POWER ELECTRONICS

NOTES
Diploma
(III YEAR – V SEM)

Prepared by:
Mr.Ratnesh kumar, Lecturer
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Subject : Power Electronics
Subject Code : ECE504
Total Hours : 42
Full Marks : 80 + 20 = 100
Content:

1. Power semiconductor devices PNPN diodes, DIACS Thyristors, TRIACS, G.T.O. devices. Power
Transistors, Power MOSFET, Rating, Losses and Cooling. Triggering circuits for SCR’s, UJT,
Blocking Oscillators, Schmitt trigger circuits – Power MOS gate drive circuits.
10 hrs
2. Uncontrolled and controlled Rectifiers : Single phase and poly phase Bridge rectifiers. Transformer
ratings. Inductive load, free wheeling diodes. Converter operation: Overlap, power factor, inversion,
regulation, P-pulse converters, power factor control via PWM converters
6 hrs

3. D.C. line commutation : Series and parallel capacitor turn off, resonant turn off, impulse commutation.
D.C. Choppers : Principles, classification, use.
6 hrs

4. Frequency conversion : Cycloconverter single and three phase circuits, blocked group operation,
circulating current mode. Single phase and three phase inverters, constant voltage source and constant
current source inverters, HF inverters for heating.
12 hrs

5 Application: D.C. and A.C. drives, S.M.P.S., Resonant converters, A.C. Line Filters, ratio, interference
suppression. HDVC transmission.
8 hrs

BOOKS :

1. Ramamurthy M – An Introduction to Thysistors and their applications

2. Lauder C W - Power Electronics, 3rd Edn. MHI 1993

3. Sen P C – Power Electronics, TMH

4. Rashid M H – Power Electronics, PHI Pub.

Chapter 1

(Power semiconductor devices PNPN diodes, DIACS Thyristors, TRIACS, G.T.O. devices. Power
Transistors, Power MOSFET, Rating, Losses and Cooling. Triggering circuits for SCR’s, UJT, Blocking
Oscillators, Schmitt trigger circuits – Power MOS gate drive circuits.)

Introduction

Electrical Switches:

Electrical switches are nothing but it is a semiconductor device. These switches are more useful because of their
low cost, small size and reliability. In this switch, used semiconductor materials like silicon (Si), germanium
(Ge) etc. Generally, this type of switches is used in integrated circuits (ICs), electrical motor drives, HVAC
application and also widely used as digital output (DI) of controller.

1. Relay
2. Bipolar transistor
3. Power diode
4. MOSFET
5. IGBT
6. SCR
7. TRIAC
8. DIAC
9. GTO
1) Relay: Relay works on the principle of electromechanical, so this switch is also known as electromechanical
switch. When current pass through a coil, it will create a magnetic field around the coil. This amount of
magnetic field depends on the amount of current passes through the coil. Arrangement of contacts is done such
a way that, if current is increased with curtain limit contacts are energised and change its position. Sometimes,
relay uses bi-metallic strip to sense the temperature for safety purpose. Relay are available in wide range of
voltage and current. In power system, relay plays an important role in fault identification. In industries also,
relays are used as a protecting device. Check the complete Working of Relay here.

2) Bipolar Transistor: bipolar junctions transistor has three terminals; base, emitter and collector. Transistors
are work on three regions; cut-off, saturation and active region. Symbol of transistor is as shown in figure-6. For
switching purpose, active region is not used. If sufficient amount of current is available at base terminal,
transistor enter in to saturation region and current will flow through collector-emitter path and transistor act as a
ON switch. If base current is not sufficient, circuit is open and current cannot flow through the collector-emitter
and transistor enters in to cut-off region. In this region, transistor act as OFF switch. Transistor are used as an
amplifier in electronics application and it also used to make a gate like AND, NOT in digital circuits and
transistor is also used as a switching device in integrated circuit. Transistors are not useful in high power
application because it has more resistive loss compared to MOSFET.
3) Power diode: Power diode have two terminals; anode and cathode. Diode is made up of p and n type
semiconductor material and make pn-junction, which is known as diode. Symbol of power diode is as shown in
figure-7. When diode is in forward bias current can flow through the circuit and in reverse bias blocks current.
If anode is positive with respect to cathode, diode is in forward bias and act as a switch ON. Similarly, if
cathode is positive with respect to anode, diode is in reverse bias and act as a switch OFF. Power diodes are
used in power electronics application like, rectifier, voltage multiplier circuit and voltage clamper circuit, etc.

4) MOSFET: MOSFET-Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. MOSFET has three terminals;
gate, drain and source. MOSFET is works on two basic forms; Depletion type and Enhancement type. If gate-
source voltage (VGS) is not sufficient, MOSFET works as depletion type and depletion mode of MOSFET is
similar to OFF switch. If gate-source voltage (V GS) is sufficient, MOSFET works as enhancement type and
enhancement mode of MOSFTE is similar to ON switch. Range of switching of MOSFET is tens of neon
seconds to a few hundred microseconds. MOSFET used in linear voltage regulator, chopper and audio
frequency power amplifier, etc. Check here for MOSFET Circuits.

5) IGBT: IGBT- Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor. IGBT is a combination of BJT and MOSFET. IGBT has a
high input impedance and high switching speeds (characteristic of MOSFET) as well as low saturation voltage
(characteristic of BJT). IGBT has three terminals; Gate, Emitter and Collector. IGBT can control with the use of
gate terminal. It can be switched ON and OFF by triggering and disabling its gate terminal. IGBT can block
both positive and negative voltage same as GTO. IGBT is used in inverter, traction motor control, induction
heating and switched mode power supplies.
6) SCR: SCR- Silicon Controlled Rectifier. SCR has three terminals; Gate, Anode and Cathode. Working of
SCR is same as diode, but SCR start conduction when it is in forward bias (cathode is negative and anode is
positive) and positive clock pulse at the gate is also required. In forward bias, if clock pulse of gate is zero, SCR
turned off by forced commutation and in reverse bias SCR is remains in OFF state same as diode. SCRs are
used in motor control, power regulators and lamp dimming.

7) TRIAC: TRIAC is same as two SCRs connected in inversely parallel with gate connected. TRIAC is bi-
direction device. TRIAC has three terminals; Main terminal 1 (MT), Main terminal 2 (MT2) and gate. MT1 and
MT2 terminals are connected with circuit which we want to control and gate is available for triggering pulse by
positive voltage or negative voltage. When MT2 terminal is at positive voltage with respect to MT1 terminal
and gate is also positive triggered, then SCR-1 of TRIAC triggers. When MT1 terminal is at positive voltage
with respect to MT2 terminal and gate is also positive triggered, then SCR-2 of TRIAC triggers. TRIAC can
used for both sources AC and DC but generally, TRIAC is used in AC application like motor control, switching
in lights (industrial and domestic), etc. Check here for Triac Dimmer Circuit.

8) DIAC: DIAC- Diode AC switch. DIAC has two terminals. This switch can operate in both direction. Symbol
of DIAC is as shown in figure-12. DIAC works on two regions; forward blocking or reverse blocking region
and avalanche breakover region. When applied voltage is less than breakover voltage DIAC works in forward
blocking or reverse blocking region. In this region DIAC act as OFF switch. When applied voltage is greater
than breakover voltage, avalanche breakdown occurs and DIAC act as ON switch. DIAC cannot switch sharply
for low voltage and low current application as compared to TRIAC and SCR. DIAC used in light dimming,
control of universal motor and heat control circuit.

9) Gate Turn-off Thyristor: GTO has three terminals; Gate, Anode and Cathode. As name suggest, this device
can turn OFF through gate terminal. In symbol of GTO consists of two arrows on the gate terminal, which
shows the bidirectional flow of current through the gate terminal. This device can turn ON by applying a small
positive gate current and turn OFF by negative pulse from the gate terminal. GTO used in inverters, AC & DC
Drives, induction heater and SVC (static VAR compensation). GTO cannot use for turning inductive loads off,
without the help of the snubber circuit.
Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR)
The silicon controlled rectifier ( SCR ) is a three terminal semiconductor switching device which can be used as
a controlled switch to perform various functions such as rectification, inversion and regulation of power
flow. An SCR can handle currents upto several thousand amperes and voltages upto more than 1kV.The SCR
has appeared in the market under different names such as thyristor, thyrode transistor.
Like the diode, SCR is a unidirectional device,i.e. it will only conduct current in one direction only, but unlike a
diode, the SCR can be made to operate as either an open-circuit switch or as a rectifying diode depending upon
how its gate is triggered.
In other words, SCR can operate only in the switching mode and cannot be used for amplification.
Hence, it is extensively used in switching d.c. and a.c., rectifying a.c. to give controlled output, converting d.c.
into a.c. etc.
Constructional Details of SCR
When a pn junction is added to a junction transistor, the resulting three pn junctions device is called a silicon
controlled rectifier.

Fig.1 shows the construction of an SCR

It is clear that it is essentially an ordinary rectifier (pn) and a junction transistor (npn) combined in one unit to
form pnpn device.
Three terminals are taken; one from the outer p-type material called anode A, second from the outer layer of n-
type material called cathode K and the third from the base of transistor section and is called gate G.
In the normal operating conditions of SCR, anode is held at high positive potential w.r.t. cathode and gate at
small positive potential w.r.t. cathode.

Working of SCR
In a silicon controlled rectifier, load is connected in series with anode.The anode is always kept at positive
potential w.r.t. cathode.The working of SCR can be studied under the following two heads:

1. When gate is open:

Fig.2 shows the SCR circuit with gate open i.e. no voltage applied to the gate.
Under this condition, junction J2 is reverse biased while junction J 1 and J3 are forward biased. Hence, the
situation in the junctions J1 and J3 is just as in a npn transistor with base open. Consequently, no current flows
through the load RL and the SCR is cut off. However, if the applied voltage is gradually increased, a stage is
reached when the reverse biased junction J 2 breaks down. The SCR now conducts heavily and is said to be in
the ON state. The applied voltage at which SCR conducts heavily without gate voltage is called Breakover
voltage.
2. When gate is positive w.r.t. cathode

Now junction J3 is forward biased and junction J2 is reverse biased. The electrons from n-type material start
moving across junction J3 towards left whereas holes from p-type towards the right. Consequently, the electrons
from junction J3 are attracted across the junction J2and gate current starts flowing .As soon as the gate current
flows, anode current increases. The increased current in turn makes more electrons available at junction J 2.This
process continues and in an extremely small time, junction J 2 breaks down and the SCR starts conducting
heavily. Once SCR starts conducting, the gate loses all control. Even if gate voltage is removed, the anode
current does not decrease at all. The only way to stop conduction i.e. to bring the SCR in off condition, is to
reduce the applied voltage to zero.
Conclusion
The following conclusions are drawn from the working of SCR:

1. An SCR has two states i.e. either it does not conduct or it conducts heavily. There is no state in between.
Therefore, SCR behaves like a switch.
 2. There are two ways to turn on the SCR. The first method is to keep the gate open and make the supply
voltage equal to the breakover voltage. The second method is to operate SCR with supply voltage less than
breakover voltage and then turn it on by means of a small voltage applied to the gate.
3. Applying small positive voltage to the gate is the normal way to close an SCR because the breakover
voltage is usually much greater than supply voltage.
4. To open the SCR e. to make it non-conducting, reduce the supply voltage to zero.
V-I Characteristics of SCR

It is the curve between anode-cathode voltage (V) and anode current (I) of an SCR at constant gate current.Fig.1
shows the V-I characteristics of a typical SCR .

Important Points About The V-I Characteristics of SCR

Forward Characteristics
When anode is positive w.r.t. cathode, the curve between V and I is called the forward characteristics.

In fig.1, OABC is the forward characteristics of SCR at IG=0.If the supply voltage is increased from zero, a
point reached (point A) when the SCR starts conducting.
Under this condition,the voltage across SCR suddenly drops as shown by dotted curve AB and most of supply
voltage appears across the load resistance RL .
If proper gate current is made to flow, SCR can close at much smaller supply voltage.
Reverse Characteristics
When anode is negative w.r.t. cathode, the curve between V and I is known as reverse characteristics.

The reverse voltage does come across SCR when it is operated with a.c. supply.
If the reverse voltage is gradually increased, at first the anode current remains small (i.e. leakage current) and at
some reverse voltage, avalanche breakdown occurs and the SCR starts conducting heavily in the reverse
direction as shown by the curve DE.
This maximum reverse voltage at which SCR starts conducting heavily is known as reverse breakdown voltage.
SCR in Normal Operation
In order to operate the SCR in normal operation, the following points are kept in view:
1. The supply voltage is generally much less than breakover voltage.
 2. The SCR is turned on by passing appropriate amount of gate current ( a few mA) and not by breakover
voltage.
3. When SCR is operated from a.c. supply, the peak reverse voltage which comes during negative half-cycle
should not exceed the reverse breakdown voltage.
4. When SCR is to be turned OFF from the ON state, anode current should be reduced to holding current.
5. If gate current is increased above the required value, the SCR will close at much reduced supply voltage.
Important Terms In The V-I Characteristics of SCR
The following terms are much used in the study of SCR :

1. Breakover Voltage
It is the minimum forward voltage, gate being open, at which SCR starts conducting heavily i.e. turned on.
Thus, if the breakover voltage of an SCR is 200 V, it means that it can block a forward voltage (i.e. SCR
remains open) as long as the supply voltage is less than 200 V. If the supply voltage is more than this value,
then SCR will be turned on.
In practice, the SCR is operated with supply voltage less than breakover voltage and it is then turned on by
means of a small voltage applied to the gate.
Commercially available SCRs have breakover voltages from about 50 V to 500 V.
2. Peak Reverse Voltage (PRV)
It is the maximum reverse voltage (cathode positive w.r.t. anode) that can be applied to an SCR without
conducting in the reverse direction.
PRV is an important consideration while connecting an SCR in an a.c. circuit. During the negative half of a.c.
supply, reverse voltage is applied across SCR. If PRV is exceeded, there may be avalanche breakdown and the
SCR will be damaged if the external ciruit does not limit the current.
Commercially available SCRS have PRV ratings upto 2.5 kV.
Holding Current
It is the maximum anode current, gate being open, at which SCR is turned OFF from ON condition.
When SCR is in the conducting state, it can not be turned OFF even if gate voltage is removed.
The only way to turn off or open the SCR is to reduce the supply voltage to almost zero at which point the
internal transistor comes out of saturation and opens the SCR.
The anode current under this condition is very small (a few mA) and is called holding current.
Thus, if an SCR has a holding current of 5mA, it means that if anode current is made less than 5 mA, then SCR
will be turned off.
Forward Current Rating
It is the maximum anode current that an SCR is capable of passing without destruction.

Every SCR has a safe value of forward current which it can conduct. If the value of current exceeds this value,
the SCR may be destroyed due to intensive heating at the junction.

For example, if an SCR has a forward current rating of 40 A, it means that the SCR can safely carry only 40 A.
Any attempt to exceed this value will result in the destruction of the SCR.

Commercially available SCRs have forward current ratings from about 30A to 100A.

Circuit Fusing (I2t) Rating

It is the product of square forward surge current and the time of duration of the surge i.e.,

Circuit fusing rating =I2t

The circuit fusing rating indicates the maximum forward surge current capability of SCR.

For example, consider an SCR having circuit fusing rating of 90 A 2s. If this rating is exceeded in the SCR
circuit , the device will be destroyed by excessive power dissipation.
SCR Triggering (Turn-on) Methods
Triggering:-
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(V AK) , Junction J1 and J3 is forward biased and
junction J2 is reverse biased.
 No current flows due to depletion region in J2 is reverse biased (except leakage current).
 As VAK is further increased, at a voltage V BO (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)
(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/dtTriggering:-
 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
= C. dV/dt + V. dC/dt
as dC/dt = 0
ic = C.dV/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.
 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 disadvantages is that a continuous DC signal has to be applied. So gate power loss is high.
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
(i) Resistance triggering:
The following circuit shows the resistance triggering.

 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.

 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.

Two Transistor Model of SCR or Thyristor

Basic operating principle of SCR, can easily be understood by the two transistor model
of SCR, as it is a combination of p and n layers.
 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.

The relation between

the collector current and emitter current is shown below

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,

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

By substituting this valyue 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 of the T2 transistor IE2 = Ik. 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 T1, 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 , which will lead to increase emitter current
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.

SCR working with two transistor model

Working of the SCR can be easily explained by two transistor model of SCR. As per
figure you can see with supply voltage V and load resistance R is applied to SCR. Here
first Assume the supply voltage V is less than break over voltage as is usually the case.
When the gate is open (i.e. switch S open), there is base current Ib=0. For the base of the
T2 is connected with the collector of The T1. Therefore, no current flows in the collector of
T2 and hence that of T1. So for this condition, SCR is in OFF condition.
Whenever switch S is closed, a small gate current will flow through the base of T2 which
means its collector current will increase. The collector of the transistor T2 is connected
with transistor T1. So, the collector current of T2 is the base current of T1. Therefore, the
collector current of T1 increases. But collector current of T1 is the base current of T2. This
action is accumulative since an increase of current in one transistor causes an increase of
current in the other transistor. As a result of this action, both transistors are driven to
saturation, and heavy current flows through the load RL. Under such conditions, the SCR
closes.
DIAC
DIAC is a semiconductor device which has three layers and two junctions. The word DIAC consists of two
parts, DI and AC. The DI stands for the diode (or two. Like Di, Tri, Quad, Penta etc.) and AC stands
for Alternating Current.
In the below image the DIAC symbol is shown.

The DIAC is a combination of two diodes in parallel, one in forward bias and the other one is in reverse bias
condition with respect to both sides. DIAC is a specially constructed diode, which allows current to pass in both
directions when certain conditions are met.

One more interesting thing about the DIAC is, due to no specified direction of current flow, it is considered as
a bidirectional device. DIAC only has two Anode pins, and no cathode pins are there. Those two anode
terminals are often referred to Main Terminal 1 (MT1) and Main Terminal 2 (MT2).
Construction of DIAC

DIAC construction follows the same rule as a typical transistor construction without the Base terminal. As
discussed above, the DIAC construction has two main terminals, MT1, and MT2. The DIAC construction uses
two P-type materials and three N-type materials without the gate terminal.

In the above image, Three N-type regions are shown with the name of NA, NB, and NC.
P-type regions are shown as PA and PB. If MT1 terminal became more positive than MT2, the current will flow
in the direction of PA -> NB -> PB -> NC. When the reverse situation occurs, the MT2 terminal became more
positive than the MT1 and the current will flow in a direction of PB -> NB -> PA -> NA.

The DIAC only starts to conduct the current when the breakdown voltage is reached.

During the breakdown situations, there is a sudden decrease in the voltage drop occurs across the DIAC and the
current flow will increase through it. This state is called a negative dynamic resistance region. The conduction
continues until the current decreases to a a certain value called as holding current. Below this holding current,
the DIAC resistance becomes high and it will enter in non-conducting state.
DIAC Characteristic Curve

In the above image, the actual I-V characteristic of DIAC is shown. The curve looks like the English word Z.
The DIAC remains in the nonconductive state until the breakdown voltage is reached. The slow curve before
going to the straight line is due to the leakage current. After the breakdown voltage is reached, the DIAC enters
into the low resistance state and the current flow through the diode is rapidly increased which is shown as a
straight line. But during the current conducting state the voltage drop across the diode is reduced, hence the line
is not perfect 90 degrees.

DIAC Applications

The DIAC is designed specifically to trigger TRIAC or an SCR. As discussed above, the DIAC goes into
avalanche conduction at the breakover voltage. Due to this, the device exhibits negative resistance
characteristics and the voltage drop across it dramatically decreases, typically to about 5 Volts. This creates a
break over current which is sufficient to turn on or trigger a TRIAC or an SCR.

The DIAC is also applicable for symmetrical triggering applications, as the DIAC conducts in both directions.

Now the most important question is, why we need DIAC to trigger a TRIAC?

TRIAC do not fire symmetrically and because of this, TRIAC do not trigger at the same gate voltage level for
one polarity as for the other one. This leads to an undesirable result. The unsymmetrical firing results in a
current waveform which has a greater variety of harmonic frequencies leads to uncertain possibilities inside the
Power circuit. To recover from this situation and to reduce the harmonic contents in a power system, DIAC is
placed in series with the gate of a TRIAC.

Basic DIAC application is shown in the below image where the DIAC is being used as a triggering device of the
TRIAC.

The DIAC is connected in series with the gate of a TRIAC. The DIAC do not allow any gate current until the
triggering voltage has reached to a certain repeatable level in both directions. In this case, the firing point of the
TRIAC from one-half cycle to the next half cycle tends to be more consistent and it reduces the total harmonic
content of the system.

Practical Example of DIAC

Let's see a practical circuit using DIAC. In the below circuit a DIAC is used to blink a LED.

The construction is fairly simple, it consists two 1N4007 diode which is a 1000V 1A rectifier diode and a 47uF
capacitor with at least 300V rating. For the DIAC, DB3, DB4 or NTE6408 can be used. Two resistors of 20k
and 100 Ohms (½ Watt) are used along with a blue color standard LED, (3v)

Here two diodes are used for safety purpose which convert AC into DC. Capacitor quickly gets charged by the
diodes, and as soon as the charged voltage reaches DIAC‘s breakdown voltage, it starts to conduct and turn on
the LED. After turning on the LED and while the current is passing through the DIAC, the voltage drop
decreases and the capacitor star discharging through the resistor 20k.
TRIAC

The term TRIAC stands for TRIode for Alternating Current. It is a three terminal switching device similar
to SCR (Thyristor) but it can conduct in both the directional since it construct by combining two SCR in anti-
parallel state. The symbol and pin out of TRIAC is shown below.

Since the TRIAC is a bi-directional device the current can either flow from MT1 to MT2 or from MT2 to MT1
when the gate terminal is triggered. For a TRIAC this trigger voltage that is to be applied to the gate terminal
can either be positive or negative with respect to terminal MT2. Thus this puts the TRIAC into four operating
modes as listed below

 Positive Voltage at MT2 and positive pulse to gate (Quadrant 1)

 Positive Voltage at MT2 and negative pulse to gate (Quadrant 2)
 Negative Voltage at MT2 and positive pulse to gate (Quadrant 3)
 Negative Voltage at MT2 and negative pulse to gate (Quadrant 4)

V-I Characteristics of a TRIAC

The below picture illustrates the status of TRIAC in each quadrant.

The turn on and turn off characterises of the TRIAC can be understood by looking at the VI characterises graph
of the TRIAC which is also shown in the above picture. Since the TRIAC is just a combination of two SCR in
anti-parallel direction the V-I characteristics graph looks similar to that of an SCR. As you can see the TRIAC
mostly operates in the 1st Quadrant and the 3rd Quadrant.

Turn-On Characteristics

To turn on a TRIAC a positive or negative gate voltage/pulse has to be supplied to the gate pin of the TRIAC.
When triggered one of the two SCR inside, the TRIAC begins to conduct based on the polarity of the MT1 and
MT2 terminals. If MT2 is positive and MT1 is negative the first SCR conducts and if the MT2 terminal is
negative and MT1 is positive then second SCR conducts. This way either one of the SCR always stays on thus
making the TRIAC ideal for AC applications.

The minimum voltage that has to be applied to gate pin to turn ON a TRIAC is called as the threshold gate
voltage (VGT) and the resulting current through the gate pin is called as the threshold gate current (IGT). Once
this voltage is applied the gate pin the TRIAC gets forward biased and starts to conduct, the time taken for the
TRIAC to change from off state to on state is called as turn-on time (ton).

Just like an SCR the TRIAC once turned on will remain turned on unless it is commutated. But for this
condition the load current through the TRIAC should be greater than or equal to the latching current (IL) of the
TRIAC. So to conclude a TRIAC will remain turned on even after removing the gate pulse as long as the load
current is greater than the value of latching current.

Similar to latching current, there is another important value of current called holding current. The minimum
value of current to keep the TRIAC in forward conduction mode is called as the holding current (IH). A TRIAC
will enter into continuous conduction mode only after passing though the holding current and the latching
current as shown in the graph above. Also the value of Latching current of any TRIAC will always be greater
than the value of the holding current.

Turn-off characteristics

The process of turning off an TRIAC or any other power device is called as commutation, and the circuit
associated with it to perform the task is called as a commutational circuit. The most common method used to
turn off a TRIAC is by reducing the load current though the TRIAC until it reaches below the value of holding
current (IH). This type of commutation is called as forced commutation in DC circuits. We will learn more about
how a TRIAC is turned On and turned Off through it application circuits.

TRIAC Applications

TRIAC is very commonly used in places where AC power has to be controlled for example, it is used in the
speed regulators of ceiling fans, AC bulb dimmer circuits etc. Let us look into a simple TRIAC switching circuit
to understand how it works practically.

Here we have used the TRIAC to turn On and off an AC load through a push button. The mains power source is
then wired to a small bulb through the TRIAC as shown above. When the switch is closed the phase voltage is
applied to the gate pin of the TRIAC through the resistor R1. If this gate voltage is above the gate threshold
voltage then a current flows through the gate pin, which will be greater than the gate threshold current.

At this condition the TRIAC enters forward bias and the load current will flow though the Bulb. If the loads
consumes enough current the TRIAC enter into latching state. But since this is an AC power source the voltage
will reach zero for every half cycle and thus the current will also reach zero momentarily. Hence latching is not
possible in this circuit and the TRIAC will turn off as soon as the switch is opened and no commutation circuit
is required here. This type of commutation of TRIAC is called as natural commutation. Now let us build this
circuit on a breadboard using the BT136 TRIAC and check how it works.

High caution is needed while working with AC power supplies the operating voltage is stepped down for safety
purpose The standard AC power of 230V 50Hz (In India) is stepped down to 12V 50Hz using a transformer. A
small bulb is connected as a load. The experimental set-up looks like this below when completed.
When the button is pressed the gate pin receives the gate voltage and thus the TRIAC is turned ON. The bulb
will glow as long as the button is held pressed. Once the button is released, the TRIAC will be in latched state,
but since the input voltage is AC the current though the TRIAC will go below the holding current and thus the
TRIAC will turn off, the complete working can also be found in the video given at the end of this tutorial.

TRIAC control using Microcontrollers

When TRIACs are used as light dimmers or for Phase control application, the gate pulse that is supplied to the
gate pin has to be controlled using a microcontroller. In that case the gate pin will also be isolated using an
opto-coupler. The circuit diagram for the same is shown below.
To control the TRIAC using a 5V/3.3V signal we will use an opto-coupler like the MOC3021 which has a
TRIAC inside it. This TRIAC can be triggered by 5V/3.3V through the Light Emitting Diode. Normally a PWM
signal will be applied to the 1 st pin of MOC3021 and the frequency and duty cycle of the PWM signal will be
varied to get the desired output. This type of circuit is normally used for Lamp brightness control or motor
speed control.

Rate Effect – Snubber Circuits

All TRIACs suffer from a problem called Rate Effect. That is when the MT1 terminal is subjected to sharp
increase in voltage due to switching noise or transients or surges the TRIAC miss-interrupts it as a switching
signal and turns ON automatically. This is because of the internal capacitance of present between the terminals
MT1 and MT2.

The easiest way to overcome this problem is by using a Snubber circuit. In the above circuit, the Resistor R2
(50R) and the Capacitor C1 (10nF) together forms an RC network which acts as a Snubber circuit. Any peak
voltages supplied to MT1 will be observed by this RC network.

Backlash Effect

Another common problem that will be faced by designers while using TRIAC is the Backlash effect. This
problem occurs when a potentiometer is used for controlling the gate voltage of the TRIAC. When the POT is
turned to minimum value, no voltage will be applied to gate pin and thus the Load will be turned off. But when
the POT is turned to maximum value the TRIAC will not switch on because of the capacitance effect between
the pins MT1 and MT2, this capacitor should find a path to discharge else it will not allow the TRIAC o turn
ON. This effect is called as the Backlash effect. This problem can be rectified by simply introducing a resistor
in series with switching circuit to provide a path for the capacitor to discharge.

Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) and TRIACs

TRIAC switching circuits are more prone to Radio Frequency interference (EFI) because when the load is
turned on, the current raises form 0A to maximum value all of a sudden thus creating a burst of electric pulses
which causes Radio Frequency Interface. The larger the load current is the worse will be the interference. Using
Suppressor circuits like an LC suppressor will solve this problem.

TRIAC – Limitations

When required to switch AC waveforms in both the directions obviously TRIAC will be the first choice since it
is the only bi-directional power electronic switch. It acts just like two SCRs connected in back to back fashion
and also share the same properties. Although while designing circuits using TRIAC the following limitations
must be considered

 The TRIAC has two SCR structures inside it, one conducts during positive half and the other during negative
half. But, they do not trigger symmetrically causing difference in the positive and negative half cycle of the
output
 Also since the switching is not symmetrical, it leads to high level harmonics which will induce noise in the
circuit.
 This harmonics problem will also lead to Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI)
 While using inductive loads, there is a huge risk of inrush current flowing towards the source, hence it
should be ensured that TRIAC is turned off completely and the inductive load is discharged safely through
an alternate path
Gate turn-off thyristor

Although the thyristor is extensively used in high power applications, it always suffered from being a semi-
controlled device. Even though it could be switched ON by applying a gate signal, it has to be turned OFF by
interrupting the main current using a commutation circuit.

In case of DC to DC and DC to AC conversion circuits, this becomes a serious deficiency with thyristor due to
the absence of natural current zero (as in case of AC circuits). Hence, the development of Gate Turn off
Thyristor (GTO) addresses the major problem of the thyristor by ensuring the turn OFF mechanism through the
gate terminal.

Basics of Gate Turn-Off Thyristor

A Gate Turn off Thyristor or GTO is a three terminal, bipolar (current controlled minority carrier)
semiconductor switching device. Similar to conventional thyristor, the terminals are anode, cathode and gate as
shown in figure below. As the name indicates, it has gate turn off capability.

These are capable not only to turn ON the main current with a gate drive circuit, but also to turn it OFF. A small
positive gate current triggers the GTO into conduction mode and also by a negative pulse on the gate, it is
capable of being turned off. Observe in below figure that the gate has double arrows on it which distinguish the

GTO from normal thyristor. This indicates the bidirectional current flow through the gate terminal.
The gate current required to turn off the GTO is relatively high. For example, a GTO rated with 4000V and
3000A may need -750A gate current to switch it off. So the typical turn off gain of GTO is low and is in the
range of 4 to 5. Due to this large negative current, GTOs are used in low power applications.

On the other hand, during the conduction state GTO behaves just like a thyristor with a small ON state voltage
drop. The GTO has faster switching speed than the thyristor and has higher voltage and current ratings than the
power transistors.

Several varieties of GTOs are available in today’s market with asymmetric and symmetric voltage capabilities.
GTOs with identical forward and reverse blocking capabilities are called as symmetric GTOs (S-GTOs). These
are used in current source inverters, but these are somewhat slower. Mostly asymmetric GTOs (A-GTOs) are
used due to its lower ON state voltage drop and stable temperature characteristics.

These asymmetrical GTOs have an appreciable reverse voltage capability (typically 20 to 25 V). These are used
where either the reverse voltage across it would never occur or a reverse conducting diode is connected across
the circuit. This article describes only about asymmetric GTOs.

Construction

Consider the below structure of GTO, which is almost similar to the thyristor. It is also a four layer, three
junction P-N-P-N device like a standard thyristor. In this, the n+ layer at the cathode end is highly doped to
obtain high emitter efficiency. This result the breakdown voltage of the junction J3 is low which is typically in
the range of 20 to 40 volts.

The doping level of the p type gate is highly graded because the doping level should be low to maintain high
emitter efficiency, whereas for having a good turn OFF properties, doping of this region should be high. In
addition, gate and cathodes should be highly interdigited with various geometric forms to optimize the current
turn off capability.
The junction between the P+ anode and N base is called anode junction. A heavily doped P+ anode region is
required to obtain the higher efficiency anode junction so that a good turn ON properties is achieved. However,
the turn OFF capabilities are affected with such GTOs.

This problem can be solved by introducing heavily doped N+ layers at regular intervals in P+ anode layer as
shown in figure. So this N+ layer makes a direct contact with N layer at junction J1. This cause the electrons to
travel from base N region directly to anode metal contact without causing hole injection from P+ anode. This is
called as a anode shorted GTO structure.

Due to these anode shorts, the reverse blocking capacity of the GTO is reduced to the reverse breakdown
voltage of junction j3 and hence speeds up the turn OFF mechanism.

However, with a large number of anode shorts, the efficiency of the anode junction reduces and hence the turn
ON performance of the GTO degrades. Therefore, careful considerations have to be taken about the density of
these anode shorts for a good turn ON and OFF performance.

Principle of Operation

The turn ON operation of GTO is similar to a conventional thyristor. When the anode terminal is made positive
with respect to cathode by applying a positive gate current, the hole current injection from gate forward bias the
cathode p-base junction.
This results in the emission of electrons from the cathode towards the anode terminal. This induces the hole
injection from the anode terminal into the base region. This injection of holes and electrons continuous till the
GTO comes into the conduction state.

In case of thyristor, the conduction starts initially by turning ON the area of cathode adjacent to the gate
terminal. And thus, by plasma spreading the remaining area comes into the conduction.

Unlike a thyristor, GTO consists of narrow cathode elements which are heavily interdigitated with gate
terminal, thereby initial turned ON area is very large and plasma spreading is small. Hence the GTO comes into
the conduction state very quickly.

To turn OFF a conducting GTO, a reverse bias is applied at the gate by making the gate negative with respect to
cathode. A part of the holes from the P base layer is extracted through the gate which suppress the injection of
electrons from the cathode.

In response to this, more hole current is extracted through the gate results more suppression of electrons from
the cathode. Eventually, the voltage drop across the p base junction causes to reverse bias the gate cathode
junction and hence the GTO is turned OFF.

During the hole extraction process, the p-base region is gradually depleted so that the conduction area squeezed.
As this process continuous, the anode current flows through remote areas forming high current density
filaments. This causes local hot spots which can damage the device unless these filaments are extinguished
quickly.

By the application of high negative gate voltage these filaments are extinguished rapidly. Due to the N base
region stored charge, the anode to gate current continues to flow even though the cathode current is ceased. This
is called a tail current which decays exponentially as the excess charge carriers are reduced by the
recombination process. Once the tail current reduced to a leakage current level, the device retains its forward
blocking characteristics.
V-I Characteristics

During the turn ON, GTO is similar to thyristor in its operates.So the first quadrant characteristics are similar to
the thyristor. When the anode is made positive with respect to cathode, the device operates in forward blocking
mode. By the application of positive gate signal triggers the GTO into conduction state.

The latching current and forward leakage currents are considerably higher in GTO compared to the thyristor as
shown in figure. The gate drive can be removed if the anode current is above the holding current level.

But it is recommended not to remove the positive gate drive during conduction and to hold at value more than
the maximum critical gate current. This is because the cathode is subdivided into small finger elements as
discussed above to assist the turn OFF process.

This causes the anode current dips below the holding current level transiently, which forces a high anode
current at a high rate back into the GTO. This can be potentially destructive. Therefore, some manufacturers
recommend the continuous gate signal during the conduction state.

The GTO can be turned OFF by the application of reverse gate current which can be either step or ramp drive.
The GTO can be turned OFF without reversing anode voltage. The dashed line in the figure shows i-v trajectory
during the turn OFF for an inductive load. It should be noted that during the turn OFF, GTO can block a rated
forward voltage only.

To avoid dv/dt triggering and protect the device during turn OFF, either a recommended value of resistance
must be connected between the gate and cathode or a small reverse bias voltage (typically -2V) must be
maintained on the gate terminal. This prevents the gate cathode junction to become forward biased and hence
the GTO sustains during the turn OFF state.
 In reverse biased condition of GTO, the blocking capability is depends on the type of GTO. A symmetric GTO
has a high reverse blocking capability while asymmetric GTO has a small reverse blocking capability as shown
in figure.

It is observed that, during reverse biased condition, after a small reverse voltage (20 to 30 V) GTO starts
conducting in reverse direction due to the anode short structure. This mode of operation does not destroy the
device provided that the gate is negatively biased and the time of this operation should be small.

Gate Turn-Off Thyristor Applications

Due to the advantages like excellent switching characteristics, no need of commutation circuit, maintenance-
free operation, etc makes the GTO usage predominant over thyristor in many applications. It is used as a main
control device in choppers and inverters. Some of these applications are

 AC drives
 DC drives or DC choppers
 AC stabilizing power supplies
 DC circuit breakers
 Induction heating

Power Transistor

And other low power applications As the name implies, the power transistor is designed to work at power
levels. That means it can handle large voltage and current.

The structure and construction of a power transistor is entirely different from that of a signal transistor but their
characteristics and operation in almost same.

Power transistor is of 3 types : Power BJT, Power MOSFET and IGBT

Power BJT has 3 terminals — collector, base and emitter. It is a current controlled device. It is the base current
that controls the device.

Power Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET) has 3 terminals — Drain, Source and
Gate. It is a voltage controlled device. It is the gate voltage that controls the device.

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) has 3 terminals — Collector, Emitter and Gate. It is also a v
MOSFET
MOSFET is a three-terminal device. The terminals are Drain, Source and Gate.
MOSFET is a short form of Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor. This device is capable of
switching at a high frequency up to 100 kHz. Which is much higher than the power BJT. It has a good current
carrying capacity and higher off-state blocking voltage capacity. A power MOSFET is a voltage-controlled
device.
Types of MOSFET

1. Depletion type MOSFET

2. Enhancement type MOSFET
Construction of MOSFET

Power MOSFET has a vertically oriented four-layer structure. The p-type middle layer term as the body. The
n– layer is the drift layer. This layer is lightly dropped as compared to the drain and source layer. The
 breakdown voltage of power MOSFET determines from the width of the drift layer. First and last both layers
are an n+ layer. First layer is the source layer and the last layer is the drain layer.

The n+ p n- n+ structure term as enhancement mode n channel MOSFET. A p-channel MOSFET structure has
exactly opposite doping profile.

The GATE terminal is not directly connected with p-type, there is an oxide layer between the metal and
semiconductor. This oxide layer act as a dielectric layer between the metal and the semiconductor. It forms
a MOS (metal oxide semiconductor) capacitance at the input of the MOSFET. This capacitance is large
(>1000 pF). The oxide layer gives good insulating property by providing the SiO 2 layer which isolates the gate
terminal from the body layer.
Operating principle of MOSFET

Power MOSFET is a minority carrier device. So, conduction takes place only by the electrons. Therefore, the
conduction cannot take place through the MOSFET from the drain to source due to the presence of P-layer in
between. But this is possible by Inversion layer creation.
The operation of MOSFET divides into two parts

1. Formation of the depletion layer

2. Creation of Inversion Layer
1) Formation of the depletion layer

By connecting a positive voltage to the drain with respect to the source and the gate is positive with respect to
the body, the MOSFET works as forward biased. The p-layer has a large number of holes and few electrons.
The holes are the majority charge carrier and electrons are minority charge carrier. Due to the positive voltage
applied between the gate and the body, these electrons are attracted towards the gate and gather below the oxide
layer and produce the depletion layer.

2) Creation of Inversion Layer

The number of electrons below the oxide layer will greater than the number of holes if the positive gate voltage
increases further. Hence, n-type of sublayer form below the oxide layer. This process is known as the creation
 of the inversion layer. The process of generation of an inversion layer due to the extremely applied gate
voltage is known as the field effect. This inversion layer is also known as the induced layer.
The resistance of induced layer depends on the magnitude of the gate to body voltage. Higher the gate voltage
less the resistance. The resistance decreases with an increase in the gate to body voltage. But after a certain
level, the resistance is not decreased even increasing the gate to body voltage. If the maximum specified value
of the gate voltage exceeds then the oxide layer will breakdown.
I-V characteristic

It is a graph of drain current I d versus drain to source voltage VDS for different values of the gate to source
voltage VGS. It has three regions; saturation, cut-off, and ohmic region. In the application where the MOSFET
used as a switch, the device works in the cut-off region and ohmic region when turned OFF and ON
respectively. The operation in the saturation region avoided reducing the power dissipation in the on-state.
When the gate-source voltage is less than the threshold voltage, the MOSFET is in the cut-off state. To avoid
breakdown the drain to source breakdown voltage should be greater than the applied voltage. The avalanche
breakdown takes place.

The power MOSFET goes into the ohmic region when a larger positive gate to source voltage apply and the
drain to source voltage is small. In this region, the power dissipation is low.
In the saturation region, the drain current is almost independent of the drain to source voltage. It is only
dependent on the gate to source voltage. The gate voltage is greater than the threshold voltage. The drain current
increase with the increase in the gate to source voltage.
Merits of a power MOSFET

1. The GATE driving circuit of MOSFET is simple.

2. It can operate at the high switching frequency.
3. It has better thermal stability because the temperature coefficient of MOSFET is positive.
4. easy to turn ON and OFF.
5. On-state resistance is low.
6. The second breakdown does not take place.
 Demerits of a power MOSFET

1. The on-state voltage across the MOSFET is very high. So, on-state power dissipation is high.
2. It has the asymmetric blocking capacity. They can block a high forward voltage but they cannot block high
reverse voltage. Therefore, we need to connect a diode to protect the MOSFET.
Application of Power MOSFET

1. Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS)

2. Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS)
3. High-frequency inverter
4. Motor control application
5. Display driver
6. In power amplifier
7. Industrial applications
8. Relay driver
voltage controlled device. It is the gate voltage that controls the device

` SCR Firing Circuits

As we have seen in above that out of various triggering methods to turn the SCR, gate triggering is the most
efficient and reliable method. Most of the control applications use this type of triggering because the desired
instant of SCR turning is possible with gate triggering method. Let us look on various firing circuits of SCR.

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.
Resistance – Capacitance (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.
Back to top

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.
 Blocking Oscillator

A blocking oscillator is a waveform generator that is used to produce narrow pulses or trigger pulses. While
having the feedback from the output signal, it blocks the feedback, after a cycle, for certain predetermined
time. This feature of blocking the output while being an oscillator, gets the name blocking oscillator to it.
In the construction of a blocking oscillator, the transistor is used as an amplifier and the transformer is used for
feedback. The transformer used here is a Pulse transformer. The symbol of a pulse transformer is as shown
below.

Pulse Transformer
A Pulse transformer is one which couples a source of rectangular pulses of electrical energy to the load.
Keeping the shape and other properties of pulses unchanged. They are wide band transformers with minimum
attenuation and zero or minimum phase change.
The output of the transformer depends upon the charge and discharge of the capacitor connected.
The regenerative feedback is made easy by using pulse transformer. The output can be fed back to the input in
the same phase by properly choosing the winding polarities of the pulse transformer. Blocking oscillator is
such a free-running oscillator made using a capacitor and a pulse transformer along with a single transistor
which is cut off for most of the duty cycle producing periodic pulses.
Using the blocking oscillator, Astable and Monostable operations are possible. But Bistable operation is not
possible. Let us go through them.

Monostable Blocking Oscillator

If the blocking oscillator needs a single pulse, to change its state, it is called as a Monostable blocking
oscillator circuit. These Monostable blocking oscillators can be of two types. They are

 Monostable blocking oscillator with base timing

 Monostable blocking oscillator with emitter timing
In both of these, a timing resistor R controls the gate width, which when placed in the base of transistor
becomes base timing circuit and when placed in the emitter of transistor becomes emitter timing circuit.
To have a clear understanding, let us discuss the working of base timing Monostable Multivibrator.

Transistor Triggered Monostable blocking oscillator with Base timing

A transistor, a pulse transformer for feedback and a resistor in the base of the transistor constitute the circuit of
a transistor triggered Monostable blocking oscillator with base timing. The pulse transformer used here has a
turns ratio of n: 1 where the base circuit has n turns for every turn on the collector circuit. A resistance R is
connected in series to the base of the transistor which controls the pulse duration.
Initially the transistor is in OFF condition. As shown in the following figure, VBB is considered zero or too
low, which is negligible.

The voltage at the collector is V CC, since the device is OFF. But when a negative trigger is applied at the
collector, the voltage gets reduced. Because of the winding polarities of the transformer, the collector voltage
goes down, while the base voltage rises.
When the base to emitter voltage becomes greater than the cut-in voltage, i.e.
VBE>VγVBE>Vγ
Then, a small base current is observed. This raises the collector current which decreases the collector voltage.
This action cumulates further, which increases the collector current and decreases the collector voltage further.
With the regenerative feedback action, if the loop gain increases, the transistor gets into saturation quickly. But
this is not a stable state.
Then, a small base current is observed. This raises the collector current which decreases the collector voltage.
This action cumulates further, which increases the collector current and decreases the collector voltage further.
With the regenerative feedback action, if the loop gain increases, the transistor gets into saturation quickly. But
this is not a stable state.
When the transistor gets into saturation, the collector current increases and the base current is constant. Now,
the collector current slowly starts charging the capacitor and the voltage at the transformer reduces. Due to the
transformer winding polarities, the base voltage gets increased. This in turn decreases the base current. This
cumulative action, throws the transistor into cut off condition, which is the stable state of the circuit.
The output waveforms are as follows −

The main disadvantage of this circuit is that the output Pulse width cannot be maintained stable. We know
that the collector current is
ic=hFEiBic=hFEiB
As the hFE is temperature dependent and the pulse width varies linearly with this, the output pulse width cannot
be stable. Also hFE varies with the transistor used.
Anyways, this disadvantage can be eliminated if the resistor is placed in emitter, which means the solution is
the emitter timing circuit. When the above condition occurs, the transistor turns OFF in the emitter timing
circuit and so a stable output is obtained.

Astable Blocking Oscillator

If the blocking oscillator can change its state automatically, it is called as an Astable blocking oscillator circuit.
These Astable blocking oscillators can be of two types. They are

 Diode controlled Astable blocking oscillator

 RC controlled Astable blocking oscillator
In diode controlled Astable blocking oscillator, a diode placed in the collector changes the state of the blocking
oscillator. While in the RC controlled Astable blocking oscillator, a timing resistor R and capacitor C form a
network in the emitter section to control the pulse timings.
To have a clear understanding, let us discuss the working of Diode controlled Astable blocking oscillator.
Diode controlled Astable blocking oscillator
The diode controlled Astable blocking oscillator contains a pulse transformer in the collector circuit. A
capacitor is connected in between transformer secondary and the base of the transistor. The transformer
primary and the diode are connected in the collector.
An initial pulse is given at the collector of the transistor to initiate the process and from there no pulses are
required and the circuit behaves as an Astable Multivibrator. The figure below shows the circuit of a diode
controlled Astable blocking oscillator.

Initially the transistor is in OFF state. To initiate the circuit, a negative trigger pulse is applied at the collector.
The diode whose anode is connected to the collector, will be in reverse biased condition and will be OFF by
the application of this negative trigger pulse.
This pulse is applied to the pulse transformer and due to the winding polarities (as indicated in the figure),
same amount of voltage gets induced without any phase inversion. This voltage flows through the capacitor
towards the base, contributing some base current. This base current, develops some base to emitter voltage,
which when crosses the cut-in voltage, pushes the transistor Q 1 to ON. Now, the collector current of the
transistor Q1 raises and it gets applied to both the diode and the transformer. The diode which is initially OFF
gets ON now. The voltage that gets induced into the transformer primary windings induces some voltage into
the transformer secondary winding, using which the capacitor starts charging.
As the capacitor will not deliver any current while it is getting charged, the base current i B stops flowing. This
turns the transistor Q1 OFF. Hence the state is changed.
Now, the diode which was ON, has some voltage across it, which gets applied to the transformer primary,
which is induced into the secondary. Now, the current flows through the capacitor which lets the capacitor
discharge. Hence the base current iB flows turning the transistor ON again. The output waveforms are as shown
below.
As the diode helps the transistor to change its state, this circuit is diode controlled. Also, as the trigger pulse is
applied only at the time of initiation, whereas the circuit keeps on changing its state all by its own, this circuit
is an Astable oscillator. Hence the name diode controlled Astable blocking oscillator is given.
Schmitt trigger
Definition
Schmitt trigger is an electronic circuit with positive feedback which holds the output level till the input signal to
comparator is higher than the threshold.It converts a sinusoidal or any analog signal to digital signal. It exhibits
hysteresis by which the output transition from high to low and low to high will occur at different thresholds.
Principle of operation
Consider a feedback system with forward gain of A and feedback factor β. If we adjust the loop gain to be one
then the gain with feedback becomes infinite. This results in ever ending transition of output between extremes
of output. Schmitt trigger is one of such regenerative circuits also called as astable multivibrator because of two
quasi stable (unstable) states which are 1.positive extreme and 2.negative extreme.
Circuit diagram
The opamp Schmitt trigger is as shown below

schmitt trigger
Hysteresis
schmitt symbol transfer curve
The transfer characteristics of schmitt trigger is shown in the figure along with the symbol. The phenomenon by
which the circuit triggers at a higher voltage for increasing voltages than for decreasing voltages is called
hysteresis. Because of hysteresis there exists two triggering voltage i.e. upper threshold and lower threshold for
Schmitt trigger. It is quantified as follows
Hysteresis = Vupper threshold– Vlower threshold = β*Vcc-(- β*Vcc) = 2* β*Vcc= 2*Vcc*R2/(R2+R1)

MOSFET Driver Circuit:The gate of a MOSFET requires a relatively large amount of charge to drive the
voltage up to the ON state, and down to the OFF state. An inaccurate but close enough way to say this is that
the Gate to Source has a large amount of capacitance.

To charge this capacitance quickly when using PWM drive, it may require a charge/discharge current of several
amperes. A microcontroller output won't drive this. So a special chip that is capable of sourcing and sinking
several amps is used. The chip won't sustain that current for long, but it doesn't have to.

If this is not done, then it will take a lot longer to switch the MOSFET fully ON or OFF. During this time, the
MOSFET will be dropping considerable voltage while large currents are flowing, resulting in a lot of waste heat
in the MOSFET. This wastes power and heat stresses the MOSFET.

It can be something as simple as a couple of transistors, a PNP and NPN connected as push-pull drivers.
Often a third input transistor is added, so that Vcc can be greater than the drive voltage and so a 3.3V or 5V
logic signal can drive a 12V gate drive. Most MOSFETs require at least 10V to be full ON, otherwise
something called a logic level MOSFET must be used that is fully ON at 5V gate drive.

Or specialized MOSFET gate driver ICs may be used for much higher drive currents.
 Chapter: 2
Uncontrolled and controlled Rectifiers : Single phase and poly phase Bridge rectifiers. Transformer ratings.
Inductive load, free wheeling diodes. Converter operation: Overlap, power factor, inversion, regulation, P-
pulse converters, power factor control via PWM converters

INTRODUCTION

For nearly a century, rectifier circuits have been the most common power electronic circuits used to
convert ac to dc. The word rectification is used not because these circuits produce dc, but
 rather because the current flows in one direction; only the average output signal (voltage or
current) has a dc component. Moreover, since these circuits allow power to flow only from the
source to the load, they are often termed unidirectional converters. As will be shown shortly,
when rectifier circuits are used solely, their outputs consist of dc along with high-ripple ac
components. To significantly reduce or eliminate the output ripple, additional filtering circuitry
is added at the output. In the majority of applications, diode rectifier circuits are placed at the
front end of the power electronic 60 Hz systems, interfaced with the sine-wave voltage
produced by the electric utility. In dc-to-dc application, at the rectified side or the dc side, a
large filter capacitor is added to reduce the rectified voltage ripple. This dc voltage maintained
across the output capacitor is known as raw dc or uncontrolled dc.
The principal circuit operations of the various configurations of rectifier circuits are similar, whether
half- or full-wave, single-phase or three-phase. Such circuits are said to be uncontrolled since the
rectified output voltage and current are a function only of the applied excitation, with no
mechanism for varying the output level. In such circuits, regardless of the configuration, diodes are
almost always used to achieve rec- tification. This is because diodes are inexpensive, are readily
available with low and high power capabilities, and have terminal characteristics that are simple and
well un- derstood. However, since diode circuits are nonlinear, i.e., their circuit topological modes
vary with time, their analysis can be challenging, as illustrated in Chapter 3. To simplify the
analysis it will be assumed throughout this chapter that the diodes are ideal as discussed in
Chapter 2. In this chapter, we will discuss the single- and three- phase uncontrolled rectifier circuits
of both the half- and full-bridge configurations as shown in the general block diagram
representation in Fig. 2.1.
The analyses of rectifier circuits will include resistive, inductive, and capacitive loads, as well as
loads with dc sources. We should point out that rectification is a term generally used for converting
ac to dc with power flowing unidirectionally to the load, whereas inversion is a term used when
dc power is converted to ac power
is io
Half-/full- wave +
Rectifier
+ vo
– Load

ia io
Half-/full- wave Rectifier
va +
– +
vcvb
vo Load
ib
–
ic

Whenever there arises the need to convert an AC to DC power, a rectifier circuit comes for the rescue. A simple
PN junction diode acts as a rectifier. The forward biasing and reverse biasing conditions of the diode makes the
rectification.
Rectification
An alternating current has the property to change its state continuously. This is understood by observing the sine
wave by which an alternating current is indicated. It raises in its positive direction goes to a peak positive value,
reduces from there to normal and again goes to negative portion and reaches the negative peak and again gets
back to normal and goes on.

During its journey in the formation of wave, we can observe that the wave goes in positive and negative
directions. Actually it alters completely and hence the name alternating current.
But during the process of rectification, this alternating current is changed into direct current DC. The wave
which flows in both positive and negative direction till then, will get its direction restricted only to positive
direction, when converted to DC. Hence the current is allowed to flow only in positive direction and resisted in
negative direction, just as in the figure below.

The circuit which does rectification is called as a Rectifier circuit. A diode is used as a rectifier, to construct a
rectifier circuit.
Types of Rectifier circuits
There are two main types of rectifier circuits, depending upon their output. They are
 Half-wave Rectifier
 Full-wave Rectifier
A Half-wave rectifier circuit rectifies only positive half cycles of the input supply whereas a Full-wave rectifier
circuit rectifies both positive and negative half cycles of the input supply.
Half-Wave Rectifier
The name half-wave rectifier itself states that the rectification is done only for half of the cycle. The AC signal
is given through an input transformer which steps up or down according to the usage. Mostly a step down
transformer is used in rectifier circuits, so as to reduce the input voltage.
The input signal given to the transformer is passed through a PN junction diode which acts as a rectifier. This
diode converts the AC voltage into pulsating dc for only the positive half cycles of the input. A load resistor is
connected at the end of the circuit. The figure below shows the circuit of a half wave rectifier.

Working of a HWR
TThe input signal is given to the transformer which reduces the voltage levels. The output from the transformer
is given to the diode which acts as a rectifier. This diode gets ON conductsconducts for positive half cycles of
input signal. Hence a current flows in the circuit and there will be a voltage drop across the load resistor. The
diode gets OFF doesn′tconductdoesn′tconduct for negative half cycles and hence the output for negative half
cycles will be, iD=0iD=0 and Vo=0Vo=0.

Hence the output is present for positive half cycles of the input voltage only neglecting the
reverse leakage current. This output will be pulsating which is taken across the load resistor.
Waveforms of a HWR
The input and output waveforms are as shown in the following figure.
Hence the output of a half wave rectifier is a pulsating dc. Let us try to analyze the above circuit by
understanding few values which are obtained from the output of half wave rectifier.

Regulation
The current through the load may vary depending upon the load resistance. But even at such condition, we
expect our output voltage which is taken across that load resistor, to be constant. So, our voltage needs to be
regulated even under different load conditions.
The variation of D.C. output voltage with change in D.C. load current is defined as the Regulation. The
percentage regulation is calculated as follows.
Percentage regulation=Vnoload−Vfullload / Vfullload×100%
The lower the percentage regulation, the better would be the power supply. An ideal power supply will have a
zero percentage regulation.

Transformer Utilization Factor

The D.C. power to be delivered to the load, in a rectifier circuit decides the rating of the transformer used in a
circuit.
So, the transformer utilization factor is defined as
TUF=d.c.powertobedeliveredtotheload/a.c.ratingofthetransformersecondary
TUF=d.c.powertobedeliveredtotheload/a.c.ratingofthetransformersecondary
=Pd.c/Pa.c(rated)
Full Wave Rectifier circuit two diodes are now used, one for each half of the cycle. A multiple winding
transformer is used whose secondary winding is split equally into two halves with a common centre tapped
connection, (C). This configuration results in each diode conducting in turn when its anode terminal is positive
with respect to the transformer centre point C producing an output during both half-cycles, twice that for the
half wave rectifier so it is 100% efficient as shown below.
Full Wave Rectifier Circuit

The full wave rectifier circuit consists of two power diodes connected to a single load resistance (RL) with each
diode taking it in turn to supply current to the load. When point A of the transformer is positive with respect to
point C, diode D1 conducts in the forward direction as indicated by the arrows.
When point B is positive (in the negative half of the cycle) with respect to point C, diode D2 conducts in the
forward direction and the current flowing through resistor R is in the same direction for both half-cycles. As the
output voltage across the resistor R is the phasor sum of the two waveforms combined, this type of full wave
rectifier circuit is also known as a “bi-phase” circuit.
The main disadvantage of this type of full wave rectifier circuit is that a larger transformer for a given power
output is required with two separate but identical secondary windings making this type of full wave rectifying
circuit costly compared to the “Full Wave Bridge Rectifier” circuit equivalent.

The Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

Another type of circuit that produces the same output waveform as the full wave rectifier circuit above, is that
of the Full Wave Bridge Rectifier. This type of single phase rectifier uses four individual rectifying diodes
connected in a closed loop “bridge” configuration to produce the desired output.
The main advantage of this bridge circuit is that it does not require a special centre tapped transformer, thereby
reducing its size and cost. The single secondary winding is connected to one side of the diode bridge network
and the load to the other side as shown below.
The Diode Bridge Rectifier

The four diodes labelled D1 to D4 are arranged in “series pairs” with only two diodes conducting current during
each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series while
diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load as shown below.

The Positive Half-cycle

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1 and D2 switch
“OFF” as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing through the load is the same direction as before.

The Negative Half-cycle

As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed across the load is also
unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode full-wave rectifier, therefore the average DC voltage
across the load is 0.637Vmax.

Typical Bridge Rectifier

However in reality, during each half cycle the current flows through two diodes instead of just one so the
amplitude of the output voltage is two voltage drops ( 2*0.7 = 1.4V ) less than the input VMAX amplitude. The
ripple frequency is now twice the supply frequency (e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz supply or 120Hz for a 60Hz supply.)
Although we can use four individual power diodes to make a full wave bridge rectifier, pre-made bridge
rectifier components are available “off-the-shelf” in a range of different voltage and current sizes that can be
soldered directly into a PCB circuit board or be connected by spade connectors.
The image to the right shows a typical single phase bridge rectifier with one corner cut off. This cut-off corner
indicates that the terminal nearest to the corner is the positive or +ve output terminal or lead with the opposite
(diagonal) lead being the negative or -ve output lead. The other two connecting leads are for the input
alternating voltage from a transformer secondary winding.

The Smoothing Capacitor

We saw in the previous section that the single phase half-wave rectifier produces an output wave every half
cycle and that it was not practical to use this type of circuit to produce a steady DC supply. The full-wave
bridge rectifier however, gives us a greater mean DC value (0.637 Vmax) with less superimposed ripple while
the output waveform is twice that of the frequency of the input supply frequency.
We can improve the average DC output of the rectifier while at the same time reducing the AC variation of the
rectified output by using smoothing capacitors to filter the output waveform. Smoothing or reservoir capacitors
connected in parallel with the load across the output of the full wave bridge rectifier circuit increases the
average DC output level even higher as the capacitor acts like a storage device as shown below.
Full-wave Rectifier with Smoothing Capacitor

The smoothing capacitor converts the full-wave rippled output of the rectifier into a more smooth DC output
voltage. If we now run the Partsim Simulator Circuit with different values of smoothing capacitor installed,
we can see the effect it has on the rectified output waveform as shown.

5uF Smoothing Capacitor

Three-Phase Full-Wave Rectifier

Let us now consider the full-bridge rectifier circuit including the commutation induc- tance. The full-bridge rectifier
is more common since it provides a high output voltage and less ripple. First let us consider the full-bridge circuit under
a resistive load as shown in Fig. 7.31. Let us assume that va, vb, and vc are the three phase voltages in Fig. 7.32.
The easiest way to approach the full-bridge rectifier circuit of Fig. 7.31 is to consider it as a combination of a
positive commutating diode group D1, D2, and D3, and a negative commutating diode group D4, D5, and D6. Since
no commutating inductance is in- cluded, at any given time only two diodes are conducting simultaneously—one from
the positive group and the other from the negative group. To show that this is the case, let us redraw Fig. 7.31 as
shown in Fig. 7.33. It is clear from Fig. 7.32 that only one diode from the upper group can be on during the positive
cycle, and only one diode among the lower group can be on during the negative cycle. The output voltage, vo, is
given by
vo = vo1 − vo 2

where vo1 and vo2 are the output voltages of the positive and negative commuting di- ode groups to ground,

respectively
Single Phase Half Wave Controlled Rectifier Circuit with R load:

A Single Phase Half Wave Controlled Rectifier circuit consists of SCR / thyristor, an AC voltage source and
load. The load may be purely resistive, Inductive or a combination of resistance and inductance. For simplicity,
we will consider a resistive load. A simple circuit diagram of Single Phase Half Wave Controlled Rectifier is
shown in figure below.

` v0 = Load output voltage

i0 = Load current

VT = Voltage across the thyristor T

Following points must be kept in mind while discussing controlled rectifier:

 The necessary condition for turn ON of SCR is that, it should be forward biased and gate signal must be
applied. In other words, an SCR will only get turned ON when it is forward biased and fired or gated.
 SCR will only turn off when current through it reaches below holding current and reverse voltage is
applied for a time period more than the SCR turn off time.

Well, let us go ahead with the above points in mind. Let us assume that thyristor T is fired at a firing angle of α.
This means when wt = α, gate signal will be applied and SCR will start conducting. Refer the figure below.
 Thyristor T is forward biased for
the positive half cycle of supply voltage. The load output voltage is zero till SCR is fired. Once SCR is fired at
an angle of α, SCR starts conducting. But as soon as the supply voltage becomes zero at ωt = π, the load current
will become zero and after ωt = π, SCR is reversed biased. Thus thyristor T will turn off at ωt = π and will
remain in OFF condition till it is fired again at ωt = (2π+α).

Therefore, the load output voltage and current for one complete cycle of input supply voltage may be written as

v0 = VmSinωt for α≤ωt≤ π

i0 = VmSinωt / R for for α≤ωt≤ π

Calculation of Average Load Output Voltage:

As we know that, average value of any function f(x) cab be calculated using the formula

Let us now calculate the average value of output voltage for Single Phase Half Wave Controlled Rectifier.
From the expression of average output voltage, it can be seen that, by changing firing angle α, we can change
the average output voltage. The average output voltage is maximum when firing angle is zero and it is minimum
when firing angle α = π. This is the reason, it is called phase controlled rectifier.

Average load current for Single Phase Half Wave Controlled Rectifier can easily be calculated by dividing the
average load output voltage by load resistance R.

Let us now calculate the root mean square (rms) value of load voltage.
The single phase half-wave controlled rectifier with inductive-load is shown in Fig.1.a The waveshapes for
voltage and current in case of an inductive load are given in Fig.1.b. The load is assumed to be highly inductive.
The operation of the circuit on inductive loads changes slightly. Now at instant t01t01 , when the thyristor is
triggered, the load-current will increase in a finite-time through the inductive load. The supply voltage from this
Energy is
instant appears across the load. Due to inductive load, the increase in current is gradual.
stored in inductor during time t01t01 to t1.t1. At t1,t1, the supply
voltage reverses, but the thyristor is kept conducting. This is due to the fact that current through the inductance
cannot be reduced to zero.
During negative-voltage half-cycle, current continues to flow till the energy stored in the inductance is
dissipated in the load-resistor and a part of the energy is fed-back to the source. Hence, due to energy stored in
inductor, current , current continuous to flow upto instant t11t11 at instant, t11,t11, the load-current is zero and
due to negative supply voltage, thyristor turns-off.
At instant t02,t02, when again pulse is applied, the above cycle repeats. Hence the effect of the inductive load is
increased in the conduction period of the SCR.
The half-wave circuit is not normally used since it produces a large output voltage ripple and is incapable of
providing continuous load-current.
The average value of the load-voltage can be derived as:
Edc=1/2π∫π+ααEm⋅sinωtd(ωt)Edc=12π∫απ+αEm⋅sin⁡ωtd(ωt)
Here, it has been assumed that in negative half-cycles, the SCR conducts for a period of αα
∴Edc=Em/2π[−cosωt]n+αα∴Edc=Em/2π[−cos⁡ωt]αn+α
or
Edc=Em/πcosαEdc=Em/πcos⁡α
From the above equation, it is clear that the average load-voltage is reduced in case of inductive load. This is
due to the conduction of SCR in negative cycle.

