SPEEDAM 2008

International Symposium on Power Electronics,

Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion

Autotransformer-Based 18-Pulse Rectifiers

without Using DC-Side Interphase
Transformers: Classification and Comparison
KUNIOMI OGUCHI
4-7-44 Nishinarusawa, Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture 316-0032 (Japan)

Abstract—Autotransformer-based 18-pulse rectifier

systems are classified from three points of view: (a) dc-side
connections of diode bridges, (b) the number of phases of
the diode bridge input voltages, and (c) the symmetry of the
input voltage systems. Five practical systems are chosen of
which system structures, voltage synthesizing methods,
equivalent transformer capacities, and simulated current
waveforms are presented. The total harmonic distortion of
line currents are compared when the supply voltages have
pre-existing voltage-unbalance and -distortion resulted
from fifth harmonics. Two schemes are recommended for
applications required unregulated and regulated dc
voltages.

Index Terms— Autotransformer, 18-pulse rectifier, multi-

phase voltages, interphase transformers, harmonic
distortion

I. INTRODUCTION
Multi-pulse rectifier systems have been widely used
for industrial applications as inexpensive, line-friendly Fig. 1. Classification of autotransformer-based 18-pulse rectifiers.
utility interfaces [1-5]. Recently, those systems have
been studied for future More Electric Aircrafts [6-7].
Reference [1] presents various kinds of multi-pulse
rectifier systems which are compared using different
transformer connections, and it makes the differences
among those systems unclear. Moreover, novel
topologies [8-13] have been reported which are not
presented in [1].
This paper classifies autotransformer-based 18-pulse
rectifiers without using dc-side interphase transformers
into five practical schemes and compares those schemes
(±α )
having a same transformer connection, a differential ibW
delta connection, in order to make features of each ibV
scheme clear. The results are summarized in Table I. ibU
Fig. 2. Circuit I.

II. CLASSIFICATION OF 18-PULSE RECTIFIERS direct connection (Figs. 2 and 3) and indirect connection
Autotransformer-based 18-pulse rectifiers can be (Fig. 4), (b) the number of diode bridge input voltage-
classified from the three points of view; (a) the phases; nine- phase (Figs. 5 and 6) and semi 18-phase
connections of diode bridges at the dc-side, (b) the (Figs. 7 and 8), and (c) the symmetry of the bridge input
number of input voltage-phases, and (c) the symmetry of voltage systems; symmetrical voltage-systems (Figs. 5
input voltage systems as shown in Fig. 1. The further and 7) and asymmetrical voltage-systems (Figs. 6 and 8).
classification can be made as follows: (a) the connection DC-side interphase transformer-coupled systems are
of the diode bridges at the dc-side; direct connection likely to have a serious current unbalance problem due to
pre-existing voltage distortion of ac sources [1].

978-1-4244-1664-6/08/$25.00 ©2008 IEEE

760
 I DC i
Rec.2
id 2 Rec.1 i Rec.0 i VU0
iU 2 iU 1 d1 iU0 d0
VDC
RL
d 20
iV 2 iV 1 iV 0 i 40 b
iW 1 iW 0 b a i
iW 2 V U1 VU2
ZSBT
a U3
ZSBT
vU 2 vV 2 vW 2 vU 1 vV 1 vW 1 vU 0 vV 0 vW 0 α α
U 2 V2 W2 U1 V1 W1 U 0 V0 W0
i c c i
VW2 V V1
Phase shifting autotransformers a α a
( ± 20 ) α 20
i U 0 iV 0 iW 0
b α b
ibW vW iW W i α 20 i
O
ibV VW0 b a c VV0
a b
vV iV V

ibU vU iU U
i i
Fig. 3. Circuit II. V W1 VV2
Fig. 6. Voltage phasor diagram for asymmetrical nine-phase voltages
D p2 with a phase shift angle (α) of 36.9˚.
id 2 Lc p
id 1 D p1 I DC
D p0 i
Rec.2 T2 Rec.1 Lc p Rec.0 id 0 i d b VU0 i
iU 2 iU1 T1 i U0 VDC V U1 VU2
Lc p RL
T0 a a
iV 2 iV 1 iV 0
iW 1 iW 0
D n0
iW 2
Lc n Lc n Lc n D
n1
20 20 c
vU 2 vV 2 vW 2 vU 1 vV 1 vW1 vU 0 vV 0 vW 0
D n2 c 80 80
U 2 V2 W2 U1 V1 W1 U0 V0 W0

