ELECTROTECHNOLOGY

LEARNING GUIDE 02

Course Title: POWER ELECTRONICS

Course Code: EET 235
Module Title: AC/DC Rectifiers
❶ Basic AC/DC Rectifiers
❷ Controlled and Uncontrolled Rectifier
LG Code:
TTLM Code:
AC–DC CONVERTER (RECTIFIER)

Uncontrolled rectifier circuits: half-wave and full wave. Half controlled rectifier circuits. Controlled
rectifier circuits: half-wave and full wave.
RECTIFIER
General objective: To understand the concept of a rectifier.
Specific objectives: At the end of the unit trainees should be able to:
 Explain the operation of different topologies of rectifiers
 Identify the power of an uncontrolled rectifier, semi-controlled rectifier, and controlled rectifier.
 Calculating the average voltage, RMS value for given rectifier circuit
 Identify the uncontrolled rectifier.

INTRODUCTION OF RECTIFIER
• In most power electronics application the power input is

– In the form of 50/60 Hz sine wave AC voltage provided by the electric utility
– Thus it should, if DC voltage is required, first converted to DC
Rectification refers to the process of converting an ac voltage or current source to dc voltage and
current. One of the first and most widely used application of power electronic devices have been in
rectification. Rectifiers specially refer to power electronic converters where the electrical power flows
from the ac side to the dc side. In many situations the same converter circuit may carry electrical power
from the dc side to the ac side where upon they are referred to as inverters.

The process of converting alternating current (or alternating voltage) into pulsating direct current
(or pulsating direct voltage) is known as rectification. Rectification is accomplished with the help of
diodes. Circuits which provide rectification are called rectifier circuits. Rectifier circuits can provide
either half-wave rectification or full-wave rectification.

An important application of “regular” diodes is in rectification circuits. These circuits are used to convert
AC signals to DC in power supplies.

A block diagram of this process in a DC power supply is shown below:

Power Diodes and Rectifiers

Power Diodes are semiconductor pn-junctions capable of passing large currents at high voltage values
for use in rectifier circuits

In the previous tutorials we saw that a semiconductor signal diode will only conduct current in one
direction from its anode to its cathode (forward direction), but not in the reverse direction acting a bit
like an electrical one way valve.

A widely used application of this feature and diodes in general is in the conversion of an alternating
voltage (AC) into a continuous voltage (DC). In other words, Rectification.

But small signal diodes can also be used as rectifiers in low-power, low current (less than 1-amp)
rectifiers or applications, but where larger forward bias currents or higher reverse bias blocking voltages
are involved the PN junction of a small signal diode would eventually overheat and melt so larger more
robust Power Diodes are used instead.

The power semiconductor diode, known simply as the Power Diode, has a much larger PN junction area
compared to its smaller signal diode cousin, resulting in a high forward current capability of up to
several hundred amps (KA) and a reverse blocking voltage of up to several thousand volts (KV).

Since the power diode has a large PN junction, it is not suitable for high frequency applications above
1MHz, but special and expensive high frequency, high current diodes are available. For high frequency
rectifier applications Schottky Diodes are generally used because of their short reverse recovery time
and low voltage drop in their forward bias condition.

Power diodes provide uncontrolled rectification of power and are used in applications such as battery
charging and DC power supplies as well as AC rectifiers and inverters. Due to their high current and
voltage characteristics they can also be used as free-wheeling diodes and snubber networks.

Power diodes are designed to have a forward “ON” resistance of fractions of an Ohm while their reverse
blocking resistance is in the mega-Ohms range. Some of the larger value power diodes are designed to
be “stud mounted” onto heatsinks reducing their thermal resistance to between 0.1 to 1 oC/Watt.

If an alternating voltage is applied across a power diode, during the positive half cycle the diode will
conduct passing current and during the negative half cycle the diode will not conduct blocking the flow
of current. Then conduction through the power diode only occurs during the positive half cycle and is
therefore unidirectional i.e. DC as shown.

