Table of Contents

Contact Address .............................................................................................................................. 2

Course Author ................................................................................................................................. 3
Course Outline ................................................................................................................................ 4
CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 9
POWER SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCHING DEVICES .............................................................. 9
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 9
2 The power diode ..................................................................................................................... 9
2.1 Circuit symbol .................................................................................................................. 9
2.2 Static i-v characteristic ..................................................................................................... 9
2.3 Diode parameters............................................................................................................ 10
The most important are the following:...................................................................................... 10
2.4 Stable states of diodes .................................................................................................... 10
2.5 Maximum ratings ........................................................................................................... 11
2.5.1 Voltage ratings ........................................................................................................ 11
2.5.2 Forward current ratings ........................................................................................... 11
2.5.3 Junction temperature ............................................................................................... 11
Tjmax = maximum allowable temperature for the diode’s PN junction. The junction must be
kept cool for the diode to function properly and have a long service life. ........................... 11
3 Power diode types ................................................................................................................. 11
3.1 Standard or general purpose diodes ............................................................................... 11
3.2 Fast-recovery diodes ...................................................................................................... 12
3.3 Schottky diodes .............................................................................................................. 12
4 The silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) .................................................................................. 12
4.1 Circuit symbol and structure .......................................................................................... 12
4.2 Static i-v characteristic ................................................................................................... 12
4.3 Stable states .................................................................................................................... 13
4.4 Transfer between states .................................................................................................. 13
4.5 Other characteristics ....................................................................................................... 13
4.6 SCR parameters .............................................................................................................. 14
4.7 Maximum ratings: .......................................................................................................... 14
4.7.1 Anode voltage ratings ............................................................................................. 14
4.7.2 Anode current and current related ratings ............................................................... 14
4.7.3 Gate ratings ............................................................................................................. 15
4.8 Types of SCRs ................................................................................................................ 15
4.8.1 Phase-control SCRs: ............................................................................................... 15
4.8.2 Fast-switching SCRs ............................................................................................... 15
4.8.3 Light-activated SCRs .............................................................................................. 16
5 The triac ................................................................................................................................ 16
6 The gate turn-off thyristors (GTOs) ...................................................................................... 16
6.1 Circuit symbol ................................................................................................................ 17
6.2 Turn-on characteristics ................................................................................................... 17

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 6.3 Turn-off characteristics: ................................................................................................. 17
6.4 GTO parameters ............................................................................................................. 18
7 The power bipolar transistors (BJTs).................................................................................... 18
7.1 Circuit symbol and static characteristics ........................................................................ 18
7.2 Operating regions ........................................................................................................... 19
7.3 Transfer between states: ................................................................................................. 19
7.4 Maximum ratings ........................................................................................................... 19
7.4.1 Voltages .................................................................................................................. 19
7.4.2 Currents ................................................................................................................... 19
7.4.3 Tj = operating junction temperature ........................................................................ 19
7.5 BJT parameters............................................................................................................... 19
8 The power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) ........................... 20
8.1 Circuit symbol ................................................................................................................ 20
8.2 Static characteristics ....................................................................................................... 21
8.3 MOSFET absolute maximum ratings ............................................................................. 22
8.4 MOSFET important parameters ..................................................................................... 22
9 The insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) ..................................................................... 22
10 Exercises ............................................................................................................................... 23
CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 25
LINE OR NATURALLY COMMUTATED CONVERTERS..................................................... 25
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 25
1.1 Uncontrolled converter ................................................................................................... 25
1.2 Fully controlled converter .............................................................................................. 25
1.3 Half- or semi-controlled converter ................................................................................. 25
2 Single-phase fully controlled bridge converter or rectifier ................................................... 25
2.1 Analysis of single-phase controlled converter ............................................................... 26
2.1.1 Converter feeding highly inductive load................................................................. 26
2.1.2 Converter feeding R-L load .................................................................................... 29
2.1.3 Converter feeding R-L and emf load ...................................................................... 31
2.2 Commutation of thyristors ............................................................................................. 32
2.3 Inverter mode of operation ............................................................................................. 34
3 Three-phase fully controlled bridge converter (6-pulse) ...................................................... 36
3.1 Converter feeding highly inductive load ........................................................................ 36
3.1.1 Output voltage ......................................................................................................... 37
3.1.2 Input line currents ................................................................................................... 38
3.1.3 Voltages and currents of thyristors ......................................................................... 38
3.1.4 Some performance parameters ................................................................................ 39
3.2 Effect of source inductance ............................................................................................ 40
3.3 Inverter mode of operation ............................................................................................. 40
4 Single-phase half-controlled Converter with highly inductive load ..................................... 40
5 Three-phase half-controlled converter .................................................................................. 44
6 Advantages of semi-controlled converters............................................................................ 47
7 Further exercises ................................................................................................................... 48
CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 53
AC VOLTAGE REGULATORS OR CONTROLLERS ............................................................. 53
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 53

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2 Single-phase ac regulator ...................................................................................................... 53
2.1 Single-phase regulator with resistive load ..................................................................... 54
2.2 Single-phase full-wave regulator with RL load ............................................................. 56
3 Three-phase ac regulator ....................................................................................................... 60
3.1 Three-phase full-wave (or fully controlled) regulator.................................................... 60
3.2 The half-wave (half-controlled) 3-phase regulator ........................................................ 65
3.3 Other regulator circuits................................................................................................... 69
3.3.1 Delta-connected ac regulator .................................................................................. 69
3.3.2 Open-star 3-phase ac regulator with six SCRs ....................................................... 69
3.3.3 Open-star 3-phase ac regulator with three SCRs .................................................... 69
4 Integral cycle control ............................................................................................................ 71
5 Further exercises ................................................................................................................... 73
CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 75
DC CHOPPERS ............................................................................................................................ 75
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 75
2 DC Step-down or series chopper operation .......................................................................... 75
3 DC Step-down chopper with RL and E load ........................................................................ 77
4 DC Step-up chopper operation............................................................................................. 79
5 Transfer of power from a lower voltage source to a higher voltage source ......................... 81
6 Switch-mode dc power supplies ........................................................................................... 82
6.1 Step-down (Buck) dc-to-dc converter ............................................................................ 82
6.2 Step-up (Boost) dc-to-dc converter ................................................................................ 87
7 Further exercises ................................................................................................................... 91
CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................................... 93
DC-TO-AC CONVERTERS ........................................................................................................ 93
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 93
2 Performance parameters........................................................................................................ 93
3 Single-phase voltage source inverters ................................................................................... 94
3.1 Square-wave single-phase half-bridge inverter .............................................................. 94
3.2 Single-phase square-wave bridge inverter ..................................................................... 98
4 Three-phase square-wave voltage source inverters ............................................................ 102
4.1 180o conduction ............................................................................................................ 102
4.2 120o conduction ............................................................................................................ 105
5 Inverter output voltage and frequency control .................................................................... 107
5.1 Output control by voltage cancellation ........................................................................ 108
5.2 Sinusoidal pulse width modulation .............................................................................. 109
5.2.1 Single-phase half-bridge VSI ................................................................................ 110
5.2.2 Single-phase full bridge VSI ................................................................................. 112
5.2.3 Three-Phase Inverters ........................................................................................... 115
6 Further exercises ................................................................................................................. 117
CHAPTER SIX ........................................................................................................................... 118
THYRISTOR COMMUTATION CIRCUITS ........................................................................... 118
1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 118
2 Commutation techniques .................................................................................................... 118
2.1 Self-commutation ......................................................................................................... 118
2.2 Impulse commutation (voltage commutation) ............................................................. 121

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 2.3 Resonant pulse commutation (current commutation) .................................................. 126
3 Further exercises ................................................................................................................. 133

8
 CHAPTER ONE

POWER SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCHING DEVICES

1 Introduction

Power electronic circuits are electronic circuits which use high-power semiconductor switching
devices to convert or control electrical power. The electronic circuits are called power electronic
circuits because large amount of power is involved. Applications of power electronic circuits
include heat controls, light controls, motor controls, power supplies and high-voltage direct-
current (HVDC) systems.

The most important components of the electronic circuit are the semiconductor switching
devices. In this chapter, we present an overview of these devices.

2 The power diode

It is similar to the pn junction signal diodes but has larger power, voltage and current handling
capabilities. However, its frequency response (or switching speed) is lower. The diode has the
highest rating of all the semiconductor switches and is the cheapest.

2.1 Circuit symbol

It is shown in Fig. 1.1

2.2 Static i-v characteristic

It is shown in Fig. 1.2.

(a) When the diode is forward-biased, it conducts with a small voltage across it. This is in the
order of 1 V.
(b) When it is reverse-biased, negligible leakage current flows until the reverse breakdown
voltage is reached. In normal operation, the reverse –bias voltage should not reach the
breakdown voltage.

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2.3 Diode parameters

The most important are the following:

(a) VF = forward voltage drop when the diode is conducting.
(b) VB = reverse voltage breakdown. When this voltage is exceeded, the reverse current
increases rapidly with a small change in reverse voltage. The current in this portion is limited
by the external circuit. Breakdown is not destructive provided the power dissipation is within
a safe value specified in the manufacturer’s data sheet.
(c) IR = reverse (or leakage) current. It is found in the range of 10-15 A and 10-6 A.
(d) trr = reverse recovery time. When the current of a forward-conducting diode is reduced to
zero by applying a reverse voltage (may also be reduced to zero by natural behaviour of the
diode circuit), the diode continues to conduct in reverse direction due to excess minority
carriers in each diode region before again falling to zero. These excess minority carriers are
produced during forward conduction and they must be removed or recombined before the
diode regains its reverse blocking capability. The short time that must elapse before a diode
regains its blocking ability is called the reverse recovery time. Before a diode regains its
blocking ability, it may be considered as short circuit in its natural blocking direction
(e) t fr  turn-on or forward recovery time: Diodes require a certain turn-on time before all the
majority carriers over the junction can contribute to the current flow. If the rate of rise of the
forward current is high and the forward current is concentrated to a small area of the
junction, the diode may fail. Thus di dt (rate of rise of the forward current) must be kept low
to meet the turn-on time limit.

2.4 Stable states of diodes

They are two:

(a) Conducting state: iD = IF (forward current) > 0 and vD = VF > 0
(b) Blocking state iD = -IR (reverse current) and vD ≤ 0, The value of vD in this state is determined
by the external circuit. A conducting diode becomes blocked when the current iD becomes

10
 zero and a blocking diode starts conducting as soon as vD becomes slightly positive ,i.e. > a
threshold voltage VTD ≈ 0.7 V.

2.5 Maximum ratings

They include the following:

2.5.1 Voltage ratings

The data sheet specifies

(a) VRRM = maximum repetitive peak reverse voltage. It is the maximum instantaneous value.
(b) VR = continuous maximum reverse voltage or maximum dc reverse voltage.
(c) VRSM = maximum non-repetitive peak reverse voltage. Non-repetitive peak reverse voltage
may occur occasionally due to overvoltage surge.

When the actual voltage across a diode is determined, a design engineer will apply a safety
factor, typically 1.5, to arrive at the appropriate diode.

2.5.2 Forward current ratings

The data sheet specifies

(a) IF(AV) = maximum average current
(b) IF(RMS) = maximum RMS current
(c) IFSM = maximum peak non-repetitive surge current

A design engineer must ensure that none of them is exceeded.

2.5.3 Junction temperature

The data sheet specifies

Tjmax = maximum allowable temperature for the diode’s PN junction. The junction must be kept
cool for the diode to function properly and have a long service life.

3 Power diode types

3.1 Standard or general purpose diodes

They have high trr. Typical value is 25 µs. They are used in low-speed applications where the
effect of trr is not critical. Examples are diode rectifiers and converters for a low input frequency
up to 1 kHz and line-commutated converters. Current rating is from less than 1 A to several
1000’s of amperes and voltage rating from 50 V to 5 kV.

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3.2 Fast-recovery diodes

They have low recovery time, normally < 5 µs. They are used in dc-dc and dc-ac converters
where the speed of the recovery is critical. Current rating is from less than 1 A to 100’s of
amperes and voltage rating from less than 50 V to around 3 kV.

3.3 Schottky diodes

They are formed by placing thin film of metal in direct contact with semiconductor. They have
low voltage drop (typically 0.3 V) but high IR. They are ideal for high-current and low-voltage dc
power supplies for increased efficiency. They turn on and off faster than comparable pn-junction
diodes. Maximum allowable voltage is generally limited to100 V (i.e. breakdown voltage is low)
and current rating is from 1 to 300 A.

4 The silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR)

It belongs to a family of bipolar semiconductor devices called thyristors. They consist of four
semiconductor layers of alternating p- and n-type material and operate as a switch having a
stable on- and off-states. Numerous members of the thyristor family exist.

4.1 Circuit symbol and structure

SCR has the simplest structure. The symbol and structure are shown in Fig. 3.

4.2 Static i-v characteristic

The static characteristic is shown in Fig. 1.4.

(a) IG4 >IG3 > IG2 >IG1 >IG0 = 0
(b) VBF = forward breakdown voltage.
(c) VBR = reverse breakdown voltage
(d) IH = holding current
(e) IL = latching current
(f) IFO = forward leakage current
(g) IRO = reverse leakage current

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4.3 Stable states

(a) Forward-biased blocking state: iT = 0, vAK ≥ 0

(b) Conducting (or on-) state: iT > 0, (vAK = 0.75 – 3 V )
(c) Reverse-biased blocking state: iT = 0, vAK < 0

4.4 Transfer between states

(a) From forward-biased blocking state to conducting (or on-) state: current IG of appropriate
value must flow into the gate for a few microseconds. The SCR remains conducting after the
gate pulse has ceased provided that iT has risen above the latching current IL.
(b) From conducting (or on-) state to reverse-biased blocking state: The current iT must be
reduced to zero and a reverse voltage must be maintained across the SCR for a minimum
turn-off time tq to allow stored charge in the device to recombine. It is only after this time
that the device is capable of blocking a forward voltage without going into its conducting
state.
(c) From reverse-biased blocking state to forward-biased blocking state or vice versa: This is
determined by the external circuit.
(d) The holding current is the minimum anode current necessary to keep the device in the
conducting state after it has been carrying a high anode current. If the anode current is
reduced to below the holding current, the device can move from its conducting state to
forward-biased blocking state. The holding current is in the order of milliamps and is less
than the latching current.

4.5 Other characteristics

(a) As soon as conduction starts, the gate loses all further control.

13
(b) The thyristor or SCR can be damaged if di dt soon after triggering exceeds some values
specified by the manufacturer. For this reason converters, with SCR should always be
connected to the mains via transformers or chokes.
(c) The SCR can be turned on by exceeding VBF even if IG = 0. This mode of switching is
however not recommended because the SCR can get damaged.
(d) Increasing IG reduces the forward biased voltage required to turn on the device and with IG =
IG4, the device behaves very much like a diode.
(e) The SCR in the forward-biased blocking state can start conducting if dv AK dt or simply dv/dt
exceeds some value (critical rate-of-rise of off-state voltage) specified by the manufacturer.
Snubber circuits consisting of R in series with C are used to protect the SCR against this
spurious firing.
(f) tq = turn-off time. Turning off the SCR requires that it be reverse biased by the external
circuit for a minimum time period called turn-off time. At the end of the turn-off time, the
SCR is capable of withstanding forward voltage without turning on provided that its dv/dt is
kept below a specified value. In a line-commutated or naturally-commutated converter
circuit, a reverse voltage appears across the thyristor immediately after the forward current
becomes zero. In forced-commutation techniques, the commutation circuits are designed to
apply a reverse voltage during the turn-off process.

4.6 SCR parameters

They include VTM (peak on-state voltage), IH, IL, tq, IRM(peak reverse current), IFM(peak forward
off-state current), IGT (dc gate current to trigger) and VGT (dc gate voltage to trigger)

4.7 Maximum ratings:

They include

4.7.1 Anode voltage ratings

(a) VRRM = maximum repetitive peak reverse voltage

(b) VRSM = maximum non-repetitive reverse voltage
(c) VR(DC) = DC reverse blocking voltage
(d) VDRM = maximum repetitive peak forward off-state voltage
(e) VDSM = maximum non-repetitive peak forward off-state voltage
(f) VD(DC) = DC forward blocking voltage

4.7.2 Anode current and current related ratings

(a) IT (AV), IF(AV) = maximum average forward on-state current

(b) IT (RMS), IF(RMS) = maximum rms forward on-state current
(c) ITSM = maximum non repetitive surge on-state current
(d) di dt = both non repetitive and repetitive rate of rise of current
(e) I 2 t = the time integral of the square of the maximum sinusoidal overload on-state current. Its
value is used to determine fusing for the device.

14
4.7.3 Gate ratings

(a) PGM and PG = maximum peak and mean gate power.

(b) VGRM = maximum peak negative voltage
(c) IGFM = maximum peak forward gate current

4.8 Types of SCRs

4.8.1 Phase-control SCRs:

They are also known as converter SCRs. They generally operate at the line frequency (50 Hz and
60 Hz). Turn-off time tq is of the order 50 to 100 µs. They have large voltage and current
handling capabilities. The on-state voltage VT varies from about 1.15 V for 600-V to 2.5 V for
4000-V devices, and for a 5500-A, 1200-V SCR it is typically 1.25 V. Modern SCRs are the
amplifying gate type shown in Fig. 1.5: An auxiliary SCR TA is gated on by a gate signal and
then the amplified output of TA is applied as gate signal to the main thyristor TM. The amplifying
gate SCR has dv dt typically of 1000 V/µs and di dt of 500 A/µs which are high. This
simplifies the circuit design by reducing or minimizing di dt limiting inductor and
dv dt protection circuits.

Fig. 1.5 Amplifying gate SCR

4.8.2 Fast-switching SCRs

They are used in high speed switching applications with forced commutation e.g. choppers and
inverters. They are also known as inverter SCRs. They have small tq, generally in the range of 5
to 50 µs, depending on the voltage range, high dv dt of typically 1000 V/µs and di dt of 1000
A/µs. The on-state voltage of a 2200-A, 1800-V SCR is typically 1.7 V. Inverter SCRs with a
very limited voltage blocking capability, typically 10 V and very fast tq (between 3 and 5 µs) are
commonly known as asymmetrical SCRs (ASCRs). They are used in inverter and induction
heating applications where they are not required to block reverse voltage because feedback
diodes are connected anti-parallel with them.

15
4.8.3 Light-activated SCRs

These are triggered by a pulse of light guided by optical fibers to a special sensitive region of
the thyristor. They are used in high voltage dc transmission where several thyristors are
connected in series to meet the high voltage requirement. There are devices which can block 4
kV, conduct up to 3 kA with a forward voltage drop of 2 V at a trigger power of 5 mW.

5 The triac

A triac can conduct in both directions. Its characteristics are similar to two SCRs connected in
anti-parallel and having only one gate terminal. The circuit symbol and static i-v characteristic
are shown in Fig. 1.6.

Triac can switch current in either direction by applying a positive or negative signal between the
gate and main terminal M1 but they are normally operated in quadrant I (M2 positive with
respect to M1 and IG positive) or quadrant III (M2 negative with respect to M1 and IG negative).
Its low dv/dt-withstand capability limits its application to low frequency circuits (50 Hz or 60
Hz). Triacs are widely used in all types of simple heat controls, motor controls and static
switches.

6 The gate turn-off thyristors (GTOs)

The SCR is nearly an ideal switch in several respects: it can block high voltages in the off state,
it conducts large currents in the on state with small voltage drop and it can be switched on when
desired with a control signal. Its serious deficiency is that it cannot be switched off with a control

16
signal. The GTO is designed to have a gate turn-off capability. Like SCR, the GTO is turned on
by applying a low-level short-duration positive pulse and is turned off by a high-level negative
pulse, typically 20 – 30 % of the anode current being turned off. It has similar ratings and
characteristics to those of the conventional inverter grade SCR except those pertaining to turn-
off.

