An active clamp coupled inductor-based soft-switched quadratic boost converter

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel active clamp-based quadratic boost converter to achieve a high gain output voltage. The converter combines a quadratic boost converter with a voltage doubler circuit using a coupled inductor. An active clamp circuit with an auxiliary switch is used to utilize the usually wasted energy of leakage inductance and clamp the voltage to a certain limit. The combination of leakage inductance and parasitic capacitance of the main switch provides the benefit of zero voltage switching (ZVS) in both MOSFETs. Similarly, output diodes operating under zero current switching (ZCS) improve the overall efficiency of the converter. Voltage doubler and active clamp circuitry reduce the voltage stress on solid-state devices; hence, a low Rds,on device is selected. The converter model is simulated using PSIM software and calculated maximum efficiency of ~95% for 200 W and measured maximum efficiency of ~93% for 190 W power level including various parasitic elements.