Project Proposal

Group No.

Description of problem
Generating and transporting AC current is relatively easy. Thus, office and home outlets are always AC.
But, most electronic devices run on DC current. As a result, we need to somehow be able to convert the
AC to constant DC so that these devices can use the DC current.

Some devices that use DC currents are:

1) Refrigerator,
2) Laptop,
3) Television etc.

The objective of this project is to build a converter which can convert the AC input signal from a
standard voltage source (220V, 50Hz) to a DC output signal in the range of 5 to 20 volts.

Review of existing similar system

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The 220-240V AC mains supply is down-converted to 9V AC by transformer T1. The transformer output
is rectified by BR1 and the positive DC supply is directly connected to the charger’s output contact, while
the negative terminal is connected through current limiting resistor R2. D2 works as a power indicator
with R1 serving as the current limiter and D3 indicates the charging status. During the charging period,
about 3 volts drop occurs across R2, which turns on D3 through R3.

An external DC supply source (for instance, from a vehicle battery) can also be used to energies the
charger, where R4, after polarity protection diode D5, limits the input current to a safe value. The 3-
terminal positive voltage regulator LM7806 (IC1) provides a constant voltage output of 7.8V DC since D1
connected between the common terminal (pin 2) and ground rail of IC1 raises the output voltage to 7.8V
DC. D1 also serves as a power indicator for the external DC supply. After constructing the circuit on a
veroboard, enclose it in a suitable cabinet. A small heat sink is recommended for IC1.

As mentioned in the project file, we cannot use ICs to build our project. Using complete analogue
circuits may not give us the complete expected result we want to get. But we can get a very similar
output.

Studying of possible solutions

The diagram above shows us the basic concept for building a DC power supply. The parts are briefly
described below,
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1) Transformer: A power transformer increases or reduces the voltage of an AC signal in order

to decrease or increase current flow.
2) Diode rectifier: The diode rectifier either cuts off the negative part of the AC signal or
reverses to positive position.
3) Filter: The filter reduces the ripple of the output signal we get from the rectifier and makes
the signal more constant.
4) Voltage Regulator: The voltage regulator makes the signal almost constant DC signal of the
certain DC voltage.
5) Load: The load is connected to the DC power supply for operating.

There are several approaches that can be taken to build a simple DC power supply. Two of the
approaches are,

1) Using a half wave rectifier.

2) Using a full wave rectifier.

Using half wave rectifier:

The above circuit diagram is the circuit for DC power supply using half wave rectifier.

Here,

Primary voltage is 220Vrms or 311.13Vpk

The secondary side of the transformer is (220/18.3333)Vrms =12Vrms or 16.97Vpk

The half wave rectifier using single diode will cancel out the negative part of the signal resulting
an approximate output of (0.318(√2 * 12 – 0.7 (in case of silicon diode))) = 5.17V DC voltage

Then the 1000 micro Farad capacitors acting as filter will charge itself to the peak value = 12*√2
or approximately 16V. This is almost DC with some ripples.

The Zener diode will regulate the voltage to 12V DC signal.

Using a full wave rectifier:

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The above circuit diagram is the circuit for DC power supply using half wave rectifier.
Here,

Primary voltage is 220Vrms or 311.13Vpk.

The secondary side of the transformer is (220/18.3333)Vrms =12Vrms or 16.97Vpk.

The full wave rectifier using two diodes will move the negative part of the signal to positive side
resulting in an approximate output of (0.636(√2 * 12 – 1.4 (silicon diode))) = 9.9V DC voltage.

Then the 1000 micro Farad capacitors acting as filter will charge itself to the pick value = 12*√2
or approximately 16V. This is almost DC with some ripples.

The Zener diode will regulate the voltage to 12V DC signal.

Solution adopted and the reason:

We have decided to go with full wave rectifier because although both half wave and full wave rectifier
gives us the DC output of 12V, full wave rectifier keeps both negative and positive side of the input wave
and rectify the negative wave to positive side. Therefore, the ripple frequency will be twice that of the
input which is not possible with the half wave rectifier. This makes the discharge rate of the capacitor
low the ripple is smaller which is more ideal.

For the Filter part we have decided to go with two 1000 micro farad filters in parallel which ensures slow
discharge rate.

For the regulator part, we have decided to use one 12 V zener diode in parallel with another 12 volt
zener diode and 50 PIV normal diode in back to back for our voltage regulation. Although one Zener
diode is enough for regulation, but in real life one diode may get damaged for obvious reasons.

Final Circuit Diagram and explanation:

Complete Circuit:
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Power Transformer:

This is a step down transformer and for this transformer, N1:N2 = 18.333.The primary side is 220Vrms
50 Hz and the secondary side is 12Vrms 50Hz.
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Full wave rectifier:

This bridge rectifier takes the 12Vrms AC input

and reverses the negative part of the signal.
The DC voltage here is = 0.636 * Vpeak =
0.636(√2 * 12 – 2 *0.7 ) = 9.9Vdc.

The characteristic of 1N4007 is as follows,

Filter:

Here we used to capacitors in parallel to achieve higher

capacitance. When diodes of the full-wave rectifier conduct, it
charges the capacitor up to the peak rectifier voltage= √2 * 12 – 2
*0.7 = 15.57V. Time interval here is = R*C = 100 Ohm * 2000ᶙF =
200000 ᶙS.

Voltage Regulator:

we choose to use one 12 V zener diode in parallel with another 12 volt

zener diode and 50 PIV normal diode in back to back for our voltage
regulation so that our circuit doesn’t get compromised or damaged due
to unexpected input.

1N5242B Zener Diode Characteristic is as follows,

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Load:

Here,

VL = 12V = RL (15.57V) / (RL + 100Ὡ)

=> RLmin = 336.13 Ὡ

The minimum value of RL to turn the diode on is 336.13 Ὡ.

Graphs of input and output signal:

After Rectification: ((Scale 10V/Div))

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After Filtering: (Scale 5V/Div)

After Regulation: (Scale 5V/Div)

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Input and output data table:

Transformer:

Primary Welding:

Vrms 220V
Frequency 50Hz

Secondary Welding:

Vrms 12 V
Frequency 50Hz

Rectifier:

frequency 100Hz

Filter:

V 15.57 V
V (rms) 15.57 V
V (dc) 15.57 V
frequency 100 Hz

Load:

V ~12 V
Vrms ~12 V
Vdc ~12 V
frequency 100 Hz
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Approximate Material Cost:

Name Price Per Unit (BDT) Unit Total

Diode (1N4007) 1.24 5 6.2
Diode (1N5242B) 2.00 2 4
Transformer 12V 100 1 100
Capacitor 1000 10 2 20
microF
Resistor 0.60 1 .60
Others 50
Total ~181tk