MODULE 1 : Industrial Power Supplies, Inverters, and Converters

MODULE RATIONALE:

This module teaches the theory and operations of a single phase and three phase power supply
and help to understand how solid-state devices are used in industrial power supplies to provide voltages
and frequencies correct application with the used of different types of converters, inverters and choppers.

MODULE OUTCOMES:

At the end of the module the stakeholders are expected to:

1. explain the operation of single-diode half-wave, two-diode center-tapped full-wave, and

bridge full-wave rectifier.
2. figure out the output waveform of the different rectifiers.

3. calculate the average dc output voltage from the input rms voltage for different types of
rectifiers.

LESSON 1: Single-Phase Half-Wave Rectifier Circuit

Estimated Time: 30 minutes

LESSON OUTCOMES:

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

1. explain the operation of single-diode half-wave single phase rectifier circuit.

2. figure out the output waveform of the single-diode half-wave single phase rectifier circuit.
3. calculate the average dc output voltage from the input rms voltage of the rectifier circuit.

LESSON CONTENTS:

What is a Half Wave Rectifier?

A half-wave single phase rectifier is defined as a type of rectifier that allows the half-cycle of an alternating
current (ac) voltage waveform to pass and blocking the other half cycle. This half-wave rectifier circuit is
used to convert AC voltage into DC voltage and only one diode is constructed.

A rectifier is a device that converts alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). It is done by using a
diode or a group of diodes. Half wave rectifiers use one diode, while a full-wave rectifier uses multiple
diodes.

Half Wave Rectifier Theory

A half wave rectifier is the simplest form of rectifier. Let us look the complete half wave rectifier circuit
for later – but let’s first understand exactly what this type of rectifier is doing. The diagram below
illustrates the basic principle of a half-wave rectifier. When a standard AC waveform is passed through a
half-wave rectifier, only half of the AC waveform remains. Half-wave rectifiers only allow one half-cycle
(positive or negative half-cycle) of the AC voltage to pass through and will block the other half-cycle on
the DC side, as seen below.
Take note, the diode is only part of it – a complete half-wave rectifier circuit consists of 3 main parts:

1. A transformer
2. A resistive load
3. A diode

Figure 1 Electrical circuit diagram of a single-diode half-wave rectifier power supply with waveform
shows at the input and at the output load resistor RL.

In figure 1-1 an AC voltage which is high level value is applied to the to the primary side of the step-
down transformer that get a lower voltage at the secondary winding which will be applied to the diode.
During the positive half cycle of the AC voltage, the diode will be forward biased and the current flows
through the diode. During the negative half cycle of the AC voltage, the diode will be reverse biased and
the flow of current will be blocked. The final output voltage waveform on the secondary side (DC) is
shown in the figure above.

To calculate the voltage dc average (𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑎𝑣 ), voltage peak and voltage rms. The following formulas
are given:
𝑉𝑝
𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑎𝑣 = = 0.318 𝑉𝑝 ------------------------------------ Equation no. 1
π

with the presence of diode: (0.7V drop voltage for silicon, 0.3V drop voltage for germanium)
𝑉𝑝 −0.7
𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑎𝑣 = (assuming silicon diode) ------------------------------------ Equation no 2
𝜋

Where:

𝑉𝑝 = 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠 =𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠 𝑥 1.414 ----------------------------------- Equation no. 3

π = 3.1416
𝑟𝑚𝑠 = 𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑡 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑟𝑒

Exercise 1

Calculate the 𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑎𝑣 voltage for a single-diode half-wave rectifier that has an input voltage of 110 volts
ac rms (including the 0.7 volt drop for the silicon diode).
Solution:

from the equation no. 3 from the equation 2

𝑉𝑝 −0.7
𝑉𝑝 = 𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑠 𝑥 1.414 𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑎𝑣 = 𝜋
155.54 − 0.7
= 110 x 1.414 = 3.1416

= 155.54 𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘 = 49.29𝑉𝑑𝑐 𝑎𝑣

other formulas to be considered are:

Ripple Factor of Half Wave Rectifier

‘Ripple’ is the unwanted AC component remaining when converting the AC voltage waveform into a DC
waveform. Even though we try out best to remove all AC components, there is still some small amount
left on the output side which pulsates the DC waveform. This undesirable AC component is called
‘ripple’.
To quantify how well the half-wave rectifier can convert the AC voltage into DC voltage, we use what is
known as the ripple factor (represented by γ or r). The ripple factor is the ratio between the rms value of
the AC voltage (on the input side) and the DC voltage (on the output side) of the rectifier.
The formula for ripple factor is:

Which can also be rearranged to equal:

The ripple factor of half wave rectifier is equal to 1.21 (i.e. γ = 1.21).

Note that for us to construct a good rectifier, we want to keep the ripple factor as low as possible. This is
why we use capacitors and inductors as filters to reduce the ripples in the circuit.

Efficiency of Half Wave Rectifier

Rectifier efficiency (η) is the ratio between the output DC power and the input AC power. The formula
for the efficiency is equal to:

The efficiency of a half wave rectifier is equal to 40.6% (i.e. ηmax = 40.6%)
RMS value of Half Wave Rectifier
To derive the RMS value of half wave rectifier, we need to calculate the current across the load. If the
instantaneous load current is equal to iL = Imsinωt, then the average of load current (IDC) is equal to:

Where Im is equal to the peak instantaneous current across the load (Imax). Hence the output DC current
(IDC) obtained across the load is:

For a half-wave rectifier, the RMS load current (Irms) is equal to the average current (IDC) multiple by π/2.
Hence the RMS value of the load current (Irms) for a half wave rectifier is:

Where Im= Imax which is equal to the peak instantaneous current across the load.
Peak Inverse Voltage of Half Wave Rectifier
Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV) is the maximum voltage that the diode can withstand during reverse bias
condition. If a voltage is applied more than the PIV, the diode will be destroyed.

Form Factor of Half Wave Rectifier

Form factor (F.F) is the ratio between RMS value and average value, as shown in the formula below:

The form factor of a half wave rectifier is equal to 1.57 (i.e. F.F= 1.57).

Output DC Voltage
The output voltage (VDC) across the load resistor is denoted by:

Applications of Half Wave Rectifier

Half wave rectifiers are not as commonly used as full-wave rectifiers. Despite this, they still have some
uses:
• For rectification applications
• For signal demodulation applications
• For signal peak applications

Advantages of Half Wave Rectifier

The main advantage of half-wave rectifiers is in their simplicity. As they don’t require as many
components, they are simpler and cheaper to setup and construct.
As such, the main advantages of half-wave rectifiers are:
• Simple (lower number of components)
• Cheaper up-front cost (as there is less equipment. Although there is a higher cost over time due
to increased power losses)
•
Disadvantages of Half Wave Rectifier
The disadvantages of half-wave rectifiers are:
• They only allow a half-cycle through per sinewave, and the other half-cycle is wasted. This leads
to power loss.
• They produces a low output voltage.
• The output current we obtain is not purely DC, and it still contains a lot of ripple (i.e. it has a
high ripple factor)

LESSON 2: Two-Diode Full-Wave Single-Phase Rectifier circuit

Estimated Time: 30 minutes

LESSON OUTCOMES:

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

1. explain the operation of two-diode full-wave single phase rectifier circuit.

2. figure out the output waveform of the two-diode full-wave single phase rectifier circuit.
3. calculate the average dc output voltage from the input rms voltage of the rectifier circuit.

LESSON CONTENTS:

Theory of Operation for a Single Phase Two-Diode with Center Tapped Full-Wave Rectifier Circuit

A drawback of the single-diode half-wave rectifier is that it only produces a half-wave dc output. If a
second diode is added to this circuit and a center-tapped transformer is used, the output waveform will
be two positive half-waves. The first diode provides an output half-wave when the supply voltage is
between 0° and 180°. and second half-wave output is provided by the second diode when the supply
voltage is between 180° and 360°. Fig. 2 shows the electrical diagram of the two-diode full-wave with
center=tapped transformer circuit. This diagram also shows the sine wave for the single-phase input
voltage and the waveform of the two positive half-waves for the output.
The transformer for this circuit is the same transformer from the previous circuit and it will produce
output voltage from a two-diode rectifier with a center-tap transformer that will be approximately the
same voltage as the output of the single-diode rectifier. At first it may appear that the circuit with the
center tap transformer will provide more output voltage since it has two diodes, but notice that since
the secondary windings of each transformer are equal, the voltage from each half of the center-tap
transformer (X1 to CT) will be half the voltage between X1-X2. This means that the voltage from each
half of the transformer will be added together to provide approximately the same dc average voltage at
the output of the circuit as the output voltage from the single-diode rectifier.

Figure 2 Electrical circuit diagram of a two-diode full-wave rectifier power supply with waveform
shows at the input ac sine wave and two half-wave at the output load resistor RL.

The equation for calculating the dc average voltage for the two-diode full-wave bridge rectifier is found
in two steps after the peak secondary voltage is determined. Notice that since this is a center-tap
transformer, the Vout peak can be calculated either of two ways using X1-X2 as the full secondary
voltage divided by 2, or using X1-CT as the amount of voltage for half the transformer. Be sure the
voltage drop for each diode is subtracted from secondary voltage.

Vout peak = 1.414 x (Vsecondary (X1-X2))/2) - 0.7 Vsecondary (X1-X2)) ------------------------------------ Equation no. 4

or

Vout peak =1.414 x (Vsecondary (X1-CT))) - 0.7 V ------------------------------------ Equation no. 5

Next calculate the dc average voltage from the equation. Note that since there are now two diodes in
the circuit, the output voltage will include voltage from both half-waves, so the new formula will show
two times the peak voltage.

V dc av = 2VP/π (where VP is Vout (peak) from either of the previous equations) --------------Equation no. 6
Exercise 2

Calculate the V dc av voltage for a two-diode full-wave rectifier that uses a center-tap transformer. The
secondary voltage is 110 volts ac rms as measured between X1 and X2 just like the single-diode rectifier
circuit, and the voltage from X1 to the CT is 55 volts. (Be sure to include the 0.7 volt drop for each of the
diodes.)

Solution

The secondary peak voltage Vp= 155.54 (X1-X2) needs to be divided by 2 to get the VP for the value of
voltage from one line to the center tap (X1-CT). Vp = 77.77 volts and this value can be used directly in the
equation. Notice the answer 49.06 volts is approximately the same voltage as the 49.29 volts from the
single-diode rectifier. The slight difference in voltage comes from the voltage drop of the second diode.
From the equation

V dc av = 2(VP(X1-CT) - 0.7)/π

2(77.77VP - 0.7)/π = 49.06 Vdc

LESSON 3: Single Phase Four-Diode Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier Circuit

Estimated Time: 30 minutes

LESSON OUTCOMES:

At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:

1. explain the operation of single phase full-wave bridge rectifier circuit.

2. figure out the output waveform of the single phase full-wave bridge rectifier circuit.
3. calculate the average dc output voltage from the input rms voltage of the rectifier circuit.

LESSON CONTENTS:

Theory of Operation for a Single Phase Four-Diode Full-Wave Bridge Rectifier Circuit

Another circuit that provides a full-wave output uses four diodes and a regular transformer without the
center tap. This circuit uses two diodes at a time to rectify each half of the sine wave. Fig. 3 shows an
example of this type of circuit. The input sine wave and the output full wave (two half-cycles) are also
shown. Notice that ac voltage from the bottom terminal of the transformer is applied to the bridge
where the cathode of diode 1 and the anode of diode 4 are connected, and from the top terminal of the
transformer where the cathode of diode 2 and the anode of diode 3 are connected. This means that the
ac voltage is connected where the anode of one diode is connected to the cathode of the second diode.
Figure 3 Electrical circuit diagram of a four-diode full-wave bridge rectifier power supply with
waveform shows the input ac sine wave and two half-wave at the output load resistor RL.

The output for the bridge circuit will have its positive dc voltage terminal at the point where the cathode
of diode 3 and diode 4 are connected, and the negative point of the circuit will be where the anode of
diode 1 and diode 2 are connected. This point is also grounded.

When ac voltage is applied to the four-diode full-wave bridge rectifier, the positive half of the sine wave
will be rectified by diodes 1 and 3. The negative half of the sine wave is rectified by diodes 2 and 4. From
the top circuit in Fig. 2 notice that the positive half-cycle of the ac is shaded, and the first half-wave is
shaded to indicate the output for this part of the circuit. The bottom circuit shows the negative half of
the sine wave being rectified. The path the electrons would travel through the bridge is also shown.
Notice that electron flow is always against the arrows of the diodes.

Figure 4 Electrical diagram that shows the current path of the positive and negative half-cycles of the
sine wave as it's rectified through the bridge.

In some industrial power supplies the four-diode full-wave bridge rectifier is drawn slightly differently,
even though it operates exactly like the previous circuit. Fig. 3 shows an example of the full-wave bridge
drawn with the diode bridge turned on its side so they look like a square rather than a diamond. The
bridge is illustrated this way because the six-diode three-phase bridge rectifier uses a similar pattern.

Figure 5 Electrical diagram of the four-diode bridge where the diodes are shown in a box formation
rather than a diamond. The circuit function is exactly like the bridge shown in Figure 3.

One can also begin to notice the four-diode full-wave bridge uses two diodes at a time to rectify each
half-cycle of the ac sine wave. If one diode of either of the two diode sets is faulty, an open will occur for
that half-cycle and the output voltage of the bridge will drop approximately in half. If one diode from
each set develops an open, the output from the bridge will be zero.

The equations for calculating the dc average voltage at the output of the four-diode bridge are similar to
the two-diode full-wave bridge except the equations for the four-diode bridge must account for a 0.7
volt drop in each of the two diodes used to rectify the positive and negative half-cycles. The equation to
determine the Vdc av must be calculated in two steps. The first step will use an equation to determine the
peak voltage (less the 1.4 volt drop for the two diodes):

VP =(V secondary rms x 1.414) - 1.4 V

The second equation is:

Vdc av = 2VP/π

Exercise 3

Calculate the V dc av for a four-diode full-wave rectifier that is connected to the secondary of a
transformer that provides 120 volts ac rms. (Remember to include the 1.4 volt drop through the diodes.)
Solution

From the equation

Vp =(V sec rms x 1.414) - 1.4 V

Vp=(120x1.414)-1.4V
Vp = 168.28 V

From the equation

Vdc av = 2 VP/π

Vdc av = 2 308.28 VP/π

Vdc av = 98.12 V