DC/DC Converters

Objective: 1. Understand the following: Types of DC/DC converters o Linear regulators o Switched mode 2. How to control DC/DC converters using PWM 3. Understand the difference between open loop and closed loop control of a Boost converter

Linear regulators: Theyre the simplest form of a DC/DC converter where we can control the output voltage by controlling the Ib of the transistor. The control is as follows: VFB > VSP VCE increases Ib decreases Vo decreases VFB < VSP VCE decreases Ib increases Vo increases Advantages: Simple control No Electromagnetic Interference Disadvantages: High power dissipation (VCE * Ib) is high so efficiency decreases Because of this high Pdiss a heat sink is needed and so the size of the total device will increase Switched mode: Switch-mode DC to DC converters convert one DC voltage level to another, by storing the input energy temporarily and then releasing that energy to the output at a different voltage. The storage may be in either magnetic field storage components (inductors, transformers) or electric field storage components (capacitors). This conversion method is more power efficient (often 75% to 98%) than linear voltage regulation (which dissipates unwanted power as heat). Advantages: Much less power dissipation that LR Disadvantages: Complex circuit

 Electromagnetic Interference noise Boost converter: Theyre DC/DC power converter with an output voltage greater than its input voltage. It is a class of switched-mode power supply (SMPS) containing at least two semiconductor switches (a diode and a transistor) and at least one energy storage element, a capacitor, inductor, or the two in combination.

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM): It is a modulation technique that conforms the width of the pulse, formally the pulse duration, based on modulator signal information. The term duty cycle describes the proportion of 'on' time to the regular interval or 'period' of time; a low duty cycle corresponds to low power, because the power is off for most of the time. Duty cycle is expressed in percent, 100% being fully on.

So in this Lab we learn how to control the Boost converter via PWM

Types of Control: 1. Open Loop: It is nothing more than we control the Ib using PWM but without taking a Feedback from the output voltage

2. Closed loop We control Ib using PWM, but this time the reference of PWM comes from a PID controller which takes its feedback from the output voltage of the Boost regulator.

The following figures show the results obtained in the laboratory.

1) Open loop control: We want (Vo = 20v) RL = 100 ohm = const. Relation between Vin/Iin
Vin = [8 9 10 11 12] Iin = [0.347 0.392 0.435 0.482 0.526]

Vin = 10v = const. Relation between RL /Iin

Rl = [50 100 150 200]; Iin = [521 437 375 345];

Relation between Vin/Vo

Relation between RL/Vo

Vin = [8 9 10 11 12]; Vo = [15.89 17.97 20 22.13 24.19];

Rl = [50 100 150 200]; Vo = [15.63 20 22.71 25.42];

Note: (I wanted them on the same graph but it just looked too stupid because of the huge scale difference) Comment: As we can see since theres no feedback, as we change Vin, Vo also changes and never settles on the required value of 20v We tried keeping Vin const. in a case and keeping RL const. in another case, but nothing worked Note: I realize that Vin should be the X-axis and Vo/Iin should on Y-axis but I missed this one (no big difference though)

2) Closed loop control: We want Vo = (8v) RL = 100 ohm Relation between Vin/Iin
Vin = [3 4 5]; Iin = [0.256 0.187 0.146];

Vin (I cant really remember) Relation between RL/Iin

RL = [50 100 150 200]; Iin = [0.289 0.146 0.098 0.074];

Relation between Vin/Vo

Relation between RL/Vo

Vin = [3 4 5]; Vo = [8 8 8];

RL = [50 100 150 200]; Vo = [8 8 8 8];

Relation between Vin/K

Relation between RL/K

Vin = [3 4 5]; K = [0.7 0.45 0.3];

RL = [50 100 150 200]; K = [0.45 0.3 0.25 0.2];

Comment: As we can see, since we have a feedback control, the output voltage is kept at 8v (SP) by simply changing the output of the PWM (K) via PID error. This error comes from the difference between the actual o/p volt and the SP. Note: In this experiment we obtained our results using only the Proportional part of the PID, but we were also able to see that when we use the integral part instead, the error signal decreases but with a higher overshoot.