DC-DC Switching Boost Converter

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 2. Purpose of the Project.1 Block Diagram1 Specifications..1

Design Procedures ....2 2.1 2.2 General Boost Converter Configuration.2 Component Functions.3

3.

Design Details3 3.1 3.2 3.3 Detailed Circuit Description and Function..3 Component Calculations.4 Simulation Procedure..6

4.

Design Verification6 4.1 4.2 4.3 Test Setup ...6 Design Modifications..7 Test Results.7

5.

Costs.11 5.1 5.2 Parts Cost Estimate11 Labor Cost Estimate..11

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Conclusions..11 Appendix 1: Data Sheet for MC3306312 Appendix 2: Simulation results...16 Appendix 3: Complete schematic....18 Appendix 4: References...19

1.

Introduction 1.1 Purpose of the Project Efficiency, size, and cost are the primary advantages of switching power converters when compared to linear converters. Switching power converter efficiencies can run between 70-80%, whereas linear converters are usually 30% efficient. The DC-DC Switching Boost Converter is designed to provide an efficient method of taking a given DC voltage supply and boosting it to a desired value. 1.2 Block Diagram The basic building blocks of a boost converter circuit are shown in Fig. 1. Magnetic Field Storage Element

Voltage Source

Switch Control

Switching Element

Output Rectifier and Filter

Fig. 1 Block diagram The voltage source provides the input DC voltage to the switch control, and to the magnetic field storage element. The switch control directs the action of the switching element, while the output rectifier and filter deliver an acceptable DC voltage to the output. 1.3 Specifications Design engineers working in todays high tech environment have to deal with a rapidly changing market of electronic products and components. As new technology develops, integrated circuits function faster and are smaller in size. However, many integrated circuits still require a voltage of 12 volts in order to function. The DC-DC

Switching Boost Converter will take a 5 Volt DC voltage supply with 10 % tolerance and deliver 12 Volts across the load. The maximum output ripple will be 2% of the output voltage, while the maximum current delivered to the load will be 100 mA. The circuit will operate with a minimum efficiency of 70%. 2. Design Procedures 2.1 General Boost Converter Configuration Several different boost converter designs have been developed in the past. In order to achieve the results specified for this project, the output voltage of the converter needs to be higher than the input voltage. This type of converter operates in the flyback-mode. The flyback-mode boost converter is shown below, in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 Flyback-mode boost converter When the transistor is conducting, current is being drawn through the inductor. At this time energy is being stored in the inductor. When the transistor stops conducting the inductor voltage flies back or reverses because the current through the inductor cannot change instantaneously. The voltage across the inductor increases to a value that is higher than the combined voltage across the diode and the output capacitor. As soon as this value is reached, the diode starts conducting and the voltage that

appears across the output capacitor, is higher than the input voltage. 2.2 Component Functions The inductor shown in Fig. 2 acts as the magnetic field storage element shown in Fig. 1. It stores energy in its core material. The ideal PWM functions as the switch

control and the transistor acts as the switch element. A diode and an output capacitor are used to perform the function of the output rectifier and filter block. 3. Design Details 3.1 Detailed Circuit Description and Function The MC33063 control chip manufactured by Motorola was used for the switch control. Appendix 1 shows the data sheet for this control chip. This particular chip was chosen because of the minimum number of external components required to implement the design. The transistor shown in Fig. 2 is internal to the control chip. Therefore, an external switch will not be required. This device also consists of a 1.25 V reference regulator, a comparator, and a controlled duty cycle oscillator. The oscillator charges and discharges an external timing capacitor. The upper threshold of the timing capacitor is equal to the reference regulator voltage of 1.25 V. The value of the timing capacitor sets the frequency of the entire circuit and controls the rate of operation of the oscillator. When the capacitor is charging the voltage at the lower input of the AND gate is high. The comparator inverting input is connected to two external resistors, which control the duty cycle of the circuit. When the output voltage of the converter falls below the required value, the inverted input of the comparator will fall below 1.25 V. Then the comparator will output a Logic 1 and the SR latch will set, enabling the transistor to conduct until 1.25 V is again present at both inputs of the comparator. The timing capacitor will then discharge.

A Logic 0 will be present at the lower input of the AND gate and the transistor will stop conducting. 3.2 Component Calculations In order for the circuit to function properly, the external components need to be calculated carefully. When the switch is on, the voltage across the inductor is VL = L and the current is given by Vin Vsat ILon = ton L When the switch is off, the voltage across the inductor is given by di IL min ILPK = L dt toff and the current is given by VL = L (3) (2) di ILPK =L dt ton (1)

Vout + VF Vin ILoff = ILpk toff (4) L VF is the forward voltage drop of the output rectifier and Vsat is the saturation voltage of the output switch. Since ILon= ILoff, Eqs.(2) and (4) can be set equal to each other. This operation gives a ratio for the on time over the off time. This ratio is given by ton Vout + VF Vin (min) = toff Vin (min) Vsat

(5)

The values of Vin(miu), VF, Vout, and Vsat are 4.5 V, 0.8 V, 12V, and 0.3 V respectively. The inverse of the frequency of operation yields the on time plus the off time. The frequency of operation for this boost converter was chosen to be 62.5 kHz. Therefore,

ton + toff =

1 = 16 s f

(6)

Equations (5) and (6) yield an on time of 9.834 s and an off time of 6.166 s. The duty cycle is given by D= ton ton + toff (7)

