A New Contactless Power Delivery System

Wu Ying , Yan Luguang ,Xu Shangang

Institute of Electrical Engineering
Chinese Academy o f Sciences Beiing P.R.China 100080
Phone: 86-10-625298 14 E-mail : wuying@mail.iee.ac.cn

Abslracl-The traditional method of power supply for electrical
apparatus i s via accurately manufactured plugs and sockets.
These are generally acceptable in benign environments, but can
be unsafe o r have limited life in the presence o f moisture or
explosive atmosphere. Especially for high power transmission,
it i s usually very dangerous due to frequent operation. A new
contactless power delivery system has been introduced. I t
realizes contactless power delivery t o apparatus with no
electrical connection or physical contact by the perfect
conibination of inductive coupling technique and power
electronics, which eliminates the risk of electric shock, short
circuit. or sparking. This paper investigates the influence of
geometrical and electrical parameters on energy transmission
by the combination o f finite element method and theoretical
analysis. Good transfer characteristics can be achieved with
large air gaps by selecting optimal parameter values.
Key words- contactless power delivery; gapped transformer;
high frequency converter
I. INTRODUCTION
Electric power is mainly transmitted by direct contact o f
wire since the electromagnetic phenomenon and the wire’s
conductivity has been found. The electric charging for
apparatus is generally via accurately manufactured plugs and
sockets. But for high power transmission, it is apt to get an
electric shock. And due to the frequent operation the security,
reliability, and lifespan o f the system are also very low.
Especially in the chemical and mining industry, it is very
easy to give rise to big accidents. The moving apparatus are
always supplied by sliding contact, such as electric vehicles
in the city, which also brings about wear, spark, electric
shock, and so on. This kind o f charging means has brought
severe inconvenience to people’s production and daily life
due to electric contact. T o realize contactless power delivery
naturally becomes one of the most important research
directions in the fields o f power transmission. The first option
is by electromagnetic inductive coupling.
The inductive coupling technique has been used in a series
o f commercial products and systems for power transmission
for more than one century. The representative products are
electrical machine, transformer, etc. Compared with the
electrical machine, the transformer has a prominent
advantage for power transmission: not affected by velocity.
N e w contactless power delivery system just makes use o f this
characteristic of transformers. If the primary and secondary
windings of the transformer are wound on separate magnetic
structures, then energy coupling is possible without physical
connection between the source and load units. This is the
initial idea o f the new contactless power delivery system. Fig.
I shows a typical structure o f the gapped transformer [I]. It’s
a pot-core type transformer. This idea has been known about
100 years before and a lot of attempts have been done. But
due to low efficiency, it has not been commercialized all
along. With the recent improvements in power electronic
technologies and magnetic materials, this kind o f new power
delivery technique is springing up.
Fie. I Typical structure of the sapped iranst‘omer
This paper establishes the mutual inductance model o f this
system. Detailed investigations have been given ahout the
influence o f geometrical and electrical parameters on energy
transmission.
11. STRUCTURE AND PRINCIPLE OF THE NEW CONTACTLESS
POWER DELIVERY SYSTEM
The basic components o f the new contactless power
delivery system include: primary ac source, primary
converter, primary winding, secondary winding, and
secondary converter. Fig.2 shows the block diagram.
Due to the large air gap in the magnetic circuit, the
magnetic coupling coefficient between the two magnetic
structures is much lower compared to the traditional
transformer.To improve the power transfer capability, high
frequency converter is adopted at the primary. After being
rectified, the single-phase power frequency ac current is
inverted into high frequency current and supplied to the
primary winding during operation.Then the output high
frequency current at the secondary i s rectified and converted
according to the load requirements. This kind o f
electromagnetic structure has two big advantages. First, the
secondary system can be very flexible. They can keep still,
sliding, and rotating relative to the primary system. This just
solves the problems o f power supply for apparatus in
dangerous atmosphere and power supply for moving
apparatus. Secondly, most o f the electronic components of

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the system are placed in the primary side. So the weight of Among which,
the secondary system has been greatly reduced. It’s much
favorable for the power supply for moving apparatus.
...................................................
Primary
AC
Source . They are respectively the
(R,+R,)’+w?L,
reflected resistance and reflected reactance. The complex
power absorbed by the reflected impedance is the complex
Load Secondary power absorbed by the secondary circuit. The reflected
Converter impedance directly embodies the transfer characteristics of
the system.
..................................................
Elcctroma_enetic
Structure

