LECTURE 20 (Ch.

10) CONTROLLED RECTIFIERS

ECE 452 Power Electronics
1

Introduction

In Chapter 3, we have seen that diode rectifiers provide a fixed output voltage. To obtain controlled output voltages, phase control thyristors are used instead of diodes.

A phase-controlled thyristor is turned on by applying a short pulse to its gate, and is turned off due to natural or line commutation.
2

In case of a highly inductive load, it is turned off by firing another thyristor of the rectifier. The phase-controlled rectifiers are cheap, and their efficiency is above 95%.

Since these rectifiers convert form ac to dc, they are called ac to dc converters.
3

They are used extensively in industrial applications, especially in variable speed drives. The phase-control converters are classified as:
Single-phase converters Three-phase converters

Each type is divided into:

Semiconverter Full converter Dual converter

A semiconverter is a one-quadrant converter and it has one polarity of output voltage and current. A full converter is a two-quadrant converter and the polarity of its output voltage can be either positive or negative. A dual converter can operate in four quadrants, and both the output voltage and the output current can be either positive or negative.

The method of Fourier series can be applied to analyze the performance of the phase controlled converters.

Principle of Phase-Controlled Converter Operation

Consider the following circuit, where is the delay or firing (ignition) angle.

If the frequency of the supply is fs, the lowest frequency of the output ripple voltage will be fs. Now:
1 Vdc 2 Vm Vm sin t d (t ) 2 (1 cos )

The dc voltage can be varied from Vm/ to 0 by varying from 0 to .

9

The average output voltage will be maximum when is 0.

The rms output voltage is:

Vrms 1 [ 2

2 Vm sin 2 t d (t )]1 / 2

Vrms

Vm 1 sin 2 1 / 2 [ ( )] 2 2

10

Single-Phase Full Converters

The circuit for a single-phase full converter is shown below.

The load is assumed to be highly inductive, so the load current is continuous and ripple free. The converter operates in the rectification and inversion modes.
11

12

The average output voltage is:

2 Vdc 2

Vm sin t d (t )

2Vm

cos

The dc voltage can be varied from 2Vm/ to -2Vm/ by varying from 0 to .

13

The average output voltage will be maximum when is 0. The rms output voltage is:
Vrms 2 2 2 [ Vm sin t d (t )]1/ 2 2 Vm Vs 2
14

Vrms

The operation of the converter can be divided into two identical modes.

Mode 1 is when T1 and T2 conduct, and mode 2 is when T3 and T4 conduct.

15