UNIT V

AC TO AC CONVERTERS
 UNIT V
AC TO AC CONVERTERS

Single phase AC voltage controllers – Multistage sequence

control - single and three phase cyclo-converters –
Introduction to Integral cycle control, Power factor
control and Matrix converters.
AC TO AC CONVERTERS:
A power electronic ac=ac converter, in generic form, accepts electric
power from one system and converts it for delivery to another ac system
with waveforms of different amplitude, frequency, and phase.
The ac=ac converters employed to vary the rms voltage across the load
at constant frequency are known as ac voltage controllers or ac
regulators.
The voltage control is accomplished either by:
(i).Phase control- under natural commutation using pairs of silicon-
controlled rectifiers (SCRs) or triacs;
(ii).On/off control- under forced commutation using fully controlled
self-commutated switches such as (GTOs), power transistors, (IGBTs),
(MCTs), etc.
Cyclo-Converters:
The ac=ac power converters in which ac power at one frequency is directly
converted to ac power at another frequency without any intermediate dc
conversion link are known as cyclo-converters.
The majority of which use naturally commutated SCRs for their operation
when the maximum output frequency is limited to a fraction of the input
frequency.
With the rapid advancement in fast-acting fully controlled switches, force-
commutated cyclo-converters (FCC) or recently developed matrix converters
with bidirectional switches
 The bidirectional on=off control switches provide independent control of
the magnitude and frequency of the generated output voltage as well as
sinusoidal modulation of output voltage and current.
Single-phase AC voltage controller

VT 1 u1
io
VT2
O t
u1 uo R uo
O t
io
The phase shift range
(operation range of phase O t
delay angle): u VT
0 ≤α≤ π
O t
 Resistive load, quantitative analysis

RMS value of output voltage

RMS value of output current

RMS value of thyristor current

Power factor of the circuit

Inductive (Inductor- resistor) load , operation principle

u1
VT 1
O t
io uG1
VT2
O t
R uG2
u1 uo O t
L uo
O t
io
The phase shift range:
O
φ ≤α ≤ π uVT t

O
t
Other AC controllers
Integral cycle control—AC power controller

VT 1 Conduction 2N
io uo angle = M
VT2 2 U1 2 uo,io u1
M
u1 uo R  3 4
O
M t
M M
Line period

Control period = M *Line period = 2

 Circuit topologies are the same as AC voltage controllers.

 Only the control method is different.
 Load voltage and current are both sinusoidal when thyristors are
conducting.
Thyristor cyclo-converters

Single- phase thyristor-cycloconverter

P N

Output Average
uo π
ap = voltage ap=0 output voltage π
2 ap =
2

 t
Single- phase thyristor-cycloconverter
uo
u o,io io

O t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 t
uP uo

io t
iP iN O
uP uo uN uN

O uo t
iP
O t
iN
O t

P Rectifi Inver
blocking
cation sion
Rectifi Inver
N blocking
cation sion
Typical waveforms

uo

O
t

io

O t
1 3 4 6
2 5
Modulation methods for firing delay angle
Calculation method
– For the rectifier circuit
O u tp u t v o lta g e r a tio
 
 
( M o d u la tio n f a c to r )
150  
 
U om 120  
  (0    1)  
U d0 γ 
 /( º )
90
γ   
60  
 
 
30  
 
0   3 2  t
2 2
Output voltage phase angle
  The configuration with common input line

Three- phase thyristor-cyclo converter

 The configuration with star-connected output
Typical waveforms

Output voltage
200 t/ms

Input current with

Single-phase output
200 t/ms

Input current with

3-phase output
200 t/ms
Input and output characteristics

The maximum output frequency and the harmonics in the output

voltage are the same as in single-phase circuit.

Input power factor is a little higher than single-phase circuit.

Harmonics in the input current is a little lower than the single-

phase circuit due to the cancellation of some harmonics among the 3

phases.
To improve the input power factor:

–Use DC bias or 3k order component bias on each of the 3 output

phase voltages
Features and applications
Features:
–Direct frequency conversion—high efficiency
–Bidirectional energy flow, easy to realize 4- quadrant operation
–Very complicated—too many power semiconductor devices
–Low output frequency
–Low input power factor and bad input current waveform
Applications:
–High power low speed AC motor drive
Cyclo-Converters:
Three-phase 6-pulse cycloconverter with isolated loads.
Cycloconverter load-voltage waveforms with lagging power factor load:

6-pulse connection

12-pulse connection.
Block diagram for a circulating current-free cycloconverter control circuit.
Block Diagram of a variable-voltage variable-frequency three-phase
reference source.
Forced-Commutated Cycloconverter (FCC)

The naturally commutated cycloconverter (NCC) with SCRs as Devices is

referred to as a restricted frequency changer.
With devices replaced by fully controlled switches a force-commutated
cycloconverter (FCC) can be built where the desired output frequency.
Fully controlled switches such as forced-commutated SCRs, power
transistors, IGBTs, GTOs, and so forth can be used.
In the case when fo ≥ fi , the converter is called the Unrestricted Frequency
Changer (UFC) and when fo ≤ fi, it is called a Slow Switching Frequency
Changer (SSFC).
The 3ø-3ø matrix converter (force-commutated cycloconverter) circuit with
input filter:
Switching Matrix Symbol For Converter
Matrix Converter:
The matrix converter (MC) is a development of the force commutated
cycloconverter (FCC) based on bidirectional fully controlled switches.
incorporating PWM voltage control.
The double-sided PWM voltage source rectifier-inverters having the
advantages of being a single-stage converter with only nine switches for three
phase to three-phase conversion and inherent bidirectional power flow.
Sinusoidal input=output waveforms with moderate switching frequency, the
possibility of compact design due to the absence of dc link reactive
components and controllable input power factor independent of the output
load current.
Matrix converter
 Circuit configuration

input
a b c

u
S1 S1 S1
1 2 3 S ij
v
S2 S2 S2 output
1 2 3
w
S3 S3 S3
1 2 3
a) b)
 Usable input voltage

U1m √3
Um 1 Um U1m
2
2

a) b) c)
a) Single-phase input b) Use 3 phase voltages c) Use 3 line-line voltages
voltage to construct output to construct output
voltage voltage
Features
 Direct frequency conversion—high efficiency can realize good input and

output waveforms, low harmonics, and nearly unity displacement factor

 Bidirectional energy flow, easy to realize 4- quadrant operation

 Output frequency is not limited by input frequency

 No need for bulk capacitor (as compared to indirect frequency converter)

 Very complicated—too many power semiconductor devices

 Output voltage magnitude is a little lower as compared to indirect

frequency converter.
APPLICATION:
AC voltage controllers are used either for control of the rms value of
voltage or current in
lighting control,
domestic and industrial heating,
speed control of fan, pump or hoist drives,
soft starting of induction motors etc.,
Or as static ac switches (on=off control) in
transformer tap changing,
temperature control,
speed stabilization of high inertia induction motor drives such as
centrifuge,
 capacitor switching in static reactive power compensation..