There are two types of GTOs: asymmetrical and symmetrical. The asymmetrical are more
common than the symmetrical on the market. The GTO has a smaller turn-off time (few
microseconds to 25 µs) and slightly higher on-state voltage (2 – 3 V) than those of SCRs. The
on-state voltage of a typical 550-A, 1200-V GTO is typically 3.4 V. GTOs are very attractive for
forced commutated converters and are available up to 4000 V, 3000 A. They are used almost
exclusively for medium- and high-power applications

6.1 Circuit symbol

The symbol is shown in Fig. 1.7.

Fig. 1.6 Symbol of GTO

6.2 Turn-on characteristics

(a) After turn-off, a certain minimum off-time toff must elapse before commencing turn-on. This
is to avoid the possibility of poor current sharing between the various cathode islands (the
cathode is separated into many segments which appear as islands).
(b) During turn-on, an initial high current IGM of up to ten times of the specified gate trigger
current IGT is used to ensure that all cathode islands begin to conduct and that there is good
sharing of the anode. The IGM must be supplied for a long enough time to ensure that the
turn-on process is complete.
(c) After completion of turn-on, there must be a continuous gate current flowing during the
entire on-state period to prevent unwanted turn-off. This should be larger than IGT at the
lowest junction temperature at which the GTO operates.

6.3 Turn-off characteristics:

(a) After turn-on, a certain minimum on-time ton must elapse before commencing turn-off. If not
there may be poor current sharing between the cathode islands.
(b) GTO in the on-state is turned off by a short-duration, large negative gate current IRG.
(c) Reverse gate bias should be maintained in the off state. This results in maximum reverse
blocking voltage and also prevents non-gated turn-on due to dv/dt effect. A recommended
value of resistance RGK is also connected between the gate and the cathode for the same
reasons. This serves as a back-up in case the power supply to the gate firing circuit fails.

17
(d) GTO controllable peak on-state current ITGQ is the peak value of on-state current which can
be turned off by gate control. This is specified by the device manufacturer.

6.4 GTO parameters

They include ton (minimum permissible on-time), ITGQ, toff (minimum permissible off-time),
IT(RMS), IT(AV), VTM, IH, IL, IGT (maximum required dc gate current to trigger) and VGT
(maximum required dc gate voltage to trigger), +IGM (maximum peak positive gate current), -IGM
(maximum peak negative gate current),etc

7 The power bipolar transistors (BJTs)

They are current-controlled devices where the base current IB controls the output or collector
current IC. They are mainly npn, connected in common emitter configuration. The dc current
gain hFE of ordinary power transistor is usually not greater than 10. Therefore, for high current
ratings n-p-n Darlington power transistors with gains between 50 and 100, or even higher are
used to reduce power loss in the base circuit but at the cost of increased on-state voltage drop.
The switching speed of BJTs is much higher than those of thyristors and they replace them in dc-
dc and dc-ac converters if their voltage and current ratings meet the requirements of the
converters. In these converters, a diode is connected anti-parallel to provide bidirectional current
flow.

The BJTs are commonly used in power converters with frequency below 10 kHz. They are
available in voltage ratings up to 1400 V and current ratings of a few hundred amperes.
However, at voltages less than 500 V, the BJT has been entirely replaced by the MOSFET. It has
also been displaced at higher voltages, where new designs use IGBTs instead. They are now
mostly applied in the voltage range of 1 – 2 kV and currents of 200 – 500 amperes.

7.1 Circuit symbol and static characteristics

The circuit and static symbol are shown in Fig. 1.7.

Fig. 1.7 Symbol and characteristics of BJT

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7.2 Operating regions

They are three

(a) Cut-off region: Both CBJ and BEJ are reversed biased: VBE ≤ 0 VCB > 0
(b) Linear (or active region): CBJ reverse-biased and BEJ forward biased: VBE > 0 and VCB > 0.
(c) Saturation region: Both CBJ and BEJ are forward biased: VBE > 0 and VCB < 0

In power switching applications, a transistor is operated in two states:

(a) Conducting (or on-) state: vCE > 0, iC > 0 This corresponds to the saturation region where
minimum on-state voltage is obtained. The on-state voltage vCE = VCE(sat) is usually in the
range of 1 – 2 V.
(b) Blocking (or off-) state: vCE > 0, iC = 0. This corresponds to the cut-off region.

7.3 Transfer between states:

(a) From blocking state to conducting state: Sufficiently large current must flow into the base
and must continue to flow in the conducting state. To turn the device fully on, IB > IC/hFE
(b) From conducting state to blocking state: iB must become zero or negative.

7.4 Maximum ratings

7.4.1 Voltages

(a) VCEV = the maximum voltage between the collector and emitter terminals at a specified
negative base emitter voltage.
(b) VCEO(SUS) = the maximum voltage that can be sustained between collector and emitter
terminals with the base open-circuited. VCEO(SUS) < VCEV
(c) VEBO = maximum voltage between the emitter and base terminals with the collector terminal
open-circuited, typically 8 V

7.4.2 Currents

(a) IC = collector current (continuous)

(b) IC = collector current (peak)
(c) ICSM = collector current (non-repetitive)
(d) IB = base current (continuous)
(e) IB = base current (peak)

7.4.3 Tj = operating junction temperature

7.5 BJT parameters

The most important transistor parameters are the dc current gain hFE or β, VCE(sat) (collector-
emitter saturation voltage for a given IC and IB), VBE(sat) ( base-emitter saturation voltage for a
given IC and IB ), the collector-emitter breakdown voltage with the base circuit open VCEO, the

19
switching time, and the designated safe operating areas (SOAs). Two separate SOAs are used:
Forward-bias (FBSOA) and reverse-bias (RBSOA) safe operating areas. The FBSOA and
RBSOA indicate the maximum values of current and voltage to which the BJT must be subjected
to conveniently on iC-vCE plane for forward-biased and reverse-biased BEJ respectively.

8 The power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor

(MOSFET)

The MOSFET is a voltage-controlled device and requires only a small input current (in the order
of nanoamperes). This characteristic permits a MOSFET to be driven directly from TTL and
CMOS logic. MOSFET is faster than BJT but has less power handling capabilities. Switching
times are in the order of nanoseconds. They find application in low-power high-frequency
converters. They are available at a relatively low power rating in the range of 1000 V, 50 A at a
frequency of several tens of kilohertz. They are generally of the n-channel enhancement type.

8.1 Circuit symbol

The circuit symbol is shown in Fig. 1.8a.

The modern power MOSFET has an internal diode connected between the source and the drain
as shown in Fig. 1.8. The diode is called a body diode. It allows the drain current to flow in
reverse direction. The body diode has adequate current and switching speed ratings. If in an
application, a faster diode is required, it can be bypassed by an external faster diode after
blocking the body diode as shown in Fig. 1.9.

20
 Fig. 1.9 A MOSFET with its body diode bypassed by external fast recovery diode

8.2 Static characteristics

They are shown in Fig. 1.10.

Fig. 1.10 static characteristics of MOSFET

(a) For the MOSFET to carry drain current, a channel between the drain and the source must be
created. This occurs when the gate-to-source voltage exceeds the device threshold voltage
VT or VGS(th) or VTH.
(b) There are three regions of operation:
(i) cut-off region where VGS  VT and ID = 0

21
 (ii) pinch-off region or saturation region where VGS > VT and VDS  VGS  VT and current ID is
constant
(iii)linear or constant resistance region where VGS > VT and VDS  VGS  VT and the drain
current varies in proportion to the drain-source voltage, VDS.
(c) For switching actions, the power MOSFET is operated in the linear region and cut-off
region. In the fully on-state VDS = IDRDS(on) where RDS(on) is termed on-resistance. The
corresponding on-state drain-source loss = ID2RDS(on). The value of RDS(on. can be significant
and varies between tens of milliohms and a few ohms for low-voltage and high-voltage
MOSFETS, respectively.

8.3 MOSFET absolute maximum ratings

(a) VDS = drain-source voltage at specified junction temperature.

(b) VGS = gate-source voltage, forward and reverse, to avoid dielectric breakdown of gate source
capacitor.
(c) ID = continuous drain current at specified case temps.
(d) IDM = pulsed drain current at specified pulse width and duty cycle.

8.4 MOSFET important parameters

They include
(a) BVDSS = drain-source breakdown voltage
(b) VGS(th) = gate threshold voltage
(c) RDS (on) = drain-source on state resistance

9 The insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)

The symbol is shown in Fig. 1.11. The IGBTs have some of the advantages of the MOSFET, the
BJT and the GTO combined. Similar to the MOSFET, the IGBT has a high impedance gate,
which requires a small amount of energy to switch the device. Like the BJT, the IGBT has a
small on-state voltage even in devices with large blocking voltage ratings (for example, Von is 2 –
3 V in 1000-V device). Similar to the GTO, IGBT can be designed to block negative voltages.

Insulated gate bipolar transistors have turn-on and turn-off times of the order of 1 μs and are
available in ratings as large as 1700 V and 1200 A. Voltage ratings of up to 2 – 3 kV are
projected. The IGBT has become the device of choice in most new applications.

Fig. 1.11 Circuit symbol of IGBT

22
10 Exercises

1. State whether the following statements are true or false:

(a) Fast recovery diodes have low recovery time.
(b) Schottky diodes have high VF but low I R .
(c) Snubber circuits are used to protect thyristors against damage by di dt effect.
(d) The voltage across a blocking SCR is determined by the external circuit.
(e) To properly turn off SCR, it is sufficient to reduce its current to zero.
(f) One unit of amplifying-gate SCR consists of two SCRs.
(g) If the voltage at the anode of a power diode in circuit is measured to be -10 V with
respect to the cathode then the diode is likely to be faulty.
(h) If the rate of rise of the forward current of a power diode is high, it may fail.
(i) Triacs can be turned on by both positive and negative gate signal.
(j) GTO may be turned on soon after it is turned off.
(k) SCRs turn off faster than GTOs.
(l) For switching actions, the power MOSFET is operated in the saturation and cut-off
regions

2. Briefly describe how the following devices are turned on and off:
(a) SCR
(b) GTO
(c) npn BJT

3. What are the conditions

(a) for an SCR to turn on?
(b) for an SCR to turn off?

4. Draw the device symbol of the following:

(a) GTO
(b) IGBT
(c) n-channel MOSFET
(d) npn BJT
(e) TRIAC

5. What are the differences between BJTs and IGBTs?

6. A voltage Vs = 100 V is connected to a load consisting of R = 10 ohms in series with L = 15

mH through an SCR. If initial inductor current is zero, what is the minimum time of the SCR
gate pulse if the latching current is 20 mA? Express the answer in μs.
1. 1 B2 C3 D4

7. (a) What are the following power electronic devices and where would each be used?
(i) Fast recovery diodes [2 marks]
(ii) General purpose diodes [2 marks]
(iii) Asymmetrical SCRs [4 marks]
(b) What are the advantages of amplifying gate SCR? [2 marks]
23
8. (a) What is meant by the following?
(iv) Turn-on or forward recovery time of a power diode [2 marks]
(v) Turn-off time of an SCR [2 marks]
(b) Why would
(i) a BJT be used in preference to an SCR? [2 marks]
(ii) a MOSFET be used in preference to a BJT? [2 marks]
(c) Name two converters in which BTTs replace SCRs. [2 marks]

24
 CHAPTER TWO

LINE OR NATURALLY COMMUTATED CONVERTERS

1 Introduction

The main function of the converter called rectifier is to convert ac power into dc power, mainly
for highly inductive loads. The converters are of three types:

1.1 Uncontrolled converter

This circuit employs diodes to provide a fixed output voltage from a given ac supply. They are
used in many power electronics applications such as switching dc power supplies, ac motor
drives and dc servo motors. In most of these applications, the rectifiers are directly fed from the
ac source, i.e. without power transformers.

1.2 Fully controlled converter

This circuit uses SCRs to provide an adjustable output voltage by controlling what we call phase
or firing angle of the SCR. The load voltage can also reverse thus allowing power inversion.
Turn-off of switching devices is brought about by ac line voltage reverse-biasing the SCRs, a
process called natural or line commutation. They are used in applications such as high-voltage dc
power transmissions and dc motor and ac motor drives where regeneration is required.

1.3 Half- or semi-controlled converter

It uses a combination of diodes and SCRs. Its output voltage is adjustable but it only allows
power flow from the supply to the load. They are used in applications where adjustable dc
voltage is required but regeneration is not. Examples are dc power supplies with adjustable dc
output voltage, battery chargers and dc motor drives where regeneration is not required.

In this chapter, we analyze practical single- and three-phase thyristor converters. The diode
converter is considered to be a special case of the fully controlled thyristor converter where the
firing angle is zero. After going through this chapter, the student will know the converter
configurations, understand the operation of these circuits and also know the analytical
expressions required to determine their performances.

2 Single-phase fully controlled bridge converter or rectifier

Single-phase fully controlled bridge converter is shown in Figure 2.1. The 2-pulse bridge
converter uses 4 SCRs or thyristors to control the average load voltage.

25
 Fig. 2.1 Single-phase fully controlled bridge converter circuit

2.1 Analysis of single-phase controlled converter

2.1.1 Converter feeding highly inductive load

In a practical circuit, there is a source inductance Ls on the ac side and a load inductance Ld on
the dc side. In this analysis, it is assumed that Ls is zero and Ld is infinite. With the assumption
that Ld   , id (t )  I d is constant. The effects of Ls not being zero and Ld not being infinite will
be considered later.

The converter uses two groups of thyristors: one group consists of T1 and T3 which have
common cathode connection and the other consists of T2 and T4 which have a common cathode
connection. The two groups operate independently of each other. If the gate currents to the
thyristors were applied continuously, then they would behave like diodes and for the common
cathode connection, the thyristor with its anode at the highest potential would conduct and for
the common anode connection, the thyristor with its cathode at the lowest potential would
conduct. It follows that if the thyristors were gated continuously, then T1 and T2 would start
conducting as soon as the voltage v S became positive and T3 and T4 would start conducting as
soon as v S became negative.

Using gate current pulses the start of conduction can be delayed by the time t d    with
respect to where as diodes they would naturally start conducting. The angle  is called the firing
angle or delay angle. Thyristors T1 and T2 are fired simultaneously during the positive half wave
of the source voltage v S and thyristors T3 and T4 fired simultaneously during the negative half
wave of the source voltage. To ensure simultaneous firing, each pair of thyristors uses the same
firing signal. When T1 and T2 are conducting vd  v S and when T3 and T4 are
conducting v d  v S . Figure 2.2 shows the voltage and current waveforms of the fully controlled
bridge rectifier with infinite load inductance.

26
 2.1.1.1 Output voltage

The output voltage vd  Vmax sin t for  t     has two pulses per cycle. Hence its
average or mean value is obtained as
V  
Vdo  max  sin  d  m cos    max cos 
V  2V 2 2 Vs
cos (2.1)
    
where Vs is the rms value of the source voltage.

The rms value of the output voltage is given by

1 1
 1   2  2
 1   Vm2  2
Vd ( RMS )    Vmax sin 2  d    1  cos 2  d 
     2 
1
sin 2    sin 2
1
 
Vmax
2
 sin 2  
2
Vmax
2
 
2
   2       
 2      2  2 2 
V
 max  Vs (2.2)
2

2.1.1.2 Input line current

The input current is given by

i s  it 1  i t 4 (2.3)

The current is shown in Figure 2.2. It is a square waveform with amplitude I d . The waveform is
phase shifted from the source voltage by the delay angle  . It can be expressed in terms of its
Fourier components as
4I 
sin k (t   )
i s (t )  d  (2.5)
 k 1, 3, 5,... k

From the basic definition of rms, the rms value of the input current can be shown to be
IS  Id (2.6)

2.1.1.3 Voltages and currents of thyristors

(i) The peak inverse or reverse voltage VRM  Vmax  2 V s (2.7)

(ii) The peak value of the thyristor current I T max  I d (2.8)
(iii) From KCL iT 1  iT 3  I d . Hence I T 1 ( AV )  I T 3 ( AV )  I d and I T ( AV )  I d 2 (2.9)
(iv) Because t T1 and T2 do not conduct simultaneously, we can also write iT21  iT23  I d2 . Hence
Av(iT21 )  Av(iT22 )  Av( I d2 ) or I T21 ( RMS )  I T23 ( RMS )  I d2 or I T ( RMS )  I d 2 (2.10)

27
 Fig. 2.2 Waveforms of the fully controlled bridge rectifier with Ld  

2.1.1.4 Power and some performance parameters

(i) The total harmonic distortion (THD) of the input current is given by

THD 
I s2  I s21

I d2    2 2I d

2

 100 
I d2  0.9 I d 
2

 100  48.43 % (2.11)

2 2I d
I s1 
0.9 I d
(ii) Since the semiconductor switches are considered to be ideal, the input power = the output
power. The input power is given by
1
T
2 2 I d Vs cos
P   v s is dt  Vs I s1 cos1  (2.12)
T 0 

28
 And the output power by
1
T
I T 2 2 I d Vs cos
P   v d I d dt  d  v d dt  Vdo I d  (2.13)
T 0 T 0 

(iii) The displacement factor defined as the cosine of the phase angle between the
fundamental component of the input current and voltage is given by
DPF  cos1  cos (2.14)

input power I
Input power factor PF   s1 DPF  0.9 cos (2.15)
input apparent power I s
(iv) The output dc power
2 2Vs
Pdc  Vdc  I dc  Vdo I d  cos  I d


And the output ac power

Pac  Vd ( RMS )  I d ( RMS )  Vs I d

Therefore the rectification efficiency is

P 2 2
  dc  cos  0.9 cos (2.16)
Pac 
(v) Transformer utilization factor
Pdc P
TUF   dc  0.9 cos (2.17)
input apparent power Vs I d

2.1.2 Converter feeding R-L load

The load current waveform is continuous when the delay angle    where   tan 1 L R  .
For    discontinuous load current flows. The load voltage and current waveforms for   
are shown in Figure 2.3. For this condition, a thyristor is still conducting when another is
forward-biased and is turned on. The first device is instantaneously reversed-biased by the
second device which has been turned on. The first device is commutated and the load current is
instantaneously transferred to the oncoming device. We limit our analysis to continuous load
current.

The output voltage for the circuit is given by

di
v s (t )  L d  Ri d   t     (2.18)
dt
or
di
Vmax sin t  L d  Ri d   t     (2.19)
dt

29
 Fig. 2.3 Load voltage and current waveforms when   

Vmax
The equation has steady state solution iSS  sin(t   ) , where Z  R 2   2 L2 and
Z
  tan L R  ; and transient solution . iT  A exp( Rt L) . Thus the complete solution is
1

V
id (t )  iSS  iT  max sin(t   )  A exp(  Rt L) (2.20)
Z

With initial condition id (t   )  I o and again id (t     )  I o , the unknown I o and the
constant A can be determined. It can be shown that
V  exp(   tan  )  1
I o  max sin(   )   (2.21)
Z  exp(   tan  )  1

When    , I o from (2.19) becomes zero, and A from (2.18) and the fact that I o  0 also
becomes zero. The load current then reduces to
V
i  max sin(t   ) for   t     (2.22)
Z

which is a rectified sine wave. The mean output voltage is given by equation (2.1) and the mean
output current can be obtained from the equation
Vdo  I d R (2.23)

The equation (2.23) is valid for all  . To prove it, we integrate both sides of equation (2.18) over
one period T and divide by T:
T i (T ) T
1 L R
T 0 T i (0 ) T 0
v d dt  did  id dt (2.24)

30
In the steady state the waveforms repeat with the period T. Thus id (0)  id (T ) and (2.24) can be
written as Vdo  I d R .

2.1.3 Converter feeding R-L and emf load

Such load may be representing a dc machine controlled by the converter as shown in Figure 2.4.
Motor inductance, resistance and back emf are L, R and E respectively

Fig. 2.4 Converter feeding R, L and Emf load

For    o where  o    sin 1 E Vmax  , no load current flows because the thyristors will
always be reverse-biased. The load current flows with a firing angle  defined by 0     o .

