.

DC Choppers
 Introduction
• Chopper is a static device.
• A variable dc voltage is obtained from a
constant dc voltage source.
• Also known as dc-to-dc converter.
• Widely used for motor control.
• Also used in regenerative braking.
• Thyristor converter offers greater
efficiency, faster response, lower
maintenance, smaller size and smooth
control. .
 Choppers are of Two Types
 Step-down choppers.
 Step-up choppers.
 In step down chopper output voltage is
less than input voltage.
 In step up chopper output voltage is
more than input voltage.

.
 Principle Of
Step-down Chopper

C hopper
i0
+

V R V0


.
• A step-down chopper with resistive load.
• The thyristor in the circuit acts as a switch.
• When thyristor is ON, supply voltage
appears across the load
• When thyristor is OFF, the voltage across
the load will be zero.

.
 v0
V

V dc

t
tO N tO F F
i0

V /R
Idc
t
T

.
Vdc  Average value of output or load voltage.
I dc  Average value of output or load current.
tON  Time interval for which SCR conducts.
tOFF  Time interval for which SCR is OFF.
T  tON  tOFF  Period of switching or chopping period.
1
f   Freq. of chopper switching or chopping freq.
T
.
Average Output Voltage
 tON 
Vdc  V  
 tON  tOFF 
 tON 
Vdc  V    V .d
 T 
 tON 
but    d  duty cycle
 t 
.
Average Output Current
Vdc
I dc 
R
V  tON  V
I dc    d
R T  R
RMS value of output voltage
tON
1
VO   v dt
2
o
T 0

.
But during tON , vo  V
Therefore RMS output voltage
tON
1
VO  
2
V dt
T 0

2
V tON
VO  tON  .V
T T
VO  d .V
.
Output power PO  VO I O
VO
But IO 
R
 Output power
2
V
PO  O

R
2
dV
PO 
R
.
Effective input resistance of chopper
V
Ri 
I dc
R
Ri 
d
The output voltage can be varied by
varying the duty cycle.

.
 Methods Of Control
• The output dc voltage can be varied by the
following methods.
– Pulse width modulation control or
constant frequency operation.
– Variable frequency control.

.
 Pulse Width Modulation
• tON is varied keeping chopping frequency ‘f’
& chopping period ‘T’ constant.
• Output voltage is varied by varying the ON
time tON

.
V0

tO N tO F F

t
T
V0

t
tO N tO F F

.
 Variable Frequency Control
• Chopping frequency ‘f’ is varied keeping
either tON or tOFF constant.
• To obtain full output voltage range,
frequency has to be varied over a wide
range.
• This method produces harmonics in the
output and for large tOFF load current may
become discontinuous

.
v0
V

tO N tO F F
t
T
v0

tO N tO F F
t
T

.
 Step-down Chopper
With R-L Load

C hopper
i0
+
R

V V0
FW D L

E

.
• When chopper is ON, supply is connected
across load.
• Current flows from supply to load.
• When chopper is OFF, load current
continues to flow in the same direction
through FWD due to energy stored in
inductor ‘L’.

.
• Load current can be continuous or
discontinuous depending on the values of
‘L’ and duty cycle ‘d’
• For a continuous current operation, load
current varies between two limits Imax and
Imin
• When current becomes equal to Imax the
chopper is turned-off and it is turned-on
when current reduces to Imin.
.
 v0
O utput
voltage
V
tO N tO F F
t
T
i0 O utput
Im a x current

C ontinuous
I m in current
t
i0 O utput
current
D iscontinuous
current
t
.
 Principle Of Step-up Chopper

I L D
+
+ 

L
C O VO
V A
D
C hopper


.
• Step-up chopper is used to obtain a load
voltage higher than the input voltage V.
• The values of L and C are chosen
depending upon the requirement of output
voltage and current.
• When the chopper is ON, the inductor L is
connected across the supply.
• The inductor current ‘I’ rises and the
inductor stores energy during the ON time
of the chopper, tON.
.
• When the chopper is off, the inductor
current I is forced to flow through the diode
D and load for a period, tOFF.
• The current tends to decrease resulting in
reversing the polarity of induced EMF in L.
• Therefore voltage across load is given by
dI
VO  V  L i.e., VO  V
dt
.
• A large capacitor ‘C’ connected across the
load, will provide a continuous output
voltage .
• Diode D prevents any current flow from
capacitor to the source.
• Step up choppers are used for
regenerative braking of dc motors.

.
Expression For Output Voltage
Assume the average inductor current to be
I during ON and OFF time of Chopper.
When Chopper is ON
Voltage across inductor L  V
Therefore energy stored in inductor
= V .I .tON
Where tON  ON period of chopper.

.
When Chopper is OFF
(energy is supplied by inductor to load)
Voltage across L  VO  V
Energy supplied by inductor L  VO  V  ItOFF
where tOFF  OFF period of Chopper.
Neglecting losses, energy stored in inductor
L = energy supplied by inductor L

.
 VItON  VO  V  ItOFF
V tON  tOFF 
VO 
tOFF
 T 
VO V  
 T  tON 
Where
T = Chopping period or period
of switching.

