2 Power Electronics and Motor Drive Systems

ac Rectification dc

ac-ac dc-dc
conversion conversion

ac dc
Inversion
Figure 1.1 Typical power conversion categories used in power electronics technology.

Fig. 1.2 presents the block diagrams of the power electronics converters. As shown in
Fig. 1.2, the power electronics converters are implemented using power semiconductor
switches, power diodes, transformers, and different passive elements. By applying the
appropriate gating signals to semiconductor switches the desired output voltage or output
current is generated. The gating signal is a signal that is generated by a digital signal pro-
cessor or a microprocessor that defines the turn-on and turn-off times of the semiconductor
devices. Power semiconductor devices are the key electronic components used in power
electronic systems. Power semiconductors play a leading role in the progress of power
electronics, since they are essential for satisfying the constantly growing demands on per-
formance, cost, and reliability. Advances in power semiconductor technology have
improved the efficiency, size, weight, and cost of power electronic converters.
The power converters shown in Fig. 1.2 not only convert their input voltage to
another desired output voltage, but also control their outputs with an overall efficiency

(a) Power transformer

(b) vo1 vo2 vo3
vin
Semiconductor switch
vin 0 0
vo
0 0 INPUT OUTPUT
INPUT ii io OUTPUT ii io1 vo1
LOAD
vin
vin io2 vo3
LOAD vo LOAD
io3 vo3
LOAD

(c) (d)
van vbn vcn van vbn vcn vo1
vo 0
0 0
0
INPUT INPUT
van ia OUTPUT
van ia io io1 vo1
OUTPUT
vbn LOAD
vbn ib ib io2 vo3
n
n LOAD vo vcn LOAD
vcn ic io3 vo3
ic
LOAD

Figure 1.2 Power converters block diagrams. (a) dcedc converter; (b) inverter; (c) rectifier;
(d) cycloconverter.