The load current can be obtained by solving the differential equation

di
Vmax sin t  L d  Ri d  E
dt
V sin(t   ) E
iSS  m  and iT  A exp( Rt L) . Thus the complete solution is
Z R
V sin(t   ) E
id (t )  max   A exp(  Rt L) (2.25)
Z R
or
V sin(t   ) E
id (t )  max   A exp( t tan  ) (2.26)
Z R

For continuous load current, id (t   )  I o . The instantaneous load current is given by

31
 Vmax E  E V 
id  sin(t   )    I o   max sin(   ) exp(  t ) tan   (2.27)
Z R  R Z 

The initial current I o is obtained by solving the equation at t     when i d is again equal
to I o .
Vmax sin(   )  exp(   tan  )  1 E
Io    (2.28)
Z  exp(   tan  )  1  R

The mean output voltage is given by (2.1) and the mean load current by
V E
I d  do (2.29)
R

Example 1
A single-phase fully controlled bridge converter has RL with emf load having L = 6.5 mH, R =
0.5 Ω and E = 10 V. VS = 120 Vrms at f = 60 Hz. Determine at α = 60o (a) A (b) I o (c) I T (AV )
(d) I d

Solution
6.5 did
(a) Differential equation: 120 2 sin t   0.5id  10
1000 dt
Z  0.5  j (2  60  6.5 1000)  2.5 78.47o
120 2 sin(t  78.47 o ) 10
Solution (2.26): id (t )    A exp(  t tan 78.47 o )
2. 5 0 .5
 67.88 sin(t  78.47 )  20  A exp(0.204t )
o

At t  60o   3 , I o  21.5049  20  0.8076A

At t  180  60  240o  4 3 , I o  21.5049  20  0.4225A
Solving the two simultaneously, we obtain A  112.56 A and I o  49.40 A
(b) I o as in (a)
2 2 V cos 2 2  120
(c) Vdo   cos 60o  54.02 V
 
I d  Vdo  E  R  54.02  10 0.5  88.04 A
From iT 1  iT 2  id , 2 I T ( AV )  I d , and hence I T ( AV )  I d 2  88.04 2  44.02 A
(d) I d is obtained as in part (c)

2.2 Commutation of thyristors

We have so far neglected the effect of the source inductance. Generally, this cannot be ignored in
practical thyristor converters. During commutation, the source inductance prevents the thyristor

32
currents to change instantaneously, and for this reason, during the commutation angle or overlap
angle  , all the four thyristors conduct simultaneously. Thus, during the commutation, we have
vd  0   t     and (2.30)

dis
Ls  v s  Vmax sin t   t     (2.31)
dt

The effect of the commutation on the supply current, load voltage and the thyristor currents
waveforms is shown in Figure 2.5. It is assumed that the load current is constant and continuous.

Integrating equation (2.31) over the commutation interval yields

Id  
Vmax
 dis  Ls  sin t d (t )
Id
(2.32)

From equation (2.32), we obtain

Vmax cos  cos     2Ls I d (2.33)

Fig. 2.5 Effect of source inductance on converter waveforms

During the commutation, the output voltage, v d  0 . The error made by using v  v s instead of
v  0 for the overlap interval to determine the mean output voltage Vdo may be corrected by
supposing it to be a voltage drop (  1Vdo ). This dc voltage drop termed dc reactance voltage drop
is given by the average of the error, err  Vmax sin t
 
1Vdo 
1
V sin t d (t ) 
Vmax
cost    
Vmax
cos  cos    (2.34)
  
max


33
From equations (2.33) and (2.34), we obtain
2Ls
1Vdo  Id


The actual mean output voltage neglecting all other voltage drops
Vdoa  Vdo  1Vdo

2 2Vs 2Ls
Vdoa  cos  Id . (2.35)
 

Vdoa 
2 2Vs
cos 
2Vs
cos  cos   
 

Vdoa 
2Vs
cos  cos    (2.36)


Example 2
In a single-phase bridge converter, Ls = 1.4 mH, Vs = 230 V at 60 Hz. Calculate the commutation
angle µ and the actual output voltage V doa with input power of 3 kW and α = 30o.

Solution
2 2Vs 2Ls
Input power = output power = Vdoa I d  cosI d  I d2  3 kW
 
2 2  230 2  2  60  1.4 2
Substituting in values gives cos 30o I d  I d  3000 or
 1000
I  533.72I d  8928.6  0
2
d

Therefore, Id = 17.3 A , Vdoa  3 000 I d  3000 17.3  173.4 V and using equation (2.36):

173.4 
2  230

cos30 0

 cos 30o    results in µ = 6.0o

2.3 Inverter mode of operation

The circuit behaves as rectifier for    2 where Vdo  0 and as a line-commutated inverter for
   2 where Vdo  0 . The circuits will work as inverter when we connect a dc voltage source
ES of proper magnitude and polarity across their terminals as shown in Figure 2.6. The dc source
may be a battery, a photovoltaic source, a dc voltage produced by a wind-electric system or a dc
motor operating under overhauling load conditions (load turns the armature).

34
Figure 2.7 shows the waveform of the load voltage for continuous conduction current and with
the effect of the source inductance included. The figure shows that the thyristor voltage vT1 is
negative during the extinction angle  given by
  180  (   ) (2.37)

The extinction angle must be great enough to allow the thyristors to turn off and regain their
forward blocking capability before forward voltage is reapplied. That is
  t q (2.38)

The above two equations place a ceiling on the delay angle. Its maximum value is, in practice,
 max  180     (2.39)

If the condition of (2.38) is not satisfied, the commutation process will fail and then destructive
currents will occur. Typical value of  max is 165o.

Fig. 2.6 Converter circuit in the inverter mode

Fig. 2.7 Voltage waveforms of the converter in the inverter mode

35
3 Three-phase fully controlled bridge converter (6-pulse)

Figure 2.8 shows the converter with highly inductive load. It is the most widely used line-
commutated thyristor rectifier. The converter also uses two groups of SCRs: T1, T3 and T5 in one
group have common cathode connection and T2, T4 and T6 in the other group have a common
anode connection. The two groups operate independently of each other. Here again if the gate
currents to the SCRs were applied continuously, then they would behave like diodes and for the
common cathode connection, the SCR with its anode at the highest potential would conduct and
for the common anode connection, the SCR with its cathode at the lowest potential would
conduct. The SCRs are fired in the following sequence at time interval of 2 6 : T1, T2, T3, T4,
T5 and T6. In the case of discontinuous current flow, it is possible for T2 say to have stopped
conducting before T3 is turned on. Then it is necessary to apply a gate pulse simultaneously to
T2 and T3 when T3 is being turned on. This problem is solved by double pulsing, i.e., supplying
two pulses per cycle spaced 60o or 2 6 apart to each SCR. Alternatively a long pulse,
greater than 60o, will overcome the problem, especially when supplying an inductive load. It is
difficult to produce long pulses. So usually a train of pulses with a frequency of about 10 kHz is
used to simulate a long pulse, typically 120o

Fig. 2.8 Three-phase thyristor converter with highly inductive load

3.1 Converter feeding highly inductive load

Converter waveforms are shown in Figure 2.9. The instants at which the SCRs would naturally
start conducting if they were diodes are indicated in Figure 2.9a. The effect of the phase angle on
the converter waveforms is shown in Figure 2.9b to d. The current in phase a is shown in Fig.
2.9c. The line-to-line ac voltages and the dc output voltage, defined by, vd  v Pn  v Nn are
shown in Figure 2.9d. The voltage v Pn = v an when T1 is conducting, = vbn when T3 is conducting

36
and = vcn when T5 is conducting. Similarly v Nn = v an when T4 is conducting, = vbn when T6 is
conducting and = vcn when T2 is conducting.

3.1.1 Output voltage

The output voltage has 6 pulses. The mean output voltage is given by
 
 
2 2
3 3 3 3Vmax 3 2VLL
   
Vdo  v d (t )  3Vmax sin(   6) d  cos  cos (2.40)
 
ab
 
6 6

where Vmax is the peak of the phase voltage and V LL is the rms value of the line voltage. In the
time interval used for the integration T1 and T6 are conducting resulting in vd  van  vbn  vab

Fig. 2.9 Waveforms of the converter in Fig. 2.8

37
For delay angles up to  3 , the output voltage is at all instants non-zero; hence load current is
continuous for any passive load. Beyond  3 the load current may be discontinuous.

The rms value of the output voltage is given by

1
 2   2
1
3  1 3 3  2
Vrms    3Vmax
2
sin 2 (t   6) d (t )  3Vmax   cos 2  (2.41)
  2 4 
   
 6 

3.1.2 Input line currents

The input currents ia , ib and ic have rectangular waveforms with amplitude I d . The waveform of
ia is phase shifted from v an by the delay angle  . It can be expressed in terms of its Fourier
components with t defined to be zero at the positive zero crossing of v an as
ia (t )  I m1 sin(t   )  I m 5 sin[5(t   )]  I m 7 sin[7(t   )]
 I m11 sin[11(t   )]  I m13 sin[13(t   )] (2.42)
 I m17 sin[17(t   )]  I m19 sin[19(t   )]

where the peak of the fundamental component is given by

2 3I d
I m1  (2.43)


and the peak of the harmonics

I
I mh  m1 where h  6k  1 (2.44)
h

Only nontriplen odd harmonics are present

From the waveform of ia in Fig. 2.9c, the rms value of the input current can be shown from the
basic definition of rms to be
2
IS  Id (2.45)
3

Alternatively, we may use the fact that ia  iT 1  iT 4 from which

I a2 ( RMS )  I T21 ( RMS )  I T24 ( RMS ) , and hence, I s  2  ( I d 3 ) 2  (2 3) I d

3.1.3 Voltages and currents of thyristors

(i) The peak inverse or reverse voltage VRM  3Vmax  2 V LL (2.46)

(ii) The peak value of the thyristor current I T max  I d (2.47)

38
(iii) From KCL, iT 1  iT 3  iT 5  I d . Hence I T ( AV )  I d 3 (2.48)
(iv) Because T1, T3 and T5 do not conduct simultaneously,
I T21 ( RMS )  I T23 ( RMS )  I T25 ( RMS )  I d2 , and hence, I T ( RMS )  I d 3 (2.49)

3.1.4 Some performance parameters

(i) The total harmonic distortion (THD) of the input current is given by
2
I   
2

THD  100   s   1  100     1  31.08 % (2.50)

 I s1  3

(ii) DPF  cos1  cos (2.51)

input power I 3
(iii) Input power factor PF   s1 DPF  cos (2.52)
input apparent power I s 

Example 3
A 3-phase fully controlled bridge converter is operated from a 3-phase star-connected 208-V, 60-
Hz supply and load resistance is R = 10 ohms. If it is required to obtain an average output
voltage of 50 % of the maximum possible output voltage, calculate (a) the delay angle  (b) the
rms and average output currents (c) the average and rms thyristor currents (d) the rectification
efficiency (e) the transformer utilization factor TUF and (f) the input power factor PF.

Solution
(a) Assuming that the load current is continuous, for 50 % of maximum possible output
voltage cos  0.5 , and the delay angle   60o . Since the delay angle obtained is not
greater than 60o the load current must be continuous. The mean output voltage
3 2V LL 3 2  208
Vdo  cos   0.5  140.45 V
 
(b) From id  vd R , the average output current I d  Vdo R  140.45 10  14.05 A and the rms
output current I rms  Vrms / R .
1 3 3  1 3 3 
Vrms  3Vm   cos(2 )   3  169.83  cos(2  60o )   159.29 V
 2 4   2 4 
Hence I rms  159.29 10  15.93 A
(c) I T ( AV )  I d 3  14.05 3  4.68 A and I T ( RMS )  I rms 3  15.93 3  9.2 A
Vdc I dc V I 140.45  14.05
(d) Rectification efficiency    do do   0.778  77.8 %
Vrms I rms Vrms I rms 159.29  15.93
2 2
(e) I s  I rms  15.93   13 A
3 3
Apparent power delivered S  3  VLL I s  3  208 13  4683.5 VA

39
 Pdc Vdo I d 140.45  14.05
TUF     0.421
S S 4683.9
(f) Active power delivered by the transformer Po  Av(i 2 R)  I rms
2
R  15.932 10  2537.6 W
P 2537.6
The input power factor PF  o   0.542 (lagging)
S 4683.9

3.2 Effect of source inductance

Like the single-phase converter, the effect of the source inductance Ls per phase results in the
following equations:
3 2V LL 3Ls
Vdoa  cos  Id (2.53)
 
Or

Vdoa 
3 2V LL
cos  cos    (2.54)
2

Example 4
A three-phase fully controlled converter is supplied from the 415-V, 50-Hz mains with phase
source inductance of 0.1 mH. For   60o and output current of 100 A, determine (a) the dc
reactance voltage drop (b) the mean output voltage and (c) the overlap angle  .

Solution
3 3
(a) 1Vdo  L s I d   2  50  10  4  100  3 V
 
3 2V LL 3  415 2
(b) Vdo  cos  cos 60o  280.22 V
 
V  Vdo  1Vdo  280.22  3  277.22 V
a
do

(c) From (2.54), 277.22 

3  415 2
2
 
cos 60o  cos(60   ) . From this   0.71o

3.3 Inverter mode of operation

As discussed for the single-phase inverter for in Section 3.4. The two inverters are started with
sufficiently large delay angle (e.g., 165o) so that id is initially discontinuous. Then, the angle is
decreased by the controller such that the desired I do and Pd are obtained.

4 Single-phase half-controlled Converter with highly inductive load

The converter contains both diodes and thyristors. Any of three different circuit configurations
producing the same load waveforms circuits can be used. Figures 2.10 show two of them.

40
Of the three circuit configurations, the circuit in Figure 2.10b having the two thyristors in a
common cathode connection is the easiest to implement. The firing circuit can have a common
train of pulses and only the forward-biased device will switch on at the arrival of a pulse on the
two gates. This circuit can be derived from the single-phase fully controlled converter in Figure
2.1 by replacing thyristors T2 and T4 by Diodes D1 and D2 respectively and unlike the thyristors,
the diode D1 will naturally start conducting as soon as the source voltage becomes positive and
diode D2 will similarly conduct as soon as the source voltage becomes negative. The waveforms
for the circuit supplying power to a highly inductive load are shown in Figure 2.11. The diodes
prevent the load voltage from going negative.

The converter in Figure 2.10b has a freewheeling diode action built in. It uses one of the
thyristors in the freewheeling path. The converter in Figure 2.10a is obtained by connecting a
freewheeling diode across the load terminals of the fully controlled converter. In this circuit
when the load voltage attempts to reverse, this diode is forward-biased and conducts, and holds
the load voltage at virtually zero. The advantage of this circuit is that at supply voltage zero the
conducting thyristor turns off instead of hanging on for freewheeling diode action, and this
reduces the thyristor duty cycle. The circuit waveforms are shown in Figure. 2.12.

The mean output voltage is


V
Vdo   Vmax sin t d (t )  max 1  cos 
1
(2.55)
  

The load voltage is totally independent of the load if load is passive, and is a function only of the
delay angle  for a given supply voltage. The half-or semi-controlled converter cannot be used
when inversion is required because the average voltage cannot be negative.

The rms value of the output voltage is

1  2  V     sin 2 / 2  sin 2
Vrms    Vmax sin 2 t d (t )  max  V 1  (2.56)
   2   2

Fig. 2.10 Single-phase half-controlled bridge converter circuit

41
Fig. 2.11 Waveforms for circuit of Fig. 2.10b

42
 Fig. 2.12 Waveforms for circuit of Fig. 2.10a

Example 5
A full-wave half-controlled bridge has a supply voltage of 220 V at 50 Hz. The firing angle α =
90o. Determine (i) the average and rms values of the load current, (ii) the load power and (iii) the
input power factor for (a) a pure resistive load of 100 Ω (b) a highly inductive load with a
resistance of 100 Ω

Solution
For the two cases (since voltage waveform is independent of load if it is passive),
V
Vdo  max 1  cos  
220 2
(1  cos 90o )  99 V and
 
 sin 2   1  sin(2  90 )
o
Vrms  V 1    220 1       155.6 V
 2 2  2

43
Case (a)
v d (t ) V 99
(i) id (t )  . Therefore average current I d  do   0.99 A
R R 100
V 155.6
Similarly I d ( RMS )  rms   1.556 A
R 100
(ii)  
Load power P  Av id2 (t ) R  I d2 ( RMS )  R  1.5562 100  242 W
(iii) With this load there is no freewheeling diode action. Therefore is (t )  id (t ) in the first
half cycle and i s (t )  id (t ) in the second half cycle. Hence I s  I d ( RMS )  1.556 A .
Alternatively, we can obtain the waveform for i s (t ) and use it to determine its rms value.
Apparent power delivered by the source S  Vs I s  220  1.556  342.32 VA and the
input power output power 242
input power factor PF     0.707
S S 342.32

Case (b)
Vdo 99
(i) Load current is constant and continuous. Therefore I d  I d ( RMS )    0.99 A
R 100
(ii) Load power P  0.992  100  98.01 W
(iii) From the waveform of i s (t ) shown in Figure 2.11 or 2.12, the rms value of the source
current
  180  90
Is  Id  0.99   0.70 A and the input power factor is
 180
0.992  100
PF   0.636
220  0.70

5 Three-phase half-controlled converter

The circuit is shown in Figure 2.13. Typical output voltage and current waveforms for highly
inductive load are shown in Figures 2.14a and 2.14b.

When the delay angle is less than  3 no voltage zeros occur and the output current for RL load
is always continuous. The output waveform contains six pulses per cycle of alternating
controlled and uncontrolled pulses as shown in Figure 2.14a.

For    3 voltage zeros occur and the output voltage waveform is made up of three controlled
pulses per cycle as shown in Figure 2.14b. With    3 , the circuit operates on the verge of
continuous load current.

The mean output voltage is given by

3 3Vmax 3 3Vmax
Vdo  Ave(v X  N )  Ave(v Z  N )  cos  or
2 2

44
 3 3Vmax
Vdo  1  cos   3 2VLL 1  cos  where 0     (2.57)
2 2

The output voltage cannot be negative, hence inversion cannot occur.

Fig. 2.13 Three-phase half-controlled bridge converter circuit

For    3 , the rms output voltage is given by

1
 3 
 2 5 6  1
 3  2
2
3  2
  v d (t )      VLL    3 cos2  
2 2
Vrms v d ( t ) (2.58)
 2 2  2  3
ab ac
 6   2  

and for    3 , the rms output voltage is given by

1
 3 
7 6 2 1
 3  1  2
  ac    VLL       sin 2 
2
Vrms v d ( t ) (2.59)
 2  6    2  2 

If    3 , any of the two equations can be used.

Example 6
A three-phase half-controlled converter is operated from a three-phase star-connected 208-V, 60-
Hz supply and the load resistance R = 10 Ω. If it is required to obtain an average output voltage
of 50 % of the maximum possible output voltage, calculate (a) the delay angle  (b) the rms and
average output currents (c) the average and rms thyristor currents (d) the rectification efficiency
(e) the transformer utilization factor TUF and (f) the input power factor PF.

Solution
DC output voltage 3 2VLL  (1  cos )
(a)  (1  cos )    0.5
Maximum dc output voltage 2 3 2VLL 2
3 2  208
This gives α of 90o and a corresponding dc voltage Vdo  (1  cos 90 o )  140.45 V
2

45
 Fig. 2.14 Voltage and current waveforms of three-phase half-controlled
bridge converter: (a) small delay angle (b) large delay angle

(b) The average output current I d  Vdo R  140.45 10 14.045 A

1
 3   1  2
For   90 , Vrms  208      sin(2  90o ) 
o
 180.13 V
 2  2 2 
and the rms load current I rms  180.13 10  18.01A

(c) The average thyristor current I T ( AV )  I d 3  4.68 A since there is no freewheeling diode
action,
The rms thyristor current I T ( RMS )  I rms 3  18.01 3  10.4 A

46
(d) The rectification efficiency is
V I 140.45  14.05
  do d   60.8 %
Vrms I rms 180.13  18.1
(e) The current ia  iT 1  i D 4 . Since T1 and D4 do not conduct simultaneously
I S2  I T2( RMS )  I D2 ( RMS ) or
I S2  2 I T2( RMS )  2 I rms
2
3 or I S  (2 3) I rms  (2 3)  18.01  14.71A
The input volt-amperes S  3VLL I s  3  208 14.71  5300 VA and
V I 140.45  14.05
TUF  do d   0.372
S 5300
(f) The output power P  I rms
2
R  18.012 10  3243.6 W
P 3243.6
The input power factor PF  o   0.612(lag)
S 5300

6 Advantages of semi-controlled converters

The main advantage of the semi-controlled converter over the fully controlled converter is the
reduction in the rms value of the transformer secondary current (or source current) due to the
freewheeling diode action. This occurs when   0 for the single-phase converter and   60o
for the three-phase converter. The reduction in the transformer secondary current in turn reduces
the primary and line current.

