POWER SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES

THYRISTORS
A Thyristors is one of the most important types of
power semiconductor devices.They are used
extensively in power electronics circuits. The word
thyristor is originated from Greek word. The word thy
means switch. The total word thyristor indicates that the
switch belongs to a transistor family. The
Development of thyristor has revolutionized the use of
semiconductors for power control. The thyristor was first
invented by Bell Laboratory in U.S.A. in the year 1948
and it (100V,10A) was first introduced in the market by
General Electric Company in the year 1957. However,
commercially it started becoming available after 1960.
Since this time there has been a rapid growth in the
control equipment making use of thyristors.
Initially however for a period of 5-6 years the failure
rate of the equipments hampered the growth of
thyristorised equipment in industry. This however did
not cause any break in the building up of know-how and
technical literature has been piling up since, at a rate of
about 200 reported articles per year on various aspects
of this technology.It will not be wrong to say that the
present state of thyristor technology has been a result
of about ten years efforts in all directions including
development in semiconductor and printed circuits
technology. Today single thyristor is Capable of
handling maximum of 25MW [5000V, 5000A].

TERMINAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THYRISTORS
The thyristor has four layers PNPN semiconductor
switching device. It has three terminals: Anode,
Cathode and gate
When the anode voltage is made positive with respect
to the cathode. The junction J1 and J3 are forward
biased while junction J2is reverse biased. A very
small leakage current will flow through the device. The
thyristor is then said to be in the forward blocking
state or off state condition. If the voltage at anode is
continuously increased, the breakdown of reverse
bias junction J2 occurs due to high voltage gradient
and the device is switched on. The voltage drop would
be due to ohmic drop in the four layers and it is small,
typically 1v. In the on-state, the anode current is
limited by an external impedance or a resistance,
,As shown in fig.1(a). The anode current must be more
than Latching Currentfor on-state condition.If the anode
current does not fall below the Holding Currentthe
thyristor remains on.The latching current is usually double
the holding current but both are low, even much less
than 1 of the full load rated value. Latching Currentis
the minimum anode current required to maintain the
thyristor in the on-state immediately after a thyristor has
been turned on and gate signal has been removed






Figure-1 Thyristor Symbol and Three P-N Junctions.

Two Transistor Model of Thyristor.
The regenrative or latching action due to positive
feedback can be demonstrated by using a two
transistor model of thyristor. A thyristor can be
considered as two complementry transistors, one
PNP transistor Q1 and other NPN-transistor Q2 as
shown in fig. If a positive potential is applied to the
gate electrode G when the anode A is positive with
respect to cathode K, then transistor Q2 is turned on
and starts to conduct. Since the collector current of
Q2 is the base current of Q1, Q1 also starts to
conduct. The collector current of Q1 is also the base
current of Q2 Hence as long as the anode is
positive, each transistor maintains the other in
conducting state by regenrative action.The
regenrative action of the thyristor operation can be
explained mathematically
Figure-2 Two Transistor Model of
Thyristor
When Q1 and Q2 have a very small forward bias the
value o<< 1 and o1 + o2 is small and hence IA is small.
The sum of o1 + o2 can be made to approach momentarily
by injecting a short duration positive current at the gate and
thyristor will be on due to execessive anode current IA
, which is clear from the above mathematical expression.
The PN junction of the thyristor is capacitive because of the
deplection layer during blocking. Whenever there is rapid
rate of change the forward anode to cathode voltage (dv /dt),
the charging current i = c dv / dt may, attain to sufficient,
magnitude with the leakage current that there may be
possibility of turning on of the thyristor. The dv / dt turn on of
the thyristor is avoided due to the following reasons.
Turning on by providing signal from gate takes negligible
power to turn on the thyristor. The spreading of charged
carriers over the entire area of thyristors take some time and
as a result , localised over heating with in the crystal may
reduce the life of the thyristor, of course,
there is no possibility of destruction of thyristor by the
principle of voltage gradient firing of thyristor. It is known
that in case of a transistor,
Ic = oI
E
+I
L
eakage Ic = oI
E
+I
CBO
where I
CBO
is
the leakage current of colector- base current and
o ~ Ic / I
E
, For Q
1
I
E
= I
A

and collector current is Ic
1
Ic
1
= o
1
I
A
+I
CBO1
, Similarly for transistor Q
2

Ic
2
= o
2
I
K
+I
CBO2

IA = I
C1
+I
C2
o
1
I
A
+I
CBO1
+ o
2
I
K
+I
CBO2
where I
K
= I
A
+I
G

I
A
= o
1
I
A
+I
CBO1
+ o
2
(I
A
+I
G
) +I
CBO2
o
1
I
A
+I
CBO1
+ o
2

I
A
+o
2
I
G
+I
CBO2

o
1
I
A
+o
2
I
A
+ I
CBO1
+o
2
I
G
+I
CBO2
I
A
(o
1
+o
2
) + I
CBO1

+o
2
I
G
+I
CBO2

I
A
-I
A
(o
1
+o
2
) = I
CBO1
+o
2
I
G
+I
CBO2
I
A
[1 - (o
1
+o
2
) ] =
I
CBO1
+o
2
I
G
+I
CBO2

I
A
= I
CBO1
+o
2
I
G
+I
CBO2
/ 1 - (o
1
+o
2
)
THYISTOR TURN-ON.
A thyristor is turned on by increasing the anode
current. This can be accomplished in one of the
following ways.
1. Temperature Triggering.
If the temperature of a thyristor is high, there will be an
increase in the number of electron hole pairs, which
would increase the leakage current. This increase in
currents would causeo1 and o2 to increase. Due to
regenrative action,(o1 +o2 ) may tend to be unity and
the thyristor may be turned on. This type of turn-on
may cause thermal runaway and is normally avoided.
2. Light Triggering.
When light is thrown on the gate-cathode junction
through a light window, the electron-hole pairs will
increase ( free charge carriers electrons and holes are
generated ). If the intensity of this light exceeds a
certain value, the thyristor is turned on.Such a thyristor
is known as light activated SCR (LASCR).
3. Forward Voltage Triggering.
When the forward anode to cathode is greater than the
forward breakdown voltage VBO.
Sufficient leakage current will flow to initiate
regenrative turn-on. This type of turn-on may be
destructive and should be avoided.
4. dv / dt Triggering.
With forward voltage across the anode and cathode of
a thyristor, the two junctions are forward biased but the
inner junction J2 is reverse biased.This junction has
the characteristics of a capacitive due to charges
existing across the junction.If the entire anode to
cathode forward voltage Va appears across junction J2
and the charge is denoted by q than a charging
current I given by equation
- Gate Triggering. The gate triggering is the most common
method of turning on the SCRs, because this method lends itself
accurately for turning on the SCRs at the desired instant of time
I = (dq / d t), d (Cj , Va )/ d t Cj dVa / d t + Va
dCj / d t
As Cj, the capacitive of junction J2 is almost constant,
the current is given by
i = Cj dVa / d t
If the rate of rise of forward voltage dVa / d t is high,
the charging current plays the role of gate current and
turns on the thyristor even when gate signal is zero.
Such phenomena of turning on a thyristor, called dVa
/ d t turn-on, must be avoided as it leads to false
operation of the thyristor circuit. For controllable
operation of the thyristor, the rate of rise of forward
anode to cathode voltage dVa / d t must be kept
below the specified rated limit. Typically dV / d t are
20-500v / sec. False turn-on of a thyristor can be
prevented by using a snubber circuit in parallel with the
device.
GATE CURRENT.
If a thyristor is forward biased, the injection of gate
current by applying positive gate voltage between the
gate and cathode terminals would turn on the thyristor.
As the gate current is increased, the forward blocking
voltage is decreased.
The following points should be considered in designing
the gate control circuit:
1. The gate signal should be removed after the
thyristor turned on. A continuous gating signal would
increase the power loss in the gate junction.
2. While thyristor is reverse biased. There should be no
gate signal; otherwise, the thyristor may fail due to an
increased leakage current.
3. The width of gate pulse tG must be longer than the
time required for the anode current to rise to the
holding current value IH. In practice, the pulse width tG
is normally made more than the turn on time ton of the
thyristor
FIRING CIRCUITS FOR THYRISTORS

An SCR can be switched from off-state to on-state in
several ways; these are forward voltage triggering,
dv / dt triggering, temperature triggering, light
triggering and gate triggering. The gate triggering is
the most common common method of turning on the
SCRs, because this method lends itself accurately for
turning on the SCRs at the desired instant of time.

MAIN FEATURES OF FIRING CIRCUITS

The most common method for controlling the onset
of conduction in an SCR is by means of gate voltage
control. The gate control circuit is also called firing, or
triggering circuit. These gating circuits are usually low
power electronics circuits. A firing circuit should fulfil
the following two functions.
If power circuit has more than one SCR, the firing
circuit should produce gating pulses for each SCR at
the desired instant for proper operation of the power
circuit. These pulses must be periodic in nature and
the sequence of firing must correspond with the type of
thyristorised power controller. For example, in a single
phase converter using two SCRs, the triggering circuit
must produce one firing pulse in each half cycle ; in a
3-phase full converter using six SCRs, gating circuit
must produce one trigger pulse after every 60 degree
interval
The control signal generated by a firing circuit may not
be able to turn on an SCR. It is therefore common to
feed the voltage pulses to a driver circuit and then to
gate-cathode circuit. A driver circuit consists of a pulse
amplifier and a pulse transformer

A firing circuit scheme, in general consists of the components shown
in above fig. . A regulated DC power supply is obtained from an
alternating voltage source. Pulse generator, supplied from both
AC and DC sources, gives out voltage pulses which are then fed
to pulse amplifier for their amplification. Shielded cables transmit
the amplified pulses to pulse transformers. The function of pulse
transformer is to isolate the low voltage gate-cathode circuit from
the high voltage anode-cathode circuit
Types of Thyristor Firing Circuits
1. Resistance Firing Circuit
2. RC Firing Circuit
3.UJT Firing Circuit
4.Pulse Transformer Firing Circuit
-Resistance Firing Circuit
Resistance triggering circuit is the simplest and the
most economical method.This however, suffer from a
limited range of firing angle control (0 to 90 degree),
great dependence on temperature and differnce in
performance between individual SCRs
- R C FIRING CIRCUITS
The limited range of firing angle control by resistance
firing circuit can be overcome by RC firing circuit.
The firing angle control range from 0 degree to 180
degree
Types of Thyristor Firing Circuits
- UJT triggering circuits.
Resistance and RC triggering circuits give prolonged
pulses. As a result, power dissipation in the gate circuit
is large. This difficulty can be overcome by UJT
triggering circuits.
RESISTANCE FIRING CIRCUITS
Theory of operation
As shown in the circuit, R2 is the variable resistance, R
is the stabilizing resistance. In case R2 is zero, gate
current may flow from source, through load, R1, Diode
D, and gate to cathode. This current should not
exceed permissible gate current . This current can be
limit with the value of R1

OPERATION OF RESISTANCE FIRING CIRCUITS
- It is thus seen that function of R1 is to limit the gate
current to a safe value as R2 is varied.
- Resistance R should have such a value that maximum
voltage drop across it does not exceed maximum
possible gate voltage

R C FIRING CIRCUITS

The limited range of firing angle control by
resistance firing circuit can be overcome by
RC firing circuit.

Theory of operation of RC Firing
Circuit
Fig illustrates RC triggering circuit.
- By varying the value of R, firing angle can be
controlled from 0 to 180 degree.
- In the negative half cycle, C charges through D2 .
This capacitor voltage remains constant at Vm until
supply voltage attains zero value.
- When capacitor charges to positive voltage equal to
gate trigger voltage Vgt, SCR is fired and after this,
capacitor holds to a small positive voltage.
- Diode D1 is used to prevent the breakdown of
cathode to gate junction through D2 during the
negative half cycle.

Unijunction Transistor (UJT).
It is a three terminal device . The device input, is
called the emitter, has a resistance which rapidly
decreases when the input voltage reaches a certain
level. This is termed a negative resistance
characteristics.
three terminals called the Emitter (E), Base-one(B
1
)
and Base-two(B
2
). It is made up of an N-type base to
which P-type emitter is embedded. P-type emitter is
heavily doped and N-type base is lightly doped

UJT Equivalent Circuit & Characteristics Curve
UJT Firing Circuit
- The unijunction transistor is a highly efficient switch ;
its switching time is in the range of nanoseconds.
Since UJT exhibits negative resistance
characteristics,
- Fig. (a) shows a circuit diagram with UJT working in
the oscillator mode. The external resistances R
1
R
2

are small in comparison with the internal resistances
R
B1
, R
B2
of UJT bases
Operation of UJT Firing Circuit
In Fig. (a), when source voltage V
BB
is applied, capacitor C
begins to charge through R exponentially towards V
BB
, During
this charging, emitter circuit of UJT is an open circuit. The
capacitor voltage v
C
, equal to emitter voltage v
E
, is given by
V
C
= V
E
= V
BB
( 1 e
-t/RC
)
The time constant of the charge circuit is i
1
= RC

When this emitter voltage v
E
(or v
C
) reaches the
peak-point voltage V
P
(= q V
BB
+ V
D
), the unijunction
between E B
1
breaks down. As a result, UJT turns
on and capacitor C rapidly discharges through low
resistance R
1
with a time constant t
2
= R
1
C. Here t
2
is
much smaller than t
1
. When the emitter voltage
decays to the valley-point voltage V
V
, UJT turns off

Pulse Transformer Firing Circuit
Sometimes pulse transformers are used in firing
circuits for thyristors and GTOs, for isolation between
the gate circuit and the load circuit. The main reason
for this is that the load may use a high voltage ac
supply, and the firing circuit may use a low voltage.
The transformer generally used arc either l:l two-
winding, or l'l:l three-winding types. These have
transformers have
a low winding resistance, and a low leakage
resistance. The pulse transformer provides electrical
isolation as it transfers a pulse from the primary 1o the
secondary coil. The secondary coil of the pulse
transformer is connected directly between the gate
and the cathode, or may have series resistor, or a
series diode to prevent reverse gate current.
.
There are various ways of connecting the pulse
transformer to trigger the thyristor. Figure shows the
basic pulse transformer coupling to drive a single
thyristor
A pulse at the output of the pulse generator is given
to the primary of the pulse transformer, this is
transmitted faithfully at its secondary terminal through
the resistor R to the gate of the thyristor. Figure 3.19
shows another way of using a pulse transformer to
drive an anti-parallel pair of thyristors.
Here a three-winding transformer provides complete
isolation and the pulse generator must supply enough
energy to trigger both thyristors. Note the black dots
on the primary and secondary windings. These dots
are used to indicate the polarity of the windings.
Transformer polarity is defined as the relative
direction of the induced voltages in the primary and
secondary windings with respect to the winding
terminals. The dot is used to indicate which windings
have the same instantaneous polarity
Pulse Transformers
Pulse transformers are used quite often in firing circuits
for ,SCRs and GTOs. This transformer has usually two
secondaries. The turns ratio from primary to the two
secondaries is 2:1:1 or 1:1:1. These transformers are
designed to have low winding resistance, low leakage
reactar~ce and Iow interwinding capacitance. The
advantages of using pulse transformers in triggering
semiconductor devices are:
(a) They provide isolation of low voltage firing circuit
from high voltage anode-cathode power circuit and
(a) The trigger pulse can be coupled to one or more
devices from the same trigger source by means of pulse
transformer.
A square pulse at the primary terminals of a pulse
transformer may be transmitted at its secondary
terminals faithfully as a square wave or it may be
transmitted as a derivative of the input waveform.
A general layout of the trigger circuit using a pulse
transformer is shown in Fig. 2 Here, R1 limits the current
in the primary circuit of pulse transformer. In practice,
trigger pulses are preferred due to the following reasons:


