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RECTIFIED
AC MAINS PWM SMOOTH
Chop
Smooth DC
OUTPUT
Reference
SECTION ADDED
voltage
TO STANDARD SMPS
TOPOLOGY
Signal derived
Error amplifier
from AC mains
AN510/0894 1/9
APPLICATION NOTE
being fed to the PWM input. This means that the This paper will take the cost as the most important
width of the power pulse supplied to the output consideration, and so will concentrate on the boost
device depends both on the basic error voltage and circuit topology.
also on the instantaneous value of the mains voltage.
3. BOOST CIRCUIT PARAMETER OPTIMIZATION
The PFC thus draws more power from the mains
when the level of the mains voltage is high, and less Figure 3 shows the general topology of a boost
when it is low, which results in a reduction of the PFC. Its optimization requires careful adjustment of
harmonics in the drawn current. the following parameters:
2. ACTIVE POWER FACTOR CORRECTOR the value of the input capacitor Ci
TOPOLOGIES the current ripple in boost inductor Lb
Among the topologies shown in figure 2, the boost the parasitic capacitances of the boost inductor
configuration operating in a continuous current mode and the power semiconductors, including those
(ie the value of the inductor at the input is calculated associated with the heatsink
such that it conducts continuously throughout the
switching cycle) applies the smallest amount of high the operating frequency and frequency modulation
frequency current to the input capacitor Ci. It is the techniques.
only topology which allows the noise across the 3.1 Value of input capacitor Ci
input capacitor to be reduced, which is the major
factor defining the size and cost of the filter. The noise across the input capacitor, which
Additionally, the boost inductor stores only a part of determines the cost of the filter, is proportional to the
the transferred energy (because the mains still current ripple and inversely proportional to the
supplies energy during the inductor demagnetization) capacitor value.
and so the inductor required is smaller in comparison A value of 3.3F/kW is a good compromise between
with the other topologies. current distortion and noise generation.
The boost topology thus leads to the cheapest PFC 3.2 Current ripple in the boost inductor
solution, but does not provide either in-rush current
The current ripple (i) is a function of the input
or short circuit protection. The buck/boost topology
voltage (Vi), output voltage (Vout), inductor value
can also be used; its advantages are that it can
(Lb ) and switching frequency (f s ), and can
provide output isolation and adjustable output voltage.
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APPLICATION NOTE
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APPLICATION NOTE
TURBOSWITCH diode in a low inductance and amount of filter attenuation needed. Figure 4.5 shows
capacitance ISOTOP package. An active snubber the noise across the input capacitor (Ci) of a boost
should be added to achieve maximum efficiency. PFC operating with either fixed or variable frequency.
A 10dB noise attenuation is achieved with a
Above 3kW, IGBTs are more suitable due to their
modulation depth of 10kHz.
lower on-state losses and higher current capability.
They can be used at up to 30kHz when used with a The norms demand the use of a wider bandwidth for
snubber. noise measurements above 150kHz.; the window is
increased from 200Hz to 9kHz. The result is an
The recovery behaviour of the diode at turn-on is
increased measurement sensitivity at frequencies
responsible for the majority switching losses in PFC
above 150kHz.
applications. Diodes of the new TURBOSWITCH
family have a typical reverse recovery time (trr) of This means that when the switching frequency of a
25ns at 600V with a maximum Vf of 1.5V. The PFC is increased, the effect of low harmonics
TURBOSWITCH A series significantly reduces increases suddenly at 150kHz: they are in effect
losses and is available in ratings from 5A to 60A. If generating more noise. This fact has to be taken into
an active snubber is used, the B series is better account when choosing a suitable switching
suited due to its lower forward voltage drop. frequency.
4. MAINS FILTERING AND RFI NORMS In the range 1-30 MHz, the noise is conducted by
the parasitic capacitance of the boost inductor. During
This analysis has been made with reference to
turn-on switching of the power transistor, the
EN60555 (reference [1) and VDE0871B (reference
discharge current of this parasitic capacitor can
[2) norms and design requirements.
exceed 1A. Using a boost inductor with a low parasitic
4.1. RFI Norms capacitance can therefore significantly reduce noise
The limits given by VDE0871/B are shown in figure and filter cost.
