A novel integrated magnetic structure based DC/DC converter for hybrid battery/ultracapacitor energy storage systems

This manuscript focuses on a novel actively controlled hybrid magnetic battery/ultracapacitor based energy storage system (ESS) for vehicular propulsion systems. A stand-alone battery system might not be sufficient to satisfy peak power demand and transient load variations in hybrid and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV, PHEV). Active battery/ultracapacitor hybrid ESS provides a better solution in terms of efficient power management and control flexibility. Moreover, the voltage of the battery pack can be selected to be different than that of the ultracapacitor, which will result in flexibility of design as well as cost and size reduction of the battery pack. In addition, the ultracapacitor bank can supply or recapture a large burst of power and it can be used with high C-rates. Hence, the battery is not subjected to supply peak and sharp power variations, and the stress on the battery will be reduced and the battery lifetime would be increased. Utilizing ultracapacitor results in effective capturing of the braking energy, especially in sudden braking conditions.