Summary: Single Phase Half Wave Controlled Rectifier with 'RL' load:

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.

What is Freewheeling Diode?

A freewheeling diode is basically a diode connected across the inductive load terminals to prevent the
development of high voltage across the switch. When the inductive circuit is switched off, this diode gives a
short circuit path for the flow of inductor decay current and hence dissipation of stored energy in the inductor.
This diode is also called Flywheel or Flyback diode.

Purpose of Freewheeling Diode

The main purpose of freewheeling or flyback diode is to free wheel the stored energy in inductor by providing a
short circuit path. This is necessary else a sudden decay in circuit current will give rise to high voltage across
the switch contacts and diode.

or better understanding, let us consider the figure below.

When switch S is closed, the steady state current I through the circuit is (V/R) and hence the stored energy
in inductor is (LI2)/2. When this switch S is opened, the current will suddenly decay to zero from steady value I
= (V/R). Due to this sudden decay of current, a high reverse voltage (as per lenz’s law) equal to L(di/dt) will
appear across the inductor terminals and hence across the diode and switch. This will lead to sparking across the
switch contacts. If this reverse voltage exceeds the Peak Inverse Voltage of diode, then it may get damage. To
avoid such occurrences, a diode, called freewheeling or flyback diode is connected across the inductive load RL
as shown in figure below.

For better understanding of how freewheeling diode prevents such occurrences of over voltages and when it
come into play, let us focus on the working principle and circuit diagram of flyback diode.

Working Principle of Freewheeling Diode:

In figure-1, inductive load RL is connected to the DC source through switch SW and diode D. When this switch
SW is closed at t = 0 sec, current starts to flow through the load. This current builds up in the inductor and
reaches its steady value after some time (roughly 2-3 time constant).
When the switch SW is opened at t = 0 (say), current in the circuit tends to decay through the load. This decay
of current through inductor results in development of a reverse voltage equal to L(di/dt) across the inductor
terminals. This reverse voltage across inductor terminal makes freewheeling diode forward biased. Thus
freewheeling diode behaves like a closed switch as shown in figure below.

Thus, the main circuit current is transferred to the circuit consisting of freewheeling diode FD, R and L as
shown in above figure. In this new circuit, the current will exponentially decay to zero. This decaying current in
the circuit is given as below.

Thus we see that, freewheeling diode dissipates the stored energy in inductor by providing a short circuit path. It
also provides a shorted path for exponentially decay of circuit current. Thus high voltage is not induced.
Therefore, the switches and diode is protected from the high voltage.

Function of Freewheeling Diode

 The diode is connected across load in the controlled or uncontrolled converter circuit. This diode is
called as freewheeling diode or flywheel diode.
 The freewheeling diode is connected across R – L load in the half controlled rectifier circuit as shown in
the figure A.
 As the SCR T1 is turned on during positive half cycle of alternating supply, the load current flows
through load.
 The energy stored in the inductor due to current passes through it.
 The stored energy of the load dissipates through freewheeling diode during negative half cycle of the
alternating supply.
 If there is no freewheel diode, the stored energy of load back to the input supply.
Function of Freewheeling diode
 It improves input as well as system power factor.
 The load voltage polarity does not change.
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
• 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.

Single Phase Full Wave Controlled Rectifier with 'RL' load:

Figure below shows Single phase Full Wave Controlled Rectifiers with RL load.
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 induced mf 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.
• 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.

CIRCUIT OPERATION

The operation of a 3-phase fully-controlled bridge rectifier circuit is described in this page. A three-phase fully-
controlled bridge rectifier can be constructed using six SCRs as shown below.
The three-phase bridge rectifier circuit has three-legs, each phase connected to one of the three phase voltages.
Alternatively, it can be seen that the bridge circuit has two halves, the positive half consisting of the SCRs S 1,
S3 and S5 and the negative half consisting of the SCRs S2, S4 and S6. At any time when there is current flow,
one SCR from each half conducts. If the phase sequence of the source be RYB, the SCRs are triggered in the
sequence S1, S2 , S3 , S4, S5 , S6 and S1 and so on.
The operation of the circuit is first explained with the assumption that diodes are used in place of the SCRs.
The three-phase voltages vary as shown below.

Let the three-phase voltages be defined as shown below.

It can be seen that the R-phase voltage is the highest of the three-phase voltages when  is in the range from
30o to 150o. It can also be seen that Y-phase voltage is the highest of the three-phase voltages when  is in the
range from 150o to 270o and that B-phase voltage is the highest of the three-phase voltages when  is in the
range from 270o to 390o or 30o in the next cycle. We also find that R-phase voltage is the lowest of the three-
phase voltages when  is in the range from 210o to 330o. It can also be seen that Y-phase voltage is the lowest
of the three-phase voltages when  is in the range from 330 o to 450o or 90o in the next cycle, and that B-phase
voltage is the lowest when  is in the range from 90o to 210o. If diodes are used, diode D1 in place of S1 would
conduct from 30o to 150o, diode D3 would conduct from 150o to 270o and diode D5 from 270o to 390o or 30o in
the next cycle. In the same way, diode D 4 would conduct from 210o to 330o, diode D6 from 330o to
450o or 90o in the next cycle, and diode D 2 would conduct from 90o to 210o. The positive rail of output voltage
of the bridge is connected to the topmost segments of the envelope of three-phase voltages and the negative rail
of the output voltage to the lowest segments of the envelope.

At any instant barring the change-over periods when current flow gets transferred from diode to another, only
one of the following pairs conducts at any time.

Period, range of  Diode Pair in conduction

30o to 90o D1 and D6
90o to 150o D1 and D2
150o to 210o D2 and D3
210o to 270o D3 and D4
270o to 330o D4 and D5
330o to 360o and 0o to 30o D5 and D6

If SCRs are used, their conduction can be delayed by choosing the desired firing angle. When the SCRs are
fired at 0o firing angle, the output of the bridge rectifier would be the same as that of the circuit with diodes.
For instance, it is seen that D 1 starts conducting only after  = 30o. In fact, it can start conducting only
after  = 30o , since it is reverse-biased before  = 30o. The bias across D1 becomes zero when  = 30o and
diode D1 starts getting forward-biased only after  =30o. When vR() = E*Sin (), diode D1 is reverse-biased
before  = 30o and it is forward-biased when  30o. When firing angle to SCRs is zero degree, S 1 is
triggered when  = 30o. This means that if a synchronizing signal is needed for triggering S 1, that signal
voltage would lag vR() by 30o and if the firing angle is , SCR S1 is triggered when  =  + 30o. Given that
the conduction is continuous, the following table presents the SCR pair in conduction at any instant.

Period, range of  SCR Pair in conduction

 + 30o to  + 90o S1 and S6
 + 90o to  + 150o S1 and S2
 + 150o to  + 210o S2 and S3
 + 210o to  + 270o S3 and S4
 + 270o to  + 330o S4 and S5
 + 330o to  + 360o and  + 0o to  + 30o S5 and S6

The operation of the bridge-rectifier is illustrated with the help of an applet that follows this line. You can set
the firing angle in the range 0o < firing angle < 180o and the instantaneous angle. The applet displays the SCR
pair in conduction at the chosen instant. The current flow path is shown in red colour in the circuit diagram.
The instantaneous angle can be either set in its text-field or varied by dragging the scroll-bar button. The
rotating phasor diagram is quite useful to illustrate how the circuit operates. Once the firing angle is set, the
phasor position for firing angle is fixed. Then as the instantaneous angle changes, the pair that conducts is
connected to the thick orange arcs. One way to visualize is to imagine two brushes which are 120 o wide and the
device in the phase connected to the brush conducts. The brush that has "Firing angle " written beside it acts as
the brush connected to the positive rail and the other acts as if it is connected to the negative rail. This diagram
illustrates how the rectifier circuit acts as a commutator and converts ac to dc. The output voltage is specified
with the amplitude of phase voltage being assigned unity value.
 The
analysis of most converters is usually simplified under ideal conditions no source impedance eno source
impedance. However, this assumption is not justified since source impedance is normally inductive with a
negligible resistive element.
Source inductance has a significant impact on the converter performance because its presence alters the output
voltage of the converter. As a result, the output voltage reduces as the load current reduces. In addition, the
input current and output voltage waveforms change significantly.
Source inductance effect on a converter is analyzed in the following two ways.

Effect of source indatance on Single Phase

Assuming that the converter operates in conduction mode and the ripple from the load current is negligible, the
open circuit voltage becomes equal to average DC output at a firing angle of α.The diagram below shows a
fully controlled converter with source in single phase. The thyristors T 3 and T4 are assumed to be in conduction
mode when t = 0. On the other hand, T1 and T2 fire when ωt = α

Where −

 Vi = input voltage
 Ii = input current
 Vo = output voltage
 Io = output voltage
When there is no source inductance, commutation will occur at T 3 and T4. Immediately thyristors T1 and T2 are
switched ON. This will lead the input polarity to change instantaneously. In the presence of source inductance,
change of polarity and commutation does not occur instantaneously. Thus, T 3 and T4 do not commutate as soon
as T1 and T2 are switched ON.
At some interval, all the four thyristors will be conducting. This conducting interval is called the overlap
interval μμ.
The overlap during commutation reduces the DC output voltage and the angle of extinction γ resulting in failed
commutation when αis close to 180°. This is shown by the waveform below.
Effect on Three Phase

Just like the single-phase converter, there are no instantaneous commutations due to the presence of the source
inductances. Taking the source inductances into consideration, the effects qualitativequalitative on the
converter performance is the same as in a single phase converter. This is shown in the diagram below.

Commutation is the process when conduction switches from one supply phase to another.
Commutation overlap occurs when there is inductance in the supply circuit of a diode (or thyristor) rectifier. It
can be seen by adding a supply inductance to the 3-phase supply in the diode rectifier simulation. If there is
inductance in the supply circuit, a conducting diode will not switch off as soon as one of the other phase
voltages exceeds the existing supply phase voltage. Rather, the diode will only turn off once the current falls to
zero
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.

The sinusoidal amplitude is given as A m and that of the carrier triangle is give as A c. 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.

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

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 represent the number of rectifiers used in a given circuit. It is
calculated as follows −
h=(n×P)+1or−1h=(n×P)+1or−1
Where n − is an integer 1, 2, 3, 4….n
P − Number of rectifiers
It is summarized in the table below −

Harmonic Frequency

1st 60 Hz
2nd 120 Hz
3rd 180Hz
4th 240Hz
5th 300Hz
. .
. .
 49th 2940Hz

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.

Pulse Converter

A 2-phase pulse converter, also known as a level 2 pulse width modulator PWMPWM generator, is used to
generate pulses for pulse width modulation converters that are carrier based. It does this by utilizing level-two
topology. This block controls switching devices for control purposes like IGBTs and FETs that exist in three
types of converters namely −

 1 arm single phase half bridge

 2 arms single phase full bridge
 3 arms three phase bridge
 The reference input signal in a 2-pulse converter is compared to a carrier. If the reference input signal is more
than the carrier, the pulse equals to 1 for the upper device and 0 for the lower device.
In order to control a device with a single-phase full bridge 2arms2arms, it is necessary to apply unipolar or
bipolar pulse width modulation. In unipolar modulation each of the two arms is independently controlled. A
second reference input signal is generated internally through a shift in initial reference point by 180°
When the bipolar PWM is applied, the state of the lower switching device in the second single phase full
bridge is similar to the upper switch in the first single phase full bridge device. Using a unipolar modulation
leads to smooth AC waveforms while the bipolar modulation results in less varying voltage.

3-Pulse Converter

Consider a three-phase 3-pulse converter, where each of the thyristor is in conduction mode during the third of
the supply cycle. The earliest time a thyristor is triggered into conduction is at 30° in reference to the phase
voltage.
Its operation is explained using three thyristors and three diodes. When the thyristors T1, T2 and T3 are
replaced by diodes D1, D2 and D3, conduction will begin at angle 30° in respect to the phase voltages u an,
ubn and ucn respectively. Therefore, the firing angle α is measured initially at 30° in reference to the phase
voltage corresponding to it.
The current can only flow in one direction through the thyristor, which is similar to inverter mode of
functioning where power flows from the DC side to the AC side. In addition, the voltage in the thyristors is
controlled by controlling the firing angle. This is achieved when α = 0possibleinarectifierpossibleinarectifier.
Thus, the 3-pulse converter acts as an inverter and a rectifier.

6-Pulse Converter

The figure below shows a six-pulse bridge controlled converter connected to a three-phase source. In this
converter, the number of pulses is twice that of phases, that is p = 2m. Using the same converter configuration,
it is possible to combine two bridges of the six-pulse to obtain a twelve or more pulses converter.

When commutation is not available, two diodes will conduct at any particular time. Furthermore, to obtain a
voltage drop across the load, two diodes must be at positioned at opposite legs of the bridge. For example,
diodes 3 and 6 cannot be ON at the same time. Therefore, the voltage drop across the DC load is a combination
of line voltage VL from the three-phase source.
It is important to note that more the number of pulses, the greater the utilization of the converter. In addition,
the fewer the number of pulses the lesser the utilization of the converter.
Chapter 3

D.C. line commutation : Series and parallel capacitor turn off, resonant turn off, impulse commutation. D.C.
Choppers : Principles, classification, use

DC-DC CONVERTERS (CHOPPERS)

Power Electronics Chopper Circuit – An Introduction:
The terms DC–DC converters and choppers are one and same. In the texts usually these terms are interchanged.
The Choppers can be operated in either a continuous or discontinuous current conduction mode.
They can be built with and without electrical isolation.
Chopper – Definition:
A chopper is a static device that converts fixed dc input voltage to a variable dc output voltage directly.
 A chopper is considered as DC equivalent of an AC transformer since it behaves in an identical manner.
 The choppers are more efficient as they involve in one stage conversion.
 The choppers are used in trolley cars, marine hoists, forklift trucks and mine hauler.
 The future electric automobiles are likely to use choppers for their speed control and braking.
 The chopper systems offer smooth control, high-efficiency, fast response and regeneration.
 The chopper is the dc equivalent to an ac transformer having continuously variable turns ratio. Like a
transformer, a chopper can be used to step down or step up the fixed dc input voltage.
Chopper – Principle of Operation:
A chopper is a high-speed on/off semiconductor switch. It connects source to load and disconnects the load
from source at high-speed.
 In other words, the principle of chopper is application of fixed dc voltage intermittently to the load.
 This is achieved by continuously triggering ON and triggering OFF the power switch(SCR) at rapid speed.
 The duration for which the SCR remains in ON and OFF states are called ON time and OFF time
respectively.
 By varying the ON time and OFF time of the SCR, the average voltage across the load can be varied.
Applications of Choppers:
 They are used for DC motor control (battery-supplied vehicles), solar energy conversion and wind energy
conversion.
 Choppers are used in electric cars, airplanes and spaceships, where onboard-regulated DC power supplies
are required.
 In general, Chopper circuits are used as power supplies in computers, commercial electronics, electronic
instruments.
Classification of Choppers:
(a) Depending upon the direction of the output current and voltage, the converters can be classified into five
classes namely
Class A [One-quadrant Operation] (1st quadrant only)
Class B [One-quadrant Operation] (2nd quadrant only)
Class C [Two-quadrant Operation] (1,2 quadrants only)
Class D [Two-quadrant Operation] (1,4 quadrants only)
Class E [Four-quadrant Operation] (All four quadrants)
(b) Based turn off process (commutation process)
 Natural Commutated Chopper ( Occurs in AC input circuits)
 Forced Commutated Chopper (Occurs in DC input circuits)
The forced commutation type is further classified as
 Voltage Commutated Chopper (Ex. Jones Chopper)
 Current Commutated Chopper (Ex. Morgan Chopper)
 (c) Based on the output voltage of the output, the choppers are classified as
 (i) Step-Down Chopper
In this case the average output voltage is less than the input voltage. It is also known as step down
converter
  (ii) Step-Up Chopper
Here the average output voltage is more than the input voltage. It is also known as step up converter
 (iii) Step-Up/Down Chopper
This type of converter produces an output voltage that is either lower or higher than the input voltage
 (c) Depending upon the power loss occurred during turn ON/OFF of the switching device, the choppers
are classified into two categories namely
 (i) Hard switched Converter
Here the power loss is high during the switching (ON to OFF and OFF to ON) as a result of the non zero
voltage and current on the power switches.
 (ii) Soft switched or resonant converters
In this type of choppers, the power loss is low at the time of switching as a result of zero voltage and/or
zero current on the switches.
Chopper | DC to DC Converter
DC to DC converter is very much needed nowadays as many industrial applications are dependent upon DC
voltage source. The performance of these applications will be improved if we use a variable DC supply. It will
help to improve controllability of the equipments also. Examples of such applications are subway cars, trolley
buses, battery operated vehicles etc. We can control and vary a constant DC voltage with the help of a chopper.
Chopper is a basically static power electronics device which converts fixed DC voltage/power to variable DC
voltage or power. It is nothing but a high speed switch which connects and disconnects the load from source at a
high rate to get variable or chopped voltage at the output.

