A Dual-Mode Fast Charger Employing Continuous and Fine-Tuned Pulse Currents for Supercapacitors

This paper proposes a dual-mode supercapacitor fast charger employing both continuous and fine-tuned pulse currents based on the fact that a supercapacitor can be charged or discharged by a large pulse current during a limited period of time. By tuning the voltage across the output inductor, the proposed charger improves the pulse characteristics of the conventional forward converter in that the transitions between continuous and pulse currents are much faster. Simulation results verify the dual-mode operation of the proposed charger and show that the charging time is significantly reduced.