Analysis and Mitigation of Interactions between PPC Converters
P and the AC Source
& JianSun
, Department of Electrical, Computer, and’systems Engineering
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY 12180-3590,USA
Telephone: (5 18) 276-8297; Fax: (5 18) 276-6226; E-mail: jsun@rpi.edu
Abstract-Converter-source interaction is a common
phenomenon in power electronic systems and can lead to
deteriorated performance or even system instability.
Experimental results are first presented in this paper to
demonstrate that such interactions also exist in ac systems
involving single-phase PFC converters and can lead to
significantly increased harmonic distortion. Mathematical
models and experimental measurement techniques are
then presented for the prediction and analysis of such
interactions. A mitigation method based on damping of the
PFC converter input filter is also presented. Emphasis of
the work is applications in future airborne power systems
where undesirable converter-source interactions are likely
to occur due to limited system capacities and the use of
large number of PFC converters.
Keywords-Converter-source interactions, single-phase
PFC converters, input impedance, filter design
I. INTRODUCTION
Converter-source interaction is a common
phenomenon in power electronic systems and can lead
to deteriorated performance or even system instability.
Many papers have been published on the analysis and
mitigation of such interactions in dc power distribution
systems. A systematic method based on the so-called
impedance criterion has been developed for predicting
and analyzing the interactions between a dc-dc
converter and the source, including that between the
converter and the input EM1 filter [I]. The existence of
a dc operation point in dc-dc converters makes it
possible to calculate their input impedance by using the
standard averaging and linearization techniques,
thereby enabling the application of the impedance
stability criterion. Development of basic modeling and
analysis techniques in this area was largely driven by
space applications in the 1970’s and 1980’s, where
there is a great potential for undesirable interactions due
to the limited capacity of the dc power source and the
complexity of the system.
Converter-source interaction can also occur in ac
power distribution systems, particularly those involving
power factor corrected (PFC) ac-dc converters and other
actively controlled loads. However, the source
impedance of a grid-connected, terrestrial ac power
system is usually very low. Moreover, the majority of
the power in such systems is consumed by loads
without active control, such as electric motors, heaters,
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and MinChen
uncontrolled rectifiers, and conventional lighting
devices. PFC converters have limited use in these
systems and constitute only a small portion of system
loads, hence are unlikely to cause system-level
problems. Because of this, PFC converter-source inter-
actions have not been given much attention in the past.
However, PFC converter-source interactions are
becoming a major concern for commercial jet airplanes.
The new airborne environmental requirements such as
DO-160D [2] require that ac-dc converters with active
power factor correction be used for most single-phase
loads on commercial jet airplanes with 400 Hz or
variable-frequency ac power, in order to ensure system
power quality. It is anticipated that future commercial
jets would use hundreds of on-board single-phase PFC
converters for powering various electronic fbnctions,
such as communication, navigation, flight control, and
in-flight entertainment. Due to the relatively small
capacity of a typical airborne power system, the
potential for undesirable interactions between PFC
converters and the rest of the system is real and must be
thoroughly analyzed in order to ensure system stability
and power quality.
A few papers have been published on the interac-
tions between single-phase PFC converters and the ac
source [3-51. In principle, the impedance criterion
developed for dc power systems can also be applied to
determine source interactions involving single-phase
PFC converters. The problem, however, is that single-
phase PFC converters operate along a sinusoidal input
voltage and, hence, don’t permit the use of small-signal
analysis techniques as in dc-dc converters. Previous
work on small-signal analysis of single-phase PFC
converters has circumvented this difficulty by small-
signal linearization at different points along the
sinusoidal input by assuming “quasi steady state”
operation at each point. This method is theoretically
unjustified and practically difficult to use.
This paper utilizes a new input impedance model [6]
to predict and analyze interactions between a single-
phase PFC converter and the ac source. The new
impedance model doesn’t rely on quasi steady state
operation assumption and is not limited to small-signal
operation, hence can give more reliable predictions.
