Independent control method for flying‑capacitor clamp three‑level boost PFC converter

June-Bong Jeong; Seung-Myung Lee; Moon-Young Kim; Jeong-Il Kang; Sang-Kyoo Han

Independent control method for flying‑capacitor clamp three‑level boost PFC converter

Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 541-554, Mar. 2025

10.1007/s43236-025-00990-x

Flying voltage control

Power-factor correction

Slim converter

Three-level boost converter

Abstract

Compared to a basic boost power-factor correction (PFC) converter, the flying-capacitor clamp three-level boost (FCTLB) PFC converter operates the inductor at twice the switching frequency. Additionally, the flying-capacitor voltage reduces the inductor current slope, which helps minimize the maximum inductor current ripple by up to four times, allowing for the use of a smaller inductor. The voltage stress on power semi-conductor devices is halved, relative to the output voltage, making the FCTLB PFC converter advantageous for achieving high efficiency and power density. The flying-capacitor voltage must remain at half of the output voltage to maintain these advantages. However, conventional control methods face limitations in maintaining this voltage. Optimally designing the dynamic characteristics of the flying voltage control is challenging, and steady-state errors can occur in practical applications due to parasitic components or deviations in gate-drive circuits. Thus, this paper proposes an independent control method to address these limitations. The proposed method allows for optimal controller design by considering the dynamic characteristics of the flying voltage control, while eliminating steady-state errors between the flying-capacitor voltage and half of the output voltage, even in the presence of parasitic elements or deviations in the gate-drive circuits. Furthermore, this method can be implemented by adding a standard voltage controller for flying voltage control to a conventional PFC controller. The method can also be realized using analog controllers, employing low-cost, general-purpose integrated circuits and operational amplifiers. Experimental results from a 400 W-rated prototype demonstrate the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed control method.

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Cite this article

[IEEE Style]

J. Jeong, S. Lee, M. Kim, J. Kang, S. Han, "Independent control method for flying‑capacitor clamp three‑level boost PFC converter," Journal of Power Electronics, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 541-554, 2025. DOI: 10.1007/s43236-025-00990-x.

[ACM Style]

June-Bong Jeong, Seung-Myung Lee, Moon-Young Kim, Jeong-Il Kang, and Sang-Kyoo Han. 2025. Independent control method for flying‑capacitor clamp three‑level boost PFC converter. Journal of Power Electronics, 25, 3, (2025), 541-554. DOI: 10.1007/s43236-025-00990-x.