LECTURE NOTES

ON
POWER ELECTRONICS
2018 – 2019

V Semester (IARE-R16)

Dr. T. Devaraju S Professor

INSTITUTE OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

(Autonomous)
Dundigal, Hyderabad - 500 043

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering

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 UNIT – I
Power semiconductor devices and commutation
circuits

Introduction to power electronics:

Power Electronics is a field which combines Power (electric power), Electronics and Control systems.
Power engineering deals with the static and rotating power equipment for the generation, transmission
and distribution of electric power. Electronics deals with the study of solid state semiconductor power
devices and circuits for Power conversion to meet the desired control objectives (to control the output
voltage and output power). Power electronics may be defined as the subject of applications of solid state
power semiconductor devices (Thyristors) for the control and conversion of electric power. Power
electronics deals with the study and design of Thyristorised power controllers for variety of application
like Heat control, Light/Illumination control, Motor control - AC/DC motor drives used in industries,
High voltage power supplies, Vehicle propulsion systems, High voltage direct current (HVDC)
transmission.

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.

Figure: 1.1. Block diagram of DC power supply

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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.

DC Power Supply

Figure: 1.2. Block diagram of DC power supply

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.

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 Figure: 1.3. Block diagram of Air Conditioning System

Power electronic applications

Commercial applications Heating Systems Ventilating, Air Conditioners, Central Refrigeration,

Lighting, Computers and Office equipments, Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), Elevators, and
Emergency Lamps

Domestic applications Cooking Equipments, Lighting, Heating, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators &
Freezers, Personal Computers, Entertainment Equipments, UPS

Industrial applications Pumps, compressors, blowers and fans Machine tools, arc furnaces, induction
furnaces, lighting control circuits, industrial lasers, induction heating, welding equipments

Aerospace applications Space shuttle power supply systems, satellite power systems, aircraft power
systems.

Telecommunications Battery chargers, power supplies (DC and UPS), mobile cell phone battery
chargers

Transportation Traction control of electric vehicles, battery chargers for electric vehicles, electric
locomotives, street cars, trolley buses, automobile electronics including engine controls

Utility systems High voltage DC transmission (HVDC), static VAR compensation (SVC), Alternative
energy sources (wind, photovoltaic), fuel cells, energy storage systems, induced draft fans and boiler feed
water pumps

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Types of power electronic converters

1. Rectifiers (AC to DC converters): These converters convert constant ac voltage to variable dc

output voltage.
2. Choppers (DC to DC converters): Dc chopper converts fixed dc voltage to a controllable dc
output voltage.
3. Inverters (DC to AC converters): An inverter converts fixed dc voltage to a variable ac output
voltage.
4. AC voltage controllers: These converters converts fixed ac voltage to a variable ac output voltage
at same frequency.
5. Cycloconverters: These circuits convert input power at one frequency to output power at a
different frequency through one stage conversion.

Power semiconductor devices

i. Power Diodes.
ii. Power transistors (BJT's).
iii. Power MOSFETS.
iv. IGBT's.
v. Thyristors

Thyristors are a family of p-n-p-n structured power semiconductor switching devices

Power diodes

Power diodes are made of silicon p-n junction with two terminals, anode and cathode. P-N junction is
formed by alloying, diffusion and epitaxial growth. Modern techniques in diffusion and epitaxial
processes permit desired device characteristics. The diodes have the following advantages High
mechanical and thermal reliability High peak inverse voltage Low reverse current Low forward
voltage drop High efficiency Compactness.

Power transistors

Power transistors are devices that have controlled turn-on and turn-off characteristics. These devices
are used a switching devices and are operated in the saturation region resulting in low on-state voltage
drop. They are turned on when a current signal is given to base or control terminal. The transistor
remains on so long as the control signal is present. The switching speed of modern transistors is much
higher than that of thyristors and is used extensively in dc-dc and dc-ac converters. However their

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 voltage and current ratings are lower than those of thyristors and are therefore used in low to medium
power applications. Power transistors are classified as follows o Bipolar junction transistors(BJTs) o
Metal-oxide semiconductor filed-effect transistors(MOSFETs) o Static Induction transistors(SITs) o
Insulated-gate bipolar transistors(IGBTs)

Advantages of BJT’S

i. BJT’s have high switching frequencies since their turn-on and turn-off time are low.
ii. The turn-on losses of a BJT are small.
iii. BJT has controlled turn-on and turn-off characteristics since base drive control is possible.
iv. BJT does not require commutation circuits

Demerits of BJT

i. Drive circuit of BJT is complex.

ii. It has the problem of charge storage which sets a limit on switching frequencies.
iii. It cannot be used in parallel operation due to problems of negative temperature coefficient.

Thyristors – Silicon Controlled Rectifiers (SCR’s)

A silicon controlled rectifier or semiconductor-controlled rectifier is a four-layer solidstate current-

controlling device. The name "silicon controlled rectifier" is General Electric's trade name for a type of
thyristor.

SCRs are mainly used in electronic devices that require control of high voltage and power. This makes
them applicable in medium and high AC power operations such as motor control function.

An SCR conducts when a gate pulse is applied to it, just like a diode. It has four layers of
semiconductors that form two structures namely; NPNP or PNPN. In addition, it has three junctions
labeled as J1, J2 and J3 and three terminals(anode, cathode and a gate). An SCR is diagramatically
represented as shown below.

Figure: 1.4. Symbol of thyristor

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The anode connects to the P-type, cathode to the N-type and the gate to the P-type as shown below.

Figure: 1.5. Structure of thyristor

In an SCR, the intrinsic semiconductor is silicon to which the required dopants are infused. However,
doping a PNPN junction is dependent on the SCR application.

Modes of Operation in SCR

 OFF state (forward blocking mode) − Here the anode is assigned a positive voltage, the gate is
assigned a zero voltage (disconnected) and the cathode is assigned a negative voltage. As a
result, Junctions J1 and J3 are in forward bias while J2 is in reverse bias. J2 reaches its
breakdown avalanche value and starts to conduct. Below this value, the resistance of J1 is
significantly high and is thus said to be in the off state.

 ON state (conducting mode) − An SCR is brought to this state either by increasing the potential
difference between the anode and cathode above the avalanche voltage or by applying a positive
signal at the gate. Immediately the SCR starts to conduct, gate voltage is no longer needed to
maintain the ON state and is, therefore, switched off by −

o Decreasing the current flow through it to the lowest value called holding current

o Using a transistor placed across the junction.

 Reverse blocking − This compensates the drop in forward voltage. This is due to the fact that a
low doped region in P1 is needed. It is important to note that the voltage ratings of forward and
reverse blocking are equal.

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Characteristics of Thyristor
A thyristor is a four layer 3 junction p-n-p-n semiconductor device consisting of at least three p-n
junctions, functioning as an electrical switch for high power operations. It has three basic terminals,
namely the anode, cathode and the gate mounted on the semiconductor layers of the device. The symbolic
diagram and the basic circuit diagram for determining the characteristics of thyristor is shown in the
figure below,

V-I Characteristics of a Thyristor

Figure: 1.6. Circuit diagram for characteristics of SCR

From the circuit diagram above we can see the anode and cathode are connected to the supply voltage
through the load. Another secondary supply Es is applied between the gate and the cathode terminal which
supplies for the positive gate current when the switch S is closed. On giving the supply we get the
required V-I characteristics of a thyristor show in the figure below for anode to cathode voltage Vaand
anode current Ia as we can see from the circuit diagram. A detailed study of the characteristics reveal that
the thyristor has three basic modes of operation, namely the reverse blocking mode, forward blocking
(off-state) mode and forward conduction (on-state) mode. Which are discussed in great details below, to
understand the overall characteristics of a thyristor.

Reverse Blocking Mode of Thyristor

Initially for the reverse blocking mode of the thyristor, the cathode is made positive with respect to anode
by supplying voltage E and the gate to cathode supply voltage Es is detached initially by keeping switch S
open. For understanding this mode we should look into the fourth quadrant where the thyristor is reverse
biased.

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 Figure: 1.7. Reverse blocking mode of SCR

Here Junctions J1 and J3 are reverse biased whereas the junction J 2 is forward biased. The behavior of the
thyristor here is similar to that of two diodes are connected in series with reverse voltage applied across
them. As a result only a small leakage current of the order of a few μAmps flows. This is the reverse
blocking mode or the off-state, of the thyristor. If the reverse voltage is now increased, then at a particular
voltage, known as the critical breakdown voltage VBR, an avalanche occurs at J1 and J3 and the reverse
current increases rapidly. A large current associated with VBR gives rise to more losses in the SCR, which
results in heating. This may lead to thyristor damage as the junction temperature may exceed its
permissible temperature rise. It should, therefore, be ensured that maximum working reverse voltage
across a thyristor does not exceed VBR. When reverse voltage applied across a thyristor is less than V BR,
the device offers very high impedance in the reverse direction. The SCR in the reverse blocking mode
may therefore be treated as open circuit.

Figure: 1.8. V- I characteristics of SCR

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Forward Blocking Mode Now considering the anode is positive with respect to the cathode, with gate
kept in open condition. The thyristor is now said to be forward biased as shown the figure below.

Figure: 1.9. Forward connection of SCR

As we can see the junctions J1 and J3 are now forward biased but junction J2 goes into reverse biased
condition. In this particular mode, a small current, called forward leakage current is allowed to flow
initially as shown in the diagram for characteristics of thyristor. Now, if we keep on increasing the
forward biased anode to cathode voltage.

In this particular mode, the thyristor conducts currents from anode to cathode with a very small voltage
drop across it. A thyristor is brought from forward blocking mode to forward conduction mode by turning
it on by exceeding the forward break over voltage or by applying a gate pulse between gate and cathode.
In this mode, thyristor is in on-state and behaves like a closed switch. Voltage drop across thyristor in the
on state is of the order of 1 to 2 V depending beyond a certain point, then the reverse biased junction J2
will have an avalanche breakdown at a voltage called forward break over voltage VB0 of the thyristor. But,
if we keep the forward voltage less than VBO, we can see from the characteristics of thyristor, that the
device offers high impedance. Thus even here the thyristor operates as an open switch during the forward
blocking mode.

Forward Conduction Mode

When the anode to cathode forward voltage is increased, with gate circuit open, the reverse junction J 2
will have an avalanche breakdown at forward break over voltage V BO leading to thyristor turn on. Once
the thyristor is turned on we can see from the diagram for characteristics of thyristor, that the point M at
once shifts toward N and then anywhere between N and K. Here NK represents the forward conduction
mode of the thyristor. In this mode of operation, the thyristor conducts maximum current with minimum

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voltage drop, this is known as the forward conduction forward conduction or the turn on mode of the
thyristor.

Two transistor analogy of SCR

Basic operating principle of SCR, can be easily understood by the two transistor model of SCR or
analogy of silicon controlled rectifier, as it is also a combination of P and N layers, shown in figure below

Figure: 1.10. Two transistor structure of SCR

This is a pnpn thyristor. If we bisect it through the dotted line then we will get two transistors i.e. one pnp
transistor with J1 and J2 junctions and another is with J2 and J3 junctions as shown in figure below.

Figure: 1. 11. Two transistor structure of SCR

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When the transistors are in off state, the relation between the collector current and emitter current is
shown below

Figure: 1. 12. Two transistors connection of SCR

Here, IC is collector current, IE is emitter current, ICBO is forward leakage current, α is common base

forward current gain and relationship between IC and IB is Where, IB is base current and β
is common emitter forward current gain. Let’s for transistor T1 this relation holds

And that for transistor T2

Now, by the analysis of two

transistors model we can get anode current,

From equation (i) and (ii), we get,

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If applied gate current is Ig then cathode current will be the summation of anode current and gate current

i.e.

By substituting this value of Ik in (iii) we get,

From this relation we can assure that with increasing the value of towards unity,

corresponding anode current will increase. Now the question is how increasing. Here is the
explanation using two transistor model of SCR. At the first stage when we apply a gate current Ig, it acts
as base current of T2 transistor i.e. IB2 = Ig and emitter current i.e. Ik = Ig of the T,2 transistor. Hence
establishment of the emitter current gives rise α2 as

Presence of base current will generate collector current as

This IC2 is nothing but base current IB1 of transistor T,1, which will cause the flow of collector current,

IC1 and IB1 lead to increase IC1 as

And hence, α1 increases. Now, new base current of T2 is

This will lead to increase emitter current

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and as a result α2 also increases and this further increases

As

α1 again increases. This continuous positive feedback effect increases towards unity and
anode current tends to flow at a very large value. The value current then can only be controlled by
external resistance of the circuit.

Turn on methods of SCR

The turning on Process of the SCR is known as Triggering. In other words, turning the SCR from
Forward-Blocking state to Forward-Conduction state is known as Triggering. The
various methods of SCR triggering are discussed here.

The various SCR triggering methods are

 Forward Voltage Triggering
 Thermal or Temperature Triggering
 Radiation or Light triggering
 dv/dt Triggering
 Gate Triggering

(a) Forward Voltage Triggering:-

 In this mode, an additional forward voltage is applied between anode and cathode.
 When the anode terminal is positive with respect to cathode (VAK), Junction J1 and J3 is forward
biased and junction J2 is reverse biased.
 No current flow due to depletion region in J2 is reverse biased (except leakage current).
 As VAK is further increased, at a voltage VBO (Forward Break Over Voltage) the junction J2
undergoes avalanche breakdown and so a current flows and the device tends to turn ON(even when
gate is open)

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(b) Thermal (or) Temperature Triggering:-
 The width of depletion layer of SCR decreases with increase in junction temperature.
 Therefore in SCR when VAR is very near its breakdown voltage, the device is triggered by increasing
the junction temperature.
 By increasing the junction temperature the reverse biased junction collapses thus the device starts to
conduct.
(c) Radiation Triggering (or) Light Triggering:-
 For light triggered SCRs a special terminal niche is made inside the inner P layer instead of gate
terminal.
 When light is allowed to strike this terminal, free charge carriers are generated.
 When intensity of light becomes more than a normal value, the thyristor starts conducting.
 This type of SCRs are called as LASCR
(d) dv/dt Triggering:-
 When the device is forward biased, J1 and J3 are forward biased, J2 is reverse biased.
 Junction J2 behaves as a capacitor, due to the charges existing across the junction.
 If voltage across the device is V, the charge by Q and capacitance by C then,
ic =dQ/dt
Q=CV
ic =d(CV)/dt
=CdV/dt+VdC/dt
as dC/dt = 0
ic = CdV/dt
 Therefore when the rate of change of voltage across the device becomes large, the device may turn
ON, even if the voltage across the device is small.
(e) Gate Triggering:-
 This is most widely used SCR triggering method.
 Applying a positive voltage between gate and cathode can Turn ON a forward biased thyristor.
 When a positive voltage is applied at the gate terminal, charge carriers are injected in the inner P-
layer, thereby reducing the depletion layer thickness.
 As the applied voltage increases, the carrier injection increases, therefore the voltage at which
forward break-over occurs decreases.

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 Figure: 1. 13. V - I characteristics of SCR

 Three types of signals are used for gate triggering.

1. DC gate triggering:-

 A DC voltage of proper polarity is applied between gate and cathode ( Gate terminal is positive with
respect to Cathode).
 When applied voltage is sufficient to produce the required gate Current, the device starts conducting.
 One drawback of this scheme is that both power and control circuits are DC and there is no isolation
between the two.
 Another disadvantage is that a continuous DC signal has to be applied. So gate power loss is high.

2. AC Gate Triggering:-

 Here AC source is used for gate signals.

 This scheme provides proper isolation between power and control circuit.
 Drawback of this scheme is that a separate transformer is required to step down ac supply.
 There are two methods of AC voltage triggering namely (i) R Triggering (ii) RC triggering

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(i) Resistance triggering:

The following circuit shows the resistance triggering.

Figure: 1. 14. Resistance triggering circuit of SCR

 In this method, the variable resistance R is used to control the gate current.
 Depending upon the value of R, when the magnitude of the gate current reaches the sufficient
value(latching current of the device) the SCR starts to conduct.
 The diode D is called as blocking diode. It prevents the gate cathode junction from getting damaged
in the negative half cycle.
 By considering that the gate circuit is purely resistive, the gate current is in phase with the applied
voltage.
 By using this method we can achieve maximum firing angle up to 90°.

(ii) RC Triggering

The following circuit shows the resistance-capacitance triggering.

Figure: 1. 15. Resistance Capacitance triggering circuit of SCR

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  By using this method we can achieve firing angle more than 90°.
 In the positive half cycle, the capacitor is charged through the variable resistance R up to the peak
value of the applied voltage.
 The variable resistor R controls the charging time of the capacitor.
 Depends upon the voltage across the capacitor, when sufficient amount of gate current will flow in
the circuit, the SCR starts to conduct.
 In the negative half cycle, the capacitor C is charged up to the negative peak value through the
diode D2.
 Diode D1 is used to prevent the reverse break down of the gate cathode junction in the negative half
cycle.

3. Pulse Gate Triggering:-

 In this method the gate drive consists of a single pulse appearing periodically (or) a sequence of
high frequency pulses.
 This is known as carrier frequency gating.
 A pulse transformer is used for isolation.
 The main advantage is that there is no need of applying continuous signals, so the gate losses are
reduced.

Advantages of pulse train triggering:

 Low gate dissipation at higher gate current.

 Small gate isolating pulse transformer
 Low dissipation in reverse biased condition is possible. So simple trigger circuits are possible in
some cases
 When the first trigger pulse fails to trigger the SCR, the following pulses can succeed in latching
SCR. This important while
 Triggering inductive circuits and circuits having back emf's.

Turn off methods of SCR:

SCR can be turned ON by applying appropriate positive gate voltage between the gate and cathode
terminals, but it cannot be turned OFF through the gate terminal. The SCR can be brought back to the

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forward blocking state from the forward conduction state by reducing the anode or forward current below
the holding current level.

The turn OFF process of an SCR is called commutation. The term commutation means the transfer of
currents from one path to another. So the commutation circuit does this job by reducing the forward
current to zero so as to turn OFF the SCR or Thyristor.

To turn OFF the conducting SCR the below conditions must be satisfied.

 The anode or forward current of SCR must be reduced to zero or below the level of holding
current and then,
 A sufficient reverse voltage must be applied across the SCR to regain its forward blocking state.

When the SCR is turned OFF by reducing forward current to zero there exist excess charge carriers in
different layers. To regain the forward blocking state of an SCR, these excess carriers must be
recombined. Therefore, this recombination process is accelerated by applying a reverse voltage across the
SCR.

SCR Turn OFF Methods

The reverse voltage which causes to commutate the SCR is called commutation voltage. Depending on
the commutation voltage located, the commutation methods are classified into two major types.

Those are 1) Forced commutation and 2) Natural commutation. Let us discuss in brief about these
methods.

Forced Commutation

In case of DC circuits, there is no natural current zero to turn OFF the SCR. In such circuits, forward
current must be forced to zero with an external circuit to commutate the SCR hence named as forced
commutation.

This commutating circuit consists of components like inductors and capacitors called as commutating
components. These commutating components cause to apply a reverse voltage across the SCR that
immediately bring the current in the SCR to zero.

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Based on the manner in which the zero current achieved and arrangement of the commutating
components, forced commutation is classified into different types such as class A, B, C, D, and E. This
commutation is mainly used in chopper and inverter circuits.

Class A Commutation

This is also known as self commutation, or resonant commutation, or load commutation. In this
commutation, the source of commutation voltage is in the load. This load must be an under damped R-L-
C supplied with a DC supply so that natural zero is obtained.

The commutating components L and C are connected either parallel or series with the load resistance R as
shown below with waveforms of SCR current, voltage and capacitor voltage.

Figure: 1. 16. Class A Commutation circuit and waveforms

The value of load resistance and commutating components are so selected that they forms a under damped
resonant circuit to produce natural zero. When the thyristor or SCR is triggered, the forward currents
starts flowing through it and during this the capacitor is charged up to the value of E.

Once the capacitor is fully charged (more than the supply source voltage) the SCR becomes reverse
biased and hence the commutation of the device. The capacitor discharges through the load resistance to
make ready the circuit for the next cycle of operation. The time for switching OFF the SCR depends on
the resonant frequency which further depends on the L and C components.

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This method is simple and reliable. For high frequency operation which is in the range above 1000 Hz,
this type of commutation circuits is preferred due to the high values of L and C components.

Class B Commutation

This is also a self commutation circuit in which commutation of SCR is achieved automatically by L and
C components, once the SCR is turned ON. In this, the LC resonant circuit is connected across the SCR
but not in series with load as in case of class A commutation and hence the L and C components do not
carry the load current.

Figure: 1. 17. Class B Commutation circuit and waveforms

When the DC supply is applied to the circuit, the capacitor charges with an upper plate positive and lower
plate negative up to the supply voltage E. When the SCR is triggered, the current flows in two directions,
one is through E+ – SCR – R – E- and another one is the commutating current through L and C
components.

Once the SCR is turned ON, the capacitor is starts discharging through C+ – L – T – C-. When the
capacitor is fully discharged, it starts charging with a reverse polarity. Hence a reverse voltage applied
across the SCR which causes the commutating current IC to oppose load current IL.

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When the commutating current Ic is higher than the load current, the SCR will automatically turn OFF
and the capacitor charges with original polarity.

In the above process, the SCR is turned ON for some time and then automatically turned OFF for some
time. This is a continuous process and the desired frequency of ON/OFF depends on the values of L and
C. This type of commutation is mostly used in chopper circuits.

Class C Commutation

In this commutation method, the main SCR is to be commutated is connected in series with the load and
an additional or complementary SCR is connected in parallel with main SCR. This method is also called
as complementary commutation.

In this , SCR turns OFF with a reverse voltage of a charged capacitor. The figure below shows the
complementary commutation with appropriate waveforms.

Figure: 1. 18. Class C Commutation circuit and waveforms

Initially, both SCRs are in OFF state so the capacitor voltage is also zero. When the SCR1 or main SCR is
triggered, current starts flowing in two directions, one path is E+ – R1 – SCR1 – E- and another path is
the charging current E+ – R2- C+ – C- SCR1 – E- . Therefore, the capacitor starts charging up to the
value of E.

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When the SCR2 is triggered, SCR is turned ON and simultaneously a negative polarity is applied across
the SCR1. So this reverse voltage across the SCR1 immediately causes to turn OFF the SCR1. Now the
capacitor starts charging with a reverse polarity through the path of E+ – R1- C+ – C- SCR2 – E-. And
again, if the SCR 1 is triggered, discharging current of the capacitor turns OFF the SCR2.

This commutation is mainly used in single phase inverters with a centre tapped transformers. The Mc
Murray Bedford inverter is the best example of this commutation circuit. This is a very reliable method of
commutation and it is also useful even at frequencies below 1000Hz.

Class D Commutation

This is also called as auxiliary commutation because it uses an auxiliary SCR to switch the charged
capacitor. In this, the main SCR is commutated by the auxiliary SCR. The main SCR with load resistance
forms the power circuit while the diode D, inductor L and SCR2 forms the commutation circuit.

Figure: 1. 19. Class D Commutation circuit and waveforms

When the supply voltage E is applied, both SCRs are in OFF state and hence the capacitor voltage is zero.
In order to charge the capacitor, SCR2 must be triggered first. So the capacitor charges through the path
E+ – C+ – C- – SCR2- R- E-.

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When the capacitor is fully charged the SCR2 becomes turned OFF because no current flow through the
SCR2 when capacitor is charged fully. If the SCR1 is triggered, the current flows in two directions; one is
the load current path E+ – SCR1- R- E- and another one is commutation current path C+ – SCR1- L- D-
C.

As soon as the capacitor completely discharges, its polarities will be reversed but due to the presence of
diode the reverse discharge is not possible. When the SCR2 is triggered capacitor starts discharging
through C+ – SCR2- SCR1- C-. When this discharging current is more than the load current the SCR1
becomes turned OFF.

Again, the capacitor starts charging through the SCR2 to a supply voltage E and then the SCR2 is turned
OFF. Therefore, both SCRs are turned OFF and the above cyclic process is repeated. This commutation
method is mainly used in inverters and also used in the Jones chopper circuit.

Class E Commutation

This is also known as external pulse commutation. In this, an external pulse source is used to produce the
reverse voltage across the SCR. The circuit below shows the class E commutation circuit which uses a
pulse transformer to produce the commutating pulse and is designed with tight coupling between the
primary and secondary with a small air gap.

If the SCR need to be commutated, pulse duration equal to the turn OFF time of the SCR is applied.
When the SCR is triggered, load current flows through the pulse transformer. If the pulse is applied to the
primary of the pulse transformer, an emf or voltage is induced in the secondary of the pulse transformer.

This induced voltage is applied across the SCR as a reverse polarity and hence the SCR is turned OFF.
The capacitor offers a very low or zero impedance to the high frequency pulse.

Figure: 1. 20. Class E Commutation circuit and waveforms

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Natural Commutation

In natural commutation, the source of commutation voltage is the supply source itself. If the SCR is
connected to an AC supply, at every end of the positive half cycle the anode current goes through the
natural current zero and also immediately a reverse voltage is applied across the SCR. These are the
conditions to turn OFF the SCR.

This method of commutation is also called as source commutation, or line commutation, or class F
commutation. This commutation is possible with line commutated inverters, controlled rectifiers, cyclo
converters and AC voltage regulators because the supply is the AC source in all these converters.

Figure: 1. 21. Natural Commutation circuit and waveforms

Dynamic Turn OFF Switching Characteristics

The transition of an SCR from forward conduction state to forward blocking state is called as turn OFF or
commutation of SCR. As we know that once the SCR starts conducting, the gate has no control over it to
bring back to forward blocking or OFF state.

To turn OFF the SCR, the current must be reduced to a level below the holding current of SCR. We have
discussed various methods above to turn OFF the SCR in which SCR turn OFF is achieved by reducing

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the forward current to zero. But if we apply the forward voltage immediately after the current zero of
SCR, it starts conducting again even without gate triggering.

This is due to the presence of charge carriers in the four layers. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the
reverse voltage, over a finite time across the SCR to remove the charge carriers.

Hence the turn OFF time is defined as the time between the instant the anode current becomes zero and
the instant at which the SCR retains the forward blocking capability. The excess charge carriers from the
four layers must be removed to bring back the SCR to forward conduction mode.

This process takes place in two stages. In a first stage excess carriers from outer layers are removed and in
second stage excess carriers in the inner two layers are to be recombined. Hence, the total turn OFF time
tq is divided into two intervals; reverse recovery time trr and gate recovery time tgr.

tq = trr + tgr

The figure below shows the switching characteristics of SCR during turn ON and OFF. The time t 1 to t3 is
called as reverse recovery time; at the instant t1the anode current is zero and builds up in the reverse
direction which is called as reverse recovery current. This current removes the excess charge carriers from
outer layers during the time t1 to t3.

At instant t3, junctions J1 and J3 are able to block the reverse voltage but, the SCR is not yet able to block
the forward voltage due to the presence of excess charge carriers in junction J 2. These carriers can be
disappeared only by the way of recombination and this could be achieved by maintaining a reverse
voltage across the SCR.

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 Figure: 1. 22. Dynamic characteristics of SCR

Hence , during the time t3 to t4, the recombination of charges takes place and at the instant t 4, junction
J2 completely recovers. This time is called gate recovery time tgr.

 From the figure the turn OFF time is the time interval between the t 4 and t1. Generally, this time
varies from 10 to 100 microseconds. This turn OFF time tq is applicable to the individual SCR.
 The time required by the commutation circuit to apply the reverse voltage to commutate the SCR
is called the circuit turn OFF time (tc). For a safety margin or reliable commutation, this tc must
be greater than the tq otherwise commutation failure occurs.

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  The SCRs which have slow turn OFF time as in between 50 to 100 microseconds are called as
converter grade SCRs. These are used in phase controlled rectifiers, cyclo converters, AC voltage
regulators, etc.
 The SCRs which have fast turn OFF time as in between 3 to 50 microseconds are inverter grade
SCRs. These are costlier compared to converter grade and are used in choppers, force
commutated converters and inverters.

Resistance Firing Circuit

 The circuit below shows the resistance triggering of SCR where it is employed to drive the load
from the input AC supply. Resistance and diode combination circuit acts as a gate control circuitry
to switch the SCR in the desired condition.
 As the positive voltage applied, the SCR is forward biased and doesn’t conduct until its gate
current is more than minimum gate current of the SCR.
 When the gate current is applied by varying the resistance R2 such that the gate current should be
more than the minimum value of gate current, the SCR is turned ON. And hence the load current
starts flowing through the SCR.
 The SCR remains ON until the anode current is equal to the holding current of the SCR. And it
will switch OFF when the voltage applied is zero. So the load current is zero as the SCR acts as
open switch.
 The diode protects the gate drive circuit from reverse gate voltage during the negative half cycle
of the input. And Resistance R1 limits the current flowing through the gate terminal and its value
is such that the gate current should not exceed the maximum gate current.
 It is the simplest and economical type of triggering but limited for few applications due to its
disadvantages.
 In this, the triggering angle is limited to 90 degrees only. Because the applied voltage is maximum
at 90 degrees so the gate current has to reach minimum gate current value somewhere between
zero to 90 degrees.

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 Figure: 1. 23. R Firing circuit for SCR and corresponding waveforms

Resistance – Capacitacne (RC) Firing Circuit

 The limitation of resistance firing circuit can be overcome by the RC triggering circuit which
provides the firing angle control from 0 to 180 degrees. By changing the phase and amplitude of
the gate current, a large variation of firing angle is obtained using this circuit.
 Below figure shows the RC triggering circuit consisting of two diodes with an RC network
connected to turn the SCR.
 By varying the variable resistance, triggering or firing angle is controlled in a full positive half
cycle of the input signal.
 During the negative half cycle of the input signal, capacitor charges with lower plate positive
through diode D2 up to the maximum supply voltage Vmax. This voltage remains at -Vmax across
the capacitor till supply voltage attains zero crossing.
 During the positive half cycle of the input, the SCR becomes forward biased and the capacitor
starts charging through variable resistance to the triggering voltage value of the SCR.
 When the capacitor charging voltage is equal to the gate trigger voltage, SCR is turned ON and the
capacitor holds a small voltage. Therefore the capacitor voltage is helpful for triggering the SCR
even after 90 degrees of the input waveform.
 In this, diode D1 prevents the negative voltage between the gate and cathode during the negative
half cycle of the input through diode D2.

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 Figure: 1. 24. R Firing circuit for SCR

Figure: 1. 25. R Firing circuit waveforms of SCR

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UJT Firing Circuit

 It is the most common method of triggering the SCR because the prolonged pulses at the gate
using R and RC triggering methods cause more power dissipation at the gate so by using UJT (Uni
Junction Transistor) as triggering device the power loss is limited as it produce a train of pulses.
 The RC network is connected to the emitter terminal of the UJT which forms the timing circuit.
The capacitor is fixed while the resistance is variable and hence the charging rate of the capacitor
depends on the variable resistance means that the controlling of the RC time constant.
 When the voltage is applied, the capacitor starts charging through the variable resistance. By
varying the resistance value voltage across the capacitor get varied. Once the capacitor voltage is
equal to the peak value of the UJT, it starts conducting and hence produce a pulse output till the
voltage across the capacitor equal to the valley voltage Vv of the UJT. This process repeats and
produces a train of pulses at base terminal 1.
 The pulse output at the base terminal 1 is used to turn ON the SCR at predetermined time intervals

Figure: 1. 26. UJT Firing circuit for SCR and corresponding waveforms
Series and Parallel connections of SCRs

In many power control applications the required voltage and current ratings exceed the voltage and
current that can be provided by a single SCR. Under such situations the SCRs are required to be
connected in series or in parallel to meet the requirements. Sometimes even if the required rating is
available, multiple connections are employed for reasons of economy and easy availability of SCRs of
lower ratings. Like any other electrical equipment, characteristics/properties of two SCRs of same make
and ratings are never same and this leads to certain problems in the circuit. The mismatching of SCRs is
due to differences in

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 (i) turn-on time
(ii) turn-off time
(iii) Leakage current in forward direction
(iv) Leakage current in reverse direction and
(v) Recovery voltage.

Series Connection of an SCR

Figure: 1. 27. Series connection of SCRs

(i) Unequal distribution of voltage across SCRs

(ii) Difference in recovery characteristics.

Care must be taken to share the voltage equally. For steady-state conditions, voltage sharing is
achieved by using a resistance or a Zener diode in parallel with each SCR. For transient voltage
sharing a low non-inductive resistor and capacitor in series are placed across each SCR, as shown in
figure. Diodes D1 connected in parallel with resistor Rl, helps in dynamic stabilization. This circuit
reduces differences between blocking voltages of the two devices within permissible limits.
Additionally the R-C circuit can also serve the function of ‘snubber circuit‘. Values of R1 and C1 can
primarily be calculated for snubber circuit and a check can be made for equalization. If ΔQ is the
difference in recovery charge of two devices arising out of different recovery current for different
time and ΔV is the permissible difference in blocking voltage then

C1 = ΔQ/ ΔV

The value of resistance Rx should be sufficient to over damp the circuit. Since the capacitor C1 can
discharge through the SCR during turn-on, there can be excessive power dissipation, but the
switching current from C1 is limited by the resistor R1 This resistance also serves the purpose of

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damping out ‘ringing’ which is oscillation of C1 with the circuit inductance during commutation. All
the SCRs connected in series should be turned-on at the same time when signals are applied to their
gates simultaneously.

String efficiency =

This phenomenon increases the reliability of the string, but reduces the utilization of each SCR. Thus
string efficiency decreases. Reliability of string is measured by derating factor (DRF) which is given
by the expression

DRF = 1- string efficiency

Parallel Connection of an SCR

Figure: 1. 28. Parallel connection of SCRs

When the load current exceeds the SCR current rating, SCRs are connected in parallel to share the
load current. But when SCRs are operated in parallel, the current sharing between them may not be
proper. The device having lower dynamic resistance will tend to share more current. This will raise
the temperature of that particular device in comparison to other, thereby reducing further its dynamic
resistance and increasing current through it. This process is cumulative and continues till the device
gets punctured. Some other factors which directly or indirectly add to this problem are difference in
turn-on time, delay time, finger voltage and loop inductance.

Arrangement of SCRs in the cubicle also plays vital role. When the SCRs are connected in parallel, it
must be ensured that the latching current level of the all the SCRs is such that when gate pulse is
applied, all of them turn-on and remain on when the gate pulse is removed. Further the holding

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currents of the devices should not be so much different that at reduced load current one of the device
gets turned-off because of fall of current through it blow its holding current value. This is particularly
important because on increase in load current, the device which has stopped conducting cannot start
in the absence of gate pulse.

Another point to be considered is the on-state voltage across the device. For equal sharing of currents
by the devices voltage drop across the parallel paths must be equal. For operation of all the SCRs
connected in parallel at the same temperature, it becomes necessary to use a common heat sink for
their mounting, as illustrated in figure. Resistance compensation used for dc circuits is shown in
figure. In this circuit the resistors Rx and R2 are chosen so as to cause equal voltage drop in both
arms. Inductive compensation used for ac circuits is shown in figure The difference in characteristics
due to different turn-on time, delay time, finger voltage, latching current, holding current can be
minimized by using inductive compensation. Firing circuits giving high rate of rise can be used to
reduce mismatch of gate characteristics and delay time. Current sharing circuits must be designed so
as to distribute current equally at maximum temperature and maximum anode current. This is done to
ensure that the devices share current equally under worst operating conditions. Mechanical
arrangement of SCRs also plays an important role in reducing mismatching. Cylindrical construction
is perhaps the best from this point of view.

Derating:

Even with all the measures taken, it is preferable to derate the device for series/parallel operation.
Another reason for derating is poor cooling and heat dissipation as number of devices operates in the
same branch of the circuit. Normal derating factors are 10 to 15% for parallel connection of SCRs
depending upon the number of devices connected in parallel. Higher voltage safety factor is taken
when SCRs are connected in series.

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Numerical Problems:

1. The trigger circuit of a thyristor has a source voltage of 15V and the load line has a slope of -
120V per ampere. The minimum gate current to turn on the SCR is 25mA. Compute
i. Source resistance required in the gate circuit
ii. The trigger voltage and trigger current for an average gate power dissipation of 0.4
watts

Solution:

i. The slope of load line gives the required gate source resistance. From the load line,
series resistance required in the gate circuit is 120Ω
ii. Here VgIg = 0.4W
For the gate circuit Es = RsIg + Vg
15 = 120Ig +0.4/Ig

120Ig2 – 15 Ig + 0.4 = 0
Its solution gives Ig = 38.56mA or 86.44 mA

Vg = = 10.37V

Vg = = 4.627V

So choose the value for Ig which gives less voltage Ig = 86.44 mA and Vg = 4.627V from
minimum gate current of 25mA.

2. For an SCR the gate-cathode characteristic has a straight line slope of 130. For trigger source
voltage of 15V and allowable gate power dissipation of 0.5 watts, compute the gate source
resistance.
3. SCRs with a rating of 1000V and 200A are available to be used in a string to handle 6kV and 1kA.
Calculate the number of series and parallel units required in case de-rating factor is 0.1 and 0.2

35 | P a g e
 4. It is required to operate 250A SCR in parallel with 350A SCR with their respective on state
voltage drops of 1.6V and 1.2V. Calculate the value of resistance to be inserted in series with
each SCR so that the share the total load of 600A in proportion to their current ratings.
Snubber circuit

Due to overheating, over voltage, over current or excessive change in voltage or current switching devices
and circuit components may fail. From over current they can be protected by placing fuses at suitable
locations. Heat sinks and fans can be used to take the excess heat away from switching devices and other
components. Snubber circuits are needed to limit the rate of change in voltage or current (di/dt or dv/dt)
and over voltage during turn-on and turn-off. These are placed across the semiconductor devices for
protection as well as to improve the performance. Static dv/dt is a measure of the ability of a thyristor to
retain a blocking state under the influence of a voltage transient. These are also used across the relays and
switches to prevent arcing.

