ELECTRICAL AND HYBRID VEHICLES

presentation
By
Dr. KARASANI RAGHVENDRA REDDY
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering
 6. POWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTER
FOR BATTERY CHARGING
❑Introduction
❑Battery Parameters
❑Charging methods for battery
❑Termination methods
❑Charging cycle for battery
❑Charging from grid
❑The Z-Source converter
❑High-frequency transformer based isolated
charger topology
❑Transformer less topology
 INTRODUCTION
➢The challenge of transforming BEVs/PHEVs from
concept to reality is to make it safe, convenient, and
affordable for consumers to charge batteries
➢ The electrochemical nature of batteries has a highly
nonlinear behavior and dependent on many factors
such as state of charge (SOC), state of health, runtime,
temperature, aging, load profile, and charging
algorithm.
➢ Key functions of charger
▪ Getting the charge into the battery (Charging)
▪ Optimizing the charging rate (Stabilizing)
▪ Knowing when to stop (Terminating)
 Battery Parameters
➢Battery Capacity (Ampere-Hour (Ah))
▪It indicates the amount of charge that can be drawn from a
fully charged battery until it gets fully discharged
➢ C-Rate
▪It is a measure of the rate at which a battery is discharged
relative to its maximum capacity.
▪A 1C rate means that the discharge current will discharge the
entire battery in 1 hour.
▪For a battery with a capacity of 100 Amp-hrs, this equates to
a discharge current of 100 Amps. A 5C rate for this battery
would be 500 Amps.
➢Energy density or Specific Energy
▪ It is defined as the available energy from a fully charged
battery per unit weight (Wh/Kg)
 Battery Parameters
➢State of Charge (SOC)
▪It is the percentage of charge available from a battery to the
whole capacity of the battery.
▪ According to aging the rated capacity of the battery reduces
over time, hence, for determining accurate SOC, the rated
capacity should be measured or calculated regularly
➢ Depth of Discharge (DOD)
▪It is defined as (100—SOC) in percentage, i.e., the
percentage of total charge of the battery which has been
utilized.
➢Charging (Coulombic) Efficiency or Charge Acceptance
▪ It the ratio of the total charge extracted from the battery to
the total charge put into the battery over a full cycle.
▪Li-ion 99%, Lead-Acid 90%
 Charging methods for battery
➢ Factors affecting choosing the charging method are
battery chemistry, capacity, required time
❑Constant voltage charge (CV)
❑Constant current charge(CC)
❑Tapper current charge
❑Pulse charge
❑Reflex charge
❑Trickle charge
❑Float charge
 Charging methods for battery
❑Constant voltage charge (CV):-
❑A constant voltage is applied to the battery pack. This voltage is a preset value given
by the manufacturer.
❑This method is accompanied with a current limiting circuit most of the time,
especially for the beginning periods of charging where the battery easily takes high
rates of current comparing to its capacity. The current limitation value mainly depends
on the capacity of the battery.
❑ An accurate set point is necessary, since overvoltage can damage the cells and under-
voltage causes partial charge which will reduce life cycle over time.
❑Therefore, the circuit used for charging, which can be a simple buck, boost, or
buck/boost topology depending on the voltage ratio of input and output, should be
accompanied with a controller to compensate for source and load changes over time.
❑ When the cell reaches the preset voltage value, this causes the battery to be in a
standby mode, ready for later use.
❑The amount of this idle time should not be very long and
should be limited based on the manufacturer
recommendations. This method is usually used for lead-acid
batteries, also for Li-ion batteries while using current limiter
to avoid overheating the battery especially in the first stages
of the charging process
 Charging methods for battery
❑Constant voltage current (CC):-
❑ For the constant current charging mode, the charging current is constant and the
charging voltage is variable in the charging process
❑ CC is implemented using a ‘‘Single Rate Current’’ or ‘‘Split Rate Current’’. In single
rate only one preset current value is applied to the battery which is useful in balancing
the cells. However, backup circuits must be used to avoid overcharging.
❑In the split rate CC different rates of current are applied based on SoC, time of
charge, voltage, or combination of them in different stages of charging. This gives more
accurate and balanced charging and circuits should be used to avoid overvoltage of the
cells.
❑ In some cases, for prolonging dead batteries, CC
method with high rates and low duration can be utilized to
extend the lifetime of the battery. But, this is a very
cautious procedure and must be done carefully.
❑Ni-Cd and Ni-MH batteries are charged using CC. Ni-
MH batteries can be easily damaged due to overcharging,
so, they should be accurately monitored during charging
 Charging methods for battery
❑Tapper current charge:-
❑This method can be used when the source is nonregulated. It is usually implemented
