SNS College of Technology, CBE 2017-18: ODD Sem

FILTER
Introduction:

We have learnt in rectifier circuits about converting a sinusoidal ac voltage into its
corresponding pulsating dc. Apart from the dc component, this pulsating dc voltage will have
unwanted ac components like the components of its supply frequency along with its harmonics
(together called ripples). These ripples will be the highest for a single-phase half wave
rectifier and will reduce further for a single-phase full wave rectifier. The ripples will be
minimum for 3-phase rectifier circuits. Such supply is not useful for driving complex
electronic circuits. For most supply purposes constant dc voltage is required than the pulsating
output of the rectifier. For most applications the supply from a rectifier will make the operation
of the circuit poor. If the rectifier output is smoothened and steady and then passed on as the
supply voltage, then the overall operation of the circuit becomes better. Thus, the output of the
rectifier has to be passed though a filter circuit to filter the ac components.

A power supply must provide ripple free source of power from an A.C. line. But
the output of a rectifier circuit contains ripple components in addition to a D.C. term. It
is necessary to include a filter between the rectifier and the loads in order to eliminate
these ripple components. Ripple components are high frequency A.C. Signals in the D.C
output of the rectifier.

These are not desirable, so they must be filtered. So filter circuits are used. Many
types of passive filters are in use such as.

1. Shunt capacitor filter

2. Series inductor filter
3. Chock input (LC) filter
4. Pi(π) section filter or CLC filter or capacitor input filter .
SNS College of Technology, CBE 2017-18: ODD Sem

Shunt capacitor filter:

This type of filter consists of large value of capacitor connected across the load
resistor RL as shown in figure. This capacitor offers a low reactance to the A.C.
components and very high impedance to D.C. so that the A.C. components in the
rectifier output find low reactance path through capacitor and only a small part flows
through RL, producing small ripple at the output as shown in figure.

Here Xc (=1/2πfC, the impedance of capacitor) should be smaller than RL.

Because, current should pass through C and C should get charged. If C value is very
small, Xc will be large and hence current flows through RL only and no filtering action
takes place. The capacitor C gets charged when the diode (in the rectifier) is conducting
and gets discharged (when the diode is not conducting) through RL.

When the input voltage 𝑣 = 𝑉𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑡 is greater than the capacitor voltage, C gets
charged. When the input voltage is less than that of the capacitor voltage, C will
discharge through RL. The stored energy in the capacitor maintains the load voltage at a
high value for a long period. The diode conducts only for a short interval of high
current. The waveforms are as shown in figure. Capacitor opposes sudden fluctuations
in voltage across it. So the ripple voltage is minimized.

Figure: Rectifier with shunt Capacitor filter

Figure: Filter output waveform

SNS College of Technology, CBE 2017-18: ODD Sem

The discharging of the capacitor depends upon the time constant C.RL. Hence the
smoothness and the magnitude of output voltage depend upon the value of capacitor C
and RL. As the value of C increases the smoothness of the output also increases. But the
maximum value of the capacitor is limited by the current rating of the diode. Also
decrease in the value of RL increases the load current and makes the time constant
smaller. These types of filters are used in circuits with small load current like transistor
radio receivers, calculators, etc.

The ripple factor in capacitor filter is given b 𝜸 = 𝟏 𝟒 𝟑𝒇𝑪𝑹𝑳 y.

Advantages :
1. Low cost
2. Small size and weight
3. Good characteristics
4. Can be connected for both HW and FW rectifiers
5. Improved d.c. output
Disadvantages:
1. Capacitor draws more current

Now let us look at the working of Half-wave rectifier and Full-wave rectifier with
Capacitor filters, their output filtered waveform, ripple factor, merits and demerits in detail.

Half-wave Rectifier with Capacitor Filter

Half-wave Rectifier with Capacitor Filter

SNS College of Technology, CBE 2017-18: ODD Sem

The circuit diagram above shows a half-wave rectifier with a capacitor filter. The filter is
applied across the load RLoad. The output of the RLoad is VLoad, the current through it is ILoad. The
current through the capacitor is Ic.

During the positive half cycle of the input ac voltage, the diode D will be forward biased
and thus starts conducting. During this period, the capacitor ‘C’ starts charging to the maximum
value of the supply voltage Vsm. When the capacitor is fully charged, it holds the charge until
the input ac supply to the rectifier reaches the negative half cycle. As soon as the negative half
supply is reached, the diode gets reverse biased and thus stops conducting. During the non-
conducting period, the capacitor ‘C’ discharges all the stored charges through the output load
resistance RLoad. As the voltage across RLoad and the voltage across the capacitor ‘C’ are the same
(VLoad = Vc), they decrease exponentially with a time constant (C*R Load) along the curve of the
non-conducting period. This is shown in the graph below.