20 i
i 20
Phase shifting autotransformers VW 2 VV1
a 20 20 a
( ± 20 ) i U 0 iV 0 iW 0
i 80 i
VW 0 VV0
ibW iW W b a c a b
O
ibV iV V i i
V W1 VV 2
ibU iU U
Fig. 4. Circuit III. Fig. 7. Voltage phasor diagram for symmetrical semi 18-phase voltages
with a phase shift angle of 20˚.
i
VU0 i

i d b a i
i
V U1 a VU0 a
VU2
i

V U1 b VU2
a
40 40
i c c i 20 20 c
VW2 40 V V1
40 c 80 80

a 40 40 a i i
VW 2 20 20 VV1
b
40 40 40
b a
20 20
a
i i 80 i
i
c b VV0 VW 0 VV0
VW0 b a a a
c
a
i i
VW1 VV2
i i
V W1 VV2 Fig. 8. Voltage phasor diagram for asymmetrical semi 18-phase
Fig. 5. Voltage phasor diagram for symmetrical nine-phase voltages voltages with a phase shift angle of 20˚ and different amplitudes.
with a phase shift angle of 40˚.

Therefore, those systems have been seldom put into B. Synthesis of Rectifier Input Voltages
practical use recently. Then, this paper does not discuss Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 show voltage phasor diagrams to
the dc-side interphase transformer-coupled systems. synthesize the input voltages of the diode bridges. Figs. 5
and 6 give a symmetrical and an asymmetrical nine-
A. Basic Circuits phase voltage system with a phase shift angle of 40 ̊ and
Each circuit shown in the figures from Fig. 2 to Fig. 4 36.9 ̊, respectively. Figs. 7 and 8 give a symmetrical and
consists of three diode bridges and a phase-shifting an asymmetrical semi 18-phase voltage system with a
autotransformer. The dc terminals of the diode bridges
phase shift angle of 20 ̊, respectively. Fig. 8 shows the
are directly connected in Circuits I and II, and those are
transformer output voltages are 1.06 (=sec20 ̊ ) times
connected through boost choppers in Circuit III. Circuit
larger than those of the ac supply voltages.
II has a zero- sequence-blocking transformer (ZSBT) [1].

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 The voltage ratios ( a, b, c, d ) with respect to the line-to- V W U
U2 V2 W2
line voltages of the ac source depicted in the figures from b b b
Fig. 5 to Fig. 8 are obtained from the sine rule for
general triangles. a V4 a W4 a U4
In Fig. 5, U4 V4 W4
c c c
a b d 1 sin 40 U3 V3 W3
= = = , a W3 a U3 a
sin 40 sin 20 sin120 3 sin120 i sin 70 V3
and c = 1 − 2b . U1
b V1 b W1
b
In Fig. 6, W V
U
a b d sin 20 Fig. 9. Transformer winding structure having five windings per leg.
= = = ,
sin 20 sin 40 sin120 sin120 i sin 80
and c = 1 − 2b . V W U
In Fig. 7, U2 V2 W2
1

