Supplementary

Components and System

Engr.Kashif Iqbal
Department of Electrical Engineering & Technology
Kashif.iqbaluet@gmail.com
Contents:
 Driver
 Snubber
 Filter
 Cooling System
 Control System
Supplementary Components
 The supplementary components and systems for modern power electronic
converters include.
 Drivers for individual semiconductor power switches, which
provide the switching signals, interfacing the switches with the
control system.
 Snubbers, which protect switches from transient over voltages and
overcurrents at turn-on and turn-off and reduce the switching
losses.
 Filters, which improve quality of the power drawn from the
source or that supplied to the load. As parts of the power circuit,
filters are usually shown in circuit diagrams of converters.
 Cooling systems, which reduce thermal stresses on switches.
 Control systems, which govern the converter operation, including
protection tasks.
Need of Driver Circuit
The switching signal for a transistor is usually generated by a logic circuit or a microcontroller, a
transistor which is directly driven by such a signal would switch very slowly, with correspondingly high
power loss. During switching, the gate capacitor of the transistor may draw current so quickly that it
causes a current overdraw in the logic circuit or microcontroller, causing overheating which leads to
permanent damage or even complete destruction of the chip. To prevent this from happening, a gate
driver is provided between the microcontroller output signal and the power transistor.

when gate current is applied to a transistor to cause it to switch, a certain amount of heat is generated
which can, in some cases, be enough to destroy the transistor. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the
switching time as short as possible, so as to minimize switching loss. Typical switching times are in the
range of microseconds. The switching time of a transistor is inversely proportional to the amount
of current used to charge the gate. Therefore, switching currents are often required in the range of several
hundred milliamperes , or even in the range of amperes. For typical gate voltages of approximately 10-
15V, several watts of power may be required to drive the switch.
Driver Circuit (base /gate)
 Interface between Control(Low Power ) and Switch (High Power)

Functions:

 Amplifies the control signal to a level required to drive power Switch

 Provide Electrical Isolation between Power Switch and logic Level

Isolation is required to prevent damages on the high power switch to propagate back to low power
electronics.
Normally opto-coupler or high frequency Pulse Transformer are used.
Driver for SCR
A driver for an SCR, based on a pulse transformer, PTR, and transistor amplifier,
TRA, is shown in Figure. Diode D1 and Zener diode DZ connected across the
primary winding provide a freewheeling path for the primary current at turn-off and
prevent saturation of the transformer core. Diode D2 in the gate circuit rectifies the
secondary current of the transformer.

A simple optically isolated driver for an SCR is shown in Figure. The optocoupler is
composed of a light-emitting diode, LED, and a small light-activated thyristor, LAT.
The energy for the gate signal is obtained directly from the power circuit, as it is the
voltage across the SCR that produces the gate current when the LAT is activated by
the LED. The LAT must withstand the same voltage as the driven SCR. This is not
a serious problem though, as LATs, also used in high-voltage transmission lines, are
among semiconductor devices with the highest voltage ratings.
Driver for GTO
To turn the GTO on, the PTR transmits high-frequency current
pulses generated by alternatively switched MOSFETs M1 and M2.
The firing current is supplied to the gate through the Zener diode,
DZ, and inductor, L, that limits the rate of change, diG/dt, of the
current. Simultaneously, capacitor C is charged via the four-diode
rectifier, RCT. The turn-off is initiated by the SCR, which causes a
rapid discharge of the capacitor in the gate-cathode circuit.
Drivers for BJTs
To generate the base current, the BJT drivers must be of the current-source type.
A high-quality driver should have the following characteristics:
 
 High current pulse at turn-on, to minimize the turn-on time.
 Adjustable base current in on-state, to minimize losses in the base–emitter
junction. The initial boost current should be reduced after turn-on.
 Reverse base current for turn-off, to further minimize the turn-off time.
 Possibly low impedance between the base and emitter in the on-state and a
reverse base–emitter voltage in the off-state. These measures increase the
collector–emitter voltage blocking capability of the transistor.
Driver for MOSFET
.A power MOSFET driven from a PTR shown in Fig. The internal parasitic
diode, D, in the auxiliary MOSFET, AM, provides the path for charging
current of the main MOSFET’s gate capacitance. When the PTR saturates, AM
blocks the discharge cur- rent from the gate until turn-off, which is initiated by
a negative pulse from the transformer that turns AM on.
Need of Snubber
Snubbers are circuits which are placed across semiconductor devices for protection and to improve
performance. Snubbers can do many things:

