Special Topics in Power Electronics

EEE-569 Lecture Notes

Lecture 8 AC-AC Converters

A. Prof. Dr. Canras Batunlu

METU Northern Cyprus Campus
Introduction

A power electronic ac–ac converter, in generic form, accepts electric power

from one system and converts it for delivery to another ac system with
waveforms of different amplitude, frequency, and phase.

The voltage control is accomplished either by

(1) phase control under natural commutation using pairs of silicon-controlled
rectifiers (SCRs) or triacs or

(2) by on/off control under forced commutation/self-commutation using

fully controlled self-commutated switches, such as gate turn-off thyristors (GTOs),
power transistors, insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBTs), MOS-controlled
thyristors (MCTs), integrated gate-commutated thyristor (IGCTs), etc.

The ac–ac power converters in which ac power at one frequency is directly converted
to ac power at another frequency without any intermediate dc conversion link (as in
the case of inverters) are known as cycloconverters, the majority of which use
naturally commutated SCRs for their operation when the maximum output frequency
is limited to a fraction of the input frequency. With rapid advancements of fast-acting
fully controlled switches, forced commutated cycloconverters, or recently developed
matrix converters with bidirectional on/off control switches provide independent
control of the magnitude and the frequency of the generated output voltage, as well
as sinusoidal modulation of output voltage and current.
 Single-Phase AC–AC Voltage Controller

Single-phase ac voltage controllers:

(a) full wave, two SCRs in inverse-parallel;

(b) full wave with triac (for lower power applictions);

(c) full wave with two SCRs and two diodes (provide a
common cathode connection for simplifying the gating
circuit without requiring isolation) ;
(d) full wave with four diodes and one SCR (to reduce the
device cost but with increased device conduction loss.) ;
and
(e) half wave with one SCR and one diode in antiparallel (a
unidirectional half-wave asymmetrical voltage control with
device economy, but introduces dc component and more
harmonics, and thus it is not so practical to use except for
very low-power-heating load).
Phase-Controlled Single-phase AC Voltage Controller

Waveforms for single-phase ac full-wave voltage controller with R-load.

Typical waveforms of single-phase ac voltage controller with an RL load.
θ versus α curves for single-phase
ac voltage controller with RL load.

Envelope of control characteristics

of a single-phase ac voltage
controller with RL load.
Gating Signal Requirements: For the inverse-parallel SCRs, the gating signals of
SCRs must be isolated from one another because
there is no common cathode.

For R-load, each SCR stops conducting at the end of

each half cycle and under this condition, single short
pulses may be used
for gating.

With RL load, however, this single short pulse gating

is not suitable as shown in Fig. When SCR T2 is
triggered at ωt = π + α, SCR T1 is still conducting due
to the load inductance. By the time the SCR T1 stops
conducting at β, the gate pulse for SCR T2 has
already ceased and T2 will fail to turn on resulting
the converter to operate as a single-phase rectifier
with conduction of T1 only.

This necessitates the application of a sustained gate

pulse either in the form of a continuous signal for
the half-cycle period, which increases the dissipation
in SCR gate circuit and a large isolating pulse
transformer or better a train of pulses (carrier
frequency gating) to overcome these difficulties.

Single-phase full-wave controller with RL load: gate pulse requirements.

Power Factor and Harmonics:
The input power factor depends on α and as α increases, the power factor decreases.

The harmonic distortion increases and the quality of the input current decreases with
increase of firing angle. The variations of low-order harmonics with the firing angle as
computed by Fourier analysis of the voltage waveform of with R-load are shown in Fig.
Only odd harmonics exist in the input current because of half-wave symmetry.

Harmonic content
as a function of the
firing angle for a
single-phase
voltage controller
with RL load.
Single-Phase AC–AC Voltage Controller with On/Off Control

Integral Cycle Control:

As an alternative to the phase control, the method of integral cycle control or burst-firing is
used for heating loads.
Here, the switch is turned on for a time tn with n integral cycles and turned off for a time tm
with m integral cycles (Fig).

As the SCRs or triacs used here are turned on at the zero crossing of the input voltage and turn
off occurs at zero current, supply harmonics and radio frequency interference are very low.

However, subharmonic frequency components may be generated, which are undesirable

because they may set up subharmonic resonance in the power supply system, cause lamp
flicker, and may interfere with the natural frequencies of motor loads causing shaft
oscillations.
PWM AC Chopper:
As in the case of controlled rectifier, the performance of ac voltage controllers can be improved
in terms of harmonics, quality of output current, and input power factor by PWM control in
PWM ac choppers; the circuit configuration of one such single-phase unit is shown in Fig.

Here, fully controlled

Single-phase PWM ac chopper circuit.
switches S1 and S2
connected in antiparallel
are turned on and off many
times during the positive
and negative half cycles of
the input voltage,
respectively. S1 and S2
provide the freewheeling
paths for the load current
when S1 and S2 are off.

Typical output voltage and current waveforms of a single-phase PWM ac chopper.

Three-Phase AC–AC Voltage Controllers

Phase-Controlled Three-Phase AC Voltage Controllers

Three-phase ac voltage controller circuit configurations

Phase-Controlled Three-Phase AC Voltage Controllers

Three-phase ac voltage controller circuit configurations

Fully Controlled Three-Phase Three-Wire AC Voltage Controller

Star-connected Load with Isolated Neutral:

The six SCRs are turned on in the sequence 1-2-3-4-5-6 at 60◦ intervals, and the gate
signals are sustained throughout the possible conduction angle. The output phase voltage
waveforms for α = 30◦, 75◦, and 120◦ for a balanced three-phase R-load are shown innet
figure. At any interval, either three SCRs, or two SCRs, or no SCRs may be on, and the
instantaneous output voltages to the load are either a line-to-neutral voltage (three SCRs
on), or one-half of the line-to-line voltage (two SCRs on), or zero (no SCR on). Depending
on the firing angle α, there may be three operating modes:
Output voltage waveforms for a three-phase ac
voltage controller with star-connected R-load:
(a) van for α =30◦; (b) van for α = 75◦; and (c)
van = 120◦.
 (a) van for α =30◦
Mode I (also known as Mode 2/3): 0 ≤ α ≤ 60◦;
There are periods when three SCRs are conducting, one in each phase for either direction,
and there are periods when just two SCRs conduct. For example, with α =30◦ in Fig. a, assume
that at ωt =0, SCRs T5 and T6 are conducting, and the current through the R-load in a-phase is
zero making van =0. At ωt =30◦, T1 receives a gate pulse and starts conducting; T5 and T6
remain on and van = vAN. The current in T5 reaches zero at 60◦, turning T5 off. With T1 and
T6 staying on, van = ½ vAB. At 90◦, T2 is turned on, the three SCRs T1, T2, and T6 are then
conducting and van =vAN. At 120◦, T6 turns off, leaving T1 and T2 on, so van = ½ vAC. Thus
with the progress of firing in sequence till α = 60◦, the number of SCRs conducting at a
particular instant alternates between two and three.
 (b) van for α = 75◦;

Mode II (also known as Mode 2/2): 60◦ ≤α ≤90◦; Two SCRs, one in each phase, always
conduct. For α = 75◦ as shown in Fig. b, just prior to α = 75◦, SCRs T5 and T6 were
conducting and van = 0. At 75◦, T1 is turned on, and T6 continues to conduct, whereas T5
turns off as vCN is negative. van = ½ vAB. When T2 is turned on at 135◦, T6 is turned off
and van = ½ vAC. The next SCR to turn on is T3, which turns off T1 and van = 0. One SCR is
always turned off when another is turned on in this range of α, and the output voltage is
either one-half line-to-line voltage or zero.
Mode III (also known as Mode 0/2): 90◦ ≤ α ≤ 150◦;
When none or two SCRs conduct. For α = 120◦, Fig. c, earlier no SCRs were on and
van = 0. At α = 120◦, SCR T1 is given a gate signal, whereas T6 has a gate signal
already applied. Since vAB is positive, T1 and T6 are forward-biased and they begin to
conduct and van = ½ vAB. Both T1 and T6 turn off when vAB becomes negative.
When a gate signal is given to T2, it turns on and T1 turns on again. For α>150◦, there
is no period when two SCRs are conducting and the output voltage is zero at α =
150◦. Thus, the range of the firing angle control is 0≤α≤150◦.
Typical simulation
results for three-
phase ac voltage
controller-fed RL load
(R = 1, L = 3.2 mH) for
α = 60◦, 90◦, and 105◦.
Cycloconverters

In contrast to the ac voltage controllers operating at constant frequency, discussed

so far, a cycloconverter operates as a direct ac–ac frequency changer with inherent
voltage control feature. The basic principle of this converter to construct an
alternating voltage wave of lower frequency from successive segment of voltage
waves of higher frequency ac supply by a switching arrangement.

With the development of large-power SCRs and micropocessor-based

control, the cycloconverter today is a matured practical converter for
application in large-power lowspeed variable-voltage variable-frequency
(VVVF) ac drives in cement and steel rolling mills, as well as in variable-
speed constant-frequency (VSCF) systems in aircrafts and naval ships.

A cycloconverter is a naturally commuted converter with

inherent capability of bidirectional power flow, and there is no real
limitation on its size unlike an SCR inverter with commutation
elements.

The main limitations of a naturally commutated cycloconverter are (1) limited

frequency range for subharmonic free and efficient operation and (2) poor input
displacement/power factor, particularly at low-output voltages.
Cycloconverters
Single-Phase to Single-Phase Cycloconverter

Because of the unidirectional current

carrying property of the individual
converters, it is inherent that the
positive half cycle of the current is
carried by the P-converter
and the negative half cycle of the
current by the N-converter regardless
of the phase of the current with
respect to the voltage.

This means that for a reactive load,

each converter operates in both
rectifying and inverting region during
the period of the associated half cycle
of the low-frequency output current.

(a) Power circuit for a single-phase bridge cycloconverter

and (b) simplified equivalent circuit of a cycloconverter.
 Operation with R-Load:

Input and output waveforms of a 50–16 2/3 -Hz cycloconverter with R load.

The P- and N-converters operate for alternate To/2 periods. The output frequency
(1/To) can be varied by varying To and the voltage magnitude by varying the firing
angle α of the SCRs. As shown in the figure, three cycles of the ac input wave are
combined to produce one cycle of the output frequency to reduce the supply
frequency to one-third across the load.
A near approximation to sine wave can be synthesized by a phase
modulation of the firing angles as shown in Fig. below for a 50–
10-Hz cycloconverter.

The harmonics in the load voltage waveform are less

compared to earlier waveform. The supply current, however,
contains a subharmonic at the output frequency for this case as
shown.

Waveforms of a single-phase single-phase cycloconverter

(50–10 Hz) with RL load: (a) load voltage and load current and (b)
input supply current.
Operation with RL Load:

Idealized load voltage and current waveform for a

cycloconverter with RL load.

While the P bridge is causing both positive load voltage and current, it is in
rectifying mode. But with inductive load the load current continues positive after
the load voltage has reversed. For this interval the P bridge is inverting. While the
load voltage and current are both negative, the N bridge is rectifying. When the
load current continues negative after the voltage has again become positive, the N
bridge is inverting.
Operation with R-Load:
Example: When operating as a cycloconverter a single-phase, circulating current
free dual converter with input 110 V, 60 Hz is used to produce an output voltage
waveform of the general form (Fig.). The output frequency is one-third of the input
frequency, and p 45. Calculate the amplitude of the fundamental current.
Three-phase-to-single-phase, half-wave (three-
pulse) cycloconverter (a) demonstrating
the inverse-parallel feature, (b) demonstrating
the positive (P) and negative (N)
groups, and (c) showing the midpoint
circulating current connection.

To alleviate the control problems arising with

discontinuous load current an intergroup
reactor may be connected, as in Fig. c. The
firing angles of the two converters are
regulated so that both bridges conduct
simultaneously and a controlled
amount of current Ic is allowed to circulate
between them unidirectionally.
Three-Phase Cycloconverters

(a) Three-phase half-wave (three-pulse) cycloconverter supplying a single-phase load; (b) three-pulse cycloconverter supplying a
threephase load; and (c) output voltage waveform for one phase of a three-pulse cycloconverter operating at 15 Hz from a 50-Hz supply
and 0.6-power factor lagging load.
Circulating-Current Mode Operation
Figure shows typical waveforms of a three-pulse cycloconverter operating with circulating current. Each converter
conducts continuously with rectifying and inverting modes as shown, and the load is supplied with an average
voltage of two converters reducing some of the ripple in the process, the intergroup reactor behaving as a potential
divider. The reactor limits the circulating current; the value of its inductance to the flow of load current is one-
fourth of its value to the flow of circulating current as the inductance is proportional to the square of the number of
turns.
Circulating Current-free Mode Operation:

Waveforms for a three-

pulse circulating current-
free cycloconverter with RL
load.

