Power Electronics

& Drives
Chapter 3
Controlled Rectifiers

College of Engineering and Technology

Adigrat University
Electrical & Computer Engineering Department
ECEg4222/4312: Power Electronics
G/Tsadik Teklay (M.Sc. Electrical Power Engineering)
Contents
 Controlled Rectifiers
• Single-Phase Half-Wave Rectifiers

• Single-Phase Full-Wave Rectifiers

• Three-Phase Rectifiers (Half-Wave and Full-Wave)

 Effect of source inductance on rectifier operation

Single-Phase Controlled Half-Wave Rectifiers with R Loads
 The output voltage of an uncontrolled rectifier is fixed if the
source and load parameters are established. Many
applications, such as DC motor drives, need variable DC
voltages.
 One way to control the output voltages of rectifiers is to
replace diodes with SCRs. The rectifiers built with SCRs are
called controlled rectifiers.
 Two conditions must be met before an SCR can conduct:
(1) the SCR must be forward biased and (2) a
current must b e applied to the gate of the SCR.
 Unlike the diode, the SCR will not begin to conduct as soon
as the source becomes positive. Conduction is delayed until
a gate current is applied, which is the basis for using the
SCR as a means of control. Once the SCR is conducting, the
gate current can b e removed and the SCR remains on until
the current goes to zero.
Positive half-cycle : The SCR is forward
biased. It does not conduct until it is fired.
Before the SCR conducts, the output voltage
is zero and the voltage across the SCR is the
same as the source. Suppose it is fired at ωt =
α .Then it begins to conduct at ωt = α and
the voltage across the SCR drops to zero. The
output voltage is the same as the source
voltage.
Negative half-cycle : The SCR is reverse
biased and it is turned off. The voltage across
the SCR is the same as the source and the
output voltage becomesThe zero.
voltages across the load and SCR are
 Delay angle or firing angle is the angle after the
input voltage starts to go positive until the SCR is fired.
 The average (dc) output voltage is calculated from

𝑉𝑚 𝑉𝑚
 Note that 𝛼 = 0gives 𝑉𝑜 = and 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 = ,
which are
𝜋 2
the same as those for an uncontrolled half-wave
rectifier.
 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠
 And the rms output current 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 =
𝑅
 The power factor is
 Example: Design a circuit to produce an average voltage of 40 V
across a 100-Ω load resistor from a 120-V rms 60-Hz ac source.
Determine the power absorbed by the resistance and the power
factor.
Single-Phase Controlled Half-Wave Rectifiers with RL Loads
 The analysis of this circuit is similar to that of the uncontrolled half-
wave rectifier with the RL load.
 Now assume that the delay angle is 𝛼 . Then the SCR will be turned on
at 𝜔𝑡 = 𝛼 and conduct until the current in the circuit reaches zero.

Figure: Single-Phase
Controlled Half-Wave
Rectifiers with RL Loads
Cont’d
 The current can be found from

 The current is the sum of the forced and natural responses, and the formula used in
uncontrolled half wave rectifier applies:

 The constant A is determined from the initial condition i(𝛼) =0:

 The extinction angleis defined as the angle at which the current returns to zero, as in the case
of the uncontrolled rectifier. When 𝜔𝑡 = 𝛽,

which must be solved numerically for 𝛽. The angle α − 𝛽 is called the conduction angle 𝛾.
 The average (dc) output voltage is
 The average current is computed from

2
 Power absorbed by the load is 𝐼𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑅, where the rms current is
computed from
Freewheeling Diodes
 Recall that output voltages from both uncontrolled and controlled rectifiers with RL loads
contain negative parts, which result in smaller average output voltages.
 The average output voltages can be increased by making 𝛽 = 𝜋, which is possible by adding
freewheeling diodes to the rectifiers as shown in the figure.

