1

3-Phase Step-up Resonant DC-DC Converter

for Medium Power Applications
J. Robinson, D. Jovcic, and G. Joós

I1 I2 L2
Abstract—This paper describes a 3-phase DC-DC resonant Lr3
D1 D2 D3
Lr1 Lr2
converter for medium or high power applications. The converter
characteristics during discontinuous and continuous operation IS1 IS2 IS3
modes are derived. A design procedure is given for component
sizing and application examples are shown for the connection of S1 S2 S3
two different types of wind turbines to a medium voltage DC bus.
Ir1 +
A preliminary evaluation of the converter switching losses for the vcr1 Cr1
wind turbine applications is shown. V1 C1 Ir2 - C2 V2
vcr2 - -
vcr3
Index Terms—DC-DC converter, inverter, thyristor. Ir3 + +
Cr2 Cr3
I. INTRODUCTION S4 S5 S6

O NE of the key components required for the development

of future DC grids or large multi-terminal DC lines is the
development of an efficient DC-DC converter that can operate Lr4
IS4

Lr5
IS5

Lr6
IS6
D4 D5 D6

at a high gain and high power. While DC grids can offer

improved power quality as well as smaller and lighter cables, Fig. 1. 3-phase converter topology showing the LV side as a DC voltage
source V1 and the HV side as a DC voltage source V2.
and the potential to reduce costs and losses in offshore wind
farms, the advantages greatly depend on the efficiency of the At low switching frequencies, the converter will operate in
DC-DC converter [1-3]. discontinuous mode. After each switching operation, current
A number of different converter types have been proposed will flow from the LV terminal, through the turned on
for various applications, including single and 3-phase resonant thyristors, and charge the resonant capacitors. When the
converters [4-7] and HF transformer based converters [8-10]. charge across the resonant capacitors is greater than the HV
A converter topology that has been recently proposed is a terminal voltage, then current will also flow into the HV side.
single phase step-up resonant DC-DC converter [11]. This The overall input and output current will be a series of pulses.
design has a similar topology to a parallel resonant converter; Changing the converter power is controlled by changing the
however, it offers a number of advantages, including faster switching frequency.
control, lower switching losses when not operating at rated The discontinuous mode operation will be analyzed in
power, and reduced conduction losses due to unidirectional detail in Section III. The advantages of this converter during
current flow. In order to reduce switching losses, the converter discontinuous mode are longer turn-off times than the
will normally be operated in discontinuous mode; however, converter proposed in [11] (allowing higher frequency
this will lead to high peak input currents at high powers, operation and possibly smaller component sizes) and lower
leading to higher conduction and reverse recovery losses in the reverse recovery losses (since only one thyristor turns-off after
thyristors. each current pulse, as opposed to [11], where two thyristors
This paper proposes an improvement of the converter turn off after a current pulse). For a 3-phase resonant converter
described in [11] that is designed to reduce the peak input operating only in discontinuous mode, a better design would
current to reduce losses and harmonics on the DC bus. use only a single inductor, but will not be studied in the paper.
As the switching frequency increases, the converter will
II. GENERAL CONVERTER DESCRIPTION enter continuous mode, where switching occurs before the
The proposed 3-phase converter is shown in Fig. 1. The current in the previously conducting thyristors has decreased
converter and the design equations derived in this paper will to zero. The main advantages of this converter occur when
only detail operation of a single-directional boost converter. operating in continuous mode. The input current will be close
The main differences between this converter and that proposed to constant, eliminating the high peak currents of the single
in [11] is the three Wye connected capacitors, and the use of a phase converter in [11]. The resonant inductors will also limit
3-phase inverter and rectifier. In addition, 6 separate inductors the rate-of-change of current during turn-on and turn-off,
are located in the six branches of the inverter. reducing the thyristor reverse recovery losses. A detailed
analysis of continuous mode operation is in Section IV.

