A New SEPIC-Flyback DC-DC Converter for Fuel Cell Systems

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of Electrical Engineering, Isf.C., Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

In this study, a SEPIC converter featuring a novel lossless snubber circuit is proposed for fuel cell applications. In the proposed topology, the main switch turns on under Zero-Current Switching (ZCS) conditions and turns off under Zero-Voltage Switching (ZVS), while all diodes experience Zero-Current turn-off, thereby eliminating reverse recovery issues. Moreover, the energy stored in the snubber circuit is transferred to the output, ensuring that the snubber does not introduce significant power loss to the system. The proposed snubber not only enables soft-switching operation but also enhances the voltage gain of the converter through the use of a three-winding transformer. Additionally, the absence of an auxiliary switch simplifies the control circuitry considerably. The converter has been implemented with a rated power of 200 W, and experimental results confirm the accuracy of both the PSPICE simulations and the theoretical analysis. Low input current ripple, high efficiency of 96.5%, and a switching frequency of 100 kHz make this converter highly suitable for fuel cell energy systems.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] Sareban R, Amini M, Delshad M, Yazdani MR. An Improved Zero Current Transition High StepUp Single-Switch Converter for Fuel Cell Applications;.
[2] Farzad MA, Hassanzadeh H. Non-Isothermal Modeling of Planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell. Hydrogen, Fuel Cell & Energy Storage. 2025;12(2):135-48.
[3] Chen L, Rong D, Sun X. A family of high step-up soft-switching integrated sepic converter with Y-source coupled inductor. IEEE Access. 2023;11:111752-64.
[4] Li H, Chen Y, Jin T. A soft-switched sepic-based high voltage gain DC–DC converter for renewable energy applications. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. 2024.
[5] Jafari H, Hassanzadeh H. Investigation of a fuel cell (FC) system for vehicle. Hydrogen, Fuel Cell
& Energy Storage. 2024;11(4):259-70.
[6] Rahimi-Esbo M, Dadashi Firouzjaei K, Ghasemian M. New criterion for achieving efficient flow fields in PEM fuel cells. Hydrogen, Fuel Cell & Energy Storage. 2024;11(1):46-67.
[7] Murad Z, Al Anzi F, Ben-Brahim L. A comparative study of high-gain cascaded DC-DC converter
topologies. In: 2022 3rd International Conference on Smart Grid and Renewable Energy (SGRE). IEEE; 2022. p. 1-6.
[8] Ding X, Jiang K, Yu Y, Li B, Sun Y, Quan L. A high step-up DC–DC converter integrated with modified sepic network. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. 2024.
[9] Hashemzadeh SM, Al-Hitmi MA, Aghaei H, Marzang V, Iqbal A, Babaei E, et al. An ultra-high voltage gain interleaved converter based on threewinding coupled inductor with reduced input current ripple for renewable energy applications. IET Renewable Power Generation. 2024;18(1):141-51.
[10] Delshad M, Farzanehfard H. A soft switching flyback current-fed push pull DC-DC converter with
active clamp circuit. In: 2008 IEEE 2nd International Power and Energy Conference. IEEE; 2008. p. 203-7.
[11] Delshad M, Shahri E. A new soft switching interleaved boost converter with high voltage gain. In: The 8th Electrical Engineering/Electronics, Computer, Telecommunications and Information Technology (ECTI) Association
of Thailand-Conference 2011. IEEE; 2011. p. 744-7.
[12] Karimi Hajiabadi M, Mosallanejad A, Salemnia A. Ultra-high gain quadratic boost DC–DC converter
based on a three-winding coupled inductor with reduced voltage stress for fuel cell-based systems. IET Power Electronics. 2023;16(16):2666-81.
[13] Alizadeh D, Babaei E, Sabahi M. High stepup quadratic impedance source DC-DC converter based on coupled inductor. IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics. 2022;11(6):5930-9.
[14] Zhang G, Chen H, Yu SS, Jin N, Zhang Y. Generalized flexible voltage pumping module for extra high voltage gain converters in electric vehicles. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. 2021;70(7):6463-71.
[15] Rajesh R, Prabaharan N, Hossain E. Design and analysis of a new high step-up converter using switched-inductor-capacitor voltage multiplier cells for photovoltaic application. IEEE Journal of the Electron Devices Society. 2023;12:842-8.
[16] Hashemzadeh SM, Babaei E, Hosseini SH, Sabahi M. Design and analysis of a new coupled inductor-based interleaved high step-up DC-DC converter for renewable energy applications. International Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems. 2022;2022(1):7618242.
[17] Siwakoti YP, Blaabjerg F, Loh PC. High stepup trans-inverse (Tx- 1) DC–DC converter for the distributed generation system. IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics. 2016;63(7):4278-91.
[18] Gohari HS, Abbasian S, Mardakheh NA, Abbaszadeh K, Blaabjerg F. Coupled inductor-based current-fed ultra-high step-up DC-DC converter featuring low input current ripple. IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II: Express Briefs. 2022;71(2):887-91.
[19] Hasanpour S, Lee SS. New step-up DC/DC converter with ripple-free input current. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. 2023;39(2):2811-21.
Hydrogen, Fuel Cell & Energy Storage
Volume 13, Issue 1
January 2026
Pages 55-66

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics