Novel topdogies of AC choppers
B.-H. K W O ~
B.-D. Min
J.-H. Kim
Indexing terms: AC choppers, Power fuctor, P WM, Three-phase systems, Humonic distortion
Abstract: Novel topologies of pulse-width
modulated (PWM) AC choppers for single-phase
and three-phase systems are proposed for buck,
boost and buck-boost types. A PWM AC
chopper has important advantages compared with
the phase-controlled AC controller using
thyristors. The AC chopper has sinusoidal current
waveforms, better power factor, faster dynamics,
and smaller input/output filter. In a recent
improved topology for AC choppers, an R C
bypass snubber is used for minimising high-
voltage spikes during the dead time in the gating
signals of complementary switches. In the
proposed topologies the commutation problem
causing high-voltage spikes is resolved by
ko cần intelligent gate-switching patterns using
đo dòng informa tion from the input/output voltage. These
switching patterns provide a current path for all
operation modes without any RC bypass
snubbers. Since RC bypass snubbers causing
power lloss are eliminated, the efficiency of the
chopper is increased. Thus, advantages of the
proposed topologies include increased power
factor, low harmonic input current, fast
dynamics, high efficiency, high reliability, high
power capacity, and small size of the passive
filter. The paper describes the operational
principle and analysis of the proposed topologies.
Experimental results show that the proposed
topologies give good perfomance for AC
choppers.
1 Introduction
Line-frequency AC choppers are widely used in appli-
cations such as industrial heating, lighting control, soft
starting of induction motors, and speed controllers for
fans and pumps. Many of these are conventional
phase-controlled AC controllers using thyristors, which
have the advantages of simplicity of the control circuit
and large power capability. However, these have the
inherent drawbacks that power factor decreases when
the firing angle increases and that, since the content of
0IEE, 1996
IEE Proceediqqy online no. 19960374
Paper first received 7th August 1995 and in revised form 5th February
1996
The authors are with the Department of Electronic and Electrical
Engineering, I’ohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH),
San 31 Hyoja Dong, Pohang, 790-784 Republic of Korea
IEE pro^ -Elect7 Power Appl, Vol 143, No 4,July 1996
the line current harmonics is relatively large, the size of
the passive filter circuit becomes bulky. These draw-
backs can be overcome by using the PWM AC chop-
per. This chopper offers several advantages such as
sinusoidal input current with unity power factor, fast
dynamics, and significant reduction in filter size. Sev-
eral PWM AC choppers have been articulated in a
number of technical publications [1-71. In the PWM
method the switching patterns are critical and an alter-
nate path has to be provided for current when both
switches are turned off. This alternate path is imple-
mented using additional bilaternal switches in some of
the topologies proposed [l-51. Recently, new PWM AC
choppers have been proposed [6, 71, which use only
standard switches with RC bypass snubbers. However,
the power loss in RC bypass snubbers imposes a heavy
burden on the system. The more the power capacity is
increased, the more the power loss of RC bypass snub-
bers is increased. Thus, such topologies are difficult,
expensive, bulky, and inefficient for high-power appli-
cations.
In this paper, novel topologies of AC choppers are
presented for buck, boost, and buck-boost types for
single-phase and three-phase systems. The proposed
topologies offer safe commutation without high-voltage
spikes using intelligent PWM switching patterns. The
gating patterns are decided using the polarity of the
inputioutput voltage. Since the RC bypass snubbers
causing power loss are not used, the power capacity
can be easily increased. Standard power switch mod-
ules with two switches and two freewheeling diodes in a
package are utilised instead of bilateral switches. The
proposed topologies have many advantages such as
high power factor, low harmonics, high efficiency, high
reliability, fast dynamics, easy implementation, high
power capacity, and small size of the passive filter.
2 Principle of operation
A switching algorithm for the buck type is investigated.
Because the switching algorithms for boost and buck-
boost types have a common feature, the switching algo-
rithm for the buck type can be also applied to another
types. The power circuits of topologies, buck, boost,
and buck-boost types for the single-phase system are
shown in Fiigs. 1-3. The AC choppers consist of two
standard switch modules, an inductor, and capacitors.
In general, switches SI and S2 or S3 and S4 are simulta-
neously turned on or off and all switches are turned off
during the dead time. Therefore the RC bypass snub-
bers must be appended for the current path and voltage
limiting. However, the switching patterns are decided
by the polarity of the source voltage in the proposed
323
topologies. If the source voltage is positive, switches S2
and S4 are fully turned on and switches SI and S; are
modulated with a constant duty ratio. If the sign of the
source voltage is changed, the switching pattern is
reversed, i.e. switches S, and S3 are fully turned on and
switches S2 and S4 are modulated with a constant dut?
ratio. I n these switching patterns, the current path
always exists whatever the current direction. Since two
switches are always turned on during the half period of
the voltage source the switching loss is significantly
reduced.

* t

Fig. 4 Acrivc i.izoik for single-phase huck AC chopper

s,. S?. s1 : on. s; : off

L P-
"S RO

Fig.5 Drcid time mode j o y single-phase huclc AC choppev

s2.s, : 011. s,. s; : off
U
Fig.2 Topolqyies of single-phase AC choppes, boos? tyye

r+ r+

The topological inodes are divided into active. dead

time, and freewheeling modes. The active mode is
defined when switches Si and S2 are turned on. During
the active mode the inductor current flows through the
voltage source. The power flows to or from the load
according to the direction of the inductor current as
shown in Fig. 4. The dead time mode is defined when
two modulated switches are turned off. The current
pathes can be formed by the direction of the inductor
current as shown in Fig. 5. In the freewheeling mode.
the inductor current freewheels through the switches S3
and S,, as shown in Fig. 6. Since the topology of the
boost type is the dual of that of the buck type, the
switching patterns are decided by the polarity of the
output voltage. The switching patterns are the same as
that of the buck type. For the buck-boost type, the
polarity of the input voltage source is used for the
switching pattern decision and the rule is also the same
as that or the buck type.
324
1he proposed topologies of three-phase AC choppers
are shown in Figs. 7-9. Since the per-phase circuit for
the three-phase AC choppers is equivalent to the topol-
ogies of the single-phase AC choppers, the operational
principle is similar to that of the single-phase AC chop-
pers. In the buck AC chopper fcr three-phase systems,
the switches with the smallest source voltage among
three voltage sources are fully turned on. Other
switches are modulated with a constant duty ratio. For
example, if the voltage of phase C is the smallest,
switches S, and Sb are fully turned on. Switches SI, S,
and S4, S, are complementarily switched with a con-
stant duty ratio. The operational modes are the same
as that of the single-phase buck AC chopper. With
respect to each mode the current paths for the three-
IEE Pioc.-Elertr. Power Appl., Voi 143, No. 4, July 1996
 phase buck AC chopper are shown in Figs. 10-12.
With respect to other types, the same rule as for single-
phase systems is applied.

Fig. 10 Active inode fbr three-phase huclc AC cliopp~r

S,. S,. S,. S, on, Sq. Sz : off

s,, 56 : on. s,. s2,sq,s j : off

Fig. 12 Freewhwling i?iode fiir three-phase hucL AC choppet

S1. Sq, S5. S, : on, S,, Sz : off

switching trequency, respectively. using eqns. I and L ,

the intermediate voltage v,(t) is given by
3 Analysis of buck type AC choppers C T ( t ) = S(w,t)v, ( t )
00
VsnL
sin kD7i
The input murce voltage is defined as follows: = DV,,,cos(wt) + k.lr cos(kcj, icj)t
U , ( t )= b:TrL
Cob J t (1) k=l

where o arid V,, are the angular frequency and magni-
tude ot the source voltage, respectively. The Fourier
series of the square wave control signal with a constant
duty ratio is given by
(3)
The output filter reduces the harmonics of the inductor
current and capacitor output voltage. Their total
harmonic distortion factors (THD) are defined as fol-
lows:

where D and o, denote the duty ratio and angular

I L b Pro( -FIeiti Powei Appl Vi,/ 143 No 4 July 1996 325
 monic angular frequency ko, 2 o and the harmonic
impedances X k q L i and xkwsci are approximated as
follows:
kw, f w 2 kw, (9)
where Vofand V,, are the magnitude of the fundamen-
tal and harmonic elements of the capacitor output volt- 1
Xkw,Cf E Xkw,C = ~

kW,C ( 0)
age, and ILf and ILk are the magnitude of the
fundamental and harmonic elements of the inductor
current, respectively. The equivalent circuit of the out- Xku, L+ Xkw, L kwsL ( 1)
put filter for the fundamental and harmonic elements If Xkw& << Ro << Xko,L,
are shown in Figs. 13-15. From the equivalent circuit
shown in Fig. 13, the fundamental element of the
capacitor output voltage Vof is derived by
Xk;,C
N-
- Vric
Xko,.L
where (12)
1 From eqns. 7 and 12, THD, is given as follows:
xc = w c~

N-
1004
~ DLC T H 1
where

T H D , is a function of D , L and C. Therefore it is inde-

pendent on the load resistor R,. This fact is proved
from Figs. 13-15. The inductor and capacitor have a
great effect on THDv, but the load resistor R, has a
-
small effect on THD,. The fundamental element of the
Fig. 13 Equivalent circuitfor,fundarnentnl element of buck AC chopper inductor current is

-
Fig. 14 Equivalent circuit for harmonic elements of buck AC chopper

Using eqns. 9-11, the harmonic elements of the induc-

tor current ILkiare given by

I I I
Fig. 15 Equivalem circui/,fovinput .sideof buck AC chopper

From Fig. 14, the harmonic elements of the capacitor

output voltage Voki are derived as follows:
-jXkw,CfRo T T

vok+ = V T k vrk
Xkw,5C&Xkw,$L* - j(XkW,C* - Xkw,L*t)Ro -
N-

XkL",L
(8)
where (18)
1 Using eqns. 16 and 18, the harmonic distortion factor
of the inductor current can be simplified as
xkw,cJr = (kw,
Xkw, L f = ( k u s fw ) L
V,,
sin kD7i
v r k
kT
Since the angular switching frequency o, is much
higher than the angular source frequency o,the har-
326 IEE Proc -Elecw. Power Appl., Vol. 143, No. 4,July 1996
 1\1
where

TH2= TWS (20)

Figs. 16-21 show the total harmonic distortion factor

for the inductor current with respect to system parame- 0
I

ters. THD, for the inductor current is not dependent on c

I
the Output filter capacitor. Using the results for T H D ,
2.0

0.0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.0

D
Fig. 19 Total harnmnic distortion of inductor current and output voltage
THD, as function of L
-0- L=0.5mH
-0- L = I.0mH
-A-- L = 1.5mH
-x- L = 2.0mH R, = 10 ohm, C = 20pF

20r

0.0 0.3 0.5

n
0.0 I .o
u
Fig. 16 Total harmonic dutortion of inductor current and output voltage
THDv as function of L
0
-
-0- L = 0 5mH
-0- L = 0 XmH I
I-
-A- L = 1 0mH
-x- L = 12mH
-0 - L = 15mH C = 20hF, R, = 10 ohm

D
Fig. 20 Total harmonic distortion of inductor current and output voltage
THD, as function of C
-0- C = 20pF
-0- C = 4 0 p F
-A- C = X0pF
-x- C = 160~F R, = 10 ohm, L = l.0mH

0 0.25 0.50 0.75

D
Fig. 17 Tbtal harmonic distortion of inductor current and output voltage
THD, as function of C
-0-
-U--
C = 1pF
C = 2pF 0
-
-a- C = 5pF I
-x- C = I’DpF I-
-4- C = 210pF L = 0.5mH. R, = 10 ohm

D
Fig. 21 Total harmonic distortion of’ inductor current and output voltage
> THD, as function of R,
0
I -0- R, = 1 ohm
c -0- R, = 2 ohm
-A- R, = 5 ohm
-x- R, = 10 ohm
L = l.0mH
C = 2ObF

and THDI, the system parameters L and C can be

designed within the THD value required in the system.
D From eqns. 13 and 19, the inductor and capacitor value
Fl .18 Totul harmonic diatortion of inductor current und output voltuge
T$D, as function of R, can be obtained as
-0- R, = 1 0 ohm
-0- R, = 5 0 ohm
-A- R, = 10 ohm L=
loo&. R, . T H 2
-x- R,=50ohm C=2OpF L = O S m H D ’THDl
IEE Proc -&err Power Appl Vol 143 No 4 July 1996 321
 OXC, >> XC is satisfied, it is shown that the input
(2'3) power factor is independent to the duty ratio D. With
respect to the three-phase buck AC chopper, the per-
The input power factor is obtained from the equivalent phase equivalent circuit for the three-phase system is
circuit shown in Fig. 15. The input current I, is the same as the equivalent circuit shown in Figs. 13-1 5.
obtained as Therefore the analysis also applies to the three-phase
I, =DILf + IC., buck AC chopper.

- R,(DXc, - +
X L + XC) ,jXc(X-r, - DXC.,) 1.00
Xe,[ X L X C + j R O ( 2 x - L
S: 171
~ %z)]
(23)
0.75
From eqn. 23, the angle of the input current I,\ is

LL
a 0.50

In the region which OXcI >> X C >> X,, the angle of

the input current in the eqn. 24 is simplified as 0.25

(25)
0
0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.0
The input power factor from the eqn. 24 is given by
P F r" cos [I, (26)
The input power factor with respect to various system
parameters is shown in Figs. 22-25. If the condition

0 25
01 I I I I
0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.0
01 I I 1 I
D 0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.0
Fig.22 Poiver,fiictor,/i~i.iuductor, output ciijicicitor, iiiyiiir ciijiiicitor mi1
U
Irlclcl i-e.c.is1or
PF a s t'tiiiction of L Fig.25 P o i w jcictor jor inductor, output capacitor, input capacitor and
---U-- L .= I.OmH ioiid resi.rtor
-A- L = 1OmJ-1 PF as function of' R,
-x-- L = 20mH C - 20wF,C,= IpF. R,, = 10 ohm ~~"
. R, = 10 011111
--0-R,, = 20 ohm
- @- R , = 40 ohm
--x- R,, = 80 ohm C = 20bF. C, = lbF, L = 0.51nH

V
/.--- "
n
0.75

0.5C
/
-
"
,-.
" ,.
" ,.
"

0.25

0 I I I I
0 0.25 0.50 0.75 1.0
Fig.26 E.xperiizenta1 circuit
D
Fig.23 Power fiictoi. fix inductor, output cujicicilor, input cripiicitoi. mid
l0ild resi.c.1or 4 Experimental results
PF as function of C
c=
~ E- C = 40kF The hardware circuit of the single-phase buck AC
A C = 100pF
x C ' = 200yF chopper is implemented. The IGBT modules (S, and
0 C = 400pF L = 0.5mH. C, = 1wF. R,] = 10 ohiii S,, S, and S,) as power switches are used. To avoid
328 IEE Pi-oi.-Electi.. Powru Aj~pl.,Vol. 143, No. 4, J d y 1996
problems associated with diode recovery time and stray To verify the equations derived in Section 3, the exper-
inductance effects the power circuit includes the capaci- imental results are compared with the results of analy-
tor e,].
Tbe power circuit for experiment is shown in sis in Figs. 27 and 28. Fig. 27 shows the THD for
Fig. 26. The system parameters used for experiment are output voltage and Fig. 28 shows input power factor
given by according to the duty ratio D.The output parameters
v,,
= 1 10 42 [VI and duty ratio used in Figs. 29 and 30 are given by
L = 0 855 [mH] R, = 9.6 [Q]
CO = 377 [radis] D = 0.9
Cb = 0 2 [pF] v, = 100 42 [VI
IL = 10.4 212 [A]
= 20 [pF]
C = 20 [pF] Figs. 29~1,6 show the waveforms of the input voltage
and input current. The power factor is almost unity.
CO, = '98018 [radis] Fig. 29c shows the gating pulses of switch S2. Since the
switches are modulated only during a half-period, the
switching loss is significantly reduced. Figs. 30a and c
show the output voltage and inductor current. The
intermediate voltage which is modulated with the
source voltage is shown in Fig. 306.

I I
b
I I I I J
0 0.2 04 0.6 0-8 1-0
D
Fig.27 TIYD of output voltage
~ simulation
experiment
L = 0 855mH
c,=l o p I + I

C = 20uF C
R, = 9.6 ohm
Fi 29 Wuvejbrms of input voltage, input current and gute switching
,UE,
a Input sourcc .voltage (50V/div, 2msidiv)
b Input source (current (5A/div, 2ms/div)
c Gating pulses of switch S2 (5V/div, 2ms/div)

l
O L I I I I I
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
D
Fig.28 Input power faclor C
rimuiatinn
Fig.30
~~

experimcnt Waveforms oj output voltage, iutermediute voltage and inductor

L = 0 855mH current
c, = 20pF U Output voltage (50V/div, 2insidiv)
C = 20pF h Intermediate voltage (SOV/div. Zmsidiv)
R, = 9.6 ohm c Inductor current (SAidiv, 2msidiv)

IEE Proc.-Elettr. Power Appl., Vol 143, No. 4,July 19% 329
5 Conclusion
The paper presented the novel topologies of AC chop-
pers for buck, boost and buck-boost types for single-
phase and three-phase systems. The proposed topolo-
gies resolved the comutation problem without using
any additional passive circuits generating power loss.
Using the polarity of input/output voltage for single-
phase systems and the magnitude of inputioutput for
three-phase systems, switching patterns are decided that
which always make a current path possible during all
operational modes. Since two switches are always
turned on for a half-period and only two switches are
modulated, the switching loss is significantly reduced in
the proposed topologies. The total harmonic distortion
factors of the inductor current and output capacitor
voltage, and input power factor are derived and the
system parameter can be designed within tolerance of
system specifications. Advantages of the proposed
topologies for AC choppers include increased power
factor, low harmonic input current, fast dynamics, high
efficiency, high reliability, high power capacity and
330
small size of the passive filter. System analysis and
experimental results have shown that the proposed
topologies give good perfomance.
6 References
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IEE Proc.-Elect? Power Appl., Vol. 143, No. 4, July 1996