EE466/EE966 Part 1: Power Electronics

Topic 8: AC-DC power conversion

 AC-DC power conversion

1. Introduction
2. Power semiconductor devices
3. Non-isolated DC-DC power converters
4. Isolated-output DC-DC power converters
5. Thermal management
6. Passive components for power electronics
7. DC-AC power conversion
8. AC-DC power conversion
9. Control of DC machines
 AC-DC power conversion

• Never open-circuit an inductor that carries current, or in other words

interrupt current through an inductor or provide no current path through the
switch operation of a given semiconductor device. If this happens, the voltage
will become infinity and destroy the device and/or other circuit components.

IL IL
L Load VL L Load
IL IL

Initially the current is not zero.

If the current is interrupted at t = 0, this leads to IL = 0.

dI L
   dI L Unacceptable
VL  L  
dt dt
 AC-DC power conversion

• Never short circuit a capacitor or another voltage source such as a battery or

simply apply a no resistive path in series with a capacitor or voltage source.
If this happens the current will become infinity which will destroy the device
and/or other components.

Ic Ic
Vc C Load Vc C

Initially the capacitor voltage is NOT zero.

If the capacitor is short-circuited at t = 0, this leads to VC = 0.

dVC
   IC  C
dVC
  Unacceptable
dt dt
 AC-DC power conversion
Half-wave rectifier

vac • D on when positive

biased
• D off when its current
becomes 0
1 
v s  V p sint  V0 
2 0
v s d t

1 
  V p sin t dt
2 0
vac
Vp
  cost 0  VP
2 
Conduction when
Vac > E
 AC-DC power conversion

In practice, rectifiers tend to be used with a smoothing capacitance C:

D1
vac Vo
C
RLOAD

Note that with the half-wave rectifier here, a DC component is present in the current drawn
from the mains. (Expressed another way, the mains current does not average to give zero.)
AC-DC power conversion

• The diode comes into conduction when the AC voltage is greater than the
capacitor voltage at ωt = α.

• In the period α-β the diode conducts and the capacitor voltage follows the
AC input.

• At β the AC voltage drops below the output voltage and the diode ceases
conduction.

• For the period [β, (α+2π)] the capacitor discharges exponentially through
the resistive load.
 AC-DC power conversion

Normally the capacitor has to hold up the rectifier output voltage, in other words, limit
sag to an acceptable level. As a first approximation, it is often quite acceptable to more
simply estimate the required capacitance from:

𝐼𝐿𝑂𝐴𝐷 𝑇
𝐶=
Δ𝑉
T
ΔV
where:
• T is the waveform’s period;
• ΔV is the maximum allowable
voltage sag;
• ILOAD is the load current – this is
assumed not to change
significantly with the change in
voltage ΔV.
 AC-DC power conversion

Full-wave rectifier

D1 D3
vac
0 vo t dt
Vo 1 
Vo 
RLOAD 
2 V p
0 V p sint dt 
1 
D4 D2 
 

• In the top common cathode diode group (D1 & D3) the diode with its anode at the
highest potential will conduct, i.e., D1 will conduct when vac is positive and the current
shifts to D3 when vs goes into negative.
• In the bottom common anode diode group (D2 & D4) the diode with its cathode at the
lowest potential will conduct, i.e., D2 will conduct when vs is positive and the current
shifts to D4 when vs goes into negative.
 AC-DC power conversion

Again, generally used with a capacitance:

T/2
iin
ΔV
D1 D3 iC
vac vo
C
RLOAD
D4 D2

• For a given capacitance C, the full-wave

rectifier gives a lower output voltage ripple Exercise: sketch the
than the half-wave rectifier. approximate waveforms
for iin and iC.
• Also, whilst harmonic currents are still
drawn from the mains, importantly, no DC
component is drawn.
 AC-DC power conversion

Three-phase rectifier

D1 D3 D5

vo
C
RLOAD
D2 D4 D6

The full-wave rectifier circuit can readily be adapted for three-phase operation by simply
adding another leg (D5 and D6 here).

