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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008

Power Electronics Notes 07C
Boost Converter Design Example
Marc Thompson, 2008
Marc T. Thompson, Ph.D.
Thompson Consulting, Inc.
9 Jacob Gates Road
Harvard, MA 01451
Phone: (978) 456-7722
Fax: (888) 538-3824
Email: marctt@thompsonrd.com
Web: http://www.thompsonrd.com
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Summary
Design a boost converter with the following specifications:
Input voltage: 12V
Output: 24V @ 1A, 24 Watts
Continuous conduction mode
Inductor and capacitors: selected from following
datasheets
Switching frequency 100 kHz
Output voltage ripple < 50 mV-pp
Evaluate output ripple and estimate efficiency of converter
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Step-Up (Boost) DC-DC Converter
Output voltage is higher than the input, without a phase
inversion
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Boost Converter Waveforms
Continuous current conduction mode
Switch closed:
di
dt
V
L
L CC

Switch open:
di
dt
V v
L
L CC o

Inductor Volt-second balance:
V DT
L
V V D T
L
V
V
D
CC CC o
o
CC

( )( ) 1
0
1
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Boost: Limits of Cont./Discont. Conduction
The output voltage is held constant
For low load current, current conduction becomes
discontinuous
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Boost Converter: Discont. Conduction
Occurs at light loads
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Boost Converter: Effect of Parasitics
The duty-ratio D is generally limited before the parasitic
effects become significant
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Boost Converter Output Ripple
ESR is assumed to be zero
Assume that all the ripple component of diode current flows
through capacitor; DC component flows through resistor
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Boost Converter 1
st
-Cut Design --- Inductor
D = 0.5
What is minimum inductor value to keep this converter in
continuous conduction mode ? (I.e. this converter operates at
the continuous/discontinuous conduction boundary)
Average diode current: 0.5I
pk
(1-D) = I
o
= 1A
I
pk
= 4A
L
min
=(V
o
V
i
)(1-D)T/i = (24-12)(0.5)(10
-5
)/4 = 15 H


For the diode, I
D,rms
= = 2.3A
3
1
pk
I
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Inductor Datasheet
Use 22 H (ESR =
0.085 Ohms)
Note that series
resonant frequency
(SRF) is much higher
than operating
frequency
Note that I
RMS
rating of
this inductor is 2.7A
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Boost Converter Current Waveforms
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Boost Converter 1
st
-Cut Design --- Capacitor
What is minimum capacitor value ?
C f
D
R
V
V
sw
o
pp o


F
V R f
D V
C
pp o sw
o
100
) 05 . 0 )( 24 ( 10
) 5 . 0 )( 24 (
5
min

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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Capacitor Datasheet
Use 3 47 F caps in parallel (35V, ESR = 0.9 Ohms)
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
MOSFET Datasheet
This device is over-sized, but lets use it anyway
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
1
st
Cut Design
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Simulation Result --- Inductor Current
Note that inductor ripple is about 3A peak to peak
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Simulation Result --- Output Ripple
Why is output voltage ripple so large ?
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Simulation Result --- Analysis
The culprit is capacitor ESR. Ripple current is 3A pp, divided
into 3 capacitors. Ripple voltage = ripple current x ESR
This is a problem with the boost converter --- large output
ripple current makes sizing capacitor difficult
Ripple 1 V pp
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
Mitigating Strategies
Parallel up more capacitors, or find capacitors with even lower
ESR
Alternative strategy: use lower ESR caps with a post-filter
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
2
nd
Cut Design
Lower ESR capacitors and an LC post filter added
Lower ESR
caps
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
2
nd
Cut Design --- Simulation Results
Ripple 20 mV pp
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
2
nd
Cut Design --- Efficiency Estimate
Losses due to:
Inductor loss
Switch conduction loss
Switch switching loss
Diode loss
Capacitor ESR loss
Gate drive loss
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
2
nd
Cut Design --- Efficiency Estimate
Boost converter lecture example
MTT 10-9-03
fsw 1.00E+05
L 2.20E-05
Vi 12
Vo 24
Rinductor 0.085
D 0.5
Rsw 0.0825
IL,avg 2
IL,max 3.36E+00
IL,min 6.36E-01
tsw 1.50E-07
IL,rms 2.15E+00
Isw,RMS 1.52E+00
Vd 0.8 Diode voltage
Io 1 Output current
Qg 1.00E-07
LOSSES CALCULATION
Pdiode 0.80
Pinductor 0.39
Pswitch, conduction 0.19
Pswitch, switching 0.61
Gate drive loss 0.12
Capacitor ESR loss 0.12
Total losses 2.23
Output power 24
Efficiency 91.5%
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
2
nd
Cut Design --- Evaluation
FATAL DESIGN FLAW
Note that I
SAT
rating of
this inductor is 2.6A
Peak current in inductor
is 3.4A
Therefore, this design
will blow up
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Boost Converter Design Example M. T. Thompson, 2008
3
rd
Cut Design --- Replace Inductor
Using next-size up
Coilcraft inductor, I
sat

rating of 22 H inductor
is 7.0A, RMS rating is
3.5A, so this should be
OK
Inductor loss will be
lower due to lower DC
resistance
This comes at the cost
of a more expensive
inductor, and more PC
board space needed