The present invention relates to a parameter configuration method for elements of a PFC function converter, particularly to a method adapting a PFC function converter to a storage capacitor having a smaller capacitance via varying the operation characteristic of a PFC circuit.
In electronic industry, the well-known PFC (Power Factor Correction) circuit is an important circuit which improves the input power factor used in power supply devices or built in the power supply circuits of various electric appliances. The common PFC circuits may be categorized into the single-stage type and the two-stage type, which are respectively applied to different fields. The two-stage PFC circuit has a higher power factor and a lower total harmonic distortion. The single-stage PFC circuit is simpler and cheaper, however. Either of the two types of PFC circuits should have a storage capacitor, i.e. the so-called bulk capacitor, for energy regulation. For an example of the single-stage PFC circuit, please refer to a R.O.C. patent No. 561675 disclosing a “PFC Circuit with an Oscillation-Damping Circuit”.
To achieve the standard of IEC 1000-3-2 (International Electrotechnical Commission), the bus voltage Vbus (the voltage of the main power transmission path) of the abovementioned power supply device should have a small low-frequency ripple. To achieve a high power factor, the bus voltage Vbus should be raised. In the conventional technology, only an electrolytic capacitor can realize the abovementioned objectives. Therefore, electrolytic capacitors are generally used in PFC circuits. Further, the conventional PFC circuit is operated in a discontinuous current mode (DCM) to increase the utility rate of the iron core of the transformer and promote the stability of single-loop control.
However, the electrolytic capacitor has a shorter lifetime. A solid electrolytic capacitor has a lifetime of only thousands of hours at a temperature of 105° C., and a liquid one has a further shorter lifetime. When an electrolytic capacitor is used as the storage capacitor of a PFC circuit, the lifetime of the electrolytic capacitor directly limits the lifetime of the PFC circuit. For example, in an LED driving circuit, LED itself has a lifetime of at least one hundred thousands of hours. However, since the reduction of the storage capacitor, the PFC circuit of the LED driving circuit can only work for thousands of hours (the storage capacitor has an average lifetime of only thousands of hours). Thus, when the storage capacitor breaks down, the circuit board of the PFC circuit and the LEDs soldered on the circuit board have to be replaced at the same time. Thus, the LEDs should be abandoned even before one half of the lifetime thereof has elapsed, which is indeed a waste of the resource. Therefore, it is very deserving to solve the problem that the lifetime of a PFC circuit is limited by the lifetime of the storage capacitor thereof.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a parameter configuration method for elements of a PFC function converter to solve the problem that the lifetime of a PFC circuit is limited by the lifetime of the storage capacitor thereof, wherein the lifetime of the storage capacitor is prolonged via configuring the relationship of the elements of the converter circuit with the power factor satisfying the standard without varying the circuit architecture of the PFC circuit, whereby the lifetime of the converter is increased.
The present invention proposes a parameter configuration method for elements of a PFC function converter, wherein the converter has a PFC circuit converting an input power into a modulated power and a transformer transforming the modulated power into an output power to a load. The method of the present invention comprises a storage capacitor configuration procedure, a storage inductor configuration procedure and a verification procedure. The storage capacitor configuration procedure predetermines a test voltage and a rated bus voltage lower than the test voltage, determines a storage capacitor parameter according to the test voltage, and uses the storage capacitor to supply the rated bus voltage to the converter. The storage inductor configuration procedure selects the inductance of the primary coil of the transformer firstly and then determines the inductance of the storage inductor to make the storage inductor and the primary coil work in a discontinuous current mode. Then, the verification procedure verifies whether the configuration for the PFC circuit makes the power factor exceed 0.9. The converter adopts a storage capacitor, which is adaptive to the test voltage, to provide a rated bus voltage lower than the test voltage, and the storage capacitor thus receives less voltage fluctuation. As the converter operates in a discontinuous current mode, the designer can use a lower-capacitance capacitor as the storage capacitor. Particularly, the designer can replace the conventionally used electrolytic capacitor with a film capacitor. Thus, the storage capacitor has a longer lifetime, and the lifetime of the converter is no more limited by the lifetime of the storage capacitor.
