EE 552 Power Electronics

Project Report

Project Title
Design and Implementation of a Flyback Converter
for DC Micro grid Applications
Group members:

Mashood Nasir

14060018

Umer Irfan

14060003

Contents
Abstract: .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Flyback Converter:.......................................................................................................................... 5
Flyback Operation during DTs: ................................................................................................... 5
Flyback Operation during (1-D)Ts: ............................................................................................. 6
Project Design and Specifications: ................................................................................................. 8
Calculations for Snubber circuit: .............................................................................................. 11
Practical Results: ........................................................................................................................... 16
High to low conversion ............................................................................................................. 16
High to low conversion ............................................................................................................. 16
Conclusion: ................................................................................................................................... 16

Figure 1: Equivalent circuit of a flyback converter ........................................................................ 5

Figure 2 : Flyback operation during DTs ........................................................................................ 6
Figure 3: Flyback operation during (1-D)Ts................................................................................... 6
Figure 4: Bidirectional Flyback converter switch realization ......................................................... 8
Figure A: RCD Snubber.11
Figure 5 : PSIM implementation of 12V to 120V Flyback converter .......................................... 12
Figure 6: Output voltage of PSIM Implementation of 12 to 120V flyback converter .................. 12
Figure 7: Voltage across Switch 1 ................................................................................................ 13
Figure 8: Voltage Spike across Switch 2 without Snubber Circuit .............................................. 13
Figure 9: Peak Stress Reduction on Switch 2 ............................................................................... 14
Figure 10: PSIM Implementation of 120V to 12V Flyback Converter ........................................ 14
Figure 11 : Output Voltage of PSIM Implementation of 120 to 12V Flyback Converter ............ 15
Figure 12 : Voltage Spike across Switch 2 Without Snubber Circuit.......................................... 15
Figure 13 : Peak Stress Reduction on Switch 2 using RCD Snubber ........................................... 16

Abstract:
In this project the design and implementation of a high gain bidirectional flyback converter for
DC microgrid applications is presented. Flyback converter is highly suitable for low power
applications up to the range of 100W. Flyback converter has inherent advantages of simple
design and less component usage over other types of buck- boost converters, therefore, highly
suitable for DC microgrid applications. A flyback converter is explicitly modeled for its
operation in continuous conduction mode (CCM). A snubber circuit is designed to reduce the
peak stress on the switching device. The switch realization for bidirectional flow of power
between DC microgrid and battery storage system is delineated. Flyback transformer is designed
to achieve the intended level of voltages. The proposed bidirectional model is implemented on
PSIM and simulation results verify that the proposed model can be efficiently used for the
bidirectional flow of power between DC microgrid and its associated battery storage system.

Introduction:
The power industry has been facing the tremendous challenges of generation diversification,
efficient deployment of the costly power equipment, supply demand management, consumer
empowerment and reduction in carbon contents. The conventional grid topologies are not
capable enough to cope up with these multiple challenges. In order to address these critical
issues, the need of the revolutionized smart grid is inevitable. Smart grids are becoming more
and more popular these days and it seems that a large number of them will be installed in future.
A microgrid is considered as the central part of future smart grids and it provides an efficient
way of controlling the system with multiple renewable energy resources distributed generation
(DG) units without re-designing the actual system [1, 4].
Considering the large scale renewable energy resources integration, the evolution of future smart
grids are essentially considered as plug and play integration of micro grids. A microgrid is a
distribution network that contains multiple loads and generation sources that can be modeled as a
single load or a source. Microgrids can provide a very high local reliability and useful heat by
connecting DG units and critical loads in close proximity. Microgrids can employ various DG
technologies such as fuel cells, photovoltaic systems, small diesel generators, wind turbines, and

micro-turbines together with energy storage devices such as batteries, flywheels and condensers
[1, 2, 4].
The major advantages of a microgrid are:

It provides power to critical loads during an emergency condition, e.g. a fault in the grid.
It can operate independently in feeding power to critical loads and shedding off noncritical loads. It provides a higher local reliability than the reliability of the grid. This
increased reliability is very important for loads like chemical processes and
communication devices where failure can cause large financial loss.

It allows integration of renewable sources in the power system without major

modifications or redesign. It is an excellent topology for the integration of more and more
green sources in an existing power system.

Plug and play functionality allows switching between grid connected and isolated modes
of operation. It allows a constant frequency and voltage during the islanding mode and
resynchronization once the fault is removed.

Modular structure allows insertion of new microgrids without redesign of the system.
Any number of distributors can be converted into microgrids.

As the DG sources are placed close to the loads, the waste heat from these units can be re
utilized. The expenditure on installing of new transmission lines and transmission line
losses are greatly reduced by the production of electricity close to load centers.

Microgrids solve power-quality problems, e.g. voltage sags, load imbalance, harmonics
and transient stability.

Microgrids have energy storage devices such as batteries, condensers, and flywheels to store
energy for a small duration as a back-up power. This back-up energy is needed to minimize the
effect of source dynamics. In order to ensure the optimum transfer of energy between the
microgrid and batteries storage system, an isolated bidirectional converter is required that can
efficiently transfer energy between DC microgrid and DC batteries [3, 4]. The flyback converter
has multiple advantages over other type of isolated buck boost converters and are listed below

Relatively simple design

High conversion ratio using flyback transformer turn ratio

Non inverted output with the help of inverting transformer

The magnetizing inductance of flyback transformer may be utilized for the storage and
transfer of energy from source to load, therefore eliminating of the need of the external
inductor.

The bidirectional flyback converter is proposed for the flow of power between 120V DC
microgrid and 12V battery storage system.

Flyback Converter:
Flyback converter is the modified isolated form of buck boost converter as shown in figure 1 and
its operation in CCM is presented [6]. The mosfet operation is divided in two time intervals. Out
of the total switching time Ts, it conducts for DTs and remains off for (1-D)Ts, where, D is the
duty cycle for CCM operation.

Figure 1: Equivalent circuit of a flyback converter

Flyback Operation during DTs:

During DTs the mosfet Q1 conducts and the diode D1 remains off. The equivalent circuit is
shown in figure 2.

Figure 2 : Flyback operation during DTs

The energy from the source is stored in the magnetizing inductance LM of the flyback
transformer. Using KCL and KVL the voltage on inductor VL and current on capacitor Ic may be
found and are given in equations 1 and 2.
Vl Vg

Ic

(1)

V
R

(2)

Where, Vg = input voltage, V= output voltage and R = load resistance.

Flyback Operation during (1-D)Ts:

During subinterval 2 i.e. for (1-D)Ts the mosfet remains off while the diode conducts. So, the
energy stored in the magnetizing inductance of the primary is transferred to the load. The
equivalent circuit operation during sub interval 2 is shown in figure 3 and its associated
equations are given by (3) and (4).

Figure 3: Flyback operation during (1-D)Ts

VL

V
n

(3)

Ic

I V

n R

(4)

Where, n = turn ratio of flyback transformer and I is the dc component through the magnetizing
inductance of the flyback transformer.
By the application of volt- sec balance across the inductor and amp sec balance across the
capacitor the conversion ratio of voltages and currents are found and are given by equations
below

M D
I

V
D
n
Vg
1 D

nV
D' R

(5)

(6)

Where, I is the dc component of magnetizing current.

Bidirectional Flyback Switch Realization:
In order to utilize the flyback converter for DC microgrid applications its bidirectional switch
realization is performed and it has been shown that by replacing the diode of the figure 1 with
another controlled switch and then changing its orientation such that without effecting the
continuity of the circuit the source of the newly added mosfet is grounded. In this way the gate
driver circuit design will be easier as there will be no requirement of complex bootstrapping
circuit [5].