Figure: Single-Phase Controlled Half-Wave

Rectifiers with RL Loads and Freewheeling
Diode
Single-phase half-wave controlled rectifier with freewheeling
diode
u2
Inductive load (L is large enough)
b)
VT id
T
O t1 t
ud
iVDR
u VT L
c)
a) u 1 u2 ud O t
id
R Id
VDR d)
O t
iVT
  Id
I dVT  Id (3-5) e)
2 O -
+ t
  iVD
I dVD  Id (3-6) R
2
R
f)
1    O t
I VT 
2  I d2 d (t ) 
2
I d (3-7) uVT

g)
1 2    t
 Id2 d (t )  O
I VDR  Id (3-8)
2 2
 Maximum forward voltage, maximum reverse voltage
 Disadvantages:
• Only single pulse in one line cycle
• DC component in the transformer current
 Controlled full-wave rectifiers are shown in Fig. 4-
10. For the bridge recti-fier, SCRs S 1 and S 2 will
become forward-biased when the source becomes
posi-tive but will not conduct until gate signals are
applied. Similarly, S 3 and S4 will
 become forward-biased when the source becomes
negative but will not conduct
 until they receive gate signals. For the center-
tapped transformer rectifier, S1 is forward-biased
when vs is positive, and S 2 is forward-biased
when vs is negative, but each will not conduct
until it receives a gate signal.
 The delay angle is the angle interval between the
forward biasing of theSCR and the gate signal
application. If the delay angle is zero, the rectifiers
behave exactly as uncontrolled rectifiers with
diodes. The discussion that follows generally
applies to both bridge and center-tapped rectifiers. Output for a resistive load.
Cont’d
 Resistive Load

The rms current in the source is the same as the rms current
in the load.
Single-Phase Controlled Full-Wave Rectifiers with R Loads
ud(id)
Resistive load ud
id
b)
0    t

VT 1

VT 3
id
i2
T a uVT
1,4

u1 u2 ud R c)
0 t
b i2

VT2

VT4
d)
0 t
a)

 For thyristor: maximum forward voltage, maximum reverse voltage

 Advantages:
• 2 pulses in one line cycle
• No DC component in the transformer current
Cont’d
RL Load, Discontinuous Current
 Load current for a controlled full-wave rectifier with an RL
load (Fig. a) can be either continuous or discontinuous, and a
separate analysis is required for each. Starting the analysis at
𝜔𝑡 = 0 with zero load current, SCRs S1 and S2 in the bridge
rectifier will be forward-biased and S3 and S4 will be reverse-
biased as the source voltage becomes positive.
 Gate signals are applied to S 1 and S 2 at 𝜔𝑡 = 𝛼, turning S1 (a) Controlled rectifier with RL load
and S2 on. With S 1 and S 2 on, the load voltage is equal to
the source voltage. For this condition, the circuit is identical
to that of the controlled half-wave rectifier, having a current
function

(b) Discontinuous current

 The above current function becomes zero at 𝜔𝑡 = 𝛽. If 𝛽 < 𝜋 + 𝛼, the current remains at zero
until 𝜔𝑡 = 𝜋 + 𝛼 when gate signals are applied to S3 and S4 which are then forward-biased
and begin to conduct. This mode of operation is called discontinuous current, which is
illustrated in Fig. b.

 Analysis of the controlled full-wave rectifier operating in the discontinuous-current mode is

identical to that of the controlled half-wave rectifier except that the period for the output
current is 𝜋rather than 2𝜋rad.
RL Load, Continuous Current
 If the load current is still positive at𝜔𝑡 = 𝜋 + 𝛼when gate
signals are applied to S3 and S4 in the above analysis, S3
and S4 are turned on and S1 and S2 are forced off.
 Since the initial condition for current in the second half-
cycle is not zero, the current function does not repeat.
Equation (4-26) is not valid in the steady state for
continuous current. For an RL load with continuous current,
the steady-state current and voltage waveforms are
generally as shown in Fig. 4-11c.
 The boundary between continuous and discontinuous
current occurs when 𝛽 𝑖𝑠 𝜋 + 𝛼. The current at ω𝑡 = 𝜋 +
𝛼 must be greater than zero for continuous-current
operation.
Cont’d
 Solving for 𝛼,

 A method for determining the output voltage and current for the continuous-current case is to
use the Fourier series. The Fourier series for the voltage wave-form for continuous-current case
is expressed in general form as
Cont’d
 The dc (average) value is

 The amplitudes of the ac terms are calculated from

Cont’d
 Figure shows the relationship between normalized harmonic content
of the output voltage and delay angle.