A much lower voltage ripple appears across RLOAD for a given load power and
capacitor size than when compared to a single phase bridge rectifier.
 AC-DC power conversion
Controlled rectifier – simple circuit 400

300

iG 200 vac
100

TH1 0
0 100 200 300 400
vac RLOAD vLOAD -100

-200

-300

-400
Thyristor TH1 is turned on by injecting a current 6
pulse iG into its gate at a firing angle α. (Recall 4
Topic 2 for details of thyristor operation.) 2
iG
0
TH1 then stays on until vac drops to zero at 180°. 0 100 200 300 400

400

The average load voltage Vave given by: 300

vLOAD
200

1 𝜋
100

𝑉𝑎𝑣𝑒 = න 𝑉 (𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘) sin 𝜔𝑡𝑑𝜔𝑡 0

2𝜋 α 𝑎𝑐 -100
0 100 200 300 400
Thyristor gate pulse generation
vst
Saw-tooth Comparator
Generator Gate
ac and pulse
voltage
vsynchronization Logic
vcontrol
vcontrol

vsynchronization

+
0  

vst Vst

0
vcontrol
Gate pulse

vcontrol
  180 where Vst is the peak value of the saw-tooth waveform
Vst
 Controlled Rectifier – Bridge Circuit
Constant DC current

VT1 T1 T3 • Current Id flows through one thyristor of

the top group (T1 & T3) and one thyristor
iS of the bottom group (T2 & T4)
vS vd Id
• If the gate currents were continuously
T4 T2 applied, the thyristors would behave as
diodes.
vS
is • Prior to t = 0, T3, T4 are on and vd=-vs,
Id is=-Id
0 

• At t = 0, T1 & T2 becomes forward
 vd biased but they cannot conduct until
id=Id gate currents are applied at t = .
vT1=vT2=vs>0.
• At t = , ig is applied to T1 and T2. The
T3 T4 on current Id is commutated from T3 and T4
T1 T2 on T3 T4 on
to T1 and T2 instantly
 AC-DC power conversion

A problem with all the passive rectifiers or phase-controlled rectifiers we’ve seen
so far is that they draw high harmonic currents from the AC supply.

Disadvantages of a high harmonic content are that:

• A higher RMS current is always drawn for a given amount of power transfer;
• A higher peak current is normally drawn for a given amount of power transfer;
• The third harmonic and higher-order triplen currents drawn cause large neutral
currents in three-phase systems*;
• Distortion of the utility voltage seen by other users results as the supply
inevitably has some source impedance.

*nb. single-phase supplies are usually derived from a three-phase system and the effect is
to impose neutral currents onto the three-phase system.
 AC-DC power conversion

Shown here are three-phase line

currents with:

Top: no harmonics present

Bottom: with a 10% third harmonic

present
iN (= 0 A)
The neutral conductor now has to be
dimensioned to carry a significant
current iN.

Also, in this particular case, phase of

third harmonic is such that the peak
currents are higher.

iN
 AC-DC power conversion

As well as AC harmonics, some rectifier circuits seen earlier in this topic draw a
DC component in their input current.

In addition to introducing excess power dissipation in the supply system, and the
other problems already described, the presence of a DC component in the supply
conductors is particularly deprecated in AC systems for another reason.

It introduces a DC MMF to the local distribution transformer, in turn, causing a DC

offset in its core flux. This means the core is excited asymmetrically, and renders
it more susceptible to saturation.
 AC-DC power conversion

A typical example of a circuit that draws high harmonic currents is where a full-wave
rectifier and smoothing capacitor (Slide 11) is used in the input stage of a computer
SMPS. Such an arrangement is shown here:

BRIDGE BULK ISOLATED-OUTPUT

RECTIFIER CAPACITOR DC-DC CONVERTER

Output
rectifier
To output
TR1 TR3
filter and
+
vac load
VBULK VT
CBULK

TR2 TR4 High-frequency

power transformer

(Full-bridge
converter)
 AC-DC power conversion

Before proceeding, let’s quantify the effect of harmonic current in a

situation where it is superimposed onto a fundamental current.

