D-C Characteristies ° Qe Oo © b be 1 ate oa os “a ig. 11.24. Situation in a 2-phase beige connection wth a- short crit, can be assumed, according to this illustration, that current @) is raised from zero to its erest value by the voltage-time integral of one half-wave of the line-to-neutral voltage. This is the same situation as under a sym~ metrical short circuit with a maximum transient component, The current through the failed diode includes the contribution of phase 2 and is therefore somewhat higher.FInverter Operation From a rectifier operating with « > 90° a general picture of a line-controlled inverter will be derived. Special attention will be (paid t0 the current transfer between the commutating phases. ‘Arrectifer transmits power from an a-e system to a d-ccircuit, An inverter does the opposite: It is a load to the d-ccircuit, and a source of a-c power. Depending on the structure of the a-c system, inverters can be classified into two basic groups: (@) une-conRoLLeD INVERTERS; (®) seLe-CONTROLLED INVERTERS. Inverters of the first eategory are connected to and controlled in synchro- $ nisin with an a-c system that is rather “sf?” in frequency and voltage and F able to exchange with the inverter any amount of effective, reactive, and distortion power with practically no influence on the frequeney or the voltage of the a-c system. Tin the second category the effective, reactive, and distortion power | delivered by the inverter must be fully accepted by a relatively weak a-c ‘circuit. As a consequence, frequency and alternating voltage are variable f and assume the values that satisfy this condition. G The investigation will be restricted to inverters ofthe first category since {their operation is similar to that of controlled rectifiers, whereas the foperation of self-controlled inverters is completely different and does not {it into the philosophy developed in this book, j Line-Controlled Inverter FAL a certain degree of phase control the direct voltage of a rectifier ‘connection starts to assume during certain intervals negative instantaneous values, provided that the current is being maintained. This last condition 183‘anor = mamod aqpaoge ‘aopesado 6) ‘9 samod oxnsoyr (9) “onnsod = sau0d aanoaye “uo uo ragoas pur uss 2-© uaowyaq paueyoxo Jeo “TZK “Bud ©Inverter Operation 185, is satisfied if « source of additional voltage exists that balances the negative direct voltage of the rectifier connection and the voltage drop across the resistance of the circuit during those intervals. In many cases this source is the inductance of the circuit, However, inductance docs not deliver voltage permanently; it just absorbs the fluctuations, and the same time integral of voltage delivered to the load circuit during one interval must be taken back during the following interval of operation. Thus the average value of the direct voltage must still be positive. If, however, this source is able to introduce voltage permanently, e.g, if itis a battery, the direct voltage may be reduced to a negative average value, and there will still be forward current. In this ease the voltage delivered by this source forces the current to flow through the rectifier connection against the negative average value of the direct voltage, just as it would have to be forced to flow through a resistor. Hence the rectifier connection is a load to the d-e circuit and transmits energy from the d-c circuit to the a-c system. [At the a-e side we find the same situation. Figure 12-1a shows the line- to-neutral voltage and the line current of one phase of a 6-pulse rectifier connection, assuming an angle of phase control between zero and 90°, ‘The product of both values is the instantaneous power, and it can be seen that the average value of the power is positive, indicating a flow of energy from the a-c system to the d-c circuit. With « = 90°, illustrated in section (, the positive and the negative values of power are in balance, 60 that no effective but reactive and distortion power are exchanged. Finally, with further inereased, the average power is negative, so that energy is transmitted from the d-c circuit to the a-c system (fig. 12.1¢). Control Characteristic Going into more detail, we now investigate the relations between the phase control and commutating angles, « and u, and the corresponding voltage reductions, E, and E,. For rectifier operation these relations have been derived in Chapters 7 and 8, and it was learned that they can be presented by a simple cosine function (fig. 12.2a). If we increase « more ‘and more, exceeding 90°, there will be a transition from rectifier to inverter operation, but no change of the phenomena that occur in the rectifier connection and therefore no change of the laws that define the relations between the angles and the voltage reductions. Hence the relations derived for rectifier operation remain valid, and the same graphic presentation ccan be used for inverter operation ifthe cosine curve is extended for anglesD-C Characteristics La qua yeas sot ar Ze, La ae Fig. 12.2. Relations between « and w and the corresponding voltage reductions, for reclifler and inverter operation, (a) Reetifer operation, « < 90", () Inverter operation, > 90" Up to 180°, as shown in fig. 12.26, It should be recognized, however, that Ey a8 well as £,, now increase the (negative) value of E, because the direct voltage, but not the current, is reversed, Example (Computing « and u for inverter operation) ‘A 3-phase bridge connection, operated as an inverter, with X, yy = 0.12, is connected between a d-c line with E, = 250 V and an a-e line with E, = 15 V. Determine « and u for operation at rated load. Solution. From F, we compute E,, w= 3 Bq = 2 J3Y3E, = 2691] Ee 2501V] _ Eq 269 [V] 0.93 With relation (8.13) we find for rated load: Fea 1p = 006Inverter Operation Finally, guided by fig. 12.2b, we determine: cosa = Hat Bs ~ 0.87 ‘Commutation Special attention must be paid to the current transfer between the commu- tating phases because it may not be successfully completed if itis not started early enough. ‘This will be explained for a 3-pulse commutating ‘group, assisted by fig. 12.3. Until of, of this illustration, phase 1 carries the full load current. Then the diode of phase 2 is fired, and a short circuit current starts, It is forward current in phase 2, whereas it reduces the current of phase 1—just as explained in Chapter 8 for rectifier oper~ ation. ‘This current is driven by the voltage difference between phases 2 and 1, and if the short circuit existed permanently, the current curve would be as shown in section (6) of fig. 123. It would be displaced against the voltage curve by the phase angle ¢, and the ratio of the crest values of ‘voltage and current would be determined by the impedane rof the circuit, However, the current starts suddenly at af so that there is a transient ‘component which is regarded in fig. 12.3 by displacing the zero line for the current (dashed-dotted curve). In section (c) this short circuit current is plotted over a straight line, and it can be seen that at of, the current of phase 1 is reduced to zero, and phase 2 carries full load. “The point of special interest is that the commutation is completed shortly before the commutating current passes through its maximum, so that the commutation will not be successful ifthe current to be transferred higher than this maximum, Such a situation is illustrated by fig. 124 This igure first shows a successful current transfer from phase 1 to phase 2. ‘The next commutation is started with more delay (at a) s0 that the ceurrent of the conducting phase is not reduced to zero, and the short circuit between the commutating phases is not cleared by the diode of phase 2 but, at wf, by the diode of phase 3, which actually should go into operation, ‘Thus phase 2 continues to conduct, raising the direct voltage to positive values, There is still a chance to transfer the current to another phase, in this case to phase I, iit is fied, against the normal program,188 D-C Characteristies __— tn integral of voltage causing a : time integra of. | vtage causing as ‘iment = 20 ine for errnt With ransien component o ime integra of. wolge absorbed by inductance of cemmutsting top | ie F o 8 | f i + ee ante Fig, 12.3. Commutation ofa tne-controlled inverter (-pulse commutating group of fig, 8.1). *, ¢ indicate that values correspond, early enough before éofy, Otherwise the direct voltage follows the voltage of phase 2 until of, During this interval the inductance of the eireuit is forced to absorb a considerable time integral of voltage, represented by the crosshatched area between of, and wt, of fig. 12.4, which causes more or less rise of the current, depending on the value of inductance, ‘This rise, again, reduces the chance for a successful commutation at ct, unless the danger is recognized and, as shown in the illustration, this commutation is started earlier than normal, Distegarding the resistance of the commutating loop, the maximum ‘current that can be transferred corresponds to the time integral of theInverter Operation 9-0 (deat woe) time integra of volage across inductance of ee eeu Fig. 1224, Phenomena initiated by a nonsuceessful commutation. voltage that is available for the transfer, measured from the instant of firing to the instant of voltage reversal. -In order to guarantee successful commutations, this value should include sufficient safety. However, the price to be paid for the safety is a reduction of the power factor, as discussed in Chapter 19, Example (Calculating the maximum current that can be commutated) Determine for the inverter investigated in the last sample calculation the safety angle and the maximum current that can be commutated, expressed in terms of rated current. Solution. The safety angle is 180° — (@ + x) = 81° For the maximum current that can becommutated the safety is zero. Hence (+) = 180" cost + u) = 1 ‘At rated current there was190 D-C Characteristies Hence the maximum current is OT Heated = 117 Lente 0.06 ‘Transient Inverter Operation In some cases the source of the energy that is transmitted from the dc circuit to the a-c system is just the inductance of the circuit, and inverter ‘operation is only a transient condition. L—r—} o iaaaintateaatnimanas 1 o lh + time Te qn recilropératon wih verze poany Ly ae Fig. 125. Current change in an inductive circuit without and with transient inverter operation.Inverter Operation 191 Such a case is illustrated by fig, 12.5, It is assumed that a rectifier feeds ‘a highly inductive load and that the direct current has to be reduced from the value J, to the value Z,, For this purpose the direct voltage may be reduced to a level that corresponds to /,, and the current will asymptoti- cally approach the new value (fig. 12.52). For a faster change the direct voltage may be reduced to zero or, far better, to the full negative value and. then released to the level that corresponds to J, as soon as the current has reached this value, In both eases the inductance must tolerate the same current change and hence return the same time integral of voltage. However, this voltage-time integral, represented by the crosshatched areas in figs. 12.5a and 6, is delivered in & much shorter time in case (b) because the rectifier connection is temporarily operated as an inverter and thus assists in absorbing these voltseconds. Differently interpreted, if the ‘current is reduced from J, to Jy the energy stored in the magnetic field of the inductance is also reduced. In the first case the energy is dissipated in the resistance of the circuit; in the second case itis only partially dissipated and partially returned to the a-c system. ‘Thus it is taken away in a shorter period of time, ‘Some applications require that the current is not only reduced but reversed. In this case, illustrated by fig. 12.5, transient inverter operation is followed by rectifier operation with reversed polarity as soon as the current passes through zero, because power is needed to build up the current in opposite direction. This kind of operation requires a second set of diodes for the reversed current flow, as well as special means for switching over the firing pulses from one set to the other at the right instant—without causing an internal short circuit. ‘Concluding this paragraph it should be mentioned that magnetically controlled rectifiers cannot be operated as inverters because not enough voltage-time integral for resetting the reactors would be available