Types of rectifiers
• Diode rectifier (uncontrolled rectifier)
– Input: ac voltage, fixed magnitude and fixed frequency, such as 50Hz, 60Hz etc
– Output: fixed dc voltage
• SCR rectifier (controlled rectifier)
– Input: ac voltage, fixed magnitude and fixed frequency, such as 50Hz, 60Hz etc
– Output: adjustable dc voltage
• They can be classified as: Single phase or three phase
• They can be classified also as Half wave or full wave
What is Rectification?

Now we come to the most popular application of the diode: rectification. Simply defined, rectification is
the conversion of alternating current (AC) to direct current (DC). This involves a device that only allows
one-way flow of electric charge. As we have seen, this is exactly what a semiconductor diode does. The
simplest kind of rectifier circuit is the half-wave rectifier. It only allows one half of an AC waveform to
pass through to the load. (Figure below)

Half-wave rectifier circuit.

Half-Wave Rectification

For most power applications, half-wave rectification is insufficient for the task. The harmonic content of
the rectifier’s output waveform is very large and consequently difficult to filter. Furthermore, the AC
power source only supplies power to the load one half every full cycle, meaning that half of its capacity
is unused. Half-wave rectification is, however, a very simple way to reduce power to a resistive load.
Some two-position lamp dimmer switches apply full AC power to the lamp filament for “full” brightness
and then half-wave rectify it for a lesser light output. (Figure below)

Half-wave rectifier application: Two level lamp dimmer.

In the “Dim” switch position, the incandescent lamp receives approximately one-half the power it would
normally receive operating on full-wave AC. Because the half-wave rectified power pulses far more
rapidly than the filament has time to heat up and cool down, the lamp does not blink. Instead, its
filament merely operates at a lesser temperature than normal, providing less light output.

This principle of “pulsing” power rapidly to a slow-responding load device to control the electrical power
sent to it is common in the world of industrial electronics. Since the controlling device (the diode, in this
case) is either fully conducting or fully nonconducting at any given time, it dissipates little heat energy
while controlling load power, making this method of power control very energy-efficient. This circuit is
perhaps the crudest possible method of pulsing power to a load, but it suffices as a proof-of-concept
application.
Full-Wave Rectifiers

If we need to rectify AC power to obtain the full use of both half-cycles of the sine wave, a different
rectifier circuit configuration must be used. Such a circuit is called a full-wave rectifier. One kind of full-
wave rectifier, called the center-tap design, uses a transformer with a center-tapped secondary winding
and two diodes, as in the figure below.

Full-wave rectifier, center-tapped design.

Positive Half-Cycle

This circuit’s operation is easily understood one half-cycle at a time. Consider the first half-cycle, when
the source voltage polarity is positive (+) on top and negative (-) on bottom. At this time, only the top
diode is conducting; the bottom diode is blocking current, and the load “sees” the first half of the sine
wave, positive on top and negative on bottom. Only the top half of the transformer’s secondary winding
carries current during this half-cycle as in the figure below.

Full-wave center-tap rectifier: Top half of secondary winding conducts during positive half-cycle of input,
delivering positive half-cycle to load.
Negative Half-Cycle

During the next half-cycle, the AC polarity reverses. Now, the other diode and the other half of the
transformer’s secondary winding carry current while the portions of the circuit formerly carrying current
during the last half-cycle sit idle. The load still “sees” half of a sine wave, of the same polarity as before:
positive on top and negative on bottom. (Figure below)

Full-wave center-tap rectifier: During negative input half-cycle, bottom half of secondary winding
conducts, delivering a positive half-cycle to the load.

Disadvantages of Full-wave rectifier Design

One disadvantage of this full-wave rectifier design is the necessity of a transformer with a center-tapped
secondary winding. If the circuit in question is one of high power, the size and expense of a suitable
transformer is significant. Consequently, the center-tap rectifier design is only seen in low-power
applications.

Other Configurations

The full-wave center-tapped rectifier polarity at the load may be reversed by changing the direction of
the diodes. Furthermore, the reversed diodes can be paralleled with an existing positive-output rectifier.
The result is dual-polarity full-wave center-tapped rectifier in the figure below. Note that the
connectivity of the diodes themselves is the same configuration as a bridge.