with a transformer with a high output voltage comparing to the battery voltage.
❑A resistance should be used to limit the current flowing to the battery. A diode can
also be used to ensure unidirectional power flow to the battery.
❑In this method the current starts at full rating and gradually decreases as the cell gets
charged. This technique is only applicable to Sealed Lead-Acid (SLA) batteries
❑Pulse charge:-
❑ Pulsed chargers feed the charge current to the battery in pulses. The charging rate
(based on the average current) can be precisely controlled by varying the width of the
pulses, typically about one second.
❑During the charging process, short rest periods of 20 to 30 milliseconds, between
pulses allow the chemical actions in the battery to stabilize by equalizing the reaction
throughout the bulk of the electrode before recommencing the charge.
❑This enables the chemical reaction to keep pace with the rate of inputting the
electrical energy. It is also claimed that this method can reduce unwanted chemical
reactions at the electrode surface such as gas formation, crystal growth and passivation
 Charging methods for battery
❑Reflex charge(Burp charge/–Ve pulse charge):-
❑During charging procedure some gas bubbles appear on the electrodes,
especially amplified during fast charging. This phenomenon is called
‘‘burping’’
❑This is Used in conjunction with pulse charging, it applies a very short
discharge pulse, typically 2 to 3 times the charging current for 5
milliseconds, during the charging rest period to depolarise the cell.
❑These pulses dislodge any gas bubbles which have built up on the
electrodes during fast charging, speeding up the stabilisation process and
hence the overall charging process. It improves both the charge rate and
the battery lifetime
 Charging methods for battery
❑Trickle charge:-
❑Trickle chargers work by releasing a small amount of current to match a
battery’s natural self-discharge rate to keep it topped up at its fully charged
level
❑Trickle charging does not let the battery get discharged when not in use. This
extends the life of a battery. In case of car batteries, trickle charging prevents
the deadly process of sulfation. Battery performance depends on its
temperature. Current passed to the battery during trickle charging keeps it at
optimum temperature. The low current of trickle charge ensures that there is no
overheating of your battery.
❑Trickle charging is used for lead batteries and battery banks, which have a
relatively larger self-discharge rate.
❑Float charge:-
❑The battery and the load are permanently connected in parallel across the DC
charging source and held at a constant voltage below the battery's upper voltage
limit. Used for emergency power back up systems. Mainly used with lead acid
batteries
 Termination methods
➢ When the charging is in process, it is very important to decide when
to terminate the charging.
➢ This is because of two main reasons. One is to avoid undercharge and
overcharge
➢ Overcharge may lead to fire hazard due to tightly packed battery cells
are not allowed to expand when gases released due to heat
➢ Selecting the type of termination of charging process depends on the
application and the environment where the battery is used
❑Time
❑Voltage
❑Voltage drop (dV/dT)
❑Current
❑Temperature
 Termination methods
❑Time:-
❑Using time is one of the simplest methods which is mainly used as a backup
for fast charging or normally used for regular charging for specific types of
batteries.
❑This method is very simple and inexpensive, but because of diminishing
battery capacity over time due to aging, the time should be reset for a reduced
capacity aged battery to avoid overcharging of old batteries.
❑Voltage:-
❑Terminate the charging process when the battery voltage reaches a specific
value
❑ This method has some inaccuracies, because real open-circuit voltage is
obtained when the battery is left disconnected for some time after charging.
This is because chemical reactions happening inside the battery need some time
to stabilize. Nevertheless, this method is widely used.
❑In addition, this technique is usually used with constant current technique to
avoid overheating damage to the battery
❑Voltage drop (dV/dT):-
❑In Ni-Cd when charged using constant current method, the voltage increases
up to the fully charged state point and then the voltage begins to decrease. This
is due to oxygen build-up inside the battery.
❑This decrease is significant, so the derivative of the voltage versus time can
be measured to indicate overcharge.
❑When this parameter becomes negative it shows
that we have passed the fully charged state and the
temperature begins to rise.
❑After this point the charging method can be
switched to trickle, or float charge, or terminated completely
❑Current:-
❑ In the last stages of charging, if constant voltage method is used, the
current begins to decrease as the battery reaches fully charge state.
❑ A preset current value such as C/10 rate can be defined and when the
current goes below this value the charging would be terminated.
❑Temperature:-
