Implementation of a voltage multiplier integrated HID ballast circuit with dimming control for automotive application

Author name used in this publication: K. W. E. ChengAuthor name used in this publication: D. H. WangPower Electronics Research Centre, Department of Electrical Engineering2009-2010 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Controladores LED eficientes para aplicações de iluminação geral

Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e TelecomunicaçõesThe ever growing energy consumption trends and its impact on the environment has triggered worldwide attention. This has motivated several measures, such as the Kyoto protocol, or the 20 20 20 European strategy, aiming at the reduction of energy consumption. Globally, these measures defend a better and efficient usage of the available energy. This in turn is strongly linked to public awareness and the introduction of efficient electronic equipment. Public street lighting is a good example of these trends, where both aspects are of the utmost importance. The introduction of power LEDs as future lighting devices has motivated several advances coping with these strategies. On one side, LEDs are able to deliver higher efficiency when compared to conventional lighting devices. This has triggered the replacement of old style luminaires by LED based ones. However, their high cost has prevented full adoption and at the present stage, is acting as a slowing down force against this replacement trend. Better solutions are under research on the framework of several European projects. Power LEDs are solid-state devices able to support fast switching, a feature which was not fully supported by conventional lighting devices. Combining this feature with environmental sensing and intelligent control may lead to better power savings. A simple approach would be to consider the that the actual lighting demands depend on the street usage and surrounding lighting levels. For this purpose, the combination of twilight sensors, motion detectors and intelligent control schemes may provide a suitable approach. This way, the real lighting demands can be effectively taken into consideration, providing luminaires able to consume the least possible energy. For this to become a reality several challenges have to be addressed. One of the most important challenges is the LED driver design. Modern lighting systems based on LEDs, replace the traditional ballasts by LED drivers. When efficiency is a major concern, such as in public street lighting, these drivers have to be designed in order to be the most robust and efficient as possible. Recurring solutions resort to switched mode power supplies, able to support light dimming. One of the major problems with these drivers is the fact that their efficiency decreases for lower dimming levels. This is of the utmost importance for public street lighting, as most of the time during night, the luminaires are on a low lighting level (as changes to high lighting conditions depend on street usage). Thus, in order to promote better power savings, the efficiency of the driver should be high for both lighting conditions. Commercially available drivers, exhibit efficiencies on the 90% range for the high lighting conditions, with only 40% to 60% under the low lighting. On the framework of this master dissertation it was investigated the problem of LED driver design aiming at the highest possible uniformity of the efficiency curve, under different loading and dimming conditions. The selected approach was based on quasi-resonant flyback converter, backed up by an active power factor correcting block. The designed driver supports remote configuration and monitoring as well as sensor integration. The archived results show that this driver achieves a peak efficiency of 93% under maximum load and 100% duty-cycle. The efficiency for low dimming conditions (10% duty-cycle) achieves 75%.As tendências de consumo de energia cada vez maior e seu impacto sobre o meio ambiente tem captado a atenção a nível mundial. Isso tem motivado várias medidas, tais como o Protocolo de Quioto, ou a estratégia Europeia 20 20 20, visando a redução do consumo de energia. Globalmente, estas medidas defendem um uso melhor e eficiente da energia disponível. Este, por sua vez, está fortemente ligado à consciência pública e à introdução de equipamento eletrónico eficiente. A iluminação pública é um bom exemplo dessas tendências, em que ambos os aspetos são de extrema importância. A introdução de LEDs como dispositivos de iluminação tem motivado vários avanços que lidam com essas estratégias. De um lado, os LEDs são capazes de oferecer uma maior eficiência quando comparados com dispositivos de iluminação convencionais. Isso provocou a substituição de luminárias convencionais por luminárias baseadas em LED. No entanto, o custo elevado destes dispositivos tem impedido a adoção plena e na fase atual, está mesmo a atuar como uma força negativa contra esta tendência de substituição. Melhores soluções estão sob investigação no âmbito de vários projetos europeus. Os LEDs são dispositivos de estado sólido, capazes de suportar a comutação rápida, uma característica que não é totalmente suportada por dispositivos de iluminação convencionais. Combinando esta característica com sensores ambientais e controlo inteligente pode-se ambicionar melhores poupanças energéticas. Uma abordagem simples seria a de considerar o que as exigências de iluminação reais dependem do uso das ruas e os níveis de iluminação circundantes. Para este efeito, a combinação de sensores de crepúsculo, detetores de movimento e regimes de controlo inteligentes podem propiciar uma abordagem adequada. Desta forma, os requisitos reais de iluminação podem ser efetivamente considerados, fornecendo luminárias capazes de consumir apenas a energia necessária. Para que isto se torne uma realidade vários desafios têm de ser vencidos. Um dos desafios mais importantes é o projeto LED driver. Nos sistemas de iluminação modernos baseados em LEDs, substitui-se os balastros convencionais por LED drivers. Quando a eficiência é importante, como no caso da iluminação pública, O LED driver têm de ser concebido de forma a ser o mais robusto e eficiente possível. Soluções recorrentes usam a fontes de alimentação comutadas, capazes de suportar o escurecimento adaptativo do fluxo luminoso. Um dos problemas principais no projeto destes drivers é o facto de a sua eficiência diminuir para níveis de regulação mais baixos. Isto é de extrema importância para a iluminação pública, pois na maioria dos casos durante a noite, as luminárias estão num nível de iluminação de baixo. Assim, com a finalidade de promover uma melhor economia de energia, a eficiência do driver deve ser elevada para ambas as condições de iluminação. Drivers comercialmente disponíveis, exibem eficácias na gama de 90% com elevado fluxo luminoso, e apenas 40% a 60% na condição de baixo fluxo luminoso. No âmbito desta dissertação de mestrado foi investigado o problema do projeto de driver LED visando a maior uniformidade possível da curva de eficiência, sob diferentes condições de carga e de fluxo luminoso. A abordagem escolhida foi baseada no conversor flyback quasi-ressonante, apoiado por um bloco de correção de fator de potência ativa. O driver projetado suporta configuração e monitorização remota, bem como de integração de sensores. Os resultados alcançados mostram que este driver atinge um pico de eficiência de 93% na condição de carga máxima e máximo fluxo luminoso. A eficiência em condições de baixo fluxo luminoso é superior a 75%

