EEE213 Power Electronics
Lab Script
Notice:
– The lab report will take 10% in final mark
• Only soft copy submission to LMO is allowed
– Deadline: May, 5th, 23:55pm.
– A formal report is required.
• The report should include the “Introduction”, “Background knowledge”,
“Experiment procedure and results”, “Result analysis and discussion”, and
“Conclusion”.
• Individual report (one report from each student).
1. Objective
(1) To be familiar with the firing circuits and the commissioning of the firing pulses.
(2) To study the characteristics of single-phase half-wave controlled rectification
circuit with R and RL loading.
(3) To study the principle of single-phase full-wave controlled rectification or
inversion circuit.
(4) To study the rectification process of single-phase bridge conversion circuit.
2. Equipment
THMPE-2 Power Electronics Lab System
Dual-channel oscilloscope
Multimeter
Screwdriver
3. Requirements & Safety Operation
(1) Operating instructions
⬧ Be familiar with the objective, contents, and calculations of relative topic;
⬧ Be familiar with relative devices, and master the functions and usage;
⬧ Operate in groups of 3 persons for coordinated operation;
⬧ Make wiring according to the connection diagram in wiring rules;
⬧ Check your connection carefully before you provide power to the circuit;
⬧ Conduct the experiment according to the operating instructions;
⬧ Record experimental data and waveform. Turn off the power supply to the
system with the instructor’s permission, and then return all the accessories.
(2) Safety Operation Regulations
⬧ Never touch any two output terminals of “3-phase AC voltage output” on the
power control panel with both hands during the experiment.
⬧ The operation of connecting or disconnecting wires should be performed after
power being cut off.
⬧ Carefully check the circuit after performing connection or changing
connection, and turn on the power supply with instructor’s permission.
⬧ Once the system alarms, turn off the power supply immediately, carefully
check the circuit connection and adjust the potentiometer, then conduct the
experiment again.
⬧ Select optimal range for measuring instruments to avoid damage to the
instrument, power source, or load.
⬧ All fuse specifications have been determined by factory, please use required
fuse to avoid unpredictable consequences.
⬧ Adjust the load resistor to maximum and decrease the setpoint voltage to zero
before starting the system.
⬧ During the experiment, do not use the oscilloscope to directly connect to the
load for observing the waveform because the high voltage on the load may
damage the oscilloscope. Moreover, it’s very dangerous for you.
4. Experiment 1 – Single-phase Half-wave Controlled Rectification Circuit
(1) Equipment used in this part
No. Description
1 MPE-01 Power control panel
2 MPE-12 Firing circuit of single-phase converter (I)
3 MPE-25 Experiment component
4 Dual-channel oscilloscope
5 Multimeter
6 Screwdriver
(2) Principle
The principle of UJT firing circuit has been introduced in appendix B. The
connection diagram for single-phase half-wave controlled rectification circuit is shown
in Fig.4-1, where the output terminals G and K of UJT firing circuit on MPE-12 unit
are connected to the gate and cathode of any one of thyristors on MPE-25 unit; R is two
parallel-connected resistors (R2 from XDMPE03 unit, 900Ω); Ld (700 mH), DC
voltmeter, and ammeter are all selected from the power control panel XDMPE03 unit.
The source voltage for this circuit is the voltage between AB, which is 220V/50Hz,
noted as U2.
Fig.4-1 Single-phase half-wave controlled rectification circuit
(3) Experimental contents
⬧ Commissioning of UJT firing circuit
⬧ Characteristics determination of single-phase half-wave controlled
rectification circuit on R load
⬧ Characteristics determination of single-phase half-wave controlled
rectification circuit on RL load
(4) Pre-lab
⬧ Read the knowledge about unijunction transistor, and master the procedure of
how to use UJT firing circuit.
⬧ Review the knowledge about single-phase half-wave controlled rectification
circuit, and master the operating waveforms of single-phase half-wave
controlled rectification circuit on R load or on RL load respectively.
⬧ Master the calculation of average voltage Ud in a single-phase half-wave
controlled rectification circuit on various loads.
(5) Operating instructions
a) Commissioning of UJT firing circuit
Apply a line voltage output from the power control panel to the “IN~220V”
terminal on MPE-12. Press down “Start” button on power control panel, and switch
on MPE-12 unit to activate all the firing circuits. Monitor the 60V sync signal with
one channel of dual-channel oscilloscope, leaving the other channel for observing
waveform at TP1, TP2, TP3, TP4, and TP5 respectively. Observe the waveform
variation at TP4 and TP5 during adjusting RP1. Check whether the firing voltage
at terminals G and K can shift in range of 30°~170°.
b) Single-phase half-wave controlled rectification circuit on R load
After commissioning of UJT firing circuit, connect a single-phase half-wave
controlled rectification circuit with R load as shown in Fig.4-1, and adjust the
resistor to maximum. Press down “Start” button, observe the waveform thyristor
voltage UVT with a dual-channel oscilloscope while adjusting RP1 to change α from
30° to 150°, then measure and record the values of Ud and source voltage U2 when
α = 30°/60°/90°/120°/150°.
c) Single-phase half-wave controlled rectification circuit on RL load
Power off the above circuit, and then change the R load to RL load (made up of a resistor
R and a reactor Ld connected in series). Then repeat the measurement of process (b)
during adjusting the resistor R to change the impedance angle [impedance angle φ =
tan-1(ωL/R)]. Please record the values of Ud and U2 in the following table.
(5) Questions
⬧ What are the waveforms of Ud and UVT when α = 90°.
⬧ Plot the curve of Ud/U2 = f(α) when the circuit works on resistive load and
inductive load.
⬧ Analyze the experimental phenomena.
(6) Important notes
⬧ The two probes of a dual channel oscilloscope should be connected to common
ground to avoid an electric short circuit fault.
⬧ To reduce the observation error caused by capacitance, it is required to connect
terminals G and K to gate and cathode of thyristor respectively when observing
the waveforms of output pulse voltage.
⬧ In this exercise UJT firing circuit is utilized, also a linear firing angle control
circuit can be used to perform this exercise.
⬧ To protect the thyristor from damage, please operate as follows:
• Commissioning the firing circuit before powering on the main circuit.
• Decrease Uct to zero and adjust the load resistor to maximum before
powering on the main circuit.
• Select optimal resistance and inductance as the load to avoid overcurrent
fault.
⬧ To ensure a normal operation of a thyristor, the load current should be more
than 50mA.
⬧ When connect a main circuit, please pay more attention to the phase
relationship between synchronous voltage and firing pulse.
⬧ The current flowing through the reactor should be less than 1A for linearity.
5. Experiment 2 – Single-phase Full-controlled Rectification/Inversion Circuit
(1) Equipment used in this part
No. Description
1 MPE-01 Power control panel
2 MPE-12 Firing circuit of single-phase converter (I)
3 MPE-11 3-phase controllable rectifier (I)
4 Dual-channel oscilloscope
5 Multimeter
6 Screwdriver
(2) Principle
Fig.4-3 shows a single-phase bridge rectifier with a RL load, where R is two parallel-
connected resistors (R2 from XDMPE03 unit, 900Ω); Ld is 700mH; the firing pulses
are offered by the linear firing angle control circuits I and II on MPE-12.
Fig.4-3 Single-phase full-controlled bridge rectifier
Notes: the firing pulses G1K1 and G4K4 output from MPE-12 should be connected to
VT3 and VT4 of MPE-11, while G2K2 and G3K3 to VT1 and VT6 respectively.
(3) Experiment content
⬧ Single-phase full-controlled rectifier with R and RL load
⬧ Single-phase bridge active inverter with RL load
(4) Pre-lab
⬧ Read the knowledge about linear firing angle control in Appendix B, and
master the procedure of how to use liner firing angle control circuit.
⬧ Review the knowledge of single-phase full-controlled bridge rectifier, and
master the operating waveforms of it on R load or on RL load respectively.
⬧ Master the calculation of average voltage Ud in a single-phase full- controlled
rectification circuit on various loads.
(5) Operating instructions
a) Commissioning of firing circuit
Apply a line voltage output from the power control panel to the “IN~220V”
terminal on MPE-12. Press down “Start” button on power control panel, and switch
on MPE-12 unit to activate all the firing circuits, and then observe the waveforms
at each test point of linear firing angle control circuits with a dual-channel
oscilloscope.
Adjust RP2 CCW (counter-clock wise) to the end (Uct=0), observe the
waveforms of synchronous voltage and the voltage at test point 7 with a dual-
channel oscilloscope, then adjust RP3 for a firing angle of 180°.
Connect the output of linear firing angle control circuit to the gate and cathode
of the thyristors on the full-controlled bridge (pay much attention to the polarity),
then turn off the switches of positive and negative firing pulses on MPE-11 unit.
b) Single-phase full-controlled bridge rectifier on R load
The connection diagram is shown in Fig.4-3, but only R (parallel R2) is
connected in the circuit as the pure resistive loading. Adjust the resistor to
maximum, and then press down “Start” button. Keep the resistance of RP3 as a
constant, then observe the waveform of thyristor voltage Uvt during adjusting RP2,
and adjust RP1 and RP3 for observing (because of the high voltage on the load, it’s
quite dangerous for you to directly connect the load to the oscilloscope for
observing; therefore, you can observe the waveforms for different thyristor pairs
instead, such as VT3-VT1 pair or VT6-VT4 pair).
c) Single-phase full-controlled bridge rectifier on RL load
Then connect Ld (700 mH) to the circuit, to form an RL load. Adjust the
resistor to maximum, and then press down “Start” button. Keep the resistance of
RP3 as a constant, then observe the waveforms of rectification voltage Ud and
thyristor voltage Uvt during adjusting RP2, and adjust RP1 and RP3 for observing.
(6) Questions
⬧ What are the waveforms of Ud and UVT when α = 90° and 120°.
⬧ Plot the phase-shift characteristic curve Ud=f(α).
⬧ Analyze the experimental phenomena.
(7) Important notes
⬧ Please refer to the notes in Experiment 1.
⬧ To avoid mis-triggering, the switch of corresponding firing pulse should be
turned off when the firing pulse is applied to the gate and cathode of a thyristor
on MPE-11 unit.
⬧ The power supplied to MPE-12 and to the main circuit must be in phase and
the same in magnitude.
⬧ The resistance of R should be optimal to avoid overcurrent fault and reliable
conduction of the thyristor.
Appendix A
Introductions to THMPE-2 Power Electronics Lab System
1-1 General Description
1. Features
(1) Modular design, able to perform various experiments covering courses of power
electronics, semiconductor converter technology, etc.
(2) Cost effective due to its small size and less infrastructure
investment, working under 3-phase 4-wire power supply.
(3) Nice outlook, clear print on front panel, various connecting wires with banana
connectors, castor and fixing mechanism design for the workbench.
(4) Excellent protection system, including 3-phase isotating transformer, voltage-
type leakage protection device, and current-type leakage protection device.
(5) Safety sockets installed on front panel, and different type
sockets used according to functions.
(6) Typical experimental circuits to fulfil the teaching requirements.
2. Specifications
(1) Power supply: 3-phase 4-wire 380V±10% 50Hz
(2) Ambient temperature: -5~40℃
(3) Relative humidity: ≤75%
(4) Altitude: ≤1000m
(5) Power capacity: ≤1.0kVA
1-2 MPE-01 Power Control Panel
The power control panel comes with various power supplies, and measuring
instruments. Two stainless steel tubes are available on the groove for mounting the
experimental units, at the bottom several sockets are mounted to provide power to the
units. Note at both sides of the equipment there are sockets for single-phase 3-
wire 220V voltage and 3-phase 4-wire 380V voltage respectively.