2009 IEEE Electrical Power & Energy Conference

978-1-4244-4509-7/09/$25.00 ©2009 IEEE
 2

Using the analysis in Sections III and IV, a design Lr

procedure is described in Section V and used to design MV Z0 = (4)
Cr
DC-DC converters to connect two different types of wind
turbines to a MVDC grid. The accuracy of the models from and
Sections III and IV is verified using a PSCAD simulation. The Vcr1 (0) = Vcr10 , Vcr 2 (0) = Vcr 20 , Vcr 3 (0) = Vcr 30
efficiency of the thyristors, diodes, and resonant inductors is
calculated and methods of increasing efficiency are outlined. B. Time interval 0<t<t1
During this time interval the voltages across capacitors Cr1 and
III. DISCONTINUOUS MODE OPERATION Cr2 (measured from the terminal connected to the thyristor
A. Introduction switches to the common between the three capacitors) are:
t
In discontinuous mode, the current will increase from zero 1
after every switching operation, then decrease to zero before
Vcr1 (t ) =
Cr ∫I
0
S 1 dt + Vcr10
the beginning of the next switching operation. A Matlab
V1 + (− Vcr10 + Vcr 20 )
Simulink plot of the resonant current and voltages during = [1 − cos(ω 0 t )] + Vcr10 (5)
discontinuous mode operation is shown in Fig. 2. 2
In Fig. 2, one-third of a switching cycle is represented as the ⎡ [V + (− V cr10 + Vcr 20 )]
time between t0 and t3, during which the voltage across the Vcr 2 (t ) = − ⎢ 1 [1 − cos(ω 0 t )]⎤⎥ + Vcr 20 (6)
⎣ 2 ⎦
capacitor Cr1 increases during two switching operations.
Between t0 and t1, switches S1 and S5 are on, and between t2 At time t1 then I1=0 (since it is discontinuous mode) and the
voltage across Cr1, Cr2, and Cr3 at time t1 will be:
and t3, switches S1 and S6 are on. As the switching time
increases, the time between the pulses will decrease, resulting V cr1 (t1 ) = V1 + Vcr 20 (7)
in a higher average input current. When operating at the Vcr 2 (t1 ) = −V1 + V cr10 (8)
resonant frequency, then the time between the pulses will be
zero. Further increases in the switching frequency will cause Vcr 3 (t1 ) = Vcr 30 (9)
the converter to enter continuous mode. If the sum of Vcr2 and Vcr3 at time t1 is greater then V2 (as will
To analyze the converter operation during discontinuous be the case except during start-up), then current will flow into
mode, the capacitor voltages are shown in Fig. 3 at the the diode bridge. The current flow will be equal in Cr2 and Cr3,
beginning of a switching cycle. Current starts to flow into the and therefore the voltage drop will be the same. The voltage
diode bridge at time t2cond and the voltage of capacitor Cr1 drop across both capacitors at time t1 will be:
equals zero at time tze. The main converter equations are:
V d = V 2 − [− Vcr 2 (t1 ) + Vcr 3 (t1 )] = −V1 (10)
V + (− V cr10 + Vcr 20 )
I 1 (t ) = 1 sin (ω 0 t ) (1) and therefore the final capacitor voltages in Cr2 and Cr3 are:
2Z 0
Vcr1 (t ) − Vcr 2 (t ) = V1 − [V1 + (− Vcr10 + Vcr 20 )] cos(ω 0 t ) (2) Vcr 2 (t1 ) = Vcr10 − V1 / 2 (11)
for t0=0 and where: Vcr 3 (t1 ) = Vcr 30 − V1 / 2 (12)
1
ω0 = (3) C. Time interval t1<t<t2
Lr Cr
Current does not flow during this time interval. The length of
I V
r1 cr30
Ipk V
I Cr3
r2
V
0 I Cr2
r3
V
Cr1
-Ipk