4.1. With increasing operating frequency, limits given Multi-section winding techniques can be used to
by the norm decrease, while the noise measured produce inductors with low parasitic capacitance,
across the normalized impedance increases (figure see figure 4.6. When an iron powder core is used, a
4.2, 4.3). When the switching frequency is increased, single layer winding is the best way to achieve a low
the required filter attenuation is not reduced as much parasitic capacitance.
as one would expect. The margin between the limits
Slowing the commutation is also a good means of
and the noise is only improved by about 10dB/
noise reduction in the range 1-30 MHz. Figure 4.7(a)
decade. As an example, an increase of switching
shows the noise spectrum of a P.F.C. with fast
frequency from 10kHz to 100kHz would improve the
switching and conventional windings. Figure 4.7(b)
filter attenuation by about 10dB, but would increase
shows the effects of slowing the commutation, while
the switching losses by a factor of 10.
figure 4.7(c) shows the effects of using multi-section
4.2 Filter optimization parameters windings.
Because of the increase in switching losses, instead The parasitic capacitance between the power
of increasing the operating frequency, it is preferable semiconductors and the heatsink can be kept to a
to reduce the generated noise. The noise generated minimum by using insulated packages such as
across the input capacitor is proportional to the ISOWATT220, ISOWATT218, ISOTOP or DO220I,
current ripple. Figure 4.4 shows possible inductor minimizing asymmetrical filtering.
current waveforms resulting from operation a) in
5. CURRENT CONTROL BOOST PFC WITH
continuous mode and b) in discontinuous mode.
VOLTAGE FEED-FORWARD
Reducing the current ripple in the boost inductor by
Figure 5 shows a block diagram of a circuit
a factor of 20 will reduce the noise by 26dB.
implementing a current control boost PFC. A current
Continuous mode operation leads to minimum noise.
reference is obtained by multiplying a number of
Operation with variable frequency is another means feedback signals. This current reference is then
of noise reduction. This causes the noise spectrum compared with the average inductor current, and the
to be spread over a wide frequency range, reducing results of the comparison are fed to the input of the
the peak amplitude of the noise and so reducing the PWM controller.
4/9
APPLICATION NOTE
Figure 4.3. Overall filter performance between Figure 4.4. Continuous or discontinuous current
30kHz and 150kHz mode: current ripple amplitude
Mains impedance
50
()
10
MHz
0.01 0.1 1 10 30
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APPLICATION NOTE
Figure 4.6. Frequency modulation method figure 4.7.Winding the Boost inductor
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TURBOSWITCH diode
STTA2006DI
Vin
To input
of error
16A RMS ISOTOP STE47N50 amplifier
or A
1500W
90VAC STE36N50-DK to
(with integral diode)
to 3000W
270V AC Sense
resistor
MULTI-
USER V REF PLIER 20
5
COMPENSATION CURRENT
6 1
FOR LOAD REFERENCE PWM
VARIATION
CURRENT ERROR CONTROL
AMPLIFIER
A
V REF
13
14
VOLTAGE
ERROR
AMPLIFIER One-Chip L4981A/B Controller
7/9
APPLICATION NOTE
APPLICATION NOTE
RMS level
Half-wave rectified
mains
Result of
multiplication
8/9
APPLICATION NOTE
damaging overvoltages may occur on the output. whole. PFC circuits generate more noise than a
conventional SMPS front end, and their mode of
To account for rapid variations in the supply voltage
operation and the control techniques strongly
a signal proportional to the RMS supply voltage
influence the filter requirements.
must therefore be fed directly from the mains supply
at the input. This technique is known as voltage feed Continuous current mode operation combined with
forward. a carefully designed frequency control technique
leads to the lowest overall size and cost.
5.2 Voltage feed-forward
The current reference is obtained by modulating the REFERENCES
error voltage of the voltage loop with a signal derived 1) Disturbance in supply systems caused by
from the half-wave rectified mains. The magnitude household appliances and similar ectrical
of this signal should be adjusted such that if the equipment
mains voltage doubles (with a constant load), the
current reference, and hence the input current, halve. EN60555 - European norm
To keep the same voltage error signal requires 2) Disturbance limitation caused by High
division of the sinewave modulating signal by four. Frequency Equipment
Using this method, the voltage loop bandwidth is
VDE0871/B
kept constant and voltage overshoot is avoided with
varying loads. 3) Reduction of Electromagnetic Interference - a
Power Semiconductor Manufacturers
5.2 Variable frequency operation
viewpoint.
The oscillator can operate at constant or varying
L. Perier - SGS-THOMSON Microelectronics
frequency. In applications where a varying frequency
is used, the noise spectrum can be spread adjusting Electronique de Puissance Symposium, Paris
the depth of modulation using an external resistor. In 1988.
this way, the maximum inductor current depends 4) Commutation Losses in a High Frequency PWM
upon the minimum operating frequency and there is Converter
no asymptote, giving a flat noise spectrum (see
figure 4.5). All of these modes of operation are K. Rischmuller - SGS-THOMSON
implemented in the L4981 control IC. Microelectronics
6. CONCLUSIONS 5) An AC-DC Converter with Low Mains Current
Distortion and Minimized Conducted Emissions
Whenever size and cost optimisation are required, a
PFC circuit and its input filter must be designed as a M. Albach - EPE Aachen 1989.
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