The calculated duty cycle of this circuit is 61.5%. The value of the external timing capacitor is calculated using

CT = [4.0 * 10^ (5)] * ton

(8)

The value of the timing capacitor is 390 pF. The peak current through the switch is given by ton Ipkswitch = 2 * Iout + 1 toff (9)

and the minimum required inductance is given by Vin (min) Vsat L min = Ipkswitch (10)

The calculated value of the minimum inductance is 80 H. The resistance required for the current sense resister is given by 0.3 Rsc = Ipkswitch

(11)

The calculated value for the current sense resistor is 0.5 . The value of the output capacitor is given by Cout = Iout ton Vripple (12)

Using a 0.6 V for Vripple, Cout is equal to 1.68 F. The values of the resistors used to control the duty cycle are given by
R2 Vout = (1.25 ) + 1 R1

(13)

R1 and R2 were chosen to be 2.4 k and 20.64 k , respectively.

3.3

Simulation Procedure Figure 4 shows the exact circuit that was used in the PSPICE simulation. Fig. 4 PSPICE simulation

A pulse was used to mimic the operation of the control chip. An on time of 9.83us and an off time of 6.16us were entered into the attributes of the pulse. The circuit was simulated with a 120 resister connected across the output capacitor. The results of the simulation have been included in Appendix 2. Figure A2.1 shows the waveform of the voltage at the switching node of the converter. Figure A2.2 shows the waveform of the output voltage. The output voltage levels are at 12 V. 4. Design Verification 4.1 Test Setup The boost converter was built on a standard breadboard. The 5 VDC input voltage

was supplied by a Hewlett Packard power supply. All DC measurements were taken using Fluke multimeters, and all waveforms were obtained via an oscilloscope.

4.2

Design Modifications To obtain the necessary boosting action, the 80uH inductor was increased to a 120uH inductor with a thicker gauge wire, manufactured by Coil Craft. In order to

eliminate noise at the output, all wire lengths were shortened. To eliminate noise from the ground plane, 0.1 uF capacitors were added to the input and the output of the circuit. The 1.68uF capacitor was increased to 56 uF, in order to decrease the

output ripple. The resulting circuit schematic has been inserted into Appendix 3. 4.3 Test Results The first waveform shown in Fig. 5 is a picture of the voltage at the switching node.

Fig. 5 Voltage across the switching node and timing capacitor

The frequency of operation is 61.33kHz. The circuit is operating with a 63.2% duty Cycle. The second waveform shows the voltage across the timing capacitor. The upper threshold of the timing capacitor can be seen to be 1.25V. As shown in Fig. 6, the output ripple is 190mV, or 1.6%, when a 120 resistor is used as the load.

Fig. 6 Output Ripple with a 120 load resistor. Figure 7 shows the output ripple with no load connected across the output. Under this condition, the output ripple is 0.04% of the output voltage.

Fig. 7 Output ripple with no load The output ripple waveform shown in Figure 8, was taken with a 145 load resistor. In this case, the output ripple is also 1.6%.

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Fig. 8 Output ripple with 145 ohm load resistor Table 1 shows the input and output voltages, input and output currents, ripple percentage, and power efficiencies with three different load conditions. TABLE 1. TEST RESULTS Input Voltage Input Current Output Voltage Output Current Output Ripple Efficiency 120 Ohms 4.993 V 0.318 A 12.110 V 0.0954 A 1.6 % 73% No Load 4.993 V 0.0045 A 12.047 V 0A 0.04 % Not Applicable 145 Ohms 4.993 V 0.277 A 12.012 V 0.0802 A 1.6 % 71%

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The circuit was also tested to make sure it would function properly with a 5VDC supply that had 10% tolerance. An input voltage was 4.5 V corresponded to an output voltage of 12.1. An input voltage of 5.5 V, gave 12.1V at the output. 5. Costs 5.1 Parts Cost Estimate The part numbers and values of all components have been listed in Table 2. Part Designation MC33063A PCH45124 1N5819 -------------------Table 2 COMPONENT COSTS Description Quantity Converter Control 1 120uH Inductor 1 Schottky Diode 1 Subtotal ----------0.1uF Capacitor 2 100 uF Electrolytic Capacitor 1 50 uF Electrolytic Capacitor 1 390 pF Capacitor 1 Estimated Capacitor Total ----------2 1 Watt Resistor 1 33 Watt Resistor 1 2.4 k Watt Resistor 1 20.6 k Watt Resistor 4 50 10W Power Resistor Estimated Resistor Total ----------Component Total Cost Price $1.22 $1.37 $0.81 $3.40 $0.10 $0.19 $0.15 $0.07 $0.51 $0.10 $0.05 $0.05 $0.05 $2.08 $2.33 $5.43

CT -------------------Rsc Rcurrent Limit R1 R2 RL --------------------------------------5.2 Labor Cost Estimate

The labor cost was calculated using an hourly wage of $25.00. The average number of hours spent on this project were 8 hours per week, for 12 weeks. Total Labor Cost =8*12*2.5*25=$4500 Grand Total = $5.43 +$6000=$6005.43 6. Conclusions All of the specifications stated previously have been met by this boost converter design. (14) (15)

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The output voltage across the output capacitor is 12V with a maximum output ripple of 1.6%. The power efficiency of the circuit exceeds 70 % for the load range of 120-145 . However an additional constraint needs to be put on the load. The load must not exceed 150 . This will cause the efficiency to fall below the specified value of 70%.

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