(a) This pulse waveform is suitable for injecting a large
charge in the gate circuit for reliable turn on.

(b) The duration of this pulse is small, and therefore, no
significant heating of the gate circuit is observed.

(c) The fact stated (b) as mentioned permits Va to be
raised to a suitable high value so that a hard drive of
SCR is obtained. A device with a hard drive can
withstand high di/dt at the anode circuit, which is
desirable.
SNUBBER CIRCUIT
-The circuit used to prevent unwanted dv /dt triggering
of SCR is called Snubber circuit
- For di/dt protection inductor is connected in series
THYRISTOR COMMUTATION TECHNIQUES
The gate has no control over thyristor once its turns on . It
can be turn off by reducing its forward anode current to a
level below the holding current.There are mainly two
types of commutation
- Natural Commutation
- Forced Commutation
- In Phase controlled Rectifiers Thyristor turned off
automatically due to natural behaviour of input supply
after half cycle.
- In Choppers, and Inverters input supply voltages are DC.
In these circuits Thyristor will turned off by applying
following forced commutation techniques
- Voltage Commutation
- Current Commutation
These techniques will be discussed in Chopper and
Inverters

Choppers
Introduction
- To produce quality goods in any industry, the
processes necessarily require the use of variable
speed drives.
- Variable speed d.c. and a.c. drives are being in-
creasingly used in all industries. These drives and
processes take power from d.c. voltage sources.
- In many cases, conversion of the d.c. source voltage
to different levels is required. For example, subway
cars, trolley buses, or battery operated vehicles
require power from a fixed voltage d.c. source.
However, their speed control requires conversion of
fixed voltage d.c. source to a variable-voltage d.c.
source for the armature of the d.c. motor.
Generally Following Methods are available for
obtaining variable DC from fixed DC voltages
-Resistance control
In this method, a variable resistance is inserted between
the load and the source. This method is highly wasteful of
energy. Also, for a given output voltage, different values of
resistances are needed for different values of load current.
This method is still used for older traction installations
- Motor-generator set
Separate generator excitation gives a voltage which
can be varied from zero to rated value with either polarity.
The set-up is bulky, costly, slower in response, and less
efficient because of the generator field time-constant
- A.C. link chopper (inverter-rectifier)
In this method, the d.c. is first converted to a.c, by an
inverter (d.c. to a.c. converter) . The obtained a.c: is then
stepped up or down by a transformer and then rectified
back to d.c. by a rectifier.


D.C. chopper (d.c. to d.c. power converters)
- A d.c. chopper is a static device (switch) used to obtain
variable d.c. voltage from a source of constant d.c.
voltage. Therefore, chopper may be thought of as d.c.
equivalent of an a.c. transformer . The d.c. chopper offers
following advantages as compared to previous methods.
- Greater efficiency,
- Faster Response,
- Lower Maintenance,
- Small Size,
- Smooth Control,
- Solid-state choppers due to various advantages are
widely used in trolley cars, battery-operated vehicles,
traction-motor control, control of a large number of d.c.
motors from a common d.c. bus with a considerable
improvement of power factor,

Types of DC Chopper
According to the output voltages DC Chopper
are classified as follows
- Step Down Chopper
- Step Up Chopper
- Step Up-Down Chopper
Principle of Step Down Chopper
The output of step down chopper is less than the input
voltage.Figure . illustrates the principle of a chopper.
The chopper is represented by an SCR inside a dotted
square. It is triggered periodically and is kept
conducting for a period T
ON
and is blocked for a period
T
OFF
. The chopped load voltage waveform is shown.
The output can be controlled either by current limit
control or time ratio control

CONTROL STRATEGIES OF CHOPPERS
-The average value of output voltage. V
o
can be
controlled by periodic opening and closing of the
switches. The two types of control strategies for
operating the switches are employed in d.c.
choppers. They are:
1. Time-ratio Control (TRC). and
2. Current Limit Control.

Time-Ratio Control (TRC)
In the time-ratio control, the value of T
ON
/T is
varied. This is effected in two ways.
They are variable frequency operation and constant
frequency operation.



Constant Frequency System
-In this scheme, the on-time T
on
is varied but chopping
frequency f (or chopping period T) is kept constant.
Variation of T
on
means adjustment of pulse width, as
such this scheme is also called pulse-width-
modulation scheme..
- Fig. illustrates the principle of pulse-width modulation.
Here chopping period T is constant. In Fig.(a), T
on
=
1/4 T so that o = 25%. In Fig.(b), T
on
= 3/4T so that
o= 75%. The output voltage V
0
can be varied
between zero and source voltage V
S


Variable Frequency System
- In this scheme, the chopping frequency f (or chopping
period T ) is varied and either (i) on-time T
on
is kept
constant or (ii) off-time T
OFF
is kept constant. This
method of controlling o is also called frequency-
modulation scheme


Principles of Step up Chopper
- In this chopper average output voltage V
O
is
more than the input voltage V
O
> V
S
.
- Large inductor L in series with source voltage
V
S
is essential
- When the chopper is on, inductor stores
energy .
- When the chopper CH is off, as the inductor
current cannot die down instantaneously, this
current is forced to flow through the diode and
load .
- As a result, voltage across the load, given by
- V
O
= V
S
+ L (di/dt), exceeds the source voltage
V
S
.
- In this manner, the circuit of Fig. (a) acts as a
step-up chopper and the energy stored in L is
released to the load.


Circuit Diagram and Waveform of Step
UP Chopper

CHOPPER COMMUTATION CIRCUITS
There are three types of Chopper
Commutations
- Voltage Commutated Chopper
- Current Commutated Chopper
- Load Commutated Chopper




Voltage Commutated Chopper
As shown Fig. The chopper feeds a constant current
load (highly inductive load). To start with the
capacitor is pre-charged with lower plate positive by
closing the switch shown in the Figure. The operation
can be explained using 4 modes.

Designing of commutation circuit
The following formulas are used to calculate the
values of Capacitor and Inductors
- where t
C
= Device turn off time,
- I
O
= Output current and
- E = Supply voltage.


CURRENT COMMUTATED CHOPPER (CCC)
The circuit and modes of CCC are shown in Fig.. In
current commutated chopper circuit, an inductor is
connected in series with the capacitor T
m
is the main
SCR and T
A
is the auxiliary SCR. To start with the
capacitor is pre charged with top positive and bottom
negative. The details of commutation can be explained
with the following modes
CURRENT COMMUTATED CHOPPER (CCC)
Designing of commutation circuit
The following formulas are used to calculate the values
of Capacitor and Inductors
- where t
C
= Circuit turn off time,
- I
CP
= Peak values of capacitor current and
- V
S
= Supply voltage.