.
 T  tON  tOFF
 
 1 
VO  V 
tON 
 1 
 T 
 1 
 VO  V  
 1  d 
tON
Where d   duty cyle
T

For variation of duty cycle ' d ' in the

range of 0  d  1 the output voltage VO
will vary in the range V  VO  
.
 Performance Parameters
• The thyristor requires a certain minimum time to turn ON and
turn OFF.

• Duty cycle d can be varied only between a min. & max. value,
limiting the min. and max. value of the output voltage.

• Ripple in the load current depends inversely on the chopping

frequency, f.

• To reduce the load ripple current, frequency should be as high

as possible.

.
 Problem
• A Chopper circuit is operating on TRC at a frequency of 2 kHz
on a 460 V supply. If the load voltage is 350 volts, calculate the
conduction period of the thyristor in each cycle.

V  460 V, Vdc = 350 V, f = 2 kHz

1
Chopping period T 
f
1
T  3
 0.5 m sec
2  10
 tON 
Output voltage Vdc   V
 T 

.
Conduction period of thyristor
T  Vdc
tON 
V
0.5  10 3  350
tON 
460
tON  0.38 msec

.
 Problem
• Input to the step up chopper is 200 V. The output required is
600 V. If the conducting time of thyristor is 200 sec. Compute
– Chopping frequency,
– If the pulse width is halved for constant frequency of
operation, find the new output voltage.

.
V  200 V , tON  200  s , Vdc  600V
 T 
Vdc  V  
 T  tON 
 T 
600  200  6 
 T  200  10 
Solving for T
T  300  s
Chopping frequency
1
f 
T
1
f  6
 3.33 KHz
300  10
Pulse width is halved
200  10 6
 tON   100  s
.
2
Frequency is constant
 f  3.33KHz
1
T   300  s
f
 T 
 Output voltage = V  
 T  tON 
 300  10 6 
 200 
  300  100 10 6   300 Volts

 

.
 Problem
• A dc chopper has a resistive load of 20 and input voltage VS
= 220V. When chopper is ON, its voltage drop is 1.5 volts and
chopping frequency is 10 kHz. If the duty cycle is 80%,
determine the average output voltage and the chopper on time.
VS  220V , R  20, f  10 kHz
tON
d   0.80
T
Vch = Voltage drop across chopper = 1.5 volts
Average output voltage
 tON 
Vdc   VS  Vch 
 T 
Vdc  0.80  220  1.5   174.8 Volts
.
Chopper ON time, tON  dT
1
Chopping period, T 
f
1 3
T   0.1  10 secs  100 μsecs
10  10 3

Chopper ON time,
tON  dT
tON  0.80  0.1  10 3
tON  0.08  10 3  80 μsecs

.
 Problem
• In a dc chopper, the average load current is 30 Amps,
chopping frequency is 250 Hz, supply voltage is 110 volts.
Calculate the ON and OFF periods of the chopper if the load
resistance is 2 ohms.
I dc  30 Amps, f  250 Hz , V  110 V , R  2
1 1
Chopping period, T    4  10 3  4 msecs
f 250
Vdc
I dc  & Vdc  dV
R
dV
 I dc 
R
I R 30  2
d  dc   0.545
V 110

.
Chopper ON period,
tON  dT  0.545  4  10 3  2.18 msecs
Chopper OFF period,
tOFF  T  tON
tOFF  4  10 3  2.18  10 3
tOFF  1.82  10 3  1.82 msec

.
• A dc chopper in figure has a resistive load of R = 10 and
input voltage of V = 200 V. When chopper is ON, its voltage
drop is 2 V and the chopping frequency is 1 kHz. If the duty
cycle is 60%, determine
– Average output voltage
– RMS value of output voltage
– Effective input resistance of chopper
– Chopper efficiency.

.
 C hopp er
i0
+

V R v0

V  200 V , R  10, Chopper voltage drop Vch  2V

d  0.60, f  1 kHz.

Average output voltage

Vdc  d V  Vch 
Vdc  0.60  200  2   118.8 Volts
RMS value of output voltage
VO  d V  Vch 
VO  0.6  200  2   153.37 Volts
.
Effective input resistance of chopper is
V V
Ri  
IS I dc
Vdc 118.8
I dc    11.88 Amps
R 10
V V 200
Ri     16.83
IS I dc 11.88
Output power is
V 
2
1
dT 2
v0 1
dT
 Vch
PO 
T 
0
R
dt 
T 
0
R
dt

V 
2
d  Vch
PO 
R
0.6  200  2 
2

PO   2352.24 watts
10
Input power,
dT
1
Pi 
T 
0
ViO dt

1
dT
V V  Vch 
PO 
T 
0
R
dt
.
 PO 
dV V
 Vch 
R
0.6  200  200  2 
PO   2376 watts
10
Chopper efficiency,
PO
   100
Pi
2352.24
   100  99%
2376