Power electronics

• Power Electronics refers to an interdisciplinary

subject within electrical engineering that deals
with the design, control and conversion of
power in its electric form. A system that
converts electric energy to an electric load
through a control circuit is known as a Power
Electronic System.
 Purpose
• The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce and
explain the main concepts in Power
Electronics, which include Power Semi-
Conductor Devices, Phase-Controlled
Converters, DC to DC Converter, Inverters and
AC to AC Converters.
 Introduction
• Power Electronics refers to the process of
controlling the flow of current and voltage and
converting it to a form that is suitable for user
loads. The most desirable power electronic
system is one whose efficiency and reliability
is 100%.
Take a look at the following block diagram. It
shows the components of a Power Electronic
system and how they are interlinked.
• A power electronic system converts electrical
energy from one form to another and ensures
the following is achieved-
 Maximum efficiency
 Maximum reliability
 Maximum availability
 Minimum cost
 Least weight
 Small size
Applications of Power Electronics
are classified into two types:
Static Applications and Drive
Applications.
 Static Applications
• This utilizes moving and/or rotating
mechanical parts such as welding, heating,
cooling, and electro-plating and DC power.
 Drive Applications
• Drive applications have rotating parts such as
motors. Examples include compressors, pumps,
conveyer belts and air conditioning systems.
• Air Conditioning System
• Power electronics is extensively used in air
conditioners to control elements such as
compressors. A schematic diagram that shows
how power electronics is used in air
conditioners is shown below.
 Power semiconductor
• Materials that permit flow of electrons are called
conductors (e.g., gold, silver, copper, etc.).
• Materials that block flow of electrons are called
insulators (e.g., rubber, glass, Teflon, mica, etc.).
• Materials whose conductivity falls between those
of conductors and insulators are called
semiconductors.
• Semiconductors are “part-time” conductors
• whose conductivity can be controlled.
• Some common power devices are the power
diode, thyristor, power MOSFET and IGBT
(insulated gate bipolar transistor). A power
diode or MOSFET, for example, operates on
similar principles as its low-power
counterpart, but is able to carry a larger
amount of current and typically is able to
support a larger reverse-bias voltage in the
off-state.
 Cont…
• Silicon is the most common material used to
build semiconductor devices.
• • Si is the main ingredient of sand and it is
estimated that a cubic mile of seawater
• contains 15,000 tons of Si.
• Germanium is another semiconductor
material with four valence electrons.
Control characteristics of power device

• The power semiconductor devices can be

operated as switches by applying control
signals to gate terminals of thyristors (and to
the base of bipolar transistors).
• The required output is obtained by varying the
conduction time of these switching devices.
• Showing the figure [Pdf]
LOOK AT BDF
 Classification of power semiconductor
• Uncontrolled turn on and off (diode)
• Controlled turn on and uncontrolled turn off (SCR).
• Controlled turn on and off characteristics
(BJT,MOSFET,GTO,SITH,IGBT,SIT,MCT);
• Continuous gate signal required (BJT,MOSFET.IGBT,SIT);
• Pulse gate requirement (SCR,GTO,MCT)
• Bipolar voltage withstanding capability (SCR,GTO);
• Unipolar voltage withstanding capability (BJT,MOSFET,GTO,IGBT,MCT)
• Bidirectional current capability (TRIAC,RCT)
• Unidirectional current
capability(SCR,GTO,BJT,MOSFET,MCT,IGBT,SITH,SIT,DIODE)
 Ideal characteristics
The characteristics of an ideal switch
• In the On state when the switch on, it must have :
• 1- Able to carry any value of forward current .
• 2-has zero voltage drop.
• 3-has zero on state resistance.
• 4-has zero power dissipation.
• In the Off state when the switch off, it must have :
• 1-Able to withstand infinite open- circuit voltage
• 2- has zero leakage current.
• Has infinite off state resistance
 Types of power electronic circuit
• 1) diode rectifiers
• 2) Ac to Dc converters (controlled rectifier)
• 3)Ac to Ac converters (Ac voltage controllers)
• 4)Dc to Dc converters (Dc choppers)
• 5) DC to Ac converters (inverters)
• 6) Static switches