EE 442

POWER ELECTRONICS I
C O N T R O LL E D R E C T IF IE R S
(A C -D C C O N V E RT E R S )

Dr. Said A. Deraz

Assistant Professor
Electrical Engineering Department
Faculty of Engineering, King Abdulaziz University
[email protected]
[email protected]
Introduction
To control the output dc voltage of a rectifier, diodes are replaced
with thyristors. Thyristors or controlled silicon rectifier (CSR) are
commonly used in applications requiring variable dc supplies.

Thyristor [CSR]

• The thyristor (SCR) is a controllable switch which can be turned

on by a gate current. A few milliamps of gate current can turn on
a high current SCR, provided that the SCR anode to cathode
voltage is positive.
• The thyristor (SCR) is a three-terminal switch (Anode, Cathode,
and gate).

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 Structure and symbol of a thyristor Characteristics of a thyristor

SCR consists of 3 p-n junctions.

When a positive voltage is applied to the anode (with respect to a
cathode), the thyristor is in its forward-blocking state. A thyristor is
turned on by applying a short pulse on its gate (typically 5V, 100µs).

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 Thyristor switch

• Once a SCR is fired, the gate has no control on the device.

• A SCR turns off when the current falls below its holding current.
This could be due to the load current decrease or a large reverse
voltage across the SCR.

• In this lecture, a phase-control thyristor is turned on by applying

short pulse to its gate and turned off due to natural or line
commutation. And for high inductive load, it is turned off by
firing another thyristor of the rectifier during the negative half-
cycle of input voltage. [forced commutation] 4
• Since the rectifiers are used to convert ac to dc, these controlled
rectifiers are also called ac-dc converters. These converters are
used extensively in industrial applications especially in variable
speed drives.
1- semi converter
single-phase 2- full converter
3- dual converter

ac-dc converters

1- semi converter
three-phase 2- full converter
3- dual converter

Classification of ac-dc converters

• A semi converter is a one quadrant converter. It has one polarity

of output voltage and current (positive or negative). A full
converter is a two quadrant converter. While a dual converter is
a four quadrant converter. 5
Quadrants

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Single-phase half-wave controlled rectifier (resistive
load)

Note that: α = Firing angle (delay angle)

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he average value of output voltage
𝜋
1 𝑉𝑚
𝑉 𝑑𝑐= ∫ 𝑉 𝑚 sin 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡= (1+cos𝛼)
2𝜋 𝛼 2𝜋
Therefore, Changing the firing angle from 0 to π, the output voltage
varies from Vm/π to 0.
he rms value of output voltage

√ √
𝜋
1 𝑉𝑚 𝛼 sin2𝛼
𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠= ∫ 𝑉 𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡=
2 2
1− +
2𝜋 𝛼 2 𝜋 2𝜋
• In this rectifier, the output voltage and current have only one
polarity and thus the rectifier is called semi converter.
• This type of rectifier is not usually used in industrial applications
due to the high ripple content and the low ripple frequency.
• The frequency of output ripple voltage equals the source
frequency.
• The transformer carries a dc current which is not desirable. 8
E#1 If a single-phase half-wave controlled rectifier has a purely
resistive load R and the delay angle α=π/2, determine a) the
converter efficiency, b) ripple factor, and c) the PIV of the thyristor.

𝑉𝑚
a) At α=π/2 𝑉 𝑑𝑐 = ( 1+ cos 𝛼 ) =0.1592 𝑉 𝑚
2𝜋
𝑉 𝑑𝑐 0.1592 𝑉 𝑚
𝐼 𝑑𝑐 = =
𝑅 𝑅

𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠=
𝑉𝑚
2 √𝛼 sin 2𝛼
1− +
𝜋 2𝜋
=0.3536𝑉 𝑚

𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠 0. 3536 𝑉 𝑚
𝐼 𝑟𝑚𝑠 = =
𝑅 𝑅

𝑃 𝑑𝑐 𝑉 𝑑𝑐 𝐼 𝑑𝑐
η= = =20.27 %
𝑃 𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠 𝐼 𝑟𝑚𝑠

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 b) Ripple factor
𝑉 𝑎𝑐 √𝑉 −𝑉
2
𝑟𝑚𝑠
2
𝑑𝑐
RF= = =1.983 𝑜𝑟 198.3 %
𝑉 𝑑𝑐 𝑉 𝑑𝑐
c) PIV of the thyristor
𝑃𝐼𝑉 =𝑉 𝑚
E#2 For the previous example, draw a) the output voltage, b) the
load current, and c) the voltage a cross the thyristor.

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Single-phase semi converter (highly
inductive load)

Quadrant

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 This converter has a better power factor due to the freewheeling
operation and is used for applications up to 15KW, when one
quadrant operation is acceptable.
average value of output voltage

𝜋
1 𝑉𝑚
𝑉 𝑑𝑐= ∫ 𝑉 𝑚 sin 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡= (1+cos𝛼)
𝜋𝛼 𝜋

Therefore, Changing the firing angle from 0 to π, the output voltage

varies from 2Vm/π to 0. The rms value of output voltage

√ √
𝜋
1 2 2 𝑉𝑚 𝛼 sin2𝛼
𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠= ∫ 𝑉 𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡= 1− +
𝜋𝛼 √2 𝜋 2𝜋

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E#3 For the following is another configuration of a single-phase
semi converter, if the delay angle 30 degree, draw a) the output
voltage, b) the load current, and c) the voltage a cross the
thyristors. Showing how the freewheeling action takes place.

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Single-phase full converter (highly inductive load)

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he average value of output voltage
𝜋 +𝛼
2 2𝑉 𝑚
𝑉 𝑑𝑐=
2𝜋
∫ 𝑉 𝑚 sin 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡= 𝜋 cos𝛼
𝛼

Therefore, Changing the firing angle from 0 to π/2, the output

voltage varies from 2Vm/π to 0. The rms value of output voltage

√
𝜋 +𝛼
2 𝑉𝑚
𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠= ∫
2𝜋 𝛼
2 2
𝑉 𝑚 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜔𝑡 𝑑𝑡=
√2

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Single-phase dual converter (highly inductive load)

Single-phase dual converter consists of two single-phase full converter connected back to
back. Thus, both output voltage and load current can be reversed. Therefore, the dual
converter can be operated in the four quadrants.

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 2 𝑉𝑚
𝑉 𝑑𝑐 1= cos 𝛼 1
𝜋
2𝑉𝑚
𝑉 𝑑𝑐 2= cos 𝛼2
𝜋
𝑉 𝑑𝑐 1=− 𝑉 𝑑𝑐 2

cos 𝛼2=−cos 𝛼1=cos( 𝜋 −𝛼 1)

Therefore
𝛼 2= 𝜋 − 𝛼1

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Three Phase Controlled Rectifiers

 Three-phase rectifiers provide higher average output voltage

compared to the single-phase rectifier.

 The frequency of output voltage ripples in a three-phase rectifier

is higher compared to the single-phase rectifier. Thus, the three-
phase rectifier requires a smaller filter with a lower cost.

 Three-phase rectifiers are extensively used in high-power

industrial applications including variable-speed motor drives.

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Three Phase half-wave Controlled Rectifiers

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Three Phase semi-converter

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Three Phase Full Converter

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The three-phase full, Y-connected 208 V, 60 Hz controlled rectifier has a resistive load R=10
ohms. The average output voltage needs to be 50% of the maximum average voltage.
Calculate
a) the delay angle a
b) the average and rms output currents
c) the average and rms thyristor currents

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Three Phase dualConverter

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