Power Electronics

Chapter 4
AC to AC Converters
( AC Controllers and
Frequency Converters )
Power Electronics Classification of AC to AC converters

Same frequency Variable

variable magnitude frequency
AC power
AC power AC power

AC controllers Frequency converters

(Cycloconverters)

AC to AC converters
2
Power Electronics Classification of AC controllers
Phase control: AC voltage controller
(Delay angle control)

Integral cycle control: AC power controller

AC controller
PWM control: AC chopper
(Chopping control)

On/off switch: electronic AC switch

PWM: Pulse Width Modulation

3
Power Electronics Classification of frequency converters

Phase control: thyristor cycloconverter

(Delay angle control)
Frequency converter
(Cycloconverter)
PWM control: matrix converter
(Chopping control)

Cycloconverter is sometimes referred to

– in a broader sense—any ordinary AC to AC converter
– in a narrower sense—thyristor cycloconverter

4
Power Electronics Outline
4.1 AC voltage controllers

4.2 Other AC controllers

4.3 Thyristor cycloconverters

4.4 Matrix converters

5
Power Electronics 4.1 AC voltage controllers
4.1.1 Single-phase AC voltage controller
4.1.2 Three-phase AC voltage controller

Applications
Lighting control
Soft-start of asynchronous motors
Adjustable speed drive of asynchronous motors
Reactive power control

6
 4.1.1 Single-phase AC voltage controller
Power Electronics
Resistive load u1
VT1
io O ωt
uo
VT2
u1 uo R O ωt
io

O ωt
u VT
The phase shift range
(operation range of phase
delay angle): O ωt

0≤α≤π
7
Power Electronics Resistive load, quantitative analysis
RMS value of output voltage
Uo =
1
π∫
( π

α
)
2U1 sinω t d(ω t ) = U1
2 1
2π
sin 2α +
π −α
π (4-1)

RMS value of output current

Uo
Io = (4-2)
R
RMS value of thyristor current
2
1 ⎛⎜ 2U1 sinω t ⎞⎟
π 1 α sin 2α
( ) U1
2π ∫α ⎜⎝
IT = ⎟ d ω t = (1 − + ) (4-3)
R ⎠ R 2 π 2π

Power factor of the circuit

P UoIo Uo 1 π −α
λ= = = = sin 2α + (4-4)
S U1 I o U1 2π π

8
 Inductive (Inductor-resistor) load,
Power Electronics operation principle
u1

VT1
O ωt
io uG1 0.6

O ωt
VT2 uG2
u1 uo R O
uo
ωt

O ωt
io

The phase shift range: O ωt

ϕ≤α≤π uVT

O ωt

9
Power Electronics Inductive load, quantitative analysis
Differential equation
180
di

ϕ= °
L o + Rio = 2U 1 sin ω t

75 °
60 °
45 °

90°
30 °
dt

15 °
0
140
io ω t =α = 0 (4-5)

Solution 100

θ /(°)
60

(4-6)
20

Considering io=0 when ωt=α+θ 0 20 60 100 140 180

α /(°)
We have −θ

sin( α + θ − ϕ ) = sin( α − ϕ ) e tg ϕ
(4-7)

The RMS value of output voltage, output current, and thyristor

current can then be calculated.

10
Power Electronics Inductive load, when α < ϕ
The circuit can still work.
u1

The load current will be

O ωt
continuous just like the iG1
thyristors are short-circuit,
and the thyristors can no Oα π ωt
iG2
longer control the
magnitude of output voltage. O iT1α+π ωt
io ϕ

The start-up transient will be Oα θ ωt

iT2
the same as the transient
when a RL load is
Start-up transient
connected to an AC source
at ωt =α (α < ϕ).

11
 Harmonic analysis
Power Electronics There is no DC component and 100
even order harmonics in the
current. 80
– The current waveform is half- Fundamental
wave symmetric.
60

In/I*/%
The higher the number of 40
harmonic ordinate, the lower the 3
harmonic content.
20
5
α = 90° is when harmonics is the 7
most severe. 0 60 120 180
α/( °)
The situation for the inductive
load is similar to that for the Current harmonics
resistive load except that the for the resistive load
corresponding harmonic content
is lower and is even lower as ϕ is
increasing. 12
Power Electronics 4.1.2 Three-phase AC voltage controller
Classification of three-phase circuits

