Optimal IPT System Design Using Spiral Rectangular Coils for E-Tricycle Scooters Charging

Abstract

Although e-bikes are widely used today, there is no detailed system design for their wireless charging. In this study, the effects of switching frequency, quality factor, current density of the windings and critical coupling value have been examined and their boundaries have been determined for low power contactless charge system. According to these design constraints; an optimized Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) system has been analytically designed, which transfers the required power (120W) for the charging of the e-tricycle scooter from 100 mm air-gap.In view of previous studies in the literature [1, 2], the required power for e-bikes can be transmitted contactless at a frequency of 20-360 kHz. As the operation frequency increases, the size and quantity of coils to be used will decrease. The weight and volume of the coils are constraints in the system, that’s why the operating frequency may increase as in small household appliances and biomedical applications. However, as in the case of electric vehicles where the power is relatively high; operating at high frequencies can be risky for human health. In addition, working at high frequencies, can increase switching losses and may cause noise in the communication system. Using ferrite cores can also reduce coil sizes [3]. But, the efficiency will decrease as core losses occur, and also the system weight will increase. On the other hand, in order to transfer the same power at low frequencies, the coil dimensions and number of turns increase. Therefore, an optimal design is required for IPT using air-core windings.The most important step affecting the system design performance is to calculate the real inductance values of the coils analytically. An IPT optimization used rectangular windings is described in ref [4] for 2kW and 200kW. But in ref [4], the average winding dimensions has been used in the calculation of self and mutual inductances. However, when the coil dimensions become smaller or the number of turns increases, the inductance calculation with this method gives unacceptable incorrect results. Therefore, we need to make separate calculations for each turn of spiral coils. For this, magnetic flux is calculated for each side of each winding in the spiral rectangular coil and all the results are summed for mutual inductance calculation [5]. Thus, the gaps between each winding can also be taken into account.The optimized IPT system is expected to operate under any operating conditions. The equivalent impedance of the batteries change during charge and discharge. The bifurcation event occurs when the load changes or in the misalignment condition. Therefore, primary and secondary quality factors should be carefully determined. Critical parameters are maximum switching frequency, the maximum current density of the coils, and quality factors in IPT design. Optimal system design is decided by the proper combination of critical parameters [4]. In this study, in addition to other optimization parameters, the critical coupling value is also considered in IPT optimization to avoid bifurcation [6]. The input impedance has been observed at different frequencies when the amplitude of load (Fig1a) and the coupling changes (Fig1b).Optimized design parameters for the inductive power transfer link are given in Figure 2. A controlled rectifier is used on the secondary-side to increase the overall system efficiency. Details of the optimum IPT design and experimental results of the system will be provided in the final version of the paper. **