 Reduce or eliminate voltage or current spikes

 Limit dI/dt or dV/dt
 Shape the load line to keep it within the safe operating area (SOA)
 Transfer power dissipation from the switch to a resistor or a useful load
 Reduce total losses due to switching
Snubber for Power Diode
When the power diodes are using in switching applications
(like smps circuits), the snubber circuits are essential.
when the power diode turned off, the reverse recovery
process will start. During this time, over voltage spikes will
appear across the device, which should be eliminated. The
snubber circuit is used for this purpose.
The snubber circuit for the power diodes consists of a
resistor and a capacitor connected in parallel with the diode
as shown in the following figure.

When the reverse recovery current decreases, the capacitor

will try to hold the voltage across it.
Snubber for Power Transistors
Turn-on snubber circuit is used to protect the transistor from simultaneously
high voltage and high current during turn-on period. 
This turn-on snubber will modify the voltage-current waveforms to reduce
power loss.
The figure shows the turn-on snubber circuit of power transistor. 
Here the function of an inductor is to slow down the rate of current rise
(di/dt) and reduce the overlap of high current and high voltage.
The snubber diode is off during turn-on. During turnoff, the energy stored in
the snubber inductor is dissipated in the resistor.
If a turnoff snubber circuit is also used along with the turn-on snubber, the
energy stored in the turn-on snubber inductor can be transferred to the turnoff
snubber without the need for the additional diode(DS) and resistor (RS).
Snubber for Power Transistor
When the transistor is ON state, the diode (DL) is OFF and the transistor
carries the load current.
When the transistor turns OFF, the diode (DL) remains in reverse-biased
condition until the transistor voltage VQ increases to the source voltage
VS and the load voltage VL decreases to zero.
After the transistor voltage reaches Vs, the diode current increases to IL
while the transistor current decreases to zero.
As a result, there is a point during turnoff when the transistor voltage and
current are high. The snubber circuit is used to reduce the voltage during
turn off condition.
Filter
A filter is a device or process that remove some unwanted components or features from a signal.

 The Purpose of the DC filter is to reduce ripple in output DC Voltage and current. It is used to reduce
ripple factor.
 The purpose of the AC filter is to prevent high frequency voltage on the power line from passing
through the output of the power supply. It is used to reduced the THD(Total Harmonics Distortion).
Inductor:
They are installed at the input and output of any power electronics circuit to absorb transients
Capacitor
They are installed at the input and output of any power electronics circuit to absorb transients. They are
specially used at the input pins of Ics.
Switch Mode power convertor with filters to minimize the switching noise
LC output Filter in DC Power Supplies
The capacitor is connected in parallel to the Load resistor. while the inductor is in series, the inductor
provides high impedance to the AC component of the input and provides negligible resistance to the DC
component.
When the voltage goes from 0 to V-peak, the positive plate of the capacitor charges up, then when the
voltage drops below V-peak, the capacitor slowly discharges into the load resistance until the time
when the Voltage of the input becomes greater than the voltage across the capacitor. This cycle continues
and gives us (almost stable) DC output as shown below.
The DC component of the current flow through the rectifier dc load and AC Component(current
ripple)flows through the capacitive filter.
AC output Filter in AC Power Supplies
Two main duties of the output LC filter are to attenuate the output voltage ripple and to limit the high
frequency ripple current of inverter switches. The attenuation of switching frequency voltage at the
output node is depended on the cut off frequency of filter.
Heat Sink (Cooling System)
Heat Sink is made of Aluminium Alloys. Aluminium alloy 1050 has one of the higher thermal
conductivity values of 229 W/m•K but is mechanically soft.

 The job of a heat sink is to keep the semiconductor cool by conducting heat away from its package.
 The key parameter of a heat sink is its surface area. The more the better.
 Sometimes a fan is needed to move air across the heat sink to help dissipate the heat.
Controller (Control System)
A microcontroller is a small, low-cost and self contained computer-on-a-chip that can be used to provide
pulses for Power semiconductor switches
 8051 Microcontroller
 PIC Microcontroller
 Atmega 328 Arduino
 DSP Processor
 PLC
 FPGA