Power Electronics






Lecture 7: DC-DC Converters 2

Erasmus Mundus Master Course in

Sustainable Transportation
and Electrical Power Systems
Dr. Giulio De Donato
The Step-Up (Boost) Converter (1/7)

• Steady-state conditions.
• Ideal components, no power loss in diode and transistor.
• Inductor current is considered always positive (continuous conduction
mode).
• A very large capacitor is initially assumed so that the output voltage V0 is
constant.

2
The Step-Up (Boost) Converter (2/7)

• Closed switch circuit configuration.

• voltage across the inductor:
diL
v L = Vs = L
dt
• rate of change of the inductor current:
iL iL Vs
= =
t DT L
• change in current while the switch is closed:
Vs DT
( iL )closed =
L

3
The Step-Up (Boost) Converter (3/7)

• Open switch configuration.

• Voltage across the inductor:
diL
v L = V s V0 = L
dt
• rate of change of inductor current:
iL iL V s V0
= =
t (1 D)T L
• change in current while the switch is open:
(Vs V0 )(1 D)T
( iL )open =
L

4
The Step-Up (Boost) Converter (4/7)

• Steady state operation:

( iL )closed + ( iL )open = 0

• substituting:
Vs DT (Vs V0 )(1 D)T
+ =0
L L
• Solving for V0 results in the voltage relationship:
Vs
V0 =
1 D
• The boost converter produces an output voltage
that is greater than or equal to the input voltage!
• The inductor current is equal to the source
current.

5
The Step-Up (Boost) Converter (5/7)
• In steady state, the average power supplied by the source must be the same as
the average power absorbed by the load, therefore:
2
V02 [Vs /(1 D)] Vs2
Vs I s = Vs I L = = =
R R (1 D)2 R
• By solving for the IL, one obtains:
Vs V02 V0 I 0
IL = = =
(1 D)2 R Vs R Vs
• The maximum value of the inductor current can be calculated as:
iL Vs Vs DT
Imax = IL + = +
2 (1 D)2 R 2L
• The minimum value of the inductor current can be calculated as:
iL Vs Vs DT
Imin = IL =
2 (1 D)2 R 2L
• Continuous current in the inductor must be verified for the preceding analysis to
be valid!! Imin = 0 is the boundary between continuous and discontinuous
conduction:
Vs Vs DT having selected T D(1 D)2 R
=0 Lmin =
(1 D)2 R 2L 2f

6
The Step-Up (Boost) Converter (6/7)
• For design, the inductance can be expressed as a
function of the peak-to-peak current:
Vs DT Vs D
L= =
iL iL f
• The peak diode current is equal to the peak
inductor current; The average diode current is
equal to the average load current.
• The change in the capacitor charge can be
calculated as:
✓ ◆
V0
| Q| = DT = C V0
R
• Thus, the ripple voltage can be expressed as:
V0 DT V0 D
V0 = =
RC RCf
• The capacitance can be expressed in terms of the output voltage ripple as:
D
C=
R( V0 /V0 )f
• The voltage ripple due to ESR is: V0,ESR = iC rC = IL,max rC

7
The Step-Up (Boost) Converter (7/7)
• Inductor resistance affects performance of the
boost converter at high duty ratios.
• Power balance:
Ps = P0 + Pr L
Vs IL = V0 ID + IL2 rL
• The average diode current is:
ID = IL (1 D)
• Substituting into the power balance and
simplifying:
Vs = V0 (1 D) + IL rL
• The average inductor current can be expressed as:
ID V0 /R
IL = =
1 D 1 D
• substituting and solving for V0 leads to:
✓ ◆✓ ◆
Vs 1
V0 =
1 D 1 + rL /[R(1 D)2 ]
• converter efficiency: P0 V02 /R 1
⌘= = 2 = rL
P0 + Ploss V0 /R + rL IL2 1+ [R(1 D)2 ]

8
Exercise n°1:

A boost converter is required to have an output voltage of 8 V and supply a load

current of 1 A. The input voltage varies from 2.7 to 4.2 V. A control circuit adjusts
the duty ratio to keep the output voltage constant. Select the switching
frequency. Determine a value for the inductor such that the variation in inductor
current is no more than 40% of the average inductor current for all operating
conditions. Determine a value of an ideal capacitor such that the output voltage
ripple is no more than 2%. Determine the maximum capacitor ESR for a 2%
ripple.

9
The Buck-Boost Converter (1/6)

• Steady-state conditions.
• Ideal components, no power loss in diode and transistor.
• Inductor current is considered always positive (continuous conduction mode).
• A very large capacitor is initially assumed so that the output voltage V0 is
constant.
• The buck-boost is an indirect converter.

10
The Buck-Boost Converter (2/6)

• Closed switch circuit configuration.

• voltage across the inductor:
diL
v L = Vs = L
dt
• rate of change of the inductor current:
iL iL Vs
= =
t DT L
• change in current while the switch is closed:
Vs DT
( iL )closed =
L

11
The Buck-Boost Converter (3/6)

• Open switch configuration.

• Voltage across the inductor:
diL
v L = V0 = L
dt
• rate of change of inductor current:
iL iL V0
= =
t (1 D)T L
• change in current while the switch is open:
V0 (1 D)T
( iL )open =
L

12
The Buck-Boost Converter (4/6)

• Steady state operation:

( iL )closed + ( iL )open = 0

• substituting:
Vs DT V0 (1 D)T
+ =0
L L
• Solving for V 0 results in the voltage
relationship:
✓ ◆
D
V0 = Vs
1 D

• The required duty ratio for specified input and output voltages is:
|V0 |
D=
Vs + |V0 |
• The output voltage has opposite polarity than the input voltage! Output voltage
magnitude can be lower or greater than that of the source.
• The average source current is related to the average inductor current by:
Is = IL D

13
The Buck-Boost Converter (5/6)
• In steady state, the average power supplied by the source must be the same as
the average power absorbed by the load, therefore:
V02
= Vs I s = Vs I L D
R
• By solving for the IL, one obtains:
V02 Vs D
IL = =
Vs RD R(1 D)2
• The maximum value of the inductor current can be calculated as:
iL Vs D Vs DT
Imax = IL + = +
2 R(1 D)2 2L
• The minimum value of the inductor current can be calculated as:
iL Vs D Vs DT
Imin = IL =
2 R(1 D)2 2L
• Continuous current in the inductor must be verified for the preceding analysis to
be valid!! Imin = 0 is the boundary between continuous and discontinuous
conduction:
Vs D Vs DT having selected T (1 D)2 R
=0 Lmin =
R(1 D)2 2L 2f

14
The Buck-Boost Converter (6/6)

• The change in the capacitor charge

can be calculated as:
✓ ◆
V0
| Q| = DT = C V0
R
• Thus, the ripple voltage can be
expressed as:
V0 DT V0 D
V0 = =
RC RCf
• The capacitance can be expressed
in terms of the output voltage ripple
as:
D
C=
R( V0 /V0 )f
• The voltage ripple due to ESR is:
V0,ESR = iC rC = IL,max rC

15
Exercise n°2:

• A buck-boost circuit has the following parameters:

– Vs = 24 V
– D = 0.4
– R=5Ω
– L = 20 µH
– C = 80 µF
– f = 100 kHz
Determine the output voltage, inductor current average, maximum and minimum
values and the output voltage ripple.

16