Study of the Effects of Current Imbalance in a Multiphase Buck Converter for Electric Vehicles

The excessive use of fossil fuels has caused great concern due to modern environmental problems, particularly air pollution. The above situation demands that different areas of research aim at a sustainable movement to reduce CO<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/M...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Iván Alfonso Reyes-Portillo, Abraham Claudio-Sanchéz, Jorge Alberto Morales-Saldaña, Jesús Darío Mina-Antonio, Edgardo Marvel Netzahuatl-Huerta, Luisana Claudio-Pachecano, Mario Ponce-Silva, Ericka Reyes-Sánchez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-05-01
Series:World Electric Vehicle Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2032-6653/13/5/88
Description
Summary:The excessive use of fossil fuels has caused great concern due to modern environmental problems, particularly air pollution. The above situation demands that different areas of research aim at a sustainable movement to reduce CO<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mrow></mrow><mn>2</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> emissions caused by non-renewable organic fuels. A solution to this problem is the use of Electric Vehicles (EV) for mass transportation of people. However, these systems require high-power DC/DC converters capable of handling high current levels and should feature high efficiencies to charge their batteries. For this application, a single-stage converter is not viable for these applications due to the high current stress in a switch, the low power density, and its low efficiency due to higher switching losses. One solution to this problem is Multiphase Converters, which offer high efficiency, high power density, and low current ripple on the battery side. However, these characteristics are affected by the current imbalance in the phases. This paper is focused on the study of the effects of the current imbalance in a Multiphase Buck Converter, used as an intermediate cover between a power supply and the battery of an EV. Analyzing the efficiency and thermal stress parameters in different scenarios of current balance and current imbalance in each phase.
ISSN:2032-6653