A Brief Review of Solid

State DC Drives
& A Modern day Use
By
Muhammad Faizan Farooq
Talha Ikram
Salman Mazher
Farooq Ahmed
Introduction:

 In some countries nearly 65% of the total electric

energy produced is consumed by electric motors.

 DC motors play a significant role in modern industrial

drives.

 DC motors can provide a high starting torque.

ELECTRIC DRIVES - A DEFINITION

About 50% of electrical energy produced is used in

electric drives today. Electric drives may run at
constant speed or at variable speed
Block diagram of Electrical drive:

• Small
• Efficient
• Flexible
Components in electric drives

 Motors

• DC motors - permanent magnet – wound field

• AC motors – induction, synchronous , brushless DC

 Power sources
• DC – batteries, fuel cell, photovoltaic - unregulated
• AC – Single- three- phase utility, wind generator -
unregulated
• DC drives can be classified, in general, into three types:

 1. Single-phase drives
 2. Three-phase drives

 single-phase drives may be subdivided into:

 Single-phase half-wave-converter drives.

 Single-phase full-converter drives.
 Single-phase dual-converter drives.
 Single-Phase Half-Wave-Converter Drives:

The applications of this drive are limited to the 0.5 kW

power level.
Single-Phase Full-Wave-Converter Drives

 It is a two-quadrant drive, and is limited to

applications up to 15 kW.
• Three-phase drives may also be subdivided
into:
-Three-phase half-wave-converter drives.
– Three-phase full-converter drives.
 A three phase half wave converter drive
operates in first quardant and is limited to
applications upto 40kw.

 A three-phase full-wave-converter drive is a

two-quadrant drive without any field reversal,
and is limited to applications up to 1500 kW.
 Introduction: AC Motor Drives

• There are two types of ac drives:

– Induction motor drives

– Synchronous motor drives

• Ac drives are replacing dc drives and are used in many

industrial and domestic applications
• The speed and torque of induction motors can
be controlled by

– Stator voltage control

– Rotor voltage control
– Frequency control
Stator Voltage Control:
• The stator voltage can be varied by three-
phase
– ac voltage controllers,
– pulse-width modulation (PWM)
inverters.
They are used mainly in low-power
applications, such as fans, blowers, and
centrifugal pumps, where the starting
torque is low.
Rotor Voltage Control:

• The typical torque-speed characteristics for variations

in rotor resistance
 Frequency Control:

 The torque and speed of induction motors can be

controlled by changing the supply frequency.

 At low frequency, the reactances decrease and the motor

current may be too high. This type of frequency control
is not normally used.
Energy/Cost Savings
 System efficiency can be increased from 15% to 27% by introducing
variable-speed drive operation in place of constant-speed operation.

 For a large pump variable-speed drive, payback period ~ 3-5 years whereas
operating life is ~ 20 years
DC DRIVES Vs AC DRIVES

Advantages:
 Ac motors are less expensive as compared to dc motors.
 Ac motors require low maintenance as compared to dc
motors.
Disadvantages:
 Power converters for ac drives are complex.
 Power converters for ac drives generates harmonics in
the supply system & load circuit
Justification For AC Vs. DC Drive Systems
The initial purchase price of AC drive equipment is greater
than DC drives, and the premium cost must be justified.
The drive system cost comparison must be based on the
installed cost of the equipment, from the isolation
transformers to the utilization equipment. The cost of
operating the equipment over its lifetime and
maintenance expenses must also be considered.
SERVICES AC DRIVES SAVINGS WHEN
COMPARED TO DC DRIVES
DRIVE EQUIPMENT -15 %
MOTOR PURCHASE +5 %
CABLING COST +4 %
MOTOR VENTILATION +8 %
ISOLATION TRANSFORMERS +3 %
ELECTRICAL ROOM +2 %
POWER FACTOR +8 %
MAITENANCE +2 %
OPERATION LESS DOWNTIME (LOST REVENUE)
General Torque Equation
dv d
F M TJ
dt dt
d d
Te  TL  J or Te  TL  J
dt dt
Te : motor torque (Nm) TL : Load torque (Nm)

Te  TL  0 Acceleration

Te  TL  0 Deceleration

Te  TL  0 Constant speed
4-Quadrant Operation

SPEED
Te  Te 

FB II I FM
TORQUE
III IV RB
Te  Te 
RM
4-Quadrant LIFT System

Speed

You are at 10th

floor, calling You are at 10th floor, calling
empty cage from gnd floor fully-loaded cage from gnd floor
FB FM
Torque
RM RB
You are at gnd floor, calling You are at gnd floor, calling
empty cage from 10th floor Fully-loaded cage from 10th floor
BRAKING
In braking, the motor works as a generator developing
a negative torque which opposes the motion. It is of
three types:
 Regenerative braking;
 Dynamic or rheostatic braking; and
 Plugging or reverse voltage braking.
Regenerative braking and its applications
 Motor acts as a generator.
 Ea > Va . Ia negative flows back to the source

 Regenerative braking employed in Parallel hybrid

electric vehicles
 A PHEV includes an electric motor powertrain
system and a conventional powertrain system that
provide power to the drive wheels simultaneously.
 Application of braking techniques
• The RBS utilizes the electric motor, providing. negative torque to the driven
wheels and converting kinetic energy to electrical energy for recharging the
battery or power supply

• The dissipation of kinetic energy during braking, by an electric or hybrid vehicle

can be recovered advantageously by controlling power electronics such that the
electric traction motor behaves as a generator.