0
V V
Cr1 cr20
V
Cr2
0 V
Cr3

V
cr10
t t t t
0 1 2 3
t t t
Fig. 2. Converter currents and voltages during discontinuous mode operation. 0 2cond t 1
ze
Time t0-t3 represents 1/3rd of a switching cycle. Fig. 3. Discontinuous mode voltages at the beginning of a switching cycle.
The switching cycle begins at time t0 and the current decreases to zero at t1.
 3

this time will depend on the switching frequency; when the V

switching frequency is equal to ω0, this time is equal to zero. max V
s1

D. Time interval t2<t<t3 V

s2
0
At time t2 (from Fig. 2), switch S6 will turn on and current will V
s3
flow through capacitors Cr1 and Cr3. The current through S1 V
min
and S5 and voltage across capacitors Cr1 and Cr3 will be:
V
Vcr 30 − Vcr 20 − 1
I 1 (t ) = 2 sin (ω t ) (13)
0
2Z 0 I
I s1
pk
1⎡ V ⎤
Vcr1 (t ) = ⎢V cr 30 − Vcr 20 − 1 ⎥[1 − cos(ω 0 t )] + (V1 + Vcr 20 ) (14 ) I
s2
2⎣ 2⎦ I
s3
1⎡ V ⎤ ⎛ V ⎞
Vcr 3 (t ) = Vcr 30 − Vcr 20 − 1 ⎥[1 − cos(ω0t )] − ⎜Vcr 30 − 1 ⎟ (15)
2 ⎢⎣ 2⎦ ⎝ 2⎠
Using similar analysis as used for the period 0<t<t1, at time t3, t T /6
t T /3 t
the final capacitor voltages across Cr1 and Cr3 will be 0 1 s s ze
Vcr30+V1/2 and –Vcr20. If the sum of Vcr1 and Vcr2 at time t3 is Fig. 4. Discontinuous mode switch voltages and currents.
greater than V2, then current will flow in the diode bridge.
1 ⎡ V ⎞ ⎤
2 2
⎛V ⎞ ⎛
Since the current flow will be equal in Cr1 and Cr2 then the E1 / 6 = Cr ⎢(V1 − Vcr10 )2 − ⎜ 1 − Vcr10 ⎟ + Vcr2 30 − ⎜ Vcr 30 − 1 ⎟ ⎥
voltage drop will be the same. Then the voltage in Cr1 and Cr3 2 ⎢⎣ ⎝2 ⎠ ⎝ 2 ⎠ ⎥⎦
will be equal to Vcr30 and Vcr10.
When the current starts to flow through the diode bridge (at
1
4
(
Cr V12 + 2V1V2
= ) (21)
time t2cond in Fig.3), then IS1 will be equal to the input current
The energy transferred between t2 and t3 can be similarly
I1, which will be equally divided between switches S2 and S3.
solved and is equal to (21). From (21), the converter power
When the voltage across Cr1 is zero (at time tze), the voltages
during discontinuous mode is:
across Cr2 and Cr3 will be equal to -V2/2 and V2/2 respectively.
Using (5) and (6), the voltage across Cr2 at tze is:
1
(
P = Cr V12 + 2V1V2 ⋅ 3 ⋅ f s
2
) (22)
t From (1), the peak current during discontinuous mode is:
1 I S1 Vcr 20 V
Vcr 2 (t ze ) =
Cr ∫−
t 2 cond
2
dt =
2
+ Vcr10 = − 2 (16 )
2 V2 V1
+
t = t ze
I pk = 2 4 (23)
2Z0
During steady state operation, the magnitude of the positive
and negative peak voltages will be equal and therefore: It can be seen from (22-23) that during discontinuous mode
− Vcr10 + V1 / 2 = Vcr 30 = V 2 + V cr10 (17 ) operation:
ƒ increasing the size of the resonant capacitors will increase
Using (16) and (17), the initial voltages at the beginning of the the power (at a given frequency) and increase the peak
switching cycle (Vcr10, Vcr20, and Vcr30) can be obtained in discontinuous mode current,
terms of the terminal voltages: ƒ increasing the size of the resonant inductors will decrease
the peak current.
V 2 V1
Vcr10 = − + (18) The maximum power in discontinuous mode will occur when
2 4
V1 fs=f0/3 and is given by:
Vcr 20 = − (19)
V 2 V1
2
Pd max =
1
2
( )
Cr V12 + 2V1V2 ⋅ f 0 (24)
Vcr 30 = + (20)
2 4
During discontinuous mode, the main advantages of the 3-
phase converter over that in [11] are lower reverse recovery
E. Energy Transfer
losses and longer thyristor turn-off times. This can be seen in
The energy transfer to the HV terminal during 1/6th of a Fig. 4, where the turn-off time of the thyristor when operating
switching cycle will occur between t0 to t1. The total at the resonant frequency, will still be greater than 1/2f0, in
transferred energy can be evaluated based on the difference in contrast with [11], where the turn-off time when operating at
energy stored in the resonant capacitors, depending on the resonant frequency is close to 1/4f0. In addition, it can be
whether current flows into the HV terminal (i.e. the difference seen in Fig. 4 that two current pulses pass through switch S2
between (8-9) and (11-12)). Therefore: before it turns off. Although the on-state losses will be the
same, the reverse recovery losses will be lower.
 4