Output harmonic voltages as

a function of delay angle for
a single-phase controlled
rectifier.
Cont’d
 The Fourier series for current is determined by superposition as was done for the
uncontrolled rectifier earlier in this chapter.
 The current amplitude at each frequency is determined .The rms current is
determined by combining the rms currents at each frequency.

 As the harmonic number increases, the impedance for the inductance increases.
Therefore, it may be necessary to solve for only a few terms of the series to be
able to calculate the rms current. If the inductor is large, the ac terms will become
small, and the current is essentially dc.
Cont’d

Inductive load u2

(L is large enough) O t
id ud

VT1

VT3
O t
i2 id Id
T a
L iVT O Id
t
1,4
u1 u2 ud t
iVT O Id
2,3
O t
Id
b R i2
O Id t

VT2

VT4
uVT
1,4

O t
a) b)

1   2 2
 
Ud  2U 2 sin td(t )  U 2 cos  0.9U 2 cos (3-15)

Three-phase controlled rectifier
1. Three- phase half – wave controlled rectifier ( p = 3)
 The Three- phase half – wave controlled rectifier is shown
in Fig. 1.
 As for the half – wave 3-phase uncontrolled diode rectifier,
the load is connected between the converter positive Fig. 1
terminal (cathodes of all thyristors) and the supply neutral.
 The diode with the highest voltage w.r.t. the neutral
conducts.
 As the voltage of another diode becomes the highest, the
load current is transferred to that device, and the previously
conducting device is reverse-biased and naturally
commutated.
 The waveforms for the supply voltage, output voltage, and load
current are shown in Fig. 2 .

Fig. 2
Cont’d
Cont’d
 The operation of the 3 – phase half –
wave rectifier with different values of
𝛼is illustrated in Fig. 3.
 It can be seen that this converter can
operate either as a rectifieror as an
inverter as

Fig. 3
 The load in fig. 1 consists of a resistance and
a very large inductance. The inductance is so
large that the output current IL can be
assumed to be continuous and ripple-free.
For 𝛼 = 60
a) Draw the waveforms of VL and IL.
b) Determine the average value of the output
voltage, if 𝑉𝑎𝑛 = 120 𝑉
Cont’d
 H.W
2. Three- phase full – wave fully - controlled rectifier ( p = 6)
 The circuit configuration of the three-
phase full – wave controlled rectifier is
shown in Fig. 4.
 In this circuit, the thyristor which has the
most positive voltage at its anode
conducts when triggered, and the thyristor
with the most negative voltage at its Fig. 4
cathode returns the load current, if
triggered. The waveforms are shown in Fig. 5.
• Commutation of the load current from one
thyristor to the next occurs at the firing instant,
when the incoming thyristor reverse biases
the previously conducting thyristor.
• The output dc voltage waveform is
determined by the difference of potentials of
the positive and negative rails.
Fig. 5
Cont’d
 Assuming continuous conduction, the average dc output voltage
can be evaluated from the general p-phase formula:
Cont’d
 This converter operates in quadrants 1 and 4,
developing both positive and negative polarity dc
output voltage.

 For firing angles, 0° ≤ 𝛼 ≤ 90° the converter operates

in quadrant 1 (giving positive output power, i.e.,
rectifier operation) and for 90° ≤ 𝛼 ≤ 180° , the
operation is in quadrant 4 (giving negative output
power, i.e., inverter operation). Fig. 6:Operating quadrants
of the 3-phase Fully-C
controlled converter
 Operation in quadrant 4 is of course possible
only when the load includes an active dc
source, able to source power into the ac supply
circuit. See Fig. 6.
Three- phase full – wave , Half -controlled rectifier
 This converter is shown in Fig.7.
 It consists of three thyristors and
three diodes with freewheeling diode
across the load.
 It gives positive voltage and positive
current only (not regenerative
converter) i.e, it operates in the first
quadrant only.
Fig. 7
 The output voltage is given by:
Cont’d
Cont’d
Cont’d
Cont’d