Experimental results are presented first to show that
source interactions can cause significant harmonic
99
 distortion at the input current of a PFC converter. The
input impedance model is then used to analyze the inter-
actions and to demonstrate correlation between model
predictions and experimental measurements. An experi-
mental setup for measuring the input impedance is also
described. A practical mitigation method based on
. damping of the input filter is then presented and its
effectiveness in eliminating undesired interactions
demonstrated. The emphasis of the work is on airborne
applications with 400 Hz o~ variable-frequency (in the
range of 360-800 Hz) ac input, where high performance
control is essential for meeting the stringent harmonic
current Limits. ,
11. CONVERTER-SOURCE INTERACTION AND HARMONIC
CURRENT DISTORTION
All experimental results reported in this paper are
based a PFC demonstration module developed by Texas
Instruments for its UCC 3817 BiCMOS PFC control
chip [7]. A variable-frequency ac power source, Elgar
400SD, is used to power the module. As part of the
module design, the PFC converter has a 1.S pF filter
capacitor at its ac input.
Fig. 1 shows the measured input current and voltage
waveform of the PFC converter module. The input
fundamental frequency is 750 Hz, which represents a
possible operation frequency of variable-frequency
power system on future commercial airplanes. The large
leading phase of the,current is mainly due to the 1.5 pF
input filter capacitor mentioned above.
As can be seen from Fig. 1, the measured current
contains a high harmonic component at about 16 kHz.
Numerical simulation of the same PFC converter
operating from an ideal ac power source showed no
evidence of such high-frequency harmonics, Hence, it
was concluded that the harmonic current was caused by
interactions between the PFC converter and the
impedance of the variable-frequency ac power supply.
. . . .
..
.., .., ... .. .
: : : j
. . . . .
Fig. 1. Measured input current and voltage waveform of a single-
phase PFC converter. The high harmonic current is the result of con-
verter interactions with the Elgar ac power supply.
100
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111. IMPEDANCE MODELING
AND MEASUREMENT
The converter-source interactions observed in Fig. 1
can be analyzed based on impedance of both the
converter input and the ac power source output. For
easy reference, Fig. 2 dsfines the major elements of the
interconnected converter-source system, where C,,
represents the 1.5 pF filter capacitor at the input of the
PFC converter module.
Fig. 2. Boost single-phase PFC converter interaction with the ac
power source.
A. PFC Converter Input Impedance
The input impedance of the tested PFC converter
can be calculated using the model presented in [5, 61.
The general input impedance model takes the following
form [61:
1 + S + - S2
A complete definition of all parameters involved in this
model can be found in [6].
Note that, although (1) is linear, it is not limited to
small-signal operation. The model in effect defines the
response of a boost single-phase PFC converter to
different inputs (magnitude and frequency), or an input
voltage composed of different frequency components.
For converter-source interaction analysis, the filter
capacitor C,, shown in Fig. 2 can be modeled as part of
either the source or the converter. Since the input
impedance of the PFC converter is more conveniently
measured with this capacitor, we will model it as part of
the PFC converter. With reference to Fig. 2, the total
input impedance of the converter, Z,,, with C,, is
1
zin(s) = (2)
1
cats + -
Zpfc(4
B. Input Impedance Measurement
The input impedance of the PFC converter can be
measured by applying a variable-frequency
sinusoidal voltage to the converter and measuring the
corresponding input current (phase and magnitude).
 The setup used here consists of a power amplifier
controlled by a frequency analyzer and connected in
series with an ac power supply. Output frequency of
the ac power supply is fixed (e.g. at 400 Hz) while its
magnitude is adjusted at the rated supply voltage of
the PFC module. The power amplifier is controlled
by the frequency analyzer to inject a variable-
frequency voltage. The magnitude of the power
amplifier output is relatively small compared to that
of the ac power supply so as to limit its active output
power. By sweeping the frequency of the control
signal over a prescribed range, the frequency
analyzer can then determine the frequency response
of the input impedance in a single measurement.
Depending on the voltage and current ratings of the
power amplifier used, an injection transformer might
also be need to provide the necessary voltage andlor
current matching.
Measurement results of the PFC converter module
with 106 W output power are shown in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4
for and zi,,($), respectively. The responses are
PfC
also compared to theoretical predictions by using the
