Load Characteristic ‘This chapter investigates the operation of a rectifier connection under extreme load conditions and derives the relation between the direct voltage and the current for various types of connections ‘for the entire range from no load fo short circuit The load characteristic of a voltage source represents the output voltage as a function of the current. The output voltage of a rectifier connection is Ey, reduced by the reactive and the resistive voltage drop (disregarding. phase control). The resistive voltage drop is, according to Chapter 6, conceived as part of the output voltage, Hence, only the reactive voltage drop determines the “slope” of the load characteristic, and this voltage drop will now be computed for the entire range from no load to short cireuit. It is proportional to the current, as long as the commutation occurs in the manner described in Chapter 8. This is because the time integral of the voltage absorbed during commutation by the line-to- neutral commutating inductance of the succeeding phase represents both @ The value of the commutated current, because the voltage-time integral equals L, times the current rise from zero to this value, (© The reactive voltage drop, because the voltage-time integral is withheld from the d-c circuit. Beyond a certain load, however, novel phenomena occur: 1. The individual commutations overlap, 2. The commutation between two phases delays the pickup of the third phase These phenomena affect the relation between the reactive voltage drop and the current. Hence we must investigate them in order to present the load characteristic for the entire range. ‘The investigations are rather complex and will therefore be restricted to operation with infinite in- ductance in the load circuit, with zero phase control and no losses in the commutating circuits. mLoad Characteristic ‘The Method For deriving the desired relation we utilize the following facts (@ Ima conducting secondary branch the difference between the line~ ‘to-neutral transformer-emif and the direct voltage, also referred to the (existing or assumed) neutral point of the secondary transformer windings, must be absorbed by the line-to-neutral commutating inductance L,. Hence this potential difference, divided by L» represents at any instant the rate of change of the current in this line, difdt. (®) The total of all individual currents is the d-c load, which is assumed to be without ripple, Hence the total of the rates of change of all contributing currents must be zero at any instant, ‘These two conditions will be satisfied only by the real currents and the real direct voltage and will therefore be used to determine these quantities. ‘Then, knowing the curves of the currents and of the direct voltage, two voltage-time integrals will be computed, one representing the reactive voltage drop and one representing the load current. The relation between these two integrals is the desired relation between the reactive voltage drop and the current. Definition of 1, In previous calculations all voltage quantities have been expressed in terms of the general reference E,,, and this proved to be very practical, For presenting the load characteristic in a scale independent of the constants of the circuit, a similar reference for the current is needed. Some publications employ @ quantity that is based on rated current and the per-unit commutating reactance, However, with this quantity the current seale is not always the same for the load characteristics of the various types of connections. Therefore a different reference quantity for the current will be introduced. In accordance with £,, it will be denoted by Tun and it will be defined as (10.1) ‘This definition is illustrated by fig. 10.1. We notice that J, represents the load current at which the reactive voltage drop equals £,,, assuming regular operation, In most cases, however, the operation is not regular134 D-C Characteristics 2] r a reactive : Tots > load curent Fig, 10, Definition ofl Fig. 10.2, Peeformance of « 2-pulse midpoint connection. P| | of x, Ee os 0 Cees onerreiLo ty ie Fig, 10.3, Commutating angle and load characteristic of single-phase connections,Load Characteristic 135 over the entire range from no load to short circuit. 1, is then only a theoretical figure. Example (Computing I.) Determine J,, for a connection with a reactive voltage drop of F,/Ey, = ‘Solution 100014] _ 50 tka] 00s Single-Phase Connections Figure 10.2 illustrates the situation for a 2-pulse midpoint connection. It shows that the direct voltage remains zero during commutation so that the crosshatched area represents the commutated current as well as the reactive voltage drop. Since this does not change until, at = 180°, the direct voltage is zero and the current a maximum, J, is the real short circuit current of such a connection, assuming zero phase control and no losses, The load characteristic and the relation between the commutating angle and the current are shown in fig. 10.3 In a single-phase single-way connection (fig. 