ELG4139: Power Electronics Systems

Objective
To Realize and Design Various
Power Supplies and Motor Drives!

Power electronics refers to control and conversion of electrical

power by power semiconductor devices wherein these devices
operate as switches. Advent of silicon-controlled rectifiers,
abbreviated as SCRs, led to the development of a new field of
application called the power electronics. Before SCRs, mercury-arc
rectifiers were used for controlling electrical power, but such rectifier
circuits were part of industrial electronics and the scope for
applications of mercury-arc rectifiers was limited. The application
spread to many fields such as drives, power supplies, aviation
electronics, high frequency inverters and power electronics.

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 Why Power Electronics?
Power electronics is a growing field due to the
improvement in switching technologies and the need for
more and more efficient switching circuits.

Control
Analog/Digital

Electronics Power Equipment

Devices/Circuits Static/Rotating
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Interdisciplinary Nature of Power Electronics

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 Applications
• Heating and lighting control
• Induction heating
• Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)
• Fluorescent lamp ballasts: Passive; Active
• Electric power transmission
• Automotive electronics
• Electronic ignitions
• Motor drives
• Battery chargers
• Alternators
• Energy storage
• Electric vehicles
• Alternative power sources: Solar; Wind; Fuel Cells
• And more!

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 Power Converters

Electronic power converter is the term that is used to refer

to a power electronic circuit that converts voltage and
current from one form to another.

 Rectifier converting an AC voltage to a DC voltage

 Inverter converting a DC voltage to an DC voltage
 Chopper or a switch-mode power supply that
converts a dc voltage to another dc voltage
 Cycloconverter and cycloinverter converting an AC
voltage to another AC voltage.

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 Rectifiers
Rectifiers may be classified as uncontrolled and controlled rectifiers.
Controlled rectifiers can be further divided into semi-controlled and
fully-controlled rectifiers. Uncontrolled rectifier circuits are built with
diodes, and fully-controlled rectifier circuits are built with SCRs.
Both diodes and SCRs are used in semi-controlled rectifier circuits.

 Single-phase semi-controlled bridge rectifier

 Single-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier
 Three-phase three-pulse, star-connected rectifier
 Double three-phase, three-pulse star-connected rectifiers with
inter-phase transformer (IPT)
 Three-phase semi-controlled bridge rectifier
 Three-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier
 Double three-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifiers with IPT.

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 DC to AC Conversion
The converter that changes a DC to AC is called an inverter.
Earlier inverters were built with SCRs. Since the circuitry required
to turn the SCR off tends to be complex, other power
semiconductor devices such as bipolar junction transistors, power
MOSFETs, insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBT) and MOS-
controlled thyristors (MCTs) are used nowadays. Currently only
the inverters with a high power rating, such as 500 kW or higher.

 Emergency lighting systems

 AC variable speed drives
 Uninterrupted power supplies
 Frequency converters.

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 DC to DC Conversion

When the SCR came into use, a dc-to-dc converter circuit was called a
chopper. Nowadays, an SCR is rarely used in a dc-to-dc converter.
Either a power BJT or a power MOSFET is normally used in such a
converter and this converter is called a switch-mode power supply.

 Step-down switch-mode power supply

 Step-up chopper
 Fly-back converter
 Resonant converter.

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 AC to AC Converter
• A cycloconverter or a cycloinverter converts an ac voltage, such as the
mains supply, to another ac voltage. The amplitude and the frequency
of input voltage to a cycloconverter tend to be fixed values, whereas
both the amplitude and the frequency of output voltage of a
cycloconverter tend to be variable.
• Tthe circuit that converts an ac voltage to another ac voltage at the
same frequency is known as an AC-chopper.
A typical application of a cycloconverter is to use it for controlling the
speed of an AC traction motor and most of these cycloconverters have
a high power output, of the order a few megawatts and SCRs are used
in these circuits. In contrast, low cost, low power cycloconverters for
low power ac motors are also in use and many of these circuit tend to
use TRIACS in place of SCRs.
• Unlike an SCR which conducts in only one direction, a TRIACS is
capable of conducting in either direction and like an SCR, it is also a
three terminal device. It may be noted that the use of a cycloconverter
is not as common as that of an inverter and a cycloinverter is rarely
used.

