A multi-MHz wireless power transfer system with mains power factor correction circuitry on the receiver

Abstract

This paper proposes the implementation of a new system topology for multi-MHz inductive power transfer (IPT) systems, which achieves unity power factor when fed from a mains power supply without traditional active circuitry in the front-end as a mains interface. Experiments were performed using an IPT-link which consists of two 20 cm two-turn air-core printed-circuit-board (pcb) coils separated by an air-gap of 13 cm. At the transmit side, a push-pull load-independent Class EF inverter fed from a rectified 60 Hz power supply with no bulk capacitor was designed to drive the transmit coil at 13.56 MHz. This inverter, which has two choke inductors between the voltage source and the two switches, similar to that of an interleaved boost converter, is suitable to be fed directly from a rectified mains source because it tolerates large changes on the input voltage. The IPT rectifier in the experiments was built using a dual current-driven Class D-based topology which allows for higher output voltage when the induced electromotive force (emf) on the receive coil is low. The final power conversion stage on the receive side is a power factor correction (PFC) boost converter that regulates the output voltage and shapes the current waveform at the input of the system. This stage is the only part of the system with closed-loop control. The end-to-end efficiency was measured at 73.3% with 99.2% power factor, when powering a load of 150 W.