Devices used in Chopper

Low power application : GTO, IGBT, Power BJT, Power MOSFET etc.

High power application :Thyristor or SCR.

These devices are represented as a switch in a dotted box for simplicity. When it is closed current can flow in
the direction of arrow only.

1) Step down Chopper :

Step down chopper as Buck converted is used to reduce the i/p voltage level at the output side. Circuit diagram
of a step down chopper is shown in the adjacent figure.

When CH is turned ON, Vs directly appears across the load as shown in figure. So Vo = VS.

When CH is turned off, Vs is disconnected from the load. So output voltage Vo = 0.

The voltage waveform of step down chopper is shown below:

TON → It is the interval in which chopper is in ON state.

TOFF → It is the interval in which chopper is in OFF state.
VS → Source or input voltage.
Vo → Output or load voltage.
T → Chopping period = TON + TOFF
Operation of Step Down Chopper with Resistive Load
When CH is ON, Vo = VS
When CH is OFF, Vo = 0

Where, D is duty cycle = TON/T.

TON can be varied from 0 to T, so 0 ≤ D ≤ 1. Hence output voltage Vo can be varied from 0 to VS.

So, we can conclude that output voltage is always less than the input voltage and hence the name step down
chopper is justified. The output voltage and current waveform of step down chopper with resistive load is
shown below.

Operation Of Step Down Chopper with Inductive Load

When CH is ON, Vo = VS
When CH is OFF, Vo = 0
During ON time of Chopper

Therefore, peak to peak load current,

During OFF Time of Chopper

If inductance value of L is very large, so load current will be continuous in nature. When CH is OFF inductor
reverses its polarity and discharges. This current freewheels through diode FD.

By equating (i) and (ii)

So, from (i) we get,

The output voltage and current waveform of step down chopper with inductive load is shown below
2) Step up Chopper or Boost Converter :
Step up chopper or boost converter is used to increase the input voltage level of its output side. Its circuit
diagram and waveforms are shown below in figure.
Operation of Step up Chopper
When CH is ON it short circuits the load. Hence output voltage during TON is zero. During this period inductor
gets charged. So, VS = VL
Where, ΔI is the peak to peak inductor current.
When CH is OFF inductor L discharges through the load. So, we will get summation of both source voltage V S
and inductor Voltage VL as output voltage, i.e.
Now, by equating (iii) and (iv),

As we can vary TON from 0 to T, so 0 ≤ D ≤ 1. Hence VO can be varied from VS to ∞. It is clear that output
voltage is always greater than the input voltage and hence it boost up or increase the voltage level.

Buck-Boost Converter or Step Up Step Down Converter

With the help of Buck-Boost converter we can increase or decrease the input voltage level at its output side as
per our requirement. The circuit diagram of this converter is shown below.

Operation of Buck-Boost Converter

When CH is ON source voltage will be applied across inductor L and it will be charged.
So VL = VS

When chopper is OFF inductor L reverses its polarity and discharges through load and diode, So.
By evaluating (v) and (vi) we get,

Taking magnitude we get,

D can be varied from 0 to one.

When, D = 0; Vo = 0
When D = 0.5, Vo = VS
When, D = 1, Vo = ∞
Hence, in the interval 0 ≤ D ≤ 0.5, output voltage varies in the range 0 ≤ VO ≤ VS and we get step down or Buck
operation.
Whereas, in the interval 0.5 ≤ D ≤ 1, output voltage varies in the range VS ≤ VO ≤ ∞ and we get step up or Boost
operation.
According to direction of output voltage and current
Semiconductors devices used in chopper circuit are unidirectional. But arranging the devices in proper way we
can get output voltage as well as output current from chopper in our required direction. So, on the basis of this
features chopper can be categorized as follows :

Before detailed analysis some basic idea regarding Vo – Io quadrant is required here.
The directions of Io and Vo marked in the figure-1 is taken as positive direction.
If output voltage (Vo) and output current (Io) follows the direction as marked in figures then the chopper
operation will be restricted in the first quadrant of Vo – Io plane. This type of operation is also known as forward
motoring.

When output voltage (Vo) follows the marked direction in fig. 1 but current flows in the opposite direction then
Vo is taken positive but Io as negative. Hence the chopper operates in the second quadrant of Vo – Io plane. This
type of operation is also known as forward braking.
It may also happen that both output voltage and current is opposite to the marked direction in figure – 1. In t his
case both Vo and Io are taken as negative. Hence chopper operation is restricted in third quadrant of Vo-Io plane.
This operation is called reverse motoring.

If output voltage is opposite to the marked direction in fig. 1. then it is taken as negative. But output current
follows the direction as marked in fig. 1 and considered as positive. Hence chopper operates in 4th quadrant of
Vo – Io plane. This mode of operation is called reverse braking.
Now we can proceed to detailed analysis of different types of chopper. Some choppers operate in a single
quadrant only, which are called single quadrant chopper. Some choppers operate in two quadrant also which are
known as two quadrant chopper. It is also possible that a chopper operates in all the quadrants, which are known
as 4-quadrant chopper.

Type-A Chopper
It is a single quadrant chopper whose operation is restricted in first quadrant of Vo – Io plane. The circuit
diagram is shown as below :
When CH is ON both Vo and Io follows the direction as marked in the figures. So, both are taken as positive
hence load power is positive which means power is delivered from source to load.
When CH is OFF current freewheels through diode. Hence Vo is zero and Io is positive.
In type-A chopper it is seen that average value of Vo and Io is always positive. This is also called step down
chopper as average value of Vo is less than the input voltage. This type of chopper is suitable for motoring
operation.
Type-B Chopper
This is also a single quadrant chopper operating in second quadrant of Vo – Io plane. The circuit diagram is
shown in the following figure.
It is interesting to note that load must have a DC voltage source E for this kind of operation.
When CH is ON Vo is zero but current flows in the opposite direction as marked in figure. When chopper is
OFF.Which exceeds the source voltage VS. So current flows through diode D and treated as negative.
Hence current Io is always negative here but Vo is positive (sometimes zero). So, power flows from load to
source and operation of type-B chopper is restricted in second quadrant of Vo – Io plane. This type of chopper is
suitable for forward braking operation.
Type-C Chopper
This is a two quadrant chopper whose operation is bounded between first and second quadrant of V o – Io plane.
This type of chopper obtained by connecting type-A and type-B chopper in parallel as shown in the figure.

When CH1 is ON current flows through abcdefa and inductor L will be charged. Hence output voltage V o and
current Io both will be positive. When CH 1 is OFF, induction will discharge through D 1 and current Io will flow
through same direction with zero output voltage. So, we can see the operation of CH 1 is nothing but the
operation of type-A chopper by which we can operate a chopper in the first quadrant.
When CH2 is ON, output voltage Vo will be zero but output current I o will flow in opposite direction of current
shown in the figure and inductor will be charged up. When CH 2 is OFF Output voltage.

Which exceeds the value of source voltage VS. So current flows through diode D2 and treated as negative.
Hence output voltage Vo is always positive and output current I o is always negative here. We can see operation
of CH2 is nothing but operation of type-B chopper by which we can operate the chopper in the second quadrant.
We can conclude that the operation of type-C chopper is the combined operation of type-A and type-B chopper.
This type of chopper is suitable for both forward motoring and forward braking operation

Type D Chopper or Two-Quadrant Type –B Chopper

Two Quadrant Type B chopper or D Chopper Circuit

The circuit diagram of the type D chopper is shown in the above figure. When the two
choppers are on the output voltage v0 will be equal to Vs . When v0 = – Vs the two choppers
will be off but both the diodes D1 and D2 will start conducting. V 0 the average output voltage
will be positive when the choppers turn-on the time Ton will be more than the turn off time
Toff its shown in the wave form below. As the diodes and choppers conduct current only in one
direction the direction of load current will be always positive.
 Positi
ve First Quadrant Operation and Negative Fourth Quadrant Operation

The power flows from source to load as the average values of both v 0 and i0 is positive. From
the wave form it is seen that the average value of V 0 is positive thus the forth quadrant
operation of type D chopper is obtained.
From the wave forms the Average value of output voltage is given by
V0= (Vs Ton-VsToff)/T = Vs.(Ton-Toff)/T

Type –E chopper or the Fourth-Quadrant Chopper

ype E or the fourth quadrant chopper consists of four semiconductor switches and four
diodes arranged in antiparallel. The 4 choppers are numbered according to which quadrant
they belong. Their operation will be in each quadrant and the corresponding chopper only be
active in its quadrant.

E-type Chopper Circuit diagram with load emf E and E Reversed

Chapter : 4
Cycloconverter : A cycloconverter refers to a frequency changer that can to change AC power
from one frequency to AC power at another frequency. This process is known as AC-AC conversion. It is
mainly used in electric traction, AC motors having variable speed and induction heating.
A cycloconverter can achieve frequency conversion in one stage and ensures that voltage and the frequencies
are controllable. In addition, the need to use commutation circuits is not necessary because it utilizes natural
commutation. Power transfer within a cycloconverter occurs in two directions (bidirectional).
A major problem with cycloconverters is that when it is operating at small currents, there are inefficiencies
created with firing delay. Furthermore, operations are only smooth at frequencies that are not equal half
frequency input values. This is true because a cycloconverter is an AC- AC converter that is phase controlled.
Therefore, for it to give the required AC output voltage, it has to do a selection of the voltage input segments
by applying line (natural) commutation. This explains why the output frequency is lower than the frequency
input.
Harmonics in a cycloconverter are mainly affected by methods of control, overlap effect, the number of pulses
in a given cycle, operation mode and mode of conduction.
There are two types of cycloconverters−
 Step Up cycloconverter − These types use natural commutation and give an output at higher frequency
than that of the input.
 Step Down cycloconverter − This type uses forced commutation and results in an output with a
frequency lower than that of the input.
Cycloconverters are further classified into three categories −
 Single phase to single-phase − This type of cycloconverter has two full wave converters connected
back to back. If one converter is operating the other one is disabled, no current passes through it.
 Three-phase to single-phase − This cycloconverter operates in four quadrants that is (+V, +I) and (−V,
−I) being the rectification modes and (+V, −I) and (−V, +I) being the inversion modes.
 Three-phase to three-phase − This type of cycloconverter is majorly used in AC machine systems that
are operating on three phase induction and synchronous machines.
Introduction to Cyclo-Converters
The cyclo-converter is a device that converts AC power of certain frequency to AC power of another frequency
(usually lower frequency).It converts the frequency without help of any intermediate DC link. The output
voltage and frequency of a cyclo-converter can be varied continuously and independently using a control
circuit. Therefore, unlike other converters, it is a single stage frequency converter.

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.
Step-down cyclo-converter circuits can be further classified into following types.

 Single-phase to single-phase cyclo-converters

 Three-phase to single-phase cyclo-converters
 Three-phase to three-phase cyclo-converters

Besides the frequency control, cyclo-converter output voltage can be varied by applying phase control
technique. These can be used to provide either fixed frequency output from variable frequency input value or
variable frequency output from fixed frequency input.These are mainly used in very high power, low speed AC
motors and traction systems, especially low frequency three-phase to single phase systems.

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

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.
Duringpositive 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.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.
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.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

Three-phase to single-phase Cyclo-converters

Similar to the above cyclo-converter, a three-phase to single phase cyclo converter also consists of positive and
negative group thyristors.Thesecyclo-converters can be half-wave or full bridge converters as shown in figure.
Like single phase cyclo-converters, these also produce a rectified voltage at the load terminals by each group of
thyristors
During positive half cycle of the input, conduction of the positive group thyristors is controlled and during
negative half-cycle, conduction of negative group of thyristors is controlled in order to produce an output
voltage at desired frequency.

In a bridge type of cyclo-converter, both positive and negative converters can generate voltages at either
polarity, but negative converter only supplies negative current while positive converter supply positive current.

Therefore, the cyclo-converter can operate in four quadrants, i.e., rectification modes of (+V, +i) and (-V, -i)
and inversion modes of (+V, -i) and (-V, +i).
The above figure shows the conversion of three phase supply at one frequency to single phase supply of lower
frequency. In this, the firing angle to a positive group of thyristors is varied progressively to produce single
phase output voltage.At point M, the firing angle is 90 degrees and it is reduced till point S where it is zero.
Again from point T to Y, the delay angle is progressively increased.This varied triggering signals to the
thyristors, varies its conduction time periods and hence the frequency of the output voltage.Three-phase to
Three-phase Cyclo-converters
These are obtained by connecting 3 three-phase to single-phase cyclo-converters to the load. These converters
can be connected in star or delta. Three phase cyclo-converter of both half-wave and bridge types are shown in
figure below.Three-phase to three-phase cyclo-converter is also called as 18-thyristor cyclo-converter or 3-pulse
cyclo-converter and three-phase to three-phase bridge type cyclo-converter is called as 6-pulse cyclo-converter
or 36-thyristor cyclo-converter.

Step-down Cycloconverter

Step-down cycloconverter is a device which steps down the fixed frequency power supply input into some
lower frequency. It is a frequency changer. If f s & fo are the supply and output frequency, then f o < fs for this
cycloconverter.

The most important feature of step-down cycloconverter is that it does not require force commutation. Line or
Natural Commutation is used which is provided by the input AC supply.
Circuit Diagram:
There are two circuit configurations of a step-down cycloconveter: Mid-point and Bridge type. This article,
focuses on the mid-point type. The operation for continuous and discontinuous type of RL load is explained for
mid-point type cycloconverter.
Figure below shows the circuit diagram of mid-point type cycloconverter. The positive direction of voltage and
current are marked in the diagram.
 Working of Step-
down Cycloconverter:
The working principle of step-down cycloconverter is explained for discontinuous and continuous load current.
The load is assumed to be comprised of resistance (R) & inductance (L).
Discontinuous Load Current:
For positive cycle of input AC supply, the terminal A is positive with respect to point O. This makes SCRs P1
forward biased. The forward biased SCR P1 is triggered at ωt = 0. With this, load current i o starts building up in
the positive direction from A to O. Load current io becomes zero at ωt = β>π but less than (π+α). Refer figure-2.
The thyristor P1 is thus, naturally commutated at ωt = β which is already reversed biased after π.
 After half a
cycle, b is positive with respect to O. Now forward biased thyristor P2 is fired at ωt = (π+α). Load current is
again positive from A to O and builds up from zero as shown in figure-2. At ωt = (π+ β), i o decays to zero and
P2 is naturally commutated. At ωt = (2π+α), P is again turned ON. Load current in figure-2 is seen to be
discontinuous.
After four positive half cycles of load voltage and load current, thyristor N2 is gated at (4π+α) when O is
positive with respect to b. As N2 is forward biased, it starts conducting but the direction of load current is
reverse this time i.e. it flows from O to A. After N2 is triggered, O is positive with respect to “a” but before N1
is fired, io decays to zero and N2 is naturally commutated. Now when N1 is gated at (5π+α), i o again builds up
but it decays to zero before thyristor N2 in sequence is again gated.
In this manner, four negative half cycles of load voltage and load current, equal to number of positive half
cycles of load voltage & current, are generated. Now P1 is again triggered to fabricate four positive half cycles
of load voltage and so on. It may be noted that, natural commutation is achieved for discontinuous current load.
Form figure-2, the waveform of mean load voltage & current may be noted. It is clear that the output frequency
of load voltage & current is (¼) times of input supply frequency.

