POWER SUPPLIES

Compiled and presented by:

Doren Nedrick

 The

voltages required for circuits containing

semiconductor devices seldom exceed 30V and
maybe as low as 1.5V. Current demands vary
from a few microamperes to many amperes in
large systems. Usually the supply must be DC.
Batteries are suitable for portable equipment
but in general power supply units operated
from the a.c. mains are employed. In these a.c.
has to be converted to d.c., the process being
called rectification.

 In

most power supply units a

transformer steps down the a.c. mains
from 220V to a much lower voltage.
This is then converted to d.c. using
one or more junction diodes in a
rectifier circuit.
There are two types of rectifiers: half
wave rectifier and full wave rectifier.

Half wave rectifier

When

a diode is connected to a source of

alternating voltage, it is alternately
forward biased and then reverse biased
during each cycle. Therefore, when a
single diode is used in a rectifier circuit,
current passes through the circuit load
during only one-half of each cycle of the
input voltage (Fig. 17-10). For this reason,
the circuit is called a half-wave rectifier.

Outputs
The

outputs of half-wave rectifier circuits are

pulsating direct currents. Such currents can
be used in some circuits. However, they
produce a loud humming in radios,
television sets, and amplifiers.
The ac voltage is given in rms value while
the rectified dc voltage (varying dc
waveform from types of current) is given in
average value (V ave) and is found using the
formula: VAVE = VP x 0.318

Full-Wave Rectifier
Circuits
A

full-wave-rectifier circuit is one that

rectifies the entire-cycle of an applied
voltage. A basic full-wave-rectifier uses
two diodes. The action of these diodes
during each half cycle of the applied
voltage is shown in the fig below. The
diodes may be individual units, or they
may both be in a single package.

 Transformers

used in these circuits must have

center-tapped secondary windings. The dc
output voltage of the rectifier circuit depends
mainly on the voltage across the secondary
winding of the transformer, although other
circuit components such as output resistors
and filter capacitors will affect the output as
well.

Full-wave

rectifiers have steadier output

voltages than half-wave rectifiers do. This is
because full-wave rectifiers produce a pulse
of voltage in the output circuit during each
half cycle of the applied voltage.

bridge is a full-wave rectifier that uses four

diodes in specific configuration. The diode
action during each half cycle of the applied
alternating input voltage is shown in Fig. 17-15.
Note that the rectifier transformer used in a
bridge circuit does not have a center-tapped
secondary winding. The diodes may be
individual units or packaged into a single unit
(Fig. 17-16). A filter is also needed to remove
the pulses from this rectified dc
The DC value of voltage VAVE for a full-wave
rectifier is found using the formula:
VAVE = 0.636 x VP

Filtering
The

varying d.c. output voltage from a

rectifier circuit can be used to charge a
battery but must be smoothed to
obtain the steady d.c. required by
electronic equipment.
The basic filtering component of rectifier
circuits is an electrolytic capacitor (Fig.
17-11). The action of such capacitors, in
half-wave circuits, is shown in Fig. 1712.

 During

the time that the diode is forward

biased, voltage builds up across the output
circuit. The capacitor becomes charged. As
the voltage decreases, the capacitor begins
to discharge through the resistor R. When
the diode is reversed biased, it ceases to
conduct. Meanwhile the capacitor keeps
discharging through R. When the diode is
forward biased again, the capacitor, which
was not fully discharged, is brought back to
full charge. It then begins the discharge
cycle again. Thus, the output voltage and
current are smoothed

 The

ripple voltage in a full wave rectifier

circuit is smaller, giving better smoothing.
The waveform is shown below; in this case
the ripple frequency is twice that of the a.c.
supply.

CAPACITOR-INPUT FILTER

The

smoothing produced by a reservoir

capacitor Cl can be increased and ripple reduced
further by adding a filter circuit. This consists of
an inductor or choke L and another large
capacitor C2, arranged as in the fig above. This
arrangement is also called a pie filter.

We can regard the varying d.c. voltage produced across

C1 (VO in Figs. 36.2 and 36.3) as a steady d.c. voltage
(the d.c. component) plus a small ripple voltage (the
a.c. component). L offers a much greater impedance
than C2 to the a.c. component and so most of the
unwanted ripple voltage is developed across L. For the
d.c. component the situation is reversed and most of it
appears across C2. The filter thus acts as a voltage
divider, separating d.c. from a.c. (i.e. acting as a filter)
and producing a d.c. output voltage across C2 with less
ripple. A resistor may replace the inductor when the
current to be supplied small. When resistor is used in
applications of high current there is high power (I2R)
loss in the resistor

Regulation
Because

of its internal (source) resistance

(recall internal resistance in cells) the
output voltage from an ordinary power
supply (and a battery) decreases as the
current it supplies to the load increases i.e.
the 'lost' volts increase and the terminal
p.d. decreases. The greater the decrease
the worse is the regulation of the supply.
Good and bad regulation curves are shown
below.

There are many occasions when a d.c. voltage is

required which remains constant and is not affected
by load current changes. In these cases a stabilizing
or regulating circuit is added to the power supply,
as shown by the block in the fig. below.

zener diode called a regulator can be used

to steady the output voltage and is looked at
below.

ZENER DIODE
A

Zener diode is a silicon junction

diode designed for stabilizing, i.e.
keeping steady, the output voltage of
a power supply (p. 85). One is shown
in Fig. 27.la with its symbol in b; the
cathode end is often marked by a
band. It is made so that it can be used
in the breakdown region.

 Characteristic:

The characteristic in Fig. 27.2

shows that, when forward biased, a Zener
conducts at about 0.6 V, like an ordinary
silicon diode. However it is normally used in
reverse bias. Then, the reverse current IR is

 negligible

until the reverse p.d. VR reaches a

certain value Vz, called the Zener or reference
voltage, when it increases suddenly and
rapidly as the graph indicates. Damage may
occur to the diode by overheating unless IR is
limited by a series resistor. If this is connected,
the p.d. across the diode remains constant at
Vz over a wide range of IR, i.e. part AB of the
characteristic is at right angles to the VR axis.
It is this property of a Zener diode which
makes it useful for stabilizing power supplies.

 The

value of the current-limiting

resistor should ensure that the power
rating of the diode is not exceeded.
For example, a 400 mW (0.4 W) Zener
diode for which Vz = 10 V can pass a
maximum current Imax given by: