21EN1109 – Basic Electronics

Module 1

Rectifiers & Power supply

All electronic circuits require a source of well-regulated d.c. supply of voltages of typically
between 5V and 30V. In some cases the supply can be derived directly from batteries (6V,
9V, 12V). In other cases it is desirable to make use of a standard a.c. mains outlet. Block
diagram of a d.c. power supply is shown in Fig.7.

Fig.7. Block diagram of a d.c. power supply

Mains input are at a relatively high voltage. A step down transformer with appropriate turns
ratio is used to convert this to a low voltage. The a.c. output from the transformer secondary
is then rectified using conventional silicon rectifier diodes to produce an unsmoothed output
(pulsating d.c.).This is then smoothed and filtered before being applied to a circuit which will
regulate (stabilize) the output voltage so that it remains relatively constant in spite of
variations in both load current and incoming mains voltage. Fig.8 shows how some of the
electronic components can be used in the realization of the previous block diagram.

Fig 9. Block diagram of a d.c. power supply showing principal components

The iron cored step down transformer feeds the rectifier arrangement. The output of the
rectifier is then applied to a high value reservoir capacitor. The capacitor stores a
considerable amount of charge. The capacitor also helps to smooth out the voltage pulses
produced by the rectifier. Finally a stabilizing circuit (based on a series translator regulator
and a zener diode voltage reference) provides a constant output voltage.
 Rectifiers
Semiconductor diodes which are used to convert alternating current (a.c) in to direct current
(d.c) are called as rectifiers.

Half wave rectifier:

Fig.10. A single half wave rectifier circuit.

Half wave rectifier is a simplest form of rectifier circuit. It makes use of a single diode. As it
operates on only either positive or negative half cycles of the supply it is called so. Figure 10
shows a single half wave rectifier circuit. Mains voltage (220 to 240v) is applied to the
primary of the step down transformer T1. The secondary of T1 steps down the 240V r.m.s. to
12V r.m.s. Turns ratio of T1 will be 240/12 or 20:1.

Fig.11. Half wave rectifier with D1 conducting Fig.12. Half wave rectifier with D1 not conducting

D1 will be forward biased during each positive half cycle and behaves like a closed switch.
When the circuit current tries to flow in the opposite direction, the voltage bias across the
diode will be reversed and the diode acts like an open switch as shown in fig. The switching
action of D1 results in a pulsating output voltage, developed across the load resistor RL. As
the mains supply is at 50 Hz, the pulses of voltage developed across RL will also be 50 Hz
even if half the a.c. cycle is present. During positive half cycle, the diode will drop the 0.6V
to 0.7V forward threshold voltage normally associated with silicon diodes. During the
negative half cycle, the peak a.c. voltage is dropped across D1 when it is reverse biased.

If the secondary of T1 provides 12V r.m.s, the peak voltage output from the secondary
winding of transformer is given by,
So, peak voltage applied to D1 will be approximately 17V. The negative half cycles are
blocked by D1, only positive half cycles appears across RL. The actual peak voltage across
RL will be 17V positive peak being supplied from the secondary on T1, minus the 0.7 V
forward threshold voltage dropped by D1. So positive half cycle pulses have peak amplitude
of 16.3V appears across RL.

Reservoir and smoothing circuits:

Fig.13. A simple half wave rectifier with reservoir capacitor

A capacitor C1 has been added to ensure that output voltage remains at, or near, the peak
voltage even when the diode is not conducting. When the primary voltage is first applied to
T1, the positive half cycle output from the secondary will charge C1 to the peak value seen
across RL. Hence C1 charges to 16.3V at the peak of the positive half cycle. Because C1 and
RL are in parallel, the voltage across RL will be the same as that across C1.

C1 is called the reservoir capacitor. It stores charge during the positive half cycles of
secondary voltage and releases it during negative half cycles. So the circuit is now able to
maintain a reasonably constant output voltage across RL. So C1 will discharge by a small
amount during the negative half cycle periods from the transformer secondary.

Fig.14. voltage waveforms

Fig 14 shows the voltage waveforms together with the voltage developed across R L with and
without C1 present. This gives rise to a small variation in the d.c. output voltage (ripples).
Since ripple is undesirable we must take additional precautions to reduce it. One method of
reducing the amplitude of the ripple is by increasing the discharge time constant. This can be
achieved either by increasing the value of C1 or by increasing the resistance value of R L. The
second option is not possible because RL is the effective resistance of the circuit being
supplied and can’t be changed. Increasing the value of C1 more practical and very large
capacitor values are typical.

Fig.15. Half wave rectifier with R-C smoothing filter

Further refinement of the simple power supply circuit is shown in fig. 15. It consists of two
additional components R1 and C1 which acts as a filter to remove the ripple.

The amount of ripple is reduced by an approximate factor equal to

The ripple voltage is given by

𝑿𝑪
𝑽𝒓𝒊𝒑𝒑𝒍𝒆 = 𝑽𝒊𝒏
√𝑹𝟐 + 𝑿𝟐𝒄

Improved ripple filters:

Fig.16. Half wave rectifier with LC smoothing filter

In smoothing circuits, further improvement can be achieved by using inductor L1, instead of
using a resistor. This circuit also offers the advantage that the minimum d.c. voltage is
dropped across the inductor. Fig.16 shows the circuit of half wave power supply with an L-C
smoothing circuit.