impedance models (1) and (2). The measurement
results are found to correlate very well with model
predictions in both cases. The ac power s ~ p p l youtput
frequency is 50 Hz when measuring (s) and 400
PfC
Hz when measuring z~,,(~). The measurement results
show some noise around these frequencies, which can
loo lo00 loo00 100000.
Frequency (Hz)
75
50
2n 25
v 0
% -25
E E2-60
P, -50
-75
100 loo0 loo00 100000.
Frequency (Hz) d
Fig. 3. Input impedance of the tested PFC converter. The dashed
lines represent axperimental measurement results, while the solid
lines are predicted by using the model (1).
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be explained as follows: The frequency analyzer deter-
mines the input impedance by extracting, using Fourier
analysis, the input current component at the injection
frequency and comparing it with the injected voltage.
Such extraction will be numerically difficult when the
injection frequency is close to the main supply
frequency, and impossible when the injection frequency
is equal to the main supply frequency, which leads to
measurement error.
The input impedance as defined by (1) and (2) can
also be measured by using a variable-frequency
power supply without a power amplifier and a
frequency analyzer. The process would involve
manually changing the output frequency of the power
'supply and measuring the converter input current
magnitude and phase relative to the input voltage to
determine the input impedance at each frequency
point. Bode plots such as those shown in Fig. 3 and 4
can also be generated, provided that enough data
points are taken over the frequency range of interests.
This is however a very time-consuming process.
C. Source Impedance Measurement
Output impedance of the ac power supply, zscs) as
defined in Fig. 2, can also be measured using a sunilar
setup as described in the previous subsection. Since the
ac power supply has linear output characteristics, it
100 loo0 loo00 100000.
Frequency (Hz) +
0
-2.0
s
v
P,
-80
loo loo0 loo00 100000.
Frequency (Hz) d
Fig. 4. Input impedance of the tested PFC converter including its ac
iilter capacitor. The dashed lines represent experimental measure-
ment results, while solid lines are predicted by using the model (2).
 doesn't need to be operated with rated output (voltage,
current, or frequency) and with any particular load
(such as the PFC converter). Instead, a resistive load
can be used and the output voltage can be kept
relatively low. Furthermore, the output impedance shall
be independent of the output frequency.
Fig. 5 shows the measured output impedance of
the Elgar ac power supply. The measurement was
taken under 400 Hz output, which also explains the
high measurement noise around 400 Hz. As can be
seen, the output impedance has a resonant frequency
at about 40 kHz, below which the output is inductive.
In the frequency range from 1 kHz to 40 kHz, the
output can be approximately modeled by a 100 yH
inductor (which has 16 dB-Cl impedance at 10 kHz).
This is unusually high for a power supply, but
actually serves well our purpose of demonstrating
potential interactions between a PFC converter and
the ac source. In an airborne ac power system, for
example, the distribution cable itself could have as
much as 100 yH inductance if the PFC.converter is
located 50 meters or farther away from the generator.
Iv. INTERACTION ANALYSIS
AND MITIGATION
Stability of an interconnected converter-source
system requires that the ratio of the source output
impedance to the converter input impedance meet the
Nyquist criterion [l]. To apply this criterion to our
experimental system, the output impedance of the Elgar
ac power supply and the input impedance of the PFC
converter (including the ac-side filter capacitor Cat) are
compared in Fig. 6 . As can be seen, the magnitude of
the source output impedance exceeds that of the
converter input impedance at about 12 kHz and above,
while the phase difference at the intersection frequency
is about 165O, i.e., there is only 15' phase margin. The
lack of sufficient phase margin clearly indicates a
potential instability problem of the system in the 10-20
kHz range, which is confirmed by the measured
current waveform in Fig. 1. The frequency of the
dominant harmonic current seen in Fig. 1 is about 16
kHz, which is close to what the impedance plots in
Fig. 6 predicts.
The analysis and measurement results presented
thus far served two purposes:
1 ) They demonstrated that converter-source interac-
tions can also occur in ac power systems involving
single-phase PFC converters, and that such interac-
tions can lead to excessive input current harmonic
distortion of the PFC converter.
2) The results further demonstrated that the classical
stability criterion for interconnected converter-
source systems can also be applied to ac power
systems. In particular, the input impedance models
(1) and (2) are shown to be accurate and useful for
predicting potential instability problems involving
boost single-phase PFC converters.

