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EE6503 Power Electronics Notes
EE6503 Power Electronics Notes
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DISADVANTAGES
1. Power electronic converter circuits have a tendency to generate harmonics in the supply system as
well as in load circuit.
2. AC to DC and AC to AC converters operate at a low input powerfactor
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Under forward-bias condition, signal diode current increases exponentially and then increases
linearly.
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In the case of the power diode, it almost increases linearly with the applied voltage as all the layers
of P-I-N remain saturated with minority carriers under forward bias.
Thus, a high value of current produces results in voltage drop which mask the exponential part of
the curve.
In reverse-bias condition, small leakage current flows due to minority carriers until the avalanche
breakdown appears
After the forward diode comes to null, the diode continues to conduct in the opposite direction
The diode current flows for a reverse-recovery time trr.
Time ta: At this time, Charges stored in the depletion layer is removed.
Time tb: At this time, Charges from the semiconductor layer is removed.
Power loss across diode = vf * if
Ratio tb/ta: Softness factor or S-factor.
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S-factor: measure of the voltage transient that occurs during the time the diode recovers.
S-factor = 1 ⇒ low oscillatory reverse-recovery process. (Soft –recovery diode)
S-factor <1⇒ large oscillatory over voltage (snappy-recovery diode or fast-recovery diode).
4. POWER DIODE APPLICATIONS
1. As a rectifier Diode
2. For Voltage Clamping
3. As a Voltage Multiplier
4. As a freewheeling Diode
5. TYPES OF POWER DIODES
1. Schottky Diode
These diodes are used where a low forward voltage drop (usually 0.3V) is needed in low output
voltage circuits.
2. Fast Recovery diodes
These are used in high frequency circuits in combination with controllable switches where a small
reverse recovery time is needed.
3. Line frequency diodes
The on state voltage of these diodes is designed to be as low as possible and as a consequence have
larger trr, which are acceptable for line frequency applications.
6. STATIC V-I CHARACTERISTICS OF A THYRISTOR
7. TURN ON METHODS
Different turn ON methods for SCR are:
1. Forward voltage triggering
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2. Gate triggering
3. dv/dt triggering
4. Light triggering
5. Temperature triggering
1. Forward voltage triggering
A forward voltage is applied between anode and cathode with gate circuit open.
Junction J1 and J 3 is forward biased.
Junction J 2 is reverse biased.
As the anode to cathode voltage is increased breakdown of the reverse
biased junction J2 occurs.
This is known as avalanche breakdown and the voltage at which this
phenomena occurs is called forward break over voltage.
2. Gate triggering
Then a positive gate voltage is applied between gate and cathode. In practice the transition from OFF
state to ON state by exceeding VBO is never employed as it may destroy the device.
When we require the turning ON of a SCR a positive gate voltage between gate and cathode is applied.
When gate supply is given between gate and cathode gate p-layer is flooded with electron from
cathode n-layer.
Now the thyristor is forward biased, so some of these electron reach junction J 2.
As a result width of J 2 breaks down or conduction at J 2 occur at a voltage less than VBO.
3. dv/dt triggering
When SCR is forward biased, junction 1 and 3 are forward biased and junction 2 is reversed
biased so it behaves as if an insulator is place between two conducting plate.
Here J1and J3 acts as a conducting plate and J2 acts as an insulator.
J2 is known as junction capacitor.
So if we increase the rate of change of forward voltage instead of increasing the magnitude of voltage.
Junction J2 breaks and starts conducting.
4. Temperature triggering
If we increase the temperature the leakage current will also increase and heat dissipation of
junction J 2 occurs.
When this heat reaches a sufficient value J 2 will break and conduction starts.
Disadvantages
It may cause thermal run away of the device.
It is very costly as protection is costly.
5. Light triggering
Due to the irradiation, free charge carriers (electron and hole) are generated.
Now if the intensity is increased above a certain value then it leads to turn ON of SCR. Such SCR
are known as Light activated SCR (LASCR).
1. Delay time
2. Rise time
3. Spread time
1. Delay time
1. Gate current 0.9Ig to 0.1 I.
2. Anode voltage falls from Va to 0.9 Va.
3. Anode current rises from forward leakage current to 0.1I
2. Rise time (t)
Time during which
1. Anode current rises from 0.1Ia to 0.9 Ia
2. Forward blocking voltage falls from 0.9 V to 0.1.
3. Spread time (t)
1. Time taken by the anode current to rise from 0.9 Ia to I.
2. Time for the forward voltage to fall from 0.1 V to on state voltage drop of 1 to 1.5V.
The snubber circuit is a series combination of resistor ‘R’ and capacitor ‘C’.
They are connected across the thyristor to be protected.
The capacitor ‘C’ is used to limit the dv/dt across the SCR.
The resistor ‘R’ is used to limit high discharging current through the SCR.
The capacitor charges to full voltage Vs; after which the gate is triggered and SCR is turned ON and
high current flows through SCR.
As di/dt is high, it may damage the SCR. To avoid this, the resistor R in series with ‘C’ will limit the
magnitude of di/dt.
2. OVER VOLTAGE PROTECTION
i. Internal Overvoltage
During the commutation of SCR, when the anode current decays to zero anode current reverses due
to stored changes.
ii. External over Voltage
This is due to external supply and load condition. This is because of
1. The interruption of current flow in an inductive circuit.
2. Lightening strokes on the lines feeding the thyristor systems.
The effect of overvoltage is minimized using:
1. RC circuits
2. Nonlinear resistor called voltage clamping device.
3. OVERCURRENT PROTECTION
SCR is protected from overcurrent by using:
1. Circuit breakers
2. Fast acting fuses
Circuit Breaker (C.B)
C.B. has long tripping time. So it is used for protecting the device against continuous overload current.
a. Electronic crowbar protection
For overcurrent protection of power converter using SCR, electronic crowbar are used.
An additional SCR is connected across the supply which is known as ‘Crowbar SCR’.
Current sensing resistor detects the value of converter current.
If it exceeds preset value, then gate trigger circuits turn ON the crowbar SCR.
So the input terminals are short circuited by SCR and thus it bypass the converter over current.
After some time the main fuse interrupts the fault current.
4. HEAT PROTECTION
To protect the SCR
1. from the local spots
2. Temp rise
SCRs are mounted over heat sinks.
5. GATE PROTECTION
Gate circuit should also be protected from
1. Over voltages
2. Over currents
Protection against over voltage is achieved by connecting a Zener diode ZD across the gate circuit.
A resistor R2 connected in series with the gate circuit provides protection against over currents.
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Overvoltage across the gate circuit causes the false triggering of SCR
11. TRIAC
This is a three terminal, four layer, bi-directional semiconductor device that controls AC power.
CONSTRUCTION OF TRIAC
Two SCRs are connected in inverse parallel with gate terminal as common. Gate terminals is connected
to both the N and P regions.
It consists of three terminals namely, main terminal 1(MT1), main terminal 2(MT2), and gate terminal
G.
OPERATION OF TRIAC
The triac can be turned on by applying the gate voltage higher than break over voltage.
When the voltage applied is less than the break over voltage, we use gate triggering method to turn it
on.
There are four different modes of operations, they are:
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ADVANTAGES OF TRIAC
It can be triggered with positive or negative polarity of gate pulses.
It requires only a single heat sink of slightly larger size, whereas for SCR, two heat sinks should be
required of smaller size.
It requires single fuse for protection.
A safe breakdown in either direction is possible but for SCR protection should be given with parallel
diode.
DISADVANTAGES OF TRIAC
They are not much reliable compared to SCR.
It has (dv/dt) rating lower than SCR.
Lower ratings are available compared to SCR.
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We need to be careful about the triggering circuit as it can be triggered in either direction.
USES OF TRIAC
They are used in control circuits.
It is used in High power lamp switching.
It is used in AC power control
13. POWER MOSFET
A power MOSFET has three terminal device. Arrow indicates the direction of current flow. MOSFET
is a voltage controlled device.
The operation of MOSFET depends on flow of majority carriers only.
BASIC CONSTRUCTION
The bottom layer is n+ substrate. On substrate, high resistivity n- layer epitaxially grown.
The n- layer is called the drift region. This drift region determines the breakdown voltage of the
device.
On the other side n+ substrate, a metal layer is deposited to form the drain terminal.
Now p- regions are diffused in the epitaxially grown n- layer. Further n+ regions are diffused in p-
regions.
SiO2 layer is added which is then etched so as to fit metallic source and gate terminals.
STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
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a. Transfer characteristics
There is threshold voltage VGST below which the device is off. The magnitude of VGST is of the order
of 2 to 3 V.
b. Output characteristics
For low values of VDS, the graph between ID- VDS is almost linear, this indicates a constant value
of on-resistance RDS= VDS/ID.
For given VGS, if VDS is increased, output characteristic is relatively flat indicating that drain
current is nearly constant.
The turn off process is initiated by removing the gate to source voltage. Turn off time is
composed of turn off delay time to fall time.
Turn off delay time to turn off the MOSFET the input capacitance has to be discharged.
During tdf the input capacitance discharge from V1 to VGSP. During fall time, the input
capacitance discharges from VGSP to VGST. During tf drain current falls from ID to zero.
So when VGS ≤ VGST, MOFSET turn off is complete.
Turn on process
The turn on time is defined as the sum of turn- on delay time and rise time of the device.
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IGBT CHARACTERISTICS
STATIC CHARACTERISTICS
When the device is off, junction J2 blocks forward voltage and in case of reverse voltage appears
across collector and emitter, junction J1 blocks it.
When VGE is less than the threshold voltage VGET, IGBT is in the off state.
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SWITCHING CHARACTERISTICS
Turn on time
Turn on time = Delay time + Rise time
Delay time = Time for collector emitter voltage fall from VCE to 0.9 VCE
tdn=collector current to rise from initial leakage current to 0.1Ic
Ic= Final value of collector current
Rise time
Collector emitter voltage to fall from 0.9VCE to 0.1 VCE. 0.1Ic to Ic
Turn off time
It consists of three intervels
1) Delay time tdf
2) Initial fall time tf1
3) Final fall time tf2
toff= tdf + tf1+ tf2
Delay time tdf
As VGE falls to VGET, Collector current falls from Ic to 0.9Ic.
At the end of the tdf collector emitter voltage begins to rise.
First fall time tf1
the time during which collector emitter voltage rises from VCES to 0.1 VCE
Final fall time tf2
The time during which collector emitter voltage rises from 0.1 VCE to final value VCE.
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When the gate current is applied by varying the resistance R2 such that the gate current should be
more than the minimum value of gate current, the SCR is turned ON. And hence the load current starts
flowing through the SCR.
The SCR remains ON until the anode current is equal to the holding current of the SCR. And it will
switch OFF when the voltage applied is zero. So the load current is zero as the SCR acts as open
switch.
The diode protects the gate drive circuit from reverse gate voltage during the negative half cycle of
the input. And Resistance R1 limits the current flowing through the gate terminal and its value is such
that the gate current should not exceed the maximum gate current.
By varying the variable resistance, triggering or firing angle is controlled in a full positive half cycle
of the input signal.
During the negative half cycle of the input signal, capacitor charges with lower plate positive through
diode D2 up to the maximum supply voltage Vmax. This voltage remains at -Vmax across the
capacitor till supply voltage attains zero crossing.
During the positive half cycle of the input, the SCR becomes forward biased and the capacitor starts
charging through variable resistance
When the capacitor charging voltage is equal to the gate trigger voltage, SCR is turned ON and the
capacitor holds a small voltage.
Therefore the capacitor voltage is helpful for triggering the SCR even after 90 degrees of the input
waveform.
The RC network is connected to the emitter terminal of the UJT which forms the timing circuit.
The capacitor is fixed while the resistance is variable.
When the voltage is applied, the capacitor starts charging through the variable resistance.
By varying the resistance value voltage across the capacitor get varied.
Once the capacitor voltage is equal to the peak value of the UJT, it starts conducting and hence produce
a pulse output.
This process repeats and produces a train of pulses.
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2. FORCED COMMUTATION
In case of DC circuits, there is no natural current zero to turn OFF the SCR. In such circuits,
forward current must be forced to zero with an external circuit to commutate the SCR hence named
as forced commutation.
This commutating circuit consist of components like inductors and capacitors called as
commutating components.
Forced commutation is classified into different types such as class A, B, C, D, and E.
1. CLASS A COMMUTATION
This is also known as self commutation, or resonant commutation, or load commutation. In this
commutation, the source of commutation voltage is in the load.
This load must be an under damped R-L-C supplied with a DC supply so that natural zero is
obtained.
The commutating components L and C are connected either parallel or series with the load
resistance R.
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When the thyristor or SCR is triggered, the forward currents starts flowing through it and during
this the capacitor is charged up to the value of E.
Once the capacitor is fully charged (more than the supply source voltage) the SCR becomes reverse
biased and hence the commutation of the device.
The time for switching OFF the SCR depends on the resonant frequency which further depends on
the L and C components.
2. CLASS B COMMUTATION
This is also a self-commutation circuit in which commutation of SCR is achieved automatically
by L and C components, once the SCR is turned ON.
When the DC supply is applied to the circuit, the capacitor charges with an upper plate positive
and lower plate negative up to the supply voltage E.
Once the SCR is turned ON, the capacitor starts discharging.
When the capacitor is fully discharged, it starts charging with a reverse polarity.
Hence a reverse voltage applied across the SCR which causes the commutating current IC to
oppose load current IL.
When the commutating current Ic is higher than the load current, the SCR will automatically turn
OFF and the capacitor charges with original polarity.