Full wave rectifier:

Half wave rectifier is relatively inefficient as conduction takes place only on alternate half
cycles. A better rectifier arrangement would make use of both positive and negative half
cycles. Full wave rectifier offers a considerable improvement over half wave rectifiers.

The two basic forms of full wave rectifier are bi-phase rectifier circuit and bridge rectifier.

Bi-phase rectifier circuits:

Fig 17. Bi-phase rectifier circuit

Mains voltage (240V) is applied to the primary of step down transformer T1. T1 has two
identical secondary windings each provides 12V r.m.s.

On positive half cycles, Point A will be positive with respect to point B. Similarly point B
will be positive with respect to point C. In this condition, D1 will allow conduction (its anode
will be positive with respect to its cathode). D2 will not allow conduction (its anode will be
negative with respect to its cathode). Thus D1 alone conducts on positive half cycles.

On negative half cycles, Point C will be positive with respect to point B. Similarly point B
will be positive with respect to point A. In this condition, D2 will allow conduction (its anode
will be positive with respect to its cathode). D1 will not allow conduction (its anode will be
negative with respect to its cathode). Thus D2 alone conducts on negative half cycles.
 Fig 18. D1 conducting D2 non conducting Fig19. D2 conducting D1 non conducting

Fig 20. Bi-phase rectifier with reservoir capacitor Fig 21. Waveforms for bi-phase rectifier

Fig.20 shows reservoir capacitor can be added to ensure that the output voltage remains at, or
near, the peak voltage even when the diodes are not conducting. Operates the same way as for
the half wave rectifier (charges to 16.3V at the peak of positive half cycle and holds the
voltage at these levels when the diodes are in the non conducting state). The voltage
waveforms of a bi-phase rectifier with and without C1 are shown in Fig.21.

Bridge rectifier circuits:

Fig 22. Full wave bridge rectifier arrangement

Mains voltage (240V) is applied to the primary of step down transformer T1. The secondary
of T1 steps down the 240V r.m.s. to 12V r.m.s. Turns ratio of T1 will be 240/12 or 20:1.

During positive half cycles, Point A will be positive with respect to point B. In this condition,
D1 and D2 will allow conduction D3 and D4 will not conduct. Thus D1 and D2 alone
conduct on positive half cycles.

During negative half cycles, Point B will be positive with respect to point A. In this
condition, D3 and D4 will allow conduction. D1 and D2 will not allow conduction. Thus D3
and D4 alone conduct on negative half cycles. Fig 23 shows the bridge rectifier circuits with
diodes replaced by switches.

Fig 23. Bridge rectifier with D1, D2 conducting D3, D4 non conducting

Fig 24. Bridge rectifier with D1, D2 non conducting D3, D4 conducting

In the 1st one D1 and D2 is shown conducting on positive half cycle and in the 2nd one D3
and D4 are conducting. Current is routed through the load in the same direction on successive
half cycles. In bi-phase rectifier the switching action of the two diodes will result in pulsating
output voltage developed across load resistor RL. Peak voltage produced by each of the
secondary winding will be approximately 17V and the peak voltage across RL will be 16.3 V.
 Fig 25. Bridge rectifier with reservoir capacitor

Reservoir capacitor can be added to maintain the output voltage when the diodes are not
conducting. Operates the same way as for the bi-phase rectifier (charges to 16.3V at the peak
of positive half cycle and holds the voltage at these level when the diodes are in the non
conducting state).

Ripple frequency is twice to that of incoming a.c. supply. R-C, L-C filters can be added to bi-
phase, bridge rectifier circuits in exactly the same way for half wave rectifiers.

Fig 26. Waveforms for the bridge rectifier

 Voltage regulators

Fig. 27. A simple voltage regulator

RS is included to limit the zener current Iz to a safe value when the load is disconnected.
When a load RL is connected, the zener current will fall as current is diverted into the load
resistance. The output voltage Vz will remain at the zener voltage until regulation fails at the
point at which potential divider formed by Rs and RL produces a lower output voltage that is
less than Vz. The ratio of Rs to RL is thus important.

At the point at which the circuit just begins to fail to regulate

where VIN is the unregulated input voltage. Thus, the maximum value for RS is

The power dissipated in the zener diode will be given by

Hence the minimum value for RS can be determined from the off-load condition when:

where PZ max is the maximum rated power dissipation for the zener diode.
Output resistance and voltage regulation:

In a perfect power supply, the output voltage would remain constant regardless of the current
taken by the load. In practice, the output voltage falls as the load current increases. The
power supply has internal resistance (ideally this should be zero). This internal resistance
appears at the output of the supply. It is defined as the change in output voltage divided by
the corresponding change in the output current.

Hence ,

where ∆Iout represents small change in output (load) current. ∆Vout represents small change
in output voltage.

The regulation of a power supply is given by the relationship,

The value of regulation should be very small. Simple shunt zener diode regulators are capable
of producing values of regulation of 5% to 10 %. More sophisticated circuits based on
discrete components produce values of between 1% and 5%. Integrated circuit regulators
often provide values of 1% or less.