IV. CONTINUOUS MODE OPERATION 2

V1 + Vcr 2 (0)
Continuous mode operation occurs when the input current I1 (t ) = I1(0) cos(ω0t ) + 3 sin (ω0t ) (25)
does not decrease to zero before the next switching operation, Z0
which will occur when fs>f0/3. It should be noted that the where I1(0) and Vcr2(0) are the current from the LV terminal
individual current through the thyristor switches will decrease and voltage across Cr2 at time t0=0 (Fig. 5). Using circuit
to zero each cycle, even though the input current is always theory, the capacitor voltages and inductor currents for 0<t<t1
greater than zero. The continuous mode operation can be can be obtained.
analyzed by considering 1/6th of a cycle, shown in Fig. 5. Since current is flowing into the HV terminal, then the
Equivalent circuits over the same period of time are in Fig. 6. current through capacitors Cr1 and Cr3 will be equal and the
When t<t1, the current through S5 is equal to I1, current will HV current will be given by:
flow into the converter HV terminal, and the voltage across
I S 3 (t ) − I S1 (t ) − V2 I (0 )
Vcr1 and Vcr3 will be equal to V2 and the current in S1 and S2 I 2 (t ) = = t+ 1 (26)
will be equal to half the input current, which will be: 2 2 Lr 2

ON S1,S2,S5, S1, S1,S5 At time t1, the current into the HV terminal will go to zero. For
D3,D4 S2,S5 S1,S5 D3,D5
Switches
high switching frequencies, the input current can be
I I approximated as a constant, and therefore the currents through
1
Current

r1
switches S3 and S1 will be:
0 I
r2 V
I I S 3 (t ) = I1 − I S1(t ) = − 2 t + I1 (27 )
-I
1 r3 2 Lr

V /2 V where I1 represents a constant input current. This assumption

cr1
2 is inaccurate at the border between continuous and
V discontinuous operation and at very high frequencies.
cr2
With a constant input current of I1, then the time for the
Voltage

V
cr3
0 current IS3 to fall to zero will be:
2 I1Lr
t2 = (28)
V2
-V /2 At time t3, the current IS3 will have dropped to zero and
2
t =0 t t t therefore the currents IS1 and IS5 will be equal. At time t4, the
0 1 2 3 t4=Ts /6
voltage across Cr2 and Cr3 is equal to V2 and current starts to
Fig. 5. Converter current and capacitor voltage over 1/6th of a cycle during
continuous mode operation. flow into the HV terminal. Using the circuit equations over
1/6th of a cycle and solving for the constant input current, then:
S1,S2,S5,D3,D4 ON S1,S2,S5 ON
2
1 ⎛ 1 ⎞ 2V22Cr
IS1 IS3 IS1 IS3 I1 = (2V2 − V1 ) − ⎜
⎜6f L (V1 − 2V2 ) ⎟ −
⎟ (29)
6 f s Lr ⎝ s r ⎠ Lr