Necessity of Using the Snubber Circuit

These are placed across the various switching devices like transistors, thyristors, etc. Switching from ON
to OFF state results the impedance of the device suddenly changes to the high value. But this allows a
small current to flow through the switch. This induces a large voltage across the device. If this current
reduced at faster rate more is the induced voltage across the device and also if the switch is not capable of
withstanding this voltage the switch becomes burn out. So auxiliary path is needed to prevent this high
induced voltage

Similarly when the transition is from OFF to ON state, due to uneven distribution of the current through
the area of the switch overheating will takes place and eventually it will be burned. Here also snubber is
necessary to reduce the current at starting by making an alternate path.

Snubbers in switching mode provides one or more of the following functions

 Shape the load line of a bipolar switching transistor to keep it in its safe operating area.

 Reducing the voltages and currents during turn-ON and turn-OFF transient conditions.

 Removes energy from a switching transistor and dissipate the energy in a resistor to reduce junction
temperature.

 Limiting the rate of change of voltage and currents during the transients.

 Reduce ringing to limit the peak voltage on a switching transistor and lowering their frequency.

36 | P a g e
Design of RC Snubber Circuits:

There are many kinds of snubbers like RC, diode and solid state snubbers but the most commonly used
one is RC snubber circuit. This is applicable for both the rate of rise control and damping.

This circuit is a capacitor and series resistor connected across a switch. For designing the Snubber
circuits. The amount of energy is to dissipate in the snubber resistance is equal to the amount of energy is
stored in the capacitors. An RC Snubber placed across the switch can be used to reduce the peak voltage
at turn-off and to lamp the ring. An RC snubber circuit can be polarized or non-polarized. If you assume
the source has negligible impedance, the worst case peak current in the snubber circuit is

I = Vo/Rs and I = C.dv/dt

Figure: 1. 29. Forward-Polarized RC Snubber Circuit

For an appropriate forward-polarized RC snubber circuit a thyristor or a transistor is connected with an

anti-parallel diode. R will limit the forward dv/dt and R1 limits the discharge current of the capacitor
when transistor Q1 is turned on. These are used as overvoltage snubbers to clamp the voltage.

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 Figure: 1. 30. Reverse Polarized RC Snubber Circuit

Reverse polarized snubber circuit can be used to limit the reverse dv/dt. R1 will limit the discharge
current of the capacitor.

Figure: 1. 31. An un-polarized snubber circuit

An un-polarized snubber circuit is used when a pair of switching devices is used in anti-parallel. For
determining the resistor and capacitor values a simple design technique can be used. For this an optimum
design is needed. Hence a complex procedure will be used. These can be used to protect and thyristors.

Capacitors selection:

Snubber capacitors are subjected to high peak and RMS currents and high dv/dt. An example is turn-on
and turn-off current spikes in a typical RCD snubber capacitor. The pulse will have high peak and RMS
amplitudes. The snubber capacitor has to meet two requirements. First, the energy stored in the snubber
capacitor must be greater than the energy in the circuit’s inductance. Secondly, the time constant of
snubber circuits should me small compared to shortest on time expected, usually 10% of the on time. By
allowing the resistor to be effective in the ringing frequency this capacitor is used to minimize the

38 | P a g e
dissipation at switching frequency. The best design is selecting the impedance of the capacitor is same
that of resistor at the ringing frequency.

Resistors selection:

It is important that R in the RC snubber, have low self inductance. Inductance in R will increase the peak
voltage and it will tend to defeat the purpose of the snubber. Low inductance will also be desirable for R
in snubber but it is not critical since the effect of a small amount of inductance is to slightly increase the
reset time of C and it will reduce the peak current in switch at turn-on. The normal choice of R is usually
the carbon composition or metal film. The resistor power dissipation must be independent of the
resistance R because it dissipates the energy stored in the snubber capacitor in each transition of voltage
in the capacitor. If we select the resistor as that the characteristic impedance, the ringing is well damped.

When comparing the Quick design to optimum design, the required snubber resistor’s power capability
will be reduced. Usually the “Quick” design is completely adequate for final design. Going to the
“Optimum” approach is only if power efficiency and size constraints dictate the need for optimum
design.

Power Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

Power BJT is used traditionally for many applications. However, IGBT (Insulated-Gate Bipolar
Transistor) and MOSFET (Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) have replaced it for
most of the applications but still they are used in some areas due to its lower saturation voltage over the
operating temperature range. IGBT and MOSFET have higher input capacitance as compared to BJT.
Thus, in case of IGBT and MOSFET, drive circuit must be capable to charge and discharge the internal
capacitances.

Figure: 1. 32. Symbol of transistor

39 | P a g e
The BJT is a three-layer and two-junction npn or pnp semiconductor device as given in Fig. 32. (a) and
(b).

Although BJTs have lower input capacitance as compared to MOSFET or IGBT, BJTs are
considerably slower in response due to low input impedance. BJTs use more silicon for the same drive
performance.

In the case of MOSFET studied earlier, power BJT is different in configuration as compared to simple
planar BJT. In planar BJT, collector and emitter is on the same side of the wafer while in power BJT it
is on the opposite edges as shown in Fig. 33. This is done to increase the power-handling capability of
BJT.

Figure: 1. 33. Structure of transistor

Power n-p-n transistors are widely used in high-voltage and high-current applications which will be
discussed later.

Input and output characteristics of planar BJT for common-emitter configuration are shown in Fig. 34.
These are current-voltage characteristics curves.

40 | P a g e
 Figure: 1. 34. Input and output characteristics of BJT

Metal-Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (Power)

MOSFET is a voltage-controlled majority carrier (or unipolar) three-terminal device. As compared to

the simple lateral channel MOSFET for low-power signals, power MOSFET has different structure. It
has a vertical channel structure where the source and the drain are on the opposite side of the silicon
wafer as shown in Figure. This opposite placement of the source and the drain increases the capability
of the power MOSFET to handle larger power.

N-channel enhancement type MOSFET is more common due to high mobility of electrons.

Figure: 1. 35. Symbol of MOSFET

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 Figure: 1. 36. Structure of MOSFET

Basic circuit diagram and output characteristics of an n-channel enhancement power MOSFET with load
connected are in Fig. 37 and Fig. 38 respectively.

Figure: 1. 37. Basic circuit diagram of n-channel enhancement power MOSFET

Drift region shown in Fig. 37 determines the voltage-blocking capability of the MOSFET.

When VGS = 0,

⇒ VDD makes it reverse biased and no current flows from drain to source.

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When VGS > 0,

⇒ Electrons form the current path as shown in Fig. 37. Thus, current from the drain to the source
flows. Now, if we will increase the gate-to-source voltage, drain current will also increase.

Figure: 1. 38. Output characteristics of an n-channel enhancement power MOSFET

For lower value of VDS, MOSFET works in a linear region where it has a constant resistance equal to
VDS / ID. For a fixed value of VGS and greater than threshold voltage VTH, MOSFET enters a saturation
region where the value of the drain current has a fixed value.

Besides the output characteristics curves, transfer characteristics of power MOSFET is also shown in
Fig. 39.

Figure: 1. 39. Transfer characteristics of an n-channel enhancement power MOSFET

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Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)

IGBT combines the physics of both BJT and power MOSFET to gain the advantages of both worlds. It
is controlled by the gate voltage. It has the high input impedance like a power MOSFET and has low
on-state power loss as in case of BJT. There is no even secondary breakdown and not have long
switching time as in case of BJT. It has better conduction characteristics as compared to MOSFET due
to bipolar nature. It has no body diode as in case of MOSFET but this can be seen as an advantage to
use external fast recovery diode for specific applications. They are replacing the MOSFET for most of
the high voltage applications with less conduction losses. Its physical cross-sectional structural
diagram and equivalent circuit diagram is presented in Fig. 40 to Fig. 41. It has three terminals called
collector, emitter and gate.

Figure: 1. 40. Cross -sectional structural diagram of IGBT

There is a p+ substrate which is not present in the MOSFET and responsible for the minority carrier
injection into the n-region. Gain of NPN terminal is reduced due to wide epitaxial base and n+ buffer
layer.

There are two structures of IGBTs based on doping of buffer layer:

44 | P a g e
a) Punch-through IGBT: Heavily doped n buffer layer ➔ less switching time

b) Non-Punch-through IGBT: Lightly doped n buffer layer ➔ greater carrier lifetime ➔ increased
conductivity of drift region ➔ reduced on-state voltage drop

(Note: ➔ means implies)

Figure: 1. 41. Equivalent diagram of IGBT

Figure: 1. 42. Simplified Equivalent diagram of IGBT

45 | P a g e
 Figure: 43. Equivalent diagram of IGBT

Based on this circuit diagram given in Fig. 43, forward characteristics and transfer characteristics are
obtained which are given in Fig. 44 and Fig. 45. Its switching characteristic is also shown in Fig. 45.

Figure: 1. 44. Forward characteristics of IGBT

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 Figure: 1.45. Transfer characteristics of IGBT

Figure: 1. 46. Dynamic characteristics of IGBT

(Note: Tdn : delay time ; Tr: rise time ; Tdf : delay time ; Tf1: initial fall time ; Tf2: final fall time)

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GTO (Gate Turn-off Thyristor)

GTO can be turned on with the positive gate current pulse and turned off with the negative gate current
pulse. Its capability to turn off is due to the diversion of PNP collector current by the gate and thus
breaking the regenerative feedback effect.

Actually the design of GTO is made in such a way that the pnp current gain of GTO is reduced. A
highly doped n spot in the anode p layer form a shorted emitter effect and ultimately decreases the
current gain of GTO for lower current regeneration and also the reverse voltage blocking capability.
This reduction in reverse blocking capability can be improved by diffusing gold but this reduces the
carrier lifetime. Moreover, it requires a special protection.

The symbol for GTO is shown in Fig.46.

Figure: 1. 47. Symbol of GTO

Overall switching speed of GTO is faster than thyristor (SCR) but voltage drop of GTO is larger. The
power range of GTO is better than BJT, IGBT or SCR.

The static voltage current characteristics of GTO are similar to SCR except that the latching current of
GTO is larger (about 2 A) as compared to SCR (around 100-500 mA).

The gate drive circuitry with switching characteristics is given in Fig. 48 and Fig. 49.

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 Figure: 1. 48. Gate Drive Circuit for GTO

Figure: 1. 49. Switching characteristics for GTO

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SCR Specifications and Ratings:
The main specifications of the SCR are its voltage rating and current rating. In this post, let us see various
ratings of thyristor.
Voltage Ratings
Peak Invese Voltage (VPIV)
The peak inverse voltage is defined as the maximum voltage which SCR can safely withstand in its OFF
state. The applied voltage should never be exceeded under any circumstances.
On State Voltage:
The voltage which appears across the SCR during its ON state is known as its ON state Voltage. The
maximum value of voltage which can appear across the SCR during its conducting state is called its
maximum on state voltage. Usually it will be 1V to 4V.
Finger Voltage:
The minimum voltage, which is required between the anode and cathode of an SCR to trigger it to
conduction mode, is called its finger voltage.

Rate of Rise of Voltage (dV/dt)

The rate at which the voltage across the device rises ( for forward condition) without triggering the
device, is known as its rate of rise of voltage.
Voltage Safety Factor:
The normal operating voltage of the SCR is kept well below its peak inverse voltage(VPIV) to avoid
puncture of SCR due to uncertain conditions. The operating voltage and peak inverse voltage are related
by voltage safety factor Vf
Vf = Peak inverse voltage / ( 2 x RMS value of input voltage)
Normaly Vf value lies between 2 and 2.5
Current Ratings:
The current carrying capacity of the device is known as its current rating.
It can be of two types.
1. Continuous
2. Intermittent.
Maximum average ON state current ( Imac):
This is the average value of maximum continuous sinusoidal ON state current with conduction angle
180deg, at frequency 40 to 60Hz, which should not be exceeded even with intensive cooling.

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Maximum rms ON-state current: (Imrc)
It is the rms value of the maximum continuous sinusoidal ON state current at the frequency 40 to 60 Hz
and conduction angle 180deg, which should not be exceeded even with intensive cooling.
Maximum surge - ON state Current (Imsc)
It is the maximum admissible peak value of a sinusoidal half cycle of tem milliseconds duration at a
frequency of 50Hz.
Latching Current (II)
It is the minimum current, which is required to latch the device from its OFF state to its ON state. In other
words, it is the minimum current required to trigger the device.
Holding Current (IH)
It is the minimum current required to hold the SCR conducting. In other words, It is the minimum current,
below which the device stops conducting and returns to its OFF state.
Gate Current:
The current which is applied to the gate of the device for control purposes is known as gate current.
Minimum Gate Current:
The minimum current required at the gate for triggering the device.
Maximum Gate Current:
The maximum current which can be applied to device safely. Current higher than this will damage the
gate terminal.
Gate Power Loss:
The mean power loss, which occurs due to flow of gate current between the gate and the main terminals.
Turn ON time:
The time taken by the device before getting latched from its OFF state to ON state. In other words, it is
the time for which the device waits before achieving its full conduction. Usually it will be 150 to 200μsec.
Turn OFF time:
After applying reverse voltage, the device takes a finite time to get switched OFF. This time is called as
turn-OFF time of the device. Usually it will be 200μsec.
Rate of rise of current (dI/dt)
The rate at which the current flowing in the device rises is known as its rate of rise (dI/dt) of current.

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Comparison between BJT and MOSFET:

Sl
BJT MOSFET
No

1 It is a Bipolar Device It is majority carrier Device

2 Current control Device Voltage control Device.

3 Output is controlled by controlling base current Output is controlled by controlling gate voltage

4 Negative temperature coefficient Positive temperature coefficient

5 So paralleling of BJT is difficult. So paralleling of this device is easy.

Dive circuit is complex. It should provide Dive circuit is simple. It should provide
6
constant current(Base current) constant voltage(gate voltage)

7 Losses are low. Losses are higher than BJTs.

8 So used in high power applications. Used in low power applications.

9 BJTs have high voltage and current ratings. They have less voltage and current ratings.

10 Switching frequency is lower than MOSFET. Switching frequency is high.

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 UNIT – II
Single phase and three phase controlled rectifiers
Phase control technique – Single phase Line commutated converters

Unlike diode rectifiers, PCRs or phase controlled rectifiers has an advantage of regulating the output
voltage. The diode rectifiers are termed as uncontrolled rectifiers. When these diodes are switched with
Thyristors, then it becomes phase control rectifier. The o/p voltage can be regulated by changing the
firing angle of the Thyristors. The main application of these rectifiers is involved in speed control of DC
motor.

What is a Phase Controlled Rectifier?

The term PCR or Phase controlled rectifier is a one type of rectifier circuit in which the diodes are
switched by Thyristors or SCRs (Silicon Controlled Rectifiers). Whereas the diodes offer no control over
the o/p voltage, the Thyristors can be used to differ the output voltage by adjusting the firing angle or
delay. A phase control Thyristor is activated by applying a short pulse to its gate terminal and it is
deactivated due to line communication or natural. In case of heavy inductive load, it is deactivated by
firing another Thyristor of the rectifier during the negative half cycle of i/p voltage.

Types of Phase Controlled Rectifier

The phase controlled rectifier is classified into two types based on the type of i/p power supply. And each
kind includes a semi, full and dual converter.

Figure: 2.1. Classification of rectifiers

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Single-phase Controlled Rectifier

This type of rectifier which works from single phase AC i/p power supply

Single Phase Controlled Rectifiers are classified into different types

Half wave Controlled Rectifier: This type of rectifier uses a single Thyristor device to provide o/p
control only in one half cycle of input AC supply, and it offers low DC output.

Full wave Controlled Rectifier: This type of rectifier provides higher DC output

 Full wave controlled rectifier with a center tapped transformer requires two Thyristors.

 Full wave bridge controlled rectifiers do not need a center tapped transformer

Three-phase Controlled Rectifier

This type of rectifier which works from three phase AC i/p power supply

 A semi converter is a one quadrant converter that has one polarity of o/p voltage and current.

 A full converter is a a two quadrants converter that has polarity of o/p voltage can be either +ve or –ve
but, the current can have only one polarity that is either +ve or -ve.

 Dual converter works in four quadrants – both o/p voltage and o/p current can have both the polarities.

Operation of Phase Controlled Rectifier

The basic working principle of a PCR circuit is explained using a single phase half wave PCR circuit with
a RL load resistive shown in the following circuit.

A single phase half wave Thyristor converter circuit is used to convert AC to DC power conversion. The
i/p AC supply is attained from a transformer to offer the required AC supply voltage to the Thyristor
converter based on the o/p DC voltage required. In the above circuit, the primary and secondary AC
supply voltages are denoted with VP and VS.

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 Figure: 2.2. Single phase half wave rectifier circuit

During the +ve half cycle of i/p supply when the upper end of the transformer secondary winding is at a +
ve potential with respect to the lower end, the Thyristor is in a forward biased state.

The thyristor is activated at a delay angle of ωt =α, by applying an appropriate gate trigger pulse to the
gate terminal of thyristor. When the thyristor is activated at a delay angle of ωt =α, the thyristor behaviors
and assuming a perfect thyristor. The thyristor acts as a closed switch and the i/p supply voltage acts
across the load when it conducts from ωt =α to π radians For a purely resistive load, the load current io
that flows when the thyristor T1 is on, is given by the expression.

Io= vo/ RL, for α≤ ωt ≤ π

Applications of Phase Controlled Rectifier

Phase controlled rectifier applications include paper mills, textile mills using DC motor drives and DC
motor control in steel mills.

 AC fed traction system using a DC traction motor.

 Electro-metallurgical and Electrochemical processes.

 Reactor controls.

 Magnet power supplies.

 Portable hand instrument drives.

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 Flexible speed industrial drives.

 Battery charges.

 High voltage DC transmission.

 UPS (Uninterruptible power supply systems).

Operation of half converter with R and RL loads

Single Phase Half Wave Controlled Rectifier with ‘R’ load:

As shown in figure below primary of transformer is connected to ac mains supply with which SCR
becomes forward bias in positive half cycle. T1 is triggered at an angle α, T1 conducts and voltage is
applied across R.

Figure: 2.3 Single phase half wave rectifier with R load with waveforms

The load current i0 flows through ‘R’

the waveforms for voltage & current are as shown above.
As load is resistive,
Output current is given as,

Hence shape of output current is same as output voltage

As T1 conducts only in positive half cycle as it is reversed bias in negative cycle, the ripple frequency of
output voltage is-
fripple= 50 Hz (supply frequency)

Average output voltage is given as,

56 | P a g e
i.e Area under one cycle.
Therefore T=2π&Vo(ωt) = Vm sinωt from α to π& for rest of the period Vo(ωt)=0

Power transferred to load,

Thus, power & voltage can be controlled by firing angle.

Single Phase Half Wave Controlled Rectifier with ‘RL’ load:

Figure: 2.4 Single phase half wave rectifier with RL load with waveforms

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Figure above shows the single phase half wave rectifier with RL Load.