LOAD COMMUTATED CHOPPER
The load commutated chopper (LCC) uses four SCRs.
They are triggered in pairs. Initially the capacitor is
charged with a and b +. The working of LCC can be
explained with the following modes. The circuit and
modes of LCC are shown in Fig.


SWITCHING- MODE REGULATORS
DC chopper can be used as switching-mode
regulators to convert a DC voltage, normally
unregulated DC output voltage. The regulation is
normally achieved by PWD at a fixed frequency and
the switching device is normally a power BJT, or
MOSFET

Topologies of switching
regulators
(1) Buck Regulators
(2) Boost Regulators
(3) Buck-Boost Regulators
Buck Regulators.
In a buck regulator, the average output voltage V
O
, is less
than the input voltage V
S

BOOST REGULATORS
In a boost regulator, the output voltage is greater than the
input voltage . A boost regulator using a power MOSFET
as shown in fig. .The circuit operation can be divided
into two modes

Buck-Boost Regulators
A buck-boost regulator provides an output voltage that
may be less than or greater than the input voltage
hence the name "buck-boost"; the output voltage polarity
is opposite to that of the input voltage. This regulator is
also known as an inverting regulator

CYCLOCONVERTERS
- A device which converts input power at one frequency
to output power at a different frequency with one-stage
conversion is called a cycloconverter.
- A cycloconverter is thus a one-stage frequency changer.
- Basically, cycloconverters are of two types, namely :
(i) Step down cycloconverters
(ii) Step up cycloconverters
- In step-down cycloconverters, the output frequency f
0
is
lower than the supply frequency f
S
f
o
< f
S
.
- In step-up cycloconverters, f
Q
>f
s
.
At present, the applications of cycloconverters include
the following :
(i) Speed control of high-power ac drives
(ii) Induction heating
(iii) For converting variable-speed alternator voltage to
constant frequency output voltage for use as power
supply in aircraft or shipboards

Single-phase to Single-phase Step-up Cyclocbnverter
For understanding the operating principle of step-up
device, the load is assumed to be resistive for simplicity.
It should be noted that a step-up cycloconverter requires
forced commutation. The basic principle of step-up
device is described here first for mid-point and then for
bridge-type cycloconverters

. Waveforms for Step-up Cyclocbnverter
Single-phase to Single-phase Step-down Cycloconverter
A step-down cycloconverter does not require forced
commutation. It requires phase-controlled converters
connected as shown in Fig. .1. These converters need
only line, or natural, commutation which is provided by ac
supply. Both mid-point and bridge-type cycloconverters
are described in what follows
INVERTERS
Introduction
- It is DC to AC converter
- An Inverter enables one to convert a supply of dc input
voltage to a symmetrical ac output voltage of a desired
magnitude and frequency
- This output voltage may be fixed or variable, at a fixed or
variable frequency.
- The variable output voltage can be obtained either by
varying the input dc voltage, keeping the inverter at a
constant gain or by varying the gain of the inverter
- The gain of the inverter is defined as the ratio of the ac
output voltage to the dc input voltage

Although the output voltage waveforms of an ideal
inverter should be sinusoidal, in practice, they are non-
sinusoidal and contain certain harm
For low- and moderate-power applications these
harmonics may be acceptable, but for high-power
applications, low distorted sinusoidal waveforms are
required
These harmonic contents of the output voltage can be
reduced or minimized by using high-speed switching
power semiconductor devices
Applications of inverters are: variable speed ac motor
control, induction heating, standby/uninterrupted power
supplies, etc
Classification of Inverters
There are many ways to classify inverters, but they
are broadly divided in to two types, viz., single-
phase, and three-phase; these are further classified
according to the taxonomy of Figure .1.
Classification of Inverters
In amplifier-type inverters, transistors are used as
amplifiers and due to high power dissipation in the
device itself, they generally give a low efficiency
In saturated-type inverters, devices are used as a
switch; therefore, they show high efficiency
Transistors, and IGBTs are generally used in low-
and medium-power requirements
Thyristors, and GTOs are used in high-power
applications.
These inverters can also be classified into two
groups: voltage-driven inverters and current-driven
inverters
VOLTAGE CONTROL IN SINGLE-PHASE INVERTERS
AC loads may require constant or adjustable voltage at
their input terminals. When such loads are fed by
inverters, it is essential that output voltage of the
inverters is so controlled as to fulfill the requirement of
AC loads
The various methods for the control of output voltage of
inverters are as under
External control of ac output voltage
External control of dc input voltage
Internal control of inverter.
The first two methods require the use of peripheral
components whereas the third method requires no
peripheral components. These methods are now briefly
discussed

External Control of dc Input Voltage
In case the available voltage source is ac, then dc
voltage input to the inverter is controlled through
fully-controlled rectifier,
Through an uncontrolled rectifier and a chopper,
Through an ac voltage controller & an uncontrolled
rectifier
If available voltage is dc, then dc voltage input to the
inverter is controlled by means of a chopper

External Control of ac Output Voltage
There are two possible methods of external control of
ac output voltage obtained from inverter output
terminals.
AC voltage control
Series-inverter control
AC voltage control In this method, an ac voltage
controller is inserted between the output terminals of
inverter and the load terminals as shown in Fig. 1. The
voltage input to the ac load is regulated through the
firing angle control of ac voltage controller

Series-inverter control
This method of voltage control involves the use of two or
more inverters in series. Fig. (a) illustrates how the
output voltage of two inverters can be summed up with
the help of transformers to obtain an adjustable output
voltage.

Internal Control of Inverter
Output voltage from an inverter can also be adjusted by
exercising a control within the inverter itself. The most
efficient method of doing this is by pulse-width
modulation control used within an inverter. This is
discussed briefly in what follows
Pulse width modulation control.
In this method, a fixed dc input voltage is given to the
inverter and a controlled ac output voltage is obtained by
adjusting the on and off periods of the inverter
components. This is the most popular method of
controlling the output voltage and this method is termed
as pulse-width modulation (PWM) control.
The output voltage control with this method can be
obtained without any additional components
With this method, lower order harmonic can be
eliminated or minimised along with its output voltage
control. As higher order harmonics can be filtered easily,
the filtering requirements are minimised.



FORCE-COMMUTATED THYRISTOR INVERTERS
For low-and medium-power applications, inverters
using transistors, GTOs and IGBTs are becoming
increasingly popular. However, for high-voltage and
high-current applications, thyristors are more suitable.
In voltage fed inverters, thyristors remain forward
biased by the dc supply voltage. This entails the use of
forced commutation for inverter circuits using thyristors

Modified McMurray Half-bridge Inverter
It consists of main thyristors T
l
, T
2
and main diodes D
l
,
D
2
. The commutation circuit consists of auxiliary
thyristors T
A1
, T
A2
, auxiliary diodes D
A1
, D
A2
;
damping resistor R
d
, inductor L and capacitor C

Principle of Phase Controlled Converters
- The simplest form of controlled Rectifier circuit is
consist of single thyristor feeding DC power to a
resistive load R, as shown in fig 1(a).
- During positive half cycle of input voltage , the
thyristor anode is positive with respect of its cathode
and the thyristor is said to be forward biased. When
T1 is fired at et = o, T1 conducts and input voltage
appears across the load.
- When the input voltage starts to be negative at, et =
t, the thyristor anode is negative with respect to
cathode and T1 is said to be reverse biased and it is
turned off.
Circuit Diagram and Waveforms with Resistive
Load
Single Phase Half Wave Circuit with RL Load
As shown in fig. At et = o, thyristor is turned on by
gating signal. The load voltage Vo at once brcomes
equal to source voltage Vs as shown. But the
inductance L forces the load or output current Io to
rise gradually. After some time, Io reaches maximum
value and then begins to decrease. At et = t, Vo is
zero but Io is not zero because of the load
inductance L. After et = t, SCR is subjected to
reverse anode voltage but it will not be turned off as
load current Io is not less than the holding current.At
some angle |>t, Io reduces to zero and SCR is
turned off as it is already reverse biased. After et =
|, Vo = 0 and Io = 0.

