Technologies for controlling ac-to-dc converters
AssigneeABB Power Electronics Inc.
InventorSanbao Zheng
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Technologies for controlling AC-to-DC converters are disclosed. In one illustrative embodiment, a controller of an AC-to-DC converter measures two voltage levels of a split voltage bus of a power factor correction (PFC) circuit. The controller controls current drawn from the positive and negative terminals of the PFC circuit by a DC-to-DC converter. By controlling the current drawn from the two terminals, the controller can control the voltages on the terminals to be equal (but opposite).
Claims20
An alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) converter comprising:
- a power factor correction (PFC) circuit comprising a positive DC voltage terminal, a center DC voltage terminal, and a negative DC voltage terminal;
- a DC-to-DC converter;
- and
- a controller configured to:
- determine an indication of a voltage difference between (i) a voltage of the positive DC voltage terminal relative to the center DC voltage terminal and (ii) a voltage of the center DC voltage terminal relative to the negative DC voltage terminal;
- determine, based on the indication of the voltage difference, a control signal to control a current draw from the positive DC voltage terminal or the negative DC voltage terminal by the DC-to-DC converter;
- and
- provide the control signal to the DC-to-DC converter to control the current draw from the positive DC voltage terminal or the negative DC voltage terminal by the DC-to-DC converter.
A method for controlling an alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) converter, the method comprising:
- determining, by a controller of the AC-to-DC converter, an indication of a voltage difference between (i) a voltage of a positive DC voltage terminal of the AC-to-DC converter relative to a center DC voltage terminal of the AC-to-DC converter and (ii) a voltage of the center DC voltage terminal relative to a negative DC voltage terminal of the AC-to-DC converter;
- determining, by the controller and based on the indication of the voltage difference, a control signal to control a current draw from the positive DC voltage terminal or the negative DC voltage terminal by a DC-to-DC converter;
- and
- providing, by the controller, the control signal to the DC-to-DC converter to control the current draw from the positive DC voltage terminal or the negative DC voltage terminal by the DC-to-DC converter.
A controller for controlling an alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC) converter, the controller comprising one or more circuits configured to:
- determine an indication of a voltage difference between (i) a voltage of a positive DC voltage terminal of the AC-to-DC converter relative to a center DC voltage terminal of the AC-to-DC converter and (ii) a voltage of the center DC voltage terminal of the AC-to-DC converter relative to a negative DC voltage terminal;
- determine, based on the indication of the voltage difference, a control signal to control a current draw from the positive DC voltage terminal or the negative DC voltage terminal by a DC-to-DC converter;
- and
- provide the control signal to the DC-to-DC converter to control the current draw from the positive DC voltage terminal or the negative DC voltage terminal by the DC-to-DC converter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.