Dual polarity full-wave center tap rectifier

Full-Wave Bridge Rectifiers

Another, more popular full-wave rectifier design exists, and it is built around a four-diode bridge
configuration. For obvious reasons, this design is called a full-wave bridge. (Figure below)

Full-wave bridge rectifier.

Current directions for the full-wave bridge rectifier circuit are as shown in the figure below for positive
half-cycle and the figure below for negative half-cycles of the AC source waveform. Note that regardless
of the polarity of the input, the current flows in the same direction through the load. That is, the
negative half-cycle of source is a positive half-cycle at the load.

The current flow is through two diodes in series for both polarities. Thus, two diode drops of the source
voltage are lost (0.7·2=1.4 V for Si) in the diodes. This is a disadvantage compared with a full-wave
center-tap design. This disadvantage is only a problem in very low voltage power supplies.

Full-wave bridge rectifier: Current flow for positive half-cycles.

Full-wave bridge rectifier: Current flow for negative half-cycles.

Alternative Full-wave Bridge Rectifier Circuit Diagram

Remembering the proper layout of diodes in a full-wave bridge rectifier circuit can often be frustrating
to the new student of electronics. I’ve found that an alternative representation of this circuit is easier
both to remember and to comprehend. It’s the exact same circuit, except all diodes are drawn in a
horizontal attitude, all “pointing” the same direction. (Figure below)

Alternative layout style for Full-wave bridge rectifier.

Polyphase Version using Alternative Layout

One advantage of remembering this layout for a bridge rectifier circuit is that it expands easily into a
polyphase version in Figure below.

Three-phase full-wave bridge rectifier circuit.

Each three-phase line connects between a pair of diodes: one to route power to the positive (+) side of
the load, and the other to route power to the negative (-) side of the load.

Polyphase systems with more than three phases are easily accommodated into a bridge rectifier
scheme. Take for instance the six-phase bridge rectifier circuit in the figure below.
Six-phase full-wave bridge rectifier circuit.

When polyphase AC is rectified, the phase-shifted pulses overlap each other to produce a DC output that
is much “smoother” (has less AC content) than that produced by the rectification of single-phase AC.
This is a decided advantage in high-power rectifier circuits, where the sheer physical size of filtering
components would be prohibitive but low-noise DC power must be obtained. The diagram in the figure
below shows the full-wave rectification of three-phase AC.

Three-phase AC and 3-phase full-wave rectifier output.

Ripple Voltage

In any case of rectification—single-phase or polyphone—the amount of AC voltage mixed with the

rectifier’s DC output is called ripple voltage. In most cases, since “pure” DC is the desired goal, ripple
voltage is undesirable. If the power levels are not too great, filtering networks may be employed to
reduce the amount of ripple in the output voltage.
1-Pulse, 2-Pulse, and 6-Pulse Units

Sometimes, the method of rectification is referred to by counting the number of DC “pulses” output for
every 360o of electrical “rotation.” A single-phase, half-wave rectifier circuit, then, would be called a 1-
pulse rectifier, because it produces a single pulse during the time of one complete cycle (360 o) of the AC
waveform. A single-phase, full-wave rectifier (regardless of design, center-tap or bridge) would be called
a 2-pulse rectifier because it outputs two pulses of DC during one AC cycle’s worth of time. A three-
phase full-wave rectifier would be called a 6-pulse unit.

Rectifier Circuit Phases

Modern electrical engineering convention further describes the function of a rectifier circuit by using a
three-field notation of phases, ways, and number of pulses. A single-phase, half-wave rectifier circuit is
given the somewhat cryptic designation of 1Ph1W1P (1 phase, 1 way, 1 pulse), meaning that the AC
supply voltage is single-phase, that current on each phase of the AC supply lines moves in only one
direction (way), and that there is a single pulse of DC produced for every 360 o of electrical rotation.

A single-phase, full-wave, center-tap rectifier circuit would be designated as 1Ph1W2P in this notational
system: 1 phase, 1 way or direction of current in each winding half, and 2 pulses or output voltage per
cycle.

A single-phase, full-wave, bridge rectifier would be designated as 1Ph2W2P: the same as for the center-
tap design, except current, can go both ways through the AC lines instead of just one way.

