SINUSOIDAL LINE CURRENT RECTIFICATION

WITH A lOOkHZ B-SIT STEP-UP CONVERTER

N e d Mohan T o r e M. U n d e l a n d * Ralph J . Ferraro

Dept. o f E l e c t . Eng. Dept. o f E l e c t . Eng. EPRI
U n i v e r s i t y of Minnesota Norwegian I n s t i t u t e of Technology P.O. Box 10412
M i n n e a p o l i s , MN 55455 N-7034 T r o n d h e i m , Norway P a l o A l t o , CA 94303

Abstract - A step-up converter c i r c u i t for the 2. STEP-UP CONVERTER

sinusoidal l i n e current r e c t i f i c a t i o n at a u n i t y
power factor is described. A Bipolar-Static- F i g u r e 1 shows t h e b l o c k d i a g r a m o f a v o l t a g e
Induction-Transitor (B-SIT) with extremely fast s o u r c e , P u l s e - W i d t h - M o d u l a t e d (PWM) i n v e r t e r d r i v e
s w i t c h i n g times i s u t i l i z e d . The g a t e d r i v e and w i t h a 1-phase u t i l i t y i n p u t .
the s n u b b e r c i r c u i t s a r e p r e s e n t e d . Conventionally, the step-up converter shown
A new way t o a c h i e v e c u r r e n t h y s t e r e s i s c o n t r o l w i t h i n t h e d o t t e d l i n e s i s n o t p r e s e n t , and q u i t e
w i t h o u t n o i s e p r o b l e m s f o r s w i t c h i n g f r e q u e n c i e s up often, n o t even a f i l t e r inductance is included
t o 100 kHz i s d e v e l o p e d . Measured o v e r a l l effi­ b e t w e e n t h e d i o d e r e c t i f i e r b r i d g e and t h e dc bus
c i e n c y and t h e t r a n s i s t o r l o s s e s a r e p r e s e n t e d . At capacitor.
1 kw dc o u t p u t , t h e t o t a l t r a n s i s t o r s w i t c h i n g and For a single-phase utility input voltage of
c o n d u c t i o n l o s s e s a r e 9 w a t t s a t a b o u t 100 kHz 230V, i t w o u l d be d e s i r a b l e t o u s e a t h r e e - p h a s e ac
switching frequency. The o v e r a l l rectification motor with a voltage rating of 208/230V.
e f f i c i e n c y i s i n a 97-98.5% range. C o n s i d e r i n g t h e 208V r a t i n g , t h e dc bus c a p a c i t o r
J u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r t h e use o f s t e p - u p c o n v e r t e r s v o l t a g e s h o u l d be a t l e a s t 267V ( = 2 0 8 / 0 . 7 8 ) i f t h e
is g i v e n . Component s e l e c t i o n and t h e s t a b i l i t y i n PWM i n v e r t e r o p e r a t i o n i s a l l o w e d t o a p p r o a c h a
the f e e d b a c k l o o p i s a n a l y z e d . The c o n v e r t e r i s s q u a r e wave a t t h e r a t e d f r e q u e n c y . I t s h o u l d be
e s p e c i a l l y a d v a n t a g e o u s f o r s i n g l e phase i n - t h r e e a t l e a s t 341V ( 2 0 8 / 0 . 6 1 ) i f a s i n e w a v e m o d u l a t i o n
phase o u t , v a r i a b l e f r e q u e n c y ac m o t o r d r i v e s i n i s d e s i r e d even a t t h e r a t e d f r e q u e n c y . Reference
lower horsepower a p p l i c a t i o n s . [ 2 ] shows t h a t t h e minimum m o t o r l o s s e s o c c u r i n
the overmodulation region. As a c o m p r o m i s e , a dc
1. INTRODUCTION bus v o l t a g e o f 325V i s s e l e c t e d w h i c h c o r r e s p o n d s
t o t h e peak v a l u e o f t h e u t i l i t y i n p u t voltage.
I n a l a r g e number o f power e l e c t r o n i c s a p p l i c a ­ I t s h o u l d be n o t e d t h a t i n t h e a b s e n c e o f a s t e p - u p
t i o n s , t h e ac u t i l i t y i n p u t v o l t a g e must be c o n ­ c o n v e r t e r , t h e dc bus v o l t a g e w o u l d be i n a 207V-
v e r t e d t o dc and a l a r g e c a p a c i t o r i s c o n n e c t e d 325V r a n g e d e p e n d i n g on t h e s e l e c t i o n o f t h e dc
across the r e c t i f i e r bridge o u t p u t . I n such c a s e s , l i n k i n d u c t a n c e and t h e i n v e r t e r - m o t o r l o a d . A dc
t h e i n p u t l i n e c u r r e n t becomes h i g h l y n o n s i n u s o i d a l bus v o l t a g e o f l e s s t h a n 267V w o u l d r e q u i r e a m o t o r
i n a d d i t i o n t o a p o o r e f f e c t i v e power f a c t o r [ 1 ] . r a t e d a t a l o w e r v o l t a g e compared w i t h a 2 0 8 / 2 3 0 V
In t h i s paper, f o r a p p l i c a t i o n s w i t h a s i n g l e - motor.
phase i n p u t , a s t e p - u p c o n v e r t e r is u t i l i z e d in The above dc bus v o l t a g e o f 325V i s , i n p a r t ,
between t h e d i o d e r e c t i f i e r b r i d g e and t h e dc bus has been d e c i d e d by t h e v o l t a g e rating of the
capacitor. Though t h e d i s c u s s i o n a p p l i e s t o o t h e r a v a i l a b l e B-SIT t o be used i n t h i s c i r c u i t . Since
s w i t c h e d - m o d e power e l e c t r o n i c s a p p l i c a t i o n s , t h e 325V c o r r e s p o n d s t o t h e peak v a l u e o f t h e normal
c i r c u i t d e s i g n i s based on t h e s i n g l e phase i n - 230V u t i l i t y i n p u t , a h i g h e r u t i l i t y v o l t a g e w o u l d
t h r e e phase o u t , v a r i a b l e f r e q u e n c y , Pulse-Width- mean t h a t t h e s t e p - u p o p e r a t i o n w o u l d c e a s e n e a r
M o d u l a t e d ( P W M ) , ac m o t o r d r i v e s . t h e peak v a l u e o f t h e i n p u t v o l t a g e w a v e f o r m and
t h e c i r c u i t would r e v e r t to a conventional rec­
t i f i e r during that i n t e r v a l .