Figure 4: Bidirectional Flyback converter switch realization

Project Design and Specifications:

The proposed project is to design and implement an isolated bi-directional flyback converter that
may efficiently transfer the energy between 120V DC microgrid and 12/24V DC batteries. The
proposed power rating for the isolated bidirectional flyback converter is 60W.
Using (5) for D = 0.34 the transformer turn ratio may be calculated and therefore, the flyback
transformer is designed for n=6. The reason for the selection of D= 0.34 is that the maximum
switch utilization in flyback converter and the minimum stress occurs at this duty cycle [6, 7].
After the calculation of turn ratio the next step is the design of magnetizing inductance such that
the converter operates in CCM and is independent of the load resistance for a fair range of
operation.
From (6) it may be written as
Im (

n2 V
)
n1 DR

(7)

Where, n2/n1 is the turn ratio. For the 120 to 12 V volt conversion at 60 W and output resistance
of 2.4 and D

1 1 12
I m

= 0.365
6 .625 2.4

The maximum allowable ripple current Im in order to keep the converter in CCM is set to be
20% of the magnetizing current Im and is given by (8)
I m 20%I m 0.2667

(8)

Thus the maximum current carried by the magnetizing inductance Lm is the sum of dc
component and ripple component and is given by (9)
I m max 1.6 A

(9)

Thus the value of magnetizing inductance Lm can be calculated by (10)

Lm

Vg DTs
2im

120 .375 1
10 K 8.43 10 5 10mH

2 .667

(10)

The current on the high voltage side is given by (11)

1 i
I1 I m D 1 ( m ) 2 1.334 .375 0.822 A
3 Im

(11)

In the same way the current through low voltage side is given by (12)

I 2 6 1.334 0.625 1

1(0.2667)
6.37 A
3(1.334)

(12)

The total Current Itot referred to high voltage side carried by the flyback transformer is given by
the summation of (11) and (12)

I tot I 1

n2
I 2 1.88 Amp
n1

(13)

The geometrical constant Kg for the core of transformer is calculated and is given by (14)

Kg

Lm 2 I tot 2 I m 2max 108

2
Bmax
Pcu K u

1.724 10 6 (8.43 10 3 ) 2 (1.68) 2 (1.66) 2 108

3.93
(0.25) 2 (15)(0.3)

(14)

Where Bmax = maximum flux density, Pcu= allowable limit of copper losses and Ku is the
utilization constant of the core and is generally taken as 0.3 [6].

The nearest available core in the standard EE core table is EE70/68 with the following
parameters [6]

K g 5.06
Ac 3.24
W A 6.75
MLT 14.0
l m 18.0
Where, Ac = area of the core, WA = window area, MLT= mean length per turn and lm = total
length of core.

The required air gap length is given by (15)

lg

0 I M I M2 max 104
2
Bmax
Ac

1.33mm

(15)

The number of turns for high and low voltage sides is calculated by (16) and (17)

n1

Lm I M max 104
166.51 167Turns
Bmax Ac

(16)

n2

167
28Turns
6

(17)

The fraction of window area allocated to high voltage and low voltage sides are given by 1 and
2

I1 0.822

0.43
I tot 1.88

(18)

n2 I1 1 6.37

0.57
n1 I tot 6 1.88

(19)

The respective thickness for the high and low voltage sides winding thus may be calculated as
Aw1

1K uWA
n1

0.43 0.3 6.75

5.21103 guage 20
167

(20)

Aw2

2 KuWA
n2

0.57 0.3 6.75

41.22 103 guage 12
28

(21)

Snubber Circuit
Transformer leakage reactance Ll comes effectively in series with the mosfet. Therefore, during
switch off cycle drain of the mosfet experiences a peak voltage due to the energy stored in the
leakage inductance. An RCD snubber circuit as shown in figure A is designed to clamp this
voltage.

Figure A: RCD Snubber

Calculations for Snubber circuit:

For the designed transformer at the mentioned ratings, the calculations for snubber circuit are
listed below
Lm = 38.4*10-3H
Ll = 0.03* 38.4*10-3 = 1.152*10-3H
1
2
E leakage Lm I 1 1.47 *10 3 W
2
P leakage = E leakage * f = 14.7W
V2
Rclamp = Vclamp Rclamp
2.721K
Rclamp
1
Cclamp
22F
f s Rs

Simulation Results and Discussions:

The proposed circuit is implemented on PSIM for as shown in figure 5 for 12 V to 120 V
conversions i.e. the flow of power from battery to the microgrid:

Figure 5 : PSIM implementation of 12V to 120V Flyback converter

The above circuit has power supply of 12 volts connected at the input side and transformers turn
ratio is 6. During first interval energy is stored in primary side and is passed onto the secondary
side in second interval. Output voltage is 120volts.