The three-phase bridge rectifier circuit shown earlier would be called a 3Ph2W6P rectifier.

Applications of Uncontrolled Rectifiers

• DC power supply for consumer electronic products such as radios, TVs, DVD players, mobile phone
chargers, computers, laptops and so on (low power)
• DC motor drives (high power)
The dc output voltage of rectifiers should as ripple free as possible.

Therefore a large capacitor is connected as a filter in the dc side.

• The block diagram of a diode rectifier
Single-phase half-wave rectifier (R load)
A rectifier is a circuit which converts the Alternating Current (AC) input power into a Direct Current (DC)
output power. The input power supply may be either a single-phase or a multi-phase supply with the
simplest of all the rectifier circuits being that of the Half Wave Rectifier.

The power diode in a half wave rectifier circuit passes just one half of each complete sine wave of the AC
supply in order to convert it into a DC supply. Then this type of circuit is called a “half-wave” rectifier
because it passes only half of the incoming AC power supply as shown below.

Half Wave Rectifier Circuit

During each “positive” half cycle of the AC sine wave, the diode is forward biased as the anode is
positive with respect to the cathode resulting in current flowing through the diode.

Since the DC load is resistive (resistor, R), the current flowing in the load resistor is therefore
proportional to the voltage (Ohm´s Law), and the voltage across the load resistor will therefore be the
same as the supply voltage, Vs (minus Vƒ), that is the “DC” voltage across the load is sinusoidal for the
first half cycle only so Vout = Vs.

During each “negative” half cycle of the AC sinusoidal input waveform, the diode is reverse biased as the
anode is negative with respect to the cathode. Therefore, NO current flows through the diode or circuit.
Then in the negative half cycle of the supply, no current flows in the load resistor as no voltage appears
across it so therefore, Vout = 0.

The current on the DC side of the circuit flows in one direction only making the circuit Unidirectional. As
the load resistor receives from the diode a positive half of the waveform, zero volts, a positive half of
the waveform, zero volts, etc, the value of this irregular voltage would be equal in value to an equivalent
DC voltage of 0.318*Vmax of the input sinusoidal waveform or 0.45*Vrms of the input sinusoidal
waveform.

Then the equivalent DC voltage, VDC across the load resistor is calculated as follows.

Circuit diagram

Waveforms
Analyzing Half-Wave Rectifiers
Vm
The average value of output voltage V dc =
π
V dc V m
The average value of load current I dc = =
R πR
Vm
The rms value of output voltage V rms =
2
V rms
The rms value of load current I rms =
R
Peak inverse voltage across the diode PIV =V m
P V I
The efficiency of rectification η= dc = dc dc
P ac V rms I rms
During the rectification process the resultant output DC voltage and current are therefore both “ON”
and “OFF” during every cycle. As the voltage across the load resistor is only present during the positive
half of the cycle (50% of the input waveform), this results in a low average DC value being supplied to
the load.
The variation of the rectified output waveform between this “ON” and “OFF” condition produces a
waveform which has large amounts of “ripple” which is an undesirable feature. The resultant DC ripple
has a frequency that is equal to that of the AC supply frequency.

Very often when rectifying an alternating voltage we wish to produce a “steady” and continuous DC
voltage free from any voltage variations or ripple. One way of doing this is to connect a large value
Capacitor across the output voltage terminals in parallel with the load resistor as shown below. This type
of capacitor is known commonly as a “Reservoir” or Smoothing Capacitor.

Half-wave Rectifier with Smoothing Capacitor

When rectification is used to provide a direct voltage (DC) power supply from an alternating (AC) source,
the amount of ripple voltage can be further reduced by using larger value capacitors but there are limits
both on cost and size to the types of smoothing capacitors used.

For a given capacitor value, a greater load current (smaller load resistance) will discharge the capacitor
more quickly (RC Time Constant) and so increases the ripple obtained. Then for single phase, half-wave
rectifier circuit using a power diode it is not very practical to try and reduce the ripple voltage by
capacitor smoothing alone. In this instance it would be more practical to use “Full-wave Rectification”
instead.

In practice, the half-wave rectifier is used most often in low-power applications because of their major
disadvantages being. The output amplitude is less than the input amplitude, there is no output during
the negative half cycle so half the power is wasted and the output is pulsed DC resulting in excessive
ripple.

