Design and Comparison of Inductors and Intercell Transformers for Filtering of PWM Inverter Output

• Published in: IEEE transactions on power electronics Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. 812 - 821
• Main Authors: Forest, F., Laboure, E., Meynard, T.A., Smet, V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.03.2009; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Cables; Circuits; Couplings; Design; Design engineering; Dynamics; Electric currents; Electric power; Electrical engineering. Electrical power engineering; Electrical power engineering; Electronics; Embedded converters; Exact sciences and technology; Filtering; Inductors; intercell transformer (ICT); interleaved inverters; Inverters; Loads (forces); Magnetic devices; Miscellaneous; Motor drives; Power electronics, power supplies; Power networks and lines; Pulse duration modulation; Pulse inverters; Pulse power systems; Pulse transformers; Pulse width modulation inverters; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Transformers; Transformers and inductors; uninterruptible power system (UPS); Uninterruptible power systems; Dynamic response; Electric transformer; interleaved inverters; Motor drives; Embedded converters; Dynamic characteristic; PWM power convertors; Power supply; Power electronics; Inductor; PWM invertors; intercell transformer (ICT); High power; Magnetic material; Electrical network; Uninterruptible power supply; Toroidal shape; uninterruptible power system (UPS); Pulse duration modulation; Comparative study; Nanocrystal; Dynamic load
• ISSN: 0885-8993; 1941-0107
• DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2008.2007900

This paper presents an original design option dedicated to output-filtered pulsewidth modulation inverters used in uninterruptible power systems, embedded networks, or motor drives operating on long cables. It is based on the coupling of interleaved inverter cells by means of intercell transformers (ICTs) and is characterized by very good dynamic behavior on load transients, which is an important issue in such applications. ICT solutions are compared with the classical interleaved solutions using separate inductors. A specific design method is developed to achieve this comparison based on toroidal core shapes. The results obtained with a 600 V, 7.5 kW inverter show the usefulness of ICT-based designs, especially when nanocrystalline magnetic material is used; high specific power and very good dynamic performances are obtained.