Computer aided optimal design of high power density EMI filters

Power density of power converter systems is becoming an increasingly stringent design constraint for a wide range of applications. Size reduction of EMI filter in power converters is an important aspect due to its significant impact on the overall converter volume and weight. In order to take on this issue, a computer aided procedure for a fast selection of optimal discrete EMI filter components and configuration is described in this paper. The proposed technique is a rule-based automatic procedure based on suitable databases that consider datasheets information of commercially available passive components (e.g. magnetic cores, capacitors). It allows the minimization of the filter's volume and therefore the improvement of the converter's power density. The size and the performance of EMI filters designed by the proposed procedure have been compared with those of a conventionally designed one. The comparison, based on experimental tests, demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.