A Low-Cost High-Performance Interleaved Inductor-Coupled Boost Converter for Fuel Cells

• Published in: Energies (Basel) Vol. 9; no. 10; p. 792
• Main Authors: Chang, Long-Yi, Chang, Jung-Hao, Chao, Kuei-Hsiang, Chung, Yi-Nung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.10.2016
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Climate change; Conversion ratio; Converters; DC link; Electric potential; Electrical engineering; Energy resources; fuel cell; Fuel cells; high voltage conversion ratio; inductor-coupled converter; interleaved converter; Load; Ratings; Ratings & rankings; Ripples; Switches; Voltage; voltage doublers; Taiwan
• ISSN: 1996-1073; 1996-1073
• DOI: 10.3390/en9100792

This paper presents an interleaved inductor-coupled converter for a fuel cell. It is designed to boost a low input voltage from a fuel cell to a specified voltage level for DC load or high voltage DC link, thus providing a high-voltage conversion ratio. The presented converter mainly involves coupled inductors and capacitor of voltage doublers for boosting purposes, but the voltage ratings of the involved power switches and diodes, in particular, remain unaffected as the output voltage is boosted. Using an interleaving trigger mechanism, this circuit configuration can not only suppress the input current ripple, but also reduce the current ratings of power switches. In simple terms, it is a low-cost but high-voltage gain converter due to a smaller number of required components and the lower current and voltage ratings of power switches. The operation principles and design steps are detailed herein, and the performance simulations are experimentally validated at the end of the work.