Study of bidirectional DC-DC converter interfacing energy storage for vehicle power management using Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS)

Abstract

The bidirectional dc-dc converter, being the interface between Energy Storage Element (ESE) and DC bus, is an essential component of the power management system for vehicle applications including electric vehicle (EV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), and fuel cell vehicle (FCV). In this paper, a novel multiphase bidirectional dc-dc converter interfacing with battery to supply and absorb the electric energy in the FCV system was studied with the help of real time digital simulator (RTDS). The mathematical models of fuel cell, battery and dc-dc converter were derived. A power management strategy was developed and first simulated in RTDS. A Power Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) simulation using RTDS is then presented. The main challenge of this PHIL is the requirement for a highly dynamic bidirectional Simulation-Stimulation (Sim-Stim) interface. This paper describes three different interface algorithms. The closed-loop stability of the resulting PHIL system is analyzed in terms of time delay and sampling rate. A prototype bidirectional Sim-Stim interface is designed to implement the PHIL simulation.