Single Phase Half Wave Circuit with RL Load
Single Phase Half Wave Circuit with RL Load and
Freewheeling Diode
The waveform of load current Io in previous circuit
can be improved by connecting a freewheeling
diode across load as shown in fig. At et = o,
source Voltage is becoming positive. At some
delay angle "o", forward biased SCR is triggered
and source voltage Vs appears across load as
Vo. At et = t, source voltage Vs is zero and just
after this instant, as Vs tends to reverse,
freewheeling diode FD is forward biased through
the conducting SCR. As a result, load current Io is
immediately transferred from SCR to FD as Vs
tends to reverse. At the same time, SCR
subjected to reverse voltage and zero current, it is
therefore turned-off at et = t,
It is assumed that during freewheeling period load current
does not decay to zero until the SCR is triggered again at
et = 2t+o,,. Voltage drop across FD is taken as almost
zero, the load voltage Vs is, therefore zero during
freewheeling period. It is seen from the waveform that
SCR is reverse biased from et = t, to et = 2t,
Therefore, circuit turn-off time is (tc =t/e ) sec. The source
current Is and
thyristor current
It have the same
waveform
as shown.
Operation of this
circuit can be
explain in two
modes.
In first mode, called
'CONDUCTION
MODE',SCR conducts from
at o to t , 2t+t,,. and so
on and FD is
reverse biased. The
duration of this mode is for
at t-o/e sec.
Mode 2, called
freewheeling mode,
extends from, t to 2t+o, 3t
to 4t+o,
and so onIn this mode
SCR is reverse biased from
t to 2t, 3t to 4t and so
on. As the load current is
assumed continuous, FD
conducts from t to 2t+o,
3t to 4t+o, and so on

Single Phase Semiconverter Bridge with
RLE Load
A single phase semiconverter bridge with
two Thyristors and three diodes is
shown in fig -2(a). The two thyristors areTl,
T2; the two diodes are D1,D2;
the third diode connected across load is free
wheelinng diode FD. The load is
of RLE type. Voltage and current waveforms
are shown in fig-2(b), where load current is
assumed continuous over the working
range.
At et=0, thyristor Tl is forward biased only when
source voltage Vm Sinet exceeds E. Thus, Tl is
triggered at a firing angle delay o such that Vm
Sinet >E. with Tl on, load gets connected to
source through Tl and Dl. For the period, et = o to
t load current Io flows through RLE, D1,source
and Tl and the load terminal voltage Vo is of the
same waveshape as the AC source voltage Vs.
Soon after et = t , the load voltage Vo tends to
reverse as the AC source voltage changes
polarity. Just as Vo tends to reverse (at et = t+),
FD is forward biased and starts conducting. The
load , or output, current Io is transferred from Tl,
Dl to FD. As SCR Tl is reverse biased at et = t+
through FD, Tl is turned off at et = t+.
The load terminals are short circuited through FD,
therefore load , or output voltage Vo is 0 during t< et <
t+ o . After et =t, during the negative half cycle, T2 will be
forward biased only when source voltage is more than E.
At et = t+ o , source voltage exceeds E, T2 is therefore
triggered. Soon after , FD is reverse biased and is
therefore turned off; load current now shifts from FD to T2
, D2.
At et = 2t, FD is
again forward
biased and output
current Io is
transferred from
T2, D2 to FD as
explained before.
The source current
Is is positive from a
to t, when Tl, Dl
conduct and is
negative from 't+ o
to 2t. when T2, D2
conduct, see fig-
2(b) During the
interval o to t, Tl
and Dl conduct and
AC source delivers energy to the load circuit.
This energy is partially stored in inductance
L, partially stored as electric energy in load
circuit emf E and partially dissipated as heat
in R. During the freewheeling period t to
t+ o energy stored in inductance is
recovered and is partially dissipated in R
and partially added to the energy stored in
load emf E. No energy is fed back to the
source during freewheeling period
Single Phase Full Converter with RLE Load.
A single phase full convener bridge using four thyristors is
shown in fig -1(a). The load is assumed to be RLE type,
where E is the load circuit einf. Voltage E may be due to a
battery in the load circuit or may be generated emf of a DC
motor. Thyristors Tl, T2 are simultaneously triggered and t
radians later, T3, T4 are gated together.
Load current or output current Io is assumed continuous
over the working range; this means that load is always
connected to the AC voltage source through thyristors .
Between et =0, and et =o ; T1 T2 are forward biased
through already conducting SCRs T3 and T4 and block
the forward voltage For continuos current, thyristors T3,T4
conduct after et = 0 even though these are reverse
biased. When forward biased SCRs Tl, T2 are triggered at
et = o, they get turned on. As a result, supply voltage
VmSino immediately appears across thyristors T3, T4 as
a reverse bias, these are therefore turned off by natural, or
line, commutation. At the same time, load current Io
flowing through T3,T4 is transferred to Tl, T2 at et = o .
Note that when Tl, T2 conduct from et = o, these SCRs
will get turned on only if Vm sino > E.
Thyristors Tl, T2 conduct from e = o to t+ o. At et = t+ o,
forward biased SCRs T3, T4 are triggered The supply
voltage turns off T1, T2 by natural commutation and the
load current is transferred from Tl, T2 to T3, T4. Voltage
across thyristors T1, T2 is shown as VT1= VT2 and that
across T3, T4 as VT3 = VT4. Maximum reverse voltage
across Tl, T2, T3 or T4 is Vm and at the instant of
triggering with firing angle o, each SCR is subjected to a
reverse voltage of Vm sin o, Source current Is is treated
as (+ve) in the arrow direction. Under this assumption ,
source current is shown positive when Tl, T2 are
conducting and negative when T3, T4 are conducting, Fig,
3 (b).During o to t, both Vs and Is are positve, power
therefore flows from AC source to load. During the interval
t to t+o , Vs is negative but Is is positive, the load
therefore returns some of energy to the supply system.
But the net power flow is from ac source to dc load
because t - o > o in
Fig3 (b).The load terminal voltage, or full- converter Output
voltage, Vo is shown in Fig. 3 (b). The

