Three-phase single-stage four-switch PFC buck-boost-type rectifier

This paper proposes a new three-phase single-stage power-factor corrector buck-boost-type rectifier topology. The typical topology uses a bridge configuration with six switches. This new topology only requires four switches, improving the rectifier efficiency as only one reverse-blocking power semiconductor conducts at any time. A vector-based sliding-mode control method for the three-phase input currents is also proposed. This fast and robust technique uses sliding mode to generate alpha beta space-vector modulation, which forces the input line currents to track a suitable sinusoidal reference. A near-unity power-factor operation of the rectifier is obtained using a sinusoidal reference in phase with the input source voltages. A proportional-integral controller is adopted to regulate the output voltage of the converter. This external voltage controller modulates the amplitude of the current references. The characteristics of the new rectifier are verified with experimental results.