Controlled rectifiers –
Principles of phase control
the firing angle may defined as the angle between the instant thyristor would conduct if it
were a diode and the instant it is triggered
Is measured form the angle that gives the largest average output voltage or the highest
load voltage
It is also defined as the angle measured from the instant that gives the largest output
voltage to the instant it is triggered
Angle measured from the instant SCR gets forward biased to the instant it is triggered
Single phase half wave circuit with R load
The source voltage is
An SCR can conduct only when anode voltage is +ve and a gate signal is applied
At some delay angle α, a +ve gate signal applied between gate and cathode turns on the
SCR
Immediately full supply voltage is applied across the load
At the instant of angle α, Vo rises from zero to
Thyristor remains on from ωt=α to π, (2π+α) to 3π etc...
During this interval voltage across thyristor =0
I is off from π to (2π+α), 3π to (4π+α) etc...
During this interval voltage across thyristor has the wave shape of supply voltage
Single phase half wave circuit with RL load
At ωt=α thyristor is turned on by gate signal
The load voltageVoat once become equal to the source voltageVs
But the inductance L forced the load, or output current io to rise gradually
After some time io reaches maximum value and then begin to decrease
At ωt=π, Vo is zero but io is not zero because of the load inductance
After ωt=π, SCR is subjected to reverse anode voltage but it will not be turned off as load
current io is not less than holding current
At some angle β>π, io reduces to zero and SCR is turned off as it is already reverse
biased
After ωt=β ,vo=0 and io=0
At ωt=2π+α, SCR is triggered again, vo is applied to the load and load current develops
as before
Angle is called the extinction angle and is called the
conduction angle
The circuit turn off time
The voltage equation for the circuit when T ison
Single phase half wave circuit with RL load and freewheeling diode
The waveform of load current io can be improved by connecting a freewheeling diode
across the load
A freewheeling diode is also called bypass diode or commutatingdiode
At ωt=0, source voltage becoming+ve
At some delay angle α, forward biased SCR is triggered and source voltageVs appears
across the load asVo
At ωt=π, source voltage Vs=0, 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 is subjected to reverse voltage and zero current, it is therefore
turned off at ωt=π
It is assumed that during freewheeling period, load current does not decays to zero until
the SCR is triggered again at (2π+α)
Voltage drop across FD is taken as almost zero, the load voltage vo is therefore zero
during the freewheeling period
SCR is reverse biased from ωt=π to ωt=2π. Therefore circuit turn off time
Operation of the circuit can be explained in two modes
First mode –conduction mode
SCR conduct from α to π, 2π+α to 3π and so on and FD is reverse biased
The duration of this mode is for [(π-α)/ω]sec. For conduction mode the voltage equation be
Mode II –freewheeling mode
Π to 2π+α, 3π to 4π+α etc... In this mode SCR is reverse biased from Π to 2π, 3π to 4π etc...
As the load current is assume continues, FD conducts fromΠ to 2π+α, 3π to4π+α etc... and so on
The voltage equation for this mode
The advantages of using FD are
Input pf is improved
Load current waveform is improved
Load performance is better
As energy is stored in the inductor L is transferred to R during the freewheeling period
Overall converter efficiency improves
Single phase half wave circuit with RLE
The counter emf in the load may be due to battery or dc motor
The minimum value of firing angle is obtained from the relation
This is occur at an angle
In case thyristor T is fired at an angle α<θ1, then E>Vs, SCR is reverse biased and
therefore it will not turn on
Similarly maximum value of firing angle is θ2=π-θ1
During the interval load current is zero and load voltage V0=E
And during the time io not zero, vo follows vs
Single phase fully controlled bridge rectifier with R load
The output voltage waveform for a controlled full-wave rectifier with a resistive load is
shown inFig. The average component of this waveform is determined from
The power delivered to the load is a function of the input voltage, the delay angle, and the
load components; P=I^2 rms R is used to determine the power in a resistive load, where
Single phase fully controlled bridge rectifier with RL load
Discontinues conduction
Load current for a controlled full-wave rectifier with an RL load can be either
continuous or discontinuous, and a separate analysis is required foreach.
Starting the analysis at ωt = 0 with zero load current, SCRs S1 and S2 in the bridge
rectifier will be forward-biased and S3 and S4 will be reverse-biased as the source
voltage becomes positive.
Gate signals are applied to S1 and S2 at ωt=α,turning S1 and S2 on.
With S1 and S2 on, the load voltage is equal to the source voltage.
The above current function becomes zero atωt=β.
If β<π+α, the current remains at zero until ωt=π+α, when gate signals are applied to S3
and S4 which are then forward-biased and begin to conduct. This mode of operation is
called discontinuous current, which is illustrated in Fig.
Continues conduction
If the load current is still positive at ωt=π+α, when gate signals are applied to S3 and S4
in the above analysis, S3 and S4 are turned on and S1 and S2 are forced off
Single phase fully controlled bridge rectifier with RLE load
Single phase semi converter
A single phase semi converter bridge with two thyristor and three diodes are shown
The two thyristor are T1 and T2, and the two diode D1, D2 and third diode is connected
across load as freewheeling diode
The load is of RLE type
After ωt=0, thyristor T1 is forward biased only when source voltage exceeds E
ThusT1 is triggered at a firing angle α, such that Vm sinα >E
WithT1 on load get connected to source throughT1 and D1. For the period ωt= α to π,
load current io flows through RLE load, D1, source andT1. And the load terminal voltage
is same as source voltage.
Soon after ωt=π, load voltage Vo tends to reverse as the ac source voltage change polarity
Just as Vo tends to reverse, FD gets forward biased and starts conducting
The load or output current io is transferred fromT1, D1 to FD. As T1 is reverse biased at
ωt=π+ through FD, T1 is turned off at ωt=π+.
The load terminal are short circuited through FD therefore load or output voltage is zero
during π< ωt< π+α
After ωt= π, during –ve half cycle, T2 will be forward biased only when the source
voltage is more than E
3 phase half-wave controlled rectifier with R load
The half-controlled bridge, or „„semi-converter,‟ is analyzed by considering it as a phase-
controlled half-wave circuit in series with an uncontrolled half-wave rectifier.
Then, the average voltage VD never reaches negative values. The output voltage waveforms of
the half-controlled bridge are similar to those of a fully controlled bridge with a freewheeling
diode.
The average dc voltage is given by the following equation:
The advantage of the free-wheeling diode connection, shown in Fig is that there is always a path
for the dc current independent of the status of the ac line and of the converter.
This can be important if the load is inductive-resistive with a large time constant, and there is an
interruption in one or more of the line phases.
3 phase fully controlled rectifier with RLE load
The output of the three-phase rectifier can be controlled by substituting SCRs for diodes.
Figure shows a controlled six-pulse three-phase rectifier. With SCRs, conduction does not begin
until a gate signal is applied while the SCR is forward-biased.
Thus, the transition of the output voltage to the maximum instantaneous line-to-line
source voltage cans be delayed. The delay angle is referenced from where the SCR would
begin to conduct if it were a [Link] delay angle is the interval between when the SCR
becomes forward-biased and when the gate signal is applied. Figure b shows the output
of the controlled rectifier for a delay angle of [Link] output voltage