3. CLASS C COMMUTATION
The main SCR to be commutated is connected in series with the load and an additional or
complementary SCR is connected in parallel with main SCR. This method is also called as
complementary commutation.
In this, SCR turns OFF with a reverse voltage of a charged capacitor.
Initially, both SCRs are in OFF state so the capacitor voltage is also zero.
Therefore, the capacitor starts charging up to the value of E.
When the SCR2 is triggered, SCR is turned ON and simultaneously a negative polarity is applied
across the SCR1.
So this reverse voltage across the SCR1 immediately causes to turn OFF the SCR1. Now the
capacitor starts charging with a reverse polarity.
And again, if the SCR 1 is triggered, discharging current of the capacitor turns OFF the SCR2.
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4. CLASS D COMMUTATION
This is also called as auxiliary commutation because it uses an auxiliary SCR to switch the charged
capacitor.
In this, the main SCR is commutated by the auxiliary SCR. The main SCR with load resistance
forms the power circuit while the diode D, inductor L and SCR2 forms the commutation circuit.
When the supply voltage E is applied, both SCRs are in OFF state and hence the capacitor voltage
is zero.
When the SCR2 is triggered capacitor starts discharging.
When this discharging current is more than the load current the SCR1 becomes turned OFF.
5. CLASS E COMMUTATION
This is also known as external pulse commutation. In this, an external pulse source is used to
produce the reverse voltage across the SCR.
If the SCR need to be commutated, pulse duration equal to the turn OFF time of the SCR is applied.
When the SCR is triggered, load current flows through the pulse transformer.
If the pulse is applied to the primary of the pulse transformer, an emf or voltage is induced in the
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UNIT II
PHASE-CONTROLLED CONVERTERS
1. APPLICATION OF CONTROLLED RECTIFIER
Steel rolling mills, paper mills, printing presses and textile mills employing dc motor drives.
Traction systems working on DC
Electrochemical and electrometallurgical processes
Magnet power supplies
Portable hand tool drives
HVDC transmission
T blocks the flow of load current and no voltage is applied across the load R.
By varying the firing angle α, the output voltage can be controlled.
At wt= π
vo is zero but io is not zero beacause of the load inductance L.
After wt= π
After wt= π, SCR is subjected to reverse anode voltage, but it will not be turned off as the
load
current io is not less than the holding current.
At some angle β>π, io reduces to zero and T is turned off as already it is reverse biased.
After wt=β
After wt=β, vo=0 and io=0.
Angle β is called extinction angle and γ= β-α is called the conduction angle.
SINGLE PHASE HALF WAVE CONTROLLED RECTIFIER WITH R-L LOAD AND FREE
WHEELING DIODE
At wt=0, source voltage is becoming positive and T is said to be forward biased.
At wt=α, T is triggered and source voltage Vs appears across the load as Vo.
At wt=π, Vs is zero and just after this instant, as Vs tends to reverse, freewheeling diode FD is
forward biased through the conducting SCR. As a result i o is immediately transferred from T to FD.
At wt=π, T is subjected to reverse voltage and zero current so T is turned off. It is assumed that
the load current does not decay to zero during freewheeling period until SCR is triggered again at
(2π+α).
During the freewheeling period, output voltage Vo is zero.
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Single phase fully controlled bridge rectifier with RL load-Rectification mode (α< 90º)
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Single phase fully controlled bridge rectifier with RL load- Inversion mode (α>90º)
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T3, T4 are triggered and with this, the negative line voltage reverse biases T1, T2 and T1, T2
are commutated. The current path is N-T3-RL-T4-P.
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Rectification mode
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During positive half supply of the AC supply, T1 and D1 are forward biased. When T1 is triggered at
a firing angle wt=α, T1 and D1 come to on state. Now the load current path is P-T1-R-D1-N. During
this period we get positive output voltage and current.
During negative half cycle of the AC supply, T2 and D2 is forward biased. When T2 is triggered at
firing angle wt=π+α, t2 and D2 come to on state. The load current path is N-T2-R-D2-P. During this
period we get positive output voltage and current.
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After wt=0, T1 is forward biased, only when source voltage Vm sinwt exceeds E. Thus T1
is triggered at firing angle wt=α such that Vm sinα>E.
At w=α, T1, D1 comes to the on state.
During that period, we can get positive output voltage and current.
During the period, π to π+α, the input voltage is negative and freewheeling diode FD is
forward biased.
During that period, we can get zero output voltage and positive output current.
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THREEPULSE CONVERTERS
THREE PHASE HALF CONTROLLED BRIDGE RECTIFIER
Mode 1: Continuous conduction mode
At instant (π/3+ α), T1 is triggered with a firing angle α<60º. Since R-Y has the highest value
compared to other phases, T1 becomes on. The current path is R-T1-R-L-D3-Y.
Then, phase R-B has the maximum value. Therefore, the current path shifts from Y to B, i.e,
T1 continues to conduct but current changes from D3 to D1. Therefore T1 conducts for 120º,
which is the maximum conduction period of the SCRs.
For α<60º, the output voltage will never become negative. The output voltage waveforms
repeat
for every 120º.
Mode 2: Dis Continuous conduction mode
This mode occurs for firing angles α>60º. The output voltage becomes zero because of
the freewheeling action. Freewheeling period is (α-π/3). Therfore input current flows for the
period (π-α) in each half cycle.
When α increases, the duration of input current pulse decreases and the harmonic content in
the source current increases.
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Here, T1, T3, T5 forms a positive group, whereas T2, T4, T6 forms a negative group. The positive
group thyristors are turned on when the supply voltage is positive and negative group of thyristors
are turned on when the supply voltage is negative.
The line voltages are
Vry, Vrb, Vyb, Vyr, etc.
The subscripts in sequence appear twice. When first subscript appears twice, the SCR in
the positive group pertaining to that line conducts for 120º.
When second subscript comes twice, the SCR in the negative group pertaining to that line conducts
for 120º.
From this wave form the output voltage is negative. This means DC source is delivering power
to AC source. This operation is called line commutated inverter operation.
For α=0º to 90º, the converter operates in rectification mode and 90º to 180º, the converter
operates in inversion mode.
When terminal 1 of source voltage Vs is positive, current i1 flows through Ls, T1, load and
T2. This is shown in fig.b. i.e., L, T1, T2 and load.
Similarly when terminal 2 of Vs is positive, load current i2 flows through T3, load and T4 and
this is shown as V2, Ls, T3, T4 and load.
Because of the presence of source inductance Ls, the current through outgoing thyristors T3,
T4 decreases gradually to zero from its initial value of Io; whereas in incoming thyristors T1,
T2, the current builds up gradually from zero to full value of load current Io.
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At wt=30º, T5 is outgoing SCR and T1 is incoming SCR and both T5, T1 belong to positive
group.
As T1 is triggered, current through T5 starts decaying while through T1 current begins to build
up.
conduct.
After wt=30+µ; T6, T1 conduct.
At wt=90º, as T2 is triggered, I6 begins to decrease and I2 starts building up. Therefore
from wt=90º to 90º+µ, three SCRs T6, T1, T2 conduct.
At wt=90º+µ, I6=0, I2=Io. After wt=90º+µ, only two SCRs T1, T2 conduct. This sequence
of operation repeats with other SCRs of the full converter.
DUAL CONVERTERS
A full converter operates as a rectifier in first quadrant ( Vo,Io positive) from α=0º to 90º and as
an inverter (Vo negative Io positive) from α=90º to 180º in the fourth quadrant.
In the first quadrant, power flows from AC source to the DC load and in the fourth quadrant, power
flows from DC circuit to the AC source.
Four quadrant operation without any mechanical switchover can be achieved by connecting two
full converters. Such an arrangement using two full converters in antiparallel and connecting to
the same DC load is called a dual converter
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There are two functional modes of dual converter, one is non circulating current mode and
the other is circulating- current mode. Here, we use non- circulating type of dual converters in
single phase and three phase.
Converter 1 operates in first and fourth quadrant and the second converter operates in second
and third quadrant.
Thus a dual converter using two full converters can give four quadrant operation.
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In this converter, only one con converter is in operation and it alone carries the
entire load current.
Only, this converter receives the triggering pulse and the triggering pulse to the other
converter is removed.
If suppose, the converter 1 is in operation and the converter 2 must be turned on, then
first the firing pulse to the converter 1 should be removed so that its load current will
decay to zero and
converter 1 will be made to conduct.
Now the current in converter 2 will build up through the load in the reverse direction.
As firing pulses are withdrawn from converter1, it is idle as long as the converter
2 is in operation.
It should be ensured that during changeover from one converter to another converter,
the load current must decay to zero.
After the outgoing converter stopped working, a delay time of 10 to 20 m sec is
introduced before applying firing pulses to the incoming converter.
This time delay ensures the reliable commutation of SCRs in the outgoing converter.
If the incoming converter is triggered, before completely turning off the outgoing
converter, then the circulating current will flow between the converters.
With non-circulating current mode of dual converter, the load current may be continuous
or discontinuous.
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Disadvantages
1. A reactor is required to limit the circulating current. The size and cost of this reactor may be
quite significant at higher power levels.
2. Circulating current causes more losses in the converters, hence the efficiency and
power factor are low. As the converters have to handle load as well as circulating
currents, the thyristors for two converters are rated for higher currents.
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3. INTRODUCTION
DC to DC converter is very much needed nowadays as many industrial applications are dependent
upon DC voltage source. The performance of these applications will be improved if we use a
variable DC supply. It will help to improve controllability of the equipment also.
Chopper is a basically static power electronics device which converts fixed dc voltage/power to
variable DC voltage or power. It is nothing but a high speed switch which connects and disconnects
the load from source at a high rate to get variable or chopped voltage at the output.
3.1.2 DC CHOPPER
A DC chopper is a static device that converts fixed dc input voltage to a variable dc output voltage
directly.
Just like a transformer, a chopper can be used to step up or step down the fixed dc output voltage.
Choppers are used in many applications all over the world inside various electronic equipment.
A chopper system has a high efficiency, fast response and a smooth control.
During the time period Ton, the chopper is turned on and the load voltage is equal to source
voltage Vs. During the interval Toff, the chopper is off and the load current will be flowing though
the freewheeling diode FD.
The load terminals are short circuited by FD and the load voltage is therefore zero during Toff.
Thus, a chopped dc voltage is produced at the load terminals. We can see from the graph that the
load current is continuous.
During the time period Ton, load current rises but during Toff load current decays .
Average load Voltage is given by
V0 = Ton/ (Ton +Toff) * Vs = (Ton/T) V = αVs……………… (1.0)
Ton: on -time
Toff: off- time
Equation 1.0 shows that the load voltage is independent of load current it can be also written as
V0 = f. Ton .Vs
f= 1/T = chopping frequency
If V0 or the average output voltage is greater than the input voltage Vs, then this type of chopper
is called a step up chopper.
For a step-up chopper we can obtain an average output voltage V0 greater than input
voltage. Figure (a) shows the elementary form of a step-up chopper.
When the chopper is turned off the current is forced to flow through the diode and load for a time
Toff and as the inductor current cannot die suddenly.
When the current decreases the polarity of the emf induced in L is reversed. Fig (c).
As a result the total voltage available across the load is given by the equation V0 = Vs + L (di/dt).
The voltage V0 exceeds the source voltage and hence the circuit acts as a step-up chopper and the
energy which is stored in L is released to the load.
3.3.2 VOLTAGE AND CURRENT WAVEFORMS
When the chopper is turned ON the current through the inductance L will increase from I1 to I2. As
the chopper is on the source voltage is applied to L that is vL = VS .
When the chopper is OFF, the KVL for the figure (c) can be written as
vL – V0+Vs =0 or vL =V0 -Vs where vL is the voltage across L.
Variation of source voltage vS , source current IS , load voltage v0 and load current iO is
sketched. Let us assume that the variation of output current is linear, the energy input to inductor
from the source, during the time period Ton, is
Win= Vs (I1+I2/2) Ton
During the time Toff, the chopper is off, so the energy released by the inductor to the load is
Woff = (V0-Vs) (I1+I2/2).Toff
Let us assume that the system is lossless, then the two energies say Win and Woff are equal.
So equating these two we will get
Vs (I1+I2/2) Ton = (V0-Vs) (I1+I2/2).Toff
Vs Ton = (V0-Vs) Toff
V0Toff = Vs (Toff + Ton)
= Vs .T
V0 = VS (T/Toff)
= VS (T/T-Ton)
=VS (1/ (1-α)) ………….(2.0)
From the equation 2.0 we can see that the average voltage across the load can be stepped up by
varying the duty cycle.
If the chopper in the figure (a) is always off, α=0 and V 0= Vs.
If the chopper is always on, α=1 and V0 = infinity as we can see from the graph.
In practical applications the chopper is turned on and off so that the required step-up average output
voltage, more source voltage is obtained.
3.3.3 APPLICATION
The principle of step-up chopper can be used for the regenerative braking of DC motors.
So, we can conclude that output voltage is always less than the input voltage and hence the name
step down chopper is justified. The output voltage and current waveform of step down chopper
with resistive load is shown in above figure.
device used is a thyristor, this circuit is called as a step-down chopper, as the output voltage is
normally lower than the input voltage.
When chopper is ON, supply is connected across load. Current flows from supply to load.
When chopper is OFF, load current continues to flow in the same direction through FWD due to
energy stored in inductor‘L’.
Load current can be continuous or discontinuous depending on the values of ‘L’ and duty cycle
‘d’ For a continuous current operation, load current varies between two limits Imax and Imin
When current becomes equal to Imax the chopper is turned-off and it is turned-on when
current reduces to Imin.
In type A chopper the power flow will be always from source to the load as the average voltage
V0 is less than the dc input voltage Vs.
In type B or second quadrant chopper the load must always contain a dc source E.
When the chopper is on, v0 is zero but the load voltage E drives the current through the inductor
L and the chopper, L stores the energy during the time Ton of the chopper.
When the chopper is off, v0 = (E+ L.di/dt) will be more than the source voltage Vs.
Because of this the diode D2 will be forward biased and begins conducting and hence the power
starts flowing to the source.
No matter the chopper is on or off the current I0 will be flowing out of the load and is treated
negative. Since VO is positive and the current I0 is negative, the direction of power flow will be
from load to source.
The load voltage V0 = (E+L.di/dt ) will be more than the voltage Vs so the type B chopper is
also known as a step up chopper .
The average voltage will be always positive but the average load current might be positive or
negative. The power flow may be life the first quadrant operation ie from source to load or from
load to source like the second quadrant operation.
The two choppers should not be turned on simultaneously as the combined action my cause a short
circuit in supply lines.
For regenerative braking and motoring these type of chopper configuration is used.
The power flows from source to load as the average values of both v0 and i0 is positive.
From the wave form it is seen that the average value of V0 is positive thus the forth quadrant
operation of type D chopper is obtained.
From the wave forms the Average value of output voltage is given by
V0= (Vs Ton-VsToff)/T = Vs. (Ton-Toff)/T
First Quadrant
During the first quadrant operation the chopper CH4 will be on. Chopper CH3 will be off and CH1
will be operated.
As the CH1 and CH4 is on, the load voltage v0 will be equal to the source voltage Vs and the load
current i0 will begin to flow .
v0 and i0 will be positive as the first quadrant operation is taking place.
As soon as the chopper CH1 is turned off, the positive current freewheels through CH4 and the
diode D2.
The type E chopper acts as a step- down chopper in the first quadrant.
Second Quadrant
In this case the chopper CH2 will be operational and the other three are kept off.
As CH2 is on negative current will starts flowing through the inductor L.
Flows through CH2, E and D4.
Energy is stored in the inductor L as the chopper CH2 is on. When CH2 is off the current will be
fed back to the source through the diodes D1 and D4.
Here (E+L.di/dt) will be more than the source voltage Vs .
In second quadrant the chopper will act as a step-up chopper as the power is fed back from load to
source
Third Quadrant
In third quadrant operation CH1 will be kept off, CH2 will be on and CH3 is operated.
For this quadrant, the polarity of the load should be reversed.
As the chopper CH3 is on, the load gets connected to the source Vs and v0 and i0 will be negative
and the third quadrant operation will take place. This chopper acts as a step-down chopper
Fourth Quadrant
CH4 will be operated and CH1, CH2 and CH3 will be off.
When the chopper CH4 is turned on, positive current starts to flow through CH4, D2, E and the
inductor L will store energy.
As the CH4 is turned off the current is fedback to the source through the diodes D2 and D3, the
operation will be in fourth quadrant as the load voltage is negative but the load current is positive.
The chopper acts as a step up chopper as the power is fed back from load to source.
Effect of Source & Load Inductance
The source inductance should be as small as possible to limit the transient voltage.
Also source inductance may cause commutation problem for the chopper.
Usually an input filter is used to overcome the problem of source inductance.
The load ripple current is inversely proportional to load inductance and chopping frequency.
Peak load current depends on load inductance.
To limit the load ripple current, a smoothing inductor is connected in series with the load.
As the name suggest, here the time ratio (i.e. the duty cycle ratio Ton/T) is varied.
This kind of control can be achieved using 2 ways:
1. Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) (Constant frequency system)
2. Frequency Modulation Control (FMC) ( Variable frequency system)
In this technique, the time period is kept constant, but the ‘On Time’ or the ‘OFF Time’ is
varied.
Using this, the duty cycle ratio can be varied.
Since the ON time or the ‘pulse width’ is getting changed in this method, it is popularly known
as Pulse width modulation.
In this control method, the ‘Time Period’ is varied while keeping either of ‘On Time’ or ‘OFF
time’ as constant.
In this method, since the time period gets changed, the frequency also changes accordingly, so
this method is known as frequency modulation control.
In this method, current is allowed to fluctuate or change only between two values i.e. maximum
current (I max) and minimum current (I min).
When the current is at minimum value, the chopper is switched ON.
After this instance, the current starts increasing, and when it reaches up to maximum value,
the chopper is switched off allowing the current to fall back to minimum value.
This cycle continues again and again.
3.7 COMMUTATION
All commutation circuits can be classified into two groups
Forced commutation
Load commutation
MODE I
At t = 0, T1 is on, load RLE is connected across the supply Vo = Vs.
There are two current paths. Load current Io, assumed constant, constitute one path and
commutation current ic the other path.
Load current Io flows through Vs, T1, load whereas the current ic flows through the oscillatory
circuit formed by C, T1, L and D.
The capacitor current first rises from zero to a maximum value when voltage across C is zero at
t= t1/2.
As ic decreases to zero, capacitor is charged to voltage (-Vs) at t=t1.
The capacitor current changes sinusoidally whereas the capacitor voltage cosinusoidally from t=
0 to t=t1. This voltage is held constant at (-Vs) by diode D.
Voltage across TA is (-Vs) at t=0, zero at t1/2 and Vs at t1.
At the end of the mode I, at t1, ic=0, it1=Io, vc=-Vs, vTA= Vs, vo= Vs.
MODE II
The conditions existing at t1 continue during mode II.
For t1≤t≤t2, ic=0,iT1=Io,vc=-Vs, vTA=Vs, vo=Vs, iD=0.
During this mode, only T1 is conducting.
MODE III
When T1 is to be turned off, TA is triggered at the desired instant t2. Capacitor voltage (-Vs) appears
across T1, it is therefore reverse biased and turned off
As the capacitor does the required job of commutating the main thyristor T1, it is called voltage
commutated chopper.
Current iT1 becomes zero at t2. After T1 is turned off, capacitor and TA provide the path for load
current Io through Vs, C, TA and the load.
The load voltage is the sum of source voltage and voltage across capacitor.
Therefore at t2, vo=Vs+Vs= 2Vs and it decreases linearly as the voltage across capacitor decreases.
Since capacitor is connected across T1 and TA, vc=vT1.
As the capacitor discharges through the load, vc and vT1 change from (-Vs) to zero at (t2+tc)
Load voltage vo changes from 2Vs at t2 to Vs at (t2+tc).
After (t2+tc), vc and vT1 starts rising from zero towards Vs whereas vo starts falling towards zero.
Vc and vT1 change linearly from (-Vs) at t2 to Vs at t3, because load current Io is assumed
constant.
Similarly vo changes linearly from 2Vs at t2 to zero at t3.
During mode III, ic= -Io and iTA= Io during mode III.
MODE IV
At t3, vc=vT1=Vs and vo=0.
At t3, capacitor is slightly overcharged, freewheeling diode FD gets forward biased at t3.
In the load circuit formed by FD, TA, C and Vs, vc>vs at t3; therefore current ic tends to go
negative.
As ic or iTA, tends to reverse, TA is turned off naturally at t3. Thus at t3, FD gets turned on and T A
is turned off.
As a result, load current after t3 free wheels through the load and FD. During freewheeling period,
vTA is slightly negative as C is somewhat overcharged.
A reverse voltage is applied across conducting SCR due to which current through SCR becomes
zero and it is getting off. Hence it is called voltage commutation.
Other name of this is impulse commutation. It is because a high reverse voltage will turn off the
SCR.
Fig. 3.7.2 Voltage Commutated Chopper- output voltage and current waveform
MODE I
At t = t1, auxiliary thyristor is turned on to commutate main thyristor.
With turning on of TA, an oscillatory current ic is set up in the circuit.
At t2, Vc = - Vs and ic tends to reverse in the auxiliary thyristor TA, it gets naturally commutated.
During this mode, T1 remains unaffected, therefore load current and load voltage remain Io and
Vs respectively.
MODE II
As TA is reverse biased and turned off at t2, Oscillatory current ic begins to flow through C, L,
D2 and T1.
Note that after t2, ic would flow through T1 and not through D1. It is because D1 is reverse biased
by a small voltage drop across conducting thyristor T1.
In T1, ic is in opposition to load current io so that i T1= Io-ic.
At t3 ic rises to Io so that iT1 = 0. As a result main SCR T1 is turned off at t3. Since oscillating
current through T1 turns it off it is called current commutated chopper.
MODE III
After t3 ic supplies load current io and the excess current. iD1 = ic - Io is conducted through diode
D1.
The voltage drop in D1 due to (ic-Io) keeps T1 reverse biased for (t4-t3)=tc.
At t4, incase vc exceeds Vs, FD comes into conduction, otherwise mode IV follows.
MODE IV
At t4, ic reduces to Io, as a result iD1=0 and D1 is turned off.
Afetr t4, a constant current equal to Io flows through Vs, C, L, D2 and load.
Capacitor c is charged linearly to source voltage Vs at t5, so during time (t5 - t4) ic= Io.
As D1 is turned off at t4, vT1=vTa=vc. At t5, vc=Vs, therefore load voltage vo=Vs-Vs=0
MODE V
At t5, C is overcharged more than Vs. Therefore, FD gets forward biased and starts to conduct
load current Io at t5.
As ic is not zero at t5, C is still connected to load through Vs, C, L and D2.
At t6, ic=0 and vc becomes more than Vs. Commutation process ic completed at t6.
In this commutation an opposite current pulse will be injected through SCR. As a result currents
decreases and finally comes to zero if both the currents would be equal and opposite.
Antiparallel diode is useful to apply the reverse voltage after current through SCR becomes to
zero. The value of reverse voltage is low. So
Turn off time increases.
Turn off power loss increases.
It has four thyristors T1-T4, one commutating capacitor. T1, T2 act as a pair and T3, T4 act as a
second pair for conducting the load current alternately.
When T1, T2 are conducting, they act as the main thyristors and T3, T4, C act as the commutating
components.
When T3, T4 are conducting, they act as main thyristors and T1, T2, C act as commutating
components.
FD is the freewheeling diode across the load.
Fig. 3.7.6 Circuit for load commutated chopper b. Current and Voltage waveforms
DC choppers can also be used as a switched mode regulators. Switched mode regulators convert
unregulated DC input voltage to a regulated DC output voltage.
The control unit generates the PWM control signal (Vg) for the DC chopper.
1. Buck converter
2. Boost converter
3. Buck boost converter
4. Cuk converter
We can see about first three types.
1. BUCK CONVERTER
It is also called step down converter, since the average output voltage is less than the input voltage.
Here the power semi conductor device is BJT. It acts as a chopper. The device may be IGBT or
power MOSFET.
The LC filter is used to reduce the ripple content. The operation is divided into two modes.
MODEI OPERATION
The transistor T1 is turned ON by applying base signal from control unit. At t=0, T1 comes to the
ON state.
Now the current flows through T1, L, C and load.
During Ton of the chopper, we can get output voltage and inductor current increases from I1 to I2.
The voltage across the inductor VL= Vs-Vo.
MODE II OPERATION
At t=t1, the base signal of the transistor is zero, then T1 comes to the OFF state.
During the OFF period Toff, the freewheeling diode comes to conduction state due to stored energy
in the inductor.
Now the inductor current flows through L, C, load and freewheeling diode.
During this period, inductor current decreases from I2 to I1. The voltage across the inductor is –
Vo.
The inductor current reaches to I1, again transistor T1 is switched ON. This cycle is repeated.
The inductor current could be continuous or discontinuous depending upon the switching
frequency, filter capacitance and inductance.
ADVANTAGES
2. BOOST CONVERTER
Since the average output voltage is greater than the input voltage it is called boost converter. The
operation can be divided into two modes.
MODE I OPERATION
MODE II OPERATION
At t=t1, the base signal of the transistor is zero, then the transistor T1 comes to the OFF state.
During the off time period Toff, diode D comes to conduction and current flows through inductor,
diode, C and load.
The energy stored in inductor L is transferred to the load. The inductor current decreases from I2
to I1.
The voltage across the inductor L is (Vs-Vo). Here the output voltage is greater than input voltage.
ADVANTAGES
1. This regulator can step up the output voltage
2. It has high efficiency
The output voltage of the buck boost converter may be either higher or lower than the input voltage.
Here, the output voltage polarity is opposite to that of the supply voltage. It is also called as
inverting regulator.
MODEI OPERATION
The transistor T1 is turned ON by applying base signal. At t=0, transistor T1 comes to ON state
and diode D is reverse biased.
Now the source current flows through T1 and L. During this TON period, inductor stores energy
and inductor current increases from I1 o I2. Now the voltage across the inductor is Vs.
MODE II OPERATION
At t=t1, T1 is switched off and now the current flows through L, C, D and load.
The inductor current decreases from I2 to I1. Stored energy in inductor L would transferred to the
load.
Now the voltage across the inductor is –Vo. The inductor current reaches I1 and T1 is again
switched ON.
This cycle is repeated.
ADVANTAGES
1. It’s output voltage polarity is reversed.
2. It has high efficiency
3. The rate fo change of current ( under transistor fault condition) is limited by the inductor L.
4. The output short circuit protection is also easy to implement in this converter.
DISADVANTAGES
1. Input current is discontinuous.
2. In transistor T1, high peak current also flows.
1.12.2FORCED COMMUTATION
In case of DC circuits, there is no natural current zero to turn OFF the SCR. In such circuits,
forward current must be forced to zero with an external circuit to commutate the SCR hence named
as forced commutation.