The single-phase semi-controlled converter has a better fundamental input power factor and less
harmonic content at all firing angles. For the three-phase converter, power factor is better and
the harmonic content is less only when   60o .

Reduction in current in primary, secondary of transformer and line results in less copper losses.

47
7 Further exercises

1. A single-phase fully controlled bridge converter supplies RL with emf load. The load is such
that L = 6.5 mH, R = 0.5 Ω and E = 10 V. The input voltage is VS = 120 Vrms, 60 Hz. The
load current id t  is continuous. The converter operates with a delay angle    3 .
(a) Draw the circuit diagram of the converter. [4 marks]
(b) Determine
(i) an expression for id t  for the period   t     . [11 marks]
(ii) the value of id t  at the instant t o such that t o   3 [3 marks]
(iii) the mean output voltage [3 marks]
(iv) the mean load current [2 marks]
(v) the mean transistor current [2 marks]

2. (a) What is meant by double pulsing? Why is it necessary? [4 marks]

(b) A 3-phase semi-controlled converter uses three SCRs and four diodes. The converter is
fed from a star-connected source with the phase “1” voltage defined as v1  Vm sin t .
(i) Draw the circuit diagram of the converter. Label the positive terminal of the load as
“M”, the negative terminal as “N” and the star point of the source as “o”. [3 marks]
(ii) Using the curves provided, sketch the waveforms of the following three voltages for
  2 3 : v MO , v NO and output voltage v  v MO  v NO . Assume that the load
current is continuous. [9 marks]
(iii) Show on the output voltage waveform, the devices which are active during the
various periods of the load cycle. [3 marks]
(iv) Find the area under one pulse of the output voltage and use it to determine the mean
output voltage. [6 marks]

3. (a) A 3-phase fully controlled bridge converter is fed from a 3-phase star-connected source
with phase “1” voltage given by v1  Vm sin t . The SCRs are fired in the sequence T1, T2,
T3, T4, T5 and T6. If T1 is fired at   ( 6) and T2 at   ( 2) show that the output
voltage from   ( 6) to   ( 2) is given by v(t )  3Vm sin(t  6 ) . Hence, prove that
the mean output voltage is given by Vo  (3 3Vm cos )  . Assume that the load current
is continuous. [6 marks]
(d) A three-phase fully controlled converter fed from 415-V, 50-Hz supply delivers power to
a pure resistance load R = 10 Ω. The converter operates with a delay angle   60o . The
corresponding rms output voltage is 318 V. Determine
(i) the rms and average output currents [4 marks]
(ii) the rms and average thyristor currents [4 marks]
(iii) the rms value of the source current [3 marks]
(iv) the active power delivered by the source [3 marks]

48
4. A 1-phase fully controlled bridge converter is operated from a 240-V, 50-Hz supply with a
load consisting of a resistor R = 10 ohms and inductor L = 5 mH in series. For a delay angle
  tan 1 L R    (rad ) , calculate
(a) the rms and average values of the output currents, [10 marks]
(b) the average and rms values of the thyristor currents, [6 marks]
(c) the rectification efficiency and [6 marks]
(d) the rms value of the source or input current. [3 marks]

5. A 3-phase semi-controlled bridge rectifier is fed from a three-phase star-connected supply of

line voltage V. [4 marks]
(a) Obtain an expression for its average output voltage Vdc, given that Vdc = (32V/)cos if
the bridge is fully controlled. [3
marks]
(b) The supply to the converter is 208-V, 60-Hz and the load is pure resistance R = 10 Ω. If
it is required to obtain an average output voltage of 50 % of the maximum possible
output voltage, calculate
(i) the delay angle  , [2 marks]
(ii) the rms and average output currents, [4 marks]
(iii) the average and rms thyristor currents, [5 marks]
(iv) the rectification efficiency, [2 marks]
(v) the transformer utilization factor TUF, [5 marks]
(vi) the input power factor PF. [4 marks]
Take the rms value of the output voltage Vrms to be 180 V.

49
50
 α α
vd -vs
vs

Vmax

ωt
Vmax

vT1

Vmax

ωt

Vmax

iT1

Id

ωt

iT4

Id

ωt
is

Id

ωt

Id

51
52
 CHAPTER THREE

AC VOLTAGE REGULATORS OR CONTROLLERS

1 Introduction

These circuits are used to obtain variable ac voltage from a constant voltage ac source. The
circuit has Triacs or anti-parallel connected phase control SCRs which permit the rms voltage
impressed across the load to be varied. Triacs are preferred if they can meet the voltage and
current ratings of the application. The commutation of these two switching devices in ac voltage
regulator circuit is natural. Thus ac voltage regulators are very simple. The most common
applications are lighting and heating control, speed control of universal motors and soft-starting
and speed control of polyphase induction motors.

Two methods are normally used to control the output voltage. They are
(a) Burst firing, on-off or integral cycle control
The semiconductor switches connect the load to the ac source for a few integral cycles and
then disconnect it for another few integral cycles. This method generates very low supply
harmonics and radio frequency interference because the semiconductor switches are turned
on at the zero-crossing of the input voltage and turn-off occurs at zero current. However, it
generates load subharmonics which cause lamps to flicker and motors to develop fluctuating
torque of low frequency components that may undesirable for the motor loads. This method
is used in many heating applications where load harmonics are not important and load
thermal time constant is long.
(b) Phase control
With phase control, the switches connect the load to the supply ac source for a portion of
each of its cycle. Phase control can be used for any of the applications

In this chapter the operation of the ac single-phase and three-phase voltage regulator is explained
and their circuits analyzed. Both full-wave and half-wave three-phase regulators are analyzed,
each with resistive loads. After going through this chapter, the student will know the operation of
the ac voltage regulators, how to obtain their output voltage waveforms and expressions required
for their performance calculations.

2 Single-phase ac regulator

Figures 3.1a and 3.1b show SCR and triac single-phase full-wave regulator circuits. For a full-
wave, symmetrical phase control, the SCRs T1 and T2 in Fig. 3.1a are gated at firing angle 
and    , respectively, from the zero crossing of the input voltage. As long as one SCR is
carrying current, the other SCR remains reverse-biased by the voltage drop across the conducting
SCR. In the case of the triac circuit of Figure 3.1b, the triac is gated at delay angle  and again at

53
   from the zero crossing of the input voltage. The rms load voltage is varied by varying the
delay angle.

Fig. 3.1 Single-phase full-wave ac regulator: (a) SCR circuit (b) triac
circuit
2.1 Single-phase regulator with resistive load

The waveforms for the converter in Figure 3.1a with resistive load are shown in Figure 3.2. For
this load, each SCR stops conducting at the end of each half cycle and so single short pulses may
be used for gating as shown in Figure 3.2. This also applies to the triac circuit.

54
 Fig. 3.2 Waveforms for regulator in Fig. 3.1a with resistive load

(a) Output Voltage: With the input voltage defined as v s  2V sin t , the rms load voltage is
given by
 2V 2    sin 2
Vo  
  
 sin 2 t d (t )  V 1  
  2
(3.1)

v o2 1 V2
(b) Output power = average (vo io ) = average ( ) = average (v o2 ) = o  Vo I o (3.2)
R R R

input power( output power) Vo I o Vo  sin 2

(c) Input power factor =    1  (3.3)
input apparent power VI o V  2

55
 
2V V
1  cos 
2 R 
(d) Average SCR current I T ( AV )  sin t d (t )  (3.4)
2 R

(e) Since io  iT 1  iT 2 and io2  iT21  iT2 2 because the two SCRs do not conduct simultaneously,
the rms SCR current I T ( RMS )  I o 2 (3.5)

Example 1
A triac regulator as shown in Figure 3.1b provides variable power to a 200-ohm resistive load
from a 240 V, 50 Hz supply. Determine the values of (a) rms load current (b) power and (c) input
power factor for   30o

Solution

(a) I o 
Vo V

 sin 2 240
1   1   

 30  sin 2  30
o

 1.18 A
R R  2 200  180  2
(b) P  I o2 R  (1.18) 2  200  278 W
P P 278
(c) Input PF     0.98
Vs I s Vs I o 240  1.18

2.2 Single-phase full-wave regulator with RL load

The load voltage is given by

di
vo (t )  L o  Rio   t  
dt

Solving this equation, we obtain the load current to be

io 
2V
sin(t   )  sin(   ) exp[(  t ) / tan  ]   t   (3.6)
Z
 L 
where Z  R 2   2 L2 is the load impedance and   tan 1   is the impedance angle.
 R 

The shape of the current waveform depends on the delay angle  and the impedance angle  as
presented below:

Case I:   
If    , the current equation reduces to
2V
io  sin(t   ) (3.7)
Z

56
This is a pure sine wave lagging behind the load voltage by  . The conduction angle of an SCR
is given by    . The waveforms are shown in Figure 3.3.a

Fig. 3.3a Waveforms for regulator with RL load and α  φ

Case II:   
The load current is discontinuous. T2 or the Triac turns off at t   when current zero occurs as
shown in Figure 3.3b. The angle  known as extinction angle can be found from the condition
io t     0 and is given by the equation.
sin     sin   exp[(   ) / tan  ] (3.8)

Solving this equation for  requires an iterative technique or computer simulation. The
conduction angle of an SCR is given by        .

57
 Fig. 3.3b Typical waveforms for regulator with RL
load and
Case III:   
The gate pulse will arrive before current zero, and the Triac will not turn on. In the case of the
SCR regulator, the device to be turned on will be reverse-biased by the conducting device and it
will also not turn on. Thus, if single short pulses are used for gating only one device conducts,
causing the regulator to operate as a single-phase rectifier as shown in Figure 3.4a.

The solution is to use a train of pulses of short duration, from  until  as shown in Figure 3.4c
for RL load. Then the Triac or the SCR to be turned on will turn on at the first pulse after current
zero. Alternatively, a continuous gate pulse, from  until  can be used as shown in Figure
3.4b. However, the continuous gate signal increases the switching losses of the devices and
requires also a larger isolating transformer for the gating circuit.

(a) Output Voltage: The rms output or load voltage is given by

1
2 2  2  2
1  sin 2 sin 2  
Vo  
 2 
V sin 2 (t ) d (t )

V

  
 2

2 
 (3.9)

58
 1
 1  2 
d t 
2
(b) I T ( RMS ) 
 2
 i
 T 
1
1 
 sin(t   )  sin(   ) exp[(  t ) / tan  ] d (t )
V  2 2
  (3.10)
Z 

 
 iT d t  = 2Z  sint     sin   exp[(  t ) / tan  ]d t 
1 Vm
(c) I T ( AV )  (3.11)
2

(d) From io  iT 1  iT 2 and io2  iT21  iT2 2 the rms output current I o  2 I T ( RMS ) (3.12)
(e) Output power = average (io2 R) = I o2 R (3.13)
input power( output power) I R I o R 2
(f) Input power factor =   o
(3.14)
input apparent power VI o V

Fig. 3.4 Gate pulse requirements for regulator with RL load

and 59
Example 2
The single-phase full-wave regulator supplies an RL load. The input voltage is 120 V, 60 Hz.
The load is such that L  6.5 mH and R  2.5  . The delay angle    2 . Determine (a) the
conduction angle of the SCRs (b) the rms output voltage (c) the rms SCR current (d) the rms
output current (e) the average current of the SCRs and (f) the input power factor

Solution
  tan 1 (L R)  44.430
The extinction  is determined by iterative technique:   220 .35 o
(a)       220.350  900  130.350
1
 1  220.35  sin  sin 440.70o  2
(b) Vo  120       68.09 V
   180 2 2 2 
(c) Numerical integration of rms equation from t   to t   gives the rms SCR current as
I T ( RMS )  15.07 A
(d) I o  2 I T ( RMS )  2  15.07  21.3 A.
(e) May use numerical integration: I T ( AV )  8.23 A.
(f) The output power = I o2 R  21.32  2.5  1134.2 W
Input VA = 120  21.3  2556VA
Therefore input PF = 1134.2 2556  0.444 lag

3 Three-phase ac regulator

It is used to control the power to a three phase star or delta-connected load. Eight different three
phase phase-controlled ac regulator circuits are in use. In this section, we will be analyzing one
three-phase full-wave regulator circuit and one halve-wave regulator circuit. The three-phase
full-wave and the three-phase half-wave regulators produce symmetrical and asymmetrical
output voltage waveforms respectively. The regulator circuit used in ac motor drives is usually
the full-wave type. The half-wave regulator is simpler but because it produces dc input current
and higher harmonics, it is not normally used in ac motor drives.

3.1 Three-phase full-wave (or fully controlled) regulator

One of the full-wave regulator circuits with a star-connected load is shown in Figure 3.5. In this
circuit, at least two SCRs in different phases must be gated simultaneously so as to establish
current path for the controller to start. This then requires double pulsing, i.e., two firing pulses
spaced at 60o apart per cycle to trigger each SCR. The analysis of this circuit is difficult
especially for RL or motor load. In this course we limit our analysis to a star-connected
resistance load. If a neutral connection is made, load current can flow even when one SCR is
conducting. This three-phase four-wire regulator circuit, though easy to analyze, is not used for
high power levels because at high power levels we try to avoid neutral currents.

60
The SCRs are triggered in the order T1 to T6 at 
3
60  radians apart, i.e., T1 is triggered at  , ,
0

T2 at   3 , T3 at   2
3 , T4 at    , T5 at   4
3 and finally T6 at   53 . At starting, it is
necessary, as explained above, to trigger them in pairs again at 
3
60 
0
radians apart in the
following sequence: (T6, T1), (T1, T2), (T2, T3), (T3, T4), (T4, T5) and (T5, T6)

With resistance load, the circuit operates in three different modes resulting in different voltage
waveforms. The firing angle range is 0 to 150o. The operating modes depend on the firing
angle  . The output phase voltage waveforms for   45, 60, 90 and 135o for a balanced three-
phase R star load are shown in Figure 3.6. The modes are defined by the number of SCRs
conducting in these modes.

Fig. 3.5 Three-phase full-wave voltage controller with a star load

Mode 1 or Mode 2/3 0     3

Full output occurs when   0, and this results in a conduction angle    for each device.
For    3 , three devices conduct after turning on a device and after some time one will turn
off by natural commutation. Let the source voltages in Figure 3.5 be given by
v a  Vm sin t
vb  Vm sin(t  120o )
vc  Vm sin(t  120o )

which result in line voltages

vab  va  vb  3Vm sin(t  30o )
vbc  vb  vc  3Vm sin(t  90o )

61
vca  vc  va  3Vm sin(t  210o )

Then the expressions for the instantaneous output voltage are as follows (Note: the symbol
(T1  ) say, reads “when SCR T1 is turned on” and the symbol (T1  ) say, reads “when SCR T1
turns off”):
(a) From  (T1  ) to  3 (T5  ), T5, T6 and T1 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
(b) From  3 to   3 (T2  ), T6 and T1 are conducting and
v a  vb 3Vm
v an   sin(t   6)
2 2
(c) From    3 to 2 3 (T6  ), T6, T1 and T2 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
(d) From  (T1  ) to  3 (T5  ), T5, T6 and T1 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
(e) From  3 to    3 (T2  ), T6 and T1 are conducting and
v a  vb 3Vm
v an   sin(t   6)
2 2

Fig. 3.6 Three-phase full-wave voltage controller voltage waveforms

62
(f) From    3 to 2 3 (T6  ), T6, T1 and T2 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
(g) From 2 3 to   2  3 (T3  ), T1 and T2 are conducting and
v a  vc 3Vm
v an   sin(t   6)
2 2
(h) From   2  3 to  (T1  ), T1, T2 and T3 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
(i) From  to    (T4  ), T2 and T3 are conducting and van  0
(j) End of first half cycle.

Mode 2 or Mode 2/2  3     2

The turning on of one device naturally commutates another conducting device; thus only two of
the SCRs conduct at any time. The output voltage expressions are
(a) From  (T1  ) and (T5  ) to    3 (T2  ) and (T6  ), T6 and T1 are conducting and
v a  vb 3Vm
v an   sin(t   6)
2 2
(b) From    3 to   2  3 (T3  ) and (T1  ), T1 and T2 are conducting and
v a  vc 3Vm
v an   sin(t   6)
2 2
(c) From   2  3 to    (T4  ) and T2  ), T2 and T3 are conducting and van  0
(d) End of first half cycle.

Mode 3 or Mode 0/2  2    5 6

In this mode there are periods when no device is on. Therefore two devices must be triggered
simultaneously in order to establish load current, i.e., each device must be triggered  3 after the
initial trigger pulse called double pulsing. Except for regulator start up, double pulsing is not
necessary if    2 . For   5 6 , no two SCRs (they will be reverse-biased) conduct and
hence the output voltage becomes zero. The voltage expressions are
(a) At t   when both T1 and T6 are triggered
v  vb
Vm sint   6  which becomes zero at t  5 6
3
v an  a 
2 2
(b) At t     3 when both T2 and T1 are triggered
v a  vc
Vm sint   6  which becomes zero at t  7 6
3
v an  
2 2
(c) End of first half cycle.

Let Vm  3Vm and Vm  2V . Then the rms output voltage can be obtained as follows:

63
Mode 1 0     3

   
 
2

 1  sin 
3
 2
 3 6
 sin 2    sin 2 
3

Vo  Vm     d     d     3
 d 
    3     4  

  3 6 3

1

2 


 2
3 6
 sin 2    sin 2   

2 
 
 4
d    
   2  3
d 
 

3 6 3 

1
 3  2
sin2 
3
Vo  V 1   (3.15)
 2 4 

Mode 2  3     2

1
   3  6 2 
   2

1   sin 
2
 3 6
 sin 2   
Vo  Vm      d  
   
 4 d   
     4  
 
   
  6 3 6 

1
1 9  2
sin2   cos2 
3 3
Vo  V   (3.16)
 2 8 8 

Mode 3 or Mode 0/2  2    5 6

1
  56  6 7 
  2

1   sin 
2
 6 6  sin 2   
Vo  Vm     d     d  
     4      4  
  6 3 6 

1
 5 3 3 3  2
cos2   sin2 
3
Vo  V    (3.17)
 4 2 8 8 

64
3.2 The half-wave (half-controlled) 3-phase regulator

This regulator has three of the SCRs in the full-wave regulator replaced by diodes to reduce cost.
It is simpler than the fully controlled regulator but produces dc input current and more harmonics
in the output voltage. In the circuit shown in Figure 3.7, the SCRs T4, T6 and T2 are replaced by
D4, D6 and D2 respectively. The maximum firing angle in the half-wave controlled regulator is
210o. It operates in three distinctive modes. The output phase voltage waveforms for   45, 75,
105 and 135o for a balanced three-phase R star load are shown in Figure 3.8.