a b d 1 sin 20
= = = , a a a
sin 50 sin10 sin120 3 sin120 i sin 80
U c V c W c
and c = 1 − 2b .
In Fig. 8, a a a
a 1/ 3 U1 V1 W1
= , b = 0 and c = 1 .
sin 20 sin 70 W U V
The calculated values are presented in Table I.
Fig. 10. Transformer winding structure having three windings per leg.
The transformer winding structures are depicted in Figs.
9 and 10, and their connections are presented in Fig. 11.
U
C. Five Practical Schemes iU iU 0
c = 1 − 2b i U0
The combination of the power circuits and the input bU
voltage synthesizing methods described above gives five
ibU 1 ibU 2
practical rectifier schemes as listed in Table I. a b a U2
U1
In Schemes A, B, and C, the three diode bridges are iU 1 U3 U 4 iU 2
W2 V1
directly coupled at the dc-side. Scheme A is a well iW 2 c c
known 18-pulse rectifier [1, 6] which has a symmetrical icU icV iV 1
nine-phase input voltages with a phase-shift angle of 40˚.
ibW 2 a
Each diode conducts the dc current during 40˚. W4 V3
W0 ibW 1 icW ibV 1
Scheme B was recently proposed to reduce V4 b ibV i
transformer power capacity [7, 8, 10] in which the output iW 0 V
dc voltage changes every 20˚; vW 0V 0 → vW 2V 0 → ibW W3 c iV 2
iW ibV 2 iV 0 V
vU 1V 0 → vU 0V 0 for example. As a result, the conduction
W a iW 1
V0
interval of the diodes of Rec. 0 increase to 80˚ from 40˚ W1 V2
in Scheme A and those of Recs. 1 and 2 decrease to 20˚. Fig. 11. Transformer winding connection.
The two-thirds of the dc power flow directly through
Rec. 0 and the one-thirds of the dc power flow through each chopper controls the dc output power to be equal. It
the transformer windings. This results in reducing the has a prominent advantage of simplified transformer
kVA capacity of the transformer and the winding losses. winding structure of three windings per leg as depicted in
In Scheme C the three diode bridges are directly Fig. 10, comparing the other schemes have five windings
connected at the dc-side, but a zero sequence blocking per leg as depicted in Fig. 9. When the dc chopper in
transformer (ZSBT) is connected between the phase- Schemes D and E control the dc currents in trapezoidal
shifting transformer and the input terminals of Recs. 1 shapes with a frequency of six times the line frequency,
and 2. Two diodes of phases having the highest line-to- the line currents become pure sinusoidal waves due to
line voltage conduct the output dc current and it makes the lower harmonics neutralization by the phase-shifting
the input ac currents of each diode bridge double pulses transformer [13].
with 20˚-width [1].
In Schemes D and E the bridges are coupled at those
dc-sides through three boost choppers which give a dc III. ANALYSIS OF 18-PULSE RECTIFIER SYSTEMS
output voltage control capability. In scheme E the dc Under the assumption of idealized circuit conditions,
voltage ratio is given by 1: sec 20 : sec 20 , then, the ideal transformers and the constant dc current, I DC in
choppers control the dc current inversely proportional to the power circuits (Figs. 2, 3 and 4) and the transformer
the dc voltages, i. e. 1: cos 20 : cos 20 , in other words, circuit (Fig. 11), we can obtain current solutions of the

762
rectifier systems from Kirchhoff’s law of current and the 2 I DC
balance conditions of the ampere-turns of each I cU = a 2 + b2
3
transformer leg.
In the circuit depicted in Fig. 11, Kirchhoff’s current I DC
2a 2 + b2 + (1 − b )
2
IbU 1 =
law can be written as follows: 3
For phase U, I DC
iU = iU 0 + ibU (1) IU 1 =
3
ibU = ibU 1 + ibU 2 (2) In Scheme C,
ibU 1 = iU 1 + icU (3) 2 I DC
a 2 + b2 + ( a + b )
2
I cU =
ibU 2 = iU 2 − icV (4) 3
For phase V, I
I bU 1 = DC 2a 2 + b2 + (1 − b ) + ( a + b ) + (1 − a − b )
2 2 2
iV = iV 0 + ibV (5) 3
ibV = ibV 1 + ibV 2 (6) 2 I DC
IU 1 =
ibV 1 = iV 1 + icV (7) 3
ibV 2 = iV 2 − icW (8) In Scheme D,
and for phase W, 2Id
3b 2 + 2 ( a − b )
2
I cU =
iW = iW 0 + ibW (9) 3
ibW = ibW 1 + ibW 2 (10) I bU 1 =
Id
b 2 + (1 − b ) + (1 − 2b ) + 2 1 + (1 + a − b ) + ( a − b ) 
2 2 2 2