Electronic operation and control of high-intensity gas-discharge lamps

The ever increasing amount of global energy consumption based on the application of fossil fuels is threatening the earth’s natural resources and environment. Worldwide, grid-based electric lighting consumes 19 % of total global electricity production. For this reason the transition towards energy efficient lighting plays an important environmental role. One of the key technologies in this transition is High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting. The technical revolution in gas-discharge lamps has resulted in the highlyefficient lamps that are available nowadays. As with most energy efficient light solutions, all HID lighting systems require a ballast to operate. Traditionally, magnetic ballast designs were the only choice available for HID lighting systems. Today, electronic lampdrivers can offer additional power saving, flicker free operation, and miniaturisation. Electronic lamp operation enables additional degrees of freedom in lamp-current control over the conventional electro-magnetic (EM) ballasts. The lamp-driver system performance depends on both the dynamics of the lamp and the driver. This thesis focuses on the optimisation of electronically operated HID systems, in terms of highly-efficient lamp-driver topologies and, more specifically, lamp-driver interaction control. First, highly-efficient power topologies to operate compact HID lamps on low-frequency-square-wave (LFSW) current are explored. The proposed two-stage electronic lamp-driver consists of a Power Factor Corrector (PFC) stage that meets the power utility standards. This converter is coupled to a stacked buck converter that controls the lamp-current. Both stages are operated in Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) mode in order to reduce the switching losses. The resulting two-stage lamp-drivers feature flexible controllability, high efficiency, and high power density, and are suitable for power sandwich packaging. Secondly, lamp-driver interaction (LDI) has been studied in the simulation domain and control algorithms have been explored that improve the stability, and enable system optimisation. Two HID lamp models were developed. The first model describes the HID lamp’s small-signal electrical behaviour and its purpose is to aid to study the interaction stability. The second HID lamp model has been developed based on physics equations for the arc column and the electrode behaviour, and is intended for lampdriver simulations and control applications. Verification measurements have shown that the lamp terminal characteristics are present over a wide power and frequency range. Three LDI control algorithms were explored, using the proposed lampmodels. The first control principle optimises the LDI for a broad range of HID lamps operated at normal or reduced power. This approach consists of two control loops integrated into a fuzzy-logic controller that stabilises the lamp-current and optimises the commutation process. The second control problem concerns the application of ultra high performance (UHP) HID lamps in projection applications that typically set stringent requirements on the quality of the light generated by these lamps, and therefore the lampcurrent. These systems are subject to periodic disturbances synchronous with the LFSW commutation period. Iterative learning control (ILC) has been examined. It was experimentally verified that this algorithm compensates for repetitive disturbances. Third, Electronic HID operation also opens the door for continuous HID lamp dimming that can provide additional savings. To enable stable dimming, an observer-based HID lamp controller has been developed. This controller sets a stable minimum dim-level and monitors the gas-discharge throughout lamp life. The HID lamp observer derives physical lamp state signals from the HID arc discharge physics and the related photometric properties. Finally, practical measurements proved the proposed HID lamp observer-based control principle works satisfactorily

