A REPORT

On DC Choppers
Submitted

By Atul Kumar Thakur (Roll No-16916061023) Electrical Engineering 4th year

ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY AEDCONAGAR, HOOGHLY (W.B). PIN-712121

2009

CONTENTS

Sly. No.

Topic Introduction Step down chopper Step up chopper Classification of choppers Control strategies Applications Bibliography

Page No.

1 2 3 4 5 6

Introduction
Many industrial applications require power from dc voltage sources. Several of these applications, however, perform better in case these are fed from variable dc voltage sources.

The conversion of fixed DC voltage to an adjustable DC output voltage, through the use of semiconductor devices is called chopping. A chopper is a static device that converts fixed dc input voltage to a variable dc output voltage directly. It is a high speed on/off semiconductor switch (connects source to the load and disconnects the load from the source at a fast speed). The power semiconductor device used for a chopper circuit can be force commutated thyristor, power BJT, power MOSFET, GTO or IGBT. A chopper may be thought of as dc equivalent of an ac transformer since they behave in an identical manner. Like a transformer, a chopper can be used to step down or step up the fixed dc input voltage. Chopper systems offer smooth control, high efficiency, fast response and regeneration.

Principle of Step Down operation

The step down chopper can be described by the following circuit; here a step down chopper with resistive load is shown.

The thyristor in the circuit acts as a switch. The thyristor can be turned-on or turned-off as desired. When thyristor is ON, supply voltage appears across the load .When thyristor is OFF, the voltage across the load will be zero. The output voltage and current waveforms are shown below.

Now, the various parameters can be assumed as:

Vdc = A verage value of output or load voltage. I dc = A verage value of output or load current. tON = Time interval for which SCR conducts. tOFF = Time interval for which SCR is OFF. T =t ON+ t OFF= Period of switching or chopping period. freq. 1 f = = Freq. of chopper switching or chopping T

The average output voltage can be found by

Average Output Voltage tON Vdc =V tON +tOFF t Vdc =V ON = V d . T t but ON =d = duty cycle t

As the duty cycle is always less than 1. So, the output voltage is less than the input voltage.

Principle of Step Up operation

The step up choppers are used to obtain output voltage greater than the input voltage. The basic circuit for step up operation is shown below

I +

D +
L O A D

V C h o p p e r

The values of L and C are chosen depending upon the requirement of output voltage and current. When the chopper is on the inductor is connected across the supply. The current in the inductor rises or in other words the inductor stores energy. When the chopper is OFF the inductor current is forced to flow through the diode and the load. The current tend to decrease as to reverse the polarity of induced emf in the inductor. The expression for the output current can be written as:

dI VO = V + L dt

.i ., e

VO > V

We clearly see that the output voltage is greater than the input voltage.

Classification of choppers
Choppers can be classified as: Class A chopper Class B chopper

 Class C chopper Class D chopper Class E chopper Class A chopper: It is a step down chopper in which the average value of output voltage and current is always positive. A free wheeling diode (FWD) is connected across the load to prevent the output current being negative. Its region of operation is in the first quadrant only, so it is also called first-quadrant chopper. The circuit and the waveforms are shown below.
i0 C V h o p F W p e r D +
L O A D

v0

v0 V

ig T h y r i s t o r g a t e p u l s e t i0 O C v H O N t
0

i0

u t p u t

c u r r e n t

o n d u c t s

u t p u t

v o l t a g e

tO

t
N

Class B chopper: In this type the average output voltage is positive but the average output current is negative. Therefore the class B chopper operates in the second quadrant. Power flows from the load to the source. It is a step up chopper. It is widely used for

regenerative breaking of DC motors. Its circuit and waveforms are shown below:
D i0 R V C h o p p e r E L v0 i0 + v0

ig

T h y r i s t o r g a t e p u l s e t tO tO T

i0

t O u t p u t c u r r e n t

Im Im v
0

a x i n

D c o n

uC c h t so p p e r c o n d u c t s

u t p u t

v o l t a g e

Class C choppers: Class C Chopper is a combination of Class A and Class B Choppers. For first quadrant operation, CH1 is ON or D2 conducts. For second quadrant operation, CH2 is ON or D1 conducts. When CH1 is ON, the load current is positive. The output voltage is equal to V & the load receives power from the

source. When CH1 is turned OFF, energy stored in inductance L forces current to flow through the diode D2 and the output voltage is zero. Current continues to flow in positive direction. When CH2 is triggered, the voltage E forces current to flow in opposite direction through L and CH2 .The output voltage is zero turning OFF CH2, the energy stored in the inductance drives current through diode D1 and the supply Output voltage is V, the input current becomes negative and power flows from load to source.
C
1

i0 V C
2

+ R

v0

H C h o p

L e r E

v0 i0
G a t e p u l s e o f C 1H t G a t e o f C p u l s e H t

ig

ig

i0 O u t p u t c u r r e n t t
D
1

C O

H1 N

C O

H2 N

C O

H1 N

C H2 O N

u t p u t

v o l t a g e t

Class D chopper: Class D is a two quadrant chopper. When both CH1 and CH2 are triggered simultaneously, the output voltage = V and output current flows through the load. When CH1 and CH2 are turned OFF, the load current continues to flow in the same direction through load, D1 and D2, due to the energy stored in the inductor L. Average load voltage is positive if chopper ON time is

more than the OFF time .Average output voltage becomes negative if tON < tOFF .Hence the direction of load current is always positive but load voltage can be positive or negative.
v0 C
1

H R i0 v L
0

D E C
2

V D
1

i0

ig

a t e o f C1

p u l s e H t u l s e t

ig

a t e f C2

p H

i0 O u t p u t c u r r e n t

C v V
0

H 1 O

, C N

2H

1 , D

o n

d u c t i n g O A u t p u t e

t v o l t a g t e

v e r v a0 g

Class E chopper: Class E is a four quadrant chopper. When CH1 and CH4 are triggered, output current flows in positive direction through CH1 and CH4, and with output voltage = V. This gives the first quadrant operation. When both CH1 and CH4 are OFF, the energy stored in the inductor L drives iO through D2 and D3 in the same direction, but output voltage vO = -V.

D i0 +

C R L v0
2

E C
4

V C
2

v C D H 2
1

D 4
4

C C

o C n H d u c - t sC 1 o C d H u c t- s D n 4 2 i0

H 4

O N o n d u c t s

C C H 2

H 3

D 4

H D 2 -O N D 3 C 2 C oC n H d u c- t D s 4 2

o n d u c t s C o n d u c t s

Control strategies
The output voltage can be controlled by varying the duty cycle. Following are the methods for varying duty cycle: 1. Time Ratio Control (TRC) 2. Current-limit control

Time Ratio Control In this control scheme, the time ratio is varied. This is realized in two different strategies: (a.) Constant frequency system: In this scheme the don time is varied keeping the frequency constant. Variation of on-time means adjustment of pulse width, as this scheme is also known as pulsewidth modulation (PWM). (b.) Variable frequency system: In this scheme, the chopping frequency is varied and either on-time or off-time is kept constant. This scheme is also known as frequency modulation. Current-limit control In this control scheme, the on and off of chopper circuit is guided by the previous set value of load current. These two set values are maximum load current and minimum load current. When load current reaches the upper limit, chopper is switched off. Now load current freewheels and begin to decay exponentially. When it falls to lower limit, chopper is switched on and load current begins to rise. Load current cannot be discontinuous in this case Current-limit control involves feedback loop, the trigger circuitry for the chopper is therefore more complex. Among the various control schemes the pulse width modulation (PWM) technique is widely used.

Application of choppers