Automotive DC-DC Converter Designed for High Power-Density and High Efficiency

Required pollution reduction and high oil prices lead to an expansion in usage of electric propulsion in automobiles. Such electric propulsion requires highly efficient and small power converters in order to fulfil the requirements of energy conservation and limited space available aboard of motor vehicles. In this paper, a converter design based on conventional components with the main goal being high power density and high efficiency is presented. Soft switching topology, paralleling MOSFETs, integrated inductors, interleaved converter sub-modules and optimised spatial component layout are implemented in the design concept in order to reach the high efficiency and high power density goals. The design approach is demonstrated on a 200 kHz, 2.1 kW single module converter prototype. The results of practical experiments demonstrate the possibility of reaching high power density and high efficiency in the presented application.