3 Phase Rectification

A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which

periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one
direction. The reverse operation is performed by the inverter.
The process is known as rectification, since it "straightens" the direction of
current. Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms, including vacuum tube
diodes, wet chemical cells, mercury-arc valves, stacks of copper and selenium
oxide plates, semiconductor diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and other
silicon-based semiconductor switches.

Rectifiers have many uses, but are often found serving as components of DC
power supplies and high-voltage direct current power transmission systems.
Rectification may serve in roles other than to generate direct current for use
as a source of power. As noted, detectors of radio signals serve as rectifiers.
Depending on the type of alternating current supply and the arrangement
of the rectifier circuit, the output voltage may require additional smoothing
to produce a uniform steady voltage. Many applications of rectifiers, such as
power supplies for radio, television and computer equipment, require a
steady constant DC voltage (as would be produced by a battery).
• Half Wave Rectifier
A half wave rectifier is defined as a type of rectifier that only allows one
half-cycle of an AC voltage waveform to pass, blocking the other half-
cycle. Half-wave rectifiers are used to convert AC voltage to DC voltage,
and only require a single diode to construct.
When a standard AC waveform is passed through a half-wave rectifier,
only half of the AC waveform remains. Half-wave rectifiers only allow
one half-cycle (positive or negative half-cycle) of the AC voltage through
and will block the other half-cycle on the DC side, as seen below.
Only one diode is required to construct a half-wave rectifier. In essence,
this is all that the half-wave rectifier is doing.
A complete half-wave rectifier circuit consists of 3 main parts:
• A transformer
• A resistive load
• A diode
First, a high AC voltage is applied to the to the primary side of the step-down
transformer and we will get a low voltage at the secondary winding which will
be applied to the diode.
Advantages of Half Wave Rectifier
The main advantage of half-wave rectifiers is in their simplicity. As they don’t
require as many components, they are simpler and cheaper to setup and
construct.
As such, the main advantages of half-wave rectifiers are:
• Simple (lower number of components)
• Cheaper up front cost (as their is less equipment. Although there is a higher
cost over time due to increased power losses)
Disadvantages of Half Wave Rectifier
The disadvantages of half-wave rectifiers are:

• They only allow a half-cycle through per sinewave, and the other half-cycle is
wasted. This leads to power loss.
• They produces a low output voltage.
• The output current we obtain is not purely DC, and it still contains a lot of
ripple (i.e. it has a high ripple factor)
• Input/Output Wave form of Half Wave Rectifier
• Full Wave Rectifier
A full wave rectifier converts both halves of each cycle of an alternating
wave (AC signal) into pulsating DC signal.
Full Wave Rectifiers can be classified into

• Centre-tapped Full Wave Rectifier

• Full Wave Bridge Rectifier
A centre-tapped full wave rectifier system consists of:
• Centre-tapped Transformer
• Two Diodes
• Resistive Load
Centre-tapped Transformer: – It is a normal transformer with one slight
modification. It has an addition wire connected to the exact centre of the
secondary winding. This type of construction divides the AC voltage into two
equal and opposite voltages namely +Ve voltage (Va) and -Ve voltage (Vb). The
total output voltage is V= Va + Vb
Output Wave form
Advantages of Full Wave Rectifiers
• Full wave rectifiers have higher rectifying efficiency than half-wave rectifiers.
This means that they convert AC to DC more efficiently.
• They have low power loss because no voltage signal is wasted in the
rectification process.
• The output voltage of centre-tapped full wave rectifier has lower ripples
than a halfwave rectifiers.

Disadvantages of Full Wave Rectifiers

• The centre-tapped rectifier is more expensive than half-wave rectifier and
tends to occupy a lot of space.
Input/Output Wave form of Full Wave Rectifier
Rectifier Circuits
In order to power any circuit, a power supply is needed; and if you want to
power electronic devices from an AC supply, a rectifier is needed.
A rectifier is an electrical device comprises of one or more diodes which allow
the flow of current only in one direction. It basically converts alternating
current into direct current. Rectifiers can be mould in several shapes as per
necessity like semiconductor diodes, SCRs (silicon controlled rectifiers),
vacuum tube diodes, mercury arc valves, etc.

For signal discovery and power rectification, diode rectifier circuits are
extensively used in designing of electronic circuits, which are used in various
devices like radio signals or detectors, DC power supplies, household
appliances like video game systems, laptops, televisions etc.
Types of Rectifiers
Rectifiers are categorized into a variety of designs depends on factors namely,
type of supply, bridge configuration, components used, control nature, etc.
Majorly these are classified into two types they are single phase and three
phase rectifier. Further rectifiers are classified into three types namely
uncontrolled, half controlled and full controlled rectifiers.
• Half-wave Rectifier: In this type of rectifier, when AC supply is applied at the
input, only positive half cycle become visible across the load while the
negative half cycle is covered up. In a single phase supply, it needs a single
diode while in a three-phase supply it needs three diodes. It is not capable
because only half of the i/p waveforms reach the output. To reduce the
ripples of the AC frequency from the o/p, more filtering is required in half
wave rectifier circuit.
• Full Wave Rectifier: In this type of rectifier, during both the half cycles when
AC supply is applied to the i/p, the flow of current through the load flows in
the same direction. This circuit yields a higher standard output voltage by
altering both polarities of the i/p waveform to pulsating DC. This sort of
rectification can be achieved by using at slightest two crystal diodes,
conducting current differently. During positive as well as the negative half-
cycle of the input AC, the following two circuits that is the center tap full wave
rectifier and full wave bridge rectifier is used to get the same direction of
current flow in the load resistor.
• Center Tap Full-wave Rectifier: This type of rectifier circuit uses a
transformer with secondary winding tapped at the center point. Two diodes
are connected in the circuit so that each one of them uses one-half cycle of
the input AC voltage. For rectification, one diode uses the ac voltage showing
the upper half of secondary winding while other diode uses the lower half of
the secondary winding. The o/p and efficiency of this circuit are high because
AC supply brings power throughout both the halves.
• Full Wave Bridge Rectifier: Bridge rectifier circuit is one of the capable
forms of full wave rectifier that uses four diodes in a bridge topology. In
place of center tap transformer, a normal transformer is used. The AC supply
to be rectified is applied to the diagonally differing ends of the bridge and
the load resistor is connected across the residual two diagonally differing
ends of the bridge.
Output Ripple
Ripple in electronics is the residual periodic variation of the DC voltage within
a power supply which has been derived from an alternating current (AC)
source. This ripple is due to incomplete suppression of the alternating
waveform after rectification. Ripple voltage originates as the output of a
rectifier or from generation and commutation of DC power.
Ripple (specifically ripple current or surge current) may also refer to the
pulsed current consumption of non-linear devices like capacitor-input
rectifiers. Ripple is usually to be considered an incidental effect, its existence
being a compromise between the amount of ripple and other design
parameters. Ripple is wasted power, and has many undesirable effects in a DC
circuit: it heats components, causes noise and distortion, and may cause
digital circuits to operate improperly. Ripple may be reduced by an electronic
filter, and eliminated by a voltage regulator.
Ripple Frequency
It is the frequency of the residual AC voltage after it has been rectified to DC in
a power supply. It rides on top of the DC voltage. For a half-wave rectifier, the
ripple frequency is the same as the AC frequency, for a full-wave one it is twice
the original AC frequency.