  L  Cons tant
dt
• Thus, While TH is Off, The Inductor Current i Is

VLoad .......................(5)
i t  I max
L
 DC – DC Conversion
• Here, Time t Is Measured From The Instant
That TH Is Turned Off.
• Linear Rise and Decay Of Current i Is Depicted
in Fig. (c).
• In Steady-State Imin Has The Same Value After
Each Period T.
• As A Result, The Average VL Value Of The
Inductor Voltage Is
 DC – DC Conversion

1 T 1 T di L I min .............(6)
VL 
T 
0
VL dt 
T 0 L dt 
dt T I min
di  0

• Fig. (d) Shows This Scenario.

• Because the Average Voltage Is
t on t off
VL1 x  VL2 x 0
T T

 mVL1  (1  m)VL2  0 ...................(7)

 DC – DC Conversion
• Since
VL1  VS  VLoad 
and


...............(8)
VL2  VLoad 

• Substituting Equations (8) Into Equation (7),

Then

m(VS  VLoad )  (1  m)(VLoad )  0

 mVS  mVLoad  VLoad  mVLoad  0
 VLoad  mVS  Vav ....................(9)
 DC – DC Conversion

• With the Configuration On The

Previous Slide, The Output
Voltage VLoad Across The Load
Can Be Adjusted From Zero To
The Value Of The Source Voltage
Vs.
 DC – DC Conversion
• Boost Converter

Fig.2 (a) Boost Converter Circuit Diagram

Fig.2: Boost Converter (b) and (c) Waveforms
 DC – DC Conversion
• As The Name Implies, The Boost
Converter Enables The Load Voltage To
Be Greater Than The Supply Voltage.
• Fig.2(a) Shows The Configuration Of this
Type Of DC-DC Converter.
• The Operation Of This Cct Involves
Periodic Switching Of The Thyristor TH.
 DC – DC Conversion
• While The Thyristor Is On, The Constant
Supply Voltage Vs Is Applied Across The
Inductor L, Since The Switch Is Considered To
Be Ideal.
• Linear Rise In Source Current, As Shown In
Fig.2(b), Is Given By The Equation
diS .................(1)
VL  VS  VL1  L
dt
 DC – DC Conversion
• While The Thyristor Is On, The Voltage VL
Across The Inductor Is
VL  VL1  VS ...............(2)
• While The Thyristor Is Off, The Voltage Across
The Inductor Is Given By
di
VL  VS  VLoad  VL  L S ..........(3)
2
dt
 DC – DC Conversion
• If The Voltage Across The Load Is Greater Than
The Voltage Across The Supply, Energy Is Being
Delivered To The Load From The Stored Energy
In The Inductor As Well As The Supply.
• The Voltage VL Across The Inductor Is Vs –
VLoad (VL2).
• This Means That dis/dt is –Ve and Constant,
So The Current iS is Reducing Linearly From
Imax to Imin As Shown In Fig.2(b).
 DC – DC Conversion
• Once Again
1 T 1 T diS L I min
VL   VL dt  0 L ............(4)
dt  I diS  0
T 0 T min dt T
• If The Average Inductor Voltage Is Zero, The
Area Under The Curve (Fig.2(c)) Over The
Period T Must Be Zero.
• That Is,
VL t on  VL t off  0 ....................(5)
1 2
 DC – DC Conversion
• If We Divide By T and Substitute For The Values of
VL1 and VL2, We Obtain

VS m  (VS  V Load )(1  m)  0

 VS m  VS  m VS  VLoad  m VLoad  0
 VS  (m  1)VLoad  0
 VS  (m  1)VLoad  0
 VS  (1  m)VLoad
VS ..............(6)
 VLoad 
1 m
 DC – DC Conversion
• Since 0  m  1 , then VLoad  VS .
• There Are Practical Limitations On How Much
Greater The Load Voltage Can be.
• Limitations Are The Power And The Associated
Current Ratings Of the Components.
• Another Limitation Is Stability.