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 Some Applications of Power Electronics
• In a conventional car, power electronics applications are a major area of
future expansion. Look inside the audio system, for example; the
amplifiers in today’s car stereos are usually capable of delivering 40 W
or more. But a 12 V supply applied to an 8 Ohm speaker produces 18 W
output at best. To solve this power supply problem, designers use a
boost converter (DC to DC Converter) to provide higher voltage power
to the amplifier circuit. This allows car amplifiers to generate the same
audio output power as home stereos.
• Another universal power electronics application is the automobile’s
ignition system. Thousands of volts are required to ignite the fuel-air
mixture inside a cylinder so that internal combustion can occur. Today’s
cars employ all-electronic ignition systems, which have replaced the
traditional spark plugs with boost converters coupled to transformers.
• We are curious about new electric and hybrid cars, in which the primary
electrical system is dominated by power electronics. Electric cars offer
high performance, zero tailpipe emissions, and low costs, but are still
limited in range by the need for batteries.

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 Power Electronics
Silicon
Diodes Transistors Thyristors

Schottky- Biopolar
Thyristors for
Diode Junction
Phase Control
Transistor
Fast
Epitaxial-
MOSFET Thyristor
Diode

GTO
Double
Diffused Diode
IGBT
IGCT

MCT

MTO
Power Electric Circuits

Table 12.1

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 Ideal Characteristics of a Power
Semiconductor
• When on: Can carry infinite current and create no resistance(i.e.
no power loss)
• When off: withstand infinite reverse voltage with infinite off state
resistance (i.e. no power loss)
• Instant on-of
• Almost zero power pulse to turn on and off
• Instant reaction to input
• Ideal thermal dissipation out of the device
• Can withstand infinite fault current
• Low price!
 Diodes

• Characteristics:
– Conducts one way
– Blocks current in the opposite direction
– Only works above an excitation voltage (ex: 3V)
• Max properties:
– General purpose diodes: 6000V, 4500A
– Fast recovery: 6000V, 1100A
– Schottky(low voltage drop, fast switching,
high efficiency): 100V, 300A
 Thyristors

• Characteristics:
– Only conducts when triggered by a signal at its gate
– Some can conduct in two directions (e.g. RCTs)
• Maximum properties:
– 6000V-4500V for line commutated thyristors
– 10-20 nanosecond turn-off time for 3000V-3600V
 Silicon Controlled Rectifiers
The basic purpose of the SCR is to function as a switch that can
turn on or off small or large amounts of power. It performs this
function with no moving parts that wear out and no points that
require replacing. There can be a tremendous power gain in the
SCR; in some units a very small triggering current is able to switch
several hundred amperes without exceeding its rated abilities. The
SCR can often replace much slower and larger mechanical
switches.

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 Power Transistor

• Characteristics
– If the base current is flowing, a voltage
between the collector and emitter will cause
current to flow between them. (i.e. the base
turns on the transistor)
– Commonly used as a switch
• Max properties
– 1700V,2400A for IGBTs
 AC-DC Converter Circuit and Waveform

Thyristor Based

Common Diode Based

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AC-AC Converter Circuit and Waveform

Figure
12.3

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DC-DC Converter Circuit and Waveform

Figure
12.4

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Three-Phase Diode Bridge Waveforms and Conduction
Rectifier Times of Three-Phase Bridge
Rectifier

Figure
12.20,
12.21

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 Half-Wave Controlled Rectifier
Controlled Rectifier Circuit
Waveforms

Figure 12.25, 12.26

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DC Motor Step-Down Chopper (Buck Converter)

Ea  I a  Tm  wm
Figure
12.34, 12.35

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