Digital Control of LFSW HID Lamp Drivers with Soft Saturation Magnetic Materials and Integrated Resonant Lamp Ignition

Electronic HID ballasts provide many advantages over magnetic HID ballasts including size, weight, overall efficiency, and greater control of operating conditions. Electronic ballasts add complexity to the system, requiring a greater understanding of the operation of HID lamps. Electronic ballasts also introduce a host of issues for the HID ballast designer including possible acoustic resonances, arc stability issues, and operation across broad operating conditions. In this work, research of a Low-Frequency Square-Wave (LFSW) HID solution is performed that includes use of a non-linear soft saturation core material for the inductor. Modeling of the converter with this core is presented as well. Difficulties with operation of HID lamps are outlined, as well as the previous methods to overcome such obstacles. Ignition and steady-state operation of HID lamps occur with very different operating conditions. Ignition occurs with very little lamp current, but large lamp voltage, and steady-state operation is the opposite. Due to this mismatch, any single ignitor/ballast design requires the inductor to be able to handle both operating points. Use of a soft saturation material allows for a reduction in size and weight of the overall system due to the higher magnetic capacity of the material as compared to hard saturation alternatives. The downside to using this material is inductance varies with magnetizing force on the core. A resonant ignition approach with soft saturation material is presented, motivating the need for phase control of the system. A fast transition between resonant and LFSW mode operation is presented, which requires a large design space for possible lamp impedances. Transition times between LFSW modes are dependent on natural frequency and Q factor of a buck filter response, which is shaped beneficially by the soft saturation material. A design method for this is presented, along with considerations for core selection. A two loop control method is analyzed with an inner current loop that stabilizes the lamp arc and an outer power loop in order to obtain regulated light output. The current loop is able to monitor currents of a positive and negative buck mode operation using a single sense point. A system that uses input power sensing to ultimately control output power is analyzed and experimentation is presented

Projeto e implementação de um reator eletrônico microcontrolado, de elevado fator de potência, orientado a lâmpadas de vapor metálico

The analysis, design and implementation of a microcontroller-based electronic ballast to supply metal halide (MH) lamps are presented. The proposed power scheme is based on the integration of the buck and flyback converters. The former providing power factor correction and the latter controlling lamp power by supplying the lamp with a low frequency square waveform current, which is a convenient way to avoid acoustic resonances in high intensity discharge (HID) lamps. Both converters operate in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), thus allowing the use of only one high-frequency switch and simplifying the control. The electronic ballast is digitally controlled by using a low cost microcontroller PIC16F684. The microcontroller performs all the necessary tasks during starting, warming-up and steady state, including closed loop control of lamp current and protections. Experimental results for a 35W MH lamp are presented.Este trabalho descreve a análise, o projeto e a implementação de um reator eletrônico para lâmpadas de vapor metálico (MH) baseado em microcontrolador. O circuito do reator se fundamenta na integração de um conversor buck com um conversor flyback. A tarefa de correção do fator de potência é realizada pela etapa buck, enquanto a etapa flyback controla a potência na lâmpada fornecendo uma corrente em onda quadrada de baixa freqüência. Este é um método adequado para se evitar o fenômeno da ressonância acústica, comum em lâmpadas de descarga de alta pressão (HID). Os dois estágios conversores operam no modo de condução descontínua (DCM), o que permite o uso de apenas um interruptor de alta freqüência simplificando o controle. O reator eletrônico é controlado digitalmente e emprega um microcontrolador de baixo custo PIC16F684. Este componente é programado para desempenhar todas as tarefas necessárias aos processos de ignição, aquecimento e regime permanente da lâmpada, respondendo também pelo controle em malha fechada da corrente na lâmpada e proteções convencionais. O artigo inclui resultados experimentais obtidos de um protótipo que alimenta uma lâmpada MH de 35W