Fig. 3.7 Three-phase half-wave voltage controller with a star load

Mode 1 0     2

Before turn-on, one diode and one SCR conduct in other two phases. After turn-on, two SCRs
and one diode conduct when    3 or one SCR and two diodes conduct when    3 and in
each case the three-phase ac supply is impressed across the load. The expressions for the
instantaneous output voltage are as follows:
(a) From 0 to  (T1  ), T5 and D6 are conducting and van  0
(b) From  to  3 (T5  ) and (D2  ), T5, D6 and T1 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
(c) From  3 to 2 3 (D6  ), D6, T1 and D2 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
3Vm
(d) From 2 3 to   2  3 (T3  ), T1 and D2 are conducting and v an  sin(t   6)
2
(e) From   2  3 to  (T1  ) and (D4  ), T1, D2 and T3 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
(f) From  to 4 3 (D2  ), D2, T3 and D4 are conducting and van  Vm sin t
3Vm
(g) From 4 3 to   4  3 (T5  ), T3 and D4 are conducting and v an  sin(t   6)
2

65
(h) From   4  3 to 5 3 (T3  ) and ( D6  ), T3, D4 and T5 are conducting and
van  Vm sin t
(i) From 5 3 to 2 (D4  ), D4, T5 and T6 conducting and van  Vm sin t

Mode 2  2    2 3

At the time of turn-on, none of the devices is conducting. Just after turn-on, two diodes will
conduct in addition to the SCR. Subsequently one diode will turn off followed by the SCR and
the other diode. The expressions for the instantaneous output voltage are as follows:

 
(a) For 0  t   2 T5 ) and (D6  : T5, D6 conducting : v an  0
(b) For  2  t   T ), (D ) and (D  : None conducting : v  0
1 2 6 an

(c) For   t  2 3 D  : T , D , D conducting : v  V sin t

6 1 2 6 an m


For 2 3  t  7 6 T ) and (D   : T , D conducting : v 
3 
(d) 1 2 V sin t  
1 2 an m
2  6
(e) For 7 6  t    2 3 T ), (D ) and (D  : None conducting : v  0
3 4 2 an

(f) For   2 3  t  4 3 D  : D , T , D conducting : v  V sin t

2 2 3 4 an m


For 4 3  t  11 6 T ) and (D   : T , D conducting : v 
3 
(g) 3 4 V sin t  
3 4 an m
2  6
(h) For 11 6  t    4 3 T ) , (D ) and (D  : None conducting : v  0
5 6 4 an

(i) For   4 3  t  2 D : D T , D conducting : v  V sint

4 4, 5 6 an m

Mode 3 2 3    7 6

At the time of turn-on, none of the devices is conducting. Just after turn-on, only one SCR and
one diode will conduct. At   7 6 zero power is delivered to the load. The expressions for the
instantaneous output voltage are as follows:
 
(a) For 0  t    2 / 3 T5 )and (D6  : None conducting : v an  0
(b) For   2 / 3  t   2 T5 ) and (D6   : T5, D6 conducting : v an  0
 
(c) For  2  t   T1 ) and (D2  : None conducting : v an  0

(d) For   t  7 6 T1 ) and (D2   : T1, D2 conducting : v an 
3 
Vm sin t  
2  6
 
(e) For 7 6  t    2 3 T3 ) and (D4  : None conducting : v an  0

6 T  : T , D
3 
(f) For   2 3  t  11 3 ) and (D4 3 4 conducting : v an  Vm sin t  
2  6
(g) For 11 6  t  2 : None is conducting : v an  0

66
 Fig. 3.8 Three-phase half-wave voltage controller voltage waveforms

The rms output voltage can be obtained as follows:

Mode 1 0     2
  2 3  
4

 1 
  3 2 
2 3
Vo     Vm sin  d    Vm sin  d   Vm sin  d
2 2 2 2 2

 2   4  2

  2
3
1
3

2
 2


3 2 
 
2
   Vm sin  d   Vm sin  d 
2 2 2

3 4  4
 
2 3 

67
  1  sin2 
1
2
Vo  3V    (3.18)
 3 4 8 

Mode 2  2    2 3

  23 
4

 1  2 3 2 3
Vo   Vm  sin d  Vm  sin d  Vm  sin d
2 2 2 2

 2   4 

2
  2 3

2 2
 2

3 2 
 Vm  sin 2 d  Vm2  sin 2 d 
4 3 4 

2 3 

1
 11   2
V o  3V    (3.19)
 24 2 

Mode 3 2 3    7 6

1
   2
 2

 1 3 2 3 2 
Vo    Vm  sin d  Vm  sin d 
2 2

 2  4   4

5 
  6 6 

7  sin2  3 cos2 
Vo  3V      (3.20)
 24 4 16 16 

Example 3
The 3-phase half-controlled regulator supplies a star-connected resistive load of R = 10 ohms per
phase and the line-to-line voltage is 208 V, 60 Hz.    3 . Determine (a) the rms output phase
voltage (b) the input power factor and (c) expressions for the instantaneous output voltage of
phase a

Solution
 1  sin2  2 sin2 3 
1 1
1  2
(a) Vo  3V      208     110.94V
 3 4 8   3 12 8 
(b) RMS phase current I o  110.94 10  11.094 A

68
 Output power  3  I o2 R  3 11.0942 10  3692.31W
Input volt-amperes  3 VL I o  3  208 11.094  3996.80VA
P
 0.92 lagging 
3692.31
The power factor PF  o 
VA 3996.89
(c) The instantaneous output phase voltage, v an which depends on the number of conducting
devices are as follows:
(i) From 0 to  3 , v an  0

 sint   169.7sint 
208
(ii) From  3 to 2 3 , van  2 
3

(iii)From 2 3 to  , v an 
2
3
 2
208
3

 sint   6   147.1sin t  6

 sint   169.7sint 
208
(iv) From  to 4 3 , van  2 
3

(v) From 4 3 to 5 3 , v an  147.1sin t   6 
(vi) From 5 3 to 2 , van  169.7sint 

3.3 Other regulator circuits

3.3.1 Delta-connected ac regulator

It is used for delta-connected loads where each end of each phase is accessible. It consists of
three single-phase ac regulators operating independently of each other as shown in Figure 3.9.
The SCRs should be capable of carrying the phase currents and withstand the line voltages. The
firing angle control range is 0 to 180o for resistance load. The firing angle  is measured from
the zero crossing of the line-to-line voltage. This can be employed to reduce SCR current ratings.

3.3.2 Open-star 3-phase ac regulator with six SCRs

They are used for star-connected load where neutral exists and can be accessed and opened. In
this regulator, shown in Figure 3.10, current can flow between two lines even if one SCR is
conducting, so each SCR requires one firing pulse per cycle. The voltage and current ratings of
the SCRs are nearly the same as those of the delta-connected ac regulator.

3.3.3 Open-star 3-phase ac regulator with three SCRs

It is possible to operate the open-star 3-phase ac regulator with three SCRs as shown in Figure
3.11. Each SCR is provided with gate pulses in each cycle spaced 120o apart. Though, the
number of devices is fewer, their current ratings must be higher.

69
 Fig. 3.9 Delta-connected ac voltage regulator

Ia
ZL
a
va

T4
T1

ZL Ib
T5
b T2
vb

T6
T3

vc
c
Ic
ZL

Fig. 3.10 Open-star three phase ac regulator with six SCRs

Fig. 3.10 Open-star three phase ac regulator with three SCRs

70
4 Integral cycle control

In SCR heating applications, load harmonics are unimportant and integral cycle control, or burst
firing, can be employed. Fig. 3.11 shows the basic Triac burst-firing controller circuit and Figure
3.12 shows the output voltage waveforms. Commercially produced gate drivers may be used to
trigger the Triacs.
1
1 n 2
The lowest order harmonics in the load is . The rms output voltage is V o V   , the output
Tp N 
V 2  n
power is P       , the supply displacement factor  is unity and the input power factor
 R  N
n
PF    , where n is the number of on cycles and N is the number of cycles in the period
N
Tp shown in Figure 3.12.

Fig. 3.11 Basic triac burst-firing controller

71
 Fig. 3.11 Typical burst firing voltage waveforms

Example 4
A burst-firing ac voltage regulator supplies power to a 100-ohm resistance from a 250 V, 50 Hz
supply. Determine the values of (a) load voltage, (b) load current, (c) output power and (d) input
power when n=2 and N = 8.

Solution
1 1
n 2 2 2
(a) V o V    250   125 V
N  8
V 125
(b) Io  o   1.25 A
R 100
(c) Output power P  I o2 R  1.252 100  156.3 W
(d) Input apparent power.
P 156.3
Hence input power factor PF    0.50
S 312.5

72
5 Further exercises

1. A 3-phase half-wave ac regulator fed by a star-connected source supplies power to a star-

connected resistive load of R = 10 Ω per phase. The phase voltages are va = 170 sint, vb =
170 sin(t – 120o) and vc = 170 sin(t + 120o). The circuit operates with a delay angle 
=135o.
(a) Draw the circuit diagram of the regulator with T1 and D4 connected anti-parallel in phase
“a”, T3 and D6 anti-parallel in phase “b” and T5 and D2 anti-parallel in phase “c”.
[4 marks]
(b) Given that for a delay angle  =135 , all switches are off before an SCR is fired and an
o

SCR when fired switches on with only one diode, determine the following:
(i) The instant in degrees (= t) at which T1 is fired, the diode that switches on with T1
and the instant (= t) at which T1 turns off. [3 marks]
(ii) The instant in degrees (= t) at which T3 is fired, the diode that switches on with T3
and the instant (= t) when T3 turns off. [3 marks]
(iii) The instant in degrees (= t) at which T5 is fired, the diode that switches on with T5
and the instant (= t) at which T5 turns off. [3 marks]
(c) Obtain expressions for the instantaneous output voltage of phase “a” over a period. Give
non zero expressions only. [4 marks]
(d) Using the expressions obtained in part (c), calculate the rms output phase voltage.
[4 marks]
(e) Calculate the input power factor. [4 marks]

2. A 3-phase ac regulator fed by a delta-star transformer supplies power to a balanced star-

connected resistive load. The voltage induced in phase “1” of the secondary winding is
defined as v1  Vm sin t . SCRs T1 and T4 are connected anti-parallel in phase “1”, T3 and T6
anti-parallel in phase “2” and T5 and T2 anti-parallel in phase “3”.
(c) Draw the circuit diagram of the regulator. Show phase currents i1 , i2 and i3 as entering
the load and T1, T3 and T5 as carrying positive load currents. [3 marks]
(d) The circuit operates with a delay angle α = 30o resulting in 2/3 mode of operation.
Determine the following instants (i.e. t ) in degrees limiting yourself to only the first half
cycle:
(i) When T1 is fired. [1 mark]
(ii) When T5 turns off. [1 mark]
(iii) When T2 is fired. [1 mark]
(iv) When T6 turns off. [1 mark]
(v) When T3 is fired. [1 mark]
(vi) When T1 turns off. [1 mark]
(e) Obtain expressions for the instantaneous output voltage of phase 1 for the first half cycle.
[6 marks]
(f) Obtain integral expression for the rms value of the output voltage in (c). All sine terms
should have  as argument and the integration should be with respect to d . Do not
integrate. [5 marks]

73
3. A single-phase ac voltage regulator supplies power to a purely resistive load. The input
voltage is V and the load resistance is R.
(a) If phase-angle control is used and the delay angle is α, obtain an expression for
(i) the rms value of the output voltage [6 marks]
(ii) the rms value of the SCR current [3 marks]
(iii) the average value of the SCR current [4 marks]
(b) If the input voltage is 120 V, 60 Hz, R = 2.5 Ω and the delay angle α = π/2, find
(i) the conduction angle of the SCRs [1 mark]
(ii) the rms value of the output voltage [2 marks]
(iii) the rms value of the SCR current [2 marks]
(iv) the rms value of the output current [1 mark]
(v) the average current of the SCRs [1 mark]
(vi) the input power factor [3 marks]
(c) Under what circumstances will you recommend integral cycle control for heating
applications? [2 marks]

4. The 3-phase full-wave regulator in Figure 3.5 supplies power to a star-connected resistive
load of R  20  . The input phase voltages are vAN  240 2 sin t ,
vBN  240 2 sin(t  2 3) and vCN  240 2 sin(t  2 3) . The regulator operates with a
delay angle    6 .
(a) Determine the devices which conduct in the following intervals and hence expressions for
the instantaneous output voltage of phase ‘a’ in the form van  a sin(t   o ) :
(i) 0  t  6 (iv)  2  t 2 3
(ii)  6  t  3 (v) 2 3  t 5 6
(iii)  3  t  2 (iv) 5 6  t 
1
 3  2
sin2 
3
(b) Given the rms output phase voltage to be Vo  V 1   volts, where V
 2 4 
is the rms value of the input phase voltage, calculate
(i) the rms phase current of the load
(ii) the input power factor.

74
 CHAPTER FOUR

DC CHOPPERS

1 Introduction

The dc chopper also known as dc-to -dc converter is used to provide variable dc voltage from a
fixed voltage dc source. It is considered to be dc equivalent of the ac transformer. Like the
transformer, it can be used to step down or step up dc voltage. DC choppers are widely used in
drives for electric vehicles, in the dc link for variable frequency inverters and in switch-mode dc
power supplies.

The power semiconductor switches used for this converter can be BJT, MOSFET, IGBT, GTO
or forced-commutated thyristor. The need for commutation circuit to turn off the thyristor tends
to rule out the thyristor for all but very high power circuits.

In this chapter the operation of DC chopper is explained and two basic converter circuits used
primarily in dc drives are analyzed. Also analyzed are buck and boost dc-to-dc converters used in
switch-mode power supplies. After going through this chapter , the student will know the
operation of step down and step up choppers and buck and boost dc-to-dc converters, the
expressions for their performance calculations, the semiconductor switching devices used for
their implementation and their applications.

2 DC Step-down or series chopper operation

The principle of operation is explained by a step-down dc chopper with a resistive load shown in
Figure 4.1a. It consists of a dc input voltage source VS, controllable switch S and load resistance
R all connected in series. If the switch is operated on and off with a switch on time ton and a
switch off time toff , the load voltage waveform shown in Figure 4.1b is obtained.

Fig. 4.1 DC step down chopper with resistive load: (a) circuit diagram
(b) output voltage waveform
75
(a) Average output voltage: From Figure4.1a, the average output voltage is given by
area under curve over a period T  VS
Vo    VS (4.1)
period T
(b) The rms output voltage is
T  VS2
Vrms  av(vo2 )    VS (4.2)
T
(c) Output power = av(vo io ) = av (v o2 R ) = av (v o2 ) / R = Vrms
2
R  VS2 R (4.3)

(d) Input power = output power (4.4)

VS VS VS R
(e) The effective input resistance     (4.5)
av(is ) av(io ) (Vo R) 
where
t on t
  on is the duty cycle of the chopper (4.6)
t on  t off T
1
T is the period of the switching frequency or chopper frequency f (4.7)
f

The chopper average output voltage Vo is controlled by varying ton at constant frequency or by
varying both ton and the frequency. The first control method is known as pulse-width modulation.
The second method is used only in thyristor converters. Varying the frequency makes filter
design for both input and output difficult. The average output voltage is always smaller than the
input voltage, hence the name of the converter.

Example 1
A dc step down chopper has input voltage of 48 V and a load resistance of 24 ohms. The chopper
operates at a frequency of 250 Hz. Calculate (a) the average load current (b) the rms load current
and (c) the load power when the chopper on-time is 1 ms.

Solution
1 1000 t 1
T   4 ms and   on   0.25
f 250 T 4
(a) Average output voltage Vo  VS  0.25  48  12 V
Vo 12
Average load current I o    0.5 A
R 24
(b) RMS output voltage Vrms   VS  0.25  48  24
V 24
RMS output current I rms  rms   1 A because load is resistive.
R 24
(c) Power P  I rms
2
R  11 24  24 W

76
3 DC Step-down chopper with RL and E load

DC step-down choppers are commonly used in dc drives. The load, consisting of inductance L,
resistance R, and emf E as shown in Figure 4.2a, may be representing a dc machine controlled by
the converter. When the chopper switch S switches off, the energy stored in the inductor is
dissipated and the power semiconductor switch must be protected against the possibility of high
inductive voltage rise causing damage to the switch. This is solved by connecting anti-parallel
diode D across the load as shown in Figure 4.2a. The diode is called a freewheeling diode. At
switch-off, the inductive voltage will forward bias the diode, allowing exponential decay of the
current through the load and diode. The load waveforms are shown in Figure 4.2b.

Fig. 4.2 DC chopper with RL and E load: (a) circuit diagram (b) output waveforms

The chopper operates in two modes:

Mode 1

During this mode, the chopper is switched on, the diode D is reverse-biased and current flows
from the supply to the load. The equivalent circuit for this mode of operation is shown in Figure
4.3a.

The load current for this mode is obtained from the equation
di
VS  L o  Rio  E
dt
V E
The equation has steady state solution iSS  S and transient solution iT  A exp( Rt L) .
R
Thus the complete solution is
V E
io (t )  iSS  iT  S  A exp(  Rt L) (4.8)
R

77
If the load current is assumed to be continuous, then there will be initial current io (t  0)  I 1 .
This would be so if the load time constant   L R is much greater than the period T. Using this
to determine the constant A will give the load current as
V E
io (t )  I 1 exp( tR L)  S 1  exp( Rt L) (4.9)
R

This is valid for 0  t  t on

The load current according to (4.9) grows exponentially in this mode

Mode 2

During this mode the chopper is switched off and the load current continues to flow through the
freewheeling diode D. The equivalent circuit for this mode is shown in Figure 4.3b. The equation
for the current is
di
0  L o  Rio  E (4.10)
dt

If for this mode we let the time origin be at its beginning and let the initial current io (t  0)  I 2 ,
the solution can be derived from (4.9) by setting VS to zero and replacing I1 by I2:
io (t )  I 2 exp( tR L)  1  exp( Rt L)
E
R
This is valid for 0  t  t off

Fig. 4.3 Chopper equivalent circuits: (a) mode 1 (b) mode 2

The unknown currents I1 and I2 are obtained, noting that

(a) the instantaneous current at the end of mode 1 is I2, i.e., io (t  t on  T )  I 2 for equation
(4.9) and again recognizing that under steady state conditions,
(b) the instantaneous current at the end of mode 2 is I1, io (t  t off  (1   )T  I1

78
The peak-to-peak load ripple current I  I 2  I1 is maximum when   0.5. It is given by
V R
I max  s tanh (4.11)
R 4 fL
R R
For 4 fL  R , tanh  and the maximum load ripple current becomes
4 fL 4 fL
V
I max  s (4.11)
4 fL

Example 2
A dc step down chopper has an inductive load of 1 ohm resistance and 10 mH inductance.
Source voltage is 24 V. The chopper operates at a frequency of 100 Hz with on-time of 5 ms.
Determine (a) the average load current (b) maximum and minimum load currents.

Solution
(a) Period T  1 f  1000 100  10 ms and duty cycle   t on T  5 10  0.5
Average output voltage Vo  VS  0.5  24  12 V
Average load current I o  Vo R  12 1  12 A
(b) During the on-period
io (t )  I 1 exp(  tR L)  S 1  exp( Rt L)
V
R

At the end of the on-period TR L  (0.5 10  1) 10  0.5 and

I 2  I 1 exp( 0.5)  1  exp(0.5)  0.607I 1  9.44
24
(a)
1
During the off-period io (t )  I 2 exp( tR L)
At the end of the off-period (1   )TR L  (0.5 10 1) 10  0.5 and
I1  I 2 exp(0.5)  0.607I 2 (b)
Substitute equation (b) into equation (a):
I 2  0.607(0.607) I 2  9.44 which gives I 2  14.95 A
I1  0.607I 2 0.607 14.95  9.07 A

4 DC Step-up chopper operation

The dc chopper can also be used to step up a dc voltage. The circuit of a step-up chopper is given
in Figure 4.4. To obtain an average value of the output voltage greater than VS, a capacitor must
be connected in parallel with the load. When the switch S is turned on for time ton, the current
rises linearly in the inductor and energy is stored. When the switch is turned off for time toff, the
inductor voltage reverses and acts together with the input voltage to forward bias the diode. It
then transfers energy to the capacitor. When the switch is turned on again, the load current is
maintained by the capacitor, energy is stored in the inductor and the cycle starts again. Assuming
a continuous source current the waveform for the current in the inductor would be as shown in
Figure 4.5.

79
 Fig. 4.4 DC step-up chopper circuit

Fig. 4.5 Step-up chopper current waveform

During the chopper on-period, the voltage across the inductor is

di
v L  Vs  L s
dt
V
From this is  s t
L
V
Over the on-time of ton, the source current changes by I s  s t on
L
di
During the off-period vo  Vs  L s , and hence the average output voltage
dt
i I t  t   T 
Vo  Vs  L( s )  Vs  L s  Vs  on Vs  Vs 1  on   Vs 1  
t t off t off  t off   (1   )T 
which simplifies to
V
Vo  s (4.12)
1 

80
If the capacitor is sufficiently large, the output voltage will be continuous and vo will become the
average value V o . Equation (4.12) shows that the load voltage can be stepped up by varying the
duty cycle δ.

If losses are neglected and the capacitor very large, Vs I s  Vo I o or I s  (Vo Vs ) I o . Therefore,
from equation (4.12),
I
the average source current I s  o (4.13)
1
I
the maximum source current I s 2  I s  s (4.14)
2
I s
the minimum source current I s1  I s  (4.15)
2

Example 4
The step-up chopper shown in Figure 4.4 is to deliver 3A into a resistive load R of 10 ohms. The
source voltage is 12 V, L = 20 µH and the chopper frequency is 50 kHz. The capacitor is very
large. Determine (a) the on-time of the chopper (b) the average, minimum and maximum source
current.

Solution
(a) The average voltage Vo  RI o  10  3  30 V
From equation (4.12), 1    Vs Vo  12 30  0.4 . Therefore   0.6
(b) Period T  1 f  106 (5  104 )  20 μs
t on  T  0.6  20  12 μs
I s  (Vs L)t on  (12 20)  12  7.2 A
I s  I o (1   )  3 (1  0.6)  7.5 A
I 1  I s  (I s 2)  7.5 - 3.6  3.9 A
I 2  I s  (I s 2)  7.5  3.6  11.1 A

5 Transfer of power from a lower voltage source to a higher voltage

source

The step-up chopper can be used to transfer power from a lower voltage source to a higher
voltage source as shown in Figure 4.6. The voltage E and inductance L could be representing
a dc motor supplying power to the dc supply during braking. For continuous source current,
the current waveform would be similar to the waveform in Figure 4.5.

During the chopper on-period, the voltage across the inductor is

di
vL  E  L which gives the source current as
dt

81
 E
i (t )  t  I1 (4.16)
L

I1 is the initial current for the on-period.

di
During the off-period E  Vs  L
dt
For the system to be stable the current should fall. Thus
di
E  Vs  L  0 or E  Vs (4.17)
dt

The source current during off-period is given by

E  Vs
i(t )  t  I2 (4.18)
L

I2 is the initial current for the off-period

Fig. 4.6 Circuit to transfer power from a higher voltage source to a lower voltage

6 Switch-mode dc power supplies

Switch-mode mode dc power supplies use dc choppers to convert unregulated dc input into
regulated dc output. The regulation is achieved by pulse-width modulation and the switching
device is normally power BJT, MOSFET or IGBT. At the output of the dc chopper is a small
filter which is treated as an integral part of the chopper. The load is represented by an equivalent
resistance which is usually the case in switch mode dc power supplies. Two basic converter
topologies, namely step-down (buck) converter and step-up (boost) converter are discussed.
Other topologies like buck-boost and Cuk converters are combinations of the two basic
topologies.

6.1 Step-down (Buck) dc-to-dc converter

This converter provides an average output voltage lower than the dc input voltage. Where the
input voltage is ac, the converter is very often used with an isolation transformer. In such

82
converters, the ac input is first rectified and smoothed. The smoothed dc is then chopped at a
high frequency to feed the isolation transformer which is ferrite cored transformer, much smaller
than its 50 Hz counterpart. Figure 4.7a shows the circuit of non-isolated converter using a power
BJT as switch. It is like the step-down chopper in Figure 4.2 and it operates in the same manner
as that step-down chopper. Waveforms in the converter are shown in Figure 4.7b. They are
obtained under the assumption that the capacitance is very large thus causing the output
voltage vO (t ) to be equal to VO (the average output voltage). This assumption is very reasonable
because in switch mode dc power supplies, the percentage ripple in the output is usually less than
1 %.

Fig. 4.7a Buck converter circuit

Depending on the switching frequency, filter inductance and capacitance, the inductance current
may be continuous or discontinuous giving a mode of operation called the continuous conduction
mode (CCM) and discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) respectively. It is not common to mix
these two operating modes because they require different control algorithms. We consider only
the CCM.

When the transistor is turned on and off, the voltage across the diode will be as shown in Figure
di
4.7b. During the on-time the voltage across the inductor is given by Vs  Vo  L L , which gives
dt
V  Vo
inductor current i L (t )  s t  I 1 and inductor peak-to-peak current
L
V  Vo
I  s t on (4.19)
L
di
During the off-time the voltage across the inductor is given by  Vo  L L , which gives
dt
V
inductor current i L (t )   o t  I 2 and inductor peak-to-peak current
L

83
 Vo
I  t off (4.20)
L

From equations (4.19) and (4.20)

Vs  Vo ton  Vo toff , from which Vo  Vs t on t on t off  or
Vo  Vs (4.21)

Alternatively, the average output voltage may be derived by averaging the diode voltage and
using the fact that av(v D )  av(v L )  av(vo )  av(vo ) since the average inductor voltage in
steady state is zero or by finding the waveform for the inductor voltage and equating the area
under it over a period to zero since its average is zero.

Neglecting all losses in the converter, the input power = the output power. Thus
Vs I s  Vo I o , from which we obtain
I s  (Vo Vs ) I o  I o (4.22)

From the equation for the peak-to-peak inductor current,

V [1  (Vo Vs )] V  [1   ]
I  s T  s (4.23)
L fL

So far it has been assumed that the capacitor is so large that vo (t )  Vo . The ripple in the output
voltage can be calculated from the waveforms in Figure 4.7b. To obtain that we assume that the
load current I o , which is equal to the average inductor current because the average capacitor
current in steady state is zero, is constant. In this case, the capacitor current ic  i L  I o is ac
component of the inductor current. The waveform for iC is shown in Figure 4.7b. The peak-to-
peak capacitor voltage is given by the positive area under the iC waveform over a period divided
by the capacitance C. From the iC waveform
1 1 (t on  t off ) I 1 1 T I I
Vc          (4.24)
C 2 2 2 C 2 2 2 8 fC

Substituting in the value of I from (4.23) gives

V  [1   ] Vo [1   ]
Vc  s  (4.25)
8LCf 2 8LCf 2

84
 Fig. 4.7b Waveforms for buck converter

Example 5
The buck dc-to-dc converter has Vs = 12 V. Average output voltage required VO = 5 V. Peak-to-
peak output ripple voltage is 20 mV. The switching frequency is 25 kHz. The peak-to-peak
inductor current is to be limited to 0.8 A. Find (a) the duty cycle, (b) the filter inductance L and
(c) the filter capacitance C.

85
Solution
(a) From Vo  Vs ,   Vo Vs  5 12  0.42
5  5
12  1 
V  [1   ] V  [1   ] 12  12 
(b) From I  s , L s   146μH
fL If 0.8  25  103
I I 0 .8
(c) From Vc  ,C   200 μF
8 fC 8 fVc 8  25  103  20  10 3

On the verge of continuous inductor current il (0)  il (T )  0 and the average inductor current
1 V  [1   ]
I LB  I  s (4.26)
2 2 fL

With a given δ, Vs, f and L if the average load current = average inductor current becomes less
than ILB the inductor current becomes discontinuous. Maximum ILB occurs at   1 2 and it is
given by
V
I LB, MAX  s (4.27)
8 fL

In terms of the output voltage

V [1   ]
I LB  o (4.28)
2 fL

Thus the minimum load current for CCM

V [1   ]
Io  o , from which
2 fL

Vo [1   ] [1   ]R
Lmin   (4.29)
2 fI o 2f

From equation (4.25)

V [1   ] Vo [1   ]
C min  o  (4.30)
8Vc Lf 2 8Vr Lf 2

where Vr is the peak-to-peak output ripple voltage.

Equations (4.29) and (4.30) are the key design equations for the buck converter. The
specifications will consist of the input and output dc voltages (hence, the duty ratio δ) and the
range of load resistance R and the designer will be required to determine the values of L, C and f.

86
6.2 Step-up (Boost) dc-to-dc converter

The circuit diagram of the converter using power MOSFET is shown in Figure 4.8a. This is
similar to the converter in Figure 4.4 analyzed in section 4. The load is purely resistive and the
capacitance is assumed to be very large. When the transistor is turned on and off, the voltage
across the diode will be as shown in Figure 4.7b.

Fig. 4.8a Boost converter circuit

During the on-time the voltage across the inductor is given by

di V
Vs  L L , which gives inductor current i L (t )  s t  I1 and inductor peak-to-peak current
dt L

Vs
I  I 2  I 1  t on (4.31)
L

During the off-time the voltage across the inductor is given by

di V  Vo
Vs  Vo  L L , which gives inductor current i L (t )  s t  I 2 and inductor peak-to-peak
dt L
current

Vo  Vs
I  I 2  I 1  t off (4.32)
L

From equations (4.31) and (4.32)

Vs t on  Vo  Vs t off , from which Vo t off  Vs (t on  t off ) or Vo  Vs 1  (t on t off ) or

Vs
Vo  (4.32)
1 

87
Neglecting all losses in the converter, the input power, Vs I s  Vo I o , the output power. From this
equation and (4.32), the average source current is found to be
I
Is  o (4.33)
1

To obtain the expression for the output ripple voltage, the load current is assumed to be constant.
Thus when the switch is off ic  I o and when the switch is on, ic  i L  I o  i L  (1   ) I s . The
waveform for ic is shown in Figure 4.8b

The peak-to-peak capacitor voltage Vc is obtained by dividing the negative area under the
ic waveform by the capacitance C. Thus Vc  ( I o t on ) C or
I
V c  o (4.34)
fC

The output voltage is very sensitive to changes in the duty cycle δ and it may be difficult to
stabilize the output voltage. For stability reasons, the converter may have to be operated in the
DCM.

On the verge of continuous conduction the average source current which is equal to the average
inductor current is given by
1 V V T
I s   s t on  s
2 L 2L
or
V  (1   )
Is  o , from which we obtain
2 fL
Vo (1   ) 2
Io  (4.35)
2 fL

Like the buck converter we obtain the design equations from (4.34) and (4.35) as follows;
Vo
C min  (4.36)
fRVr

R (1   ) 2
Lmin  (4.37)
2f

The current supplied to the output RC circuit is discontinuous. Thus, a larger filter capacitor is
required as compared to that in the buck converter to limit the output ripple voltage. The filter
capacitor must provide the output dc current to the load when the diode D is off. The boost
converter does not have the popular isolated version.

88
 Fig. 4.8b Waveforms for boost converter

Example 5
The boost dc-to-dc converter has VS = 5 V. Average output voltage required Vo = 15 V. Average
load current is 0.5 A. The switching frequency is 25 kHz. L = 150 µH and C = 220 µF. Find (a)
the duty cycle, (b) the ripple current of inductor, (c) the peak current of inductor and (d) the
output ripple voltage.

89
Solution
Vs V 5 2
(a) From Vo  ,   1  s  1    0.67
1  Vo 15 3
V V 2 5
(b) From I  s t on , I  s    0.89 A
L fL 3 25  10  150  10 6
3

V I 15  0.5
(c) Average source current I s  o o   1.5 A
Vs 5
The peak current of inductor I 2  I s  (I 2)  1.5  0.89 2  1.945 A
I 2 0 .5
(d) The output ripple voltage Vc  o    60.61mV
fC 3 25  10  220  10 6
3

90
7 Further exercises

1. A dc step-down chopper in Figure 4.2 has a resistive load of R  10  and the input voltage
is Vs  220V . When the chopper switch remains on, its voltage drop is vch  2V and the
chopper frequency is f  1 kHz . If the duty cycle is 50%, sketch the following waveforms
over a period and use them to obtain their average values:
(a) the output voltage [2 marks]
(b) the output power [2 marks]
(c) the input power [2 marks]

2. A step-down chopper in Figure 4.2 feeds a load consisting of resistance R in series with
inductance L from a supply voltage Vs.
(a) Draw the basic circuit of the chopper. [2 marks]
(b) Name FOUR power semiconductor devices that can be used to implement the controlled
switch of the chopper [4 marks]
(c) For Vs =220 V, R = 5 Ω, L = 7.5 mH, chopper frequency f = 1 kHz and duty cycle δ = 0.5,
calculate
(i) the minimum and maximum instantaneous currents I1 and I2 from first principles.
[10 marks]
(ii) the average value of the load current Ia [2 marks]
(iii) the effective input resistance Ri seen by the source [2 marks]

3. A series chopper shown in Figure 4.2 is feeding an RL load from a source Vs.
(a) Prove the following:
  ( ON ) 
RT
Vs 1  e L 
(i) I max  [6 marks]
R (
RT
) 
 1  e L 
 RTON 
V  e L  1
(ii) I min  [6 marks]
R  RTL 
 e  1 
(iii) Vav  I av R [3 marks]
Where
Imax = maximum instantaneous load current.
Imin = minimum instantaneous load current.
Iav = average of load current.
Vav = average of load voltage.
(b) If R = 5 Ω, L= 7.5 mH, T = I ms and TON = 0.5 ms, calculate:
(i) Imax [4 marks]
(ii) Imin [4 marks]
(iii) the average load current [2 marks]
(iv) the average source current [2 marks]

91
4. The dc chopper shown in Figure 4.6 is used to control power flow from a dc voltage, Vs =110
V to a battery voltage, E = 220 V. The power transferred to the battery is 30 kW. The current
ripple of the inductor is negligible. Determine (a) the duty cycle, (b) the effective load
resistance Req and (c) the average input current.

5. For Problem 4, plot the instantaneous inductor current and current through the battery E if
inductor L has a finite value of L = 7.5 mH, f =250 Hz and δ = 0.5

6. A buck converter operates in the CCM with δ = 0.5. The switching frequency f is 100 kHz. R
= 10 ohms. Peak-to-peak output ripple voltage is 1 %, i.e., Vr\Vo is 0.01. Find (a) Lmin and (b)
Cmin with L = Lmin.
(Ans 25 µH, 25 µF)

7. A boost converter operates in the CCM with δ = 0.5. The switching frequency f is 100 kHz. R
= 10 ohms. Peak-to-peak output ripple voltage is 1 %, i.e., Vr\Vo is 0.01. Find (a) Lmin and (b)
Cmin
(Ans 6.25 µH, 50 µF)

92
 CHAPTER FIVE

DC-TO-AC CONVERTERS

1 Introduction

DC-to-dc converters are known also as inverters. They convert dc power into ac power at a
desired output voltage or current and frequency. The ac voltage may be fixed or variable at a
fixed or variable frequency. The variable ac voltage may be obtained by varying the dc input
voltage and keeping dc to ac ratio constant or by fixing the dc voltage and using the inverter to
vary the dc to ac ratio. An inverter is called a voltage–fed inverter (VFI) or voltage-source
inverter (VSI) if the dc input voltage is essentially constant and current-fed inverter (CFI) or
current-source inverter (CSI) if the dc input current is essentially constant( i.e., the input is a dc
current source). A voltage–fed inverter specifies the load voltage while the shape of the current
drawn is determined by the load.

Inverters use controlled turn-on and turn-off devices such as power BJTs, MOSFETs, IGBTs and
GTOs or forced-commutated SCRs. The choice of switching device is determined by availability
of required rating and ease of turning on and off the device. The SCRs are used in very high
power inverters because commutation circuits are required to turn them off.

Inverters are used in variable–speed ac motor drives, induction heating, standby power supplies
and uninterruptible power supplies. The CSIs are now used only for very high power ac motor
drives.

In this chapter we discuss square-wave and sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) single-
phase and three-phase voltage-fed inverters and single-phase inverter with output control by
voltage cancellation. After going through this chapter, the student will know the topologies of
static inverters, expressions for calculating their performance and assessing their quality and the
design considerations for SPWM inverters.

2 Performance parameters

The output of inverters contains harmonics and the quality of an inverter is usually evaluated in
terms of the following performance parameters:

(a) The harmonic factor for individual harmonic component n:

V 
HFn   n  (5.1)
 V1 

93
 where Vn  rms value of the nth harmonic component and V1  rms value of the fundamental
component

(b) Total harmonic distortion:

1
1   2
THD   Vn2  (5.2)
V1 n  2,3,.. 

(c) The distortion factor for individual harmonic n

V 
DFn   n  (5.3)
 nV1 

3 Single-phase voltage source inverters

Single-phase VSIs are used in low power applications. They are widely used in power supplies
and single-phase UPSs. There are two basic topologies: the half-bridge and the full-bridge
inverters

3.1 Square-wave single-phase half-bridge inverter

Figure 5.1 shows the circuit diagram or topology of a half-bridge VSI. In this circuit two equal
capacitors, sufficiently large, provide a neutral point N with a voltage VS 2 across each capacitor.
Regardless of the switch states, the load current divides equally between the capacitors. The
controlled switch may be any of the devices stated above. For a lagging power factor load,
commutation circuits are needed for SCRs.

The two transistors are not to be on at the same time; otherwise the dc voltage will be short-
circuited through the switches. For a square wave output each transistor is turned on for half a
period T 2 of the output voltage cycle. Figure 5.2 shows the waveforms for the output
voltage v L (t ) , the output current i L (t ) and the conduction intervals of devices for an inductive
load. The load current in an inductive load cannot change suddenly. Therefore, referring to
Figures 5.1 and 5.2, when Q1 turns off, the load current continues to flow through D2 and the
capacitors thus clamping the load voltage to  VS 2 . When diode D1 or D2 conducts, energy is
fed back to the dc source so these diodes are called feedback diodes.

94
 Fig. 5.1 Single-phase half bridge inverter circuit

(a) Output Voltage

(i) The instantaneous voltage is a square wave and it can be defined as
v L  VS 2 for 0  t  T 2 and v L   VS 2 forT 2  t  T
(ii) Fourier series components: Fourier series components: With odd symmetrical waveform,
there are only sine terms and if the negative half-cycle is a mirror reflection of the
positive half-cycle then there are only odd sine terms. The coefficients of the odd sine
terms are obtained as follows:

2VS 
sin nt d (t )  S cos nt   S 1  cos n 
2 V V
bn   v L (t ) sin nt d (t )  
0

 0 2 0 n n
2VS
 , n  1, 3, 5,...
n
2VS  sin nt
v L t    (5.4)
 n 1,3,5,.. n

(iii) The rms output voltage is VL  VS 2 (5.5)

2VS 2VS
(iv) The rms value of the fundamental component is V1    0.45 VS (5.6)
2 
(b) Output current
In the first half-cycle (1st 1800) when Q1 is turned on
V di
v L  s  L L  Ri L (5.7)
2 dt

When Q2 is turned on the load voltage reverses

V di
v L   s  L L  Ri L (5.8)
2 dt

Under steady-state load condition, the equations (5.7) and (5.8) are solved with initial
conditions I0 and I1 respectively and with I 1   I 0 . The currents Io and I1 are indicated on the
load current waveform in Figure 5.2. The solution of equation (5.7) is given by

95
 Fig. 5.2 Waveforms in single-phase half bridge with RL load

VS  VS   Lt
R
iL    I 0 e 0  t  T 2 where I 0  0 (5.9)
2R  2R 

and equation (5.8) by

96
 VS  VS   t
R
iL     I `1 e L 0  t  T 2 where I1  0, (5.10)
2R  2R 

A new time axis has been used for equation (5.10) starting at t  T 2 . We note that iL given
by equation (5.10) is equal to the negative of iL given by equation (5.9).

The initial steady-state current I1 can be found from equation (5.9) using these conditions:
(i) I 1   I 0
 
TR

VS  VS 
TR
VS 1  e 2 L 

(ii) At t  T 2 iL  I1 that is I 1    I `1 e from which I 1 
2L
 TR 
2R  2R  2R  
2L 
1 e 
(iii) The zero current cross-over point in the first half cycle can be found by solving equation
(5.9) for t when iL  0 which yields
L  I0R 
tx  In1   (5.11)
R  Vs 

(iv) The instantaneous load current expressed as a Fourier series is

2V  sinnt   n   n L 
i L t   S  where  n  tan 1   (5.12)
 n 1,3,5 n R 2  nL 2  R 

(c) The steady-state average power to the load is given by

2V T
PL   2 VS i L t dt  S  2 i L t dt
2 T
(5.13)
T 0 T 0

Example 1
A single-phase half-bridge inverter is fed by 40-V battery. The load is purely inductive load L =
200 mH. The inverter frequency is 100 Hz. Determine (a) the maximum load current and (b) the
load current at t = 3 ms. Assume that at t = 0 the transient has disappeared.