3  
ibW 1 = iW 1 + icW (11)
ibW 2 = iW 2 − icU (12). 2
IU 1 = Id ,
The ampere-turns equations of the three transformer 3
legs depicted in Fig. 9 are expressed by where I d is the output dc current of the each diode
a ( iU 1 − iU 2 ) + b ( ibV 2 − ibW 1 ) − cicW = 0 (13) bridge and I d = I DC / 3 when the chopper duty ratio is
a ( iV 1 − iV 2 ) + b ( ibW 2 − ibU 1 ) − cicU = 0 (14) zero.
In Schemes E,
a ( iW 1 − iW 2 ) + b ( ibU 2 − ibV 1 ) − cicV = 0 (15).
2 2
The currents, iU 0 , iU 1 , iU 2 , iV 0 , iV 1 , iV 2 and iW 0 , iW 1 , iW 2 I cU = akI d and IU 1 = kI d ,
3 3
are obtained from the conduction conditions of the
corresponding diodes. The current solutions related where k = cos 20 .
phase-U are expressed as follows:
IV. SIMULATION
icU = a ( iV 1 − iV 2 ) + b ( iW 2 − iU 1 ) (16)
A 55 kW dc power system was simulated for two
icV = a ( iW 1 − iW 2 ) + b ( iU 2 − iv1 ) (17) types of the supply power sources described in [1]; Type
icW = a ( iU 1 − iU 2 ) + b ( iV 2 − iW 1 ) (18) I is defined as a balanced three-phase sinusoidal voltage
Then, the transformer winding currents and the line source with a line-to-line voltage of 460 V and 60 Hz,
currents are obtained by substitution of (16) – (18) into and balanced 3% source impedance is added, and Type II
(1) – (12). is defined as a three-phase voltage source balanced 3%
The total transformer capacity is expressed by impedances with 1% voltage unbalance and a preexisting
5th voltage of 2.5%.
ST = 6aVL IU 1 + 6bVL IbU 1 + 3cVL I cU (19)
The simulated current waveforms in the various parts
The transformer total equivalent capacity is defined by of the five rectifier systems for Type II power source are
1 ST shown in Fig. 11.
ST , equiv. = (20),
2 VDC I DC The values of total harmonic distortion and the content
where VL is the rms value of the line-to-line voltage of of the fifth harmonic component of the line currents of
the Types I and II power sources are summarized in
the power source, and VDC and I DC are the average Table II.
values of the dc output voltage and current, respectively.
In Scheme A, the rms values of currents are given by V. COMPARISON OF FIVE 18-PULSE RECTIFIER SYSTEMS
2 A. Transformer Capacities
I cU = I DC ( a − b )2 + a 2 + b2 Table I summarizes the comparison of the five schemes.
3
I DC The voltage ratios presented in the most right row denote
IbU 1 = (1 + a − b )2 + 2a 2 + ( a − b )2 + b 2 + (1 − b )2 each winding voltage ratios with respect to the line-to-
3
line voltages of ac sources. Scheme B has a smaller
2 transformer capacity of 31.7 % and the higher efficiency
IU 1 = I DC
3
In Sceme B,

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 TABLE I
COMPARISON OF FIVE SCHEMES OF 18-PULSE RECTIFIER SYSTEMS
Schemes Input voltage Phase Equivalent Output dc Basic Phasor Winding Voltage
systems shift capacities of voltages circuits diagrams connections ratios
angles transformers
A Symmetrical nine- 40 ̊ 51.4% 1.600VL Circuit I Fig. 5 Fig. 9 a = 0.293
phase (Fig. 2) b = 0.156
c = 0.688
B Asymmetrical nine- 36.9 ̊ 31.7% 1.407VL Circuit I Fig. 6 Fig. 9 a = 0.137
phase (Fig. 2) b = 0.258
c = 0.484
C Symmetrical semi 18- 20 ̊ 34.5%+ZSBT 1.407 VL Circuit II Fig. 7 Fig. 9 a = 0.177
phase with ZSBT (Fig. 3) b = 0.040
c = 0.920
D Symmetrical semi 18- 20 ̊ 16.5% 1.350VL Circuit III Fig. 7 Fig. 9 a = 0.177
phase with boost (Fig. 4) b = 0.040
1 − d0
choppers
c = 0.920
E Asymmetrical semi 20 ̊ 16.8% 1.350VL Circuit III Fig. 8 Fig. 10 a = 0.210
18-phase with boost (Fig. 4) b=0
1 − d0
choppers
c = 1.0
ZSBT: zero-sequence blocking transformer, VL : line-to-line voltage, d 0 : duty ratio of a boost chopper.

(a) Scheme-A (b) Scheme-B (c) Scheme-C

(d) Scheme-D (e) Scheme-E

Fig. 12. Simulation waveforms of currents in various parts of the systems connected to Type II power supplies.

764
can be expected because two-thirds of the dc power is B) is the most suitable because of the simplicity of the
supplied directly to the load, not passing through the power circuit and the smaller transformer capacity of
transformer windings. Schemes D and E have a 31.4%.
capability of controlling the dc output and the minimum (2) For applications which are required controlled dc
transformer capacity of around 17% , though the systems outputs, the asymmetrical semi 18-phase scheme
become slightly complicated due to the additional diodes (Scheme E) is the most suitable because of the simplicity
and controllable switching devices. Scheme E has the of the transformer winding structure and the smaller
most simplified winding structure with the minimum transformer capacity of 16.8%. This scheme, also, can
number of transformer windings required. provide sinusoidal line currents when the choppers
control the dc currents in quasi-trapezoidal waves with a
B. Current Waveforms frequency of six times the line frequency.
The simulated current waveforms are shown in Fig. 12
when the rectifier systems supplied by Type II source.
Fig. 11 shows that Scheme A has equal pulse width REFERENCES
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From the view points of the transformer sizes and the
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(1) For applications which are not required controlled dc
outputs, the asymmetrical nine-phase scheme (Scheme

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