Figure 6: Output voltage of PSIM Implementation of 12 to 120V flyback converter

The leakage Inductance LL of the flyback transformer comes effectively in series with the
switches; therefore, high di/dt causes voltage spikes the switch as shown in figure 7 and 8. At

switch 2 (high tension side), we have to block a voltage of 192 volts. It is necessary to block
these peaks using a snubber circuit otherwise it can damage the mosfet.

Figure 7: Voltage across Switch 1

Figure 8: Voltage Spike across Switch 2 without Snubber Circuit

Without snubber snubber circuit a voltage peak of 250+ volts is shown on switch 2. The
employed mosfets have a blocking voltage threshold of 200 volts. 250 volts peak can damage
mosfets instantly. Therefore, RCD snubber as shown in the figure 5 reduces the peak stress on
the MOSFET 2 and results are shown in figure 9. It is evident from the results that the snubber
circuit has limited the voltage peak to 200 volts.

Figure 9: Peak Stress Reduction on Switch 2

The proposed circuit is implemented on PSIM for as shown in figure 10 for 120 V to 12 V
conversions i.e. the flow of power from microgrid to the battery:

Figure 10: PSIM Implementation of 120V to 12V Flyback Converter

The above circuit has power supply of 120V connected at the input side and transformer turn
ratio is 6. During first interval energy is stored in primary side and is passed onto the secondary
side in second interval. Output voltage is 12volts. The output voltage is shown in figure 11.

Figure 11 : Output Voltage of PSIM Implementation of 120 to 12V Flyback Converter

The peak stress on the switch 2 without snubber circuit is shown in figure 12.

Figure 12 : Voltage Spike across Switch 2 Without Snubber Circuit

Using RCD snubber the peak is limited to 200 V and is shown in the results of figure 13.

Figure 13 : Peak Stress Reduction on Switch 2 using RCD Snubber

Practical Results:
High to low conversion
D = 0.42 RL= 6.6

Vo
10
Vin

High to low conversion

D = 0.3 RL= 940

Vo
1

Vin 10

Conclusion:
In this project a methodology for the bidirectional transfers of energy between Microgrid and
energy storage system is presented. The Design of flyback transformer to interconvert the
voltages from 12 to 120 V, 120 to 12V and associated flyback transformer to operate in CCM
is delineated.

Design of Snubber Circuit for reducing the switching stresses in either

direction of power flow is also presented. The proposed scheme may be efficiently used to
supply the backup power to the loads attached with isolated and grid connected microgrids.

References:
[1]. T. S. Ustun, C. Ozansoy, A. Zayegh, Recent developments in microgrids and example
cases around the worldA review, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 15
(2011) 4030 4041.

[2]. H. Farhangi, The path of the smart grid. IEEE Power and Energy Magazine, 8(1):18
28, 2010.
[3]. G. J. Zhang, X. Tang and Z. P. Qi, Application of Hybrid Energy Storage System of
Super-Capacitors and Bat- teries in a Micro-Grid, Automation of Electric Power
Systems, Vol. 34, No. 12, 2010, pp.85-87
[4]. G.M. Masters, Renewable and efficient electric power systems, John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. Publications, 2004
[5]. L.Huang, et al., Battery Powered High Output Voltage Bidirectional Flyback Converter
for Cylindrical DEAP Actuator Power Modulator and High Voltage Conference
(IPMHVC), 2012 IEEE International,2012 pp. 454 457
[6]. R. W. Erickson and D. Maksimovic, Fundamentals of Power Electronics. Norwell, MA:
Kluwer, Mar. 1, 1997.