50
B
m 30
40

E,
4 20
.-2
C
10

H -10
0

100 loo0 loo00 100000. 100 lo00 loo00 100000.

Frequency (Hz) Frequency (Hz) --b

75 75
50 50
3
n
v
25
0
25
0
s
E
a
-25
-50
-25
-50
-75 -75

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Frequency (Hz) d Frequency (Hz) +

Fig. 5. Measured output impedance of the variable-frequency ac Fig. 6. Input impedance of the tested PFC converter (predicted) in
power source used in the experinleiits. comparison with the output impedance of the power source.

102

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 Having identified the source of the interactions,
different methods can be applied to alleviate or
eliminate the problem. Reducing the source impedance
by using an ac power supply with lower output
impedance, for example, may be an effective and easy
solution in a laboratory environment, but may not be
possible in practical systems where the source
impedance is dictated by system design. The 1.5 pF ac-
side filter capacitor, although appropriate for 50/60 Hz,
is apparently too large for high-frequency lines. Using a
smaller filter capacitor would increase the converter
input impedance in the high-frequency region, thereby
reducing the potential for instability. For example, it
was found that the converter input impedance would not
intersect with the source output impedance at any
frequency if this capacitor is changed to 80 nF.
However, the effects of such a small filter capacitor on
the switching-frequency ripple generated by the PFC
converter also need to be evaluated, and additional
filtering elements may be needed to provide sufficient
attenuation for high-frequency ripple [81.
In the following, we will demonstrate that the
undesirable interactions can also be avoided by proper
damping of the input filter capacitor. For that purpose,
we keep the 1.5 pF filter capacitor unchanged and add
an R&d damper in parallel with it. The damping
capacitor, ,C, and resistor, Rd, are designed using the
method presented in [9]. In this method, the damping
capacitor is selected first. Defining a quantity ?I by
'd
?I = 7 ,
Lac
the damping resistor is then designed based on the
following expression to achieve optimal damping:
L in the above expression is the inductance of the filter
inductor.
We don't have a filter inductor in our system.
However, the ac power source behaves like a 100 pH
inductor in the frequency range where interactions are
likely to occur, as mentioned before in Section 111.
Therefore, we can design the damper based on L = 100
pH. Selection of Cd requires a trade-off between the
effectiveness of damping vs. the size of the damping
capacitor. As a simple experiment, we use C, = ,C , =
1.5 pF, that is, ?I = 1. The optimal damping resistance is
then calculated from (4) to be 11.83 Q.
The input impedance of the PFC converter with
,, and the designed parallel R g d damper is plotted
C 100
in Fig. 7 together with the measured output
impedance of the ac power source. For comparison,
the input impedance before the damper is added is
also plotted (by the dashed lines). As expected, the
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added filter capacitor reduces the input impedance
such that it intersects with source output impedance
at a lower frequency (10 kHz). On the other hand, the
damper provides a boost to the phase response of Zin
in the high-frequency region, and the phase
difference at the intersection frequency (10 kHz)
becomes 125' compared to 1 6 5 O before the damper is
added. Therefore, the damper in effect increased the
system phase margin from 15' to 55', and is expected
to solve the interaction problem observed in Fig. 1.
Operation of the PFC converter with the added R&d
damper was also measured. The results are shown in
Fig. 8. Comparing with the waveform shown in Fig. 1,
we can conclude that the damper has eliminated the
stability problem and the associated harmonic current '
distortion. The remaining current distortion around
the zero crossing of the input voltage is caused by the
limited control bandwidth of the current loop of the
PFC converter when operated under high line
frequencies. This problem can be further solved by
applying the feedforward input current control
method introduced in [lo]. To demonstrate that, Fig.
9 shows the measured input current and voltage
waveform after feedforward control is added to the
current loop of the PFC converter. The results clearly
demonstrated the effectiveness of feedforward control
in reducing input current zero-crossing distortion, and
further confirmed that the distortion observed in Fig. 8
is not due to interactions with the source.
(3)
40
30
m
10
0
-10
100 lo00 loo00 100000.
Frequency (Hz) +
75
50
25
a
W 0
E
3 -25
& -50
-75
loo0 loo00 100000.
Frequency (Hz) +
Fig. 7. Effects on parallel RC damper on PFC converter input
impedance. Dashed line&without damper; solid lines: with damper.
103
 Fig. 8. Measured input current and voltage waveform after the addi-
tion of the parallel RC damper to the input filter capacitor.
The large leading phase of the input current relative
to the input voltage in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 is caused by the
high line frequency (750 Hz) and the large filter
capacitor, Cue,as well as the added damping capacitor,
C & This phase shift can be reduced by using a smaller
filter capacitor and/or redesign of the input filter. The
input impedance model introduced here provides a
u s e l l tool for optimal design of input filters for single-
phase PFC converters, which remains an interesting
topic for future work.
V. CONCLUSIONS
Experimental results demonstrated that converter-
source interactions can also exist in ac power systems
involving single-phase PFC converters, and that such
interactions can lead to excessive harmonic current
distortion. Recently developed input impedance models
for boost single-phase PFC converters were shown to be
accurate and useful for predicting such interactions.
Mitigation of undesirable interactions by means of
proper input filter design was also discussed. In addition
to analytical methods, measurement techniques for
experimental evaluation of PFC converter interaction
with ac power sources were also presented.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The PFC demo board used in the experiments was
provided by Texas Instruments. The work was
104
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Fig. 9. Measured input current and voltage waveform after the addi-
tion of the parallel RC damper and current feedforward control.
supported in part by Rockwell Collins, Inc., through the
Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES) - an
Engineering Research Center of the NSF.
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