A two-way inductive power interface for single loads

Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) is a technique for transferring power from one system to another with no physical contacts. Until now this technique has been widely used only for unidirectional power delivery in numerous applications over a wide power range. As bi-directional and contactless power transfer is advantageous for applications such electric vehicles and moving appliances, this paper presents a novel IPT technique, which enables contactless power transfer from one system to another across an air-gap in both directions. The proposed system employs identical electronics, comprising a reversible rectifier and an inductor-capacitor-inductor (LCL) circuit, on each side of the air-gap, and controls both the amount and direction of power flow at unity power factor through magnitude control of the voltages generated by reversible rectifiers. Theoretical analysis is presented with simulations to show that the proposed method of bi-directional power control is feasible, and be ideal for applications which require both contactless and bi-directional power flow.