1. XDMPE01 faceplate
(1) 3-phase power mains indication
Operate the “Line voltage sel.” switch to check whether the 3-phase power mains
are balance.
(2) Power control components
The power control components include a main power switch, a start button
(illuminated green), and a stop button (illuminated red). The power control panel has
two modes: stand by and be in motion. Turning on the “Main power” switch takes the
panel into standby mode, with the red lamp on; pressing down the “Start” button enables
the panel to go into motion mode, with the red lamp off and green lamp on, and now
both the “3-phase AC Voltage Output and Excitation Power Supply” are active.
(3) 3-phase AC voltage output
The 3-phase AC voltage output module supplies three line voltages of 220V/1.5A,
each indicated by a color-coded LED, furthermore, electronic overcurrent protection is
available for all outputs, which will activate the sound and light alarm system and cut
off the main power once an overcurrent fault occurs.
Fig.1-1 Faceplate of XDMPE01 unit
(4) Excitation power supply
Turn on the “Main power” switch, press down “Start” button, and turn on the switch
of excitation power supply, then a fixed DC220V is output. A fuse at 0.5A protects the
output from short circuit and an indicator indicates the output status. Note it cannot be
used as a high-capacity source.
(5) Measuring instruments
The instruments comprise a DC digital voltmeter (-300V~0~+300V), a DC digital
ammeter (0~±5A), a true RMS voltmeter (0~500 V), and a true RMS ammeter (0~5A).
The accuracy of all the meters is 0.5%.
2. XDMPE02 faceplate
This unit provides a setpoint circuit, a 3-phase rectifier, and a single-phase
autotransformer circuit.
(1) Setpoint: the setpoint circuit is composed of two potentiometers (RP1 for
positive output adjustment while RP2 for negative output adjustment) and two toggle
switches (S1 for positive/negative output while S2 for enabling/disabling output). The
output voltage ranges from 0 to ±l5V and is indicated by a DC voltmeter.
Note: it is forbidden to make the setpoint output short to ground for a long time,
especially in a high voltage output, otherwise potentiometers RP1 and RP2 will be
damaged.
(2) Rectifier: the rectifier converters the AC voltage to DC voltage, with a fuse at
2A protected.
(3) Single-phase autotransformer
This single-phase autotransformer provides a single-phase adjustable AC voltage in
range of 0～250V/0.5kVA. The maximum output current is 2A, electronic overcurrent
protection is available for the output, which will activate the sound and light alarm
system and cut off the main power once an overcurrent fault occurs.
Fig.1-2 Faceplate of XDMPE02 unit
3. XDMPE03 faceplate
The XDMPE03 unit includes an analog DC voltmeter, an analog DC ammeter, a
smoothing reactor, a 3-phase core-type transformer, and rheostats.
(1) Analog DC voltmeter and ammeter
Analog DC voltmeter: measuring range: 0~±300V, accuracy: 1.0%
Analog DC ammeter: measuring range: 0~± 2A, accuracy: 1.0%
(2) Smoothing reactor
The smoothing reactor mounted within the power control panel has three
inductances (l00mH, 200mH, 700mH) which are linear under a current of 1A. All
terminals have been brought out to the faceplate. Furthermore, the reactor circuit is
protected by a fuse at 3A.
(3) 3-phase core-type transformer
It has two sets of secondary windings, the primary and secondary phase voltages
are 127V/63.5V/31.8V (line voltages are 220V/110V/55V respectively if transformer
is connected in Y/Y/Y mode). Usually the transformer is used as a step-up transformer
in inversion experiment.
(4) Ceramic disk rheostat
There are three coaxial ceramic disk rheostats, one of 90Ω/1.3A and two of
900Ω/0.41A.
Fig.1-3 Faceplate of XDMPE03 unit
Appendix B
Thyristor Firing Circuits
(Please refer to the attached file “Appendix B. Firing circuits”)