❑ Extra increase in temperature is sign of over charge
 Charging algorithm(cycle) for battery
❑ A common charging algorithm which includes four different stages or three based on
the application
❑ In the first (Bulk charge) stage a predefined constant current is applied to the battery
pack which charges the cells rapidly. In this stage the cell voltages increase
gradually because of SoC increase.
❑ In the‘ ‘Absorption Charge’’ stage, a constant voltage is applied to the battery pack
At this stage the current decreases gradually until it reaches a predefined C rate
value and the cells are approximately charged but not equalized because of cell
imbalance.
❑ At this stage a relatively higher voltage than constant voltage in absorption stage can
be applied to the pack for some time to balance all the cells inside the pack. This
stage is called ‘‘Equalization Charge’’ stage
❑ After some prescribed time, the charger applies a
lower constant voltage in order to keep the battery
in a ready to use state. This is called ‘‘Float
Charge’’ stage and depending on the application it
can be considered or omitted
 Charging from Grid:Key issues
❑The connection of the carport to the grid is highly desirable, as such a connection
would serve a number of useful purposes. The grid would primarily act as extended
storage by collecting excess energy produced by the PV array. This will relieve the
carport from the task of locally storing energy in batteries or flywheels.
❑Second, the grid can supplement any deficiency in PV generation, during cloudy days
or at night, for instance. Finally, storing energy during peak hours of grid utilization and
the availability of connected batteries during the same period seems to be the optimal
solution for the utility company for the many potential benefits like power factor
improvement, backup power during grid failures, and peak shaving
❑Line Stability Issues
❑Inverter Distortion and DC Current Injection
❑Local Distribution Configuration
 AC vs DC Charging
❑AC stations: simple equipment (switches, protection items);
charger power circuits are onboard EVs
❑DC stations: Complex equipment; charger power circuits
are in the stations
 EVs battery chargers architecture
❑Most of on-board single-phase battery chargers consist of two cascaded stages.
❑First stage consists of an AC/DC converter that ensures a unity power factor
correction (PFC) by absorbing a sinusoidal current from the grid with low current
harmonics in order to comply with standard IEC 61000-3-2
❑An electromagnetic interference (EMI) filter is connected between the grid and the
first stage to comply with standard CISPR 22
❑Second stage is based on a DC/DC converter which regulates the current that is
delivered to the battery according to its state of charge (SoC) and matches the difference
between the DC-link and battery voltages.
❑Both stages are generally connected by means of a DC-link capacitor.
 The Z(impedance)-Source Converter
❑ Z-converter uses LC impedance network for coupling the converter main
circuit to the power source, which provides a way of boosting the input
voltage, a condition that can not be achieved by traditional (V or I) inverters.
❑ The AC source/load could comprise of an EV electric machine, while the
DC source could comprise of a fuel cell or PV
❑ Z-converter possesses double modulation capability, and can shape the grid
current (PFC) while simultaneously regulating EV battery charging (BCR).
❑This goal is achieved with a single conversion stage and can be considered as
the main advantage of the Z-converter.
❑An added advantage is the inherent buck-boost capability of this topology
❑The DC/DC converter was added to the original design, in order to solely
provide galvanic isolation
Source Z source Converter/
V/I Inverter Transformer
 Z-converter with added isolated DC/DC converter
❑ The use of the Z-converter AC power absorption/injection, with
simultaneously controlled battery charging.
❑ Z-converter allows the use of the shoot-through switching state, which
eliminates the need for dead times that are used in the traditional inverters to
avoid risk of damaging the inverter circuit
❑ This shoot-through zero state provides the unique buck-boost feature to the
Z source converter
❑ To enable the 4-quadrant operation of converter an additional switch is
added at the input.
❑ For duty cycle 0-0.5 produces voltage with same polarity and above 0.5
voltage reversal occurs
 Z-converter : Operation & Static Design Equations
➢ During shoot through period (To) the input switch Q is opened and the
inverter bridge acts as short circuit. This zero state occurs when switches in
the same leg are in conduction (3/7 possible zero states for 1/3-ϕ inverter)
❑ Do is the duty cycle during shoot through period (To)
❑ VL=Vc ; Vd=2Vc and Vg=0
➢ During active period (T1) the input
switch Q is closed and the inverter
bridge acts as current source.
❑ VL=VPV –Vc ; Vd= VPV
❑ Vg=Vc-VL=2Vc- VPV
 Z-converter : Operation & Static Design Equations
❑ The average voltage of the inductors over one switching period T should be
zero in steady state