V2
V1 + + + + and the converter power will be given by:
V1
vcr1 vcr3 vcr1 vcr3
- - - - Pconv = V1I1 (30)
- -
vcr2 vcr2 The switching characteristics for a converter operating in
IS5 IS5 continuous mode are shown in Fig. 7. From Fig. 7, the
+ +
maximum switch voltage will occur across S2 at time t5 when
a) 0<t<t1 b) t1<t<t2 S1 is on and S5 turns off. Using the assumption of a constant
S1,S5 ON S1,S5,D3,D5 ON input current, then the magnitudes of the maximum switch
IS1 voltage and minimum switch voltage will be equal and will be
IS1 given by:
+
+ vcr1
vcr1 1 I12 Lr
V1 - V1
-
Vmin = − V2 (31)
- - - 2 CrV2
vcr2 vcr2 vcr3
+ + + The maximum voltage will approach V2 at low converter
V2 power levels. The total turn-off time will be from t2 to t5 in
IS5 IS5 Fig. 7, which is 1/6th of the switching time. In continuous
mode operation, the slope of the switch current can be
c) t2<t<t3 d) t3<t<t4
estimated as V2/2L. At high switching frequencies switch S1
Fig. 6. Equivalent circuits of the converter over 1/6th of a cycle during
continuous mode operation. may be turned
 5

V the peak discontinuous mode current, and solving (23)

max V
S1 and (30).
V 5. Size the input and output DC filter capacitors for a
S2
maximum change in DC voltage during discontinuous
0 V
S3 mode. From (21), the output DC capacitor size can be
calculated for a variation ΔV2 as:
V
min
C2 =
(
Cr V12 + 2V1V2 ) (33)
I
1 I 2V22ΔV2 (2 + ΔV2 )
S1
I
S2 Similarly, the input DC capacitor size will be:
I
S3

C1 =
(
Cr V12 + 2V1V2 ) (34)
2V12ΔV1 (2 + ΔV1 )
0
t t t t T /3
0 2 4 5 s where the voltage variation ΔV1 and ΔV2 are in pu.
Fig. 7. Continuous mode switch voltages and currents 6. Check the converter efficiency. If the inductor
size/losses are too large, then the peak discontinuous
on before the current IS3 has gone to zero (in Fig. 7, if Ts/3≤t2)
mode current should be reduced or switches with
and therefore the average current into the converter will be
smaller turn-off times should be chosen.
greater than the peak switch current. The maximum switch
current can then be estimated using (27) and a current rise One possible application for this type of converter is for
time of Ts/3, so that: connecting distributed generation in a DC grid. Many wind
V 2 Ts
turbines are now manufactured with variable speed permanent
I S max = (32) magnet synchronous generators and connected to the grid
2 Lr 3 through a full power converter. The voltage of an individual
Operating in this region will reduce switching losses (since the wind turbine in a wind farm is converted to AC with the full
peak switch current does not increase at high powers); converter and then the voltage is transformed to MV levels
however the ability of the converter to operate in this region before being connected to a common AC bus. This type of
will depend on the thyristor turn-off time. DC-DC converter could allow the construction of a wind farm
using only DC, allowing reduced cable losses or smaller and
V. DESIGN EXAMPLE lighter cables, which may be especially important in offshore
applications.
The main design equation is (30), which gives the peak power
Most wind turbines have output voltages less than 1000 V,
in terms of the switching frequency, resonant capacitor, and
however, some designs now offer higher voltages (such as the
resonant inductor sizes. Other parameters that will be
Harakosan Z72 2 MW wind turbine, which has a 4 kV output
important in the converter design are the thyristor turn-off
voltage). This design example will compare designs for a 4 kV
time, the peak current in discontinuous mode, and the rate-of-
2 MW wind turbine, and a 1 kV 3 MW wind turbine (such as
change of current at switch turn-off (to limit reverse recovery
the GE 3.0sl). The converter will be designed to convert a
losses).
rectified DC voltage to a 33 kV MVDC bus. Considering a
Using the rated power and DC voltages of the input and
PWM based rectifier connected to the wind turbine, then the
output terminals of the converter, the following design steps
DC voltage will be given by:
can be used to size the resonant inductors, capacitors, and the
input and output DC capacitors. 2 2VLL
Vdc = (35)
1. Select the thyristors based on the average input current m 3
and HV terminal voltage. Higher voltage and current
where m is the modulation index and will be considered to be
ratings will reduce the on-state losses, but will result in
0.95 for this design. Therefore the DC voltage of the Z72 and
higher turn-off times (and large inductor sizes).
3.0sl turbines will be 6880 V and 1720 V, with average full
2. Calculate the maximum switching frequency, which
load input currents of 291 A and 1744 A, respectively.
will be 1/(6tturnoff).
Two thyristor switches will be compared for the different
3. Select a peak discontinuous mode current. Lower peak
designs, a phase control ABB 12F4200, and a fast turn-off
discontinuous mode currents will result in lower
Polovodiče TR918F-1790-12. Ratings for the switches are
switching losses, but from (23) it can be seen that
given in Table 1. Note that the reverse recovery time for the
allowing larger peak discontinuous mode current will
TR918F-1790-12 was increased to reduce switching losses.
reduce the resonant inductor size.
Using these turn-off times, and designing for a peak
4. Calculate the size of the resonant capacitor and
discontinuous mode input current of 30% of the maximum full
inductors by using the maximum switching frequency,
load current, then resulting converter parameters for the two
 6

