Q. What do rectification?

you

mean

by

half

wave

rectification

and

full

wave

When a single rectifier unit is placed in series with the load across an ac supply, it converts alternating voltage into uni-directional pulsating voltage, using one half cycles of the applied voltage, the other half cycles being suppressed because it conducts only in one direction. Unless there is an inductance or battery in the circuit, the current will be zero, therefore, for half the time. This is called half-wave rectification. The no-load output DC voltage of an ideal half wave rectifier is:

Working of a Half wave rectifier The ac voltage across the secondary winding changes polarities after every half cycle. During the positive half-cycles of the input ac voltage i.e. when upper end of the secondary winding is positive w.r.t. its lower end, the diode is forward biased and therefore conducts current. The input voltage during the positive half-cycles is directly applied to the load resistance RL, making its upper end positive w.r.t. its lower end. During the negative half cycles of the input ac voltage i.e. when the lower end of the secondary winding is positive w.r.t. its upper end, the diode is reverse biased and so does not conduct. Full Wave Rectifier A Full Wave Rectifier is a circuit, which converts an ac voltage into a pulsating dc voltage using both half cycles of the applied ac voltage. Description of Full Wave Bridge Rectifier This type of single-phase rectifier uses four individual rectifying diodes connected in a closed loop "bridge" configuration to produce the desired output. The main advantage of this bridge circuit is that it does not require a special centre tapped

transformer, thereby reducing its size and cost. The single secondary winding is connected to one side of the diode bridge network and the load to the other side as shown below. The Diode Bridge Rectifier

The four diodes labeled D1 to D4 are arranged in "series pairs" with only two diodes conducting current during each half cycle. During the positive half cycle of the supply, diodes D1 and D2 conduct in series while diodes D3 and D4 are reverse biased and the current flows through the load as shown below. The Positive Half-cycle

During the negative half cycle of the supply, diodes D3 and D4 conduct in series, but diodes D1 and D2 switch "OFF" as they are now reverse biased. The current flowing through the load is the same direction as before. The Negative Half-cycle

As the current flowing through the load is unidirectional, so the voltage developed across the load is also unidirectional the same as for the previous two diode fullwave rectifier, therefore the average DC voltage across the load is 0.637Vmax.

However in reality, during each half cycle the current flows through two diodes instead of just one so the amplitude of the output voltage is two voltage drops ( 2 x 0.7 = 1.4V ) less than the input V MAX amplitude. The ripple frequency is now twice the supply frequency (e.g. 100Hz for a 50Hz supply). Q. What do you mean by peak inverse voltage of a rectifying diode? Peak inverse voltage is the maximum voltage that a diode can withstand in the reverse direction without breaking down or avalanching. If this voltage is exceeded the diode may be destroyed. Diodes must have a peak inverse voltage rating that is higher than the maximum voltage that will be applied to them in a given application. Q. What do you mean by ripple voltage and ripple factor? Ripple voltages are the small undesired residual periodic variations of the DC (Direct current) at the output stage of the power supplies. These ripples are due to insufficient suppression of the alternating waveforms within the power supplies.

Large Ripple means less effective filtering Smaller Ripple means more effective filtering.

Ripple factor () may be defined as the ratio of the root mean square (rms) value of the ripple voltage to the absolute value of the dc component of the output voltage, usually expressed as a percentage. =rms value of AC component/value of DC component For a full-wave rectifier:

For a half-wave rectification:

where

is the peak-to-peak ripple voltage is the current in the circuit is the frequency of the ac power is the capacitance

Q. Describe choke input filter with diagram.

A filter is used in power supplies to eliminate the AC fluctuation present in the Rectification process of a Power Supply. This filter may be a choke input filter or capacitor input filter.

The LC choke-input filter is used primarily in power supplies where voltage regulation is important and where the output current is relatively high and subject to varying load conditions. This filter consists of an input inductor (L1), or filter choke, and an output filter capacitor (C1). Inductor L1 is placed at the input to the filter and is in series with the output of the rectifier circuit. Since the action of an inductor is to oppose any change in current flow, the inductor tends to keep a constant current flowing to the load throughout the complete cycle of the applied voltage. The reactance of the inductor (XL) reduces the amplitude of ripple voltage without reducing the dc output voltage by an appreciable amount. The shunt capacitor (C1) charges and discharges at the ripple frequency rate, but the amplitude of the ripple voltage (Er) is relatively small because the inductor (L1) tends to keep a constant current flowing from the rectifier circuit to the load. In addition, the reactance of the shunt capacitor (X C) presents a low impedance to the ripple component existing at the output of the filter, and thus shunts the ripple component around the load. The capacitor attempts to hold the output voltage relatively constant at the average value of the voltage. Q. Describe Capacitor input filter.

A typical capacitor input filter consists of a reservoir capacitor C1, connected across the rectifier output, an inductor L, in series and another filter or smoothing capacitor, C2, connected across the load, RL. A filter of this sort is designed for use at a particular frequency, generally fixed by the AC line frequency and rectifier configuration. The capacitor C1 offers low reactance to the AC component of the rectifier output while it offers infinite resistance to the DC component. As a result the capacitor shunts an appreciable amount of the AC component while the DC component continues its journey to the inductor L

1. The inductor L offers high reactance to the AC component but it offers almost zero resistance to the DC component. As a result the DC component flows through the inductor while the AC component is blocked. 2. The capacitor C2 bypasses the AC component which the inductor had failed to block. As a result only the DC component appears across the load RL. Advantages: More output voltage & Ripple less output Disadvantages: Large in size and weight & High cost

Q. Does low ripple voltage indicate good or bad filtering? Q. Is a full-wave rectifier output easier to filter than that of a half-wave rectifier? Q. What is AC/DC converter and battery eliminator? AN AC/DC converter is something that turns outlet-type electricity into battery type electricity. A battery eliminator is a device powered by an electrical source other than a battery, which then converts the source to a suitable DC voltage that may be used by a second device designed to be powered by batteries. A battery eliminator eliminates the need to replace batteries but may remove the advantage of portability. The battery eliminator operates through the use of power conversion, and can step voltages up or down in addition to converting alternating current to direct current. The device should include specifications that provide information about its capacity and the type of power it can handle. It also shows the types of conversions it does; a nine volt battery eliminator, for example, may just replace nine volt batteries, while others may have adjustable settings for different voltages.