To overcome these disadvantages a number of Power Diode are connected together to produce a Full
Wave Rectifier as discussed in the next tutorial.

Full Wave Rectifier

Power Diodes can be connected together to form a full wave rectifier that convert AC voltage into
pulsating DC voltage for use in power supplies
In the previous Power Diodes tutorial we discussed ways of reducing the ripple or voltage variations on a
direct DC voltage by connecting smoothing capacitors across the load resistance.

While this method may be suitable for low power applications it is unsuitable to applications which need
a “steady and smooth” DC supply voltage. One method to improve on this is to use every half-cycle of
the input voltage instead of every other half-cycle. The circuit which allows us to do this is called a Full
Wave Rectifier.

Like the half wave circuit, a full wave rectifier circuit produces an output voltage or current which is
purely DC or has some specified DC component. Full wave rectifiers have some fundamental advantages
over their half wave rectifier counterparts. The average (DC) output voltage is higher than for half wave,
the output of the full wave rectifier has much less ripple than that of the half wave rectifier producing a
smoother output waveform.

In a Full Wave Rectifier circuit two diodes are now used, one for each half of the cycle. A multiple
winding transformer is used whose secondary winding is split equally into two halves with a common
centre tapped connection, (C). This configuration results in each diode conducting in turn when its
anode terminal is positive with respect to the transformer centre point C producing an output during
both half-cycles, twice that for the half wave rectifier so it is 100% efficient as shown below.

Full Wave Rectifier Circuit

 The full wave rectifier circuit consists of two power diodes connected to a single load resistance (R L)
with each diode taking it in turn to supply current to the load. When point A of the transformer is
positive with respect to point C, diode D1 conducts in the forward direction as indicated by the arrows.

When point B is positive (in the negative half of the cycle) with respect to point C, diode D2 conducts in
the forward direction and the current flowing through resistor R is in the same direction for both half-
cycles. As the output voltage across the resistor R is the phasor sum of the two waveforms combined,
this type of full wave rectifier circuit is also known as a “bi-phase” circuit.

As the spaces between each half-wave developed by each diode is now being filled in by the other diode
the average DC output voltage across the load resistor is now double that of the single half-wave
rectifier circuit and is about  0.637Vmax  of the peak voltage, assuming no losses.
Where: VMAX is the maximum peak value in one half of the secondary winding and VRMS is the rms value.

The peak voltage of the output waveform is the same as before for the half-wave rectifier provided each
half of the transformer windings have the same rms voltage value. To obtain a different DC voltage
output different transformer ratios can be used.

The main disadvantage of this type of full wave rectifier circuit is that a larger transformer for a given
power output is required with two separate but identical secondary windings making this type of full
wave rectifying circuit costly compared to the “Full Wave Bridge Rectifier” circuit equivalent.

The Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

Another type of circuit that produces the same output waveform as the full wave rectifier circuit above,
is that of the Full Wave Bridge Rectifier. This type of single phase rectifier uses four individual rectifying
diodes connected in a closed loop “bridge” configuration to produce the desired output.

The main advantage of this bridge circuit is that it does not require a special center tapped transformer,
thereby reducing its size and cost. The single secondary winding is connected to one side of the diode
bridge network and the load to the other side as shown below.

The Diode Bridge Rectifier

The four diodes labelled D1 to D4 are arranged in “series pairs” with only two diodes conducting current
during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series
while diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load as shown below.

The Positive Half-cycle

 

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but
diodes D1 and D2 switch “OFF” as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing through the load is
the same direction as before.

The Negative Half-cycle

 As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed across the load is
also unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave rectifier, therefore the average DC
voltage across the load is 0.637Vmax.

Typical Bridge Rectifier

However in reality, during each half cycle the current flows through two diodes instead of just one so
the amplitude of the output voltage is two voltage drops ( 2*0.7 = 1.4V ) less than the input
VMAX amplitude. The ripple frequency is now twice the supply frequency (e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz supply or
120Hz for a 60Hz supply.)

