High-Efficiency Multiarm Interleaved DC–DC Converter Featuring Reduced Magnetic Components for High-Power Density in Water Electrolysis Applications

Abstract

This article presents a multiarm interleaved dc–dc converter with reduced magnetic components for water electrolysis applications, offering enhanced efficiency and performance by minimizing magnetic volume, reducing power losses, and decreasing component stress. The converter’s short arms technique simplifies design and enhances performance without requiring inductors proportional to the number of arms. Key benefits include current and voltage output ripple frequencies that are six times higher than the switching frequency, along with inductor ripple frequencies that are three times higher, contributing to reduced volume and mass of passive components, balanced current distribution, and increased power density. The manuscript details steady-state operating principles for continuous conduction mode, design guidelines, mathematical derivations, and a comparative analysis with existing converters. A high-efficiency 10 kW proof-of-concept prototype, operating in an open-loop configuration, achieved an impressive efficiency of 98.42% at full load, accompanied by a demonstration video showcasing its performance.