STEP-UP CONVERTER

-Oh

L.
m
Inverter
~ 'ac • 1—
3-phase

Figure 1. PWM I n v e r t e r Drive w i t h a 1-Phase Utility

Input.

*Visiting Professor at the University of M i n n e s o t a , on sabbatical leave from N . I . T .

92

0275-9306/84/0000-0092 $01.00 © 1984 IEEE

 A step-up converter appears to be most
appropriate for this application because of the
following reasons: i : 2A/div, v sOV/div, t: 0.05 ~s/div
D DS:
• the required output (de bus capacitor) voltage
is higher than the input (diode bridge rec-
tified ac) voltage.
• it consi sts of an inductor at the input and a
capac i tor at the output. Both are desi rab 1e
for this application.
• the 1imitation of a step-up converter of not
bei ng short-ci rcu it protected is overcome in
this application since it is supplying an
inverter which can be short-circuit protected.
2.1 8-SIT Switch
A fast switching device is required in the
step-up circuit to allow high switching frequency
to keep Lin small, and also result in a very low
power loss. A recently available 400V, 20A
Bipolar-Static Induction Transistor (8-SIT) is used
for this appl ication [3]. It is a normally-off
device and the on-characteristics are shown in
figure 2. It has extremely fast rise and fall
times as shown by figures 3 and 4 for an inductive
turn-off and figure 5 for a resistive turn-on
i
C : 0.5 A/div, v GS: 2V/div, t: 0.5 ~s/div

operat ion. The storage time depends on the degree

of saturat i on and was observed to be of the order
of 1 11S. It should be noted that the transistor
current was measured by means of a current probe
and an amplifier which introduce a 25 ns time
delay. Taking this delay into account, the peak
of VDS coincides with the sharp decline in i
D.

20+---+---+----3.5A-r------I
, _ _- - . 2• SA

le-r---""i-----tb~-+--~_--;---L-----
2A

L_ _. + - - - - - - 1 . 5 A
3 12-+----+---I1ftI'-+---~
_0 I_ _~_+-_I-_IA

Figure 3. Waveforms for inductive turn-off.

v DD = 200V, iD(on) = lOA, iG(on) = [Link].

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

Figure 2. B-SIT V-I Characteristics.

93
 i 2A/div
in 0.5 A/div D
v 50V/div
v
ns 50V/div DS
t 0.05 lls/div
t 0.05 lJs/div

(a) (a)

i 0.5 A/div i 0.2 A/div

G G
v 2V/div v IV/div
GS GS
t 0.5 lls/div t 0.05 lls/div

(b) (b)

Figure 4. Inductive Turn-Off (VOO=300V, iG(on)= Figure 5. Resistive Turn-On (VOS(off)=200V, iO(on)=
[Link], vGS(off)=-4.2V after the switching IDA) •
transients are over).

94
2.2 Snubber C i r c u i t and t h e B - S I T G a t e D r i v e During turn-on, without a turn-on snubber
F i g u r e 6 shows t h e c o m p l e t e s n u b b e r c i r c u i t f o r i n d u c t o r L , a v e r y l a r g e c u r r e n t w o u l d r e s u l t and
s

t h e B-SIT and t h e d i o d e Dp. By u s i n g a t u r n - o f f the diode Dp may be destroyed due to a snap

s n u b b e r c a p a c i t o r C i n p a r a l l e l w i t h t h e d i o d e Dp,
s r e c o v e r y o v e r v o l t a g e [5]. The t u r n - o n waveforms
t h e c o m m u t a t i o n o f c u r r e n t f r o m t h e B-SIT s t a r t s a r e shown i n f i g u r e 8 .
e a r l y i n t h e t u r n - o f f i n t e r v a l and t h e o v e r v o l t a g e Figure 9 shows the low cost gate drive
due t o t h e p r e s e n c e o f t h e s t r a y l o o p i n d u c t a n c e a m p l i f i e r u s e d and t h e a n t i - s a t u r a t i o n d i o d e s . A
a l s o o c c u r s i n t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e Vrj$ v o l t a g e z e n e r c l a m p i s used a c r o s s t h e B-SIT g a t e t o p r e ­
buildup [ 4 ] . T h i s c i r c u i t r e s u l t s i n a v e r y low vent a l a r g e negative gate voltage during t u r n - o f f ,
o v e r v o l t a g e o f l e s s t h a n 40V ( 1 2 % ) , even w i t h a due t o s t a y i n d u c t a n c e i n t h e g a t e c i r c u i t . It
v e r y h i g h d i / d t , as shown i n f i g u r e 7 . Here t h e a l s o h e l p s t o damp t h e o s c i l l a t i o n s i n t h e gate
c u r r e n t f a l l t i m e f r o m 90% t o 10% i s 30 n s . From voltage.
80% t o z e r o , t h e f a l l t i m e i s o n l y 10 n s .

2 A/div
D"
50 V/div
7 DS :

100 ns/div

TO CURRENT
MEASUREMENT
AMPLIFIER

F i g u r e 6. Complete Snubber Circuit.

i : D 2A/div
v D S : 50 V/div
Figure 8. Turn-On w i t h Snubbers (V =330V,
0 =
t: 50 ns/div 6.5A). l n

p
FROM C O M P

Figure 7. Turn-Off w i t h Snubbers (V =330V,

o I .
L =
Figure 9. B-SIT Gate D r i v e Amplifier.
10.5A). l n

95
2.3 C o n t r o l of the Step-Up Converter I d e a l l y , to simulate t h i s r i p p l e , the input to the
Figure 10 shows t h e o v e r a l l arrangement and integrator I i n f i g u r e 11 s h o u l d be t h e voltage
f i g u r e 11 shows t h e c o n t r o l c i r c u i t . A feedback across the inductor L-j . In order t o avoid using
n

control i s used where t h e o u t p u t o f t h e step-up t h i s v o l t a g e w h i c h must be measured i n a d i f f e r e n ­

converter V 0 is compared with a dc reference t i a l mode and may r e s u l t i n n o i s e , t h e c o m p a r a t o r
voltage V t o u f > ( p r o p o r t i o n a l t o t h e d e s i r e d dc
r e
o u t p u t i s used as an i n p u t t o t h e i n t e g r a t o r . This
bus voltage)'. The output of t h i s integrating i s p o s s i b l e s i n c e t h e c o m p a r a t o r o u t p u t has t h e
amplifier is m u l t i p l i e d with the r e c t i f i e d line same w a v e f o r m as t h e v o l t a g e a c r o s s t h e i n d u c t o r -
voltage V ] i n pf e to give a reference signal for
T
the positive comparator output equals two diode
the rectified* line current iiine,rect,ref• I n

d r o p s p l u s V Q S when t h e B - S I T i s on and t h e n e g a ­
figure 11, P(I) indicates a slight' integration to t i v e comparator output equals the negative supply
remove t h e h i g h f r e q u e n c y n o i s e . v o l t a g e when t h e B - S I T i s o f f . I t s h o u l d be n o t e d
A t t h i s p o i n t , t h e e r r o r between t h e a m p l i f i e d t h a t the average value of t h e i n p u t t o the i n t e g r a ­
value of the actual rectified line current t o r i s n o t i m p o r t a n t s i n c e i t i s t a k e n c a r e o f by
Mine,rect * t h e r e f e r e n c e c u r r e n t can be f e d t o
a n c

the low f r e q u e n c y current feedback loop. The

a comparator w i t h a window. The o u t p u t o f t h e com­ s w i t c h i n g f r e q u e n c y i s d e t e r m i n e d by t h e i n t e g r a t o r
p a r a t o r a l o n g w i t h t h e g a t e d r i v e a m p l i f i e r (shown gain and by t h e comparator window. These are
i n f i g u r e 9) w o u l d t h e n d e t e r m i n e t h e s t a t u s o f t h e selected to yield a maximum s w i t c h i n g f r e q u e n c y
B-SIT. (when V - j i s o n e - h a l f o f t h e s t e p - u p c o n v e r t e r o u t ­
n

The above procedure of current comparison, p u t v o l t a g e ) o f 100 k H z .

h o w e v e r , p r o v e d t o be t o o n o i s y s i n c e t h e c u r r e n t This procedure results in a surprisingly
measuring resistor R^ sshould be as small as constant hysteresis in the r e c t i f i e d l i n e current
possible for low l o s s e s . Instead, as shown i n as shown i n f i g u r e 1 2 .
f i g u r e 1 1 , t h e measured l i n e c u r r e n t i s f i l t e r e d t o 2 . 4 The Feedback Loop S t a b i l i t y A n a l y s i s
remove t h e h i g h f r e q u e n c y n o i s e . This f i l t e r i n g A s s u m i n g t h e s w i t c h and t h e d i o d e i n t h e s t e p -
a l s o removes t h e s w i t c h i n g f r e q u e n c y r i p p l e (an up c o n v e r t e r t o be i d e a l and t h e o u t p u t c a p a c i t o r
u n f o r t u n a t e c o n s e q u e n c e ) b u t does n o t a f f e c t the Cout t o
be v e r y l a r g e , u n d e r s t e a d y s t a t e c o n ­
mean v a l u e s o f t h e w a v e f o r m . This r i p p l e in the ditions -
a c t u a l c u r r e n t w a v e f o r m e r r o r i s s i m u l a t e d h e r e by
d_L 1
means of an integrator across the comparator. switch-on 0<t<6T
dt 'in >
m
di i L

and, — = - (v 1 n -v ), 0 switch-off 6T<t<T

dt
where T=l/ switching frequency, Using the state-
AC input space averaging technique [6]:

di L i
D«v +(l-6)(v v ] 1 n i r r 0
L
dt L
;
i n

1
MINE, RECT Cv -(l-«)v ] i n 0

Figure 10. Step-Up Converter Circuit. in

Let i (t)=I +"i (t),
L L L v 1 n (t)=Constant=V i n ,
6(t) =D+&(t), v (t)=Constant=V .
0 0