Although we can use four individual power diodes to make a full wave bridge rectifier, pre-made bridge
rectifier components are available “off-the-shelf” in a range of different voltage and current sizes that
can be soldered directly into a PCB circuit board or be connected by spade connectors.

The image to the right shows a typical single phase bridge rectifier with one corner cut off. This cut-off
corner indicates that the terminal nearest to the corner is the positive or +ve output terminal or lead
with the opposite (diagonal) lead being the negative or -ve output lead. The other two connecting leads
are for the input alternating voltage from a transformer secondary winding.

Single-phase center-tap full-wave rectifier (R load)

Circuit diagram
Analyzing Full-Wave Rectifiers
2V m
The average value of output voltage V dc =
π

V dc 2 V m
The average value of load current I dc = =
R πR

Vm
The rms value of output voltage V rms =
√2
V rms
The rms value of load current I rms =
R

Peak inverse voltage across each diode PIV =2 V m

Single-phase bridge full-wave rectifier (R load)

Circuit diagram
The Smoothing Capacitor

We saw in the previous section that the single phase half-wave rectifier produces an output wave every
half cycle and that it was not practical to use this type of circuit to produce a steady DC supply. The full-
wave bridge rectifier however, gives us a greater mean DC value (0.637 Vmax) with less superimposed
ripple while the output waveform is twice that of the frequency of the input supply frequency.

We can improve the average DC output of the rectifier while at the same time reducing the AC variation
of the rectified output by using smoothing capacitors to filter the output waveform. Smoothing or
reservoir capacitors connected in parallel with the load across the output of the full wave bridge rectifier
circuit increases the average DC output level even higher as the capacitor acts like a storage device as
shown below.

Full-wave Rectifier with Smoothing Capacitor

 The smoothing capacitor converts the full-wave rippled output of the rectifier into a more smooth DC
output voltage. If we now run the Multism Simulator Circuit with different values of smoothing
capacitor installed, we can see the effect it has on the rectified output waveform as shown.

5uF Smoothing Capacitor

 The blue plot on the waveform shows the result of using a 5.0uF smoothing capacitor across the
rectifiers output. Previously the load voltage followed the rectified output waveform down to zero volts.
Here the 5uF capacitor is charged to the peak voltage of the output DC pulse, but when it drops from its
peak voltage back down to zero volts, the capacitor cannot discharge as quickly due to the RC time
constant of the circuit.

This results in the capacitor discharging down to about 3.6 volts, in this example, maintaining the
voltage across the load resistor until the capacitor re-charges once again on the next positive slope of
the DC pulse. In other words, the capacitor only has time to discharge briefly before the next DC pulse
recharges it back up to the peak value. Thus, the DC voltage applied to the load resistor drops only by a
small amount. But we can improve this still by increasing the value of the smoothing capacitor as shown.

50uF Smoothing Capacitor

Here we have increased the value of the smoothing capacitor ten-fold from 5uF to 50uF which has
reduced the ripple increasing the minimum discharge voltage from the previous 3.6 volts to 7.9 volts.
However, using the  Multism Simulator Circuit we have chosen a load of 1kΩ to obtain these values, but
as the load impedance decreases the load current increases causing the capacitor to discharge more
rapidly between charging pulses.

The effect of a supplying a heavy load with a single smoothing or reservoir capacitor can be reduced by
the use of a larger capacitor which stores more energy and discharges less between charging pulses.
Generally for DC power supply circuits the smoothing capacitor is an Aluminum Electrolytic type that has
a capacitance value of 100uF or more with repeated DC voltage pulses from the rectifier charging up the
capacitor to peak voltage.

However, there are two important parameters to consider when choosing a suitable smoothing
capacitor and these are its Working Voltage, which must be higher than the no-load output value of the
rectifier and its Capacitance Value, which determines the amount of ripple that will appear
superimposed on top of the DC voltage.

Too low a capacitance value and the capacitor has little effect on the output waveform. But if the
smoothing capacitor is sufficiently large enough (parallel capacitors can be used) and the load current is
not too large, the output voltage will be almost as smooth as pure DC. As a general rule of thumb, we
are looking to have a ripple voltage of less than 100mV peak to peak.

