Duty cycle controlled soft commutation high frequency inverter for consumer induction cooker and steamer

This paper presents a novel prototype of voltage source soft-switching PWM high frequency inverter with minimum circuit components, which can achieve wider soft commutation, simpler circuit configuration, smaller physical size, lower cost and wider power regulation range, higher-efficiency as compared with active voltage clamped edge resonant ZVS-PWM high frequency inverters developed previously. The operation principle of soft switching PWM high frequency inverter treated here is described on the basis of the simulation and experimental results, together with its comparative operating performances in steady state. The performances of this quasi-resonant soft-switching PWM high frequency inverter operating under principles of ZVS and ZCS arms-related soft commutation is comparatively evaluated and discussed including the voltage-clamped ZVS-PWM inverter and a single-ended ZVS-PFM inverter. The practical effectiveness of a novel type soft-switching PWM high frequency inverter using-state-of-the-art IGBT power modules is actually proved for consumer induction heated appliances such as cooker, hot water producer and super heated steamer.