NCP1651
http://onsemi.com
13
THEORY OF OPERATION
Introduction
Optimizing the power factor of units operating off of AC
lines is becoming more and more important. There are a
number of reasons for this.
There are a growing number of government regulations
requiring Power Factor Correction PFC. Many of these are
originating in Europe. Regulations such as IEC1000- -3- -2
areforcingequipmenttoutilizeinputstageswithtopologies
other than a simple off- -line front end which contains a
bridge rectifier and capacitor.
Therearealsosystemrequirementsthatdictatetheuseof
PFC. In order to obtain the maximum power from an
existingcircuitinabuilding,thepowerfactorisverycritical.
The real power available from such a circuit is:
P
real
= V
rms
?I
rms
?PF
A typical off- -line converter will have a power factor of
0.5to0.6,whichmeansthatforagivencircuitbreakerrating
only50%to60%ofthemaximumpowerisavailable.Ifthe
power factor is increased to unity, the maximum available
power can be obtained.
There is a similar situation in aircraft systems, where a
limited supply of power is available from the on- -board
generators. Increasing the power factor will increase the
load on the aircraft without the need for a larger generator.
Figure 25. Voltage and Current Waveforms
v, i
v, i
OFF- -LINE CONVERTER
PFC CONVERTER
t
t
V
V
I
I
Unity power factor is defined as the current waveform
beinginphasewiththevoltage,andundistorted.Therefore,
there are two causes of power factor degradation phase
shift and distortion. Phase shift is normally caused by
reactive loads such as motors which are inductive, or
electroluminescent lighting which is highly capacitive. In
such a case the power factor is relatively simple to analyze,
and is determined by the phase shift.
PF = cos ?/DIV>
Where ?is the phase angle between the voltage and the
current.
Reduced  power  factor  due  to  distortion  is  more
complicated to analyze and is normally measured with AC
analyzers, although most circuit simulation programs can
also calculate power factor. One of the major causes of
distortion is rectification of the line into a capacitive filter.
This causes current spikes that do not follow the input
voltage waveform. An example of this type of waveform is
shown in the upper diagram in Figure 25.
A power converter with PFC forces the current to follow
the input waveform. This reduces the peak current, the rms
current and eliminates any phase shift.
In most modern PFC circuits, to lower the input current
harmonics, and improve the input power factor, designers
havehistoricallyusedaboosttopology.Theboosttopology
can operate in the Continuous (CCM), Discontinuous
(DCM), or Critical Conduction Mode.
Most PFC applications using the boost topology are
designedtousetheuniversalinputacpower85- -265Vac,50
or 60 Hz, and provide a regulated DC bus (typically
400 Vdc). In most applications, the load cannot operateoff
the high voltage DC bus, so a DC- -DC converter is used to
provide isolation between the AC source and load, and
providealowvoltageoutput.Theadvantagestothissystem
configuration are, low THD, a power factor close to unity,
excellent voltage regulation, and transient response on the
isolated DC output. The major disadvantage of the boost
topologyisthattwopowerstagesarerequiredwhichlowers
the systems efficiency, increases components count, cost,
and increases the size of the power supply.
ON  Semiconductors  NCP1651  offers  a  unique
alternative for Power Factor Correction designs, where the
NCP1651 has been designed to control a PFC circuit
operating in a flyback topology. There are several major
advantagestousingtheflybacktopology.First,theusercan
createalowvoltageisolatedsecondaryoutput,withasingle
powerstage,andstillachievealowinputcurrentdistortion,
and a power factor close to unity. A second advantage,
comparedtotheboosttopologywithaDC- -DCconverter,is
alowercomponentcountwhichreducesthesizeandthecost
of the power supply.
The NCP1651 can operate in either the Continuous or
Discontinuous Mode of operation, the following analysis
will help to highlight the advantages of Continuous versus
Discontinuous Mode of operation.