A high frequency-link bidirectional DC-DC converter for super capacitor-based automotive auxiliary electric power systems

Abstract

This paper presents a bidirectional DC-DC converter suitable for low-voltage super capacitor-based electric energy storage systems. The DC-DC converter presented here consists of a full-bridge circuit and a current-fed push-pull circuit with a high frequency (HF) transformer-link. In order to reduce the device-conduction losses due to the large current of the super capacitor as well as unnecessary ringing, synchronous rectification is employed in the super capacitor-charging mode. A wide range of voltage regulation between the battery and the super capacitor can be realized by employing a Phase-Shifting (PS) Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) scheme in the full-bridge circuit for the super capacitor charging mode as well as the overlapping PWM scheme of the gate signals to the active power devices in the push-pull circuit for the super capacitor discharging mode. Essential performance of the bidirectional DC-DC converter is demonstrated with simulation and experiment results, and the practical effectiveness of the DC-DC converter is discussed.