 Normally motors are inductive loads

L= armature of field coil inductance

R= Resistance of coil.

 In positive half cycle, SCR starts conduction at firing angle “α”.

 Drop across SCR is small & neglected so output voltage is equal to supply voltage.

 Due to ‘RL’ load, current through SCR increases slowly.

 At ‘π’, supply voltage is at zero where load current is at its max value.

 In positive half cycle, inductor stores energy & that generates the voltage.

 In negative half cycle, the voltage developed across inductor, forward biases SCR & maintains its
conduction.

 Basically with the property of inductance it opposes change in current.

 Output current & supply current flows in same loop, so all the time io=is.

 After π the energy of inductor is given to mains & there is flow of ‘io’. The energy reduces as if gets
consumed by circuit so current also reduces.

 At ‘β’ energy stored in inductance is finished, hence ‘io’ becomes zero & ‘T1’ turns off.

 ‘io’ becomes zero from ‘β’ to ‘2π+α’ hence it is discontinuous conduction.

The average output voltage V0 = = π

α β

I0 = π
α β

RMS load voltage V0r =

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Single phase half controlled converter with RLE load

The diode D2 and D4 conducts for the positive and negative half cycle of the input voltage waveform
respectively. On the other hand T1 starts conduction when it is fired in the positive half cycle of the input
voltage waveform and continuous conduction till T3 is fired in the negative half cycle. Fig. shows the
circuit diagram and the waveforms of a single phase half controlled converter supplying an R – L – E
load.

Figure: 2.5 single phase half controlled converter with RLE load

Referring to Fig T1 D2 starts conduction at ωt = α. Output voltage during this period becomes equal to
vi. At ωt = π as vi tends to go negative D4 is forward biased and the load current commutates from D2 to
D4 and freewheels through D4 and T1. The output voltage remains clamped to zero till T3 is fired at ωt =
π + α. The T3 D4 conduction mode continues upto ωt = 2π. Where upon load current again free wheels
through T3 and D2 while the load voltage is clamped to zero. From the discussion in the previous
paragraph it can be concluded that the output voltage (hence the output current) is periodic over half the
input cycle. Hence

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Single phase half controlled converter with RLE load and freewheeling diode

Figure: 2.6 single phase half controlled converter with RLE load and freewheeling diode

Numerical problems

1. A single phase 230V, 1 Kwheater is connected across 1 phase 230V, 50Hz supply through an
SCR. For firing angle delay of 450 and 900, calculate the power absorbed in the heater element.

Solution: Heater resistance R = 2302/1000 Ω

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 The rms value of voltage is Vor =

= = 155.071V

Power absorbed by the heater element for α = 450 is

= 454.57W

for α = 900 the rms voltage is

Vor = = 115V

Power absorbed by the heater element for α = 900 is

= 250W

2. A resistive load of 10Ω is connected through a half-wave controlled rectifier circuit to 220V, 50
Hz, single phase source. Calculate the power delivered to the load for a firing angle of 60ᵒ. Find
also the value of input power factor
3. A single phase semi converter delivers to RLE load with R=5Ω, L = 10mH and E = 80V. The source
voltage is 230V, 50Hz. For continuous conduction, Find the average value of output current for
firing angle = 50o.

Single phase full wave controlled rectifier

Single Phase Full Wave Controlled Rectifier with ‘R’ load:

Figure below shows the Single phase Full Wave Controlled Rectifiers with R load

Figure: 2.7 single phase full converter circuit with R load

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 Figure: 2.8 single phase full converter circuit with R load input and output waveforms

• The single phase fully controlled rectifier allows conversion of single phase AC into DC. Normally this
is used in various applications such as battery charging, speed control of DC motors and front end of UPS
(Uninterruptible Power Supply) and SMPS (Switched Mode Power Supply).
• All four devices used are Thyristors. The turn-on instants of these devices are dependent on the firing
signals that are given. Turn-off happens when the current through the device reaches zero and it is reverse
biased at least for duration equal to the turn-off time of the device specified in the data sheet.
• In positive half cycle Thyristors T1 & T2 are fired at an angle α .
• When T1 & T2 conducts
Vo=Vs
IO=is=Vo/R=Vs/R
• In negative half cycle of input voltage, SCR’s T3 &T4 are triggered at an angle of (π+α)
• Here output current & supply current are in opposite direction
∴ is=-io
T3 & T4 becomes off at 2π.
V0 = =

62 | P a g e
Single Phase Full Wave Controlled Rectifier with ‘RL’ load:
Figure below shows Single phase Full Wave Controlled Rectifiers with RL load.

Figure: 2.9 single phase full converter circuit with RL load

Figure: 2.10 single phase full converter circuit with RL load input and output waveforms

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Operation of this mode can be divided between four modes

Mode 1 (α toπ)

• In positive half cycle of applied ac signal, SCR’s T1 & T2 are forward bias & can be turned on at an
angle α.
• Load voltage is equal to positive instantaneous ac supply voltage. The load current is positive, ripple
free, constant and equal to Io.
• Due to positive polarity of load voltage & load current, load inductance will store energy.

Mode 2 (π toπ+α)

• At wt=π, input supply is equal to zero & after π it becomes negative. But inductance opposes any
change through it.
• In order to maintain a constant load current & also in same direction. A self inducedemf appears across
‘L’ as shown.
• Due to this induced voltage, SCR’s T1 & T2 are forward bais in spite the negative supply voltage.
• The load voltage is negative & equal to instantaneous ac supply voltage whereas load current is positive.
• Thus, load acts as source & stored energy in inductance is returned back to the ac supply.

Mode 3 (π+α to 2π)

• At wt=π+α SCR’s T3 & T4 are turned on & T1, T2 are reversed bias.
• Thus , process of conduction is transferred from T1,T2 to T3,T4.
• Load voltage again becomes positive & energy is stored in inductor
• T3, T4 conduct in negative half cycle from (π+α) to 2π
• With positive load voltage & load current energy gets stored

Mode 4 (2π to 2π+α)

• At wt=2π, input voltage passes through zero.

• Inductive load will try to oppose any change in current if in order to maintain load current constant & in
the same direction.
• Induced emf is positive & maintains conducting SCR’s T3 & T4 with reverse polarity also.

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• Thus VL is negative & equal to instantaneous ac supply voltage. Whereas load current continues to be
positive.
• Thus load acts as source & stored energy in inductance is returned back to ac supply
• At wt=α or 2π+α, T3 & T4 are commutated and T1,T2 are turned on.

V0 = =

Single phase fully controlled converters with RLE load

The circuit diagram of a full wave bridge rectifier using thyristors in shown in figure below. It consists of
four SCRs which are connected between single phase AC supply and a load.

This rectifier produces controllable DC by varying conduction of all SCRs.

Figure: 2.11 single phase full converter circuit with RLE load

Figure: 2.12 single phase full converter circuit with RLE load input and output waveforms

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In positive half-cycle of the input, Thyristors T1 and T2 are forward biased while T3 and T4 are reverse
biased. Thyristors T1 and T2 are triggered simultaneously at some firing angle in the positive half cycle,
and T3 and T4 are triggered in the negative half cycle.

The load current starts flowing through them when they are in conduction state. The load for this
converter can be RL or RLE depending on the application.

By varying the conduction of each thyristor in the bridge, the average output of this converter gets
controlled. The average value of the output voltage is twice that of half-wave rectifier.

The average output voltage is

V0 = =

Line commutated converters

For single phase half wave converter

1. Average DC load voltage: (Voavg)

Voavg = V0 = where T is time period

Voavg =
π

= π

= π

= π

=
π

If Voavg max = π

If Voavg = 0

2. Average DC load current is given as

Ioavg =

66 | P a g e
 Ioavg = π

3. RMS load voltage

Vrms =

Vrms =

Vrms =

If Vrms =

If Vrms = 0

The RMS voltage may be varied from 0 to by varying from 180 to 0

4. Power delivered to the resistive load is given

PL = (RMS load voltage)( RMS load current)

= VrmsX Irms

= =

5. Input volt amperes = (RMS source voltage)( RMS line current)

= Vs Irms

= Vs

6. Input power factor: It is defined as the ratio of total mean input power to the total rms input volt
amperes

67 | P a g e
 Input power factor =

7. Form factor: Form factor is defined as the ratio of RMS voltage to the average DC voltage

Form Factor =

8. Effective value of the AC component of the output voltage

Vac =

9. Ripple factor (Rf)

It is defined as the ratio of AC component to the DC. Where ripple is the amount of AC
component present in DC component

Rf = = = =

10. Transformer Utilization Factor (TUF):

It is defined as the ratio of output DC power to the volt ampere rating of the transformer

TUF =

11. Rectifier efficiency:

It is defined as the ratio of output DC power to the input ac power

12. Peak inverse voltage (PIV):

It is defined as the maximum voltage that an SCR can be subjected to in the reverse biased
condition
In the case of Half wave rectifier it is Vm

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Effect of source inductance in single phase rectifier

Fig. below shows a single phase fully controlled converter with source inductance. For simplicity it has
been assumed that the converter operates in the continuous conduction mode. Further, it has been
assumed that the load current ripple is negligible and the load can be replaced by a dc current source the
magnitude of which equals the average load current. Fig. shows the corresponding waveforms

It is assumed that the Thyristors T3 and T4 were conducting at t = 0. T1 and T2 are fired at ωt = α. If
there were no source inductance T3 and T4 would have commutated as soon as T1 and T2 are turned ON.

The input current polarity would have changed instantaneously. However, if a source inductance is
present the commutation and change of input current polarity cannot be instantaneous. s. Therefore, when
T1 and T2 are turned ON T3 T4 does not commutate immediately. Instead, for some interval all four
Thyristors continue to conduct as shown in Fig. 2.14. This interval is called “overlap” interval.

Figure: 2.13 single phase full converter circuit with source inductance

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 Figure: 2.14 single phase full converter output waveforms with source inductance

1. During overlap interval the load current freewheels through the thyristors and the output voltage
is clamped to zero. On the other hand, the input current starts changing polarity as the current
through T1 and T2 increases and T3 T4 current decreases. At the end of the overlap interval the
current through T3 and T4 becomes zero and they commutate, T1 and T2 starts conducting the
full load current
2. The same process repeats during commutation from T1 T2 to T3T4 at ωt = π + α . From Fig. 2.14
it is clear that, commutation overlap not only reduces average output dc voltage but also reduces
the extinction angle γ which may cause commutation failure in the inverting mode of operation if
α is very close to 180º.
3. In the following analysis an expression of the overlap angle “μ” will be determined. From the
equivalent circuit of the converter during overlap period.

70 | P a g e
71 | P a g e
The Equation can be represented by the following equivalent circuit

Figure: 2.15 Equivalent circuit of the given equation

Equivalent circuit representation of the single phase fully controlled rectifier with source inductance

The simple equivalent circuit of Fig. 2.15 represents the single phase fully controlled converter with
source inductance as a practical dc source as far as its average behavior is concerned. The open circuit
voltage of this practical source equals the average dc output voltage of an ideal converter (without source
inductance) operating at a firing angle of α. The voltage drop across the internal resistance “RC”
represents the voltage lost due to overlap shown in Fig. 2.14 by the hatched portion of the Vo waveform.
Therefore, this is called the “Commutation resistance”. Although this resistance accounts for the voltage
drop correctly there is no power loss associated with this resistance since the physical process of overlap
does not involve any power loss. Therefore this resistance should be used carefully where power
calculation is involved.

Numerical problems

1. For the single phase fully controlled bridge is connected to RLE load. The source voltage is 230
V, 50 Hz. The average load current of 10A continuous over the working range. For R= 0.4 Ω and
L = 2mH, Compute (a) firing angle for E = 120V (b) firing angle for E = -120V (c) in case output
current is constant find the input power factors for both parts a and b

Solution:
a) For E = 120 the full converter is operating as a controlled rectifier
= E+I0R

= 120+ 10X0.4 = 124V

= 53.210

For = 53.210 power flows from ac source to DC load.

72 | P a g e
 b) For E = -120 the full converter is operating as a controlled rectifier
= E+I0R

= -120+ 10X0.4 = -116V

= 124.10

For = 124.10 power flows from DC source to ac load.

c) For constant load current, rms value of load current is

Ior = Io = 10A
Vs Ior cosФ = EIo+Ior2R

For = 53.210 cosФ =

For = 124.10 cosФ =

2. A single phase two pulse converter feeds power to RLE load with R= 6Ω, L= 6mH, E= 60V, AC
source voltage is 230V, 50Hz for continuous condition. Find the average value of load current for
a firing angle of 50ᵒ. In case one of the 4 SCRs gets open circuited. Find the new value of average
load current assuming the output current as continuous.
3. For the single phase fully controlled bridge converter having load of ‘R’, determine the average
output voltage, rms output voltage and input power factor if the supply is 230V, 50 Hz, single
phase AC and the firing angle is 60 degrees

73 | P a g e
Operation of three phase half wave rectifier with R and RL loads

Figure: 2.16 circuit diagram three phase half wave rectifier

Figure: 2.17 input and output waveforms of three phase half wave rectifier

Three phase supply voltage equations

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We define three line neutral voltages (3 phase voltages) as follows

V RN = V an = V m sinwt where V m is the maximum voltage

V YN = V bn = V m sin (wt-

V BN = V cn = V m sin (wt-

The 3-phase half wave converter combines three single phase half wave controlled
rectifiers in one single circuit feeding a common load. The thyristor T 1 in series with one of the
supply phase windings 'a-n' acts as one half wave controlled rectifier The second thyristor T 2 in
series with the supply phase winding 'b-n' acts as the second half wave controlled rectifier. The
third thyristor T 3 in series with the supply phase winding acts as the third half wave controlled
rectifier.

The 3-phase input supply is applied through the star connected supply transformer as shown in
the figure. The common neutral point of the supply is connected to one end of the load while the
other end of the load connected to the common cathode point.

When the thyristor T 1 is triggered at ωt=(∏/6 + α)=(30° + α) , the phase voltage V an appears
across the load when T 1 conducts. The load current flows through the supply phase winding 'a-
n' and through thyristor T 1 as long as T 1 conducts.
When thyristor T 2 is triggered at ωt=(5∏/6α), T 1 becomes reverse biased and turns-off. The load
current flows through the thyristor and through the supply phase winding 'b-n' . When
T 2 conducts the phase voltage v bn appears across the load until the thyristor T 3 is triggered .
When the thyristor T 3 is triggered at ωt=(3∏/2 + α)=(270°+α) , T 2 is reversed biased and hence
T 2 turns-off. The phase voltage V an appears across the load when T 3 conducts.
When T 1 is triggered again at the beginning of the next input cycle the thyristor T 3 turns off as it
is reverse biased naturally as soon as T 1 is triggered. The figure shows the 3-phase input supply
voltages, the output voltage which appears across the load, and the load current assuming a
constant and ripple free load current for a highly inductive load and the current through the
thyristor T 1 .
For a purely resistive load where the load inductance ‘L = 0’ and the trigger angle α >(∏/6) , the
load current appears as discontinuous load current and each thyristor is naturally commutated
when the polarity of the corresponding phase supply voltage reverses. The frequency of output

75 | P a g e
ripple frequency for a 3-phase half wave converter is f s , where f s is the input supply frequency.
3
The 3-phase half wave converter is not normally used in practical converter systems because of
the disadvantage that the supply current waveforms contain dc components (i.e., the supply
current waveforms have an average or dc value).

To derive an expression for the average output voltage of a 3-phase half wave converter for
continuous load current

The reference phase voltage is v RN =v an =V m sinωt. The trigger angle is measured from the cross
over points of the 3-phase supply voltage waveforms. When the phase supply voltage V an begins
its positive half cycle at ωt=0 , the first cross over point appears at ωt=(∏/6)radians 30°.
The trigger angle α for the thyristor T 1 is measured from the cross over point at . The
thyristor T 1 is forward biased during the period ωt=30° to 150° , when the phase supply
voltage v an has higher amplitude than the other phase supply voltages. Hence T 1 can be triggered
between 30° to 150°. When the thyristor T 1 is triggered at a trigger angle α, the average or dc
output voltage for continuous load current is calculated using the equation

π
α
Vavg = π
π
α

Operation of three phase half controlled rectifier with R and RL loads

Figure: 2.18 circuit diagram three phase half controlled rectifier

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Three phase half wave controlled rectifier output voltage waveforms for different trigger
angles with R load

Figure: 2.19 input and output waveforms of three phase half controlled rectifier with R load

Three single phase half wave converters can be connected to form a three phase half wave converter.
Similarly three phase semi converter uses 3 SCRs T1, T3 & T5 and 3 diodes D2, D4&D6 In the circuit
shown above when any device conducts, line voltage is applied across load. so line voltage are necessary
to draw Phase shift between two line voltages is 60 degree & between two phase voltages it is 120 degree
Each phase & line voltage is sine wave with the frequency of 50 Hz.
R,Y,B are phase voltages with respect to ‘N’.
In the case of a three-phase half wave controlled rectifier with resistive load, the thyristor T 1 is
triggered at ωt=(30°+α)and T 1 conducts up to ωt=180°=&pron; radians. When the phase supply
voltage decreases to zero at , the load current falls to zero and the thyristor T 1 turns off.
Thus T 1 conducts from ωt=(30° + α) to (180°).

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Hence the average dc output voltage for a 3-pulse converter (3-phase half wave controlled
rectifier) is calculated by using the equation

π π
α
The average output voltage V avg = π π
π α

Figure: 2.19 Input and output waveforms of three phase half controlled rectifier with RL load

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Numerical Problems on three phase rectifiers:

1. A three phase semi converter feeds power to a resistive load of 10Ω. For a firing angle delay of
300 the load takes 5 Kw. Find the magnitude of per phase input supply voltage.

Solution:

π π
α
Vor = π π π
α

Vor2 =

Vor =

For α = 300

P = V2/R

5000x10 =

Vs = 175.67V and Vph = 101.43V

2. A three-phase half-wave controlled rectifier has a supply of 200V/phase. Determine the average
load voltage for firing angle of 0o, 30oand 60o assuming a thyristor volt drop of 1.5V and
continuous load current
3. A three phase half wave converter is supplying a load with a continuous constant current of 50A
over a firing angle from 0o to 600. What will be the power dissipated by the load at these limiting
values of firing angle. The supply voltage is 415V (line).

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Operation of three phase fully controlled rectifier with R and RL loads

Three phase full converter is a fully controlled bridge controlled rectifier using six thyristors
connected in the form of a full wave bridge configuration. All the six thyristors are controlled
switches which are turned on at a appropriate times by applying suitable gate trigger signals.
The three phase full converter is extensively used in industrial power applications upto about
120kW output power level, where two quadrant operations is required. The figure shows a three
phase full converter with highly inductive load. This circuit is also known as three phase full
wave bridge or as a six pulse converter.
The thyristors are triggered at an interval of (∏/3) radians (i.e. at an interval of 30°). The
frequency of output ripple voltage is 6f s and the filtering requirement is less than that of three
phase semi and half wave converters.

Figure: 2.20 circuit diagram three phase fully controlled rectifier with R and RL load
At ωt=(∏/6 +α) , thyristor is already conducting when the thyristor is turned on by applying the
gating signal to the gate of . During the time period ωt=(∏/6 +α) to (∏/2 +α), thyristors and
conduct together and the line to line supply voltage appears across the load.
At ωt=(∏/2 +α), the thyristor T 2 is triggered and T 6 is reverse biased immediately and T 6 turns
off due to natural commutation. During the time period ωt=(∏/ +α) to (5∏/6 +α),
thyristor T 1 and T 2 conduct together and the line to line supply voltage appears across the load.
The thyristors are numbered in the circuit diagram corresponding to the order in which they are
triggered. The trigger sequence (firing sequence) of the thyristors is 12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 61, 12,
23, and so on. The figure shows the waveforms of three phase input supply voltages, output
voltage, the thyristor current through T 1 and T 4 , the supply current through the line ‘a’.

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We define three line neutral voltages (3 phase voltages) as follows

V RN = V an = V m sinwt where V m is the maximum voltage

V YN = V bn = V m sin (wt-

V BN = V cn = V m sin (wt-

The corresponding line to line voltages are

π
V RY = V ab = V an - V bn =

π
V YB = V bc = V bn – V cn =

π
V BR = V ca = V cn – V an =

To derive an expression for the average output voltage of three phase full converter with highly
inductive load assuming continuous and constant load current

The output load voltage consists of 6 voltage pulses over a period of 2∏ radians, hence the
average output voltage is calculated as

π
α
Vavg = π
π
α

π
Vo = Vab =
π
α π
Vavg = π
π α

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The RMS value of the output voltage is found from
π
α
Vorms = π
π
α

π
α
= π
π
α

π
α π
= π
π
α

Figure: 2.21 Input and output waveforms of three phase fully controlled rectifier

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Operation of three phase half wave rectifier with RLE loads

A three phase fully controlled converter is obtained by replacing all the six diodes of an uncontrolled
converter by six thyristors as shown in Figure

Figure: 2.22 circuit diagram of three phase fully controlled rectifier with RLE load

For any current to flow in the load at least one device from the top group (T1, T3, T5) and one from the
bottom group (T2, T4, T6) must conduct. It can be argued as in the case of an uncontrolled converter only
one device from these two groups will conduct.
Then from symmetry consideration it can be argued that each thyristor conducts for 120° of the input
cycle. Now the thyristors are fired in the sequence T1 → T2 → T3 → T4 → T5 → T6 → T1 with 60°
interval between each firing. Therefore thyristors on the same phase leg are fired at an interval of 180°
and hence can not conduct simultaneously. This leaves only six possible conduction mode for the
converter in the continuous conduction mode of operation. These are T1T2, T2T3, T3T4, T4T5, T5T6,
T6T1. Each conduction mode is of 60° duration and appears in the sequence mentioned. Each of these
line voltages can be associated with the firing of a thyristor with the help of the conduction table-1. For
example the thyristor T1 is fired at the end
of T5 T6 conduction interval. During this period the voltage across T1 was vac. Therefore T1 is fired α
angle after the positive going zero crossing of vac. similar observation can be made about other thyristors.

Fig. 2.23 shows the waveforms of different variables. To arrive at the waveforms it is necessary to draw
the conduction diagram which shows the interval of conduction for each thyristor and can be drawn with
the help of the phasor diagram of fig. 2.22. If the converter firing angle is α each thyristor is fired “α”

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angle after the positive going zero crossing of the line voltage with which it’s firing is associated. Once
the conduction diagram is drawn all other voltage waveforms can be drawn from the line voltage
waveforms and from the conduction table of fig. 2.22. Similarly line currents can be drawn from the
output current and the conduction diagram. It is clear from the waveforms that output voltage and current
waveforms are periodic over one sixth of the input cycle. Therefore this converter is also called

the “six pulse” converter. The input current on the other hand contains only odds harmonics of the input
frequency other than the triplex (3rd, 9th etc.) harmonics. The next section will analyze the operation of
this converter in more details.

Figure: 2.23 Input and output waveforms of three phase fully controlled rectifier in rectifier mode

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 Figure: 2.24 Input and output waveforms of three phase fully controlled rectifier in inversion mode
Effect of source inductance in three phase rectifiers

The three phase fully controlled converter was analyzed with ideal source with no internal impedance.
When the source inductance is taken into account, the qualitative effects on the performance of the
converter is similar to that in the case of a single phase converter. Fig. 2.25 shows such a converter. As in
the case of a single phase converter the load is assumed to be highly inductive such that the load can be
replaced by a current source.

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 Figure: 2.25 circuit diagram for three phase rectifier with source inductance

Figure: 2.26 waveforms for three phase rectifier with source inductance

As in the case of a single phase converter, commutations are not instantaneous due to the presence of
source inductances. It takes place over an overlap period of “μ ” instead. During the overlap period three
1

thyristors instead of two conducts. Current in the outgoing thyristor gradually decreases to zero while the
incoming thyristor current increases and equals the total load current at the end of the overlap period. If
the duration of the overlap period is greater than 60º four thyristors may also conduct clamping the output
voltage to zero for some time. However, this situation is not very common and will not be discussed any
further in this lesson. Due to the conduction of two devices during commutation either from the top group
or the bottom group the instantaneous output voltage during the overlap period drops (shown by the

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hatched portion of Fig. 2.26 resulting in reduced average voltage. The exact amount of this reduction can
be calculated as follows.
In the time interval α < ωt ≤ α + μ, T and T from the bottom group and T from the top group conducts.
6 2 1

The equivalent circuit of the converter during this period is given by the circuit diagram of Fig. 2.27

Figure: 2.27 Equivalent circuit of waveforms with source inductance

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Introduction to dual converters

Dual converter, the name itself says two converters. It is really an electronic converter or circuit which
comprises of two converters. One will perform as rectifier and the other will perform as inverter.
Therefore, we can say that double processes will occur at a moment. Here, two full converters are
arranged in anti-parallel pattern and linked to the same dc load. These converters can provide four
quadrant operations. The basic block diagram is shown below

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 Figure: 2.28 Block diagram of dual converter

Modes of Operation of Dual Converter

There are two functional modes: Non-circulating current mode and circulating mode.

Non Circulating Current Mode

 One converter will perform at a time. So there is no circulating current between the converters.
 During the converter 1 operation, firing angle (α1) will be 0<α1< 90o; Vdc and Idc are positive.
 During the converter 2 operation, firing angle (α2) will be 0<α2< 90o; Vdc and Idc are negative.

Circulating Current Mode

 Two converters will be in the ON condition at the same time. So circulating current is present.
 The firing angles are adjusted such that firing angle of converter 1 (α1) + firing angle of converter 2
(α2) = 180o.
 Converter 1 performs as a controlled rectifier when firing angle be 0<α1< 90o and Converter 2
performs as an inverter when the firing angle be 90o<α2< 180o. In this condition, Vdc and Idc are
positive.
 Converter 1 performs as an inverter when firing angle be 90o<α1< 180o and Converter 2 performs
as a controlled rectifier when the firing angle be 0<α2< 90o In this condition, Vdc and Idc are
negative.
 The four quadrant operation is shown below

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 Figure: 2.29 Four quadrant operations of dual converter

Ideal Dual Converter

The term ‘ideal’ refers to the ripple free output voltage. For the purpose of unidirectional flow of DC
current, two diodes (D1 and D2) are incorporated between the converters. However, the direction of
current can be in any way. The average output voltage of the converter 1 is V01 and converter 2 is V02. To
make the output voltage of the two converters in same polarity and magnitude, the firing angles of the
Thyristors have to be controlled.

Figure: 2.30 Ideal dual converter

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Single Phase Dual Converter

The source of this type of converter will be single-phase supply. Consider, the converter is in non-
circulating mode of operation. The input is given to the converter 1 which converts the AC to DC by the
method of rectification. It is then given to the load after filtering. Then, this DC is provided to the
converter 2 as input. This converter performs as inverter and converts this DC to AC. Thus, we get AC as
output. The circuit diagram is shown below.

Figure: 2.31 Single phase Dual converter

Average output voltage of Single-phase converter=

Average output voltage of Three-phase converter =

For converter 1, the average output voltage,

For converter 2, the average output voltage,

Output voltage,

The firing angle can never be greater than 180o. So,

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 Figure: 2.32 output voltage variation with firing angle

Three Phase Dual Converter

Here, three-phase rectifier and three-phase inverter are used. The processes are similar to single-phase
dual converter. The three-phase rectifier will do the conversion of the three-phase AC supply to the DC.
This DC is filtered and given to the input of the second converter. It will do the DC to AC conversion and
the output that we get is the three-phase AC. Applications where the output is up to 2 megawatts. The
circuit is shown below.

Figure: 2.33 Three phase dual converter

Application of Dual Converter

 Direction and Speed control of DC motors.

 Applicable wherever the reversible DC is required.
 Industrial variable speed DC drives.

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 UNIT – III
AC voltage controllers and Cycloconverters
Introduction to AC voltage controllers

AC voltage controllers (ac line voltage controllers) are employed to vary the RMS value of the
alternating voltage applied to a load circuit by introducing Thyristors between t he load and a
constant voltage ac source. The RMS value of alternating voltage applied to a load circuit is
controlled by controlling the triggering angle of the Thyristors in the AC Voltage
Controller circuits.
In brief, an AC Voltage Controller is a type of thyristor power converter which is used to
convert a fixed voltage, fixed frequency ac input supply to obtain a variable voltage ac output.
The RMS value of the ac output voltage and the ac power flow to the load is controlled by
varying (adjusting) the trigger angle ‘α’

Figure: 3.1 Block diagram of AC voltage controller

Control strategies: There are two different types of thyristor control used in practice to control
the ac power flow

1. On-Off control

2. Phase control

These are the two ac output voltage control techniques. In On-Off control technique Thyristors
are used as switches to connect the load circuit to the ac supply (source) for a few cycles of the
input ac supply and then to disconnect it for few input cycles. The Thyristors thus act as a high
speed contactor (or high speed ac switch).

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Phase control

In phase control the Thyristors are used as switches to connect the load circuit to the input ac
supply, for a part of every input cycle. That is the ac supply voltage is chopped using Thyristors
during a part of each input cycle.

The thyristor switch is turned on for a part of every half cycle, so that input supply voltage
appears across the load and then turned off during the remaining part of input half cycle to
disconnect the ac supply from the load.

By controlling the phase angle or the trigger angle ‘α’ (delay angle), the output RMS voltage
across the load can be controlled.

The trigger delay angle ‘α’ is defined as the phase angle (the value of ωt) at which the thyristor
turns on and the load current begins to flow.

Thyristor AC Voltage Controllers use ac line commutation or ac phase commutation. Thyristors

in AC Voltage Controllers are line commutated (phase commutated) since the input supply is
ac. When the input ac voltage reverses and becomes negative during the negative half cycle the
current flowing through the conducting thyristor decreases and falls to zero. Thus the ON
thyristor naturally turns off, when the device current falls to zero.

Phase control Thyristors which are relatively inexpensive, converter grade Thyristors which are
slower than fast switching inverter grade Thyristors are normally used.

For applications upto 400Hz, if Triacs are available to meet the voltage and current ratings of a
particular application, Triacs are more commonly used.

Due to ac line commutation or natural commutation, there is no need of extra commutation

circuitry or components and the circuits for AC Voltage Controllers are very simple.
Due to the nature of the output waveforms, the analysis, derivations of expressions for
performance parameters are not simple, especially for the phase controlled AC Voltage
Controllers with RL load. But however most of the practical loads are of the RL type and hence
RL load should be considered in the analysis and design of AC Voltage Controllers circuits.

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Type of ac voltage controllers

The ac voltage controllers are classified into two types based on the type of input ac supply
applied to the circuit.

 Single Phase AC Controllers

 Three Phase AC Controllers
Single Phase AC Controllers operate with single phase ac supply voltage of 230V RMS at 50Hz
in our country. Three Phase AC Controllers operate with 3 phase ac supply of 400V RMS at
50Hz supply frequency.

Performance parameters of ac voltage controllers

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Applications of ac voltage controllers

 Lighting / Illumination control in ac power circuits.

 Induction heating.

 Industrial heating & Domestic heating.

 Transformers tap changing (on load transformer tap changing).

 Speed control of induction motors (single phase and poly phase ac induction motor
control).

 AC magnet controls.

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Single phase AC voltage controller with R load

AC to AC voltage converters operates on the AC mains essentially to regulate the output voltage. Portions
of the supply sinusoid appear at the load while the semiconductor switches block the remaining portions.
Several topologies have emerged along with voltage regulation methods, most of which are linked to the
development of the semiconductor devices.

Figure: 3.2 Circuit diagram and output waveforms of AC voltage controller with R load

Fig. 2.35 illustrates the operation of the PAC converter with a resistive load. The device(s) is triggered at
a phase-angle 'α' in each cycle. The current follows the voltage wave shape in each half and extinguishes
itself at the zero crossings of the supply voltage. In the two-SCR topology, one SCR is positively biased
in each half of the supply voltage. There is no scope for conduction overlap of the devices. A single pulse
is sufficient to trigger the controlled devices with a resistive load. In the diode-SCR topology, two diodes
are forward biased in each half. The SCR always receives a DC voltage and does not distinguish the
polarity of the supply. It is thus always forward biased. The bi-directional TRIAC is also forward biased
for both polarities of the supply voltage.

The rms voltage Vrms decides the power supplied to the load. It can be computed as

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Power Factor

The power factor of a nonlinear deserves a special discussion. Fig. 2.35 shows the supply voltage and the
non-sinusoidal load current. The fundamental load/supply current lags the supply voltage by the φ1,
'Fundamental Power Factor' angle. Cosφ1 is also called the 'Displacement Factor'. However this does not
account for the total reactive power drawn by the system. This power factor is inspite of the actual load
being resistive! The reactive power is drawn also y the trigger-angle dependent harmonics. Now

Single phase AC voltage controller with RL load

With inductive loads the operation of the PAC is illustrated in Fig 2. 36. The current builds up from zero
in each cycle. It quenches not at the zero crossing of the applied voltage as with the resistive load but after
that instant. The supply voltage thus continues to be impressed on the load till the load current returns to
zero. A single-pulse trigger for the TRIAC) or the anti parallel SCR has no effect on the devices if it (or
the anti-parallel device) is already in conduction in the reverse direction. The devices would fail to
conduct when they are intended to, as they do not have the supply voltage forward biasing them when the
trigger pulse arrives. A single pulse trigger will work till the trigger angle α > φ, where φ is the power
factor angle of the inductive load. A train of pulses is required here. The output voltage is controllable
only between triggering angles φ and 180o. The load current waveform is further explained in Fig. 26.6.
The current is composed of two components. The first is the steady state component of the load current, iss
and the second, itr is the transient component.

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 Figure: 3.3 Circuit diagram and output waveforms of AC voltage controller with RL load

With an inductance in the load the distinguishing feature of the load current is that it must always start
from zero. However, if the switch could have permanently kept the load connected to the supply the
current would have become a sinusoidal one phase shifted from the voltage by the phase angle of the
load, φ. This current restricted to the half periods of conduction is called the 'steady-state component' of
load current iss. The 'transient component' of load current itr, again in each half cycle, must add up to zero
with this iss to start from zero. This condition sets the initial value of the transient component to that of
the steady state at the instant that the SCR/TRIAC is triggered. Fig. 2. 36 illustrates these relations. When
a device is in conduction, the load current is governed by the equation

Since at t = 0, iload = 0 and supply voltage vs = √2Vsinωt the solution is of the form the instant when the
load current extinguishes is called the extinction angle β. It can be inferred that there would be no

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transients in the load current if the devices are triggered at the power factor angle of the load. The load
current I that case is perfectly sinusoidal.

Modes of operation of TRIAC

The triac is an important member of the thyristor family of devices. It is a bidirectional device that can
pass the current in both forward and reverse biased conditions and hence it is an AC control device. The
triac is equivalent to two back to back SCRs connected with one gate terminal as shown in figure. The
triac is an abbreviation for a TRIode AC switch. TRI means that the device consisting of three terminals
and AC means that it controls the AC power or it can conduct in both directions of alternating current.

Figure: 3.4 Two thyristor analogy and circuit symbol of TRIAC

The triac has three terminals namely Main Terminal 1(MT1), Main Terminal 2 (MT2) and Gate (G) as
shown in figure. If MT1 is forward biased with respect to MT2, then the current flows from MT1 to MT2.
Similarly, if the MT2 is forward biased with respect to MT1, then the current flows from MT2 to MT1.
The above two conditions are achieved whenever the gate is triggered with an appropriate gate pulse.
Similar to the SCR, triac is also turned by injecting appropriate current pulses into the gate terminal. Once
it is turned ON, it looses its gate control over its conduction. So traic can be turned OFF by reducing the
current to zero through the main terminals.

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Construction of TRIAC

A triac is a five layer, three terminal semiconductor device. The terminals are marked as MT1, MT2 as
anode and cathode terminals in case of SCR. And the gate is represented as G similar to the thyristor. The
gate terminal is connected to both N4 and P2 regions by a metallic contact and it is near to the MT1
terminal. The terminal MT1 is connected to both N2 and P2 regions, while MT2 is connected to both N3
and P1 regions. Hence, the terminals MT1 and MT2 connected to both P and N regions of the device and
thus the polarity of applied voltage between these two terminals decides the current flow through the
layers of the device.

Figure: 3.5 construction of TRIAC

With the gate open, MT2 is made positive with respect to MT1 for a forward biased traic. Hence traic
operates in forward blocking mode until the voltage across the triac is less than the forward break over
voltage. Similarly for a reverse biased triac, MT2 is made negative with respect to MT1 with gate open.
Until the voltage across the triac is less than the reverse break over voltage, device operates in a reverse
blocking mode. A traic can be made conductive by either positive or negative voltage at the gate terminal.

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Working and Operation of TRIAC

It is possible to connect various combinations of negative and positive voltages to the triac terminals
because it is a bidirectional device. The four possible electrode potential combinations which make the
triac to operate four different operating quadrants or modes are given as.

1. MT2 is positive with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity positive with respect to MT1.

2. MT2 is positive with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity negative with respect to MT1.

3. MT2 is negative with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity negative with respect to MT1.

4. MT2 is negative with respect to MT1 with a gate polarity positive with respect to MT1.

In general, latching current is higher in second quadrant or mode whilst gate trigger current is higher in
the fourth mode compared with other modes for any triac. Most of the applications, negative triggering
current circuit is used that means 2 and 3 quadrants are used for a reliable triggering in bidirectional
control and also when the gate sensitivity is critical. The gate sensitivity is highest with modes 1 and 4 are
generally employed.