Fig.2 Hlact diagram showing components of new contactlcss power

dclivery system

From the diagram we can see that the electromagnetic

structure is the core of the new contactless power delivery
system. To improve the power transfer capability, the
electromagnetic and operational parameters must be (a) baric circuit (b)equivalent circuit
optimized.
Fis.3 Mutual inductance model aTclectroma:netically coupled structure
111. MODELLING OF THE SYSTEM
The secondary circuit is highly reactive with high
The mutual inductance model is employed to analyze the operational frequency. So the power transfer capability of the
coupling between the primary and secondary system. Due to system is increased at the expense of a higher secondary VA
the low coupling characteristics, the leakage inductance is rating. At the same time, the amplitudes of the output current
comparable to the magnetizing inductance, and even much and the output voltage are greatly dependent on the load
more than the magnetizing inductance. It is more convenient resistance. The output power is much restricted. With
to adopt this model to analyze this system than the traditional secondary compensation this can be improved greatly. Fig.4
T equivalent model. The model of the system with and shows the secondary compensation topology. There are two
without secondary compensation is given. kinds of basic compensation topologies, i.e. series
The mutual inductance model of the system is shown in compensation and parallel Compensation. Table I give the
Fig.3 (a). The electric parameters of both sides are R,, L,, R,, reflected impedance at different compensation topology.
L,. RL is the load resistance. The primary winding is driven Detailed analysis of the power transfer characteristics will be
by constant high frequency current /v The voltage drop given in V.
across it is U,. If the positive directions of currents and IV. INDUCTANCE
voltages are as shown in the figure, we can get the following
equations: Self-inductance and mutual inductance are calculated by
FEM method. Investigations show that the self-inductance
and mutual inductance of contactless power delivery system
I , jwL, + I , R, - I,, jwM = U, mainly depend on the dimensions of the primary and
secondary system, respective tums of both windings, the
I , jwL, + I,, R, + I., RI, = I , j o M (2) existence of ferrite cores on the primary or secondary side
and the air gap length. To analyze the system deeply, the
The above equations are the basic loop equations of the coupling coefficient is introduced. It’s a measure of the
primary and the secondary circuit. Further more we can get closeness with which the magnetic fields of the two circuits
the equivalent circuit seen from the primary side (Fig.3 (b)). are interlinked and is independent of the turns of both
Reflected impedance is introduced. It can be expressed as: windings. It is defined as

2, = R, + j X , =-- jwM I , (3) (4)

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 T A B L E I: REFLECTED IMPEDANCE FOR DIFFEREXT
COMPENSATION TOPOLOGI

Compensation
Reflected resistance( 0 ) Retlectcd reactance( 0 )
topology

04A4’C,’(R,v+ R,,) - w”’C,<(w’L,>C,. -1)

Series
w’C,’(R,$ +RI.)’ + (o’L,~C,\- 1)’ w’C,’(R,+RI,)’ + (w’L,<C,- 1)’

I
is relatively very low due to the poor heat dispersion
capability. An optimized electromagnetic structure is given in
Fig.5. The coupling coefticient for this magnetic structure is
shown in Fig.6 for different coil diameters as a function of air
gap length. The coupling coefficients for iron core and air
core are compared. The magnetic structure with iron core is
more closely coupled. They both decrease sharply with the
,~ Rpl gap increased. With the coil diameter being increased, the
superiority of the iron-core becomes less obvious gradually
(a) series compensation (11) parallel campcnsation
Fi8.4 S c c o n d a ~compensation topology v. POWER TRANSFER
CHARACTERISTICS

Due to the large air gap the operational magnetic flux

density in this system is very low. The power loss in the core
x v// 1 //A X of the transformer decreases as the frequency is increased.
This may be inferred from the empirical expression [6]:
coi ! ore

Where, usually, n is less than m. We also assume that the litz

wires are adopted for the primary and secondary windings for
high frequency operation. To simplify the analysis, the core
loss and skin effect in the system are omitted. So according to
the primary equivalent circuit, the output power and
transmission efficiency can be determined [j]:

tn= I,*(R, + R,) (6)

We have designed a pot-core prototype structure. The

F i g 6 Coupling coenicient as a function o f air gap length
Higher coupling coefficient generally will result in better
power transfer characteristics at the same circumstances.
Selecting appropriate electromagnetic ~hucture and
geometrical parameters can improve the coupling coefficient
greatly. The power transfer characteristics is still restricted by
the temperature rise. Though with higher coupling coefficient
for the pot-core type system, the power level of transmission
primary current is 5A. The core diameter is 50”. The
output power characteristics as functions of operational
frequency and load resistance is drawn in Fig.7
From Fig. 7 we can see that the output power increases
linearly with the operational frequency. At the same time the
output power is much limited by the load resistance. When
the load resistance is equal to the secondary impedance, the
output power Bets to the maximum. With secsridary

- 255 -
 ... .
I .
.. ... .. ~
b:<.~<!%r..d;j B 1: oG<mo~'k%.a:n..<*,
Fie. 7 Output power characteristics
compensation, this will change dramatically. Fig.8 shows the
compensation results. The resonant frequency is 2OkHz. By
comparison, we can see that the output power has been
greatly increased. The output power decreases with the load
resistance at series compensation, while increases with load
resistance at parallel compensation. We can select
appropriate compensation topology and operational
frequency according to the load resistance and the output
power requirements.
The efficiency of the magnetic structure is mainly
influenced by the transmission frequency and air gap length.
Fig.9 shows the efficiency of the prototype structure for
different air gap lengths as a function of transmission
frequency. The efficiency of the magnetic structure with a
large air gap can be improved by using higher transmission
frequencies in the range of tens of kilohertz. The comparison
shows the reduction of efficiency with an increasing air gap
due to the low magnetic coupling. The air gap length also sets
an upper limit to the efficiency. The efficiency can reach
90% by selecting appropriate ratio of air gap length to core
diameter.
VI. CONCLUSION
This paper employs the mutual inductance model to
Fig.8 Output power at the resonant frequency
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.-i
g Of
~rgaokn~c0~ee~"u=oz
RIIIInD *w<cred"ter="4
04 diigi~'~n~~orddisme:er=06
03
"2 '
O1
06
I 6 8 70
0I.CrSnYnEl fre0"un<,lhl
L ro'
Fig.9 Elliciency for different air zap length as a I'unction of
apcraiional lrequcncy
describe the contactless power delivery system. An optimized
magnetic structure is proposed for high power transmission.
The power transfer characteristics mainly depend on the
dimensions of the primary and secondary systems, the
existence of ferrite cores on the primary or secondary side,
operational frequency, load resistance and the air gap length.
The air gap length investigated is up to centimeter level. The
transferable electric power and the efficiency of the system
with large air gaps can be considerably improved by selecting
optimal parameter values and secondary compensation.
Efficiency greater than 90% can be reached for the magnetic
system.
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