This commutating circuit consist of components like inductors and capacitors called as
commutating components.
These commutating components cause to apply a reverse voltage across the SCR that immediately
bring the current in the SCR to zero.
Based on the manner in which the zero current achieved and arrangement of the commutating
components, forced commutation is classified into different types such as class A, B, C, D, and E.
This commutation is mainly used in chopper and inverter circuits.
1. CLASS A COMMUTATION
This is also known as self commutation, or resonant commutation, or load commutation. In this
commutation, the source of commutation voltage is in the load.
This load must be an under damped R-L-C supplied with a DC supply so that natural zero is
obtained.
The commutating components L and C are connected either parallel or series with the load
resistance R as shown below with waveforms of SCR current, voltage and capacitor voltage.
The value of load resistance and commutating components are so selected that they forms a under
damped resonant circuit to produce natural zero.
When the thyristor or SCR is triggered, the forward currents starts flowing through it and during
this the capacitor is charged up to the value of E.
Once the capacitor is fully charged (more than the supply source voltage) the SCR becomes reverse
biased and hence the commutation of the device.
The capacitor discharges through the load resistance to make ready the circuit for the next cycle
of operation.
The time for switching OFF the SCR depends on the resonant frequency which further depends on
the L and C components.
This method is simple and reliable. For high frequency operation which is in the range above 1000
Hz, this type of commutation circuits is preferred due to the high values of L and C components.
2. CLASS B COMMUTATION
This is also a self commutation circuit in which commutation of SCR is achieved automatically by
L and C components, once the SCR is turned ON. In this, the LC resonant circuit is connected
across the SCR but not in series with load as in case of class A commutation and hence the L and
C components do not carry the load current.
When the DC supply is applied to the circuit, the capacitor charges with an upper plate positive
and lower plate negative up to the supply voltage E.
When the SCR is triggered, the current flows in two directions, one is through E+ – SCR – R – E-
and another one is the commutating current through L and C components.
Once the SCR is turned ON, the capacitor is starts discharging through C+ – L – T – C-. When the
capacitor is fully discharged, it starts charging with a reverse polarity.
Hence a reverse voltage applied across the SCR which causes the commutating current IC to
oppose load current IL.
When the commutating current Ic is higher than the load current, the SCR will automatically turn
OFF and the capacitor charges with original polarity.
In the above process, the SCR is turned ON for some time and then automatically turned OFF for
some time.
This is a continuous process and the desired frequency of ON/OFF depends on the values of L and
C. This type of commutation is mostly used in chopper circuits.
3. CLASS C COMMUTATION
In this commutation method, the main SCR is to be commutated is connected in series with the
load and an additional or complementary SCR is connected in parallel with main SCR. This
method is also called as complementary commutation.
In this, SCR turns OFF with a reverse voltage of a charged capacitor. The figure below shows the
complementary commutation with appropriate waveforms.
Initially, both SCRs are in OFF state so the capacitor voltage is also zero. When the SCR1 or main
SCR is triggered, current starts flowing in two directions, one path is E+ – R1 – SCR1 – E- and
another path is the charging current E+ – R2- C+ – C- SCR1 – E- .
Therefore, the capacitor starts charging up to the value of E.
When the SCR2 is triggered, SCR is turned ON and simultaneously a negative polarity is applied
across the SCR1.
So this reverse voltage across the SCR1 immediately causes to turn OFF the SCR1. Now the
capacitor starts charging with a reverse polarity through the path of E+ – R1- C+ – C- SCR2 – E
And again, if the SCR 1 is triggered, discharging current of the capacitor turns OFF the SCR2.
This commutation is mainly used in single phase inverters with a center tapped transformers. The
Mc Murray Bedford inverter is the best example of this commutation circuit. This is a very reliable
method of commutation and it is also useful even at frequencies below 1000Hz.
4. CLASS D COMMUTATION
This is also called as auxiliary commutation because it uses an auxiliary SCR to switch the charged
capacitor.
In this, the main SCR is commutated by the auxiliary SCR. The main SCR with load resistance
forms the power circuit while the diode D, inductor L and SCR2 forms the commutation circuit.
When the supply voltage E is applied, both SCRs are in OFF state and hence the capacitor voltage
is zero. In order to charge the capacitor, SCR2 must be triggered first. So the capacitor charges
through the path E+ – C+ – C- – SCR2- R- E-.
When the capacitor is fully charged the SCR2 becomes turned OFF because no current flow
through the SCR2 when capacitor is charged fully.
If the SCR1 is triggered, the current flows in two directions; one is the load current path E+ –
SCR1- R- E- and another one is commutation current path C+ – SCR1- L- D- C.
As soon as the capacitor completely discharges, its polarities will be reversed but due to the
presence of diode the reverse discharge is not possible.
When the SCR2 is triggered capacitor starts discharging through C+ – SCR2- SCR1- C-. When
this discharging current is more than the load current the SCR1 becomes turned OFF.
Again, the capacitor starts charging through the SCR2 to a supply voltage E and then the SCR2 is
turned OFF. Therefore, both SCRs are turned OFF and the above cyclic process is repeated. This
commutation method is mainly used in inverters and also used in the Jones chopper circuit.
5. CLASS E COMMUTATION
This is also known as external pulse commutation. In this, an external pulse source is used to
produce the reverse voltage across the SCR.
The circuit below shows the class E commutation circuit which uses a pulse transformer to produce
the commutating pulse and is designed with tight coupling between the primary and secondary
with a small air gap.
If the SCR need to be commutated, pulse duration equal to the turn OFF time of the SCR is applied.
When the SCR is triggered, load current flows through the pulse transformer.
If the pulse is applied to the primary of the pulse transformer, an emf or voltage is induced in the
secondary of the pulse transformer.
This induced voltage is applied across the SCR as a reverse polarity and hence the SCR is turned
OFF. The capacitor offers a very low or zero impedance to the high frequency pulse.
PART A
1. What is meant by dc chopper?
A dc chopper is a high speed static switch used to obtain variable dc voltage from a constant dc
voltage.
5. Write down the expression for average output voltage for step down chopper.
Average output voltage for step down chopper V0 = αVs, α is the duty cycle
6. Write down the expression for average output voltage for step up chopper.
Average output voltage for step down chopper V0 = (1/(1-α))Vs, _ is the duty cycle
13. What are the different types of chopper with respect to commutation process?
Voltage commutated chopper. b. Current commutated chopper.
c. Load commutated chopper.
It is the minimum current which must pass through a circuit in order for it to remain in the 'ON'
state. The term can be applied to a single switch or to an entire device.
PART-B
1. Describe in detail about the types of chopper. Derive an expression for the average output voltage
in terms of input dc voltage & duty cycle (16)
2. Describe the principle of step-up chopper. Derive an expression for the average output voltage
in terms of input dc voltage & duty cycle. (16)
4. Explain the working of current commutated chopper with aid of circuit diagram
and necessary waveforms. Derive an expression for its output voltage. (16)
5. Explain the working of voltage commutated chopper with aid of circuit diagram
and necessary waveforms. Derive an expression for its output voltage. (16)
6. Draw the power circuit for step down DC chopper and explain its operation for inductive load.
What is the role of freewheeling diode in such choppers? (16)
7. Explain the operation of boost and buck boost converter with neat circuit diagrams
and waveforms (16)
8. Explain the working of voltage commutated chopper with aid of circuit diagram
and necessary waveforms. Derive an expression for its output voltage (16)
9. Discuss the operation of DC- DC boost converter and prove that its output voltage is always
greater than input voltage (16)
For 0<t≤T/2, T1 conducts and the load is subjected to a voltage Vs/2 due to the upper voltage
source Vs/2.
At t=T/2, T1 is commutated and T2 is gated ON.
During the period T/2<t≤T, T2 conducts and the load is subjected to a voltage (-Vs/2) due to the
lower voltage source Vs/2.
The load voltage is an alternating voltage waveform of amplitude Vs/2
3. SINGLE PHASE FULL BRIDGE INVERTER
For full bridge inverter, when T1, T2 conduct, load voltage is Vs and when T3, T4 conduct, load.
Frequency of of output voltage can be controlled by varying the periodic time T.
Thyristors T1, T2 are in series across the source. Thyristors T1, T4 or T3, T2 are also in series For
a resistive load four SCRs would suffice, because load current io and load voltage vo would always
be in phase with each other.
For non-resistive loads, current io will not be in phase with voltage vo and diodes connected in
antiparallel with thyristors will allow the current to flow when the main thyristors are turned off.
In the three phase inverter, each SCR conducts for 180º of a cycle.
Thyristor pair in each arm, i.e. T1, T4; T3, T6 and T5, T2 are turned on with a time interval of
180º.
It means that T1 conducts for 180º and T4 for the next 180º of a cycle.
Thyristors in the upper group, i.e.T1, T3, T5 conduct at an interval of 120º. It implies that if T1 is
fired at wt=0º, then T3 must be fired at wt=120º and T5 at wt=240º. Same is true for lower group
of SCRs.
In the firing scheme table, first row shows that T1 from upper group conducts for 180º, T4 for the
next 180º and then again T1 for 180º and so on.
In the second row, T3 from the upper group is shown to start conducting 120º after T1 starts
conducting.
After T3 conduction for 180º, T6 conducts for the next 180º and again T3 for the next 180º and so
on.
In the third row, T5 from the upper group starts conducting 120º after T3 or 240º after T1.
After T5 conduction for 180º, T2 conducts for next 180º, T5 for the next 180º and so on. In this
manner, the pattern of firing the six SCRs is identified.
This table show that T5, T6, T1 should be gated for step I; T6, T1, T2 for step II; T1, T2, T3 for
step III; T2, T3, T4 for step IV and so on.
Thus the sequence of firing the thyristors is T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6; T1, T2….
In every step of 60º duration, only three SCRs are conducting one from upper group and two from
the lower group or two from the upper group and one from the lower group.
During step I, thyristors 5, 6, 1 are conducting. The load terminals a and c are connected to the
positive bus of DC source whereas terminal b is connected to the negative bus of DC source.
The load voltage is vab=vcb=Vs in magnitude.
6. THREE PHASE 120º MODE VSI
For the 120º mode VSI, each thyristor conducts for 120º of a cycle.
Like 180º mode, 120º mode inverter also requires six steps, each of 60º duration, for completing
one cycle of the output AC voltage.
In the table, first row shows that T1 conducts for 120º and for the next 60º, neither T1 nor T4
conducts.
Now T4 is turned on at wt=180º and it further conducts for 120º, i.e. from wt=180º to wt=300º.
This means that for 60º interval from wt=120º to wt=180º, series connected SCRs T1, T4 do not
conduct.
At wt=300º, T4 is turned off, then 60º interval elapses.
In the second row, T3 is turned on at wt=120º as in 180º mode inverter.
Now T3 conducts for 120º, then 60º interval elapses during which neither T3 nor T6 conducts.
At wt=300º, T6 is turned on, it conducts for 120º and then 60º interval elapses after which T3 is
turned on again. The third row is completed similarly.
The table shows that T6, T1 should be gated for step I; T1, T2 for step II; T2, T3 for step III and
so on. The sequence of firing is same as for the 180º mode inverter.
During each step, only two thyristors conduct for this inverter, one from upper group and another
from lower group; but in the 180º mode three conductors conduct in each step.
7. PWM TECHNIQUES
TYPES OF PWM TECHNIQUE
Different types of PWM control technique is given as follows
This generated gating signal is used to control the output of single phase full bridge inverter.
The fundamental frequency of the output voltage is determined by the
The gating signal can be generated by comparing a sinusoidal reference signal with a
triangular carrier wave and the width of each pulse varied proportionally to the amplitude of
a sine wave evaluated at the center of the same pulse.
The output frequency (f o) of the inverter can be found by using the frequency of the reference
signal (fr). The rms output voltage (vo) can be controlled by modulation index M and in
turn modulation index is controlled by peak amplitude (Ar).
The fundamental component is increased and its harmonic characteristics are improved. The
main advantages of this technique is increased fundamental component, improved
harmonic characteristics, reduced number of switching power devices and decreased
switching losses.
ADVANTAGES OF PWM
1. The output vo l t a ge co nt r ol w i t h this method c a n be obtained without any
additional components.
2. With this method, lower order harmonic can be eliminated or minimized along with its
output voltage control.
3. It reduces the filtering requirements.
Figure shows a scheme for connecting two inverters and two transformers for harmonic
elimination.
VL=VL1+VL2
= (√3 [A1 sin (wt-π/6)+A5 sin 5(wt+π/6)+……..]
Along with the third harmonics, the multiples of third harmonics, such as 9, 12 are also
eliminated.
This type of modulation in which the output voltage has only two levels during any half cycle,
is called as two level modulation.
The inverter II is so operated that its output voltage is VL2. It is observed from VL2 waveform
that the level of output voltage is positive, zero and negative during the first half cycle.
Therefore, inverter II is operated with three level modulation.
4. INTRODUCTION
A circuit that converts DC power into AC power at desired output voltage and frequency is called as an
inverter.
4.1 APPLICATIONS
1. Adjustable speed AC drives
2. Induction heating
3. Standby aircraft power supplies
4. UPS for computers
5. HVDC transmission lines, etc..
Inverters can be broadly classified in to two types:
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The power circuit diagram of the single phase bridge inverter is shown in figure. The gating signalsfor the
thyristors and the resulting output voltage waveforms are shown in figure.
These voltage waveforms are drawn on the assumption that each thyristor conducts for the duration its
gate pulse is present and is commutated as soon as this pulse is removed.
Ig1- ig4 are gate signals applied respectively to thyristors T1- T4.
