Advancement in Converter Topology, Control, and Power Management: Magnetic Linked Power Converter for Emerging Applications

Abstract

The magnetic linked converter plays a significant role in the power electronics industry due to its merits of being flexible to control, the high efficiency of power transmission, the performance of galvanic isolation, etc. These features make magnetic linked converter a prominent candidate for an effective interface for renewable energy integration to the traditional power grid, more electric aircraft applications, electric vehicle charging implementation, etc. The traditional controller of the magnetic linked converter is the linear control method which cannot ensure smooth bidirectional power routing and a high level of decoupling especially for the electric vehicle charging application. In the worst-case scenario, the traditional controllers can be fully saturated and cause severe system-wide unbalancing issues. Recently, the magnetic linked converter technology with advanced control decisions has been adopted for the electric vehicle charging application. The magnetic linked converter technology for electric vehicle charging applications provides a higher degree of control flexibility to supply multiple loads simultaneously in terms of soft-switching ability, galvanic isolation, and high-density power transmission. With regard to the control methods, numerous advanced controls are developed and proposed for the magnetic linked converter to ensure robust voltage control, smooth bidirectional power routing control, and high degree of decoupling to avoid any control interactions up to date. There have been a few review studies on the converter topology, control, and power management for magnetic-linked power converters for future for renewable energy integration to the traditional power grid, more electric aircraft applications, and electric vehicle charging implementation in the literature. However, a detailed review of magnetic-linked power converter topologies, controls, and power management on these applications is still limited in terms of a variety of power electronic interfaces with appropriate controls and power management. Therefore, this paper presents a comprehensive review with a more specific assessment of the variety of magnetic-linked power electronic interfaces with controls and power management for the widespread emerging applications.