❑ The switching period =T=T1 +To ; Shoot-through duty cycle Do=To/T

❑ The average dc-link voltage across the inverter bridge Vg over one
switching period T in steady state

❑ The peak dc-link voltage across the inverter bridge is expressed as

 The Z-Converter: Design of Capacitor
❑ The main function of the capacitors is to store and release reactive energy from and
to the grid, when the EV battery is not connected.
❑ The voltage ripple at line frequency must be kept low, in order to reduce voltage
stresses and allow proper operation of the inverter. A peak–peak ripple of 10 % is
common for electrolytic capacitors at line frequency and will be adopted for the
design.
❑ In order to calculate the ripple, it is necessary to determine the maximum levels of
power flow in and out of the grid. If both the grid and the PV resource make their
maximum contribution , include a factor of 2 is for two capacitors in Z-circuit
 The Z-Converter: Design of Inductor
❑ The high frequency ripple current is generated during the shoot-though
switching interval, when the full capacitor voltage is impressed on the
inductors.
❑ The maximum ripple current is thus obtained for the widest shoot-through
duty cycle, Do, and maximum value of VC.
 Isolated bidirectional DC/DC converter
❑The Z-circuit topology adds a DC/DC
converter with split primaries on the
isolation transformer symmetrically and a
single secondary drives the EV battery, as
in Fig.
❑Two sets of primary switches are
required. The switches conduct half of the
current and can be sized accordingly.

❑ The topology is shown bellow in Fig. is based on

using two half bridges, operating at a high
frequency
❑ The turns ratio from each primary to the
secondary winding is calculated as,
N=VPV(max)/2VB(min); where the factor of 2
is generated by the half-bridge operation.
❑ Vc (max) = 2 N VB(max)
 The Z-Converter: pros and cons
❑Single stage of conversion enables reduction in cost
❑Relatively low power component count, so reliability is
good
❑Simple 1:1 isolation transformer for DC/DC converter
❑Open loop operation of DC/DC converter (no isolated
sensors)
❑Line frequency power transformer is necessary to isolate to
prevent DC current injection into the grid
❑Large enclosure/sheet metal
❑Added protection circuits increases the cost
 High-frequency transformer based
isolated charger topology
❑This is a classic two-stage topology with DC-link and a HF transformer is used to
isolate PV from grid
❑The steady-state voltage gain from the output of the PV source to the input of the
inverter bridge is N/2
❑The DC-link filter inductor can be considered a simple smoothing choke of very
small value
❑ The capacitor will be sized to handle the pulsating power from the grid, and will
therefore be as large as the combined size of the Z-circuit capacitors
 High-frequency transformer based
isolated charger topology
❑As the DC bus voltage is limited to less than 600 V, very fast and efficient IGBTs as
well as diodes can be used for the inverter bridge and the DC/DC converter
❑ The arrangement is similar to that of the Z-converter, with the DC-link capacitor
split, in order to accommodate a half-bridge converter. The main difference is that this
converter has a full loop controlling duty cycle.
❑Compared with the Z-converter, this topology replaces an expensive 50 Hz
transformer with a small HF transformer.
❑Reduction in size and hence savings related to sheet metal
❑Two independently controlled power stages, including two isolation transformers that
can be utilized to step-up or step-down critical voltages. As such, this configuration is
extremely flexible, and can adapt itself to wide-range input/output requirements.
❑Double conversion stage require additional drive and control circuitry
❑More component count than z- circuit so, reliability is less
 Transformer less topology
❑ Transformers used in previous topologies for isolation and voltage amplification
❑The PV source, the grid, and the battery may all be available in voltage ranges that
are already close-to-optimal, without the need for intervening amplification.
❑ Transformers used in previous topologies for isolation and voltage amplification
❑The PV source, the grid, and the battery may all be available in voltage ranges that
are already close-to-optimal, without the need for intervening amplification.
❑The transformer-less topology is single stage DC/AC non-isolated inverter from PV
source to grid
❑During the positive half of the cycle, Q2 is off and Q4 on at all times. Then Q1 and
Q3 switch complementarily, in a classic buck configuration. This topology has only 4
devices and drives the grid current in a unipolar fashion, for low harmonic content and
high efficiency
❑The only major drawback is that Q1 and Q2 must be rated at twice the maximum PV
voltage.
 Transformer less topology
❑ The presence of the split power source suggests, once again, the use of the half-
bridge topology. In this case, however, high-voltage IGBTs must be used on the primary
side.
❑The cost structure for this transformer-less topology proves to be extremely good.
The absence of a 50 Hz transformer as well as an isolation stage is the obvious strong
point
❑The transformer-less topology, like the Z-converter, has a low part count and, like the
HF-isolated topology, has well-controlled stress levels for all devices. Hence, due to
these important advantages, the Z-converter depicts superior reliability