The main goal of this project was an optimization of DC-DC converter design from company Meatest with regards to its efficiency, minimalizing power loses and radiated electromagnetic inference, while maintaining its price on reasonable level. The first part of this paper is introduction to the most common converter topologies. In the second part, design and optimization of converter are discussed. The third part is about measurement automatization in Simple. Measurements of converter prototype can be found in fourth part.

Ce travail concerne l’étude, le dimensionnement et la réalisation d’un convertisseur continu-continu, associé à une source de type pile à combustible. Pour l’application envisagée, ce convertisseur a un rapport de transformation élevé voisin de 12. De plus l’ondulation de courant est limitée à 1% du courant moyen maximal. La mise en cascade de deux convertisseurs a été retenue pour obtenir un rapport de transformation élevé. Le premier étage est un Boost entrelacé associé à un filtre d’entrée de type L-C, qui permettent de réduire fortement l’ondulation du courant de source. Le second étage est un Boost à trois niveaux qui permet de diminuer les contraintes en tension sur les interrupteurs, et de réduire ainsi les pertes du convertisseur. La commande du convertisseur est ensuite définie en se basant sur l’utilisation d’un régulateur non linéaire. La gestion globale du système est effectuée par la régulation de la tension intermédiaire et de la puissance transitée à la charge en utilisant les principes des commandes « plates ». Enfin un banc de tests à puissance réduite (3 kW) a été réalisé, afin de valider le fonctionnement du convertisseur et les régulations proposées / This work deals with the study, design and building of a DC-DC converter, which is associated with a fuel cell source. According to the application, this converter should have a high voltage ratio which is about 12, and it is able to limit the ripple current of source below 1% of the maximum average current. A cascaded structure composed by two converters has been chosen and allows obtaining a high voltage ratio. The first stage is an interleaved Boost associated with a L-C input filter, to reduce ripple of the current delivered by the source. The second stage is a three-level Boost which reduces the voltage stress of the switches, thereby reducing losses of the converter. The control of the converter is defined basing on the use of a non-linear regulator. Thanks to use the flatness control, the global control is realized through the regulation of the intermediate voltage and of the power transited to the load. Finally, a small power test converter (3 kW) has been realized, in order to validate the converter operation and the proposed control

Ces dernières années, la fiabilité et la continuité de service des chaînes de traction sont devenus des défis majeurs afin que les véhicules électriques puissent accéder au marché grand public de l’automobile. En effet, la présence de défauts dans les chaînes de traction peut conduire à des dysfonctionnements dans les véhicules et ainsi réduire ses performances par rapport aux véhicules conventionnels. Dans l’hypothèse où des défauts électriques se produisaient, les chaînes de traction des véhicules électriques à pile à combustible devraient inclure des topologies et/ou contrôles tolérants aux défauts pour les différents convertisseurs DC/DC et DC/AC. Dans le cadre de ce travail de recherche, un focus est fait sur le convertisseur DC/DC associé à la pile à combustible de la chaine de traction. Ce dernier doit répondre aux problématiques majeures des applications véhicule électrique à pile à combustible à savoir : faible masse et petit volume, haute efficacité énergétique, réduction de l’ondulation de courant d’entrée et fiabilité. A la base d’une recherche bibliographique poussée sur les structures non-isolées et isolées appropriées pour des applications PàC, une topologie de convertisseur DC/DC entrelacé a été choisie permettant de respecter les contraintes des véhicules électriques à pile à combustible.Ce travail de thèse a ensuite consisté à dimensionner et contrôler la structure de convertisseur DC/DC tolérante aux défauts choisie pour les véhicules à PàC. Des algorithmes de gestion des modes dégradés de ce convertisseur ont été développés et implémentés expérimentalement. A ce titre, l’interaction PàC-convertisseur DC/DC a été étudiée. Une approche théorique, de simulation et expérimentale a été mise en oeuvre pour mener à bien ce travail. / Over the last years, reliability and continuity of service of powertrains have become major challenge so that the fuel cell electric vehicles (CFEV) can access to the mass automotive market. Indeed, the presence of faults in powertrains can lead up to malfunctions in the vehicle and consequently reduce its performances compared with conventional vehicles. In the case of electrical faults, powertrains of FCEV have to include fault tolerant topology and/or control for the different DC/DC and DC/AC converters. Within the framework of this research work, the study is focused on DC/DC converter combined with a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). The DC/DC converter must respond to challenging issues in FCEV applications such as: low weight and small volume, high energy efficiency, fuel cell current ripple reduction and reliability. Basing on a thorough bibliographical study on non-isolated and isolated DC/DC converter topologies, an interleaved DC/DC boost converter has been chosen, meeting the FCEV requirements.The purpose of this thesis has then consisted in sizing and controlling the chosen fault-tolerant DC/DC converter topology for FCEVs. Algorithms for degraded mode management of this converter have been developed and implemented experimentally. As such, the interaction between PEMFC and interleaved DC/DC boost converter has been investigated. A theoretical approach, simulation and experimental results have been carried out to complete this work.

