Load Commutated Chopper

Load Commutated Chopper is a type of chopper which consists of

four Thyristors and one commutating capacitor.

1. The Thyristors T1 & T2 acts together as one pair

2. Thyristors T3 & T4 acts together as second pair for conducting the load current
alternatively.
3. When T1 & T2 are conducting, these acts as main Thyristors while T3, T4 and
C act as commutating components.
4. Similarly, when T3 & T4 acts as main Thyristors, T1, T2 and C acts as
commutating components.
5. Free-wheeling diode FD is connected across the load to conduct the load current
when required.

Initially the capacitor C is charged to a voltage Vs with upper plated negative and
lower plate positive as shown in the circuit diagram. To make the analysis simple,
following assumptions are made:

1. Load current is constant

2. SCRs and diodes are ideal switch
Representation of Thyristor as a Switch

Mode-I (Thyristor Pairs T1 & T2):

1. With the capacitor C charged with upper plate negative and lower plate positive,
the load commutated chopper is ready for its operation.
2. When thyristor pairs T1 & T2 are triggered at t=0, the load current flows
through T1, C and T2. As the load current is assumed constant, the upper plate of
capacitor will start charging from negative to positive.
3. The output voltage Vo for this mode is given as below:
Vo = Vs+Vc
Since, the capacitor voltage is -Vs at t=0, the output voltage will shoot up to 2Vs at
as soon as the thyristors T1 and T2 are triggered. Mode-I operation of load
commutated chopper is shown in figure below.
1. With the capacitor C charged with upper plate
negative and lower plate positive, the load
commutated chopper is ready for its operation.
2. When thyristor pairs T1 & T2 are triggered at t=0,
the load current flows through T1, C and T2. As the
load current is assumed constant, the upper plate of
capacitor will start charging from negative to
positive.
3. The output voltage Vo for this mode is given as
below:
Vo = Vs+Vc
Since, the capacitor voltage is -Vs at t=0, the output
voltage will shoot up to 2Vs at as soon as the
thyristors T1 and T2 are triggered.
4. The capacitor C is charged linearly (as load
current is constant, hence capacitor charging will be
linear) from Vs at t=0 to (-Vs) at t=t1.
5. When capacitor voltage becomes -Vs (this
essentially means that upper plate is positive and
lower plate is negative), the load voltage falls from
2Vs to zero at t = t1.
6. When T1 & T2 are triggered, T3 and T4 are
reversed biased due to capacitor voltage. However,
at the end of Mode-I i.e. t=t1, these Thyristors
become forward biased.
Mode 2:
1. At t=t1, the capacitor C gets slightly overcharged, as a result free-wheeling diode
gets forward biased and hence, load current is transferred from T1 & T2 to FD.
From t=t1 onwards, load current free-wheels through FD

1. During this mode, the output voltage Vo is zero as

load current is circulating through the free-wheeling
diode.
2. The voltage across capacitor remains fixed to that
at the end of mode-I i.e. (-Vs).
3. This mode of operation continues until Thyristors
T3 & T4 are triggered.
Let us assume that Mode-II operation continues till
t=t2. This means that at t=t2, Thyristors T3 & T4 are
triggered at t=t2.
Mode 3
1. At t=t2, thyristor pair T3 & T4 are triggered. Load current flows from source to
load through T3, T4 and capacitor C. This mode of operation is shown in the figure
below

Since load voltage is given as

Vo = Vs + Vc
1. T3 & T4 are triggered, the load voltage becomes equal to 2Vs.
2. Thyristor pairs T1 & T2 are reversed biased due to capacitor voltage
and hence turned off at t=t2.
3. Since the load current (Io) is flowing through the capacitor, it will
charge the capacitor linearly from (-Vs) at t = t2 to Vs at t = t3. At t=t3,
the capacitor voltage becomes equal to Vs and hence the load voltage
falls from 2Vs to zero at t3.
Mind that, when capacitor voltage becomes Vs (this means upper plate
negative and lower plate positive), thyristor pairs T1 & T2 gets forward
biased at t3.
At t3, capacitor C is somewhat overcharged and hence load current
circulates through free-wheeling diode FD. When T1 & T2 are turned
ON at t4, mode-I repeats.
Advantages:

Following are the major advantages of load commutated

chopper:

1. It is capable of commutating any amount of load current.

2. No inductor is required for commutation. Generally, inductor
is bulky, costly and nosier.
3. Filtering requirement is minimum in load commutated
chopper as it can work at high frequencies in the order of kHz.

Disadvantages:

Following are the major disadvantages of load commutated

chopper:
1. The peak voltage in this chopper is twice the source voltage.
This peak can however be reduced by filtering.
2. The efficiency of this chopper is low for high power
applications because of higher switching losses at high
frequencies.
3. Free-wheeling diode is subjected to twice the supply voltage.
4. The commutating capacitor has to carry the full load current
at a frequency of half the chopping frequency.