Since, for a step-up converter - — =

Vin 1-D
d
'iL(t) 1

eff­ L 6 V
o
m
using Laplace Transform

iL _ Vq
To Gate
Drive 6 SL i n

Amplifier

w h i c h shows t h a t t h e s t e p - u p c o n v e r t e r repre­
s e n t s a f i r s t o r d e r s y s t e m and s h o u l d n o t p r e s e n t a
s t a b i l i t y problem i n the feedback l o o p .

Figure 11. Control C i r c u i t f o r the Sinusoidal Line

Current w i t h S t a b i l i z e d Output V o l t a g e .

96
 3. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
i ;
T 1 A/div
Figure 12 shows o n e - h a l f c y c l e of the line
in
c u r r e n t a t a dc bus v o l t a g e o f 325V and t h e o u t p u t
power o f 1 kw.
The o v e r a l l e f f i c i e n c y f r o m t h e l i n e i n p u t t o
the dc bus output was measured by means of
C l a r k - H e s s w a t t m e t e r s and was f o u n d t o be i n a
r a n g e o f 97 t o 98.5% f o r t h i s 1 kw d e v i c e . This
r e p r e s e n t s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1% l o w e r e f f i c i e n c y com­
pared t o the c o n v e n t i o n a l diode r e c t i f i e r bridge
w i t h o u t a s t e p - u p c o n v e r t e r and w i t h o u t any dc l i n k
f i l t e r inductance. By means o f t h e h e a t s i n k t e m -
p a t u r e r i s e m e a s u r e m e n t s , t h e t o t a l B-SIT s w i t c h i n g
and c o n d u c t i o n l o s s e s a t 1 kw and a t a s w i t c h i n g
f r e q u e n c y o f 100 kHz were f o u n d t o be o n l y 9 w a t t s .
I t was o b s e r v e d t h a t t h e B-SIT r e q u i r e s a v e r y
low g a t e drive power. Due to antisaturation
d i o d e s , the gate c u r r e n t a d j u s t s t o the t r a n s i s t o r
current t o keep i t a t t h e edge o f saturation.
M o r e o v e r , i n a s t e p - u p c o n v e r t e r b e i n g used f o r a
s i n e w a v e r e c c t i f i c a t i o n , when t h e i n p u t c u r r e n t i|_ •oi 1

i s h i g h , the duty r a t i o 6 U s defined in the sec­

t i o n 2.4) i s low ( s i n c e V - j i s h i g h when i|_
n is
high). Therefore, the t r a n s i s t o r is mostly o f f
d u r i n g t h i s c o n d i t i o n . On t h e o t h e r h a n d , when t h e
i n p u t c u r r e n t i[_ i s l o w , t h e d u t y r a t i o 6 i s h i g h Figure 12. Line Current at V a C ) r m s =230V, V -325V,
0

due t o a s i m u l t a n e o u s l y l o w V the t r a n s i s t o r
i n j a n d