Table 1: Switch Ratings. reasonable losses for the Z72 turbine since the input current is
12F4200 TR918F-1790-12 low and the on-state losses will be low. The 3.0sl has a much
Rated Voltage 4200 V 1200 V higher input current and the on-state losses are higher and
Rated Current 1150 A 1779 A therefore the 12F4200 has much lower losses (due to lower
Turn-off time 800 μs 60 μs on-state losses). In both cases, the 12F4200 has the lowest
losses; however, the advantage of the fast turn-off thyristors is
Table 2: Converter designs. that they allow a higher switching rate and therefore reduced
Switch 12F4200 TR918F-1790-12 component sizes (shown in Table 2).
Turbine Z72 3.0sl Z72 3.0sl To determine the effect of increased inductor size on the
Lr 73 mH 11.8 mH 7.3 mH 1.2 mH overall converter efficiency, air-core toroidal inductors were
Cr 6.7 μF 45.2 μF 0.67 μF 4.52 μF modeled and the conduction losses were calculated. The
C1 0.34 mF 8.7 mF 34.4 μF 0.87 mF efficiency of the inductors over the converter operation is
C2 15 μF 23.6 μF 1.5 μF 2.36 μF shown in Fig. 10, where it can be seen that the converter for
nthy 16 16 55 55 the 3.0sl turbine using 12F4200 thyristors has very low
ndiode 13 13 13 13 efficiency. The best case is for the Z72 using TR918F-1790-
fmax 278 Hz 278 Hz 2778 Hz 2778 Hz 12 thyristors, since it has low input current and a smaller
di/dtmax 0.23 A/μs 1.4 A/μs 2.3 A/μs 14 A/μs inductor size.
From Figs. 9 and 10, the best overall efficiency for the 3-
turbines are in Table 2, where n is the number of switches per phase converter for the Z72 turbine uses TR918F-1790-12
valve and is designed with a margin of 100%. Note that the thyristors and has an efficiency of around 95.5%.
3.0sl will require parallel connected 12F4200 thyristors to
14
support higher input current. Diode losses will be calculated 12F4200 - Z72
based on ABB 08D5000 normal recovery diodes, rated for a 12F4200 - 3.0sl
12
reverse voltage of 5200 V.
TR918F-1790 - Z72
To check the accuracy of the converter model developed in
10 TR918F-1790 - 3.0sl
Section III and IV, the various turbines were simulated using
PSCAD and the results show good correspondence. The power
Losses (%)

predicted by the model for varying frequency is shown for the 8

3.0sl 12F400 case in Fig. 8.
Based on the converter switching models derived in 6
Sections III and IV, the thyristor and diode losses for the
different turbines and switch models are shown in Fig. 9. The 4
switch losses include on-state and leakage losses, turn-on
losses, and reverse recovery losses and are based on the 2
datasheet information. Note that the discontinuity in Fig. 9
occurs at the border between the discontinuous and continuous 0
modes, where the assumptions in Section IV are not accurate. 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Converter Power (pu)
As can be seen from Fig. 9, the fast turn-off thyristors have
Fig. 9. Thyristor and diode losses over the converter operation.
3
Converter Model 100
PSCAD Simulation 12F4200 - Z72
2.5 12F4200 - 3.0sl
98
TR918F-1790 - Z72
2 TR918-1790 - 3.0sl
Power (MW)

96
Efficiency (%)

1.5
94

1
92

0.5
90

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 88
Switching Frequency (Hz) 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Converter Power (pu)
Fig. 8. Predicted power and PSCAD simulated power at various frequencies. Fig. 10. Efficiency of the six inductors over the converter operation.
 7

The designs considered for the 3.0sl were much poorer, with [6] J. Jacobs, A. Averberg, and R. De Doncker, “A novel
efficiencies of around 85%. Overall the advantages of having three-phase DC/DC converter for high-power
reduced on-state switch losses and reverse recovery losses applications,” Power Electronics Specialists
over the converter in [11] (which has comparable or lower Conference, 2004. PESC 04. 2004 IEEE 35th Annual,
losses) are somewhat mitigated by increased losses in the 2004, pp. 1861-1867 Vol.3.
resonant inductors. While the 3-phase converter has smoother [7] C. Meyer and R. De Doncker, “Design of a Three-Phase
input current, it has a larger number of resonant inductors and Series Resonant Converter for Offshore DC Grids,”
capacitors. Industry Applications Conference, 2007. 42nd IAS
For comparison with an AC system, a 3-level VSC inverter Annual Meeting. Conference Record of the 2007 IEEE,
would have an efficiency of around 97-99%. Including a MV 2007, pp. 216-223.
transformer with an efficiency of 99% would result in a total [8] J. Fothergill, P. Devine, and P. Lefley, “A novel
efficiency of around 96-98% for the AC system, which is prototype design for a transformer for high voltage, high
comparable to that of the 3-phase resonant converter for the frequency, high power use,” Power Delivery, IEEE
Z72 turbine. Determining that actual suitability of this Transactions on, vol. 16, 2001, pp. 89-98.
converter and for DC grids in general will require further [9] T. Kjellqvist, S. Norrga, and S. Ostlund, “Design
study of the advantages and disadvantages of the two systems; considerations for a medium frequency transformer in a
however, this initial analysis shows that this converter may line side power conversion system,” Power Electronics
have potential for some applications. Specialists Conference, 2004. PESC 04. 2004 IEEE
35th Annual, 2004, pp. 704-710 Vol.1.
[10] J. Martin, P. Ladoux, B. Chauchat, J. Casarin, and S.
VI. CONCLUSIONS
Nicolau, “Medium frequency transformer for railway
A 3-phase resonant converter was presented in this paper, the traction: Soft switching converter with high voltage
operation in both discontinuous and continuous modes was semi-conductors,” Power Electronics, Electrical Drives,
derived, and a design procedure was outlined for determining Automation and Motion, 2008. SPEEDAM 2008.
component sizes of the converter. A design example of the International Symposium on, 2008, pp. 1180-1185.
converter is shown for two types of wind turbines. The [11] D. Jovcic, “Step up DC-DC converter for MW-size
thyristor and diode losses are shown for two different types of applications,” in print, IET Power Electronics, PEL-
thyristors, showing that at lower input currents the converter 2008-0101, pp. April, 2008.
can be designed for higher frequency operation and lower
component ratings, while still minimizing losses. At high
input currents, slower switches must be used, which will lower
on-state losses but require larger components. The losses in
the resonant inductors were modeled, showing that the losses
in the inductor for the converter with high input current could
cause the efficiency to greatly decrease.
Not all aspects of the converter design have been studied in
this paper and further study is required to determine its
suitability over other DC-DC converters. Other research
should focus on further optimization of the converter design
and also in a more detailed comparison of this type of
converter with other DC-DC converters in the same
application.

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[4] R. Steigerwald, “Power electronic converter technology,”
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