1) and in a single-phase bridge connection (fig. 3) the situation is similar, since in all these circuits the direct voltage is reduced to zero with a commutating angle of 180°, so that the commutations never overlap. ‘3-Pulse Midpoint Connection ‘A single 3-pulse midpoint connection is seldom used, but it is the com- mutating group of more complex rectifier systems and therefore of theoretical interest. It will now be investigated For a certain operating condition (which will be defined later) the curves © of potential and current are shown in fig. 10.4. At of; the current transfer from phase 1 to phase 2 starts, and the mean value of the potentials of the commutating phases determines the voltage across the dec circuit. At oof the potential of phase 3 exceeds this value, and the diode of phase 3 also starts to conduct. Hence, during the following period, all three phases are short circuited, and the d-c circuit must stay on zero potential since otherwise the total of all difdr would not be zero at any instant. Finally, at of, the current of phase 1 is reduced to zero, and the transfer © would be completed if a current had not started in phase 3 during the © common short circuit, Actually, phase 3 started too early since now,Fig, 10.4, Performance of a pulse midpoint connection, limit condition between modes I and T. after phase 1 is cleared, the output potential swings to the mean value of the potentials of phases 2 and 3, and the current of phase 3 decays again. Figure 1044 illustrates a situation where this current reaches zero at ‘oty, the point at which the main conducting period of phase 3 begins. For a more quantitative treatment we recall the statement made at the ‘beginning of this chapter that in any condueting phase the rate of change of the current is determined by the difference between the transformer-emt and the direct voltage, both refered to the neutral point of the secondary transformer windings, and that the time integral of this voltage, taken over a certain period of time, represents the total change of the current during this period. This is illustrated by fig. 10.5 for the operating con- dition of fig. 10.4. It can now be concluded that area A of fig. 10.4 1 nt dooms ig. 1035. Voltages defining rate of change of the current,Load Characteristic 137 represents the rise of the current jy from zero to its value at «of, which is the value of the direct current (because all other currents are zero at this instant), Ina similar manner area B represents the decay of this current from J, to zero and must therefore be equal in size to A. Area A also represents the time integral of the voltage withheld from the d-c circuit three times during each cycle. Hence there is the same linear relation between the reactive voltage drop and the load current as derived for regular operation, as long as the same area represents both ‘the reactive voltage drop and the load current. The situation will be é-ccreut ty at ots ig. 10.6, Performance of « 3-pulse midpoint connection, mode II different if the total rise of the current of one phase is not identical with the direct current; that is, if the current jis not reduced to zero at ty 0 that it then starts from a, higher level. The condition changes at oad where the rise of /, from a, to oy is in balance with the decay that ‘occurs between of, and «ty. At this load, selected for fig. 10.4, the two small areas marked by narrow crosshatching are equal in size. However, vwe shall later define this operating condition in a simpler way. With a further increase of the direct current the individual commuta~ tions overlap more and more, and the curves of potential and current of fig, 10.4 change into those of fig. 10.6. The various current values are still represented by certain areas, and J,//,, can be determined from the ratio of the area that represents the real load current /, to the area that represents the theoretical short circuit current J... The real load current138 D-C Characteristies is the total of i, and /, at og, marked by /* and i**, since the current of phase 2 is zero at this instant, ‘The current i* is represented by the cross~ hatched area between wt, and «f,—provided that the last portion is taken negative since it represents a decay of the current. The current i** equals fy at co, and is represented by the double-crosshatched area. The reference quantity J,, corresponds to the total area that is available for o 2st ase so wl Ly 1 fie wt ae Fig. 10.7. Ausilary figure for computing load charac the reactive voltage drop during cycle—that is, the crosshatched area of fg. 10.7 multiplied by y22,, For the mathematical treatment we intro- duce the angle f, and read from the illustrations: ~ Ta 7 sin ot dot — (10.2) 1 _tepresents “total area’ available for reactive voltage drop during } cycle [1 — cos(240 — B) — } + }cos 6 + 1 — cos(i20 — f)] v Bir cos 03) 3H For the voltage ratio we determine, instead of the reactive voltage drop, the remaining direct voltage and find the ratio F,/E,, as the ratio of the small area in fig. 10.7 that is heavily outlined and represents the timeLoad Characteristic 139 integral of the direct voltage during } cycle, to the total crosshatched area of this figure: ip 4 [sin ox dor 2 cos} ons ple ey consti ot ‘eo spice commuting pears ‘wh ely common indatnce 10 sa—28 7 vs —28. Vinay -yp—4 ° Ce I weve |S ea-y Us ve teristics of basic rectifier connections without loses, Load cl Fig. “The summation of relation (10.3), divided by V3, with relation (104), multiplied by V3, results in (10.5) In the voltage-current diagram (fig. 10.8) this relation is represented by 4 straight line between the points and140 D-C Characteristies For determining the intersection with the line for regular commutation which is described by (10.6) ve combine relations (10.5) and (10.6) and find fi & eR 7 hen a (3-1) ‘The same relation between the direct voltage and the load current, (10.9), ‘must also be true for rectifier systems that consist of several 3-pulse ommutating groupe in series ot parallel connection, as long a8 these jroups operate citer independenty orn precie syncronien Tn theft fase thee groups have only indldual inductances tht a cirrent change im one group does not induce vollage in the othr. In the second ease all voltages are commonly induced, a tituation for which the commutatiog inductance was defined in Chapter & If, however, a certain value of induc- tance is common to groups thet com mutate at diferent times, the Whole system must be treated as a unit. This is the problem we face next, ‘3-Phase Bridge Connection As the opposite extreme to the 3 pulse midpoint connection which also represents combinations of 3-pulse Fig. 109. 3phase bridge connection, commutating groups that have only individual inductance and hence com- ‘mutate independently, the 3-phase bridge connection (fig. 10.9) has been selected for the following investigation as a combination of two 3-pulse ‘commutating groups with practically only common inductance, because the ‘two wyes are supplied from the same secondary transformer windings. With « = 0 and «= 60°, the commutation in one wye is finished just 4 at the instant when the commutation in the other wye starts. If, however, more current has to be transferred, the unique phenomenon occurs that the commutation in one group delays the pickup in the other. This is illustrated by fig. 10.10. At ov,, for example, the current transfer from phase 1 to phase 2 in the positive wye would normally start. At this instant, however, phase 2 is still engaged in a commutation with phase 3 at the negative side, and the voltage induced in the leakage inductanceLoad Characteristic aa of the transformer winding during this commutation changes the potential [of phase 2 to more negative values. As a result of this, the pickup of ccurrent by phase 2 is delayed until, at the end of the commutation in the other wye (at av), the potential is released to the normal value, Thus ‘with more and more load applied to the connection, the commutations 1 200 4050 4 a oh ety Fig. 10.10, Performance ofa 3-phase bridge connection, mode 1, are more and more delayed and occur under higher values of voltage. ‘The balance is restored ifthe voltage-time integral required for the current transfer can be delivered during an interval of 60°, To derive the mathematical relations we again represent the current values by voltage-time integrals. For this purpose the potential of point ' (fig. 10.9) is marked by a heavy curve in fig. 10.10. It always stays on ‘the mean value of the potentials of the commutating phases, if phase 2 is one of them, so that the orosshaiched areas represent the time integral ‘of the voltage absorbed by the line-to-neutral commutating inductance f phase 2 during the rise of the current /, from —I, to +14, and later, [during the fall from +1, to —Z,, Thus the value Z, corresponds to the uble-crosshatched area, and we compute, assisted by fig. 10.11, which shows in section (6) this area over a straight lin Lape corresponds to double-crosshatched pf setae) Sx fig 1010 | siti voltage-time integral available for affenordor | feive vag iop ang et ‘ positive or negative side = Fsin(30° + «) ao.142 D-C Characteristics ‘The reactive voltage drop is determined by the time integral of the voltage Withheld from the d-c circuit during the commutation and, in addition, by the time integral of the voltage withheld during the delay. It is more Fig. 10:11. Auriliary figure showing two equal areas pri, howe, o compute th emsnng det vol Chie Bye a ts ete certs ine nega of det : wags ot nt nye dung 4 oe _Sinet dot) (areas A and B of fig. 10.12) represen tine tga of oon | Siete ne de sin ot dot cycle (cross hatched area of fig. 10.7) Boxe + oon ‘The combination of (10.7) with (10.8) leads to Mode Il 2 BY ( uy (5 Ie) J+ ert cost (30” + a) + sin® (30° + a) = 1 This is the equation of an ellipse, It defines the load characteristic sinceLoad Characteristic 143, 0 for computing area st = 0 fr computing arse 0.12, Ausiliary figure for computing Fy between the points « = 0, w= 60°, where according to relation (8.4) If the delay caused by the commutation in the other wye exceeds 30°, a new situation starts. It is illustrated by fig. 10.13. The new phenomenon is that at of; the potential of point 5, determined by the commutation between phases 2 and 3 at the negative side, exceeds that of phase 1, and dl ,144 D-C Characteristics 77a" + cos f) (10.10), * sin aot dot Boren =Lo-com —coay The summation of (10.10), multiplied by V3, with (10.11), divided by V5; results in Mode Il (10.12) ‘This isthe equation of a straight line between the point where this mode of operation starts, Bi y has E, 4 Ty 4 and ie la VB Results (10.9) and (10.12) are graphically presented by fig. 10.8, and the same relation between the direct voltage and the load current derived forLoad Characteristic 145 the 3-phase bridge connection must also be true if the two commutating groups are paralleled through an interphase transformer, provided that all values of commutating inductance remain common for the two groups. This must be true since the interphase transformer connection is just a different arrangement of the two wyes, but it does not change the mutual relations between them, as proved for short circuit calculations in Chapter 11 Example (3-phase bridge connection) ‘Assume a 3:phase bridge connection with only common inductance and determine « (caused by commutation) and w as a function of the load ratio dlayfor the entire range from the no-load to the short circuit point. Solution. Mode I, according to (8.4), « = 0: Eg _1tcosu Ew 2 According to the definition of I: Mode I, according to (10.7) Ie i )°) fem deine + 0 Mode IIL, according to (10.10) with « = 30° and = 120° Je 1 4 cos(t20" =u) 2st 2 ‘These relations are graphically presented in fig. 10.14, ‘Connections with Common and Individual Impedance The investigations of this chapter give evidence that the reactive voltage drop of a rectifier connection consisting of several not simultaneously ‘commutating groups is not only a function of the value of commutating inductance but also of the linkage between the inductances of these groups. The two conditions that have been investigated, only commonD-C Characteristics ig. 10.14. Angles of phase control and commutation, and load characteristic of a ‘ephase bridge connection with only eommor and only individual inductance, are extreme cases of the general condition where some part of the inductance is common, and some is individual, and the load characteristics derived for these two cases limit the field of all possible characteristics. It can be seen that this field is the wider the closer we approach the short circuit condition; there the values differ by the factor 3. This seems to indicate a need for exploring this field more carefully and to incluge connections with partially common and partially individual inductance and also to investigate the influence of the resistance of the circuit Unfortunately, the analysis of systems of this kind is very dificult. Therefore, it will be presented only for the short circuit condition, which permits other simplifications and which is of more practical value since it is the extreme load condition, and also a frequently used test condition for determining the circuit impedance. The next chapter is devoted to this condition,Short Circuit Currents With the short circuit path conceived as a solid connection, multi- phase rectifier systems will be subdivided into single-phase circuits. ‘in these simple cireuits the short circuit currents including the transient component will be computed and the results will then be applied to multiphase systems. For practical calculations some charts will be presented, and it will be explained how to evaluate the results in relation to published diode ratings. The calculation of the short circuit currents in a rectifier connection is, very difficult, because these connections, unlike regular a-c circuits, cor sist of several branches that conduct at different times and are partially linked by common inductance, and because the diodes in these branches * cause transient components that confuse the situation even more. AS a consequence, short circuit currents in rectifier systems are usually deter~ ‘mined by rough approximations, and complex connections are reduced towards simpler circuits. In this chapter we shall treat the short circuit situation in the same manner, starting with an outline of the selected method. ‘General View [- Short circuit currents have already been computed in Chapter 10, where the operating characteristic of a rectifier was derived for the entire range from iio load to short circuit. This treatment, however, was based on a ‘commutating rectifier, and thus required the analysis of intricate phe- ‘nomena that occur under heavy load. In order to derive the results with a reasonable amount of investigations, it was necessary to assume infinite inductance in the load circuit (no current ripple), ‘only common or only individual inductance in the commutating circuits, no losses in the commutating cireuits, 17