Les convertisseurs électriques sont présents dans tous les équipements électroniques. Les besoins en alimentations stabilisées des appareils et la variabilité des sources d'énergie imposent l'omniprésence des convertisseurs. Dans un environnement embarqué, la conversion, majoritairement DC/DC, subit de multiples contraintes environnementales dues au milieu dans lequel elle évolue, que ce soit dans un aéronef ou un véhicule terrestre. Les équipements ferroviaires doivent ainsi subir des contraintes vibratoires et volumiques fortes imposant à la fois l'absence de pièces mobiles telles que des ventilateurs, ainsi qu'un volume minimal afin de ne pas empiéter sur l'espace utile des cabines de trains.Une contrainte plus spécifique à l'environnement ferroviaire est la très large plage de tension d'alimentation devant être supportée par le convertisseur. Cette plage de tension, s'étendant de 12 V à 154 V, due à la multiplicité des standards électriques de par le monde représente le principal défi à la conception de convertisseurs DC/DC compacts.Dans ce mémoire, les topologies de convertisseurs existantes sont dans un premier temps analysées en fonction des contraintes du cahier des charges. Les deux structures les plus pertinentes sont ensuite étudiées plus profondément, par des simulations comportementales et des modélisations de pertes, afin de confirmer leur pertinence et d'étudier leurs carences.Dans les deux derniers chapitres de ce mémoire, les stratégies de dimensionnement propres à notre application sont décrites. Finalement, les technique de contrôle élaborées spécifiquement pour notre application sont décrites puis testées sur les prototypes des convertisseurs. Les mesures réalisées sur les prototypes ont permis de confirmer l'apport des techniques de contrôle et de dimensionnement décrites précédemment, améliorant significativement les performances des convertisseurs ainsi que l'encombrement de leurs éléments passifs / Electric converters can be found on almost every electronic device. The need for a stabilized power supply and the variability of the power sources make the power converters unavoidable. In embedded applications, the power conversion, mostly DC/DC conversion, must sustain various constraints due to their environment, airborne or in ground vehicles. Devices for railway applications endure severe constraint on their volume and immunity to vibration. Thus, they have to be built without any mobile part including fans, and to be as small as possible to minimize their impact on the payload capacity of the trains.The most specific constraint in railway application is the wide input voltage range sustained by the power converter. This voltage range, from 12 V to 154 V, is due to the large amount of electric standards worldwide. This characteristic is the main challenge for the design of compact DC/DC converters.In this thesis, in a first time the current converters topologies are analysed under the scope of our specifications. Then, the two most relevant structures are more deeply studied. Behavioural simulations and loss models are described, leading to the confirmation of their relevancy and the study of their lacks.In the last two chapters of this thesis, the sizing strategies used to fit our specifications are described. Then, the control techniques elaborated to meet the specificities of our application are described then tested on prototypes. The measurements made on the prototypes have confirmed the gain due to these control techniques and the sizing strategies previously described. These improvements have led to significant improvements in the performance of the converters and in the volume reduction of their passive elements

This thesis examines converter topologies suitable for Module Integrated Converters (MICs) in grid interactive photovoltaic (PV) systems, and makes a contribution to the development of the MIC topologies based on the two-inductor boost converter, which has received less research interest than other well known converters. The thesis provides a detailed analysis of the resonant two-inductor boost converter in the MIC implementations with intermediate constant DC links. Under variable frequency control, this converter is able to operate with a variable DC gain while maintaining the resonant condition. A similar study is also provided for the resonant two-inductor boost converter with the voltage clamp, which aims to increase the output voltage range while reducing the switch voltage stress. An operating point with minimized power loss can be also established under the fixed load condition. Both the hard-switched and the soft-switched current fed two-inductor boost converters are developed for the MIC implementations with unfolding stages. Nondissipative snubbers and a resonant transition gate drive circuit are respectively employed in the two converters to minimize the power loss. The simulation study of a frequency-changer-based two-inductor boost converter is also provided. This converter features a small non-polarised capacitor in a second phase output to provide the power balance in single phase inverter applications. Four magnetic integration solutions for the two-inductor boost converter have also been presented and they are promising in reducing the converter size and power loss.

