Vishal Manwani U17EC022

EXPERIMENT-1
Date: 11/01/2021
Aim: To design Zener diode based series voltage regulator and finding line regulation and load
regulation.

Software Tool: Multism Live

Circuit Diagram:

Theory:
The simple emitter follower series voltage regulator circuit directly compared the output with
the voltage reference. In this way the output voltage was equal to that of the reference,
neglecting the base emitter voltage drop.
However it is possible to improve the performance of the voltage regulator by sampling a
proportion of the output voltage and comparing it to the reference. A differential amplifier like
an operational amplifier can be used for this function. If this is done, then the output voltage
becomes greater than the reference voltage as the negative feedback in the circuit fights to keep
the two compared voltages the same.
If for example the reference voltage is 5 volts and the sampling or potential divider provides
50% of the output voltage, then the output voltage will be maintained at 10 volts.
The potential division or sampling can be made variable, and in this way, the output voltage can
be adjusted to the required value. Normally this method is only used for small adjustments as the
minimum output level obtained by this method is an output equal to the reference voltage.
1
Vishal Manwani U17EC022

It should be remembered that using a potential divider has the effect of reducing the feedback
loop gain. This has the effect of reducing the loop gain and thereby reducing the regulation
performance. Normally there is sufficient loop gain for this not to be a major problem except
when only a very small proportion of the output is sampled.

Observation Table:
(a) Line Regulation: RL = 1kΩ
Vin V0 dV0/dVin Percentage
10 9.347
11 9.354 0.007 0.7
12 9.36 0.006 0.6
13 9.364 0.004 0.4
14 9.3685 0.0045 0.45
15 9.3748 0.0063 0.63
16 9.377 0.0022 0.22
17 9.3821 0.0051 0.51
18 9.3844 0.0023 0.23
19 9.3872 0.0028 0.28
20 9.3895 0.0023 0.23

2
Vishal Manwani U17EC022

(b) Load Regulation: Vin = 20V

RL (kohm) IL (mA) V0 dV0/dIL
10 0.998 9.9864 0
9 1.1096 9.9864 0
8 1.2483 9.9864 0
7 1.4266 9.9864 0
6 1.6644 9.9864 0
5 1.9973 9.9864 0
4 2.4966 9.9864 0
3 3.3288 9.9864 0
2 4.9932 9.9864 0
1 9.9864 9.9864 0
0.5 19.973 d9.9864 0

3
Vishal Manwani U17EC022

Calculations:

4
Vishal Manwani U17EC022

Conclusion:

This experiment successfully implemented a series voltage regulator using a Zener diode. The
line and load regulations were calculated. The value of line regulation is an indication of the
stability of the output voltage in relation to the input voltage. Similarly, the value of load
regulation is an indication of the stability of the output voltage in relation with the load
resistance. The lesser these values are, the more stable will be the output given the fluctuations
in input voltage and load. The circuit implemented showed a very low line and load regulations,
almost zero (0), indicating that the output voltage is impervious to the input voltage and the load.