Eq. (1) shown that if o > 90 degree , Vo is negative .
This is illustrated in fig. 3.(c ), where o is shown greater
than 90 degree. In this figure, average terminal voltage
Vo is negative. If the load circuit emf E is will eed power
back to AC supply. This operation of full converter is
known as inverter operation of the converter. The full
converter with firing angle delay greater than 90 degree
is called line commutation inverter. Such an operation is
used in the regenerative breaking mode of a dc motor in
which case then E is counter emf of the dc motor.
During 0 to o , AC source voltage Vs is positive but AC
source current is
negative, power therefore flows from DC source to AC
source. From o to t both Vs and Is are positive, power
therefore, flows from AC source to DC source. But the net
power flows is from DC source to AC source, because
t - o < o in Fig 3 (c). In converter operation, the average
value of output voltage Vo must be grater than load circuit
emf E. During inverter operation, load circuit emf when
inverted to AC must be more than AC supply voltage.
source current Is is
positive when Tl, T2
are conducting. The
variation of voltage
across thyristors Tl,
T2, T3 or T4 reveals
that circuit turn- off
time for both
converter and
inverter operations is
given by Tc = t - o /
e sec
In other words, DC source voltage E must be more than
inverter voltage Vo, only then power would flow from DC
source to AC supply system. But in both converter and
inverter modes, thyristors must be forward biased and
current through SCRs must flow in the same direction as
these are unidirectional devices. This is the reason output
current Io is shown positive in Fig. 3(c). As before,
when Tl, T2 are
conducting. The
variation of
voltage across
thyristors Tl, T2,
T3 or T4 reveals
that circuit turn-
off time for both
converter and
inverter
operations is
given by Tc = t -
o / e sec


As both the types of phase-controlled converters have been
studied, the advantages of single- phase bridge converter
over single-phases mid - point converter can now be
stated:(i) SCRs are subjected to a peak inverse voltage
of 2 Vm in mid- point converter and
Vm in full converter. Thus for the same voltage and current
ratings of SCRs,
power handled by mid-point configuration is about half of
that handled by bridge
configuration,
(ii) In mid- point converter, each secondary should be
able to supply
the load power as such the transformer rating in mid -point
converter is double the load rating. This , however, is not
the case in single-phase bridge converter. It may thus be
inferred from above that bridge configuration is preferred
over mid-point configuration. However, the choice
between these two types depends primarily on cost of the
various components, available source voltage and the
load voltage required. Mid-point configuration is used in
case the terminals on dc side have to be grounded.

Phase and Amplitude Relations in a Three-phase
System
Single-phase rectifiers are used in applications requiring
small amounts of dc power, such as radios, audio
amplifiers, and television receivers.
The dc power requirements of industry are usually much
greater than that by a single-phase rectifier system. To
meet this demand for large quantities of dc power
polyphase rectifier systems.
Poly-phase rectifiers produce less ripple voltage per
equivalent filter section than do single-phase rectifiers.
Moreover, even if the load does not require a filtered dc
output, poly-phase rectifiers are more efficient in that the
dc output is smoother and hence contains less wasted ac
power. Since polyphase rectifiers are normally required to
supply large amounts of power heavy-duty, solid-state
rectifiers are used
Let us briefly review the phase relationships in a three-
phase system. In Fig.1(a), a four-wire system is used as a
source of three-phase power. If an oscilloscope were
connected from line I to common, the resulting sine wave
would appear as A in Fig. 1(b). This is our reference
waveform. Waveform B from line 2 to common is delayed
by 120. That is, there is a 120 phase lag between
waveforms A and B. Similarly, waveform C from line 3 to
common starts 120 after the start of waveform B. Figure
1(b) is a composite of the three waveforms, all plotted on
a common time axis to show the phase relationships
among them. These waveforms further show that the
peak amplitude and the frequency of each of the voltages
are the same.
It is interesting to note that single-phase power
may be taken from any two of the lines in
Fig.1(a). It should be noted, however, that the
voltage between any two hot lines, say 1 and 2, is
greater than the voltage between any one line
and common.
Thus, in a balanced system, the voltage between
any two lines, not including common, is equal to
the voltage from any one line to common x\3. For
example, if voltages A, B, C in Fig. 1(b) are each
equal to 120 volts, the voltage from line 1 to line 2
is 120 x\3 = 208. Similarly, the voltage B' from
line 2 to line 3 is 208 volts, and C from line 3 to
line 1 is 208 volts. Moreover, there is a 120
phase difference between the voltages A', B', and
C".
Three-phase Half-wave Rectifier without a Transformer
Figure-2 is the circuit diagram of a transformerless three-
phase half-wave rectifier supplying a resistive load RL. When
switches S1, S2, and S3 are closed, lines 1,2, and 3 supply
the anode voltages of rectifiers Dl,D2, and D3, respectively.
The cathodes of the three rectifiers are connected together
. The load RL is connected between the cathodes and the
common return N of the three-phase supply.
The operation of
the circuit may be
demonstrated by
considering the
action of each
individual rectifier.
Assume in

Fig.-2 that switches S2 and S3 are open and that switch S1
is closed. Diode D1 then operates as a single-phase half-
wave rectifier, and the waveforms from anode to common
and across the load. We know, of course, that D1 conducts
only during the half-cycle when its anode voltage is
positive with respect to the cathode.When switches S1 and
S2 are both closed and S3 is open, we have a circuit which
schematically resembles a single-phase full-wave rectifier,
but is actually different. The difference arises from the , fact
that in a single-phase full-wave rectifier the voltages on
the anodes of the two rectifiers are 180 out of phase,
whereas in the circuit of Fig-2 the Voltages on the anodes of
D1, and D2 are 120 out of phase. Figure -3(a) shows the
voltages A and B, applied to the anodes of D1 and D2
respectively, superimposed on a common time base. We
see further that there is a period in each cycle (t1, and t2)
when the positive alternations of voltages A and B
overlap, as indicated by the shaded portions of the graph.
It might appear as though each of the rectifiers D1 and D2
conducts during the overlap interval.
To facilitate our explanation of the circuit, we will make an
approximation and an assumption: only one rectifier
conducts at any one time, and this is the diode whose
positive anode voltage is highest during the interval. Thus
the overlap interval of A and B may be divided into two equal
periods t1 and t2. During the time t1 voltage A is more
positive than voltage B. During the interval t2, voltage B is
more positive than voltage A. Accordingly, D1 conducts up
to the end of interval t1, when it is cut off. D2 starts
conducting
at the end of
interval t1,
and is cut off
when its
positive anode
voltage drops
to zero (approximately).
Now, in the interval t1 , D1 is conducting. Hence, A is the
voltage at the anode and also at the cathode of D2. A
must therefore also be the voltage at the cathode of D2,
which is directly connected to the cathode of D1 , the
voltage B which is applied to the anode of D2 is lower
than the voltage A during the interval t1Hence, D2cannot
conduct during the time t1 because its anode is negative
with respect to its cathode during this interval. Figure 3 b
shows the voltage waveform which would appear
across the load resistance RL. Current through the resistive
load is in phase with the
voltage, and hence the waveform of Fig, -3b is also the
current wave. We see that current through the load rises to a
peak twice during a complete cycle of input voltage, and
that these current peaks are 120 apart. Current through the
load ceases for approximately 60 when the anodes of both
rectifiers are negative with respect to their cathodes.