Half-wave Rectifier with Capacitor Filter - Waveform

The value of the discharge time constant (C*RLoad) being very large, the capacitor ‘C’
will not have enough time to discharge properly. As soon as the capacitor starts discharging,
the time becomes over. Thus the value of RLoad at the discharge time will also be high and have
just a little less value that the output of RLoad. This is when the positive half cycle repeats again
and the diode starts conducting. The condition to be considered at this stage is that the rectified
 SNS College of Technology, CBE 2017-18: ODD Sem

voltage takes value more than the capacitor voltage . When the condition occurs the capacitor
starts charging to a value of Vsm. The condition again changes when the negative half cycle
comes into pace, and the whole cycle is again repeated to form the output waveform as shown
above. The output shows a nearly constant dc voltage at the load and that the output voltage is
increased considerably.

Thus, in short:

 If the value of load resistance is large, the discharge time constant will be of a high value, and
thus the capacitors’ time to discharge will get over soon. This lowers the amount of ripples in
the output and increases the output voltage. If the load resistance is small, the discharge time
constant will be less, and the ripples will be more with decrease in output voltage.
 The value of the capacitor used plays an important role in determining the output ripples and
the average dc level. If the capacitor value is high, the amount of charge it can store will be high
and the amount it discharges will be less. Thus the ripples will be less and the average dc level
will be high. But, there is a limit on how much capacitance can b increased. If the capacitor
value is increased to a very high value, the amount of current required to charge the capacitor
to a given voltage will be high. This value of current depends on the manufacturer of the diode
and will be surely limited to a certain value. Thus, there is a limit in increasing the capacitor
value in a half-wave rectifier shunt capacitor filter circuit.
 Poor voltage regulation.

Ripple Factor

The rms value depends on the peak value of charging and discharging magnitude, Vpeak.

Vac rms = Vpeak/2

Vpeak = Idc/fC

Ripple Factor = Vac rms/Vdc = (Vpeak/2 ) * (1/Idc.RLoad)

= Idc/(2 .Idc.RLoad.f.C) = 1/(2 fCRLoad)

Full-wave Rectifier with Shunt Capacitor Filter

SNS College of Technology, CBE 2017-18: ODD Sem

The circuit diagram of a full-wave rectifier wit capacitor filter is shown below.

Full-wave Rectifier with Capacitor Filter

The filter capacitor C is placed across the resistance load RLoad. The whole working is
pretty much similar to that of a half-wave rectifier with shunt capacitor explained above. The
only difference is that two pulses of current will charge the capacitor during alternate positive
(D1) and negative (D2) half cycles. Similarly capacitor C discharges twice through RLoad
during one full cycle. This is shown in the waveform below.

Full-wave Rectifier with Capacitor Filter - Waveform

The load current reduces by a smaller amount before the next pulse is received as there
are 2 current pulses per cycle. This causes a good reduction in ripples and a further increase in
the average dc load current.
SNS College of Technology, CBE 2017-18: ODD Sem

Series inductor filter

The working of series inductor filter depends on the inherent property of the
inductor to oppose any variation in current intend to take place. Fig shows a series
inductor filter connected at the output of a FWR. Here the reactance of the inductor is
more for ac components and it offers more opposition to them. At the same time it
provides no impedance for d.c. component. Therefore the inductor blocks a.c.
components in the output of the rectifier and allows only d.c. component to flow
through RL.

The action of an inductor depends upon the current through it and it requires
current to flow at all time. Therefore filter circuits consisting inductors can only be used
together with full wave rectifiers. In inductor filter an increase in load current will
improve the filtering action and results in reduced ripple. Series inductor filters are
used in equipments of high load currents.

The ripple factor in series inductor filter 𝜸 = 𝑹𝑳 / 𝟑 √𝟐𝝎𝑳

Advantages
1. Sudden changes in current is smoothen out
2. Improved filtering action at high load currents across the inductor.

Disadvantages
a. Bulky and large in size
b. Note suite for HWR
c. Reduced output voltage due to the drop

LC FILTER

It is a combination of inductor and capacitor filter. Here an inductor is connected

in series and a capacitor is connected in parallel to the load as shown in fig 5.6. As
discussed earlier, a series inductor filter will reduce the ripple, when increasing the
SNS College of Technology, CBE 2017-18: ODD Sem

load current. But in case of a capacitor filter it is reverse that when increasing current
the ripple also increases. So a combination of these two filters would make ripple
independent of load current.

The ripple factor of a chock input filter is given by 𝜸 = 𝟏. 𝟏𝟗𝟒 𝑳𝑪 (by taking f=50Hz)

Since the D.C. resistance of the inductor is very low it allows D.C. current to flow easily
through it. The capacitor appears open for D.C. and so all D.C. component passes
through it. The capacitor appears open for D.C. and so all D.C components passes
through the load resistor RL.

Bleeder resistor
For optimum functioning, the inductor requires a minimum current to flow
through, at all time. When the current falls below this rat, the output will increase
sharply and hence the regulation become poor. To keep up the circuit current above
this minimum value, a resistor is permanently connected across the filtering capacitor
and is called bleeder resistor. This resistor always draws a minimum current even if
the external load is removed. It also provides a path for the capacitor to discharge when
power supply is turned off.

Advantages
a. Reduced ripples at the output
b. Action is independent of load current

Disadvantages
a. Low output voltage
b. Bulky and large in size
c. Not suit to connect with HWR.