Single phase half bridge inverter consists of two SCRs, two diodes and three wire supply.
For 0<t≤T/2, T1 conducts and the load is subjected to a voltage Vs/2 due to the upper voltage
source Vs/2.
At t=T/2, T1 is commutatedand T2 is gated ON.
During the period T/2<t≤T, T2 conducts and the load is subjected to a voltage (-Vs/2) due to the
lower voltage source Vs/2.
The load voltage is an alternating voltage waveform of amplitude Vs/2 and of frequency 1/T Hz.
Frequency of the inverter output voltage can be changed by controlling T.
For a resistive load two SCRs would suffice, because load current io and load voltage vo would
always be in phase with each other.
For nonresistive loads, current io will not be inphase with voltage vo and diodes connected in
antiparallel with thyristors will allow the current to flow when the main thyristors are turned off.
As the energy is fed back to the DC source when these diodes conduct, these are called feedback
diodes.
D1, D2 are feedback diodes.
The main drawback of half bridge inverter is that it requires 3-wire DC supply.
This difficulty can be overcome by use of a full bridge inverter.
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It consists of four SCRs and four diodes. In this inverter, number of thyristors and diodes is twice
of that in a half bridge inverter.
The amplitude of output voltage is doubled whereas output power is four times in this inverter as
compared to their corresponding values in the half bridge inverter.
For full bridge inverter, when T1, T2 conduct, load voltage is Vs and when T3, T4 conduct, load
voltage is –Vs.
Frequency of of output voltage can be controlled by varying the periodic time T.
Thyristors T1, T2 are in series across the source. Thyristors T1, T4 or T3, T2 are also in series
across the source.
During inverter operation, it should be ensured that two SCRs in the same branch, such as T1, T2
do not conduct simultaneously as this would lead to a direct short circuit of the source.
For a resistive load four SCRs would suffice, because load current io and load voltage vo would
always be in phase with each other.
For non-resistive loads, current io will not be in phase with voltage vo and diodes connected in
antiparallel with thyristors will allow the current to flow when the main thyristors are turned off.
As the energy is fed back to the DC source when these diodes conduct, these are called feedback
diodes.
D1, D2, D3, D4 are called feedback diodes.
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MODES OF OPERATION
The operation of the inverter is divided in to following modes.
MODE I
Thyristor T1 is conducting a constant load current Io, i.e.iT1=Io.
Capacitor is charged to a voltage Vs with right hand plate positive because of the commutation of
previously conducting thyristor T2. In this mode, the equivalent circuit is shown in fig.a.
With T1 conducting, commutation circuit is passive in this mode.
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MODE III
After t1, as resonant current ic exceeds Io, the excessive current ic-Io=iD1 circulates through
feedback diode D1. The voltage drop across D1 reverse biases T1 to bring it to forward blocking
capability.
When capacitor voltage vc discharges to zero, resonant current, resonant current ic rises to the peak
value Icp.
After attaining Icp, ic begins to decrease and in so doing, C begins to get charged in the reverse
direction.
At t2, ic falls to Io. In case vc is somewhat more than source voltage Vs at t2, diode D2 gets forward
biased and starts conducting.
MODE IV
After t2, as ic tends to fall below Io, diode current iD1 becomes zero and D1, therefore, stops
conducting.
Constant load current Io continues flowing through Vs/2, TA1, C, L and load. Load current
charges capacitor C linearly with reverse polarity and at t3, vc is somewhat more than Vs.
MODE V
At t3, as vc becomes slightly more than Vs, diode D2 gets forward biased and thus an alternate path
for Io is provided.
Load current Io is now shared by resonant circuit and D2. Current through D2 flows through Vs/2,
D2 and load.
After t3, ic begins to decrease whereas iD2 starts building up so that the sum of ic and iD2 is equal
to Io. i.e. ic+iD2=Io.
The supply voltage Vs through D2, is now impressed across the resonant circuit. As current i c is
falling from Io to zero, the energy stored in L is transferred to C and as a consequence, capacitor
is overcharged to a peak voltage Vm at t4.
MODE VI
At t4, iD2 rises to Io and at the same time ic falls to zero. As ic tends to reverse, TA1 is turned off at
t4 .
Now vc > Vs, capacitor C therefore discharges through Rd, DA1, source voltage Vs, D2, L and C.
Current ic is negative as it flowing opposite to its positive direction. iD2=ic+Io. During this period,
iD2 is more than Io.
At t5, ic becomes zero, vc=-Vs and iD2=Io. Just after t5, as ic tends to reverse, DA1 is turned off.
MODE VII
In this mode, only conducting device is diode D2. A part of the energy stored in the load is
delivered to source.
The decreasing load current io=iD2 becomes zero at t6. Main thyristor T2 is already gated on after
TA1 is fired but it will not get turned on at this moment because of the reverse bias applied to it.
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At t6, iD2=0 and T2 is no longer reverse biased. After t6, capacitor charged to voltage –Vs is ready
for the next commutation process.
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A basic three phase inverter is a six bridge inverter. In inverter terminology, a step is defined as a
change in the firing from one thyristor to the next thyristor in proper sequence.
For one cycle of 360º, each step would be of 60º interval for a six step inverter.
This means that thyristors would be gated at regular intervals of 60º in proper sequence.
There are two possible patterns of gating the thyristors. In one pattern, each thyristor conducts for
180º and in the other, each thyristor conducts for 120º.
But in both these patterns, gating signals are applied and removed at 60º intervals of output voltage
waveform.
Therefore both these modes require six six step bridge inverter. These modes of thyristor
conduction are described as follows.
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In the three phase inverter, each SCR conducts for 180º of a cycle.
Thyristor pair in each arm, i.e. T1, T4; T3, T6 and T5, T2 are turned on with a time interval of
180º.
It means that T1 conducts for 180º and T4 for the next 180º of a cycle.
Thyristors in the upper group, i.e.T1, T3, T5 conduct at an interval of 120º. It implies that if T1 is
fired at wt=0º, then T3 must be fired at wt=120º and T5 at wt=240º. Same is true for lower group
of SCRs.
In the firing scheme table, first row shows that T1 from upper group conducts for 180º, T4 for the
next 180º and then again T1 for 180º and so on.
In the second row, T3 from the upper group is shown to start conducting 120º after T1 starts
conducting.
After T3 conduction for 180º, T6 conducts for the next 180º and again T3 for the next 180º and so
on.
In the third row, T5 from the upper group starts conducting 120º after T3 or 240º after T1.
After T5 conduction for 180º, T2 conducts for next 180º, T5 for the next 180º and so on. In this
manner, the pattern of firing the six SCRs is identified.
This table show that T5, T6, T1 should be gated for step I; T6, T1, T2 for step II; T1, T2, T3 for
step III; T2, T3, T4 for step IV and so on.
Thus the sequence of firing the thyristors is T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6; T1, T2….
In every step of 60º duration, only three SCRs are conducting one from upper group and two from
the lower group or two from the upper group and one from the lower group.
During step I, thyristors 5, 6, 1 are conducting. The load terminals a and c are connected to the
positive bus of DC source whereas terminal b is connected to the negative bus of DC source.
The load voltage is vab=vcb=Vs in magnitude.
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This problem is overcome considerably in 120 mode inverter. In this inverter, there is a 60 interval
between the turning off of SCR T1 and turning on of SCR T4. During this 60 interval, SCR T1
can be commutated safely.
Thus, enough time is made available for the outgoing SCR to commutate before the SCR in series
is turned on. Therefore, commutation is more reliable and possibility of two series SCRs
conducting simultaneously is much less.
a. AC voltage control
b. Series inverter control
a. AC voltage control
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This method gives rise to higher harmonic content in the output voltage; particularly when the
output voltage from the AC voltage controller is at low level.
This method is therefore rarely employed except for low power applications.
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Disadvantages
1. The number of power converters used for the control of inverter output voltage varies from two to
three. More power handling stages result in more losses and reduced efficiency of the entire
scheme.
2. For reducing the ripple content of DC voltage input to the inverter, filter circuit is required in all
types of schemes. Filter circuit increases the cost, weight and size and at the same time reduces
efficiency and makes the transient response sluggish.
3. As the DC input is decreased, the commutating capacitor voltage also decreases.
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This is the most popular method of controlling the output voltage and this method is termed as
pulse width modulation (PWM) control.
The advantages possessed by PWM technique are as under:
Advantages
1. The output voltage control with this method can be obtained without any additional components.
2. With this method, lower order harmonics can be eliminated or minimized along with its output
voltage control. As higher order harmonics can be filtered easily, the filtering requirements are
minimized.
Disadvantage
The SCRs are expensive as they must possess low turn-on and turn-off times.
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frequency of the reference signal. For this technique the amplitude modulation index (M) can
be defined as
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The number of pulses (p) per half cycle is calculated by the carrier frequency
(fc). Number of pulses per half cycle is found by
3.
The output frequency (fo) of the inverter can be found by using the frequency of the reference
signal (fr). The rms output voltage (vo) can be controlled by modulation index M and in
turn modulation index is controlled by peak amplitude (Ar).
The number of pulses per half cycle depends on the carrier frequency.
The gating signal can be produced by using the unidirectional triangular carrier wave.
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The reason is due to the characteristics of the sine wave. Hence this sinusoidal PWM technique
is modified so that the carrier signal is applied during the first and last 600 intervals per half
cycle as shown in Figure.
The fundamental component is increased and its harmonic characteristics are improved. The
main advantages of this technique is increased fundamental component, improved
harmonic characteristics, reduced number of switching power devices and decreased
switching losses.
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Along with the third harmonics, the multiples of third harmonics, such as 9, 12 are also
eliminated.
It should be noted that the resultant fundamental component is not twice the individual voltage
but Root3/2(=0.866) of that individual output voltage and the effective output has been
reduced by (1-0.866)=13.4%.
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The above two simultaneous equations can be solved numerically to calculate α1 and α2
under the condition that
0<α1<90º and α1<α2<90º
which gives α1=23.62º and α2=33.6º
Similarly any two harmonics can be eliminated by calculating the corresponding values of
α1 and α2.
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This type of modulation in which the output voltage has only two levels during any half cycle,
is called as two level modulation.
The inverter II is so operated that its output voltage is VL2. It is observed from VL2 waveform
that the level of output voltage is positive, zero and negative during the first half cycle.
Therefore, inverter II is operated with three level modulation.
The resultant output voltage waveform from a series combination of inverter I and II is
obtained by super imposing the waveforms of figure b) and c) as shown in d).
The load waveform shows that the amplitude of output voltage is 4 Vs and waveform has four
steps.
Fourier analysis would give harmonics whose amplitudes would depend upon the values of
P1, P2, P3, P4 and amplitude of VL.
By a proper choice of these parameters, third, fifth, seventh harmonics can be decreased
considerably and the fundamental component is optimized.
The three level modulation of inverter II helps achieving the required wave stepping of the
resultant output voltage waveform.
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101
In this type of CSI, capacitor C in parallel with the load is used for storing the charge for force
commutating the SCRs.
SCRs T1, T2, T3 and T4 form power circuit. T1, T2 together are triggered by gate signals Ig1,
Ig2 and T3, T4 by Ig3, Ig4.
Before t=0, let the capacitor voltage be Vc=-V1, i.e., capacitor has right plate positive and left
plate negative.
At t=0, SCRs T1 and T2 are triggered and when T1, T2 become turned ON, capacitor applies
reverse voltage across the previously conducting SCRs T3, T4 and hence turn them off.
The source current I now flows through SCR T1, parallel combination of RC and through T2.
From 0 to T/, IT1=IT2=I, output current Iac=I, Vc changes from –V1 to +V1 through the
charging of C by current Ic. Here, the load voltage VL=Vc.
Thus the waveform of IL=VL/R has the same nature as that of Vc as shown in figure.
When T3, T4 are gated at t=T/2, Vc= V1 reverse biases T1, T2 and therefore these are turned
off immediately.
The source current now flows through T3, parallel combination of R,C and T4.
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From instant T/2 to T, iT3=iT4=I, but Iac=-I. The current Iac is a square wave of amplitude I.
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In the circuit, the forced commutating circuit components are included. The two capacitors
store the energy necessary for commutation.
The four series diodes effectively prevent the capacitors from discharging through the load in
the interval between inverter commutations.
T1, T2 and T3, T4 are alternatively switched to obtain nearly square wave load current. The
triggering frequency of the SCRs determine the output frequency.
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If the inverter feeds a RL load, the voltage and current waveforms are shown in figure.
The operation of this inverter can be divided into four modes.
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T1, T2 are conducting and the current I is established in the circuit consisting of T1, D1, the
load, D2 and T2.
The capacitors C1, C2 are charged to a voltage Vc= +VL from the previous half cycle. Note
that VL is greater than the load voltage RI.
MODE II
When T3, T4 are gated on, capacitors C1, C2 apply a reverse bias to T1 and T2 respectively,
causing them to turn off.
However, the load current I continues to flow in the same direction as before, through T3, C1,
D1, the load, D2, C2 and T4.
The capacitors are in series with the load and are discharged by the constant current I.
When the capacitor voltages have fallen from VL to R1, diodes D4, D3 conduct and mode 2
is terminated.
MODE III
SCRs T3, T4 and all four diodes are now conducting so that the load is effectively connected
in parallel with both commutating capacitors.
This RLC circuit undergoes a transient response during which the load current falls to zero
and reverse.
When a load current attains a value –I, diodes D1 and D2 become reverse biased.
This terminates mode 3 and completes the commutation process.
MODE IV
For the next half cycle, the source current I is flowing through T3, D3, the load, D4 and T4.
