Power conversion and

switching devices

Lecture 1
Lecture 1 objectives
 At the end of this lecture you will have
a knowledge of
 The basics of energy conversion
 The ways switches in a power electronic
circuit are organised
 The basics types of switching
semiconductor devices

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Introduction
 People do not use electricity (?!).
 They use light, heat, information,
mechanical work, and direct
results of energy.
 1998 was the 250th anniversary
of Franklin’s electric motor, arguably
the first invention of the electrical age.
 The impetus for electricity use is the ease of
conversion and transport of energy - both at the
sending and receiving ends.

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Introduction
 Ease of conversion means that electricity
comes in a wide variety of forms.
 Various voltages, frequencies, waveforms,
poly-phase connections, and others are
common.
 The “best form” depends on the situation and
application.
 Storage of electrical energy is difficult.

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Examples
 Ac, 50 Hz in Europe (230 V) and
Australia (240 V), 60 Hz in North
America (120 V).
 Dc, 5 V, 3.3 V for conventional logic.
 Dc, 1.8 V, 1.2 V for advanced
microprocessors and memory.
 Ac, 330 kV, 50 Hz for bulk
transmission.
 Ac at RF for communications.
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What is power electronics?
 If electrical engineers are in the conversion
business, who is it that takes care of energy
conversion?
 We are used to circuits that handle informa-
tion, whether analog, digital, or RF. What
about energy? In power electronics, the
energy conversion process is primary.
 We study the application of electronic devices
and circuits to the conversion and control of
energy.
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What is power electronics?
 We are interested in conversion of electricity
among its many forms.
 Power electronics involves the study of
electronic circuits intended to control the flow
of electrical energy.
 These circuits handle energy flow at levels
much higher than individual device ratings.

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Energy conversion
 History:
 In the 1880s, Edison (and
his General Electric)
advocated dc power.
 Westinghouse advocated ac
power with Nikola Tesla as
the driving force.
 Dc to ac conversion was an
issue right from the start.
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Energy conversion
 How?
 For dc, the only option was electrical to
mechanical to electrical conversion: a
motor driving a generator.
 For ac, we also have the transformer,
which at least can adjust voltage levels.
 Nonlinear circuit elements.

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Energy conversion
 Energy conversion is a nonlinear
process: The form we want differs in
basic ways from the form we start with.
 Nonlinear circuits and systems are only
partially understood.
 Conversion involves intermediate
stages.

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Power electronics components
 Long established:
 Selenium diodes, copper oxide
diodes - silicon P-N junction
diodes.
 The thyristor - the silicon controlled
rectifier (SCR). Support for high-
power rectifiers, inverters, and
cycloconverters
 Power bipolar transistors.
Voltage-sourced inverters,
pulse width modulation,
dc-dc converters. 11
Power electronics components
 More recent:
 Power field-effect transistors:
high-performance dc-dc
conversion.
 Combined devices, such as
the insulated gate bipolar
transistor (IGBT): high-
performance inverters.
 High power thyristors,
SCRs and gate turn-off
(GTO) devices: power
levels of many megawatts.
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Near future power electronics
components
 Efficient conversion below 1 V.
 Power electronics in almost every
motor, appliance, or electrical product.
 Almost all energy processed through an
electronic circuit.
 Alternative energy.

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Power electronics today
 The fraction of energy that is processed
electronically is growing rapidly.
 Power electronics: every computer, almost
every appliance or new electrical product.
 Soon in every motor, alternative energy
system, and automobile.
 Modern devices can manage energy flows
from 1 W to more than 1000 MW.

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Challenges
 Consider a PC:
 Power supply is the largest
part.
 Significant cost, reliability impact, system issues.
 Yet there are perhaps 100 digital circuit design
engineers for every power electronics engineer.
 Computer industry - low voltage at high
current. High reliability.
 Telecommunications - distributed power,
battery power.
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Challenges
 Aerospace - aircraft and satellite
systems. Distributed systems.
 Automotive industry - electric traction,
actuators, motor control, networks, . . .
 Energy industry - energy management
and control, power quality.
 Devices - power semiconductors,
magnetics, . . .
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 The Objectives
 Converter sits
between source
and load.
Energy Conversion Load Any energy
source 
consumed in
conversion is lost
to the system.
Control  Any failure in the
converter results
in failure of the
system.
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Efficiency
 Consider only lossless methods.
Efficiency target: 100%
 Consider only simple systems:
Reliability target: 100%

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The efficiency objective - the
switch

 The switch - a simple lossless element

 When on: v = 0
 Zero power

 When off: i = 0
 Zero power

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Power electronic system

Electrical Switches,
storage Load
source

Control

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Important variables and
notation
 Average power at a specified location (energy
flow over time).
 Peak values of voltages and currents (device
ratings).
 Average values of voltages and currents (dc
values).
 RMS voltages and currents (power, losses).
 Waveforms (give insight into circuit’s
operation).
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Important variables and
notation
 Device power (losses).
 Average:
1 T
v   v(t )dt
T 0
 RMS:
1 T 2
VRMS  
T 0
v (t )dt

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Energy balance
 Energy balance works if we can identify
a specific element.
 The element is analyzed as a one-port
network.
 If the element is lossless, input and
output energy must balance.

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 One-port model
iin  The input power is defined
as (v)(i), positive with
+ current and voltage
polarities as shown.
Pin vin  This means the output
power is -(v)(i).
 For lossless balance, we
- can either take
P(in) = P(out), or we can
take a total P(in) of zero.
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Polarity reverser

 With left switch on, input power is

Pin = (Vin)(iL).
 With right switch on, input power is
Pin = (Vout)(iL).
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Energy balance
 We know the inductor is lossless, so the net
input should be zero.
 Thus, the total input energy over a switch
sequence should be zero.
 This means:
(Vin)(iL)(T) + (Vout)(iL)T = 0
if each switch is on for an interval T.
 This requires
Vin = -Vout,
if the currents and times are non zero.
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Energy balance
 Now, let’s try a more challenging case, such
as a polarity reverser circuit with loss.
 The inductor is now in series with a resistor.
 In this case, the net input power is no longer
zero. It must also include the resistor I²R
loss for proper balance.
 But notice that energy is conserved as well.
The total energy drawn from the input source
must supply losses and the load.
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Various functions of
converters
 Provide a very tightly fixed dc output
from an uncertain input voltage source.
 Provide polarity reversal.
 Step a dc voltage up or down.

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Various functions of
converters
 Rectify, invert, and otherwise facilitate
energy flow between ac and dc circuits,
or between ac circuits operating at
different frequencies.

 Energy storage element is required

 inductor
 capacitor

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The switch matrix
 If a converter has m input lines and n
output lines, an m  n matrix allows all
possible interconnections.
n

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The switch matrix
 Types of power electronic circuits:
 Direct switch matrix circuits (matrix
converters) - storage elements connected
to the matrix only at the input and output
terminals.
 Indirect switch matrix circuits (embedded
converters) - storage elements connected
within the matrix structure

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The switch matrix
 Provides a clear way to organize devices for a
given application.
 Three areas:
 The hardware problem - build a switch matrix.
 The software problem - operate the matrix to
achieve the desired conversion.
 The interface problem - add energy storage
elements to provide the filters or intermediate
storage necessary to meet the application
requirements.

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Reality of circuit laws
 KVL: Σ vloop = 0
 The implication is that unequal voltage sources
cannot be interconnected.
 In power electronics (as opposed to other fields),
it is possible to build a circuit that tries to “violate”
KVL.
 Attempts to connect unlike voltages yields
extreme currents and failures.

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Reality of circuit laws
 KCL: Σ inode = 0
 The implication is that unequal current sources
cannot be interconnected.
 It is possible to build a circuit that tries to “violate”
KCL.
 Attempts to violate KCL can generate extreme
voltages, as current tries to maintain its flow.
 It is hard to protect against this - fuses don’t help.
 Example: 10 mH inductor carrying 10 A.
Disconnect it abruptly.

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One-port model

 v = L di/dt.
If current drops in 1 μs, we have
(0.01 H)(10 A)/(10-6 s) = 100 kV!
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Implications for storage
 If a fixed voltage is applied to an
inductor, current rises without limit.
 This is like a short circuit, although it is
OK for a short time.
 If a fixed current is applied to a
capacitor, charge rises without limit.
 An inductor cannot sustain dc voltage
over extended times.

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Implications for storage
 A capacitor cannot sustain dc current
over extended times.
 Since vL must have no dc and iC must
have no dc, we notice that
<vL> = 0, <iC> = 0.
 These are key to circuit analysis: an
inductor carries no average voltage; a
capacitor carries no average current.
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Implications for switching
 We want ideal sources (source conversion
concept).
 We cannot use a switch matrix for direct
connection of voltage sources or of current
sources.
 Any useful converter must mix voltage and
current sources.
 “Voltage converts to current,”
 “Current converts to voltage.”

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Implications for switching

Not OK Not OK

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Implications for switching

OK OK

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Diode bridge example
 Of possible connections, only one
remains after KVL, KCL, and conversion
requirements are met.

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Switching functions

m mn
input switches
lines

n output lines

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Switching functions
 We have a physical switch matrix with
m rows and n columns.
 Each switch is either on or off.
 Define a switching function, q(t) as 1
when a device is on, 0 when off.
 Now, each physical switch is associated
with a simple discrete function.

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Switching functions
 Don’t forget about time.
 We can define a switch state matrix,
Q(t).
 The matrix Q has elements that
correspond to each individual switch.
 The element at row i and column j
represents switch ij and function qij(t).

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Switching functions
 The functions support shorthand notation for
KVL and KCL analysis.
 More important, they give mathematical
expressions that represent converter action.
 We can define our software problem in terms
of choices of switching functions.
 We can find out the expected waveforms in
many types of converters.

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Switching devices
 Consider an ideal switch:
 On, v = 0. Off, i = 0.
 Any polarity of v or I, and no limits.
 Can turn on or off at any time.
 Acts instantly.
 Real devices don’t do any of this, of
course.

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Switching devices
 But even the best possible parts still
have polarity limitations.
 The restricted switch concept is very
useful.
 These are devices that are ideal in
every way except polarity.
 Classic example: Ideal diode.
 Conducts forward, blocks reverse.
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Questions

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