RESONANCE TRANSFORMER POWER CONDITIONERS R. M, Ness, $.G.E. Pronko, J. R. Cooper, and E. ¥. Chu Maxwell Laboratories, Inc, ‘8888 Balboa Ave. San Diego, CA 92123 (619) 279.5100 Abstract ee or ceo ies rye foiening sens ted spo te spas segs re ten Sold ge saucers perce forge en PT ents ee gen Seat i base ras come (2) ee pers ah Se cea ree yeirer ie ee cert le ec a cen oe oie eo Soca ee mater tel carers sone te tak ce alr eae ae a Tae a te Sener cok a comioe fs oe ted eeey nage olny eo epee a eal Pasig oe seed oer ares Pape Speriscipe ie ou rl ado ag SE ee eee rae ee Sarat iae a ed ra ae Aetna ei ee ere rage eee gee ‘nouction and Concept Overview ‘Many applications exist today for compact, lightweight, high voltage power conditioners. Defense technologies such as hhypervetocity. projectile guns and directed energy weapons wolving high power microwaves, high power lasers, and panicle beams) wil all require compact power source systems if they are t0 be effectively used in mobile applications. These high voltage ower supplies can be represented by the simple block diagram of a seneric power supply shown in Figure 1 sc Pa fire | Raguiner || Vote copa [an iad rwdepicton | | rectors | ah Figure 1. Simple Block Diagram of a Generic High Voltage Power Supply. As showin the figure, the input volige is usually regulated in some manner in order t0 vary and conzol the ouput voltage. ‘The regulated ae voltage waveform is then multiplied and rectified to produce the desired de output voltage. In most cases, this ‘multiplication is performed by a conventional transformer. Unfortunatly, wraditional high power, 60 He transformers ae large and heavy, eliminating their role in mobile platforms. High frequency, switching power supplies (and their associated high frequency transformers) offer significant savings in size and weight Since the transformer effective core cross-sectional area is taversely ‘Proportional to the operating frequency. Unfortunately, conventional transformers suffer from several limitations at higher power levels. Thermal management problems associated with heat removal from the transformer core. Become nreasngy ita high requcnces wih the pyialy large cores required for high power operation. Issues of transformer winding coupling st both high vollages and high frequencies also exist. In onder to operate at high frequencies, one desires a transformer with alow leakage inductance which implies the need for a small area between the primary and secondary windings. “However, this distance is ulimately restricted by the ‘inimum spacing required for high voltage insulation. 38 (One solution to this problem of high power transformers is ‘the concept of the resonance transformer, which uses a set of resonant circuits, made up of discrete inductors and capacitors, 0 achieve a transformer-like volge gain. Although tis concept has bbeen discussed in detail in a previous publication [3], a brief ‘overview ofthe general approach will be presented inthe following iscussion. This echnigue was developed by John Harrison at ‘Maxwell in the late 1970's as an improvement on earlier resonant systems. These improvements included: “+A gain which i relatively insensitive to she load circuit + A lower ratio of reactive power in the circ Gelivered power, specially at high gains to the + A higher gain Umit for a single stage resonance trans ‘+ ‘The ability to add several stages in series orn a “ladder” Connection to achieve a multiplication inthe overall gain. ‘Earlier cireuits could not be connected in this anne. ‘The overall concept can be explained by analyzing the single stage resonance transformer circuit provided in the simplified schematic diagram of Figure 2. Figure, Simplified Schematic Diagram of Single Stage Resonance ‘Transformer. Given a sinusoidal ac source providing a voltage oscillating ata given frequency, o, one can design the circuit such thatthe LC ‘combination is resonant at this operating frequency. set of oop ‘equations ean then be derived and solved to determine the output voltage, -Gsin Gsin ox From the equations, it can be seen that the output voltage (Vo =7Zcin) is merely the input voltage multiplied by the resonance transformer gain (G) and phase shifted by 180° such that the Polarity of the output voltage is reversed. ‘These equations also show how the gai is independent ofthe value ofthe load. ‘CH2839-9/90/0000-003851.00 © 1990 IEEEFrom the simplified circuit shown in Figure 2, additional reactances are aided tothe front and back ofthe circuit to minimize the reactive energy and to provide a unity power factor load on the source when feeding a resistive load, ‘The output load can also be ‘connected in an “auto-transformer” (or "ladder connected") fashion to increase the gain. Tn this ease, che overall gain is equivalent t0 G-+1 instead of mereiy G. ‘The resulting auto-ransformet version Of the voltage transformer circuit is shown in Figure 3. Figue 3. Schematic Diagram of Single Stage Resonance ‘Transformer in "Auo-Tranformer”,or Ladder" and Valtge Transformer Configuration, A variety of different resonance transformer circuits have been identified, Instead ofthe voltage wansformer cout shown in igre and a inal rasan cat can bln wg plype creir wit stage indactr and two