Mode 1: MT2 is Positive, Positive Gate Current

When the gate terminal is made positive with respect to MT1, gate current flows through the P2 and N2
junction. When this current flows, the P2 layer is flooded with electrons and further these electrons are
diffused to the edge of junction J2 (or P2-N1 junction). These electrons collected by the N1 layer builds a
space charge on the N1 layer. Therefore, more holes from the P1 region are diffused into the N1 region to
neutralize the negative space charges. These holes arrive at the junction J2 and produce the positive space
charge in the P2 region, which causes more electrons to inject into P2 from N2. This results a positive
regeneration and finally the main current flows from MT2 to MT1 through the regions P1- N1 – P2 – N2.

Figure: 3.6 Mode 1 operation of TRIAC

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Mode 2: MT2 is Positive, Negative Gate Current

When MT2 is positive and the gate terminal is negative with respect to MT1, gate current flows through
the P2-N4 junction. This gate current forward biases the P2-N4 junction for auxiliary P1N1P2N4
structure. This results the triac to conduct initially through the P1N1P2N4 layers. This further raises the
potential between P2N2 towards the potential of MT2. This causes the current to establish from left to
right in the P2 layer which forward biases the junction P2N2. And hence the main structure P1N1P2N2
begins to conduct. Initially conducted auxiliary structure P1N1P2N4 is considered as a pilot SCR while
later conducted structure P1N1P2N2 is considered as main SCR. Hence the anode current of pilot SCR
serves as gate current to the main SCR. The sensitivity to gate current is less in this mode and hence more
gate current is required to turn the triac.

Figure: 3.7 Mode 2 operation of TRIAC

Mode 3: MT2 is Negative, Positive Gate Current

In this mode, MT2 is made negative with respect to MT1 and the device is turned ON by applying a
positive voltage between the gate and MT1 terminal. The turn ON is initiated by N2 which acts as a
remote gate control and the structure leads to turn ON the triac is P2N1P1N3. The external gate current
forward biases the junction P2-N2. N2 layer injects the electrons into the P2 layer which are then
collected by junction P2N1. This result to increases the current flow through P2N1 junction.

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 Figure: 3.8 Mode 3 operation of TRIAC

The holes injected from layer P2 diffuse through the N1 region. This builds a positive space charge in the
P region. Therefore, more electrons from N3 are diffused into P1 to neutralize the positive space charges.
Hence, these electrons arrive at junction J2 and produce a negative space charge in the N1region which
results to inject more holes from the P2 into the region N1. This regenerative process continues till the
structure P2N1P1N3 turns ON the triac and conducts the external current. As the triac is turned ON by the
remote gate N2, the device is less sensitive to the positive gate current in this mode.

Mode 4: MT2 is Negative, Negative Gate Current

In this mode N4 acts as a remote gate and injects the electrons into the P2 region. The external gate
current forward biases the junction P2N4. The electrons from the N4 region are collected by the P2N1
junction increase the current across P1N1 junction. Hence the structure P2N1P1N3 turns ON by the
regenerative action. The triac is more sensitive in this mode compared with positive gate current in mode
3.

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 Figure: 3.9 Mode 4 operation of TRIAC

From the above discussion, it is concluded that the modes 2 and 3 are less sensitive configuration which
needs more gate current to trigger the triac, whereas more common triggering modes of triac are 1 and 4
which have greater sensitivity. In practice the more sensitive mode of operation is selected such that the
polarity of the gate is to match with the polarity of the terminal MT2.

V-I Characteristics of TRIAC

The traic function like a two thyristors connected in anti-parallel and hence the VI characteristics of triac
in the 1st and 3rd quadrants will be similar to the VI characteristics of a thyristors. When the terminal
MT2 is positive with respect to MT1 terminal, the traic is said to be in forward blocking mode. A small
leakage current flows through the device provided that voltage across the device is lower than the
breakover voltage. Once the breakover voltage of the device is reached, then the triac turns ON as shown
in below figure. However, it is also possible to turn ON the triac below the VBO by applying a gate pulse
in such that the current through the device should be more than the latching current of the triac.

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 Figure: 3.10 V-I characteristics of TRIAC

Similarly, when the terminal MT2 is made negative with respect to MT1, the traic is in reverse blocking
mode. A small leakage current flows through the device until it is triggered by breakover voltage or gate
triggering method. Hence the positive or negative pulse to the gate triggers the triac in both directions.
The supply voltage at which the triac starts conducting depends on the gate current. If the gate is current
is being greater, lesser will be the supply voltage at which the triac is turned ON. Above discussed mode -
1 triggering is used in the first quadrant whereas mode-3 triggering is used in 3rd quadrant. Due to the
internal structure of the triac, the actual values of latching current, gate trigger current and holding current
may be slightly different in different operating modes. Therefore, the ratings of the traics considerably
lower than the thyristors.

Advantages of Triac

Triac can be triggered by both positive and negative polarity voltages applied at the gate.

 It can operate and switch both half cycles of an AC waveform.

 As compared with the anti-parallel thyristor configuration which requires two heat sinks of slightly
smaller size, a triac needs a single heat sink of slightly larger size. Hence the triac saves both space
and cost in AC power applications.

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  In DC applications, SCRs are required to be connected with a parallel diode to protect against
reverse voltage. But the triac may work without a diode, a safe breakdown is possible in either
direction.

Disadvantages of Triac

 These are available in lower ratings as compared with thyristors.

 A careful consideration is required while selecting a gate trigger circuit since a triac can be
triggered in both forward and reverse biased conditions.

 These have low dv/dt rating as compared with thyristors.

 These have very small switching frequencies.

 Triacs are less reliable than thyristors.

Numerical Problems

1. A single phase voltage controller is employed for controlling the power flow from 230V, 50Hz source
into a load circuit consisting of R=3 Ω and L=4 Ω. Calculate

(i) the range of firing angle

(ii) the maximum value of rms load current

(iii) the maximum power and power factor

(iv) The maximum values of average and rms thyristor currents.

Solution:

i. For controlling the load the minimum value of firing angle α = load phase angle

The maximum possible value of α is 1800

So the firing angle control range is ° α °
ii. The maximum value of rms value of load current occurs when α = Ф = 53.130
But at this value of firing angle, the power circuit of ac voltage controller behaves as if load is
directly connected to ac source. Therefore maximum value of rms load current is

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 I0 = = = 46A

iii. Maximum power = I02xR = 462x3 = 6348W

Power factor = = = 0.6

iv. Average thyristor current is maximum when α = Ф and conduction angle ᵞ =

ITAVG =

= =

Similarly maximum value of thyristor current is

ITrms =

= =

2. An ac voltage controller uses a TRIAC for phase angle control of a resistive load of 100Ω. Calculate
the value of delay angle for having an rms load voltage of 220 volts. Also calculate the rms value of
TRIAC current. Assume the rms supply voltage to be 230V.

3. The ac voltage controller uses on-off control for heating a resistive load of R = 4 ohms and the input
voltage is Vs = 208V, 60Hz. If the desired output power is PO = 3KW, determine the

(a) duty cycle δ

(b) input power factor
Sketch waveforms for the duty cycle obtained in (a)

Introduction to Cyclo converters

The Cycloconverter has been traditionally used only in very high power drives, usually above
one megawatt, where no other type of drive can be used. Examples are cement tube mill drives
above 5 MW, the 13 MW German-Dutch wind tunnel fan drive, reversible rolling mill drives and
ship propulsion drives. The reasons for this are that the traditional Cycloconverter requires a
large number of thyristors, at least 36 and usually more for good motor performance, together
with a very complex control circuit, and it has some performance limitations, the worst of which
is an output frequency limited to about one third the input frequency .

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 Figure 3.11 Block diagram of cycloconverters

The Cycloconverter has four thyristors divided into a positive and negative bank of two
thyristors each. When positive current flows in the load, the output voltage is controlled by phase
control of the two positive bank thyristors whilst the negative bank thyristors are ke pt off and vice
versa when negative current flows in the load. An idealized output waveform for a sinusoidal load
current and a 45 degrees load phase angle is shown in Figure 3.11. It is important to keep the non
conducting thyristor bank off at all times, otherwise the mains could be shorted via the two
thyristor banks, resulting in waveform distortion and possible device failure from the shorting
current. A major control problem of the Cycloconverter is how to swap between banks in the
shortest possible time to avoid distortion whilst ensuring the two banks do not conduct at the same
time. A common addition to the power circuit that removes the requirement to keep one bank off
is to place a centre tapped inductor called a circulating current inductor betwe en the outputs of the
two banks. Both banks can now conduct together without shorting the mains. Also, the circulating
current in the inductor keeps both banks operating all the time, resulting in improved output
waveforms. This technique is not often used, though, because the circulating current inductor
tends to be expensive and bulky and the circulating current reduces the power factor on the input

In a 1-φ Cycloconverter, the output frequency is less than the supply frequency. These converters
require natural commutation which is provided by AC supply. During positive half cycle of
supply, Thyristors P1 and N2 are forward biased. First triggering pulse is applied to P1 and hence
it starts conducting.
As the supply goes negative,P1 gets off and in negative half cycle of supply, P2 and N1 are
forward biased. P2 is triggered and hence it conducts. In the next cycle of supply,N2 in positive
half cycle andN1 in negative half cycle are triggered. Thus, we can observe that here the output
frequency is 1/2 times the supply frequency.

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Operation Principles

The following sections will describe the operation principles of the Cycloconverter starting
from the simplest one, single-phase to single-phase (1f-1f) Cycloconverter.

Single-phase to Single-phase (1 Φ-1 Φ) Cycloconverter

To understand the operation principles of Cycloconverters, the single-phase to single-

phase Cycloconverter (Fig. 3.12) should be studied first. This converter consists of back-to-back
connection of two full-wave rectifier circuits. Fig 3.13 shows the operating waveforms for this
converter with a resistive load.

Zero Firing angle, i.e. thyristors act like diodes. Note that the firing angles are named as αP for
the positive converter and αN for the negative converter.The input voltage, vs is an ac voltage at
a frequency, fi as shown in Fig. 3.13. For easy understanding assume that all the thyristors are
fired at α=0°

Consider the operation of the Cycloconverter to get one-fourth of the input frequency at the
output. For the first two cycles of vs, the positive converter operates supplying current to the
load. It rectifies the input voltage; therefore, the load sees 4 positive half cycles as seen in Fig.
3.13. In the next two cycles, the negative converter operates supplying current to the load in the
reverse direction. The current waveforms are not shown in the figures because the resistive load
current will have the same waveform as the voltage but only scaled by t he resistance. Note that
when one of the converters operates the other one is disabled, so that there is no current
circulating between the two rectifiers.

Figure 3.12 circuit diagram of cycloconverter

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 Figure 3.13 Input and output waveforms of cycloconverter

Single phase midpoint Cyclo converters

Basically, these are divided into two main types, and are given below

Step-down cyclo-converter

It acts like a step-down transformer that provides the output frequency less than that of input, fo < fi.

Step-up cyclo-converter

It provides the output frequency more than that of input, fo > fi.

In case of step-down cyclo-converter, the output frequency is limited to a fraction of input frequency,
typically it is below 20Hz in case 50Hz supply frequency. In this case, no separate commutation circuits
are needed as SCRs are line commutated devices.

But in case of step-up cyclo-converter, forced commutation circuits are needed to turn OFF SCRs at
desired frequency. Such circuits are relatively very complex. Therefore, majority of cyclo-converters are
of step-down type that lowers the frequency than input frequency.

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 Figure 3.14 circuit diagram of midpoint cycloconverter

Figure 3.15 Input and output waveforms of midpoint cycloconverter

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It consists of single phase transformer with mid tap on the secondary winding and four thyristors. Two of
these thyristors P1, P2 are for positive group and the other two N1, N2 are for the negative group. Load is
connected between secondary winding midpoint 0 and the load terminal. Positive directions for output
voltage and output current are marked in figure 3.14

In figure 3.14 during the positive half cycle of supply voltage terminal a is positive with respect to
terminal b. therefore in this positive half cycle, both p1 and N2 are forward biased from wt= 0 to Π. As
such SCR P1 is turned on at wt = 0 so that load voltage is positive with terminal A and 0 negative. Now
the load voltage is positive. At instant t1 P1 is force commutated and forward biased thyristor N2 is
turned on so that load voltage is negative with terminal 0 and A negative. Now the load voltage is
negative. Now N2 is force commutated and P1 is turned on the load voltage is positive this is a
continuous process and will get step up cyclo converter output

Bridge configuration of single phase Cyclo converter

The equivalent circuit of a cyclo-converter is shown in figure below. Here each two quadrant phase
controlled converter is represented by a voltage source of desired frequency and consider that the output
power is generated by the alternating current and voltage at desired frequency.

The diodes connected in series with each voltage source represent the unidirectional conduction of each
two quadrant converter. If the output voltage ripples of each converter are neglected, then it becomes
ideal and represents the desired output voltage.

Figure 3.16 Block diagram of bridge type cycloconverter

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If the firing angles of individual converters are modulated continuously, each converter produces same
sinusoidal voltages at its output terminals.

So the voltages produced by these two converters have same phase, voltage and frequency. The average
power produced by the cyclo-converter can flow either to or from the output terminals as the load current
can flow freely to and from the load through the positive and negative converters.

Therefore, it is possible to operate the loads of any phase angle (or power factor), inductive or capacitive
through the cyclo-converter circuit.

Due to the unidirectional property of load current for each converter, it is obvious that positive converter
carries positive half-cycle of load current with negative converter remaining in idle during this period.

Similarly, negative converter carries negative half cycle of the load current with positive converter
remaining in idle during this period, regardless of the phase of current with respect to voltage.

This means that each converter operates both in rectifying and inverting regions during the period of its
associated half cycles.

The figure below shows ideal output current and voltage waveforms of a cyclo-converter for lagging and
leading power factor loads. The conduction periods of positive and negative converters are also illustrated
in the figure.

Figure 3.17 cycloconverter waveforms

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The positive converter operates whenever the load current is positive with negative converter remaining
in idle. In the same manner negative converter operates for negative half cycle of load current.

Both rectification and inversion modes of each converter are shown in figure. This desired output voltage
is produced by regulating the firing angle to individual converters.

Single-phase to single-phase cyclo-converters

These are rarely used in practice; however, these are required to understand fundamental principle of
cyclo-converters.

It consists of two full-wave, fully controlled bridge thyristors, where each bridge has 4 thyristors, and
each bridge is connected in opposite direction (back to back) such that both positive and negative voltages
can be obtained as shown in figure below. Both these bridges are excited by single phase, 50 Hz AC
supply.

Figure 3.18 Circuit diagram of bridge type cycloconverter

During positive half cycle of the input voltage, positive converter (bridge-1) is turned ON and it supplies
the load current. During negative half cycle of the input, negative bridge is turned ON and it supplies load
current. Both converters should not conduct together that cause short circuit at the input.

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To avoid this, triggering to thyristors of bridge-2 is inhibited during positive half cycle of load current,
while triggering is applied to the thyristors of bridge-1 at their gates. During negative half cycle of load
current, triggering to positive bridge is inhibited while applying triggering to negative bridge.

By controlling the switching period of thyristors, time periods of both positive and negative half cycles
are changed and hence the frequency. This frequency of fundamental output voltage can be easily reduced
in steps, i.e., 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 and so on.

Figure 3.19 Input and output waveforms of bridge type cycloconverter

The above figure shows output waveforms of a cyclo-converter that produces one-fourth of the input
frequency. Here, for the first two cycles, the positive converter operates and supplies current to the load.

It rectifies the input voltage and produce unidirectional output voltage as we can observe four positive
half cycles in the figure. And during next two cycles, the negative converter operates and supplies load
current.

Here current waveforms are not shown because it is a resistive load in where current (with less
magnitude) exactly follows the voltage.

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Here one converter is disabled if another one operates, so there is no circulating current between two
converters. Since the discontinuous mode of control scheme is complicated, most cyclo-converters are
operates on circulating current mode where continuous current is allowed to flow between the converters
with a reactor.

This circulating current type cyclo-converter can be operated on with both purely resistive (R) and
inductive (R-L) loads.

1. A single-phase to single-phase cycloconverter is supplying and inductive load comprising of a

Resistance of 5Ω and an inductance of 40 mH from a 230 V, 50 Hz single-phase supply It is
Required to provide an output frequency which is 1/3 of the input frequency. If the converters are
Operated as semi converter such that and firing delay angle is120°. Neglecting the
Harmonic content of load voltage, determine:
(a) rms value of output voltage.
(b) rms current of each thyristor and
(c) input power factor.

Solution:

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2. In a standard A single-phase bridge-type cyclo-converter has input voltage of 230V, 50Hz and
load of R=10Ω. Output frequency is one-third of input frequency. For a firing angle delay of 30o,
Calculate (i) rms value of output voltage (ii) rms current of each converter (iii) rms current of
each thyristor (iv) input power factor.
3. A single-phase to single-phase mid-point cyclo-converter is delivering power to a resistive load.
The supply transformer has turns ratio of 1: 1: 1. The frequency ratio is fo/fs = 1/5. The firing
angle delay α for all the four SCRs are the same. Sketch the time variations of the following
waveforms for α = 0° and α = 30°(a) Supply voltage (b) Output current and (c) Supply current.
Indicate the conduction of various thyristors also.

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 UNIT – IV
DC – DC converters
Introduction to Choppers

A chopper uses high speed to connect and disconnect from a source load. A fixed DC voltage is applied
intermittently to the source load by continuously triggering the power switch ON/OFF. The period of
time for which the power switch stays ON or OFF is referred to as the chopper’s ON and OFF state
times, respectively.

Choppers are mostly applied in electric cars, conversion of wind and solar energy, and DC motor
regulators.

Symbol of a Chopper

Figure: 3.1 symbol of chopper

Control strategies of Chopper

In DC-DC converters, the average output voltage is controlled by varying the alpha (α) value. This is
achieved by varying the Duty Cycle of the switching pulses. Duty cycle can be varied usually in 2 ways:

1. Time Ratio Control

2. Current Limit Control

In this post we shall look upon both the ways of varying the duty cycle. Duty Cycle is the ratio of ‘On
Time’ to ‘Time Period of a pulse’.

Time Ratio Control: As the name suggest, here the time ratio (i.e. the duty cycle ratio Ton/T) is varied.
This kind of control can be achieved using 2 ways:

• Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) • Frequency Modulation Control (FMC)

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Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)

In this technique, the time period is kept constant, but the ‘On Time’ or the ‘OFF Time’ is varied. Using
this, the duty cycle ratio can be varied. Since the ON time or the ‘pulse width’ is getting changed in this
method, so it is popularly known as Pulse width modulation.

Figure: 3.2 pulse width modulation waveforms

Frequency Modulation Control (FMC)

In this control method, the ‘Time Period’ is varied while keeping either of ‘On Time’ or ‘OFF time’ as
constant. In this method, since the time period gets changed, so the frequency also changes accordingly,
so this method is known as frequency modulation control.

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 Figure: 3.3 Frequency modulation waveforms

Current Limit Control:

As is obvious from its name, in this control strategy, a specific limit is applied on the current variation.