• First of all, with no harmonic current present.

• Then with the fundamental and third and fifth harmonics present.
(This will give a waveform roughly approximate to that drawn by an
uncontrolled full-wave rectifier.)

Vpeak = 1 V and Ipeak = 1 A (for the fundamental)

Therefore Vrms = 0.707 V and Irms = 0.707 A

The power transfer should be 0.5W.

Over the period of a 50 Hz cycle of (20 ms), we would expect to transfer

10 mJ.
Power factor correction

Power transfer with no harmonic content present

1.5

10mJ transferred
1.0 10 mJ transferred

0.5

0.0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025

Instantaneous power transfer

-0.5
Integral of power transferred (*100)
Voltage
Current
-1.0

-1.5
 Power factor correction

Power transfer with 50% third and 20% fifth harmonics present

1.5

1 10 mJ transferred
0.5

0
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025

-0.5 Voltage
Current
-1 Instantaneous power transfer
Integral of power transferred (*100)

-1.5

-2

Nb.: Phase of 3rd harmonic is shifted by 180° here (i3rd = 0.5Ipeakfund(sin3ωt+π))

 Power factor correction

The presence of harmonics has no net effect on the power transferred, or to put it
another way, they don’t do anything useful. Worse than this, they are a nuisance.

Let’s look at the RMS value of the current with and without these harmonics.

Fundamental only Fundamental with 50%

3rd and 20% 5th
harmonics
Power transfer 0.5 W 0.5 W
RMS current drawn 0.707 A 0.803 A

The RMS current drawn has risen by approximately 14% with no useful increase in power
transfer. There is therefore 29% more power lost in the form of I2R heating in the
conductors supplying the power converter.

Note that the peak current has also risen: possibility of problems such as saturation of
magnetic filter components elsewhere in electrical systems.
 Power factor correction

So, ideally the current drawn from the mains:

• has a sinusoidal profile at the same frequency as the voltage and contains no
harmonics;
• is in phase with the voltage.

Since the 1990s, statutory limits have been applied that restrict the harmonic
content. An example of an applicable standard for single-phase equipment is
EN61000-3-2.

The standards normally stipulate two things:

• the maximum value of any particular individual harmonic,

• the total harmonic distortion, THD.

 Power factor correction

The THD is given by:

∞ 2
𝐼ℎ
𝑇𝐻𝐷 = ෍
𝐼1
2

To meet these limits, hardware known as power factor correction (PFC)

circuitry is sometimes needed in the input stages of electronic power
converters. The supply now feeds circuitry that is effectively like a resistor1.
(Power factor correction is sometimes referred to as active rectification.)

1except that, unlike a passive resistor, it will draw more current as the voltage falls in
order to draw a constant power from the supply.
 Power factor correction

Many circuit topologies can be used for power factor correction. A common topology
for single-phase systems is shown:

Output
L1 D5 rectifier
To output
TR1 TR3
filter and
vAC +
Vr (Vin) load
VBULK VT
CB
UL
vDS K
TR5 TR2 TR4 High-frequency
power transformer
Full-wave rectifier followed by Full-bridge
Boost converter converter

As before, we have the input full-wave rectifier, the bulk capacitor and the output DC-DC
converter stage. However, a boost converter has now been interposed between the
rectifier and the bulk capacitor in the input stage of the DC-DC converter.
 Power factor correction

Looking at the key waveforms over a mains cycle:

vac iL1

L1 D5

vac +
vr (vin) vBULK
vBULK C
BU
TR5 LK
vr(vin)

Boost
converter

iL1
Nb.: in practice, some ripple current
will be present in iL1.
 Power factor correction

TR5 is controlled such that it does two things:

• It regulates the current iL1 in the choke L1, such that it follows an ideal
rectified sine wave profile – just like the current that would be drawn by an
ideal resistive load placed after the rectifier.

• It also always keeps VBULK above the peak incoming AC voltage: this is
necessary because the circuit is a boost converter and can only step up
voltages. It therefore cannot function properly with an input voltage higher
than its output voltage.