Note that the capacitor voltage is now –VL and the capacitor hold this voltage until the next
commutation.
The DC current source delivers a unidirectional current I to the inverter and when the inverter
feeds a reactive or regenerative load, the DC supply current cannot reverse as it did in the case
of a voltage source inverter (VSI).
However, the feedback diodes of VSI have been removed, allowing the DC link voltage to
change polarity and permitting a return of energy to the DC link by virtue of a reversal of DC
link voltage rather than a reversal of DC link current.
When SCRs T3, T4 are gated to initiate Mode 2, the inverter input voltage, Vs, goes negative
and remains negative throughout this interval.
Hence, the input power VsI is also negative, indicating that power is being returned to the DC
current source.
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PART- A
1. What is meant by inverter?
A device that converts dc power into ac power at desired output voltage and frequency
is called an inverter.
v. HVDC transmission
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a. Ultrasonic generator.
b. Induction heating.
c. Sonar Transmitter
d. Fluorescent lighting.
1. Induction heating
2. Lagging VAR compensation
3. Speed control of ac motors
4. Synchronous motor starting
VSI CSI
VSI is fed from a DC voltage source having small CSI is fed with adjustable current from a DC
negligible impedance. voltage source of high impedance.
Input voltage is maintained constant The input current is constant but adjustable.
Output voltage does not dependent on the load the amplitude of output current is independent of
the load
The waveform of the load current as well as its The magnitude of output voltage and its waveform
magnitude depends on the nature of the load depends on the nature of the load impedance
impedance
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13. What are the advantages of 120 degree mode of operation over 180 degree mode of
operation?
We can get continuous conduction in 180 degree mode, whereas discontinuous current flow in
120 degree mode. Hence losses are high in 120 degree mode.
1. Induction heating
2. Lagging VAR compensation
3. Speed control of ac motors
4. Synchronous motor starting.
16. What is integral cycle control?
Action by a control mechanism that makes changes to the inputs of a manufacturing process based on
the accumulated error over a period of time. Integral action controllers are often used in
conjunction with proportional controllers, which make corrective changes in proportion to the
amount of error in an input, in order make input adjustments faster and more accurate.
19. Mention the difference between Sinusoidal PWM over modified PWM techniques.
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In sinusoidal pulse width modulation there are multiple pulses per half-cycle and the width of the
each pulse is varied with respect to the sine wave magnitude. Fig 4(c) shows the gating signals
and output voltage of SPWM with unipolar switching. In this scheme, the switches in the two legs
of the full-bridge inverter are not switched simultaneously, as in the bi-polar scheme.
21. Why diodes should be connected in antiparallel with the thyristors in inverter circuits?
For RL loads, load current will not be in phase with load voltage and the diodes connected in anti-
parallel will allow the current to flow when the main thyristors are turned off. These diodes are called
feedback diodes.
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The main drawback is the introduction of harmonics in the supply current and the load voltage
waveforms particularly at low output voltages
30. What is the advantage of 120º mode of inverter operation over 180º mode? (Nov/Dec- 2013)
1. In 120º mode of inverter, there is a 60 interval between the turning off of SCR T1 and turning on
of SCR T4. During this 60 interval, SCR T1 can be commutated safely.
2. Thus, enough time is made available for the outgoing SCR to commutate before the SCR in series
is turned on. Therefore, commutation is more reliable and possibility of two series SCRs
conducting simultaneously is much less.
PART-B
1. State different methods of voltage control inverters. Describe about PWM control in inverter. (16),
Explain different methods of voltage control adopted in inverter with suitable wave forms (16), Explain
different methods of voltage control adopted in inverter with suitable waveforms.
(16) (16) (Nov/Dec- 2015) Explain different PWM techniques in detail. (8) (May/ June- 2014)
2. Explain the operation of 3 phase bridge inverter for 180 degree mode of operation with aid of relevant
phase and line voltage waveforms. (16)
3. Explain the operation of 3 phase bridge inverter for 120 degree mode of operation with aid of relevant
phase and line voltage waveforms. (16)
4. Describe the principle of current source inverter. Derive an expression for the average output voltage
in terms of input dc voltage. (16)
5. Discuss the functioning of three phase VSI with neat circuit diagrams and waveforms. (16)
a. Describe any one PWM technique used in inverter in detail. (8)
b. Explain the working principle of single phase current source inverter. (8)
6. Describe about space vector modulation technique. (16)
7. Write short note on the following (Nov/Dec- 2013)
a. Sinusoidal pulse width modulation as applied to inverter (8)
b. Current source inverter (8)
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8. Discuss about the different PWM techniques. (16), What is PWM? List the various PWM techniques
and explain any one of them. (8) (Nov/Dec- 2010), Explain in detail, the various types of PWM methods
employed in an inverter. (Nov/Dec- 2012), Explain different PWM techniques in detail. (8) (May/ June-
2014), Explain the following PWM techniques used in inverter. (May/ June- 2016) Briefly explain the
different types of PWM schemes available for voltage control in an inverter. (16) (Nov/Dec- 2014)
i. Sinusoidal PWM
ii. Multiple PWM
9. Describe the working of a 1 phase full bridge inverter with relevant circuit and waveforms.
(8) (Nov/Dec- 2010), Describe the working of a single phase full bridge inverter supplying R, RL loads
with relevant circuit diagram and waveforms (May/ June- 2016)
10. 11. Explain the Harmonic reduction by transformer corner lines and stepped wave inverters.
(16) (Nov/Dec- 2010)
12. Discuss in detail about the functioning of three phase voltage source inverter in 120° operating
mode. (Nov/Dec- 2012), With the neat circuit and output waveforms, explain the operation of three
phase bridge inverter in 120 degree mode of operation. (16) (Nov/Dec- 2015)
13. Discuss the principle of working of three phase bridge inverter with an appropriate circuit diagram.
Draw the output phase and line voltage waveforms on the assumption that each thyristor conducts for
180º and resistive load is star connected. The sequence of firing of various SCR should also be indicated.
(16) (Nov/Dec- 2013) Explain the operation of 3 phase voltage source inverter in 180º mode of
conduction. (16) (Nov/Dec- 2014) Explain the principle of operation of 3 phase voltage source inverter
with 180º conduction mode with necessary waveforms and circuits. Also obtain the expression for line to
line voltage. (May/ June- 2016)
14. Draw the circuit diagram of current source inverter and explain its operation with relevant waveforms
(May/ June- 2016)
15. What is the need for controlling the output of the inverter? Classify the various techniques adopted to
vary the inverter gain and brief on sinusoidal PWM. (May/ June- 2016)
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The basic principle of on-off control technique is explained with reference to a single
phase full wave ac voltage controller circuit shown below.
The thyristor switches and are turned on by applying appropriate gate trigger pulses
to connect the input ac supply to the load for ‘n’ number of input cycles during the time
interval
The thyristor switches are turned off by blocking the gate trigger pulses for ‘m’ number
of input cycles during the time interval.
2. PHASE CONTROL
switching device is so operated that load gets connected to AC source for a part of each
half cycle of the input voltage.
The circuit diagram consists of one thyristor in antiparallel with one diode. This
configuration is called single phase half wave voltage controller.
When SCR is forward biased during positive half cycle, it is turned ON at firing angle α.
Load voltage at once jumps to Vm sinα and load current becomes (Vm/R) sinα.
The waveforms of output voltage and current are drawn. Thyristor gets turned off at wt=π
for R load.
The turns ratio of primary and each secondary is taken as unity for convenience. This means
that for source voltage vs=Vm sinwt, v1=v2=Vm sinwt and sum of two secondary voltages
is 2Vm sinwt.
For both R and RL type of loads, use only thyristor pair T3, T4 and keep T1, T2 off for
obtaining output voltage control from zero to RMS value V. For obtaining zero output
voltage, α is 180º and for V, α is zero. α is varied from zero to 180º.
a. Resistance load
For resistance load, the load current waveform is identical with output voltage waveform.
When T3, T4 is in operation with T1, T2 off, then the output voltage and current waveforms
are shown in figure.b.
When both pairs T1, T2 and T3, T4 are in operation, then firing angle α for T3, T4 is always
zero and firing angle for T1, T2 pair is varied from 180º to zero for obtaining voltage from
V to 2V.
When T3 is triggered at wt=0, the output voltage follows v2=Vm sinwt curve.
When T1 is triggered at wt= α, voltage v1 reverse biases T3, it is therefore turned off.
After this, T1 begins conduction and the output voltage jumps from v2 to v1+v2 and follows
2 Vm sinwt curve.
At wt= π, output voltage and current are zero.
At this instant T4 is triggered and output voltage follows Vm sinwt curve.
At wt=π+α, when forward biased T2 is triggered, T4 is reverse biased by Vm sinα and it
is turned off.
When T2 begins conduction, output voltage follows 2Vm sinwt as shown by negative half
cycle in fig.b. In this figure the output current waveform io is identical with output voltage
vo waveform.
When both pairs T1, T2 and T3, T4 are in use, the output voltage vo is shown in figure.b.
From 0 to α, vo follows Vm sinwt curve and from α to π, vo adopts to 2Vm sinwt curve.
b. RL load
c. During positive half cycle, T3 is conducting and a voltage v2=√2 Vm sinwt is applied to
the load.
d. At wt=α, when T1 is triggered, T3 is turned off by reverse voltage v1 and output voltage
jumps to v1+v2=2Vm sinwt.
e. At wt=π, v1+v2 reaches zero, but output current io is not zero because of the presence L
in the load.
f. Thus T1 continues conducting until wt=β, where io decays to zero and T1 which is
already reverse biased by v1+v2, is turned off.
g. T4 which is already gated at wt=π, starts conducting lowering voltage to v2.
h. At wt= π+α, T2 is triggered, v1 turns off T4 and output voltage in the negative half cycle
jumps to v1+v2.
i. At wt= 2π, v1+v2 reaches zero but io is not zero because of L.
j. At wt= π+β, io reaches zero. T2 which is already reverse biased is turned off and T3 gated
at wt=2π is turned ON lowering the voltage to v2 at wt=π+β.
k. At wt=2π+α, T1 turns ON and T3 turns off and output voltage jumps from v2 to v1+v2in
the positive half cycle.
When it is desired to lower the harmonic content than that in a two stage sequence control,
multi stage sequence control of AC voltage controller is employed.
In this, the transformer has n secondary windings. Each secondary is rated for vs/n and vs
is the source voltage.
Voltage of terminal a with respect to 0 is vs, voltage of terminal b is (n-1) vs /n and so on.
If voltage control from vdo= (n-3)vs/n to vco= (n-2) vs/n is required, then thyristor pair 4
is fired at α=0º and the firing angle thyristor pair 3 is controlled from α=0º to 180º whereas
all other thyristor pairs are kept off.
Similarly for controlling voltage from vbo= (n-1) vs/n to vao=vs, thyristor pair 2 is
triggered at α=0º whereas for pair 1, α is varied from 0º to 180º by keeping the remaining
(n-2) SCR pairs off.
Thus the load voltage can be controlled from vs/n to vs by an appropriate control of
triggering the adjacent thyristor pairs.
The presence of harmnics in the output voltage depends upon the magnitude of voltage
variation.
If this voltage variation is small fraction of the total output voltage, the harmonic content
in the output voltage is small.
For example, if voltage variation is vs/n<< (n-1) vs/n for voltage control from (n-2) vs/n to
(n-1)vs/n, then the harmonic content in the output voltage would be small.
Consider the operation of the cycloconverter to get one-fourth of the input frequency at
the output. For the first two cycles of vs, the positive converter operates supplying current
to the load. It rectifies the input voltage; therefore, the load sees 4 positive half cycles.
In the next two cycles, the negative converter operates supplying current to the load in the
reverse direction.
Note that when one of the converters operates the other one is disabled, so that there is no
current circulating between the two rectifiers.
The frequency of the output voltage, vo in Fig. b is 4 times less than that of vs, the input
voltage, i.e. fo/fi=1/4.
Thus, this is a step-down cycloconverter.
For converting three phase supply at one frequency to single phase supply at a lower
frequency, the basic principle is to vary progressively the firing angle of the three thyristors
of a three phase half wave circuit.
Firing angle at A is 90º, at B is less than 90º, at C, firing angle is further reduced than it is
at B and so on.
In this manner, a small delay in firing angle is introduced at C, D, E, F and G.
At ‘G’ the firing angle is zero and the mean output voltage given by Vo=V do cosα, is
maximum at G.
At A, the mean output voltage is zero as α=90º.
Mean output voltage is obtained by joi8ning points pertaining to average voltage values.
For example, at A, α=90º, Vo=0; at G, α=0º, therefore Vo has the maximum mean output
voltage and so on.
Fabricated output voltage given by thick curve can be resolved into fundamental frequency
output voltage plus several other harmonic components.
The load inductance can filter out the high frequency unwanted harmonics.
The figure shows that for one half cycle of fundamental frequency output voltage, there are
eight half cycles of supply frequency voltage.
This shows that output frequency fo=1/8fs where fs is the supply frequency.
For obtaining positive half cycle of low frequency output voltage, firing angle is varied
from 90º to zero and then to 90º.
For obtaining one cycle of low frequency output voltage, the firing angle should be varied
from 90º to zero degree to 90º for positive half cycle and from 90º to 180º and back to 90º
for negative half cycle.
From A to M, there is one half cycle of low frequency output voltage and eight half cycles
of supply frequency, indicating fo= (1/8) fs.
Thus a complete cycle of low frequency output voltage can be fabricated from the 3-phase
input voltage waveform by the use of phase controlled converters.