Figure shows the typical waveforms for a three-pulse cycloconverter operating in this mode
with RL load assuming continuous current operation. Depending on the load current direction,
only one converter operates at a time and the load voltage is the same as the output voltage
of the conducting converter.
As explained earlier in the case of single-phase cycloconverter, there is a possibility of short
circuit of the supply voltages at the cross-over points of the converter unless taken care of in
the control circuit. The circulating current is completely suppressed by blocking all the SCRs in
the converter, which is not delivering the load current.
Three-Phase Cycloconverters
THREE-PHASE TO SINGLE-PHASE CYCLOCONVERTERS

A current sensor is incorporated in each output phase of the cycloconverter, which detects
the direction of the output current and feeds an appropriate signal to the control circuit to
inhibit or blank the gating pulses to the nonconducting converter in the same way as in the
case of a dual converter for dc drives. The circulating current-free operation improves the
efficiency, and the displacement factor of the cycloconverter and also increases the
maximum usable output frequency. The load voltage transfers smoothly from one
converter to the other.
 Equations for p-pulse Converter

A general expression for the mean load voltage of a p-pulse fully-controlled

rectifier, including the effects of the overlap angle y, can be determined by
reference to Figure below;
Three-Phase Six-Pulse and Twelve-Pulse Cycloconverter

Three-phase-to-single-phase, full-wave (six-

pulse) cycloconverter: (a) doublebridge,
noncirculating current configuration, (b)
inverse-parallel topological form of (a),
and (c) double-bridge, circulating current
configuration.
Three-phase six-pulse cycloconverter with isolated loads.

Cycloconverter load voltage

waveforms with lagging
power factor load: (a) six-
pulse connection and (b)
twelve-pulse connection.
THREE-PHASE TO THREE-PHASE CYCLOCONVERTER

Three-phase-to-three-phase, half-wave (3 pulse) cycloconverter

circuits: (a) circulating current free and (b) circulating current
connection.
Three-phase (six pulse) circulating current free
bridge cycloconverter
Load phase voltage for three-phase-to-three-phase (six-pulse) bridge cycloconverter.
M 1, f0 / fin= 1/3. (a) R load, cosφ =1. (b) R-L load, cos φ =0.5 lag. (c) RC load, cos φ=
0.5 lead.
Envelope Cycloconverters

Single-phase cycloconverter: (a) circuit diagram for two-pulse operation and

(b) load voltage waveforms, wo/win 1/3
Envelope Cycloconverters

Voltage waveforms for a three-phase-to-single-

Three-phase-to-single-phase
phase cycloconverter. R load,
cycloconverter circuit
Envelope Cycloconverters

Three-phase-to-three-
phase cycloconverter
Envelope Cycloconverters

Load voltage waveform eu for three-phase envelope cycloconverter

of, A =0.5: (a) M =2, (b) M =3, (c) M =4, (d) M = 5, and (e) M =6
 Matrix Converter
The matrix converter (MC) is a development of the FCC based on bidirectional fully
controlled switches, incorporating PWM voltage control, as mentioned earlier.

Single-phase bidirectional switches: (a) two SCRs in inverse-parallel, (b) triac

bidirectional switch, (c) two IGBTs in inverse parallel (probably nonviable due to
limited reverse blocking), and (d) IGBT diode switch.

It provides a good alternative to the double-sided PWM voltage source rectifier–

inverters having the advantages of being a single stage converter with only nine
switches for three-phase to three-phase conversion and inherent bidirectional
power flow, sinusoidal input/output waveforms with moderate switching
frequency, possibility of a compact design due to the absence of dc link reactive
components, and controllable input power factor independent of the output
load current.
(a) 3φ-3φ Matrix converter (forced
commutated cycloconverter) circuit with input
filter and (b) switching matrix symbol for
converter
in (a).
 Basic circuit of a three-phase matrix converter.

The main disadvantages of the matrix converters developed so far are the
inherent restriction of the voltage transfer ratio (0.866), a more complex
control, commutation and protection strategy, and above all the
nonavailability of a fully controlled bidirectional high frequency switch
integrated in a silicon chip (triac, though bilateral, cannot be fully controlled).
Three-phase/three-phase matrix converter switching combinations
 EconoMac matrix converter module by Eupec
Output voltage limits for three-phase ac-ac
matrix converter: (a) basic converter input
voltages and (b) maximum attainable with
inclusion of third harmonic voltages of input
and output frequency to the target voltages.
The applications for these drives
as recommended are as follows:
with heavy loads that require
regenerative energy such as
steel manufacturing process
lines or cargo handling
machinery, and also that need
power regeneration for a long
period such as winders for
paper.
Indirect modulation model of a matrix
converter: (a) VSR–VSI conversion; (b) output
voltage switching vector hexagon; and (c) input
current switching vector hexagon.
 Diode clamp for matrix converter.

Indirect matrix converter (IMC). Multilevel matrix converter (a) configuration (b)
switch symbol and (c) switch realization.