Two-Phase Interleaved Boost Converter Using Coupled Inductor for Fuel Cell Applications

Abstract

This paper investigates the benefits of directly coupled and inversely coupled inductors compared to the conventional uncoupled inductors. The coupled inductors using two phase interleaved boost DC-DC converter is used for high power and high performance applications. The advantages of the coupled inductors interleaved boost converters include increased system efficiency, reduced core size, current ripple reduction. The focus is to develop useful design equations for the operation of the interleaved boost converters under continuous conduction mode (CCM). The effects of the direct and inverse inductors has a key benefit of converter performance parameters such as inductor ripple current, input ripple current, which should be less than 4% of its nominal value of the input current for the longer life span of fuel cell and achieving stable CCM operation. The inductors are modeled in Matlab® Simulink to simulate and evaluate the performance of the DC-DC boost interleaved converter with proper design procedure of directly coupled, uncoupled and inversely coupled inductors for fuel cell applications having maximum output power of 1kW, 28.8 V and 35 A at the output voltage of 120 V.