The cycloconverter can be made to deliver any pf load.
The converter circuit that permits the flow of current during positive half cycle of low
frequency output current is called positive converter group.
The other group that permits the flow of current during the negative half cycle of output
current is called negative converter group.
The figure uses two three phase half wave converters in antiparallel.
The positive group is for the conduction of positive load current and the negative group is
for the flow of negative load current.
When output current is positive, positive converter conducts.
When output voltage is positive, the positive converter acts as a rectifier.
When output voltage is negative, the converter acts as an inverter.
When 3-phase low frequency output is required, then three sets of phase controlled 3-phase
to 1-phase circuits are interconnected.(Fig.a)
Each phase of the three phase output must have a phase displacement of 120º.
The figure shows the circuit arrangement of three phase to three phase cycloconverter using
three sets of three phase half wave circuits employing a total of 18 thyristors.(Fig.b)
This device is also called three pulse 3 phase to 3 phase cycloconverter.
1. Venturini method
2. PWM method
3. Space vector modulation
Matrix converter
ADVANTAGES
1. Inherent bidirectional power flow
2. Sinusoidal input and output waveforms with moderate switching frequency
3. Possibility of compact design due to absence of DC-link reactive components
4. Controllable input power factor independent of the output load current
DISADVANTAGES
1. Non-availability of the bilateral fully controlled monolithic switches capable of high
frequency operation
2. Control implementation is difficult
3. An intrinsic limitation of the output-input voltage ratio
4. Commutation and protection of the power switches
5. INTRODUCTION
An AC Voltage Controller is a type of thyristor power converter which is used to convert a fixed voltage,
fixed frequency ac input supply to obtain a variable voltage ac output. The RMS value of the ac output
voltage and the ac power flow to the load is controlled by varying (adjusting) the trigger angle ‘α’.
V0(RMS)
AC Vs AC Variable AC
Input Voltage RMSO/P Voltage
Voltage fs Controller
fs fS
☞On-Off control
☞Phase control
These are the two ac output voltage control techniques.
The basic principle of on-off control technique is explained with reference to a single phase
full wave ac voltage controller circuit shown below.
The thyristor switches and are turned on by applying appropriate gate trigger pulses to
connect the input ac supply to the load for ‘n’ number of input cycles during the time interval
.
The thyristor switches and are turned off by blocking the gate trigger pulses for ‘m’ number
of input cycles during the time interval .
The ac controller ON time usually consists of an integral number of input cycles.
The basic philosophy of phase control in single phase voltage controllers is the same.
Here, switching device is so operated that load gets connected to AC source for a part of each half
cycle of the input voltage.
The circuit diagram consists of one thyristor in antiparallel with one diode. This configuration is
called single phase half wave voltage controller.
When SCR is forward biased during positive half cycle, it is turned ON at firing angle α.
Load voltage at once jumps to Vm sinα and load current becomes (Vm/R) sinα.
The waveforms of output voltage and current are drawn. Thyristor gets turned off at wt=π for R
load.
After wt=π, negative half cycle forward biases diode D1, therefore diode D1 conducts from wt=π
to 2π.
We should note that, only positive half cycle can be controlled, negative half cycle cannot be
controlled and so such single phase half wave voltage controller is also called single phase
unidirectional voltage controller.
The wave form reveals that positive half cycle is not identical with negative half cycle for both
voltage and current waveforms.
As a result, DC component is introduced in the supply and load circuits which is undesirable.
Fig. 5.5 Single phase full wave voltage controller with resistive load
It consists of two SCRs connected in antiparallel.
During positive half cycle, T1 is triggered at firing angle α, it conducts from wt= α to π for R load.
During negative half cycle, T2 is triggered at wt= π+α, it conducts from wt= π+α to 2π.
The waveform reveals that positive half cycle is identical with negative half cycle for both voltage
and current waveforms.
The power circuit is therefore introduces no direct component in the supply and load circuit.
This circuit is thus more suited to practical circuits than single phase half wave circuit.
Single phase full wave AC voltage controller is also called single phase bidirectional voltage
controller.
RMS Value of output (load) voltage
The RMS value of output voltage (load voltage) can be found using the expression
For a full wave ac voltage controller, we can see that the two half cycles of output voltage waveforms are
symmetrical and the output pulse time period (or output pulse repetition time) is
π radians. Hence we can also calculate the RMS output voltage by using the expression given
below.
Maximum RMS voltage will be applied to the load when α=0, in that case the full sine wave appears
across the load. RMS load voltage will be the same as the RMS supply voltage=
When α is increased the RMS load voltage decreases.
The figure shows a single phase voltage controller feeding power to a resistive load R. Two
thyristors are connected in anti-parallel.
T1 and T2 are forward biased during positive and negative half cycles respectively.
During positive half cycle, T1 is triggered at firing angle α. T1 starts conducting and source voltage
is applied to load from α to π.
At π, both vo, io fall to zero. Just after π, T1 is subjected to reverse bias, it is therefore turned off.
During negative half cycle, T2 is triggered at (π+α). T2 conducts from π+α to 2π.
Soon after 2π, T2 is subjected to a reverse bias, it is therefore commutated. Load and source current
have the same waveform.
From zero to α, T1 is forward biased, vT1=vs. From α, T1 conducts, vT1 is therefore about 1V.
After π, T1 is reverse biased by source voltage, therefore vT1=vs from π to π+α.
From π+α to 2π, T2 conducts. T1 is therefore reverse biased by voltage drop across T2 which is
about 1 to 1.5V.
The voltage variation vT1 across T1 is shown in figure.
Examination of figure reveals that for any value of α, each thyristor is reverse biased for π/w
second.
There is thus no restriction on the value of firing angle α.
Firing angle can therefore be controlled from zero to π and RMS output voltage from Vs to zero.
Here Vs is the RMS value of source voltage.
Circuit turn off time, tc=π/w sec.
The solution of the above equation gives the output load current which is of the form
The term sequence control means that the stages of voltage controllers in parallel are triggered in a proper
sequence one after the other so as to obtain a variable output voltage with low harmonic content.
Advantages of two stage control of voltage controller over 1- phase full wave AC voltage controller
are
1. Load current is continuous even for R load as a result the load performance is better.
2. Wider control of load voltage
3. Reduction of harmonics in the load and supply current
Disadvantages
1. More complex firing circuitry
2. More expensive voltage controller
a. Resistance load
For resistance load, the load current waveform is identical with output voltage waveform.
When T3, T4 is in operation with T1, T2 off, then the output voltage and current waveforms are
shown in figure.b.
When both pairs T1, T2 and T3, T4 are in operation, then firing angle α for T3, T4 is always zero
and firing angle for T1, T2 pair is varied from 180º to zero for obtaining voltage from V to 2V.
When T3 is triggered at wt=0, the output voltage follows v2=Vm sinwt curve.
When T1 is triggered at wt= α, voltage v1 reverse biases T3, it is therefore turned off.
After this, T1 begins conduction and the output voltage jumps from v2 to v1+v2 and follows 2 Vm
sinwt curve.
At wt= π, output voltage and current are zero.
At this instant T4 is triggered and output voltage follows Vm sinwt curve.
At wt=π+α, when forward biased T2 is triggered, T4 is reverse biased by Vm sinα and it is turned
off.
When T2 begins conduction, output voltage follows 2Vm sinwt as shown by negative half cycle
in fig.b. In this figure the output current waveform io is identical with output voltage vo waveform.
When both pairs T1, T2 and T3, T4 are in use, the output voltage vo is shown in figure.b.
From 0 to α, vo follows Vm sinwt curve and from α to π, vo adopts to 2Vm sinwt curve.
During positive half cycle, T3 is conducting and a voltage v2=√2 Vm sinwt is applied to the
load.
At wt=α, when T1 is triggered, T3 is turned off by reverse voltage v1 and output voltage jumps to
v1+v2=2Vm sinwt.
At wt=π, v1+v2 reaches zero, but output current io is not zero because of the presence L in the
load.
Thus T1 continues conducting until wt=β, where io decays to zero and T1 which is already
reverse biased by v1+v2, is turned off.
T4 which is already gated at wt=π, starts conducting lowering voltage to v2.
At wt= π+α, T2 is triggered, v1 turns off T4 and output voltage in the negative half cycle jumps
to v1+v2.
At wt= 2π, v1+v2 reaches zero but io is not zero because of L.
At wt= π+β, io reaches zero. T2 which is already reverse biased is turned off and T3 gated at
wt=2π is turned ON lowering the voltage to v2 at wt=π+β.
At wt=2π+α, T1 turns ON and T3 turns off and output voltage jumps from v2 to v1+v2in the
positive half cycle.
When it is desired to lower the harmonic content than that in a two stage sequence control, multi
stage sequence control of AC voltage controller is employed.
In this, the transformer has n secondary windings. Each secondary is rated for vs/n and vs is the
source voltage.
Voltage of terminal a with respect to 0 is vs, voltage of terminal b is (n-1) vs /n and so on.
If voltage control from vdo= (n-3)vs/n to vco= (n-2) vs/n is required, then thyristor pair 4 is fired
at α=0º and the firing angle thyristor pair 3 is controlled from α=0º to 180º whereas all other
thyristor pairs are kept off.
Similarly for controlling voltage from vbo= (n-1) vs/n to vao=vs, thyristor pair 2 is triggered at
α=0º whereas for pair 1, α is varied from 0º to 180º by keeping the remaining (n-2) SCR pairs off.
Thus the load voltage can be controlled from vs/n to vs by an appropriate control of triggering the
adjacent thyristor pairs.
The presence of harmnics in the output voltage depends upon the magnitude of voltage variation.
If this voltage variation is small fraction of the total output voltage, the harmonic content in the
output voltage is small.
For example, if voltage variation is vs/n<< (n-1) vs/n for voltage control from (n-2) vs/n to (n-
1)vs/n, then the harmonic content in the output voltage would be small.
For obtaining continuous voltage controller over a wide range with low harmonic content and
improved power factor, a multi stage sequence controller must have quite a large number of stages.
Since it is an expensive proposition, an alternative to this, with less number of stages and called
single stage sinusoidal voltage controller is usually employed.
This voltage controller has one primary winding and (n+1) secondary windings. It means that
single phase sinusoidal voltage controller has (n+1) stages.
The top secondary winding numbered A, is called Vernier winding. Its rating is v volts.
The voltage ratings of the remaining n windings are in geometric procession with a ratio of 2.
Thus if v is the voltage rating of the secondary numbered 2 is 2v, that of numbered 3 is 4v, that of
numbered 4 is 8v and that of numbered n is 2n-1 .v volts
In the power circuit, TC1, TC2, ….are called control thyristors and TB1, TB2,…are called bypass
thyristors.
Vernier winding has two pairs of thyristors marked TCA and TBA.
Thyristors TC1, TC2,…TCn and TB1, TB2, …TBn are either ON or OFF throughout a cycle.
This means that control and bypass thyristors are made to act as switches which remain ON or
OFF during a cycle.
When control thyristor pair for any stage is ON and its bypass thyristor pair is OFF, then voltage
of that stage would appear across the load and a load current would flow accordingly.
On the other hand, if control SCR pair is OFF and bypass pair is ON for any stage, then this
particular stage would be bypassed and will not contribute any voltage across the load.
Thus with an appropriate series combination of secondaries from 1 to n, the load voltage can be
varied from v to (2n-1)v in discrete steps of v.
As stated above, an additional stage A is employed as a Vernier to permit continuous control of
voltage from zero to v. It is a phase controlled secondary winding.
This winding contributes harmonics to line and load currents.
Since the contribution of voltage by Vernier winding to the load voltage is only a small fraction of
the total load voltage, the harmonic content would be much lower.
VAN=√𝟐 𝑽𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒘𝒕
𝟐𝝅
VBN=√𝟐 𝑽𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏 (𝒘𝒕 − )
𝟑
𝟒𝝅
VCN=√𝟐 𝑽𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏 (𝒘𝒕 − )
𝟑
𝝅
VBC=√𝟔 𝑽𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏 (𝒘𝒕 − 𝟐 )
𝝅
VCA= √𝟔 𝑽𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒏 (𝒘𝒕 − 𝟕 𝟔 )
ia=iab-ica
ib=ibc-iab
ic=ica-ibc
Cyclo-converters are constructed using naturally commutated thyristors with inherent capability
of bidirectional power flow.
These can be single phase to single phase, single phase to three- phase and three-phase to three
phase converters.
So the control circuit implementation is not simple because large number of SCRs, typically 4 or
8 SCRs for single phase and 36 for three- phase supply.
For such controller, a microcontroller or microprocessor or DSP is used to trigger SCRs.
Basically, these are divided into two main types, and are given below.
1. STEP-DOWN CYCLO-CONVERTER
It acts like a step-down transformer that provides the output frequency less than that of input,
fo < fi.
2. STEP-UP CYCLO-CONVERTER
It provides the output frequency more than that of input, fo > fi.
In case of step-down cyclo-converter, the output frequency is limited to a fraction of input
frequency, typically it is below 20Hz in case 50Hz supply frequency. In this case, no separate
commutation circuits are needed as SCRs are line commutated devices.
But in case of step-up cyclo-converter, forced commutation circuits are needed to turn OFF SCRs
at desired frequency. Such circuits are relatively very complex. Therefore, majority of cyclo-
converters are of step-down type that lowers the frequency than input frequency.
Besides the frequency control, cyclo-converter output voltage can be varied by applying phase
control technique. These can be used to provide either fixed frequency output from variable
frequency input value or variable frequency output from fixed frequency input.
These are mainly used in very high power, low speed AC motors and traction systems, especially
low frequency three-phase to single phase systems.
This converter consists of back-to-back connection of two full-wave rectifier circuits. The input
voltage, vs is an AC voltage at a frequency.
For easy understanding assume that all the thyristors are fired firing angle, i.e. thyristors act like
diodes. Note that the firing angles are named as αP for the positive converter and αN for the
negative converter.
Consider the operation of the cycloconverter to get one-fourth of the input frequency at the output.
For the first two cycles of vs, the positive converter operates supplying current to the load. It
rectifies the input voltage; therefore, the load sees 4 positive half cycles.
In the next two cycles, the negative converter operates supplying current to the load in the reverse
direction.
The current waveforms are not shown in the figures because the resistive load current will have
the same waveform as the voltage but only scaled by the resistance.
Note that when one of the converters operates the other one is disabled, so that there is no current
circulating between the two rectifiers.
The frequency of the output voltage, vo in Fig. b is 4 times less than that of vs, the input voltage,
i.e. fo/fi=1/4.
Thus, this is a step-down cycloconverter. On the other hand, cycloconverters that have fo/fi>1
frequency relation are called step-up cycloconverters.
Note that step-down cycloconverters are more widely used than the step-up ones.
The frequency of vo can be changed by varying the number of cycles the positive and the negative
converters work. It can only change as integer multiples of fi in 1f-1f cycloconverters.
With the above operation, the 1f-1f cycloconverter can only supply a certain voltage at a certain
firing angle a. The dc output of each rectifier is:
A step down cyclo converter does not require forced commutation. It requires phase controlled
converters.
These converters need only line, or natural commutation which is provided by AC supply.
1. MID-POINT CYCLO CONVERTER
Now N2 is commutated and N1 is gated at (5π+α). Load current io becomes more negative than
AB at (6π+α), this is because with N1 on, load voltage is negative.
For four negative half cycles of output voltage, current io is shown in fig.c.
When α is positive with respect to 0 in fig, forward biased SCR P1 is triggered at wt=α.
With this, load current io starts building up in the positive direction from A to O.
Load current io becomes zero at wt=β>π but less than (π+α). Thyristor P1 is thus naturally
commutated at at wt=β.
After half a cycle, b is positive with respect to O. Now forward biased SCR P2 is triggered at wt=
π+α. Load current is again positive from A to O and builds up from zero.
At wt=π+β, io decays to zero and P2 is naturally commutated. At 2π+α, P1 is again turned ON.
Load current is seen to be discontinuous.
After four positive half cycles of load voltage and load current, thyristor N2 is gated at (4π+α)
when 0 is positive with respect to b.
As N2 is forward biased it starts conducting but load current direction is reversed i.e from O to A.
After N2 is triggered, load current builds up in the negative direction as shown in fig.c.
In the next half cycle, 0 is positive with respect to ‘a’ but before N1 is fired, io decays to zero and
N2 is naturally commutated.
Now when N1 is gated at (5π+α), io again builds up but it decays to zero before N2 is again gated.
In this manner, four negative half cycles of load voltage and load current, equal to the number of
four positive half cycles, are generated.
Now P1 is again triggered to fabricate further four positive half cycles of load voltage and so on.
For discontinuous load current, natural commutation is achieved, i.e, P1 goes to blocking state
before P2 is gated and so on.
The frequency of output voltage and current is fo=1/4 fs.
Continuous load current
When ‘a’ is positive with respect to 0, P1 is triggered at wt=α, positive output voltage appears
across load and load current starts building up.
At wt=π, supply and load voltages are zero. After wt=π, P1 is reverse biased. As load current is
continuous, P1 is not turned off at wt=π.
When P2 is triggered at π+α, a reverse voltage appears across P1, it is therefore turned off by
natural commutation.
When P1 is commutated, load current has built up to a value equal to RR as shown in fig.c.
With the turning on of P2 at (π+α), output voltage is again positive. As a consequence, load current
builds up further than RR as shown in fig.c.
At (2π+α), when P1 is again turned on, P2 is naturally commutated and load current through P1
builds up beyond RS.
At the end of four positive half cycles of output voltage, load current is RU.
When N2 is now triggered after P2, load is subjected to a negative voltage cycle and load current
io decreases from positive RU to negative AB as show in fig.c.
Now N2 is commutated and N1 is gated at (5π+α). Load current io becomes more negative than
AB at (6π+α), this is because with N1 on, load voltage is negative.
For four negative half cycles of output voltage, current io is shown in fig.c.
Fig.d is load current waveform inder steady state conditions.
The positive group of voltage wave and current wave consists of four pulses and same is true for
negative group of wave.
One positive group of pulses along with one negative group of identical pulses constitute one cycle
for the load voltage and load current.
The supply voltage has, however gone through four cycles. The output frequency is therefore,
fo=1/4fs.
For converting three phase supply at one frequency to single phase supply at a lower frequency,
the basic principle is to vary progressively the firing angle of the three thyristors of a three phase
half wave circuit.
Firing angle at A is 90º, at B is less than 90º, at C, firing angle is further reduced than it is at B and
so on.
In this manner, a small delay in firing angle is introduced at C, D, E, F and G.
At ‘G’ the firing angle is zero and the mean output voltage given by Vo=Vdo cosα, is maximum at
G.
At A, the mean output voltage is zero as α=90º.
After point G, a small delay in firing angle is further introduced progressively at points H, I, J, K,
L and M.
At ‘M’ the firing angle is again 90º and the value of mean output voltage is zero.
The single phase output voltage, fabricated from three phase input voltage is shown by thick curve.
Mean output voltage is obtained by joi8ning points pertaining to average voltage values.
For example, at A, α=90º, Vo=0; at G, α=0º, therefore Vo has the maximum mean output voltage
and so on.
Fabricated output voltage given by thick curve can be resolved into fundamental frequency output
voltage plus several other harmonic components.
The load inductance can filter out the high frequency unwanted harmonics.
The figure shows that for one half cycle of fundamental frequency output voltage, there are eight
half cycles of supply frequency voltage.
This shows that output frequency fo=1/8fs where fs is the supply frequency.
For obtaining positive half cycle of low frequency output voltage, firing angle is varied from 90º
to zero and then to 90º.
For obtaining one cycle of low frequency output voltage, the firing angle should be varied from
90º to zero degree to 90º for positive half cycle and from 90º to 180º and back to 90º for negative
half cycle.
The magnitude of progressive change in firing angle is given by (reduction factor in frequency) x
120º
If reduction factor (output frequency/ input frequency) is 1/8.
Fig. 5.23 Fabricated and mean output voltage waveforms for a single phase cycloconverter
Therefore, progressive step variation in firing angle =(1/8) x 120º= 15º
In figure, at A, α=90º, at B, α=90-15=75º, at C, α=60º, at D, α=45º….,at G, α=0, at H, α=15º and
so on till α=90º at M.
From A to M, there is one half cycle of low frequency output voltage and eight half cycles of
supply frequency, indicating fo= (1/8) fs.
Thus a complete cycle of low frequency output voltage can be fabricated from the 3-phase input
voltage waveform by the use of phase controlled converters.
The cycloconverter can be made to deliver any pf load.
In a thyristor converter circuit, current can only flow in one direction. For allowing the flow of
current in both the directions during one complete cycle of load current, two three phase half wave
converters must be connected in antiparallel as shown in figure.
The converter circuit that permits the flow of current during positive half cycle of low frequency
output current is called positive converter group.
The other group that permits the flow of current during the negative half cycle of output current is
called negative converter group.
The figure uses two three phase half wave converters in antiparallel.
The positive group is for the conduction of positive load current and the negative group is for the
flow of negative load current.
When output current is positive, positive converter conducts.
When output voltage is positive, the positive converter acts as a rectifier.
In a dual converter, though the output voltages of the two converters in the same phase have the
same average value, their output voltage waveform as a function of time are different.
Fig. 5.24 circuit of three phase to single phase cycloconverter. A. schematic b. basic circuit configuration
with IG reactor
Fig. 5.25 voltage and current waveforms for a three phase half wave cycloconverter
As a result, there will be a net potential difference across the two converters.
This net voltage would cause a circulating current in the two converters.
This circulating current can be avoided by removing the gating signals from idle converter or can
be limited to a low value by inserting an intergroup reactor between the positive and negative
converters.
In order that the average value of the output voltage of the two converters are equal in magnitude
and opposite in sign, the sum of their firing angles must be 180º.
In other words αp+αn=180º, where αp=positive group converter, αn=negative group converter
When 3-phase low frequency output is required, then three sets of phase controlled 3-phase to 1-
phase circuits are interconnected.(Fig.a)
Each phase of the three phase output must have a phase displacement of 120º.
The figure shows the circuit arrangement of three phase to three phase cycloconverter using three
sets of three phase half wave circuits employing a total of 18 thyristors.(Fig.b)
This device is also called three pulse 3 phase to 3 phase cycloconverter.
1. Venturini method
2. PWM method
3. Space vector modulation
ADVANTAGES
1. Inherent bidirectional power flow
2. Sinusoidal input and output waveforms with moderate switching frequency
3. Possibility of compact design due to absence of DC-link reactive components
4. Controllable input power factor independent of the output load current
DISADVANTAGES
1. Non-availability of the bilateral fully controlled monolithic switches capable of high frequency
operation
2. Control implementation is difficult
3. An intrinsic limitation of the output-input voltage ratio
4. Commutation and protection of the power switches
APPLICATIONS OF CYCLOCONVERTER
1. Cement mill drives.
2. Rolling mills.
3. Ship propulsion drivers.
4. Water pumps.
5. Washing machines
6. Mine winders.
7. Industries.
PART- A
1. What are the applications of cyclo converter? (Nov/Dec- 2011)
2. What is Integral cycle control? (Nov/Dec- 2011)
3. What is meant by cyclo converter? (Nov/Dec- 2010)
4. Write the output R.M.S. voltage for single phase AC voltage controller with resistance
load. (Nov/Dec- 2010)
5. Write the principle of operation of cyclo converter. (Nov/Dec- 2012)
6. Give any two important applications of AC voltage controllers. (Nov/Dec- 2012)
7. What is a matrix converter? (Nov/Dec- 2013)
8. Enumerate some of the industrial applications of cyclo-converter. (Nov/Dec- 2013)
9. What is the control range of firing angle in AC voltage controller with RL load? (May/ June-
2014)
10. What is matrix converter? (May/ June- 2014)
11. What is cycloconverter?
12. What is integral cycle control in AC voltage controller?
13. Write the output RMS voltage for single phase AC voltage controller with resistive
load.
14. What is the difference between ON-OFF control and phase control?
15. What is the advantage of ON-OFF control?
16. What is the duty cycle in ON-OFF control method?
17. What are the disadvantages of unidirectional or half-wave ac voltage controller?
18. What type of gating signal is used in single phase ac voltage controller with RL load?
19. What is meant by cyclo-converter?
20. What are the applications of cyclo-converter?
21. What does ac voltage controller mean?
22. What are the applications of ac voltage controllers?
23. Write down the expression for single phase and three phase RMS output voltage of single
phase and three phase cyclo converter?
24. Compare single phase cyclo converter over three phase cyclo converter.
25. Define Multistage sequence Control.
26. What is integral cycle control?
PART –B
1. Discuss the working of 2 stage sequence control of AC voltage controller. (16)
(Nov/Dec- 2011)
2. Describe the operation of single phase full wave AC voltage controller with the
help of voltage and current waveform. Also derive the expression for average value of
output voltage. (10) (Nov/Dec- 2010) Explain the operation of single phase full
wave AC voltage regulator with help of voltage and current waveform. (10) (Nov/Dec-
2015)
3. Describe three-phase to three phase cycloconverter with relevant circuit arrangement
using 18 thyristors. (8) (Nov/Dec- 2010)
4. Discuss the basic principle of 1phase to 1 phase step down cycloconverter for a bridge type
converter. Assume both discontinuous and continuous conduction and draw the load current
and load voltage waveforms for both the cases. Mark the conduction of various thyristors.
(16) (Nov/Dec- 2013)
5. Write short note on the following: (16) (Nov/Dec- 2013)
1. Integral cycle control
2. Multistage sequence control
3. Step up cyclo converter
4. Matrix converter
6. With the aid of circuit diagram and waveform explain the operation of
i. power factor control in AC voltage regulation (8)
ii. Single phase full wave AC voltage controller. (8) (May/ June- 2014)
7. Explain the circuit diagram of three phase to single phase cyclo converter and explain its
operation with necessary waveforms. (16) (May/ June- 2014) Draw the circuit diagram of 3
phase to 1 phase cyclo converter and explain its operation with waveform. (May/ June- 2016)
Explain the working of three phase to single phase cycloconverter with neat circuit
diagram and necessary waveforms. (16) (Nov/Dec- 2015) Discuss the operation of three
phase-single phase cycloconverter with neat circuit diagram and waveforms. (Nov/Dec-
2012) Discuss the working of a 3 phase to single phase cyclo-converter with neat
voltage and current waveforms. (16) (Nov/Dec- 2011) Write short notes on the following:
Three phase to single phase cyclo converter (10) (Nov/Dec- 2014)
8. Write short notes on the following: Matrix converter (Nov/Dec- 2014), Write a short notes
on matrix converter. (6) (Nov/Dec- 2015)
9. Discuss the working of a single phase AC voltage controller with RL loads when its firing
angle is more than the load power factor angle. Illustrate with waveforms. (May/ June- 2016)
10. With the aid of the circuit diagram, explain the operation of 3phase to 3 phase cyclo
converter employing 3 phase half wave circuit and list few of its applications. (May/ June-
2016)