out -
is mostly on.
p = 1 k w

4. EQUIVALENT VA OF THE INDUCTOR, L i n

5. CONCLUSIONS
I t i s p o s s i b l e t o e x p r e s s t h e s i z e and t h e c o s t
of the inductance L^ n i n terms of the v o l t - a m p e r e s A v e r y low l o s s , 100 kHz c i r c u i t has been p r e ­
(VA) o f an e q u i v a l e n t two w i n d i n g t r a n s f o r m e r . The sented f o r a s i n u s o i d a l l i n e current r e c t i f i c a t i o n ,
m o t i v a t i o n f o r t h i s t a s k i s t h a t by k n o w i n g t h e in-phase with the input voltage. Its application
e q u i v a l e n t t r a n s f o r m e r VA, i t s a p p r o x i m a t e s i z e and i n a l o w h o r s e p o w e r , s i n g l e phase i n - t h r e e phase
c o s t can be o b t a i n e d f r o m v a r i o u s p r o d u c t c a t a l o g s . o u t , v a r i a b l e f r e q u e n c y PWM i n v e r t e r ac m o t o r d r i v e
From R e f e r e n c e [ 7 ] , i s emphasized.
The c o s t o f t h i s a d d i t i o n a l s t e p - u p c o n v e r t e r
VA e q = V2o)L i n \ I L i s n o t a n a l y z e d b u t i t s h o u l d be no more t h a n t h a t
a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e components and c i r c u i t s shown
w h e r e , i[_ and l[_ a r e t h e peak and t h e rms currents i n t h i s p a p e r , s i n c e t h e c o s t o p t i m i z a t i o n was n o t
though the inductor L-j ^and GO =377 n rad/sec. attempted. I n t h i s c o n n e c t i o n , i t s h o u l d be n o t e d
For L j = 1 . 3 mH, I = 4 . 4 A and i = 6 . 2 A ,
n L L t h a t t h e s t a b i l i z e d dc bus v o l t a g e as an i n p u t t o
t h e PWM i n v e r t e r w o u l d r e s u l t i n a l o w e r c o s t o f
the i n v e r t e r switches, thereby p a r t i a l l y o f f s e t t i n g
V A eq ^6.7 VA the step-up converter cost.
The p r o b l e m o f R a d i o N o i s e and t h e need f o r a
Considering t h a t f o r t h i s high frequency s w i t c h i n g RFI/EMI filter must also be examined.
a p p l i c a t i o n t h e i n d u c t o r w o u l d be made up o f a
f e r r i t e c o r e where t h e maximum a l l o w a b l e f l u x d e n ­ 6. REFERENCES
s i t y i s l o w e r by a f a c t o r o f 6 compared w i t h t h e
s i l i c o n steel - [1] N. Mohan, T.M. Undeland, J.M. Calm, "Input
C u r r e n t H a r m o n i c s and Power F a c t o r o f O p e r a t i o n
VA q e VA ( u s i n g ferrite). in Transistor Inverters for Induction Motor
Drives", International Power Electronics
The above c a l c u l a t i o n s show t h a t t h e i n d u c t o r s i z e Conference ( I P E C ) R e c o r d , p p . 6 4 9 - 6 5 9 , Tokyo
used w i t h a 100 kHz s w i t c h i n g f r e q u e n c y w o u l d be ( J a p a n ) , March 2 7 - 3 1 , 1983.
r e a s o n a b l y s m a l l ( e q u i v a l e n t t o a 40 VA i r o n - c o r e [ 2 ] T . M . U n d e l a n d , N. Mohan, " O v e r - m o d u l a t i o n and
transformer). Loss C o n s i d e r a t i o n s i n H i g h F r e q u e n c y M o d u l a t e d
Transistorized Induction Motor Drives",
IEEE/IAS-1983 Conference Record, pp. 534-539.
[ 3 ] Jun-Ichi Nishizawa, "Junction Field-Effect
D e v i c e s " , c o n t r i b u t e d t o a book " S e m i c o n d u c t o r
D e v i c e s f o r Power C o n d i t i o n i n g " e d i t e d by R.
S i t t i n g and P. R o g g w i l l e r , Plenum P r e s s , 1 9 8 2 .

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[4J T.M. Undeland, "Snubber-s for PWM Bridge
Converters with Power Transistors or GTOS",
IPEC Record, pp. 313-323, Tokyo (Japan), March
27-31 1983.
t

[5] T.M. Undeland, F. Jenset, and A. Steinbakk, IIA

Snubber Configuration for Both Transistor and
GTO PWM Inverters", to be published in the 1984
Power Electronics Specialists Conference
Record, June 18-21, 1984, Gaithersburg,
Maryland.
[6] Cuk, Middlebrook, IIA General Unified Approach
to Modelling Switching-Converter Power Stages",
IEEE PESC Conference Record, 1976.
[7] N. Mohan, T .M. Undeland, and J.M. Calm,
"Characteristics of Input Currents in PWM
Transi stor Inverters II, to be pub 1i shed in the
Conference Proceedings of Trends in Electric
Utility Research, April 3-4, 1984, Chicago,
Illinois.

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