Solution
(a) Period T  1 f  1000 100  10 ms
di 1
For the first half-cycle 20  200 L . Therefore i L (t )  t  I o where t is in ms.
dt 10
At t  T 2  5 ms , i L   I O .
1 1 1
Hence  I o   5  I o or  I o   I o and I o    0.25 A
10 2 4

Therefore the maximum current = 250 mA.

97
 1
(b) The instantaneous load current is given by i L (t )  t  0.25 . Therefore at t = 3 ms,
10
1
i L (t )   3  0.25  0.05 A  50 mA
10

Example 2
The half-bridge inverter has a load resistance of 10 ohms and an inductance of 100 mH. The
supply voltage is 40 V. The inverter frequency is 100 Hz. Determine (a) the value of Io, and (b)
i L (t ) 3 ms after Ql switches, and (c) i L (t ) 4 ms after Q2 switches.

Solution
(a) Period T  1 f  1000 100  10 ms
R 10
VS  t 20  t
For the first half-cycle i L   Ae L   Ae 100  2  Ae 0.1t where t is in ms
2R 10
At t = 0 I o  2  A and at t  T 2  10 2  5 ms  I o  2  Ae 0.15 or  I o  2  0.6065A
Solving the two equations simultaneously, we obtain A = -2.49 amps and Io = -0.49 amps.
(b) For the first half-cycle, i L  2  2.49e 0.1t . Hence at t = 3 ms, i L  2  2.49e 0.13  0.155 A
(c) For the second half-cycle, i L  2  2.49e 0.1t  2  2.49e 0.14  0.331A

3.2 Single-phase square-wave bridge inverter

The circuit diagram of a single-phase bridge inverter is shown in Figure 5.3. For a square-wave
output, both Q1 and Q3 are on for the first half cycle of the output voltage and both Q2 and Q4
are on for the second half cycle. With inductive loads, stored energy at turn-off is fed through the
diodes D1 to D4. Waveforms for voltages and currents in the circuit are shown in Figure 5.4. The
voltage, current and power equations for this converter are obtained from equation (5.7) to (5.13)
by replacing V S in the equations by 2VS .

For the same dc input voltage, the peak forward blocking voltage of the transistor and the quality
of the output voltage are the same for the two single-phase inverters. However, for the full-
bridge, the output power is four times higher and the fundamental component of the output
voltage is two times higher.

98
 Fig. 5.3 Single-phase bridge inverter circuit

Example 3
The single-phase bridge inverter shown in Figure 5.3 has a resistive load of R = 2.4 ohms and the
dc voltage is V S = 48 V. Determine (a) the rms value of the fundamental component of the
output voltage (b) the output power PL (c) the average and peak current of each transistor (d) the
peak forward blocking voltage of each transistor (e) THD (f) DF and (g) HF of the lowest-order
harmonics.

Solution
(a) V1  0.90VS  0.90  48  43.32V
 
(b) Output power PL  avvL iL   av vL2 R  VL2 R  VS2 R  482 2.4  960 W
(c) Peak transistor current  VS R  48 2.4  20 A
area under current curve per cycle T 1 Vs 48
Average transistor current       10 A
period 2 T R 2  2 .4
(d) Peak forward blocking voltage VBF  VS  48 V
1 1
1   2 1   2
(e) THD   Vn2   .Vh where Vh   Vn2 
V1 n 3,5,7  V1  n  3, 5 , 7 

2 2
V V 2   VS 
But V  V  V or h   L   1 
h
2
1
2
L
2
   1  0.483. Hence THD  48.43%
V1  V1   0.9VS 

V3  V1  1 1
(f) The lowest-order harmonics is the third DF3      0.1111  11.11%
3V1  3  3V1 9
V3  V1  1 1
(g) HF3       0.3333  33.33%
V1  3  V1 3

99
Fig. 5.4 Waveforms in single-phase bridge with RL load

100
Example 4
Single-phase inverter supplies a 10-ohm resistance with inductance 50 mH from a 340-V dc
source. If the bridge is operates at 50 Hz with a square-wave output, the instantaneous load
current is found to be iL  34  34  25.9exp(200t ) for the first half cycle. Determine (a) the
power delivered to the load (b) the average and peak current in transistors (c) the average and
peak current in diodes (d) the peak blocking voltage of each semiconductor type (e) the harmonic
factor and distortion factor of the lowest order harmonic and (f) the total harmonic distortion.

Solution
(a) The mean power delivered to the load, integrating over half a period, is given by
0.01
340  34  59.9 exp 200t dt  2755 W
1
0.01 0
PL 

(b) The peak current in the switch is I 1   I o  25.9 A

The zero current cross-over point tx in the first half cycle is obtained by equating the current to zero:
0  34  34  25.9 exp( 200t x ) from which exp 200t x  (34  25.9) 34  1.7118 and
t x  2.83 ms .

The average switch current is then obtained as follows:

 
10 ms
1
IT   34  59.9e  200t dt  5.71 A
20 ms 2.83 ms

(c) The peak diode current is 25.9 A

The average diode is

 
2.83 ms
1
20 ms 0
ID  34  59.9e  200t dt  1.58 A

(d) The maximum blocking voltage of each device is 340 V dc.

(e) From equation (5.1), with the third as the lowest harmonic
HF3  V3 V1  1 3  33 13 %

DF3  V3 3V1  1 9  11.11%

(f) The total harmonic distortion factor

2 2
 V L2   VS 
THD     1     1  0.483  48.43%
 V1   0.9VS 

101
4 Three-phase square-wave voltage source inverters

The three-phase VSIs are used in the medium- to high-power applications. The standard three-
phase VSI circuit is shown in Figure 5.5. Each of the three legs operates at a relative
displacement of 120o. Two types of control signals are used and these give rise two conduction
patterns: 120o conduction and 180o conduction.

Fig. 5.5 Three-phase voltage-source inverter

circuit
4.1 180o conduction

Each switch conducts for 180o, such that no two switches in an inverter leg conduct
simultaneously. For the 180o, at any instant three switches conduct which results in quasi-square
output voltage waveforms. The gating signals for the switches and the circuit voltage waveforms
are shown in Figure 5.6. There is a shift of 60o between a gating signal and the next gating
signal, and the switches are turned on and then after 180o turned off in the sequence Q1 to Q6.

The circuit operates in six modes per cycle and each mode lasts for 60o. From Figure 5.6, the
sequence of conducting switches for the six modes is 561, 612, 123, 234, 345 and 456. The line-
to-line and line-to-neutral output voltage waveforms can be derived by analyzing the circuit with
a resistive star load and considering each mode of operation. We may also obtain the waveform
for the line-to-line voltage v ab and obtain the waveforms for vbc and vca by shifting it to the
right by 120 and 240o respectively. The three waveforms are then use to obtain the waveforms
for the line-to-neutral voltages. To find the waveforms for line voltages, it is not necessary to
analyze the circuit with a particular load.

102
Referring to the circuit in Figure 5.5, for the mode 1 or 561 mode v ab  VS , for mode 2 or 612
mode vab  VS , for mode 3 or 123 mode v ab  0 , for mode 4 or 234 mode v ab  VS , for mode 5
or 345 mode v ab  VS and for mode 6 or 456 mode v ab  0 . The line-to-neutral voltages are
obtained using these equations: v an  (vab  vca ) 3 , vbn  (vbc  v ab ) 3 and vcn  (vca  vbc ) 3 .

To obtain the Fourier series components of the line voltages, we note that the waveform is
symmetrical (the waveform will have an odd symmetry if it is displaced along the ωt axis by 60o)
and that the negative half-cycle is a mirror reflection of the positive half-cycle. Hence there are
only odd sine terms. [If a waveform has odd symmetry which means f(t) = -f(t) or for equal time
shift to the left or right from the origin, the function remains the same except for reversal in sign,
then the function contains only sine terms and if a waveform has half-symmetry or mirror
symmetry which means f(t) = -f(t + or – T/2) or the function remains the same if it is shifted to
the left or right by half a period and then flipped over, then the function contains only odd
harmonics]. To obtain the coefficients of these sine terms for the line voltage v ab , we consider a
similar waveform which lags behind it by  6 or 30o. The coefficients will be given by

 

2 2VS 6
2VS  cos nt  6
bn 
 v
0
ab (t ) sin nt d (t ) 
 
 sin nt d (t ) 
  n    
6 6

2VS  n    4VS n

n cos 6  cos n   6   n cos 6
  

The line voltage v ab which leads the voltage considered by  6 is then given by

4VS n  
vab t    cos sin n t   (5.14)
n 1, 3, 5,.. n 6  6

The line voltages vbc and vca can be obtained from (5.14) by phase shifting v ab by 120 and 240o
respectively:

4VS n  
vbc t    cos sin n t   (5.15)
n 1, 3, 5,.. n 6  2


4VS n  7 
vca t    cos sin n t   (5.16)
n 1, 3, 5,.. n 6  6 

For all odd harmonics which are odd multiples of 3, i.e., n  3k where k is odd
n 3k k
cos  cos  cos 0
6 6 2

Therefore there are no triplen harmonics. The output consists of harmonics given by the series
n  6k  1 where k is an integer and k  0 .

103
 Fig. 5.6 180o conduction voltage and current waveforms
voltage-source inverter circuit

The rms fundamental line voltage is

4VS 
V L1  cos  0.7797V S (5.17)
2 6

From the waveform for v ab shown in Figure 5.6, the rms line-to-line voltage can be obtained as
follows:

104
 2
area under v ab over a period VS2  120o  2 2
VL    VS  0.8165VS (5.18)
period 360o 3

VL 2VS
The rms line-to-neutral voltage is V p    0.4714VS (5.16)
3 3

For a star-connected load, the phase voltage is van  vab 3 with a delay of 30o. Therefore using
equation (5.14), the line a current for an RL load is given by

4VS n
ia t    cos sinnt   n  (5.17)
n 1, 3, 5,.. 3n R 2  nL  6
2

n L
where tan  n  (5.18)
R

4.2 120o conduction

For this type of conduction, each switch conducts for 120o. At any instant only two switches
conduct and the resulting output voltage waveforms are quasi-square wave. The gating signals
for the switches and the circuit voltage waveforms are shown in Figure 5.7. Here also, there is a
shift of 60o between a gating signal and the next gating signal, and the switches are turned on and
then after 120o turned off in the sequence Q1 to Q6. In this method of control, a 60o dead time
exists between two series switches in a leg. This provides a safety margin against simultaneous
conduction of the two switches connected across the dc voltage source.

The circuit operates in six modes per cycle and each mode lasts for 60o. From Figure 5.7, the
sequence of conducting switches for the six modes is 61, 12, 23, 34, 45 and 56. The line-to-
neutral output voltage waveforms can be derived by analyzing the circuit with a resistive star
load and considering each mode of operation. We may also use the star-connected resistors to
obtain only the phase v an waveform and obtain vbn and vcn waveforms by shifting it to the right
by 120 and 240o respectively. If the circuit is analyzed, it is observed that v an  VS 2 when Q1 is
conducting, v an   VS 2 when Q4 is conducting and v an  0 when none of the two is
conducting. The line voltages are obtained using these equations: v ab  v an  vbn ,
vbc  vbn  vcn and vca  vcn  v an .

The line-to-neutral voltages have the same shape as the line-to-line voltages for the 180o
conduction. The Fourier series of these line-to-neutral voltages can be derived from equation
(5.14) to equation (5.16) by replacing V S by VS 2 :

105
 
2VS n  
van t    cos sin n t   (5.19)
n 1, 3, 5,.. n 6  6


2VS n  
vbn t    cos sin n t   (5.20)
n 1, 3, 5,.. n 6  2


2VS n  7 
vcn t    cos sin n t   (5.21)
n 1, 3, 5,.. n 6  6 

Fig. 5.7 120o conduction voltage and current waveforms

voltage-source inverter circuit

106
 5 Inverter output voltage and frequency control

It is often required that the output voltage of an inverter is varied in order to regulate the voltage
of the inverter in power supplies or the output voltage and/or frequency be varied as in adjustable
or variable speed drives. The voltage source inverters can be classified into three general groups:

(a) Pulse-width-modulated inverters: The input dc voltage is constant and the inverter switches
are pulse-width modulated to control the magnitude and the frequency of the ac output
voltage. There are a number of pulse-width-modulation techniques. Among them is the
sinusoidal pulse-width modulation, known by its abbreviation SPWM, which is commonly
used in industrial applications.
(b) Square-wave inverters: For the square-wave inverters, the rms output voltage is controlled by
varying the dc source voltage and the frequency controlled with the inverter. A variable dc
voltage can be achieved with a dc chopper or controlled rectifier. A suitable link LC filter is
usually necessary.
(c) Single-phase inverters with voltage cancellation: The input dc voltage is constant and the
inverter controls both the magnitude and frequency with a technique that cannot be
considered as PWM. It works only on single-phase full-bridge inverters.

In this section, we discuss the voltage cancellation technique and the SPWM as applied to both
single-phase and three-phase inverters.

In the pulse-width-modulated switching scheme, the gating signals are generated by comparing a
control signal at the desired frequency with a triangular waveform. The frequency of the
triangular waveform establishes the inverter switching frequency. Let

f c  frequency of the control signal also known as modulating signal vc

v̂ c  amplitude of control signal
f   frequency of the triangular signal v  also known as carrier signal
v̂  amplitude of the triangular signal

Then amplitude modulation ratio ( m a ) and frequency modulation ratio ( m f ) are defined as
follows:
vˆ
ma  c (5.22)
vˆ

f
mf  (5.23)
fc

The peak of the triangular signal is generally kept constant.

107
5.1 Output control by voltage cancellation

This is the same as the single-pulse-width modulation. There is only one pulse per half-cycle and
the width of the pulse is varied to control the inverter output voltage. Referring to Figure 5.8, the
switches in the two inverter legs are controlled separately. We note that for each leg when a
positive switch is on then the negative switch is off, and when the positive switch is off the
negative switch is on. Again at any given instant one switch must be on. All switches have a duty
cycle of 0.5, similar to a square wave control.

This method is known as output control by voltage cancellation because its implementation is
easily achieved by using two phase-shifted square-wave switching signals as shown in Figure
5.9. The width of the pulse is controlled by controlling the overlap angle 2 1 . During the overlap
interval the output voltage is zero because either both top switches are on or both bottom
switches are on.

Fig. 5.8 Single-phase bridge VSI

The Fourier series of the output voltage shown in Figure 5.9c has only odd sine terms. The
coefficients are given by
 1 
2vi 2vi  cos nt  1
bn 
 
1
sin nt d (t ) 
  n   


2vi
cos n1  cos n  1   4vi cos n1
n n
The output voltage vO (t ) is then given by

108
 
4vi
vO t    cos n 1 sin nt (5.24)
n 1, 3, 5,.. n

The rms output voltage VL v i 1  (2 1  ) (5.25a)

2 2v i
and the rms of the fundamental component is V1  cos 1 (5.25b)


As  1 increases (beyond 30o), the magnitude of the harmonics, particularly the third becomes
significant as compared with the fundamental magnitude.

Fig. 5.9 Waveforms

5.2 Sinusoidal for output
pulse width control by voltage cancellation (a) switch S1+ state
modulation
(b) switch S2+ state (c) ac output voltage

109
5.2.1 Single-phase half-bridge VSI

Figure 5.10 shows the single-phase half-bridge used for the discussion in this section. At any
instant one of the switches should be on but not both. Referring to the figure, the PWM
technique is used to define the on and off states of the switches by comparing a control signal vc
and a triangular waveform v  . In practice, when vc > v  the positive switch S+ is on and the
negative switch S- is off. Similarly, when vc < v  the positive switch S+ is off and the negative
switch S- is on. We have
v ao  vi 2 (5.26a)

when the positive switch S  is on and

vao   vi 2 (5.26b)

when the negative switch S  is on.

Since the two switches are never off simultaneously, the output voltage v ao toggles between these
two values.

For sinusoidal pulse-width modulation the gating signals are generated by comparing a
sinusoidal reference signal with a triangular carrier wave as shown in Figures 5.11a, b and c. The
resulting output voltage is shown in Figure 5.11d. The SPWM is used with the aim of producing
sinusoidal output waveform with magnitude and frequency controllable.

Fig. 5.10 Single-phase half-bridge VSI

110
 Fig. 5.11 Waveforms for half-bridge VSI (a) carrier and modulating signals
(b) switch S1+ state (c) switch S- state (c) ac output voltage

The study of the output voltage reveals the following:

(a) The amplitude of the fundamental component of the ac output voltage vˆo1 satisfies the
following equation:

111
 vi
vˆo1  ma for ma  1.0 (5.27)
2
Therefore the range ma  1.0 is referred to as the linear range.

(b) For odd values of the normalized carrier frequency m f the normalized harmonics in the ac
output voltage are h  lm f  k l  1, 2, 3, ...... (5.28)
where k  2, 4, 6,...... for l  1, 3, 5,.......
and k  1, 3, 5,...... for l  2, 4, 6,.......
(c) The harmonic mf should be an odd number. This results in only odd sine terms
(d) The amplitude of the ac output voltage harmonics is a function of the modulation index
m a and is independent of normalized carrier frequency m f for m f  9 ( which is always the
case , except in very high power ratings)
(e) For small values of m f ( m f  21 ) the carrier signal and the control signal should be
synchronized to each other ( m f should be an integer), if this is not the case, subharmonics
will be present in the ac output voltage
(f) For large m f ( m f  21 ), the subharmonics are negligible if an asynchronous PWM technique
is used, however the very low-order subharmonics can still produce undesirable effects and
its use should be avoided
(g) In the overmodulation region ( ma > 1) low-order harmonics are generated but a higher
fundamental ac output voltage is obtained. However in this range vˆo1 does not vary linearly
with ma .

High carrier frequency makes filtering of harmonic voltages easy but causes high switching
losses (losses are proportional to the frequency). In most applications fc is less than 6 kHz or fc
greater than 20 kHz to be above the audible range.

5.2.2 Single-phase full bridge VSI

The modulation techniques include PWM with bipolar switching and PWM with unipolar
voltage switching.

5.2.2.1 PWM with bipolar voltage switching

The diagonally opposite switches are switched together. With this type of PWM switching, the
ac output voltage waveform is identical to that of the half-bridge. It should be noted that the
switch state of S1+ and S2 in the full-bridge corresponds to the state of S+ in the half- bridge.
Similarly, the state of S1- and S2+ corresponds to the state of S- Identical conclusions can be
drawn for the frequencies and amplitudes of the harmonics in the ac output voltage, and for
operations at smaller and larger values of odd m f . This type of switching is called PWM with
bipolar voltage switching because the output voltage switches between  vi and  vi .

112
5.2.2.2 PWM with unipolar voltage switching

Here, the legs 1 and 2 are controlled separately by comparing v  with vc and  v c , respectively.
The comparison of vc with the triangular waveform results in the following logic signals to
control the switches in leg 1: vc  v  S1+ on and vc  v  S1- on

For controlling the leg 2 switches,  v c is compared with the same triangular waveform, which
gives the following:  vc  v S2+ on and  vc  v S2- on

From the waveforms shown in Figure 5.12, it is observed that there are four combinations of
switch on states and the corresponding voltage levels are:
 S1+ on, S2- on: van  vi ; vbn  0; vo  van  vbn  vi
 S1- on, S2+ on: v an  0; vbn  vi ; vo  vi
 S1+ on, S2+ on: v an  vi ; vbn  vi ; vo  0
 S1- on, S2- on: van  0; vbn  0; vo  0

These give three voltage levels,  vi , 0,  vi . In this type of PWM scheme, when switching
occurs, the output voltage changes between zero and  vi or between zero and  vi . It is for this
reason that this scheme is called PWM with a unipolar voltage switching. This scheme has the
advantage of producing the effect of double switching frequency as far as the output harmonics
are concerned. Also, the voltage jumps in the output voltage at each switching reduce to v i as
compared to 2vi in the previous scheme. Identical conclusions can be drawn for the amplitude of
the fundamental component and harmonics in the ac output voltage, and for operations at smaller
and larger values of m f .

113
Fig. 5.12 Waveforms for full-bridge VSI for the unipolar SPWM(a) carrier and
modulating signals (b) switch S1+ state (c) switch S2+ state (c) ac output voltage

114
5.2.3 Three-Phase Inverters

It is similar to the SPWM for single-phase VSIs. The SPWM is discussed with reference to
Figure 5.13. To produce balanced three-phase output voltages, the same triangular voltage
waveform is compared with three sinusoidal control voltages that are 120o out of phase as shown
in Figure 5.14a. Figure 5.14 shows all the waveforms of the three-phase VSI SPWM. The
frequency ratio m f should be an odd multiple of 3. This would give identical phase voltages vaN,
vbN and vcN 120o out of phase without even harmonics. Again, harmonics at frequencies which
are multiples of 3 would be identical in amplitude and phase in all phases. As a result they are
eliminated from the line-to-line voltages. Choosing m f to be odd eliminates even harmonics and
choosing m f as a multiple of 3 eliminates the triplen harmonics in the line voltages.

Fig. 5.13 Three-phase VSI circuit

The PWM considerations are summarized as follows:

(a) For low values of m f , to eliminate the even harmonics, a synchronized PWM should be used
and m f should be an odd integer. Moreover, m f should be a multiple of 3 to cancel out the
most dominant harmonics in the line-to-line voltage.
(b) For large value of m f ( m f > 21), the comments made for single-phase half-bridge still apply.
(c) During overmodulation ( ma  1 ), regardless of the value of m f , the conditions pertinent to
small m f should be observed.

In the linear region ( m a  1), the value of the fundamental frequency component in one of the
inverter leg is
v
VˆAN 1  ma i
2

Therefore, the line-to-line rms voltage at the fundamental frequency can be written as
3VˆAN 1 3vi
VL1   ma  0.612ma vi
2 2 2

115
To further increase the amplitude of the load voltage, the amplitude of the modulating signal
v̂c can be made higher than the amplitude of the carrier signal v̂  , which leads to overmodulation.
The relationship between the amplitude of the fundamental ac output line voltage and the dc link
voltage then becomes nonlinear.

Fig. 5.14 Waveforms for three-phase VSI (a) carrier and control signals (b)
switch S1 state (c) switch S3 state (c) ac line-to-line output voltage

116
 6 Further exercises

1. (a) Draw the basic circuit of a single-phase voltage-fed SCR bridge inverter. [3 marks]
(b) A single-phase voltage-fed SCR inverter has an inductive load of L = 3.5 mH and the dc
input voltage is Vs = 48 V. The inverter operates at 50 Hz with a square-wave output.
(i) Obtain expressions for the load steady-state current for one full cycle. [6 marks]
(ii) Sketch the load current and voltage waveforms and show on the current waveform,
the devices which are active during the various periods of the load cycle.
[5 marks]
(iii) Find the output power. [3 marks]
(iv) Find the average and peak current of each SCR [4 marks]
(v) the peak forward blocking voltage of each SCR [1 mark]
(vi) the total harmonic distortion (THD) [3 marks]

2. A single-phase voltage-fed full-bridge inverter has a resistive load of R = 2.4 ohms and the
dc input voltage is Vs = 48 V. Determine
(a) the rms value of the fundamental component of the output voltage [2 marks]
(b) the output power [2 marks]
(c) the average and peak current of each controlled switch [5 marks]
(d) the peak forward blocking voltage of each controlled switch [2 marks]
(e) the total harmonic distortion (THD) [4 marks]

3. The three-phase inverter in Figure 5.5 has a star-connected load consisting of R = 5 ohms and
L = 23 mH. The inverter frequency f = 60 Hz and the dc input voltage is VS =220 V.
(a) Express the instantaneous line-to-line voltage v ab (t ) and the line current ia (t ) in Fourier
series
(b) Find the rms line voltage
(c) Find the rms phase voltage
(d) Find the total harmonic distortion

4. A three-phase voltage-fed inverter bridge in Fig. 5.5 supplies power to a balanced star-
connected resistive load. For 120o conduction pattern, use the answer sheet provided to
sketch the following:
(a) the device conduction pattern [3 marks]
(b) the line-to-neutral load voltages v RN , vYN and v BN [6 marks]
(c) the line-to-line load voltages v RY , vYB and v BR [6 marks]

117
 CHAPTER SIX

THYRISTOR COMMUTATION CIRCUITS

1 Introduction

If the source voltage is ac, thyristor current goes through a natural zero, and a reverse voltage
appears across the thyristor. Thus the thyristor is automatically turned off. This turn off is known
as natural or line commutation. Where the source voltage is dc, the thyristor current has to be
forced to zero by an auxiliary circuit called commutation circuit. This technique of turning off
the thyristor is called forced commutation. It is normally applied in dc-dc converters (choppers)
and dc-ac converters (inverters)

With availability of high-speed power semiconductor switching devices such as power BJTs,
MOSFETs, GTOs and IGBTs, the forced-commutated thyristor is no longer being used in new
converter designs except for high-voltage and high- current power converters in multi-MW
ratings.

In this chapter we analyze some of the commutation circuits developed to turn off thyristors.

2 Commutation techniques

The commutation techniques developed to turn off thyristors include the following:

2.1 Self-commutation

The thyristor is turned off due to natural characteristics of the circuit. Consider the circuit shown
in Figure 6.1.

Figure 6.1 Self-commutation circuit

118
Let vC 0    V0 and ic 0    I 0 where t  0  means just before t  0 .
At t  0, when the thyristor is switched on, we have
dic d 2 vC
Vs  L  vC  LC  vC (6.1)
dt dt 2

The solution of the equation (6.1) is in the form

vc t   Vs  A cos 0 t  B sin  0 t (6.2)
dvC
ic t   C  0 C sin 0 t  C0 B cos0 t
dt (6.3)

where
1
o  (6.4)
LC

The angular frequency  o is called resonant frequency. The circuit being inductive the current in
it cannot change suddenly. Therefore
ic 0    ic 0    I 0  C o B  B  0  I 0 Z 0 where
I
o C
L
Zo    (6.5)
C 

The voltage across capacitor cannot change suddenly. Therefore

   
vc 0   vc 0   V0  Vs  A  A  V0  VS

Thus
vc t   Vs  V0  Vs coso t  I o Z 0 sin 0 t (6.6a)

vc t   Vs 1  coso t   V0 coso t  I o Z 0 sin 0t (6.6b)

and
ic t   C 0 Vs  V0 sin  0 t  C 0 I o Z 0 sin  0 t (6.7a)

Vs  V0
ic t   sin  0 t  I o cos 0 t (6.7b)
Z0

Let us consider the following cases:

119
Case I: I 0  0 and V0  0

The equations (6.6) and (6.7) reduce to

vc t   Vs 1  cos o t  (6.8)

Vs
ic t   sin  0 t (6.9)
Z0


After time t  t o    LC , ic  0, v c  2V s and the thyristor turns off. The voltage across
0
the thyristor after it has turned off is VT  Vs  vc  Vs  2Vs  Vs which reverse-biases the
thyristor.

Exercise 1: Sketch the waveforms of vc t  and ic t 

Case II: I 0  0, V0  Vˆ0 and Vs  0 where Vˆ0  0

vc t   Vˆ0 coso t (6.10)

Vˆ0
ic t   sin  0 t (6.11)
Z0

Like the previous case, the thyristor turns off at t  t o    LC when , ic  0 .
0

Exercise 2: Sketch the waveforms of vc t  and ic t 

Case III: V0  VS and I 0  I m

vc t   Vs  I o Z 0 sin 0t (6.12)

ic t   I m cos0t (6.13)


At t  t o  LC the commutation period ends and the capacitor voltage becomes
2
vc  VS  V (6.14a)

where
L
V  I m Z 0  I m (6.14b)
C

120
The energy stored in inductor L due to the load current Im is transferred to the capacitor causing it
to overcharge:

Exercise 3: Sketch the waveforms of vc t  and ic t 

2.2 Impulse commutation (voltage commutation)

The circuit is shown in Figure 6.2. In this commutation method, a reverse-biased voltage is
suddenly applied to the thyristor while it is conducting to turn it off. For this reason this type of
commutation is also referred to as voltage commutation. The thyristor turns off soon after the
application of the reverse-biased voltage.We start the analysis at t  o where just before t  o T1
is conducting, and ic  0 , vc  V0 and iT  I m .

The main thyristor T1 is turned off by switching on auxiliary thyristor T2 which is forward-biased
by vc . As soon as T2 turns on the capacitor voltage reverse-biases T1 to immediately turn it off.
The commutation can be divided into several modes. The circuit condition before T2 is turned on
is shown in Figure 6.3a.

Figure 6.2 Impulse commutation circuit

Figure 6.3a Circuit condition before T2 is turned on

121
When auxiliary thyristor T2 is triggered, the main thyristor T1 is reversed-biased by the capacitor
voltage, and T1 is turned off. The circuit condition just immediately after T2 is turned on is
shown in Figure 6.3b. The equations describing the circuit condition are

ic  I m (6.15a)

Im
vc  t  Vo (6.15b)
C

iT  0 (6.15c)

vT  vc (6.15d)

The capacitor discharges from  Vo to 0 in the time t = toff during which the main thyristor is
reverse-biased and then charges to the dc input voltage VS when the capacitor current falls to
zero and thyristor T2 turns off. The time t off  (V0C) I m is called the circuit turn-off time. It
must be greater than the turn-off time of the main thyristor tq. It is observed that the circuit turn-
off is inversely proportional to the load current I m .

Figure 6.3b Circuit condition just after T2 is turned on

The voltage across the diode Dm v ak which until this time has been negative becomes zero. The
diode takes the load current when T2 turns off. The circuit condition immediately after T2 turns
off is shown in Figure 6.3c. In this condition the main thyristor T1 is forward-biased an it ready
to conduct when it is triggered. Before that it will be important to reverse the polarity of the
capacitor voltage so that it can again be used to turn the main thyristor off. The reversal of the
capacitor voltage from vc  V0 ( Vs ) to  V0 is done by firing thyristor T3. Thyristor T3 is self-
commutated similar to case II of the previous commutation circuit.

122
 Figure 6.3c Circuit condition just after T2 is turns off

Example 1
For the impulse-commutated circuit, determine toff if the load connected across the output is a
resistor R. Vs  200 V , R  10  , C  5 μF and V0  VS

Solution
The circuit condition immediately after T2 is triggered will be like the circuit shown in Figure
6.3b with the resistor connected across the load terminals, i.e., across the diode Dm. The equation
for this circuit condition will be given by
dv
Vs  vC  Ric  vC  RC C
dt

which gives the solution

 t 
 
vc  Vs  Ae  RC 

At t = 0, vc  Vs  A  2Vs

Therefore
  t 
 
v c t   Vs 1  2e  RC  

 
 

At t  t off vc  0 . Hence

  t 
 
0  Vs 1  2e  RC  

 
 
From which t off  RCIn 2  10  5  106 In 2  34.7 μs

123
The impulse commutation circuit is made less dependent on load by modifying it as shown in
Figure 6.4. The circuit condition just after T2 is turned on is shown in Figure 6.5.

Figure 6.4 Impulse commutation circuit with accelerated recharging

The equations are derived as follows

ic  i  I m

where I m is assumed to be constant during the commutation

     
ic 0   i 0   I m 0 

   
ic 0   0  I m  I m . The initial current in the inductance, i 0   0 . This is because current in
di
an inductance cannot change suddenly. From vc  v L1  0, we obtain v c  L1  0 or
dt
di
vc  L1 c  0 since I m is assumed to be constant during the commutation. From the above
dt
d 2 vc
equation, we obtain vc  L1C 0
dt

The initial conditions are vc t  0  V0 and and ic (0  )  I m

From equations (6.6b) and (6.7b), we obtain the solution as follows (Note that in this circuit
there is no source voltage):
V
ic t   0 sin  0 t  I m cos 0 t (6.16)
Z0

vc t   I m Z 0 sin  0 t  V0 cos 0 t (6.17)

124
where
L1
Zo  and (6.18a)
C

o  1 L1C (6.18b)

 
The circuit turn-off is obtained from the condition vc t  t 0 ff  0 and is found to be
1  V   V 
t off  . tan 1  0   L1C tan 1  0  (6.19)
0  ImZ0   ImZ0 

Figure 6.5 Circuit condition just after T2 is turned on

Example 2
For commutation capacitor C  20 F , discharging inductor L1  25μH , V0  Vs  200 V find
the variation of t off if load current varies between 50 A and 200 A

Solution

 V 
t off  L1C tan 1  0 
 ImZ0 
 
 
t off  25  20 tan 1  200   22.36 tan 1  178.89  s
 25   I 
 Im   m 
 20 
 178.89 
For I m  50 A, t off  22.36 tan 1    29 s
 50 

125
  178.89 
For I m  200 A, t off  22.36 tan 1    16.3 s
 200 

2.3 Resonant pulse commutation (current commutation)

The circuit is shown in Figure 6.6. In this type of commutation the main thyristor is turned by
gradually reducing its current to zero. For this reason, it is referred to as current commutation.

Before T2 is fired, T1 is conducting and we have vc  V0 , iT  I m and ic  0 . The circuit for this
condition is shown in Figure 6.7a.

Figure 6.6 Resonant pulse commutation circuit

Figure 6.7a Circuit condition before T2 is turned on

126
When T2 is triggered, the circuit condition becomes as shown in Figure 6.7b. Then
iT  I m  ic (6.20)

vc t   V0 cos0 t (6.21)

V0
ic t   sin  0 t (6.22)
Z0

where
1
o  (6.23a)
LC

and
L
Zo  (6.23b)
C

At t  t1 when ic called resonant current becomes equal to Im the thyristor T1 current reduces to
zero and T1 turns off. The time t1, is found to be
 I Z  
t1  LC sin 1  m o  (6.24)
 V0 

The corresponding value of the capacitor voltage is

vc t1   V1  V0 cos0 t1 (6.25)

The circuit condition after T1 has turned off is shown in Figure 6.7b

Figure 6.7b Circuit condition just after T2 is turned on

127
The capacitor recharges at a rate determined by the load current I m . The capacitor will discharge
from –V1 to zero and its voltage will then rise to the dc source voltage VS :
I
vc  m t  V1 (6.26)
C

The equation (6.26) when equated to zero gives a circuit turn-off time
CV1
t off  (6.27)
Im

V0 C I
Let I p   V0 and x  P (6.28)
Z0 L Im

To reduce the forward current of T1 to zero, the value of x must be greater than 1.0. In practice L
and C are chosen such that x  1.5 . The value of t1 is normally small. Thus
V1  V0 cos 0 t1  V0 .

Figure 6.7c Circuit condition just after T1 turns off

When the capacitor voltage rises to VS, the diode Dm starts conducting and the circuit condition
obtains is shown in Figure 6.7d. For the analysis of this circuit, refer to case III of the self
commutation circuit. The energy stored in inductor L due to the load current Im is transferred to
L
the capacitor causing it to overcharge: Vc  VS  V where V  I m . At the instant the
C
capacitor attains this voltage, the capacitor current is zero and the T2 turns off. The circuit
condition after this is shown in Figure 6.7e. T3 is used to reverse the voltage across the capacitor.
Thus we note that under steady state condition V0  VS  V .

128
 Figure 6.7d Circuit condition just after Dm starts conducting

The circuit turn-off time toff is here also dependent on the load current. It is made less dependent
by connecting a diode D2 in anti parallel with T1 as shown in Figure 6.8..

After T2 is triggered, iT  I m  ic which is greater than zero. T1 turns off when ic  I m . After T1
turns off D2 takes over and i D  ic  im  0 . The diode turns off when ic is again = Im. After D2
turns off, ic  I m and the analysis proceed as in the previous case where the diode D2 is absent.
The circuit conditions during conduction of T1 and D2 are shown in Figure 6.9
After T1 current is reduced to zero, the reverse voltage that appears across it is the small forward
voltage drop of diode D2. This makes the thyristor’s recovery process slow, i.e., it becomes
necessary to provide longer reverse bias time than it is required without the diode.

Figure 6.7e Circuit condition after T2 turns off

129
 Figure 6.8 Resonant pulse commutation circuit with anti-parallel
diode across the main thyristor

Figure 6.9a Circuit condition after T2 is triggered and both T2

and T1 are conducting

130
 Figure 6.9b Circuit condition after T1 has turned off and both
T2 and D2 are conducting

Example 3
The resonant pulse commutation circuit without anti parallel diode D2 has capacitance C=30µF
and inductance L =4µH. The initial capacitance voltage is V0 = 200V. Determine the circuit turn-
off time toff if the load current Im is (a) 250A and (b) 50A

Solution
I L 
1 250 4 
(a)  0 t1  sin 1  m   sin    0.474 rad/s
 V0 C  200 30 

V1  V0 cos 0 t1  200 cos 0.474  177.95 V ,

CV1 30  177.95
t off    21.35 μs
Im 250

 50 4 
(b)  0 t1  sin 1    0.0914 rad
 200 30 

V1  200cos0.0914  199.16 V

131
 30  199.16
t off   119.5 μs
50

Example 4
Repeat Example 3 if an anti parallel diode D2 is connected across thyristor T1

Solution
(a) I m  250 A

0 t 2    0 t1    0.474  2.667 rad

vc at 0 t  0 t 2 is vc  200cos 2.677  177.9V

0 t 2  0 t1
t off  t 2  t1   2.677  0.474 LC  2.193 4  30  24.02s
0
(b) I m  50 A

0 t 2    0 t1    0.474  3.05 rad

vc at  0 t   0 t 2 is vc  200 cos3.05  199.1V

t off  t 2  t1  3.05  0.0914 4  30  32.41s

132
3 Further exercises

1. The resonant pulse commutation circuit in Fig. 1 has Vs  200V , C  30 F and L  4 H .

At t  0  , thyristor T1 is conducting, iC  0 and vC  200V .
(a) At t  0  the diode D m is not conducting. Why? [1 mark]
(b) At t  0 , thyristor T2 is fired. Derive expressions for vC (t ) and iC (t ) for the period
0  t  t1 where t1 is the time when the forward current of thyristor T1 reduces to zero.
[5 marks]
(c) For a load current I m  250 A , determine
(i) the time t1 [2 marks]
(ii) the voltage across the capacitor at t  t1 [1 mark]
(iii) the circuit turn-off time t off [2 marks]
(iv) the time t c taken for the capacitor to rise from zero to the supply voltage
Vs  200V [1 mark]
(v) the time interval between the instant thyristor T2 is fired and the instant diode
D m starts conducting [1 mark]
(d) What is the significance of the circuit turn-off time? [2 marks]
T1
Im

T2
iC C L

Vs Dm
vC
T3

Fig. 1 See Question 1

133
2. The impulse commutation circuit in Fig. 2 has Vs  220V , C  20 F and L  4 H .
At t  0  , thyristor T1 is conducting, iC  0 and vC  220V .
(a) At t  0 , thyristor T2 is fired. Derive expressions for vC (t ) and iC (t ) for the period
0  t  t1 where t1 is the time when the capacitor charges to the dc input voltage Vs .
[3 marks]
(b) For a constant load current I m  150 A , determine
(i) the time t1 [2 marks]
(ii) the circuit turn-off time t off [1 mark]
(e) At t  t1 , the thyristor T2 turns off. Why? [1 mark]
(f) At t  t1 , the diode Dm starts conducting. Why? [1 mark]
(g) The reversal of the capacitor voltage is done after the time t1 by firing thyristor T3 . At a
new time origin t  0 , thyristor T3 is fired.
(i) Derive expressions for vC (t ) and iC (t ) for the period 0  t  t 2 where t 2 is the
time when thyristor T3 turns off.
[5 marks]
(ii) Find t 2 . [2 marks]

T1 Im

iC
T3
C vC

Vs L Dm
T2

Fig. 2 See Question 2

134