The present invention adopts a smaller capacitor, particularly a film capacitor, as the storage capacitor. Therefore, the present invention can prolong the lifetime of the PFC circuit.
The present invention discloses a parameter configuration method for elements of a PFC function converter. Refer to
The PFC circuit 3 includes a storage capacitor 32, a storage inductor 31, a switch 33 and a control unit 6. The control unit 6 controls the cycles of turning on and turning off the switch 33. The switch 33 determines the direction of the input current, i.e. determines the cycles of charging and discharging of the storage capacitor 32. The primary coil of the transformer 4 also needs a switch to determine the power transferred to the secondary coil. In the exemplification shown in
In the conventional process of designing a converter, the designer has to predetermine the rated bus voltage (usually 380V) of the PFC circuit 3, adopts a conventional energy-storage element having a withstand level equal to the bus voltage, and makes the modulated power output by the energy-storage element stably and exactly reach the predetermined bus voltage. Herein, it is necessary to make clear that the bus voltage is a voltage level, and that the average voltage of the modulated power output by the PFC circuit 3 should be boosted to the level of the bus voltage.
In Procedure 1 of the present invention, a test voltage higher than the rated bus voltage is preset, and the parameter of the storage capacitor 32 is determined according to the test voltage. The storage capacitor 32 determined by the test voltage is used in the converter, and the control unit 6 controls the operation of the switch 33 to charge the storage capacitor 32, and then the storage capacitor 32 outputs the modulated power having a voltage reaching the bus voltage. As the storage capacitor 32 is determined by a higher test voltage, the modulated power output by the storage capacitor 32 fluctuates slightly. It means that the storage capacitor 32 receives less fluctuation of the input power. Therefore, a capacitor having a smaller capacitance can be used as the storage capacitor 32. In Procedure 2 of the present invention, the inductance of the storage inductor 31 is designed to match the number of coils of the primary coil of the transformer 4, whereby the PFC circuit 3 operates in a discontinuous current mode. The inductance of the storage inductor 31 determines the variation rate of the current flowing through the storage inductor 31. The number of coils of the primary coil of the transformer 4 also influences the increasing and decreasing rate of the current. Thus, in Procedure 2, the number of coils of the primary coil of the transformer 4 is selected firstly, and then the inductance of the storage inductor 31 is chosen to achieve a discontinuous current mode (Step 200 in
Additional steps may be interposed into the above-mentioned steps to perfect the converter design. Behind Procedure 1, the method of the present invention may further comprise a bus-voltage verification step: verifying whether the voltage of the modulated power output by the storage capacitor 32 is higher than the voltage of the input power after the storage capacitor 32 has been decided in Procedure 1. If the voltage of the modulated power is higher than the voltage of the input power, the process proceeds to Procedure 2. If the voltage of the modulated power is not higher than the voltage of the input power, the process returns to Procedure 1 to determine an appropriate storage capacitor 32 once again. Behind Procedure 2, the method of the present invention may further comprise a control-loop design step: designing a control loop to provide a high/low frequency gain means to inhibit the low-frequency component output by the PFC circuit 3. Refer to
When the elements of the PFC circuit 3 are configured according to the abovementioned method, the parameter of the storage capacitor 32 is determined by the test voltage, and the test voltage is higher than the rated bus voltage. Refer to
Via the method of the present invention, a smaller-capacitance capacitor or a longer-lifetime capacitor, such as the film capacitor, can be used as the storage capacitor 32 of the PFC circuit 3. The method of the present invention applies to converters, adapters and power supply devices, particularly to a driving circuit of an LED lamp.
The embodiments described above are only to exemplify the present invention but not to limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent modification or variation according to the spirit of the present invention is to be also included within the scope of the present invention, which is based on the claims stated below.
From the above description, it is known that the present invention has improvements over the conventional technologies, and that the present invention possesses novelty and non-obviousness and meets the condition for a patent. Thus, the Inventor files the application for a patent. It will be appreciated if the patent is approved fast.