<p>Designing an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) must be starting with careful preparations, otherwise the chip will not be as good as possible. The theoretical studies must cover everything from the chip circuits to the application structure. In mobile applications there is extremely important that the current consumption becomes minimized because the battery power is limited. The power reductions studies must include the most power costing circuits on the chip. When the whole circuit or segments of the circuit is not in use, they must switch fast and simple into another mode that consume nearly none power. This mode is called sleep-mode. If the sleep-mode has very low leakage currents, the lifetime of the application will dramatically increase. </p><p>This report studies the most power costing circuits in smartcard application ASIC. The chip should be used to control a LCD display on the smartcard. The circuits that have been investigated are level shifters, charge pumps and LCD drivers, also sleep-mode configuration possibilities have been investigated. Other small preparing work is also included in the thesis.</p>

This thesis presents a distributed power-management architecture for concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) systems. Specifically, the Δ-conversion scheme with voltage equalization is analyzed and verified for the CPV system from Morgan Solar, Inc. This architecture uses inverting buck-boost converters, denoted Δ-converters, which equalize the voltages of neighbouring CPV cells in a series-connected string of cells and improve the systems tolerance to parameter variations. The power benefits of Δ-conversion and the Δ-converter current distributions are investigated using statistical simulations. The effectiveness of Δ-conversion in the presence of randomly distributed mismatches is demonstrated, and current cascading is identified as the main design challenge. The Δ-converter is modelled and compensated using Middlebrook's Extra Element Theorem. Analysis of measured data from a six-cell CPV system demonstrate the benefits of Δ-conversion under realistic scenarios. Experimental results from prototype systems show up to 31% power benefits in the presence of mismatches.

Designing an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) must be starting with careful preparations, otherwise the chip will not be as good as possible. The theoretical studies must cover everything from the chip circuits to the application structure. In mobile applications there is extremely important that the current consumption becomes minimized because the battery power is limited. The power reductions studies must include the most power costing circuits on the chip. When the whole circuit or segments of the circuit is not in use, they must switch fast and simple into another mode that consume nearly none power. This mode is called sleep-mode. If the sleep-mode has very low leakage currents, the lifetime of the application will dramatically increase. This report studies the most power costing circuits in smartcard application ASIC. The chip should be used to control a LCD display on the smartcard. The circuits that have been investigated are level shifters, charge pumps and LCD drivers, also sleep-mode configuration possibilities have been investigated. Other small preparing work is also included in the thesis.

In recent years, smart gird has received much attention, and many researchers have devoted to home area network (HAN) to improve the efficiency of grid. This thesis proposes a bidirectional isolated DC-DC converter (Dual Active Bridge, DAB) with phase shift control to implement the concept of HAN. Li+Fe battery is used as storage device of the converter, and a bidirectional communication between Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Engineering Workbench (LabVIEW) and Digital Signal Processor (DSP) is realized by CAN-bus. By setting the current command given by LabVIEW system, the converter is able to charge the Li+Fe battery with constant current and constant voltage method as well as discharge the Li+Fe battery with constant current. Operation principle of the converter and the associated loss are presented.

Modern arc welding machines utilize controllable high frequency DC/DC power supply with high dynamic and steady state current regulation performance. In the design robustness, small size and low weight, low complexity, and high efficiency are the defining criteria. The most suitable approach for a 5 kW arc welding machine power supply application is the high frequency Full-Bridge Phase-Shifted Zero Voltage Switching (FB-PS-ZVS) DC/DC converter with an isolation transformer. This converter not only gives the advantage of zero voltage switching for a wide load current range, it also provides reduced Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and reduced component stress compared to standard PWM converters. In this thesis a FB-PS-ZVS DC/DC converter with 5 kW power rating is designed for modern arc welding machine applications. IGBTs are utilized at 50 kHz switching frequency for high efficiency and control bandwidth. The output current of the DC/DC converter is controlled via a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) control platform. The performance of the designed DC/DC converter is evaluated via the computer simulations and the experimental study of the constructed prototype.