Development of Active Power Factor Correction controller using boost converter

Electronic devices such as SMPS, UPS, rectifier and electronic ballast primarily require DC power supply. Electronic switching devices draw highly distorted input current (spikes with respect to the line voltage) for a short duration, due to their non-linear nature. This results in interference with other electrical equipment, increase in Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) and poor Power Factor (PF), which further results in poor output voltage regulation. Power factor correction (PFC) circuits are being increasingly used to mitigate the problems associated with poor power factor. This paper discusses an Active Power Factor Correction (APFC) technique using voltage feed forward and voltage feedback loop. It is based upon current wave shaping technique to get the source current in phase with the input voltage. Current wave shaping is achieved by implementing voltage control loop and current control loop. This paper explains the development of boost converter as a power factor correction controller, operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). The boost converter is also designed to regulate the output voltage. The prototype of boost active PFC has been developed for single-phase rectifier, supplying load of 80W at 400V DC. Analysis has been carried out for different load conditions which prove that the PF can be improved from 0.6 to 0.98~0.99 with THD reduction.