Algorithmic Extraction of Power Flow Configurations for Three-Port DC-DC Converters

During the last two decades, power flow graphs have been established as a systematic and straightforward method for the design of DC-DC power converters. Several researchers have focused their efforts on the design of Three-Port Converters using this method, for the integration of renewable energy sources, energy storage systems and DC micro-grids. However, even though all attempts utilize the same design method with slightly different application specifications (ESS existence, output bidirectionality, etc.), there is currently no attempt to group all the available power flow configurations under one procedure. This gap is addressed in this paper, where a systematic and algorithmic method is proposed to automatically derive all DC-DC converter power flow configurations, based on rule application and a single-variable user input. This work not only highlights the fundamentals of the power flow graph design while automating it, but also sets the ground for further study and optimization of a plethora of different configurations, without the restrictions posed by traditional manual design.