Design and Evaluation of Feedforward Active Ripple Filters

Abstract

An active ripple filter is an electronic circuit that cancels or suppresses the ripple current and electromagnetic interference generated by the power stage of a power converter, thus reducing the passive filtration requirements. This paper explores the design of feedforward active ripple filters for current ripple cancellation, including the design tradeoffs, advantages, and limitations of different implementation methods. The design and performance of an active filter using a novel Rogowski-coil current sensor is discussed in detail. Experimental results from a prototype converter system using this approach are presented, and quantitative comparisons are made between a hybrid passive/active filter and a purely passive filter. It is demonstrated that substantial improvements in filter mass and converter transient performance are achievable using this active ripple filtering method.