In this method, current is allowed to fluctuate or change only between 2 values i.e. maximum current (I
max) and minimum current (I min). When the current is at minimum value, the chopper is switched ON.
After this instance, the current starts increasing, and when it reaches up to maximum value, the chopper is
switched off allowing the current to fall back to minimum value. This cycle continues again and again.

Figure: 3.4 current limit control waveforms

Classification of Choppers
Depending on the voltage output, choppers are classified as −

1. Step Up chopper (boost converter)

2. Step Down Chopper(Buck converter)

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 3. Step Up/Down Chopper (Buck-boost converter)

Depending upon the direction of the output current and voltage, the converters can be classified into five
classes namely

1. Class A [One-quadrant Operation]

2. Class B [One-quadrant Operation]
3. Class C [Two-quadrant Operation]
4. Class D Chopper [Two-quadrant Operation]
5. Class E Chopper [Four-quadrant Operation]

Step Down Chopper

This is also known as a buck converter. In this chopper, the average voltage output V O is less than the
input voltage VS. When the chopper is ON, VO = VS and when the chopper is off, VO = 0

When the chopper is ON −

VS=(VL+V0), VL=VS−V0,

Ldi/dt=VS−V0,

LΔi/TON=Vs+V0

VS=(VL+V0),

VL=VS−V0,

Ldi/dt=VS−V0,

LΔi/TON=Vs+V0

Thus, peak-to-peak current load is given by,

Δi= TON

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 Figure: 3.5 Step down chopper
Where FD is free-wheel diode.

When the chopper is OFF, polarity reversal and discharging occurs at the inductor. The current passes
through the free-wheel diode and the inductor to the load. This gives,

Ldi/dt=V0

Rewritten as LΔi/TOFF=V0
LΔi/TOFF=V0
Δi=V0TOFF/L

From the above equations

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Current and Voltage Waveforms

The current and voltage waveforms are given below −

For a step down chopper the voltage output is always less than the voltage input. This is shown by the
waveform below.

Figure: 3.6 Input and output waveforms

Step Up Chopper

The average voltage output (Vo) in a step up chopper is greater than the voltage input (Vs). The figure
below shows a configuration of a step up chopper.

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 Figure: 3.7 circuit diagram of step up chopper

Current and Voltage Waveforms

V0 (average voltage output) is positive when chopper is switched ON and negative when the chopper is
OFF as shown in the waveform below.

Figure: 3.8 Input and output waveforms of step up chopper

Where

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TON – time interval when chopper is ON

TOFF – time interval when chopper is OFF

VL – Load voltage

Vs – Source voltage

T – Chopping time period = TON + TOFF

Vo is given by −

V0 =

When the chopper (CH) is switched ON, the load is short circuited and, therefore, the voltage output for
the period TON is zero. In addition, the inductor is charged during this time. This gives VS = VL

Δi = is the inductor peak to peak current. When the chopper (CH) is OFF, discharge occurs through the
inductor L. Therefore, the summation of the Vs and VL is given as follows −

V0=VS+VL, VL=V0−VS

Equating from on state to off state

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Step Up/ Step Down Chopper

his is also known as a buck-boost converter. It makes it possible to increase or reduce the voltage input
level. The diagram below shows a buck-boost chopper

Figure: 3.9 circuit diagram of step up chopper

When the chopper is switched ON, the inductor L becomes charged by the source voltage Vs. Therefore,
Vs = VL.

When the chopper is switched OFF, the inductor’s polarity reverses and this causes it to discharge
through the diode and the load.

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Hence,

V0 = −VL

By comparing the above equations

V0 =

Principle of operation of class A chopper

Class A Chopper is a first quadrant chopper

• When chopper is ON, supply voltage V is connected across the load.
• When chopper is OFF, vO = 0 and the load current continues to flow in the same direction through the
FWD.
• The average values of output voltage and current are always positive. Class A Chopper is a first
quadrant chopper
• When chopper is ON, supply voltage V is connected across the load.
• When chopper is OFF, vO = 0 and the load current continues to flow in the same direction through the
FWD.
• The average values of output voltage and current are always positive.
• Class A Chopper is a step-down chopper in which power always flows form source to load.
• It is used to control the speed of dc motor.
• The output current equations obtained in step down chopper with R-L load can be used to study the
performance of Class A Chopper.

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Figure: 3.10 circuit diagram and quadrant operation of Type A chopper

Figure: 3.11 Output voltage and current waveforms of type A chopper

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Class B Chopper

Class B Chopper is a step-up chopper

• When chopper is ON, E drives a current through L and R in a direction opposite to that shown in figure.
• During the ON period of the chopper, the inductance L stores energy.
• When Chopper is OFF, diode D conducts, and part of the energy stored in inductor L is returned to the
supply.
• Average output voltage is positive. Average output current is negative.
• Therefore Class B Chopper operates in second quadrant.
• In this chopper, power flows from load to source.
• Class B Chopper is used for regenerative braking of dc motor.

Figure: 3.12 circuit diagram and quadrant operation of Type B chopper

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 Figure: 3.13 Output voltage and current waveforms of type B chopper

Class C chopper

Class C Chopper can be used as a step-up or step-down chopper

• Class C Chopper is a combination of Class A and Class B Choppers.
• For first quadrant operation, CH1 is ON or D2 conducts.
• For second quadrant operation, CH2 is ON or D1 conducts.
• When CH1 is ON, the load current is positive.
• The output voltage is equal to ‘V’ & the load receives power from the source.
• When CH1 is turned OFF, energy stored in inductance L forces current to flow through the diode D2
and the output voltage is zero.
• Current continues to flow in positive direction.
• When CH2 is triggered, the voltage E forces current to flow in opposite direction through L and CH2 .
• The output voltage is zero.
• On turning OFF CH2 , the energy stored in the inductance drives current through diode D1 and the
supply
• Output voltage is V, the input current becomes negative and power flows from load to source.
• Average output voltage is positive
• Average output current can take both positive and negative values.
• Choppers CH1 & CH2 should not be turned ON simultaneously as it would result in short circuiting the
supply.
• Class C Chopper can be used both for dc motor control and regenerative braking of dc motor.

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 Figure: 3.14 circuit diagram and quadrant operation of Type C chopper

Figure: 3.15 Output voltage and current waveforms of type C chopper

Class D chopper

• Class D is a two quadrant chopper.

• When both CH1 and CH2 are triggered simultaneously, the output voltage vO = V and output current
flows through the load.
• When CH1 and CH2 are turned OFF, the load current continues to flow in the same direction through
load, D1 and D2 , due to the energy stored in the inductor L.

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• Output voltage vO = – V.
• Average load voltage is positive if chopper ON time is more than the OFF time
• Average output voltage becomes negative if tON < tOFF .
• Hence the direction of load current is always positive but load voltage can be positive or negative.

Figure: 3.16 circuit diagram and quadrant operation of Type D chopper

Figure: 3.17 Output voltage and current waveforms of type D chopper

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Class E Chopper
• Class E is a four quadrant chopper
• When CH1 and CH4 are triggered, output current iO flows in positive direction through CH1 and CH4,
and with output voltage vO = V.
• This gives the first quadrant operation.
• When both CH1 and CH4 are OFF, the energy stored in the inductor L drives iO through D2 and D3 in
the same direction, but output voltage vO = -V.
• Therefore the chopper operates in the fourth quadrant.
• When CH2 and CH3 are triggered, the load current iO flows in opposite direction & output voltage vO
= -V.
• Since both iO and vO are negative, the chopper operates in third quadrant.
• When both CH2 and CH3 are OFF, the load current iO continues to flow in the same direction D1 and
D4 and the output voltage vO = V.
• Therefore the chopper operates in second quadrant as vO is positive but iO is negative.

Figure: 3.18 circuit diagram and quadrant operation of Type E chopper

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Numerical problems

1. A step up chopper has an input voltage of 150V. The voltage output needed is 450V. Given, that the
thyristor has a conducting time of 150μseconds. Calculate the chopping frequency.

Solution −

The chopping frequency (f)

The new voltage output, on condition that the operation is at constant frequency after the halving the
pulse width.

Halving the pulse width gives −

2. In a type A chopper, the input supply voltage is 230 V the load resistance is 10Ω and there is a
voltage drop of 2 V across the chopper thyristor when it is on. For a duty ratio of 0.4, calculate the
average and rms values of the output voltage. Also find the chopper efficiency
3. A step-up chopper supplies a load of 480 V from 230 V dc supply. Assuming the non conduction
period of the thyristor to be 50 microsecond, find the on time of the thyristor

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Buck regulator

With power being a key parameter in many designs, step down or "buck" regulators are widely used.

Although a resistor would enable voltage to be dropped, power is lost, and in applications such as the
many battery powered items used today, power consumption is a crucial element.

As a result step down switch mode converters or as they are more commonly termed, buck regulators are
widely used.

Linear step down

The most basic form of step down transition is to use a resistor as a potential divider or voltage dropper.
In some cases a zener diode may also be used to stabilize the voltage.

Figure: 3.19 Potential divider circuits

The issue with this form of voltage dropper or step down converter is that it is very wasteful in terms of
power. Any voltage dropped across the resistor will be dissipated as heat, and any current flowing through
the zener diode will also dissipate heat. Both of these elements result on the loss of valuable energy.

Basic buck converter or regulator

The fundamental circuit for a step down converter or buck converter consists of an inductor, diode,
capacitor, switch and error amplifier with switch control circuitry.

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 Figure: 3.20 circuit diagram of Buck regulator

The circuit for the buck regulator operates by varying the amount of time in which inductor receives
energy from the source.

In the basic block diagram the operation of the buck converter or buck regulator can be seen that the
output voltage appearing across the load is sensed by the sense / error amplifier and an error voltage is
generated that controls the switch.

Typically the switch is controlled by a pulse width modulator, the switch remaining on of longer as more
current is drawn by the load and the voltage tends to drop and often there is a fixed frequency oscillator to
drive the switching.

Buck converter operation

When the switch in the buck regulator is on, the voltage that appears across the inductor is Vin - Vout.
Using the inductor equations, the current in the inductor will rise at a rate of (Vin-Vout)/L. At this time
the diode D is reverse biased and does not conduct.

Figure: 3.21 circuit diagram of Buck regulator during switch on condition

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When the switch opens, current must still flow as the inductor works to keep the same current flowing. As
a result current still flows through the inductor and into the load. The diode, D then forms the return path
with a current Idiode equal to Iout flowing through it.

With the switch open, the polarity of the voltage across the inductor has reversed and therefore the current
through the inductor decreases with a slope equal to -Vout/L.

Figure: 3.22 circuit diagram of Buck regulator during switch off condition

Figure: 3.23 Input and output waveforms of Buck regulator

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In the diagram of the current waveforms for the buck converter / switching regulator, it can be seen that
the inductor current is the sum of the diode and input / switch current. Current either flows through the
switch or the diode.

It is also worth noting that the average input current is less than the average output current. This is to be
expected because the buck converter circuit is very efficient and the input voltage is greater than the
output voltage. Assuming a perfect circuit, then power in would equal power out, i.e. Vin ⋅ In = Vout ⋅
Iout. While in a real circuit there will be some losses, efficiency levels greater than 85% are to be
expected for a well-designed circuit.

It will also be seen that there is a smoothing capacitor placed on the output. This serves to ensure that the
voltage does not vary appreciable, especially during and switch transition times. It will also be required to
smooth any switching spikes that occur.

Boost regulator

One of the advantages of switch mode power supply technology is that it can be used to create a step up
or boost converter / regulator.

Boost converters or regulators are used in many instances from providing small supplies where higher
voltages may be needed to much higher power requirements.

Often there are requirements for voltages higher than those provided by the available power supply -
voltages for RF power amplifiers within mobile phones is just one example.

Step-up boost converter basics

The boost converter circuit has many similarities to the buck converter. However the circuit topology for
the boost converter is slightly different. The fundamental circuit for a boost converter or step up converter
consists of an inductor, diode, capacitor, switch and error amplifier with switch control circuitry.

Figure: 3.24 circuit diagram of Boost regulator

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The circuit for the step-up boost converter operates by varying the amount of time in which inductor
receives energy from the source.

In the basic block diagram the operation of the boost converter can be seen that the output voltage
appearing across the load is sensed by the sense / error amplifier and an error voltage is generated that
controls the switch.

Typically the boost converter switch is controlled by a pulse width modulator, the switch remaining on of
longer as more current is drawn by the load and the voltage tends to drop and often there is a fixed
frequency oscillator to drive the switching.

Boost converter operation

The operation of the boost converter is relatively straightforward.

When the switch is in the ON position, the inductor output is connected to ground and the voltage Vin is
placed across it. The inductor current increases at a rate equal to Vin/L.

When the switch is placed in the OFF position, the voltage across the inductor changes and is equal to
Vout-Vin. Current that was flowing in the inductor decays at a rate equal to (Vout-Vin)/L.

Figure: 3.25 circuit diagram of Boost regulator during switch off condition

Referring to the boost converter circuit diagram, the current waveforms for the different areas of the
circuit can be seen as below.

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 Figure: 3.26 Input and output waveforms of Boost regulator

It can be seen from the waveform diagrams that the input current to the boost converter is higher than the
output current. Assuming a perfectly efficient, i.e. lossless, boost converter, the power out must equal the
power in, i.e. Vin ⋅ Iin = Vout ⋅ Iout. From this it can be seen if the output voltage is higher than the input
voltage, then the input current must be higher than the output current.

In reality no boost converter will be lossless, but efficiency levels of around 85% and more are achievable
in most supplies.

Buck boost regulator

A simple buck converter can only produce voltages lower than the input voltage, and a boost converter,
only voltages higher than the input. To provide voltages over the complete range a circuit known as a
buck-boost converter is required.

There are many applications where voltages higher and lower than the input are required. In these
situations a buck-boost converter is required.

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Buck-Boost Converter basics

The buck-boost DC-DC converter offers a greater level of capability than the buck converter of boost
converter individually, it as expected it extra components may be required to provide the level of
functionality needed.

There are several formats that can be used for buck-boost converters:

 +Vin, -Vout: This configuration of a buck-boost converter circuit uses the same number of
components as the simple buck or boost converters. However this buck-boost regulator or DC-DC
converter produces a negative output for a positive input. While this may be required or can be
accommodated for a limited number of applications, it is not normally the most convenient
format.

Figure: 3.27 circuit diagram of buck boost regulator

 When the switch in closed, current builds up through the inductor. When the switch is opened the
inductor supplies current through the diode to the load.

Obviously the polarities (including the diode) within the buck-boost converter can be reversed to
provide a positive output voltage from a negative input voltage.

 +Vin, +Vout: The second buck-boost converter circuit allows both input and output to be the
same polarity. However to achieve this, more components are required. The circuit for this buck
boost converter is shown below.

Figure: 3.28 circuit diagram of buck boost regulator with two switches

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In this circuit, both switches act together, i.e. both are closed or open. When the switches are open, the
inductor current builds. At a suitable point, the switches are opened. The inductor then supplies current to
the load through a path incorporating both diodes, D1 and D2.

Numerical probelms

1. 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.
Solution:

2. A step up chopper has input voltage of 220 V and output voltage of 660 V. If the non-conducting
time of thyristor chopper is 100 micro sec compute the pulse width of output voltage. In case the
pulse width is halved for constant frequency operation , find the new output voltage
3. A chopper operating from 220V dc supply with for a duty cycle of 0.5 and chopping frequency of
1KHz drives an R L load with R = 1Ω , L=1mH and E = 105V. Find whether the current is
continuous and also find the values of Imax and Imin.

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 UNIT – V
INVERTERS
Introduction to Inverters

The word ‘inverter’ in the context of power-electronics denotes a class of power conversion (or power
conditioning) circuits that operates from a dc voltage source or a dc current source and converts it into ac
voltage or current. The inverter does reverse of what ac-to-dc converter does (refer to ac to dc converters).
Even though input to an inverter circuit is a dc source, it is not uncommon to have this dc derived from an
ac source such as utility ac supply. Thus, for example, the primary source of input power may be utility ac
voltage supply that is converted to dc by an ac to dc converter and then ‘inverted’ back to ac using an
inverter. Here, the final ac output may be of a different frequency and magnitude than the input ac of the
utility supply

A single phase Half Bridge DC-AC inverter is shown in Figure below

Figure: 5.1 Single phase Half Bridge DC-AC inverter with R load

The analysis of the DC-AC inverters is done taking into accounts the following assumptions and
conventions.
1) The current entering node a is considered to be positive.
2) The switches S1 and S2 are unidirectional, i.e. they conduct current in one direction.
3) The current through S1 is denoted as i1 and the current through S2 is i2.
The switching sequence is so design is shown in Figure below. Here, switch S1 is on for the time
duration 0 ≤ t ≤ T1 and the switch S2 is on for the time duration T1 ≤ t ≤ T2. When switch S1 is turned
on, the instantaneous voltage across the load is ν o = Vin/ 2
When the switch S2 is only turned on, the voltage across the load is
ν o = Vin/ 2.

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 Figure: 5.2 Single phase Half Bridge DC-AC inverter output waveforms

The r.m.s value of output voltage ν o is given by,

The instantaneous output voltage ν o is rectangular in shape. The instantaneous value of ν o can be
expressed in Fourier series as,

Due to the quarter wave symmetry along the time axis , the values of a0 and an are zero. The value of bn
is given by,

Substituting the value of bn from above equation , we get

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The current through the resistor ( iL ) is given by,

Half Bridge DC-AC Inverter with L Load and R-L Load

The DC-AC converter with inductive load is shown in Figure below. For an inductive load, the load
current cannot change immediately with the output voltage.

Figure: 5.3 Single phase Half Bridge DC-AC inverter with RL load

The working of the DC-AC inverter with inductive load is as follow is:
Case 1: In the time interval 0<=t<= T1 the switch S1 is on and the current flows through the inductor
from points a to b. When the switch S1 is turned off (case 1) at t-T1, the load current would continue to
flow through the capacitor C2 and diode D2 until the current falls to zero, as shown in Figure below.

Figure: 5.4 Single phase Half Bridge DC-AC inverter with L load

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Case 2: Similarly, when S2 is turned off at t = T1 , the load current flows through the diode D1 and
capacitor C1until the current falls to zero, as shown in Figure below.

Figure: 5.5 Single phase Half Bridge DC-AC inverter with L load

When the diodes D1 and D2 conduct, energy is feedback to the dc source and these diodes are known as
feedback diodes. These diodes are also known as freewheeling diodes. The current for purely inductive
load is given by,

Similarly, for the R – L load. The instantaneous load current is obtained as,

Where,

Operation of single phase full bridge inverter

A single phase bridge DC-AC inverter is shown in Figure below. The analysis of the single phase DC-AC
inverters is done taking into account following assumptions and conventions.
1) The current entering node a in Figure 8 is considered to be positive.
2) The switches S1, S2, S3 and S4 are unidirectional, i.e. they conduct current in one direction.

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 Figure: 5.6 Single phase Full Bridge DC-AC inverter with R load

When the switches S1 and S2 are turned on simultaneously for a duration 0 ≤ t ≤ T1 , the the input
voltage Vin appears across the load and the current flows from point a to b.