captors asthe core uct Boh the vetge ane caren nator cus also have inverse circuits in which the capacitors are replaced by inductors of equal ipedance and vice versi. The inverse cout equivalent 10 that shown in igure 3s esplaed in Figure 4 Figure 4, Schematic Diagram of Single Stage Resonance ‘Transformer in "Anto- Transformer”, or "Ladder", and Inverse Voliage Greuit Configuration Given the concept, a resonance transformer based power Conditioner can be developed which funcsone ina similar manner to that of a conventional switching power supply. An input rectifier ‘converts the input ac power into de voltage and feeds it to 8 He [Bridge inverter, which converts the de to an ae voltage ata high frequency. This voltage is then converted to high voltage ec by ‘means ofthe resonance ransformer. Operation at gh frequencies allows the selection of smaller component values in the Fesonast transformer since the amount of energy trsferred to the load per «yele is smaller forthe same average power level. The output of the ‘esonance transformer i then rectified to provide adc outpit voltage 83 inthe conventional power supply. (One advantage of this approgch is that the gain of a multi sage transformer is multiplicative. Unlike other concepts, such a5 Capacitor voltage multipliers, the oveall gain is the prodoct (not the sum) of the individual gains of each Stage of the transformer. Hence, if « gain of 100 is required for an application, two stages, gach with & gain of 10, may be implemented, A’ potential disadvantage ofthis approach is the lack of isolation between the Source and the foad which is normally provided witha conventional transformer. We will show how this drawback can be avoided when the tesonance wansformer system is used to provide plus/minus charging fora capacitive energy storage system. In this cease, the load does not require voltage isolation since it can be ‘grounded “in the riddle” Sever wong veios of the eons sanomer concept have been developed aver the past few yeas at Maxwell demonstrate the weshniqne. ‘The remainder ofthis paper will describe the design and xing resus ofthese example systems. ‘Brsshoard Resonance Transformer One of the earlier designs was a two stage transformer designed with the specifications listed in Table 1. This simple {experiment was carried out asa first attempt to understanding the basic operation of the transformer and identifying the critical paranoeters for maximizing its performance. ‘The low average power level (1 kW) and low switching frequency were selected in order Sitopiy te design suck ha the hardware coud be assembled and tested in a short amount of tae, Tablet 2 Stage Brassboard Resonance Transformer Device Specifications [Parameter ———speaitreation ——] Input Voltage: lov Teal Ourput Volage: 10kV {eal Transformer Gain 100, (Operating Frequency: 1 kHz Design Load Impedance: oo sonance transformer based poster conditioner ‘operates similarly toa switching power supply, the same inverter switching technologies can be applied. Solid state switching devices, such as Silicon Controlled Rectifiers ($CRs), Bipolar Power Transisiors, Power MOSFETs, Insulated Gate Bipolar ‘Transistors (IGBTS), or MOS-Controlled Tayristors (MCTS) are therefore possible switch candidates. MCTs were rejected since these devices are nt yet realy availabe in large quantities. Bipolar Power Transistors typically requir large tigger circuitry because of their drive current requirements and were therefore als eliminated. SCRs were ruled ounce they ae generally limi fo fequencis in the few tens of kHz and atleast some of our applications were likely to exceed their capabilities. Previous experience with Power MOSFETs at average power levels of up to 0.5 MW ad proven their capability to operate reliably {4,5}. These devices were therefore chosen asthe switching technology for the inverter inthe resonance transformer based power conditioners, Given the 1ow power associated with thi initial design and testing effor, the H-bridge inverter was constructed with single Seviees in each ofthe four legs. For this application, the IRFPSSO (ated at 500 V BVpss and 14-A Tp continuous) was selected, ‘The two stage resonance transformer was constructed using air-core inductors and ceramic dielectric capacitors, For this ital ‘design, a voliage transfortner configuration, as shown previously in Figure 3, was used. ‘Table 2 lists the different specifications for ‘each ofthe components inthe resonance transformer ‘Brassbount Resonance Transfonner Test Results Initial testing of the brassboard system revealed that the soltage easfoone configuration has crn disadvantages ih respect tothe inverter operation. Because the inverter diretly dives the input capacitor ofthe resonance transformer, a high peak current {is drawn from the inverter to charge up the input capacitor during ceach balf cycle, ‘To reduce the peak current requirements Of he inverer, an additional indvctance was added between the inverter and the transformer input. Shown in Figure $i an oscilloscope trace showing the + 80 V inverter (wansformer input) voltage and the # 6 KV outputof the ‘two stage transformer operaring into its design load impedance of '~60 KE. As can be seen from the photo, the gain inthis case is