• The energy recovered during this process can be\ returned to the energy storage
device for future use thereby improving reliability, efficiency and performance
at minimum additional cost
Dynamic braking and its applications
 Similar to regenerative braking but Va is replaced
by Rb
 Kinetic energy of motor is dissipated in Rb
 This braking alternative takes advantage of
variable frequency drives to control hoist and
other crane motions
 When overhead cranes are used in industrial
facilities, crane resistor banks are frequently used
for control of hoisting and lowering speeds, as well
as positioning the crane itself.
Dynamic braking prevents uncontrolled descent of hoists, thus enhancing
safety of crane and hoist operation. Naturally, as you drive a hoist in the
down direction, the load tries to pull the hoist faster than what the AC
motor is telling it to do.

Friction wears down mechanical brake pads. But dynamic braking

minimizes the use of mechanical brakes, thus reducing wear and tear and
extending the life of brake components.

This method also reduce power consumption since it is performing

generator action as opposing to motor action

It is desirable in certain important drives to provide automatic stopping

in the event of power failure. This may be accomplished without
magnetic brakes by using dynamic braking to decelerate the drive and
inherent friction in the machine to bring it to rest for example Two Dc
series/parallel motor (forward and reverse direction)
Plugging and its applications
 Supply voltage Va is reversed
 Assists Ea in forcing Ia in reverse direction
 Rb connected in series to limit current
 For braking, a series motor either the armature
terminals or field terminals are reversed. But both
armature and field terminals are not reversed
together.
 At the zero speed, the braking torque is not zero.
The motor must be disconnected from the supply at
or near zero speed when the motor is used for
stopping a load
PLUGGING AND ITS APPLICATIONS
• The method of braking, known as Plugging or Reverse Current Braking is a highly
insufficient method because, in addition to the power supplied by the load,
power supplied by the source is also wasted in resistance.

• The Plugging is commonly used for the following purposes listed below.
In controlling elevators
Rolling Mills
Printing Presses
Machine tools, etc
 APPLICATION OF
CHOPPER CONTROLLED
DC DRIVES IN ELECTRIC
CAR
-FOUR-QUADRANT CONTROL
THE IDEA…
 DC – DC Converter Fed Drives
- Four-quadrant Control
 Speed and torque can be reversed

D1 D3
T1 T3
+ Va -

T4 T2
D4 D2
THE IDEA…

 Four modes of Operation:

1. Forward Motoring (Q1)
2. Forward Braking (Q2)
3. Reverse Motoring (Q3)
4. Reverse Braking (Q4)

Whoa! The modes are perfect for a Car

INTRODUCTION

 The advent of HV / EHV vehicles.

 Electric motor propulsion system in
place of internal combustion
engine.
 Use of capacitors instead of
batteries (pros & cons)…
SUPERCAPACITOR
1. Quick Charging.
2. Low Voltage.
 High Power Low Voltage DC motors
needed (<50V)
Four Quadrant DC Drive Chopper

• General equations describing

the Voltage and current of the
chopper circuit are.
Where
Bemf = Back emf of the motor
Va = Armature voltage
Vf = Field voltage
Kb= Back emf constant
Kt = Torque motor constant
If = Field current
Ra = Armature resistance
Rf = Field resistance
Kv = Duty cycle of IGBT
Td = Motor torque
 Control strategy during Driving mode

• Fsand 1K1 have to be

switched on during driving
mode
• After firing IGBT the load
current flows through the
choper.
•Back emf , armature
voltage and Torque are
positive (Quadrent-1
operation)
Control strategy during parallel mode

 The common problem with series DC motor is speed

reduces when loaded.

 To solve this problem series motor can be operated

in parallel mode for better torque.

 During parallel mode armature and field current

controlled separately

 IGBT-1 is used to control the field current

 IGBT-2 is used to control the armature current

 The field current is coming from the auxiliary

battery in this case,
Control strategy during generator mode

 EV requires power to charge the batteries.

The access kinetic energy that is available
when the vehicle is going downhill can be
used to generate electrical power for
charging batteries.
 The generated power can be collected by the
Armature winding
 The field winding has to be charged
separately
 IGBT-1 is fired to allow the current flow into
the field
 Ia is negative in this case and batteries.
 The generated voltage decreases in
proportion with vehicle speed .
Control strategy during regenerative
breaking

 In regenerative breaking the Fs and 1K1

contractor are open and 2K2 contractor are
closed.
 While still rotating in the same direction
motor act as generator.
 The pre excitation contractor Kvor is
activated to flow current from battery to
IGBT this build up of quick excitation of the
motor at even low speed.
Control strategy during regenerative
breaking

 At the end of pre

excitation process the
build up process starts.
 The generated armature
current enter into the
field winding causes
increase in the generated
voltage
 Control strategy during regenerative
breaking
 When IGBT -3 is triggered it create short
circuit path to the armature current to flow

 Thus the current flows from the generated

voltage flows back to the armature coil
which is short circuited.

 This high current in the armature coil

creates a counter torque against the motion
of the motor and slow down.

 The torque is negative while the armature

current flows in the reverse direction.