Q1 – Q2 ON, Q3 – Q4 OFF ==> ν o = Vs

Figure: 5.7 Single phase Full Bridge DC-AC inverter with R load

If the switches S3 and S4 turned on duration T1 ≤ t ≤ T2, the voltage across the load the load is reversed
and the current through the load flows from point b to a.
Q1 – Q2 OFF, Q3 – Q4 ON ==> ν o = -Vs

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 Figure: 5.8 Single phase Full Bridge DC-AC inverter with R load current directions

The voltage and current waveforms across the resistive load are shown in Figure below

Figure: 5.9 Single phase Full Bridge DC-AC inverter waveforms

Single Phase Full Bridge Inverter for R-L load:

A single-phase square wave type voltage source inverter produces square shaped output voltage for a
single-phase load. Such inverters have very simple control logic and the power switches need to operate
at much lower frequencies compared to switches in some other types of inverters. The first generation
inverters, using thyristor switches, were almost invariably square wave inverters because thyristor
switches could be switched on and off only a few hundred times in a second. In contrast, the present day
switches like IGBTs are much faster and used at switching frequencies of several kilohertz. Single-phase
inverters mostly use half bridge or full bridge topologies. Power circuits of these topologies are shown in
in Figure below.

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 Figure: 5.10 Single phase Full Bridge DC-AC inverter with L load

The above topology is analyzed under the assumption of ideal circuit conditions. Accordingly, it is
assumed that the input dc voltage (Edc) is constant and the switches are lossless. In full bridge topology
has two such legs. Each leg of the inverter consists of two series connected electronic switches shown
within dotted lines in the figures. Each of these switches consists of an IGBT type controlled switch
across which an uncontrolled diode is put in anti-parallel manner. These switches are capable of
conducting bi-directional current but they need to block only one polarity of voltage. The junction point
of the switches in each leg of the inverter serves as one output point for the load.

Series inverter:

Figure: 5.11 Block diagram of series inverter

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In series inverter, the commutating elements L and C are connected in series with the load. This
constitutes a series RLC resonant circuit. The Two SCRs are used to produce the halves (positive
and negative half cycle) in the output.

Figure: 5.12 Circuit diagram of series inverter

In the first half of the output currents when SCR T1 is triggered it will allow the current to flow
through L1, and load, and C2 thus charging. The capacitor C1 which is already charged at these
instant discharges through SCR1, L1 and the Load. Hence 50% of the current is drawn from the
input source and 50% from the capacitor. Similarly in the second half of the output current C1
will be charged and C2 will discharge through the load, L2 and SCR2, Again 50% of the load
current is obtained from the DC input source and rest from the capacitor. The SCRs T1 and T2
are alternatively fired to get AC voltage and current.

Operation of parallel inverter

The single phase parallel inverter circuit consists of two SCRs T1 and T2, an inductor L, an
output transformer and a commutating capacitor C. The output voltage and current are Vo and Io
respectively. The function of L is to make the source current constant. During the working of this

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inverter, capacitor C comes in parallel with the load via the transformer. So it is called
a parallel inverter.

The operation of this inverter can be explained in the following modes.

Mode I

In this mode, SCR T1 is conducting and a current flow in the upper half of primary
winding. SCR T2 is OFF. As a result an emf Vs is induced across upper as well as lower half of
the primary winding.

In other words total voltage across primary winding is 2 Vs. Now the capacitor C charges to a
voltage of 2Vs with upper plate as positive.

Figure: 5.13 Circuit diagram of parallel inverter

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Mode II

At time to, T2 is turned ON by applying a trigger pulse to its gate. At this time t=0, capacitor
voltage 2Vs appears as a reverse bias across T1, it is therefore turned OFF. A current Io begins
to flow through T2 and lower half of primary winding. Now the capacitor has charged (upper
plate as negative) from +2Vs to -2Vs at time t=t1. Load voltage also changes from Vs at t=0 to –
Vs at t=t1.

Mode III

When capacitor has charged to –Vs, T1 may be tuned ON at any time When T1 is triggered,
capacitor voltage 2Vs applies a reverse bias across T2, it is therefore turned OFF. After T2 is
OFF, capacitor starts discharging, and charged to the opposite direction, the upper plate as
positive.

Paralleled Commutated Inverter

Fig 1: is a schematic of the classical parallel commutated square wave inverter bridge. It is
being included here for illustrative purposes since most other circuits utilize this circuit or a
variation there of. The waveform generated and supplied to the load is basically a square wave
having a peak to peak amplitude of twice the DC supply voltage and a period that is determined
by the relate at which SCRs 1 through 4 are gated on. The SCRs are turned on in pairs by
simultaneously applying signals to the gate terminals of SCRs 1 and 4 or SCRs 2 and 3. If SCRs
1 and 4 happen to be the first two switched on a current will flow from the positive terminal of
the source through negative terminal of the source. This will establish a left to right, plus to
minus voltage relationship on the load.
Simultaneously, the left terminal of capacitor C1 will be charged positively with respect to the
right negative terminal. The steady-state load current through the various components is
determined nearly completely by the impedance of the load. Chokes 1 and 2 and SCRs 1 and 4
present very low steady-state drops and therefore nearly all the source voltage appears across the
load. Conduction of SCRs 1 and 4 will continue to the end of the half cycle, at which point the
gates are removed from SCRs 1 and 4 remain in conduction along with SCRs 2 and 3 that have
now been turned on. If it were not for chokes 1 and 2, the action of turning on the second set
of SCRs would place very low impedance and therefore momentarily prevent the source from
being short-circuited.

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Capacitor C1 now discharges with a current which flows into the cathode of SCR 1
through SCR 2 in a forward direction back to the negative terminal of the capacitor. This
direction of current flow causes SCR 1 to become non-conductive provided that the reverse
current through the SCR is of sufficient duration for the SCR to again become blocking. C1
simultaneously discharges through SCR 3 in a forward direction and through SCR 4 in a reverse
direction. This will cause SCR 4 to become non-conductive just the same SCR 1. This entire
sequence is referred to as commutation and typically in a modern inverter would occur in a
period of time less than 50 microseconds. During this interval, chokes 1and 2 must have
sufficient transient impedance to prevent a significant increase in current from the DC source.

Diodes 1, 2, 3 and 4 serve two functions. The first is to return any stored energy that may be
"kicked back" from the load to the source. They also serve to prevent the choke from generating
a high transient voltage immediately after commutation.

Figure: 5.14 Circuit diagram of parallel commutated inverter

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Three Phase DC-AC Converters

Three phase inverters are normally used for high power applications. The advantages of a three phase
inverter are:

• The frequency of the output voltage waveform depends on the switching rate of the swtiches and hence
can be varied over a wide range.

• The direction of rotation of the motor can be reversed by changing the output phase sequence of the
inverter.

• The ac output voltage can be controlled by varying the dc link voltage.

The general configuration of a three phase DC-AC inverter is shown in Figure Two types of control
signals can be applied to the switches:

• 180° conduction

• 120° conduction

Figure: 5.15 Circuit diagram of three phase bridge inverter

180-Degree Conduction with Star Connected Resistive Load

The configuration of the three phase inverter with star connected resistive load is shown in Figure. The
following convention is followed:

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 • A current leaving a node point a, b or c and entering the neutral point n is assumed to be positive.

• All the three resistances are equal, .

In this mode of operation each switch conducts for 180°. Hence, at any instant of time three
switches remain on . When S1 is on , the terminal a gets connected to the positive terminal of input DC
source. Similarly, when S4 is on , terminal a gets connected to the negative terminal of input DC source.
There are six possible modes of operation in a cycle and each mode is of 60° duration and the explanation
of each mode is as follows:

Figure: 5.16 Circuit diagram of three phase bridge inverter with star connected load

Mode 1 : In this mode the switches S5 , S6 and S1 are turned on for time interval . As a result
of this the terminals a and c are connected to the positive terminal of the input DC source and the
terminal b is connected to the negative terminal of the DC source. The current flow
through Ra, Rb and Rc is shown in Figure and the equivalent circuit is shown in Figure. The equivalent
resistance of the circuit shown in Figure is

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 (1)

The current i delivered by the DC input source is

(2)

The currents ia and ib are

(3)

Keeping the current convention in mind, the current ib is

(4)

Having determined the currents through each branch, the voltage across each branch is

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 (5)

Figure: 5.17 Mode 1 operation of three phase bridge inverter with star connected load

Figure: 5.18 Current flow in Mode 1 operation

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Mode 2 : In this mode the switches S6 , S1 and S2 are turned on for time interval . The
current flow and the equivalent circuits are shown in Figure and Figure respectively. Following the
reasoning given for mode 1 , the currents through each branch and the voltage drops are given by

(6)

(7)

Figure: 5.19 Mode 2 operation of three phase bridge inverter with star connected load

Figure: 5.20 Current flow in Mode 2 operation

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Mode 3 : In this mode the switches S1 , S2 and S3 are on for . The current flow and the
equivalent circuits are shown in Figure and figure respectively. The magnitudes of currents and voltages
are:

(8)

(9)

Figure: 5.21 Mode 3 operation of three phase bridge inverter with star connected load

Figure: 5.23 Current flow in Mode 3 operation

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For modes 4, 5 and 6 the equivalent circuits will be same as modes 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The voltages
and currents for each mode are:

for mode 4 (10)

for mode5 (11)

for mode 6 (12)

The plots of the phase voltages (van, vbn and vcn) and the currents ( ia, ib and ic) are shown in Figure
Having known the phase voltages, the line voltages can also be determined as:

(13)

The plots of line voltages are also shown in Figure and the phase and line voltages can be expressed in
terms of Fourier series as:

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(14)

(15)

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Figure: 5.24 Line and phase voltages of three phase bridge inverter

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Three Phase DC-AC Converters with 120 degree conduction mode

Figure: 5.25 Circuit diagram of three phase bridge inverter

120° mode of conduction

In this mode of conduction, each electronic device is in a conduction state for 120°. It is most suitable
for a delta connection in a load because it results in a six-step type of waveform across any of its phases.
Therefore, at any instant only two devices are conducting because each device conducts at only 120°.

The terminal A on the load is connected to the positive end while the terminal B is connected to the
negative end of the source. The terminal C on the load is in a condition called floating state.
Furthermore, the phase voltages are equal to the load voltages as shown below.

Phase voltages = Line voltages

VAB = V

VBC = −V/2

VCA = −V/2

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Figure: 5.26 Line and phase voltages of three phase bridge inverter

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Voltage control techniques for inverters

Pulse width modulation techniques

PWM is a technique that is used to reduce the overall harmonic distortion (THD) in a load current. It
uses a pulse wave in rectangular/square form that results in a variable average waveform value f(t), after
its pulse width has been modulated. The time period for modulation is given by T. Therefore, waveform
average value is given by

Figure: 5.27 Square waveform used for PWM technique

Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation

In a simple source voltage inverter, the switches can be turned ON and OFF as needed. During each
cycle, the switch is turned on or off once. This results in a square waveform. However, if the switch is
turned on for a number of times, a harmonic profile that is improved waveform is obtained.

The sinusoidal PWM waveform is obtained by comparing the desired modulated waveform with a
triangular waveform of high frequency. Regardless of whether the voltage of the signal is smaller or
larger than that of the carrier waveform, the resulting output voltage of the DC bus is either negative or
positive.

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 Figure: 5.28 Sinusoidal PWM waveform

The sinusoidal amplitude is given as Am and that of the carrier triangle is give as Ac. For sinusoidal PWM,
the modulating index m is given by Am/Ac.

Modified Sinusoidal Waveform PWM

A modified sinusoidal PWM waveform is used for power control and optimization of the power factor.
The main concept is to shift current delayed on the grid to the voltage grid by modifying the PWM
converter. Consequently, there is an improvement in the efficiency of power as well as optimization in
power factor.

Figure: 5.29 Modified sinusoidal PWM waveform

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Multiple PWM

The multiple PWM has numerous outputs that are not the same in value but the time period over which
they are produced is constant for all outputs. Inverters with PWM are able to operate at high voltage
output.

Figure: 5.30 Block diagram of multiple PWM technique

The waveform below is a sinusoidal wave produced by a multiple PWM

Figure: 5.31 Waveform of multiple PWM technique

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Voltage and Harmonic Control

A periodic waveform that has frequency, which is a multiple integral of the fundamental power with
frequency of 60Hz is known as a harmonic. Total harmonic distortion (THD) on the other hand refers to
the total contribution of all the harmonic current frequencies.

Harmonics are characterized by the pulse that represents the number of rectifiers used in a given circuit.
It is calculated as follows

h=(n×P)+1or−1

Where n − is an integer 1, 2, 3, 4….n

P − Number of rectifiers

Harmonics have an impact on the voltage and current output and can be reduced using isolation
transformers, line reactors, redesign of power systems and harmonic filters.

Operation of sinusoidal pulse width modulation

The sinusoidal PWM (SPWM) method also known as the triangulation, sub harmonic, or sub oscillation
method, is very popular in industrial applications. The SPWM is explained with reference to Figure,
which is the half-bridge circuit topology for a single-phase inverter.

Figure: 5.32 schematic diagram of Half bridge PWM inverter

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For realizing SPWM, a high-frequency triangular carrier wave is compared with a sinusoidal reference of
the desired frequency. The intersection of and waves determines the switching instants and commutation
of the modulated pulse. The PWM scheme is illustrated in Figure, in which vc the peak value of triangular
carrier wave and vr is that of the reference, or modulating signal. The figure shows the triangle and
modulation signal with some arbitrary frequency and magnitude. In the inverter of Figure the switches
and are controlled based on the comparison of control signal and the triangular wave which are mixed in a
comparator. When sinusoidal wave has magnitude higher than the triangular wave the comparator output
is high, otherwise it is low.

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 Figure: 5.33 Sine-Triangle Comparison and switching pulses of half bridge PWM inverter

The comparator output is processes in a trigger pulse generator in such a manner that the output voltage
wave of the inverter has a pulse width in agreement with the comparator output pulse width. The
magnitude ratio of Vr/VC is called the modulation index (MI ) and it controls the harmonic content of the
output voltage waveform. The magnitude of fundamental component of output voltage is proportional to
MI . The amplitude of the triangular wave is generally kept constant. The frequency modulation ratio is
defined as

MF =

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 Figure: 5.34 Output voltage of the Half-Bridge inverter

Operation of current source inverter with ideal switches

Single-phase Current Source Inverter

Figure: 5.35 Single phase current source inverter (CSI) of ASCI type

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The circuit of a Single-phase Current Source Inverter (CSI) is shown in Fig. 5.35. The type of operation is
termed as Auto-Sequential Commutated Inverter (ASCI). A constant current source is assumed here,
which may be realized by using an inductance of suitable value, which must be high, in series with the
current limited dc voltage source. The thyristor pairs, Th1 & Th3, and Th2 & Th4, are alternatively turned
ON to obtain a nearly square wave current waveform. Two commutating capacitors − C1 in the upper
half, and C2 in the lower half, are used. Four diodes, D1–D4 are connected in series with each thyristor to
prevent the commutating capacitors from discharging into the load. The output frequency of the inverter
is controlled in the usual way, i.e., by varying the half time period, (T/2), at which the thyristors in pair
are triggered by pulses being fed to the respective gates by the control circuit, to turn them ON, as can be
observed from the waveforms (Fig. 5.36). The inductance (L) is taken as the load in this case, the
reason(s) for which need not be stated, being well known. The operation is explained by two modes.

Figure: 5.36 output waveforms of Single phase current source inverter

Mode I: The circuit for this mode is shown in Fig. 5.37. The following are the assumptions. Starting from
the instant, , the thyristor pair, Th − t = 0 2 & Th4, is conducting (ON), and the current (I) flows through
the path, Th2, D2, load (L), D4, Th4, and source, I. The commutating capacitors are initially charged
equally with the polarity as given, i.e., . This mans that both capacitors have right hand plate positive and
left hand plate negative. If two capacitors are not charged initially, they have to pre-charge.

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 Figure: 5.37 Mode I operation of CSI

Mode II: The circuit for this mode is shown in Fig. 5.38. Diodes, D2 & D4, are already conducting, but at
= tt 1 , diodes, D1 & D3, get forward biased, and start conducting. Thus, at the end of time t1, all four
diodes, D1–D4 conduct. As a result, the commutating capacitors now get connected in parallel with the
load (L).

Figure: 5.38 Mode II operation of CSI

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Load Commutated CSI

Two commutating capacitors, along with four diodes, are used in the circuit for commutation from one
pair of thyristors to the second pair. Earlier, also in VSI, if the load is capacitive, it was shown that forced
commutation may not be needed. The operation of a single-phase CSI with capacitive load (Fig. 5.39) is
discussed here. It may be noted that the capacitor, C is assumed to be in parallel with resistive load (R).
The capacitor, C is used for storing the charge, or voltage, to be used to force-commutate the conducting
thyristor pair as will be shown. As was the case in the last lesson, a constant current source, or a voltage
source with large inductance, is used as the input to the circuit.

Figure: 5.39 Circuit diagram of load commutated CSI

The power switching devices used here is the same, i.e. four Thyristors only in a full- bridge
configuration. The positive direction for load current and voltage is shown in Fig. 5.40 Before t = 0, the
capacitor voltage is , i.e. the capacitor has left plate negative and right plate positive. At that time, the
thyristor pair, Th2 & Th4 was conducting. When (at t = 0), the thyristor pair, Th1 & Th3 is triggered by
the pulses fed at the gates, the conducting thyristor pair, Th2 & Th4 is reverse biased by the capacitor
voltage C = −Vv 1 , and turns off immediately. The current path is through Th1, load (parallel
combination of R & C), Th3, and the source. The current in the thyristors is ITi , the output current is

Iac= I

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 Figure: 5.40 Voltage and current waveforms of load commutated CSI

Numerical Problems

1. A single-phase half bridge inverter has a resis load of 2.4 W and the d.c. input voltage of 48 V.
Determine:-
(i) RMS output voltage at the fundamental frequency
(ii) Output power P0
(iii) Average and peak currents of each transistor
(iv) Peak blocking voltage of each transistor.
(v) Total harmonic distortion and distortion factor.
(vi) Harmonic factor and distortion factor at the lowest order harmonic.

Solution:

(i) RMS output voltage of fundamental frequency, E1 = 0.9 ¥ 48 = 43.2 V.

(ii) RMS output voltage, Eorms = E = 48 V.

Output power = E 2/R = (48)2/2.4 = 960 W.

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(iii) Peak transistor current = Ip = Ed/R = 48/2.4 = 20 A.
Average transistor current = Ip/2 = 10 A.
(iv) Peak reverse blocking voltage,
VBR = 48 V.

2. A single phase full bridge inverter has a resistive load of R = 10 Ω and the input voltage V dc of
100 V. Find the average output voltage and rms output voltage at fundamental frequency.
3. A single PWM full bridge inverter feeds an RL load with R=10Ω and L= 10 mH. If the source
voltage is 120V, find out the total harmonic distortion in the output voltage and in the load
current. The width of each pulse is 120° and the output frequency is 50Hz.

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