Y connection Line-controlled ∆ connection

Branch-controlled ∆ connection Neutral-point-controlled ∆ connection

13
 3-phase 3-wire Y connection
Power Electronics AC voltage controller
VT 1 U a0'
ia
a
ua
VT 4
VT 3
n b n'
u
b VT 6
VT 5
c
u
c VT 2
For a time instant, there are 2 possible conduction states:
– Each phase has a thyristor conducting. Load voltages are the
same as the source voltages.
– There are only 2 thyristors conducting, each from a phase. The
load voltages of the two conducting phases are half of the
corresponding line to line voltage, while the load voltage of the
other phase is 0.
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 3-phase 3-wire Y connection
Power Electronics AC voltage controller
Resistive load, 0° ≤ α < 60°

VT 1 VT 4 VT 1
VT 6 VT 3 VT 6
VT 5 VT 2 VT 5

u ab ua u ac
2
2
u ao'

0 α π 2π 4π 5 π 2 π
3 3 3 3
t t t
1 2 3

15
 3-phase 3-wire Y connection
Power Electronics AC voltage controller
Resistive load, 60° ≤ α < 90°

VT VT VT VT
5 1 3 5
VT VT VT VT
6 2 4 6
u
ab u
u ac
2 a
2
u 4π 5π
ao'
3 3
0 π 2π π 2π
α 3 3
t t t
1 2 3

16
 3-phase 3-wire Y connection
Power Electronics AC voltage controller
Resistive load, 90° ≤ α < 150°
VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT
5 5 1 1 3 3 5 5

VT VT VT VT VT VT VT VT
u 4 6
u 6u 2 2 4 4 6
ab a
ac
2
u 2 5π
ao'
3
π 2π π 4π
0 2π
3 3 3
α

17
 3-phase 3-wire branch-controlled
Power Electronics ∆ connection AC voltage controller
The operation principle is the same as 3 independent single-
phase AC voltage controllers.

Application—Thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR)

– To control the effective current flowing through the reactor by
controlling delay angle, therefore control the reactive power
absorbed by the reactor.

ua a
ia

n b
ub

c a) b) c)
uc

18
Power Electronics 4.2 Other AC controllers
4.2.1 Integral cycle control—AC power controller

4.2.2 Electronic AC switch

4.2.3 Chopping control—AC chopper

19
 4.2.1 Integral cycle control
Power Electronics —AC power controller
Conduction 2πN
uo angle = M
VT1 2 U1 uo,io u1
io 2π
M
O π 3π 4π ωt
u1 VT2 uo
M M M
R
Line period

Control period =M *Line period =2π

Circuit topologies are the same as AC voltage controllers.

Only the control method is different.
Load voltage and current are both sinusoidal when thyristors
are conducting.

20
 Spectrum of the current in
Power Electronics AC power controller

There is NO
harmonics in the 0.6
ordinary sense. 0.5
0.4

In/I0m
There is harmonics 0.3
as to the control 0.2
frequency. As to the 0.1
line frequency, these
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
components become Harmonic order as to
fractional harmonics. control frequency

0 1 2 3 4 5
Harmonic order as to
line frequency
21
Power Electronics 4.2.2 Electronic AC switch
Circuit topologies are the same as AC voltage controllers. But
the back-to-back thyristors are just used like a switch to turn
the equipment on or off.

Application—Thyristor-switched capacitor (TSC)

22
 TSC waveforms when the capacitor is
Power Electronics switched in/out
us
uVT
t
1
uC uC
iC t
VT1
us
C uVT1
VT2 VT1 t
iC
VT2 t
t1 t2
The voltage across the thyristor must be nearly zero when
switching in the capacitor, and the current of the thyristor must
be zero when switching out the capacitor.

23
 TSC with the electronic switch realized
Power Electronics by a thyristor and an anti-parallel diode

The capacitor voltage will be always charged up to the peak of

source voltage.
The response to switching-out command could be a little
slower (maximum delay is one line-cycle).

24
Power Electronics 4.2.3 Chopping control—AC chopper
Principle of chopping control
The mean output voltage over
one switching cycle is
proportional to the duty cycle in
that period. This is also called
Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM).

Advantages
Much better output waveforms,
much lower harmonics
For resistive load, the
Waveforms when the load
displacement factor is always
is pure resistor
1.
25
Power Electronics AC chopper
Modes of operation

u o >0, io>0: V1 charging, V3 freewheeling

u o >0, io<0: V4 charging, V2 freewheeling
u o <0, io>0: V3 charging, V1 freewheeling
u o <0, io<0: V2 charging, V4 freewheeling 26
 4.3 Thyristor cycloconverters
Power Electronics (Thyristor AC to AC frequency converter)
Another name—direct frequency converter (as
compared to AC-DC-AC frequency converter which
is discussed in Chapter 8)
Can be classified into single-phase and three-
phase according to the number of phases at output

4.3.1 Single-phase thyristor-cycloconverter

4.3.2 Three-phase thyristor-cycloconverter

27
Power Electronics 4.3.1 Single-phase thyristor-cycloconverter
Circuit configuration and operation principle

P N

uo Z

αP= π
Average
αP= π α P=0
Output
uo output voltage
2 voltage 2

O ωt

28
Power Electronics Single-phase thyristor-cycloconverter
uo,io uo
Modes of operation io

O t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t

uP uo

io
iP iN O t

uP uo uN uN

O t
uo

iP

O t
iN

O t
P Rectifi Inver Blocking
cation sion
Rectifi Inver
N Blocking cation sion
29
Power Electronics Single-phase thyristor-cycloconverter
Typical waveforms
uo

O
ωt

io

O
ωt

1 3 4 6

2 5

30
Power Electronics Modulation methods for firing delay angle
Calculation method
– For the rectifier circuit
u o = U d0 cos α (4-15) u2 u3 u4 u5 u6 u1
– For the cycloconverter
output
ωt
uo = U om sinω o t (4-16)
αP3 αP4
– Equating (4-15) and (4-16)
U us2 us3 us4 us5 us6 us1
cos α = om sin ω o t = γ sin ω o t
U d0 uo
(4-17)
– Therefore ωt

α = cos −1 (γ sin ω o t ) (4-18)

Principle of cosine
Cosine wave-crossing wave-crossing method
method
31
Power Electronics Calculated results for firing delay angle

180
Output voltage ratio 1.0
150 0.9
(Modulation factor) 0.8

α/(°)
120 0.3
0.2
U om γ=0 0.1
γ = (0 ≤ r ≤ 1) 90
γ = 0.1
U d0 60
0.2
0.3
0.8
30 0.9
1.0
0 π π 3π 2π ω0t
2 2
Output voltage phase angle

32
Power Electronics Input and output characteristics
Maximum output
frequency: 1/3 or 1/2 of the Input displacement factor
input frequency if using 6-
pulse rectifiers 0.8 =1

γ
.0
0.6 0. 8
Input power factor 0 .6
0.4 0 .4
0.2 0. 2
Harmonics in the output
0
voltage and input current
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0
are very complicated, and Load power factor Load power factor
both related to input (leading) (lagging)
frequency and output
frequency.

33
Power Electronics 4.3.2 Three-phase thyristor-cycloconverter
The configuration with common input line

34
Power Electronics Three-phase thyristor-cycloconverter
The configuration with star-connected output

35
Power Electronics Three-phase thyristor-cycloconverter
Typical waveforms

Output voltage
0 200 t/ms

Input current with

Single-phase output
0 200 t/ms

Input current with

3-phase output
0 200 t/ms

36
Power Electronics Input and output characteristics
The maximum output frequency and the harmonics
in the output voltage are the same as in single-
phase circuit.

Input power factor is a little higher than single-

phase circuit.

Harmonics in the input current is a little lower than

the single-phase circuit due to the cancellation of
some harmonics among the 3 phases.

To improve the input power factor:

– Use DC bias or 3k order component bias on each of the 3
output phase voltages

37
Power Electronics Features and applications
Features
– Direct frequency conversion—high efficiency
– Bidirectional energy flow, easy to realize 4-quadrant
operation
– Very complicated—too many power semiconductor
devices
– Low output frequency
– Low input power factor and bad input current waveform

Applications
– High power low speed AC motor drive

38
Power Electronics 4.4 Matrix converter
Circuit configuration
Input

Output

39
Power Electronics Matrix converter
Usable input voltage

U1m 3
2 U1m
Um 1
2 Um

a) b) c)

a) Single-phase input b) Use 3 phase voltages c) Use 3 line-line voltages

voltage to construct output to construct output
voltage voltage

40
Power Electronics Features
Direct frequency conversion—high efficiency
Can realize good input and output waveforms, low
harmonics, and nearly unity displacement factor
Bidirectional energy flow, easy to realize 4-quadrant
operation
Output frequency is not limited by input frequency
No need for bulk capacitor (as compared to indirect
frequency converter)
Very complicated—too many power semiconductor
devices
Output voltage magnitude is a little lower as
compared to indirect frequency converter.
41