Step-Up Cycloconverter

Step-up cycloconverter is a single phase to single phase device which converts input AC power at one
frequency to output power at a different frequency. The output frequency is more than the input frequency for
this cycloconverter. Single phase to single phase means that both the input power and output power are single
phase. This article presents the working principle of Step-up Cycloconverter with relevant circuit diagram and
waveforms.
Working Principle of Step-up Cycloconverter:
The working principle of a step-up cycloconverter is based on switching of thyristors in a proper sequence. The
thyristor acts as a power switch. These switches are arranged is a specific patter so that the output power is
available for both the positive and negative half of the input power supply. Forced commutation technique is
used to turn OFF the conducting thyristor.
Two circuit configurations are possible for step-up cycloconverter: Mid-point Type and Bridge Type. In this
article, we will consider mid-point type of circuit arrangement for better understanding of working principle.
Circuit Diagram:
Figure below shows the circuit diagram of Mid-point step-up cycloconverter:

Operation of Step-up
Cycloconverter:
During the positive half cycle of input supply voltage, positive group thyristors P1 & N2 are forward biased for
ωt = 0 to ωt = π. As such SCR P1 is fired to turn it ON at ωt = 0 such that load voltage is positive with terminal
A positive and O negative. The load voltage, thus, follows the positive envelop of the input supply voltage. At
some time instant ωt = ωt 1, the conducting thyristor P1 is force commutated and the forward biased thyristor N2
is fired to turn it ON. During the period N2 conducts, the load voltage is negative because O is positive & A is
negative this time. The load or output voltage traces the negative envelop of the supply voltage. This is shown
in figure below.
 At ωt = ωt2,
N2 is force commutated and P1 is turned ON. The load voltage is now positive and follows the positive envelop
of the supply voltage. At ωt = π, terminal “b” is positive with respect to terminal “a”; both SCRs P2 & N1 are
therefore forward biased from ωt = π to ωt = 2π. AT ωt = π, N2 is force commuated and forward biased SCR
P2 is turned ON. The load voltage is positive and follows the positive envelop of supply voltage.
If the supply frequency is fs and output frequency is fo, P2 will be force commutated at ωt = (1/2f s) + (1/2fo).
Carefully note this from the waveform shown in the figure-2.
When P2 is force commutated, forward biased SCR N1 is turned ON. This time, the load voltage is negative
and follows the negative envelop of the supply input.
In this manner, SCRs P1, N2 for the first half cycle; P2, N1 in the second half cycle and so on are switched
alternately between positive and negative envelops at a high frequency. This results in output frequency f o more
than the input supply frequency fs. In our example of figure-2, note that there is a total of 6 cycles of output in
one cycle of input supply. This means that frequency of output voltage is 6 times of input frequency i.e. f o = 6fs.

Inverters
An inverter is a dc-ac converter, i.e. it converters dc supply into ac supply. Evidently the ac output voltage is
of desired magnitude and frequency. The output voltage and frequency can be varied as per the requirement
of the load.
The DC input supply may come from a battery, solar cells, fuel cells, etc.
Inverters are used in a variety of applications. In small sizes (less than 1000 W or so) they are used in
domestic installations as source of standby electric supply. In medium sizes they are used in commercial
installation as a source of standby electric supply and uninterruptible power supply (UPS). In medium and
large sizes they are used in industrial installations for variable speed AC drives induction heating, etc. One of
the biggest application of inverters in HVDC power transmission. At the AC end of this power line AC is
converted into DC by controlled rectified. The DC is transmitted over the HVDC line. At the receiving end
DC is converted into AC by thyristorised inverters and AC is supplied to consumers.
Inverters are classified into two main categories −
  Voltage Source Inverter (VSI) − The voltage source inverter has stiff DC source voltage that is the
DC voltage has limited or zero impedance at the inverter input terminals.
 Current Source Inverter (CSI) − A current source inverter is supplied with a variable current from a
DC source that has high impedance. The resulting current waves are not influenced by the load.
Basic series inviter:
The inverter plays a vital role in Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS). It is used to convert the direct current
(DC) to alternating Current (AC) of required voltage.

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.
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.

• The series inverter uses a class A type commutation. The commutating components L1, C1 are
connected in series to form an under damped tuned circuit.

Operation :
At instant t0 SCR1 is turned on. Let the initial voltage capacitor be “vc” with its left plate negative
w .r. t. right plate and the sinusoidal load current starts flowing
• The capacitor C1 start charging in the opposite direction as shown in fig B.The load current eventually
comes to zero at instant t1 and SCR1 comes out of conduction due to natural commutation.
• The voltage on the capacitor C1 at instant t1 is greater than V with its left plate positive w.r.t. its right
plate.
• As there is no discharge path for the capacitor, this voltage will be held constant up to instant t2 where
SCR2 is triggered.
Mode 3 :
• At instant t2, SCR2 is turned on and the load voltage and current both becomes negative.
• The capacitor now discharges resonantly through SCR2, R, L1, as shown in fig (c)
• At instant t3 the discharge current goes to zero and SCR2 turned off again due to natural commutation.
The voltage on C1 is equal to vc.
• Off time :During the time interval between t1 and t2 both the SCRs are in the off state. Load voltage
as well as load current are zero. Therefore this interval is known as off time of the circuit.

Disadvantages:

• Limitation on the maximum operating frequency

• Distortion in the output wave form
• High rating of commutating components
• The peak amplitude and duration of output current depends on the load parameters resulting in poor
regulation for the inverter.
The power flow from the dc source is intermittent. Therefore, the dc supply must have a large peak
current rating and the input current contains high percentage of harmonics
Modified Series Inverter
The operation can be divided into two modes.
Mode 1:
At the instant when SCR T2 is triggered, the voltage across the capacitor will be slightly less than (E c
+ E dc) and the load voltage and current will be closed to zero. Hence the voltage across the capacitor
minus the load voltage will appear across L 2. Since L1 is closely coupled to L2, the same voltage will
appear across L1.
 Mode 2:
The voltage across L1 will tend to increase the cathode potential of SCR T 1 more than its anode
potential and therefore, SCR T1 will be reverse biased and turn-off. Thus, even if SCR T2 is turned on
before SCR T1 is switched off, it will not result into short circuiting of the d.c. source. A similar
operation will take place if SCR T1 is triggered before SCR T2 is turned off.

Circuit diagram for Modified series inverter

Basic Parallel Inverter

Single Phase Inverter
There are two types of single phase inverters − full bridge inverter and half bridge inverter.
 A parallel inverter is used to produce a square-wave from a d.c. supply.
 In this inverter, the commutating capacitor comes in parallel with the load during the operation of the
inverter. Hence it is called as ‘parallel inverter’.
Operation
Mode 1:
 This mode begins when T1 is fired and current flows through the inductance L and the thyristor T1.
 When SCR is turned on, a d.c. voltage E dc appears across half the transformer primary, which means
the total primary voltage is 2 E dc, hence the capacitor is charged to 2 E dc.

• This mode begins when thyristor T2 is fired. When T2 is turned on, the commutating capacitor applies
voltage -2 Edc to appear across T1, it will be turn off.
• SCR T2 will now be conducting and the voltage of 2 E dc will appear across the transformer primary
and commutating capacitor, but with reverse polarity.

Mode 3:

• During mode 3, this SCR is again turned on. Commutating capacitor applies a voltage -2 E dc to appear
across T2.
• when this reverse voltage is applied for sufficient time across T 2, it will be turned off. If trigger pulses
are applied periodically to alternate thyristors, an approximately rectangular voltage waveform will be
obtained at transformer output terminals.
Half Bridge Inverter
This type of inverter is the basic building block of a full bridge inverter. It contains two
switches and each of its capacitors has a Half Bridge Inverter
voltage output equal to Vdc2Vdc2. In addition, the switches complement each other, that is, if one is switched
ON the other one goes OFF.
Single Phase Full Bridge Inverter
This inverter circuit converts DC to AC. It achieves this by closing and opening the switches in the right
sequence. It has four different operating states which are based on which switches are closed.
Single Phase Half wave Inverter
 The power circuit diagram for the single phase half bridge inverter is shown in the figure A.
 The SCR triggering circuit and commutation circuit is not shown for simplicity.

The SCR T1 is turned on for time 0 ≤ t ≤ T/2 times. This is shown in the figure C.
 The load receives Vdc / 2 voltage from upper DC voltage source.
 The SCR T1 is turned off and SCR T2 is turned on at time t = T/2.
 The load receives – Vdc / 2 voltage from lower half supply source during time T/2 ≤ t ≤ T time.
 Each SCR gate receives gate pulse at frequency f = 1/T. There is 180 0 phase displacement between two
SCR gate signals.
 The frequency of the output voltage is equal to 1/T and it is controlled by time period T.
 Effect of type of load on output waveform
Resistive Load
 The load voltage and load current waveform do not have any phase displacement when the resistive load
is connected at the output.
R – L Load
The working of the single phase half bridge inverter is explain as follows
Mode 1 ( t1 < t < t2 )
 The load receives Vdc / 2 voltage when the SCR T1 is turned on and load current increases slowly and
exponentially.
 The load voltage and load current polarity becomes equal when SCR T1 is turned off. The energy stored
in the load during this interval.
Mode 2 ( t2 < t < t3 )
 The flow of inductive load current continues to flow when SCR T1 is turned off. The direction of load
voltage reverses.
 The load current flows through conduction of lower half diode D2. The stored energy of load feedback
to lower half.
Mode 3 ( t3 < t < t4 )
 The load current becomes zero and SCR T2 is turned on during this interval.
 The voltage across load becomes – Vdc / 2. The load current becomes maximum negative at the end of
this period ( t4 time ).
Mode 4 ( t4 < t < t5 )
 The SCR T2 is turned off at time t4 but the load current continues to flow due to inductive load.
 The voltage across load becomes equal to + Vdc / 2.
 The load current flows through upper half portion due to conduction of diode D1.
 The energy stored of load feedback to upper part of the supply source.
 The power flows from supply to load and vice versa. The main disadvantage of the single phase half
bridge inverter is that it requires three wire DC supplies.
Single Phase Full Bridge Inverter
 The power circuit diagram for the single phase full bridge inverter is shown in the figure A.
 The SCR triggering circuit and commutation circuit is not shown for simplicity. There are two wire DC
supply source, four freewheeling diodes and four SCRs used in this inverter.

 The SCR T1 and SCR T2 are turned on at same time whose frequency is f= 1/T.
 Similarly the SCR T3 and SCR T4 are turned on simultaneously.
 There is 1800 phase difference between positive group of SCRs ( SCR T1 and SCR T2 ) and negative
group of SCRs ( SCR T3 and SCRT4 ).
The working of single phase full bridge inverter is explain as follows
Mode 1
 The load voltage becomes to + Vdc when SCR T1 and SCR T2 are turned on at same time.
 Therefore the load current flows through path (+)Vdc – SCR T1 – load – SCR T2 – Vdc(-).
 The load current and load voltage becomes positive during this period therefore the power flows from
supply to load.
Mode 2
 The polarity of voltage across load changes due to inductive load and as soon as the SCR T1 and SCR
T2 are turned off in this mode.
 As the diode D3 and D4 conduct, the load current flows through path diode D3 – (+)V dc – Vdc(-) – diode
D4.
 The power flows from load to supply during this mode.
Mode 3
 The SCR T1 and SCRT2 are turned off whereas SCR T3 and SCR T4 are turned on during this mode.
 The voltage across load becomes – V dc and current flows through path (+)Vdc – SCR T3 – load – SCR
T4 – Vdc(-).
 The power flows through supply to load as the load voltage and load current both are negative during
this period.
Mode 4
 The polarity of voltage across load changes as the SCR T3 and SCR T4 are turned off in this mode.
 The load current flows through path diode D1 – (+)V dc – Vdc(-) – diode D2 – load due to conduction
of freewheeling diode D1 and D2.
 The power flows from load to supply as the direction of load current reverses during this mode.

The output voltage of the single phase full bridge inverter is double to that of single phase half bridge inverter
Three Phase Inverter
A three-phase inverter converts a DC input into a three-phase AC output. Its three arms are normally delayed
by an angle of 120° so as to generate a three-phase AC supply. The inverter switches each has a ratio of 50%
and switching occurs after every T/6 of the time T (60° angle interval). The switches S1 and S4, the switches
S2 and S5 and switches S3 and S6 complement each other.
The figure below shows a circuit for a three phase inverter. It is nothing but three single phase inverters put
across the same DC source. The pole voltages in a three phase inverter are equal to the pole voltages in single
phase half bridge inverter.

The two types of inverters above have two modes of conduction − 180° mode of conduction and 120° mode
of conduction.
180° mode of conduction
In this mode of conduction, every device is in conduction state for 180° where they are switched ON at 60°
intervals. The terminals A, B and C are the output terminals of the bridge that are connected to the three-phase
delta or star connection of the load.
The operation of a balanced star connected load is explained in the diagram below. For the period 0° − 60° the
points S1, S5 and S6 are in conduction mode. The terminals A and C of the load are connected to the source at
its positive point. The terminal B is connected to the source at its negative point. In addition, resistances R/2 is
between the neutral and the positive end while resistance R is between the neutral and the negative terminal.

The load voltages are gives as The line voltages are given as
follows; follows;
VAN = V/3, VAB = VAN − VBN = V,
VBN = −2V/3, VBC = VBN − VCN = −V,
 VCN = V/3 VCA = VCN − VAN = 0

Waveforms for 180° mode of conduction

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
Waveforms for 120° mode of conduction

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
y¯=1T∫T0f(t)dty¯=1T∫0Tf(t)dt
McMurray Bedford Half–bridge Inverter

Construction :-
 It is a complementary impulse commutated inverter.
 This means that if two inductors are tightly coupled, triggering of one thyristor , turnsoff another thyristor .
 Main thyristors T1,T2 .
 Feedback diodes D1,D2.
 two capacitors C1,C2 .
 magnetically coupled inductors L1 and L2.
 inductance L.
OperationMode- 1
 Thyristor t1 is triggered, then SCR T1 is turn on, upper d.c. source load current Il to the load.
 As the load current is constant. Voltage drop across L1 is negligible. With zero voltage drop across L1 , T1 , C1 and
across C2 is Edc load.
Mode -2
 When SCR T2 is triggered ,turn off the SCR T1
 voltage across C1 and C2 cannot be change
 equal voltages is induced across L1
 Voltage acrossthyristor T1 is ET1 =Edc
 Ic1 = Ic2KCL at node ‘o’ in fig.
Ic1 + Ic2 = Il + Il ; IC1 = IC2 =Ic3
Mode -3
  At instant t1 , where capacitor C1 is charged to supply voltage Edc , i.e. Ic 1 =0 at t 1, Vc 2 =0. Just after t 1,
current

( Il + Im/2) through C1 tends to charge it with bottom plate .

 At t1 ,the energy stored in inductor L2 is dissipated.

 This energy is dissipated at instant t 2, therefore I2 decays to zero & a result SCR T2 is turned off at T2.

Mode -4

 When the current IT2 through L2& T2 has decayed to zero . the load current IL=ID2 still continues
flowing through the diode D2 as ID2 during (t3-t2 ) interval.

Mode -5
• As soon as iL equal to ID2.tend to reverse , diode D2 is blocked.

• Thyristor T2 already gated during the interval (t3-t2)gets turn ON to carry the load current in the reverse
direction .
• The capacitor C1 , now charged to the source voltage Edc is ready for commutating the main thyristor T2 .

Current Source Inverter

The inverters are used to convert the power from dc to ac. The voltage source inverter (VSI) and current
source inverter (CSI) are two types of inverters, the main difference between voltage source inverter and
current source inverter is that the output voltage is constant in VSI and the input current is constant in CSI.
The CSI is a constant current source which supplies ac to the input, and it is also called dc-link converter in
which load current is constant. This article discusses the current source inverter.

The current source inverter is also known as current fed inverter which converts the input dc into ac and its
output can be three-phase or single phase. According to the definition of the current source, an ideal current
source is the kind of source in which current is constant and it is independent of voltage.

The voltage source is connected in series with a large value of inductance (Ld) and this named the circuit as
the current source. The circuit diagram of the current source inverter fed induction motor drive is shown in
the below figure.
 The circuit consists of six
diodes (D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6), six capacitors (C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6), six thyristors (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6)
which are fixed with a phase difference of 600. The inverter output is connected to the induction motor. For
a given speed, torque is controlled by varying the dc-link current Id and this current can be varied by varying
the Vd. The conduction of two switches in the same lag doesn’t lead to a sudden rise of current due to the
presence of a large value of inductance Ld.

The configurations of current source inverter fed inductor motor drive depending upon the source are shown
in the below figure.

CSI Induction Motor Drives

When the source is available in dc source, the chopper is used to vary the current. When the source is
available in ac source then there fully controlled rectifier is used to vary the output current.

Applications
 The applications of current source inverter are

 UPS units
 LT plasma generators
 AC motor drives
 Switching devices
 Induction motors for pumps and fans

Advantages

The advantages of the current source inverter are

 Feedback diode is not required

 Commutation is simple

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of the current source inverter are

 It needs an extra converter stage

 At light load, it has stability problem and sluggish performance

Ch-5
Introduction

The term AC drives covers a wide range of drive types. When talking mostly industrial terms, an AC drive
could also be considered a variable frequency drive (VFD), adjustable-speed drive (ASD), variable-speed drive
(VSD), and “inverter.” If a technician was discussing ASDs and the factory contained mostly DC equipment,
then ASD or VSD would refer to a DC drive. The term inverter is actually the final or power section of the
drive—and is considered an acceptable term for the entire unit. There are actually many different types of AC
drives, but all of them have one concept in common—they convert fixed voltage and frequency into a variable
voltage and frequency output.Though they do not meet the strict definition of an AC drive, reduced voltage
starters (e.g., soft starts) and wound rotor slip recovery units fall into the variable-speed category. Soft starts
immediately deliver line frequency to the motor but at a reduced voltage value for a specified period of time.
The result is reduced motor torque, as the motor is accelerating. Load commutated inverters (LCIs) and
cycloconverters are also part of the variable-frequency drive category. Cycloconverters actually use SCRs in
very large horsepower amounts that require regeneration. Though the output of a cycloconverter may not be
considered variable, the unit does alter the frequency output, thereby reducing the speed. This unit would
actually step down the frequency to 1/2 or 1/3 of the line frequency. This frequency would then be applied to
motors of 30- or 20-Hz design. The cycloconverter got its start in the 1930s but is not much in demand today
because of its complexity and cost of circuitry.The primary focus of this section will be on three common types
of VFDs: the variable voltage input or inverter (VVI, sometimes referred to as the six-step drive), the current
source inverter (CSI), and the pulse width modulated (PWM). The VVI and PWM would be considered a
voltage source inverter, while the CSI would be considered a current source inverter.Several other types of
drives fall under the category of voltage source inverters. Vector (or flux vector) drives and sensorless vector
drives will be considered later in this topic.
If not already done, it would be helpful to review the section on AC induction motors in topic 3. That section
will provide a foundation upon which to build the basic concepts of variable-frequency drives.
Basic Theory of Major Drive TypesThe easiest way to understand drives is to take a brief look at what a drive
application looks like. Figure 4-22 shows a simple application with a fixed-speed fan using a motor starter. The
three-phase motor starter can be replaced by a VFD, allowing the fan to be operated at variable speed.

Figure 4-22. Simple VFD/fan application

If the fan can operate at virtually any speed required (below maximum motor speed), the air outlet damper can
be “fixed” open. Using the fixed-speed motor starter method, the only means of varying the air out was by
adjusting the air outlet damper.
Now the question is: How does this induction motor work with a drive? As mentioned earlier, a standard three-
phase induction motor can be controlled by a VFD. There are two main elements that are controlled by the
drive, speed, and torque. To understand how a drive controls these two elements, we will take a short review of
AC induction motor characteristics.
Figure 4-23 shows the formula for determining the shaft speed of an induction motor.
As you can see, this formula includes a characteristic called slip. The slip speed in a motor is actually termed
base speed. As indicated earlier, a VFD controls two main elements of a motor—speed and torque.
The speed of a motor is conveniently adjusted by changing the frequency applied to the motor. The VFD adjusts
the output frequency, thereby adjusting the speed of the motor. The torque of a motor is controlled by a
Figure 4-23. Motor speed formula (including slip)
basic characteristic of every motor—the volts per hertz ratio (V/Hz). A review of this ratio is shown in Figure 4-
24.

DC Motor Drives

• In general DC magnetic motor starters are intended to start and accelerate motors to normal speed and to
provide protection against overloads. Unlike motor starters, motor drives are designed to provide, in
addition to protection, precise control of the speed, torque, acceleration, deceleration, and direction of
rotation of motors. Additionally, many motor drive units are capable of high-speed communication with
programmable logic controller (PLCs) and other industrial controllers.
• A motor drive is essentially an electronic device that uses different types of solid-state control
techniques. A subsequent section on power electronics will examine how these solid-state devices
operate. Ill. 29 shows the block diagram for a typical DC electronic variable-speed motor drive. This
drive is made up of two basic sections: the power section and the control section. The operation of the
drive system can be summarized as follows:
• • Controlled power to the DC motor is supplied from the power section, consisting of the circuit breaker,
converter, armature shunt, and DC contactor.
• • The converter rectifies the three-phase AC power, converting it to DC for the DC motor.
• • Attaining precise control of the motor requires a means of evaluating the motor's performance and
automatically compensating for any variations from the desired levels. This is the job of the control
section, which is made up of the speed command input signal as well as various feedback and error
signals that are used to control the output of the power section.
 • DC motor drives use a separately excited shunt field because of the need to vary the armature voltage or
the field current. When you vary the armature voltage, the motor produces full torque but the speed is
varied. However, when the field current is varied, both the motor speed and the torque will vary. Ill. 30
shows a typical DC motor drive unit used to provide very precise control over the operation of a
conveyor system. In addition to managing motor speed and torque, it provides controlled acceleration
and deceleration as well as forward and reverse motor operation.
• The rectifier section may use six SCRs as a bridge similar to the diode bridge rectifiers in AC drives. Or
larger drives may connect two SCRs in parallel for each of the six sections of the bridge to provide a 12
SCR full-wave rectifier circuit. When SCRs are connected in parallel, the current rating of the rectifier is
nearly doubled. The firing circuit for the SCRs is synchronized with the three-phase incoming voltage.
The firing circuit also receives an input signal called a reference signal or command signal from the
speed amp and the current amp. The speed amp receives a feedback signal from a tachometer, and the
current amp receives a signal from a current transducer (shunt) that's connected in series with the
armature. As the current in the wire to the armature increases or decreases, the voltage across the shunt
will increase or decrease and provide a feedback signal to the current amplifier.
• In the diagram you can also see that DC field voltage is provided by a smaller diode bridge. The AC
voltage supply for this bridge rectifier is tapped off of the output of the isolation transformer prior to the
main rectifier in the armature power converter. Since this voltage comes from a diode bridge rectifier, it
will be constant Speed control for the DC motor is provided by keeping the shunt-field voltage constant
and by varying the armature voltage and current.
• Fault circuits are provided in the drive to test for over-temperature, phase loss, overload conditions, and
the loss of field current in the motor. Indicator lamps are provided on the front of the drive to show
when a fault has occurred. A speed indicator is also provided on the face of the drive to show the actual
speed of the motor. The speed indicator receives its signal from the tachometer that's connected to the
shaft of the DC motor

Switched Mode Power Supply

The disadvantages of LPS such as lower efficiency, the need for large value of capacitors to reduce ripples and
heavy and costly transformers etc. are overcome by the implementation of Switched Mode Power Supplies.
The working of SMPS is simply understood by knowing that the transistor used in LPS is used to control the
voltage drop while the transistor in SMPS is used as a controlled switch.

Working
The working of SMPS can be understood by the following figure.

Let us try to understand what happens at each stage of SMPS circuit.

Input Stage
The AC input supply signal 50 Hz is given directly to the rectifier and filter circuit combination without using
any transformer. This output will have many variations and the capacitance value of the capacitor should be
higher to handle the input fluctuations. This unregulated dc is given to the central switching section of SMPS.

Switching Section
A fast switching device such as a Power transistor or a MOSFET is employed in this section, which switches
ON and OFF according to the variations and this output is given to the primary of the transformer present in
this section. The transformer used here are much smaller and lighter ones unlike the ones used for 60 Hz
supply. These are much efficient and hence the power conversion ratio is higher.

Output Stage
The output signal from the switching section is again rectified and filtered, to get the required DC voltage. This
is a regulated output voltage which is then given to the control circuit, which is a feedback circuit. The final
output is obtained after considering the feedback signal.

Control Unit
This unit is the feedback circuit which has many sections. Let us have a clear understanding about this from
The following figure.

The above figure explains the inner parts of a control unit. The output sensor senses the signal and joins it to
the control unit. The signal is isolated from the other section so that any sudden spikes should not affect the
circuitry. A reference voltage is given as one input along with the signal to the error amplifier which is a
comparator that compares the signal with the required signal level.
By controlling the chopping frequency the final voltage level is maintained. This is controlled by comparing
the inputs given to the error amplifier, whose output helps to decide whether to increase or decrease the
chopping frequency. The PWM oscillator produces a standard PWM wave fixed frequency.
We can get a better idea on the complete functioning of SMPS by having a look at the following figure.
The SMPS is mostly used where switching of voltages is not at all a problem and where efficiency of the
system really matters. There are few points which are to be noted regarding SMPS. They are
 SMPS circuit is operated by switching and hence the voltages vary continuously.
 The switching device is operated in saturation or cut off mode.
 The output voltage is controlled by the switching time of the feedback circuitry.
 Switching time is adjusted by adjusting the duty cycle.
 The efficiency of SMPS is high because, instead of dissipating excess power as heat, it continuously
switches its input to control the output.

Disadvantages
There are few disadvantages in SMPS, such as

 The noise is present due to high frequency switching.

 The circuit is complex.
 It produces electromagnetic interference.

Advantages
The advantages of SMPS include,

 The efficiency is as high as 80 to 90%

 Less heat generation; less power wastage.
 Reduced harmonic feedback into the supply mains.
 The device is compact and small in size.
 The manufacturing cost is reduced.
 Provision for providing the required number of voltages.

Applications
There are many applications of SMPS. They are used in the motherboard of computers, mobile phone chargers,
HVDC measurements, battery chargers, central power distribution, motor vehicles, consumer electronics,
laptops, security systems, space stations, etc.
Types of SMPS
SMPS is the Switched Mode Power Supply circuit which is designed for obtaining the regulated DC output
voltage from an unregulated DC or AC voltage. There are four main types of SMPS such as

 DC to DC Converter
 AC to DC Converter
 Fly back Converter
 Forward Converter
The AC to DC conversion part in the input section makes the difference between AC to DC converter and DC
to DC converter. The Fly back converter is used for Low power applications. Also there are Buck Converter
and Boost converter in the SMPS types which decrease or increase the output voltage depending upon the
requirements. The other type of SMPS include Self-oscillating fly-back converter, Buck-boost converter, Cuk,
Sepic, etc.
Resonant converter is a type of electric power converter that contains a network
of inductors and capacitors called a "resonant tank", tuned to resonate at a specific frequency. They find
applications in electronics, in integrated circuits.[1]
There are multiple types of resonant converter:-

 series resonant inverter

 Parallel resonant inverter
 Class E Resonant Converter
 Class E Resonant Rectifier
 Zero Voltage Switching Resonant Converter
 Zero Current Switching Resonant Converter[2]
 Two Quadrant ZVS Resonant Converter
 Resonant dc-link inverter
Power line filter basics
A power line filter, also called EMI power line filter, is a passive bi-directional network, electrical equipment
which effectively filters the particular frequency point in the power line or the frequency out of the particular
frequency point. Line filters are designed for electromagnetic interference (EMI) in the mains, and it is a
frequency-selective two-port network usually composed of inductors, capacitors, resistors. Actually it is a
kind of filters and can also be called reflection filter according the working principle. It provides high series
impedance and low parallel impedance in the filter stop band, severely mismatching noise source and its
impedance with load impedance, thus transmitting the undesired frequency components back to the noise
source.
When selecting the power line filter, three main indicators should be considered: first is voltage and current,
the following is insertion loss, and finally it is size and structure. Since the filter inside is typically potted,
environment is not a main concern. However, the temperature characteristics of all potting materials and
filter capacitors have some influence on the environmental characteristics of the power filter.

 Power line filter structure

According to the characteristics of EMI at the power port, the EMI noise filter/line filter is a passive low-
pass filter, which transmits AC to the power supply without attenuation and greatly attenuates the EMI
noise incoming with AC. At the meantime, it effectively suppresses EMI noise generated by power
equipment, to prevent them from entering the AC power grid to interfere with other electronic devices.
The following Figure shows a typical power line filter schematic and it is easily to figure out its structure.
This is a passive network, suitable for both AC and DC power with bidirectional suppression
performance. It is placed between the AC power grid and power supply, which is equivalent to a
shielding of EMI noise between them. Such a simple passive filter plays a role of two-way noise
 suppression that it is widely applied in various electronic devices.

As the above Figure shows, C1&C2 is differential-mode capacitor, usually called X capacitor with
suitable capacitance selection from 0.01μF to 2.22μF; C3&C4 is common-mode capacitor, called Y
capacitor with capacitance of about several nanofarad (nF) to dozens. C3&C4 capacitance should not be
chosen too large; otherwise it will easily lead to danger like current leakage from filter or even the case. L
is a common-mode choke, which is a pair of coils twined in the same direction around the same ferrite
ring, with inductance of about several millihenries (mH). For the common-mode interference current, the
magnetic fields generated by the two coils are in the same direction, and the common mode choke shows
larger impedance and thus attenuates the interference signal. For the differential-mode signal (here, it is
the low-frequency supply current), the magnetic fields generated by the two coils cancel out, so the
power transfer function of the circuit is not affected.
Power line filter working principle
Power line filter's principle is an impedance adaption network: the larger the impedance mismatching between
line filter input & output side and power & load side is, the more effective the attenuation of electromagnetic
interference (EMI) is.
The specific working principle is as follows. After AC is rectified by diode, the direction is single, but the
current intensity is still constantly changing. Generally, this ripple DC is not directly used to power supply. To
make the ripple DC into a smooth waveform, one thing need to be done, that is filtering. In other words, the task
of filters is to reduce the ripple in the output voltage of the rectifier as much as possible and transform it into
near constant DC.
Features

 Reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI)

 Protects AC mains from the effects of switching regulators
 Inductance tested at 1kHz, 0.1Vrms
 Rated voltage: 250VAC/VDC
 Withstanding voltage: 1500-2000VDC (one minute between lines)
 Insulation resistance at 500VDC more than 100MΩ (between lines

High Voltage Direct Current Transmission | HVDC Transmission

The massive transmission of electricity in the form of DC over long distances by means of submarine cables or
overhead transmission line is the high voltage direct current transmission. This type of transmission is preferred
over HVAC transmission for very long distance when considering the cost, losses and many other factors. The
names Electrical superhighway or Power superhighway are often used for HVDC.
HVDC Transmission System
We know that AC power is generated in the generating station. This should first be converted into DC. The
conversion is done with the help of rectifier. The DC power will flow through the overhead lines. At the user
end, this DC has to be converted into AC. For that purpose, an inverter is placed at the receiving end.
Thus, there will be a rectifier terminal in one end of HVDC substation and an inverter terminal in the other end.
The power of the sending end and user end will be always equal (Input Power = Output Power).

When there are two converter stations at both ends and a single transmission line is termed as two terminal DC
systems. When there are two or more converter stations and DC transmission lines is termed as multi-terminal
DC substation.

The components of the HVDC Transmission system and its function are explained below.
Converters: The AC to DC and DC to AC conversion are done by the converters. It includes transformers and
valve bridges.
Smoothing Reactors: Each pole consist of smoothing reactors which are of inductors connected in series with
the pole. It is used to avoid commutation failures occurring in inverters, reduces harmonics and avoids
discontinuation of current for loads.
Electrodes: They are actually conductors which are used to connect the system to the earth.
Harmonic Filters: It is used to minimize the harmonics in voltage and current of the converters used.
DC Lines: It can be cables or overhead lines.
Reactive Power Supplies: The reactive power used by the converters could be more than 50% of the total
transferred active power. So the shunt capacitors provide this reactive power.
AC Circuit Breakers: The fault in the transformer is cleared by the circuit breakers. It also used to disconnect
the DC link.
HVDC System Configurations
The classification of HVDC links are as follows:

Mono Polar Links

Single conductor is required and water or ground act as the return path. If the earth resistivity is high, metallic
return is used.
Bipolar Links
Double converters of same voltage rating are used in each terminal. The converter junctions are grounded.
Homo Polar Links
It consists of more than two conductors which is having equal polarity generally negative. Ground is the return
path.

End of syllabus