Comparative Study of Active Power Factor Correction In AC-DC Converters

Majority of the applications involving electronic circuitry such as those used in automotive applications and battery chargers require a regulated DC supply. Since AC supplies are more commonly available, a suitable AC-DC converter becomes mandatory for such applications. These AC-DC converters involve a number of non-linear devices which reduce the system power factor and introduce harmonics in the power system leading to adverse effects. Hence it is essential to use a suitable power factor correction technique to condition the supply current. This paper presents a comparative analysis of three such active power factor correction topologies. Simulation studies have been carried out using MATLAB/SIMULINK.