An Improved Topology for the Current Fed Parallel Resonant Half Bridge Circuits Used in Fluorescent Lamp Electronic Ballasts

An improvement in the current fed parallel resonant half bridge (CFPRHB) circuits used in fluorescent lamp electronic ballasts is provided in this paper. The CFPRHB belongs to the self-oscillating family which includes the current fed push-pull and series resonant inverters, most of which are used in instant-start applications. However, many failure modes are related to the bypass capacitor according to an analysis of failed samples. In this paper, the operating functions of the existing topology in the steady state are analyzed and the main root cause of failure modes has been found. Comparisons between the two topologies are conducted in terms of the voltage stress of the bypass capacitor as well as the thermal and performance of the ballasts to verify the advantages of the proposed topology. It is found that the improved topology is capable of enhancing the reliability and reducing the cost of products without having a negative influence on the system performance.

[1]  E.A.A. Coelho,et al.  A high power factor ballast using a single switch with both power stages integrated , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[2]  A.J. Calleja,et al.  Analysis and design of a novel single-stage high-power-factor electronic ballast based on integrated buck half-bridge resonant inverter , 2004, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[3]  R.-L. Lin,et al.  Electronic ballast for fluorescent lamps with phase-locked loop control scheme , 2006, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[4]  R.N. do Prado,et al.  Fluorescent lamp model based on the equivalent resistance variation , 2002, Conference Record of the 2002 IEEE Industry Applications Conference. 37th IAS Annual Meeting (Cat. No.02CH37344).

[5]  M. Sun,et al.  PSpice High-Frequency Dynamic Fluorescent Lamp Model , 1998 .

[6]  Tsai-Fu Wu,et al.  Comparisons among self-excited parallel resonant, series resonant and current-fed push-pull electronic ballasts , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition - ASPEC'94.

[7]  Robert L. Steigerwald.  A comparison of half-bridge resonant converter topologies , 1987 .

[8]  R. Lin,et al.  2.65-MHz Self-Oscillating Electronic Ballast With Constant-Lamp-Current Control for Metal Halide Lamp , 2007 .

[9]  M. Shvartsas,et al.  Statics and dynamics of fluorescent lamps operating at high frequency: modeling and simulation , 1999, APEC '99. Fourteenth Annual Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition. 1999 Conference Proceedings (Cat. No.99CH36285).

[10]  P. Enjeti,et al.  White-noise modulation of high-frequency high-intensity discharge lamp ballasts , 1994, Proceedings of 1994 IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting.

[11]  Humberto Pinheiro,et al.  Self-oscillating dimmable electronic ballast , 2003, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron..

[12]  Wei Yan,et al.  A Semi-Theoretical Fluorescent Lamp Model for Time-Domain Transient and Steady-State Simulations , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics.

[13]  G. W. Bruning,et al.  Analysis of the self-oscillating series resonant inverter for electronic ballasts , 1999 .

[14]  José Marcos Alonso Alvarez,et al.  Low-cost single-stage electronic ballast based on a self-oscillating resonant inverter integrated with a buck-boost PFC circuit , 2001, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron..

[15]  A. Campos,et al.  Fixed frequency self-oscillating electronic ballast to supply multiple lamps , 2004, 2004 IEEE 35th Annual Power Electronics Specialists Conference (IEEE Cat. No.04CH37551).

[16]  A.J. Calleja,et al.  A fluorescent lamp electronic ballast for railway applications based on low-cost microcontroller , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications.

[17]  Edward E. Hammer,et al.  Characteristics of Various F40 Fluorescent Systems at 60 Hz and High Frequency , 1985, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications.

[18]  Regan Zane,et al.  Digital Control of a Low-Frequency Square-Wave Electronic Ballast With Resonant Ignition , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics.