The aim of this work was to eliminate the backflow power present in an isolated three-port DC–DC converter. Backflow power (which is an inherent property of phase-shifted DC–DC converters) is the major contributor of circulating current the converter, which in turn is known to be the leading cause of system loss. The dual phase shift (DPS) control scheme (which alters the transformer voltage waveform at the different winding terminals) was used to reduce the backflow power. Mathematical relations for the backflow power present in the three-port converter were derived. And from this equation, an operating point in which the backflow power is zero was also obtained. This condition for zero backflow power was confirmed by simulations on PSIM. Added to this were simulation results that show other operating conditions in which zero backflow power could be obtained in the converter. In addition, equations for the power processed at the different ports of the converter were also presented, and 3D plots were made to illustrate the variation of the power and backflow power with respect to the phase shift ratios of the DPS control scheme. It was observed that the backflow power can be totally removed from the three-port converter when using this control scheme.

This paper presents a comparative study between the traditional phase shift (also referred to as the Single-Phase Shift (SPS)) and the Dual-Phase Shift (DPS) controlled Triple Active Bridge (TAB) converter. Being a multi-port DC-DC converter with flexible power flow control and characterized by high power density, the TAB converter is applicable in almost any situation where a DC-DC converter is needed. With the availability of multiple control schemes, this work highlights the advantages and disadvantages of the most employed control scheme used on the TAB converter, in comparison with the DPS control scheme that has so far been applied only on Dual-Active Bridge (DAB) converters. As an example, for a TAB converter with a 14 kW maximum power capacity, the work sees the comparison of the backflow power, the maximum possible current, the processed power at the different ports of the converter, the transformer voltage and current waveforms, and the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD). Based on the results obtained, we found that the DPS-controlled TAB converter was more efficient when applied to the TAB converter compared to the traditional phase shift control algorithm.