A comprehensive review on various non-isolated power converter topologies for a light-emitting diode driver

Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting applications aided by an electronic power control have become very attractive in the recent years. For LED lighting applications, it is essential to design a converter with single/multi-output for handling multiple loads. As the LED load is more sensitive to the change in input/converter parameters, it is necessary to regulate the current concerning the design specifications. In this paper, several LED topologies are reviewed with a focus on power density, single/multi-load operation, size, and reliability. Several converter topologies are reviewed and compared in terms of power rating, number of semiconductor switches, isolation, and efficiency. Various modulation techniques used for dimming control are described in brief. The salient features of each converter topology are discussed with the power rating and application for which the topology can be preferred. So, the selection of the power factor correction (PFC) and low source side harmonics converter topology is presented. This paper will be helpful to the researchers who are working on the development of LED drivers

Single-Stage Power Electronic Converters with Combined Voltage Step-Up/Step-Down Capability

Power electronic converters are typically either step-down converters that take an input voltage and produce an output voltage of low amplitude or step-up converters that take an input voltage and produce an output voltage of higher amplitude. There are, however, applications where a converter that can step-up voltage or step-down voltage can be very useful, such as in applications where a converter needs to operate under a wide range of input and output voltage conditions such as a grid-connected solar inverter. Such converters, however, are not as common as converters that can only step down or step up voltage because most applications require converters that need to only step down voltage or only step up voltage and such converters have better performance within a limited voltage range than do converters that are designed for very wide voltage ranges. Nonetheless, there are applications where converters with step-down and step-up capability can be used advantageously. The main objectives of this thesis are to propose new power electronic converters that can step up voltage and step down voltage and to investigate their characteristics. This will be done for two specific converter types: AC/DC single-stage converters and DC-AC inverters. In this thesis, two new AC/DC single-stage converters and a new three-phase converter are proposed and their operation and steady-state characteristics are examined in detail. The feasibility of each new converter is confirmed with results obtained from an experimental prototype and the feasibility of a control method for the inverter is confirmed with simulation work using commercially available software such as MATLAB and PSIM

Current-Mode Power Converter for Radiation Control in DBD Excimer Lamps

A pulsed current-mode converter specifically designed for the supply of dielectric barrier discharge excimer lamps is proposed in this paper. The power supply structure is defined on the basis of causality criteria that are justified by the structure of the lamp model. The converter operation is studied, and its design criteria are established using state-plane analysis. This converter, operating in discontinuous conduction mode, controls directly both the amplitude and the duration of the emitted ultraviolet (UV) pulses. Experimentally, the UV radiation is demonstrated to be proportional to the current injected into the gas, and the degrees of freedom offered by the control of the supply are shown to be very efficient for the active control of the UV power

Resonant Behaviour of Pulse Generators for the Efficient Drive of Optical Radiation Sources Based on Dielectric Barrier Discharges

Dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) excimer lamps emit vacuum-UV optical radiation. This work presents novel methods for efficiently operating DBDs with short, high-voltage pulses. Transformer-less systems utilising SiC power semiconductor switches are presented. Pulse frequencies of up to 3.1 MHz and peak inverter efficiencies of 92 % were achieved. The work encloses both mathematical backgrounds of pulsed resonant circuits and practical implementation of low-inductive power stages