Now, if we close switch S3, applying voltage C to
the anode of D3, the circuit of Fig. 2 becomes a
three-phase half-wave rectifier. We can analyze
the operation of this circuit in a manner similar to
that of the preceding rectifier. Thus D1 D2, and
D3 will conduct only when their anode voltages
are positive with respect to their cathode
voltages. Moreover, each of the three diodes will
conduct in turn for one-third (120)_of a complete
cycle. Figure . 4a shows the voltage waveforms
that each of the rectifier anodes "sees,"
superimposed on a common time base. Thus, D1
receives voltage A, D2 receives voltage B, and
D3 receives voltage C. As in our previous
analysis, it is evident there are periods during
which the positive alternations of voltages A and
B, B and C, C and A overlap.
These overlap periods are again shaded in Fig. . - 4a. As
we demonstrated previously, just one diode conducts
during the overlap interval, and this is the rectifier whose
positive anode voltage is highest during the interval. Thus,
in the first overlap interval voltage A is higher than
voltage B during the time t1 Voltage B is higher than
voltage A during
the time t2.
Accordingly,
D1 conducts up
tothe end or
time t1, and is
then cut off.
D2 begins
conducting
at the start
of interal t2.
The envelope of the waveforms shown as A 1, B1,
and C1 in Fig. -4a represents the voltage level during
which rectifiers D1, D2 and D3 are conducting,
respectively. The current waveform across the .resistive
load is shown by Fig, 4b. Observe that current through the
load never drops to zero. Hence, the ripple excursions are
smoother .than they would be in the case of a single-
Phase half- wave or full-wave rectifier.
We can see that a three-phase halt-wave rectifier supplies
a voltage wave to a resistive load which never falls to
zero. The output of a three-phase half-wave rectifier
therefore has a smaller Ripple factor than that of a single-
phase rectifier and a higher average dc voltage. An
arithmetical comparison will bring this fact out clearly.
Thus, the average dc voltage VAV across the resistive
load of a single-phase full-wave rectifier is
Vav = 0.636 Vmax
where Vmax is the peak of the ac input voltage, assuming
zero voltage drop across the rectifier.
The average DC voltage of a three-Phase
half-wave rectifier with resistive load is
yav = 0.831 Vmax ,
As the number of phases increases, the
average dc output voltage and current
increases, and the ripple decreases
Three-phase Half-wave Rectifier with Transformer
A transformerless rectifier has the disadvantage that it is
not line-isolated. A rectifier employing a transformer with
isolated primary and secondary windings overcomes this
disadvantage. Moreover, since the voltage across the
secondary can be stepped either up or down, a greater
range of dc out- put voltage is possible. The circuit of Fig.-
5 illustrates a three-phase half-wave rectifier using a
transformer. The transformer primary is connected in
delta, the secondary in wye (star). Secondary windings
Q1, Q2 and Q3 relate respectively to primary windings Pl
P2, and P3. Lines 1,2, and 3 apply a three-phase voltage
to the primary. Assume switches S1, S2, and S3 are
closed. Then voltage A appears across Q1 and is applied
to the anode of D1. Voltages B and C appear across Q2
and Q3, respectively, and are applied respectively to the
anodes of D2 and D3. The cathodes of Dl, D2, and D3 are
connected together. The resistive load R L, common to
the three rectifiers, is connected from cathode to the
common return
Secondary winding voltages A, B, and C are 120 apart, as are the
primary voltages. Let us assume that the respective transformer
windings are related in a 1:1 ratio. Then, if 120 volts appears
across each of the primary windings, 120 volts will also appear
across each of the secondary windings. Operation of the circuit of
Fig. -4 is then identical with that of Fig. ' -2. The waveforms in Figs.
. -3 and . -4 apply also to the circuit of Fig. 5.
The only
advantage
we have
gained in the
latter circuit
is that of
isolation
from the
line
THREE-PHASE HALF-WAVE CONVERTERS.
Three - phase converters provide higher average output
voltages, and in addition the frequency of the ripples on
the output voltage is higher compared to that of single -
phase converters. As a result, the filtering requirements
for smoothing out the load current and load voltage are
simpler. For these reasons, three-phase converters are
used extensively in high-power variable-speed drives.
When T1 is
fired at
et= t/6 + o
the phase
voltage Van
appears
across the
load until
T2 is
fired at
et= 5t/6 + o. When T2 is fired, T1 is reversed biased,
because the line-to-line voltage, Vab is negative and Tl is
turned off. The phase voltage Vbn appears across the
load until T3 is fired at et= 3t/6 + o . When T3 is fired , T2
is turned off and Vcn appears across the load until Tl is
fired again at the beginning of next cycle.
For a resistive load and o > t/6, the load current would be
discontinuous and each thyristor is self commutated when
the polarity of its phase voltage is reversed. The
frequency of output ripple voltage is 3fs.
If the phase voltage is Van = Sin(et), the average output
voltage for a continuous load current is

THREE - PHASE SEMICONVERTERS.
Three- phase semiconverters are used in industrial
applications up to the 120-kw level, where one quadrant
operation is required. Fig. Shows a three-phase
semiconverter with a highly jinductive load and the load
current has negligible ripple content. The frequency of
output ripple voltage is 3fs. The delay angle, o, can be
varied from 0 to t .During the period
t/6 < et < 7t/6 , Tl is forfvard biased. If Tl is fired at et=
t/6 + o ., Tl and Dl conduct and the line to line voltage
Vac appears across the load. At
et= 7t/6 , Vac starts to be negative and freewheeling
diode Dm conducts. The load current continues to flow
through Dm; and Tl and Dl are tulrned off. Ig there were
no freewheeling diode, Tl would continue to conduct
until T2 fired at et = 5t/6 + o., and freewheeling action
would be accomplished through Tl and D2. If o < t/3 ,
each thyristor conducts for 2t/3 ,each thyristor conducts
for 2t/3 and the freewheeling diode Dm does not
conduct
Three-Phase Thyristor Converter Circuits
For large power dc loads, 3-phase ac to dc converters) are
commonly used. The various types of three-phase phase-
controlled converters are 3-bhase half-wave converter, 3-
phase semi-converter, 3-phase full converter and 3-
phase dual converter. Three-phase Semi-converters
and full converters are quite common in industrial
applications. A dual converter is used only when reversible
dc drives with power ratings of several MWatts are
required.
The advantages of three-phase converters over single-
phase converters are as under :
(i) In 3-phase converters, the ripple frequency of the
converter output voltage is higher than in single-phase
converter. Consequently, the filtering requirements for
smoothing out the load current are less.
(ii) The load current is mostly continuous in 3-phase
converters. The load performance, when 3-phase
converters are used, is therefore superior as compared to
when single-phase converted are used.
Three-phase full converters.
The three phase input supply is connected to terminals A, B,
C and the load RLE is connected across the output
terminals of converter as shown. As
numbering of SCRs in Fig.-1(a) is 1, 3, 5 for the positive
group and 4 , 6 , 2 for the negative
For o=0; Tl, T2, T6 behave like diodes.This is shown in
Fig.-1(a). The sequence of conduction of SCRs
Tl to T6 is also
indicated in this
figure. Note
that for o=0,
Tl is triggered
at et = t/6, T2
at 90. T3 at 150
and so on.

The load voltage has, therefore, the waveform as shown
in Fig-I(b) . For o=60, the conduction sequence of
thyristors Tl to T6 is shown in
Fig-1(b) Here Tl is triggered at et = 300-|-600 = 90,
T2 at 90 + 60 = 150 and so on.
If the conduction interval of various thyristors Tl, T2,T6 is
shown first, then it becomes easier to draw the voltage
and current waveforms. Note that each SCR conducts for
1200, when Tl is triggered, reverse biased thyristor T5 is
turned off and Tl is turned on. T6 is already conducting. As
Tl is connected to A and T6 to B, voltage Vab appears
across load. It varies from Vm to zero as shown. Here Vm
is the maximum value of phase voltage. When T2 is turned
on, T6 is commutated from the negative group. TI is
already conducting. As Tl and T2 are connected to A and
C respectively, voltage Vac appears across load.
Note that positive group of SCRs are fired at an interval of
120. Similarly, negative group of SCRs are fired with an
interval of 120 amongst them. But SCRs from both the
groups are fired at on interval of 60. This means that
commutation occurs every 60, alternatively in upper and
lower group of SCRs. Each SCR from both groups
conducts for 120
At any time, two SCRs, one from the positive group and
the other from negative group, must conduct together for
the source to energies the load. For ABC phase sequence
of the three-phase supply, thyristors conduct in pairs ; Tl
and T2, T2 and T3, T3 and T4 and so on.
The sequence of events, in Fig-1( b) can also be shown
more conveniently if line voltages, instead of phase
voltages, are considered. In Fig-1(c) are shown line
voltages Vab, Vac Vbc, Vba etc. For o=0, SCRs TI,
T2....T6 behave as diodes and the output voltage
waveform is as shown in Fig-1(c), by Vab, Vac Vbc ctc, In
this figure, Tl is turned on at et =60, T2 at et =120, T3
at et =180 and so on. In Fig-1(c) , therefore, firing angle
is measured from o=60 for Tl, from et =120 for T2, from
et = 180 for T3 and so on.
For o=60, Tl is turned on at et =60+ 60 = 120, T2 at et
= 180, T3 at et =240 and so on. When Tl is turned on at
at et =120, T5 is turned off. T6 is already conducting. As
T1 and T6 are connected to A and B respectively, load
voltage must be vab as shown in Fig-1(c) When T2 is
turned on, T6 is commutated. As Tl and T2 are now
conducting, the load voltage Vac, Fig-1(c)
In this manner, load voltage waveform can be drawn with
the turning on or off of other SCRs in sequence. For o =
90, the load voltage is symmetrical about the reference
line et, therefore its average value is zero. For o = 150,
Tl is triggered at et=210 T2 at 270 and so on. The
output voltage waveform is shown in Fig-I(c) It is, seen
from this figure that average voltage is reversed in
polarity. This means that DC source is delivering power to
AC source ; this is called line-commutated inverter
operation of the 3-phase full converter bridge. It may be
seen from above that for o=0 to 90 power circuit of Fig-
1(a) works as a 3-phase full converter delivering
power from AC source to DC load and for o = 90 to 180,
it works as a line-commutated inverter delivering power
from DC source to AC load. It can work in the inverter
mode only if the load has a direct EMF due to a battery or
a DC motor. It should be noted that direction of current for
both converter and inverter operations remains fixed but
the polarity of output voltage reverses.

PERFORMANCE OF RECTIFIERS
If the output voltage of a rectifier is of constant
magnitude as in a battery and it draws
sinusoidal current at unity power factor from the
ac source, then the rectifier is said to have the
best performance.
But it is not so in practical rectifiers.
The output voltage of a practical rectifier has
segments of the input ac voltage and hence it
contains both dc voltage and ac voltage.
The current drawn from the ac source is not
sinusoidal.
It contains fundamental component and
harmonics.
The power factor at the input of the rectifier is
poor
even for resistive load on dc side and also the
power factor decreases as the triggering angle
is delayed.
The amount of these ac voltage, harmonic
current, input power factor etc. decides the
quality of the rectifiers.
They are calculated based on certain quantities
measured on ac and dc sides.
Quantities on output side
(i) DC quantities on output side
The average dc output voltage = V
dc

The average dc output current = I
dc

The output dc power = P
dc
= (V
dc
)(l
dc
)
(ii) Total RMS quantities on output side
Since the output contains both dc and ac components,
the total RMS values are
symbolised as follows
The RMS output voltage = V
rms
The RMS output current = I
rms
The output ac power = P
ac
= (V
rms
)(l
rms
)
(iii) Efficiency of rectification
The power expected from a rectifier is due
to the average voltage and the average
current, that is, P
dc
whereas it produces a
total power due to both dc and ac
components at the output. The power due
to ac components cannot be utilised in
applications such as battery charger, dc
motor speed control, electroplating,
electromagnetics etc. The efficiency of the
rectifier is decided based on P
dc
and P
ac
.
The efficiency of rectification or rectification
ratio 'q' is defines as
q = P
dc
/ P
ac
= V
dc
x I
dc
/ V
rms
x I
rms

(iv) AC components on output side
The RMS value of the output voltage is due to
both DC and ac components. The
RMS value of AC component alone is obtained
by the expression
V
ac
= [ V
rms
2
- V
dc
2
]
1/2
A good rectifier produces as low ac voltage (V
ac
)
as possible. This increases the efficiency of the
rectifier and also makes filtering easy.
(v) Form Factor
The quality of the output voltage depends on the
relative values of dc and ac component and is
defined by form factor. The form factor is defined
as
Form Factor (FF) = V
rms
/V
dc
For a good rectifier, the form factor is around
unity.
(vi) Ripple Factor
The rectified output voltage varies with time
due to ac component. The difference
between its maximum and minimum values
is called as the peak-to-peak ripple
voltage. The ripple factor is defined as
Ripple Factor
(RF) = V
ac
/ V
dc
= [ (V
rms
/ V
dc
)
2
-1]
1/2
Quantities on input side
(i) Displacement power factor
The voltage applied to a rectifier is sinusoidal
whereas the current drawn from the ac source is
non sinusoidal due to the switching action of the
rectifying elements. This non sinusoidal current
has a fundamental component. The phase angle
difference between the fundamental component
and the input voltage is called as displacement
angle. In the case of controlled rectifier, the
displacement angle increases with the increase in
triggering angle delay. The displacement power
factor or simply displacement factor (DF) is
defined as
DF = cosu
where u is the angle between the zero crossing
of the input ac voltage and the fundamental
component of input current
(ii) Harmonic current in ac source
Due to non sinusoidal nature of the input
current, it has fundamental component and
harmonics. The harmonic current I
h
is
obtained by subtracting the fundamental
component l
1
from the total rms input
current I
3
. The amount of harmonic current
is defined by harmonic factor (HF) which
can be calculated from the expression as
HF = I
h
/ I
1
= [ (I
3
/ I
1
)2 ]
1/2
-1
The lower the value of the harmonic factor,
the better is the quality of the rectifier.
(iii) Input power factor
In general the power factor is defines as
power factor = Real power / Apparent power
The sinusoidal input voltage and the fundamental
component of current alone produce real power.
The apparent power is the product of the rms
value of voltage V
3
and the rms value of current I
3

which includes the harmonic current also. The
power associated with the harmonic current with
fundamental voltage (sinusoidal voltage) does not
constitute any real power. Therefore
Real power = V
3
I
1
cos u
Apparent power = V
3
I
3
Input power factor = V
3
I
1
cos u / V
3
I
3
= I
1
/ I
3

COSu
(iv) Transformer utilization factor
Current flows through the windings of a
transformer for full cycle when the transformer
supplies normal loads. When a transformer
supplies a rectifier load, current flows only for part
of cycle and hence the windings are not fully
utilized. The extent to which the transformer is
utilized is given by the term transformer utilization
factor (TUF) which is expressed as
TUF = P
dc
/ m V
3
I
3
where V
3
is the rms value of transformer phase
voltage
I
3
is the total rms current in the transformer phase
winding m is the number of phases of transformer,
It is to be noted that the unit of P
dc
is in watts and
that of (m V
3
I
3
) is in volt-ampere