The peak voltage of a UK 230-V supply at its nominal voltage is 325 V. Accounting
for it being at the upper end of its tolerance range (230+10%) gives a worst-case
peak voltage of 358 V.

Consequently, VBULK is typically controlled to be around 380 V-400 V.

 Power factor correction
The control circuit normally used is outlined below.

To start with, the capacitor voltage VBULK is compared with the set point value (“Voltage
demand”). If it is too low the voltage error signal Verr obviously increases.

To increase the capacitor voltage in response to this, we clearly want to demand more
input current, and that means the choke current in the boost converter.

Rectified input
voltage waveform* PWM signal to TR5

Voltage PWM
error Current comparator
signal demand
Voltage +  Ierr
  + Boost
demand Verr Idem + VBULK,
- converter
- - Vdrive input current
() circuit
Carrier
Vin2
Waveform, Vc
iL1 current feedback, Ifb
Lowpass
filter VBULK voltage feedback, Vfb

*scaled down with an attenuator to make it manageable by low-voltage control circuitry

 Power factor correction

But the choke current in the boost converter should have a rectified
sine wave profile in phase with the rectified input voltage.

To ensure this profile is demanded, the voltage error signal is multiplied by the rectified
input voltage to give a current demand Idem that has the rectified profile needed.

Rectified input
voltage waveform* PWM signal to TR5

Voltage PWM
error Current comparator
signal demand
Voltage +  Ierr
  + Boost
demand Verr Idem + VBULK,
- converter
- - Vdrive input current
() circuit
Carrier
Vin2
Waveform, Vc
iL1 current feedback, Ifb
Lowpass
filter VBULK voltage feedback, Vfb

*scaled down with an attenuator to make it manageable by low-voltage control circuitry

 Power factor correction

The difference between Idem and the actual current is the error signal Ierr. This is
compared with a triangular carrier waveform Vc to generate the PWM signal for
controlling TR5.

Rectified input
voltage waveform* PWM signal to TR5

Voltage PWM
error Current comparator
signal demand
Voltage +  Ierr
  + Boost
demand Verr Idem + VBULK,
- converter
- - Vdrive input current
() circuit
Carrier
Vin2
Waveform, Vc
iL1 current feedback, Ifb
Lowpass
filter VBULK voltage feedback, Vfb

*scaled down with an attenuator to make it manageable by low-voltage control circuitry

 Power factor correction

As mentioned, there are many

PFC topologies apart from the L1 D5
one we’ve just looked at, top
right. vAC +

CBULK
Another example is the
bridgeless topology, bottom TR5
right.

D1 D2
Exercise: sketch the key
waveforms for the bridgeless
L1 +
topology shown here. vAC
CBULK

TR1 TR2
 Power factor correction

Note that by replacing the diodes D1 and D2 with active devices, the circuit can still
operate as a rectifier, but now has the ability to also operate as an inverter with DC to AC
power flow in the opposite direction.

Rectifier only capability Rectifier and inverter capability

D1 D2
TR3 TR4

vAC L1 + vAC L1 +

CBULK CBULK

TR1 TR2 TR1 TR2

AC DC AC DC
AC DC
 Power factor correction

Further reading

B. W. Williams, “Power Electronics: Devices, Drivers, Applications and Passive

Components”, 2nd Edn., Macmillan, London, 1992

N. Mohan, T. Undeland and W. P. Robbins, 2nd Edn., “Power Electronics: Converters,

Applications and Design”, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 1995 (See Chapter 18.)

R. W. Erickson and D. Maksimovic, “Fundamentals of Power Electronics”, 2nd Edn.,

Springer, 2001

Commercial websites

On Semiconductor: “Power Factor Correction (PFC) Handbook”,

http://www.onsemi.com/pub/Collateral/HBD853-D.PDF

S. Abdel-Rahman. F. Stückler and K. Siu, “PFC boost converter design guide - 1200 W
design example” Infineon Application Note Revision1.1, 2016-02-22 www.infineon.com