A true ZCZVT commutation cell for PWM converters

• Published in: IEEE transactions on power electronics Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 185 - 193
• Main Authors: de Oliveira Stein, C.M., Hey, H.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-01-2000; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Commutation; Converters; DC-DC power converters; Electric potential; Electrical engineering; Electrical equipment; Electronics; Power semiconductor devices; Power semiconductor switches; Pulse duration modulation; Pulse width modulation; Pulse width modulation converters; Semiconductor devices; Semiconductor diodes; Stress; Switches; Switching; Voltage; Zero current switching; Zero voltage switching
• ISSN: 0885-8993; 1941-0107
• DOI: 10.1109/63.817376

This paper introduces a true zero-current and zero-voltage transition (ZCZVT) commutation cell for DC-DC pulsewidth modulation (PWM) converters operating with an input voltage less than half the output voltage. It provides zero-current switching (ZCS) and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) simultaneously, at both turn on and turn off of the main switch and ZVS for the main diode. The proposed soft-switching technique is suitable for both minority and majority carrier semiconductor devices and can be implemented in several DC-DC PWM converters. The ZCZVT commutation cell is placed out of the power path, and, therefore, there are no voltage stresses on power semiconductor devices. The commutation cell consists of a few auxiliary devices, rated at low power, and it is only activated during the main switch commutations. The ZCZVT commutation cell, applied to a boost converter, has been analyzed theoretically and verified experimentally. A 1 kW boost converter operating at 40 kHz with an efficiency of 97.9% demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed commutation cell.