Architecture for a High-to-Medium-Voltage Power Converter

A power converter now undergoing development is required to operate at a DC input potential ranging between 5.5 and 10 kV and a DC output potential of 400 V at a current up to 25 A. This power converter is also required to be sufficiently compact and reliable to fit and operate within the confines of a high-pressure case to be lowered to several miles (≈5 km) below the surface of the ocean. The architecture chosen to satisfy these requirements calls for a series/parallel arrangement of 48 high-frequency, pulse-width-modulation (PWM), transformer-isolation DC-to-DC power converter blocks.