The maximum ripple voltage present for a Full Wave Rectifier circuit is not only determined by the value
of the smoothing capacitor but by the frequency and load current, and is calculated as:

Bridge Rectifier Ripple Voltage

Where: I is the DC load current in amps, ƒ is the frequency of the ripple or twice the input frequency in
Hertz, and C is the capacitance in Farads.

The main advantages of a full-wave bridge rectifier is that it has a smaller AC ripple value for a given load
and a smaller reservoir or smoothing capacitor than an equivalent half-wave rectifier. Therefore, the
fundamental frequency of the ripple voltage is twice that of the AC supply frequency (100Hz) where for
the half-wave rectifier it is exactly equal to the supply frequency (50Hz).

The amount of ripple voltage that is superimposed on top of the DC supply voltage by the diodes can be
virtually eliminated by adding a much improved π-filter (pi-filter) to the output terminals of the bridge
rectifier. This type of low-pass filter consists of two smoothing capacitors, usually of the same value and
a choke or inductance across them to introduce a high impedance path to the alternating ripple
component
Another more practical and cheaper alternative is to use an off the shelf 3-terminal voltage regulator IC,
such as a LM78xx (where “xx” stands for the output voltage rating) for a positive output voltage or its
inverse equivalent the LM79xx for a negative output voltage which can reduce the ripple by more than
70dB (Datasheet) while delivering a constant output current of over 1 amp.

SCR RECTIFIERS
Introduction

We have seen previously that diode rectifiers provide a fixed output voltage only. To obtain controlled
output voltages, phase control thyristors are used instead of diodes. The output voltage of thyristor
rectifiers is varied by controlling the delay or firing angle of thyristors. A phase-control thyristor is turned
on by applying a short pulse to its gate and turned off due to natural or line commutation; and in case of
a highly inductive load, it is turned off by firing another thyristor of the rectifier during the negative half-
cycle of input voltage.

These phase-controlled rectifiers are simple and less expensive; and the efficiency of these rectifiers is,
in general, above 95%. Since these rectifiers convert from ac to dc, these controlled rectifiers are also
called ac—dc converters and are used extensively in industrial applications, especially in variable-speed
drives, ranging from fractional horsepower to megawatt power level. The phase-control converters can
be classified into two types, depending on the input supply: (1) single-phase converters, and (2) three-
phase converters. The method of Fourier series similar to that of diode rectifiers can be applied to
analyze the performances of phase-controlled converters with RL loads. However, to simplify the
analysis, the load inductance can be assumed sufficiently high so that the load current is continuous and
has negligible ripple.

Single-phase half-wave control with R load

Let us consider the circuit in Fig. 5-la with a resistive load. During the positive half-cycle of input voltage,
the thyristor anode is positive with respect to its cathode and the thyristor is said to be forward biased.
When thyristor T is fired at ωt = α, thyristor T conducts and the input voltage appears across the load.
When the input voltage starts to be negative at ωt =π , the thyristor anode is negative with respect to its
cathode and thyristor T is said to be reverse biased; and it is turned off. The time after the input voltage
starts to go positive until the thyristor is fired at ωt = α is called the delay or firing angle α. Figure 5-lb
shows the region of converter operation, where the output voltage and current have one polarity.
Figure 5-1c shows the waveforms for input voltage, output voltage, load current, and voltage across T.
This converter is not normally used in industrial applications because its output has high ripple content.

Operation of the circuit

In the positive half-cycle of vs, the current is zero until ωt=α, at which time the thyristor is supplied a
positive gate pulse of a short duration.

For the rest of the positive half-cycle, the current waveform follows the ac voltage waveform and
becomes zero at ωt=π.

Then the thyristor blocks the current from flowing during the negative half-cycle of vs.

The current stays zero until ωt=2π+α, at which another short- duration gate pulse is applied and the
next cycle of the waveform begins.

By adjusting α, the average value of the load voltage vd can be controlled

Single-phase center-tap full-wave control rectifier
Single - phase Full controlled bridge rectifier with R load

• Practical thyristor converters are made from bridge-rectifier shown below for single-phase utility
input.
Fig. Various voltages and currents waveforms for bridge circuit shown above with resistive load