Module-2

Phase Controlled Converter: Control techniques, Single phase half wave and
full wave controlled rectifier with resistive and inductive loads, effect of
freewheeling diode.
Choppers: Chopper Classification, Basic Chopper operation: step-down, step-
up and step-up/down choppers.

CO2-
Analyze and design controlled rectifier, DC to DC converters and Choppers

Total hours -8
• Process of Converting AC to DC. this can be achieved
by variety of circuits using switching devices.
• Widely used switching devices are diodes, thyristors,
power transisters, power MOS, etc.
• 3-Clasification of Rectification
• Uncontrolled-only diode
• Fully Controlled- thyristors
• Half Controlled - mixure of diode and thyristors
• It is possible for a phase controlled converters provide
either a one-quadrant, two-quadrant or four-quadrant
operations at it d.c terminals.
• Uncontrolled and half-controlled rectifiers will permit
power to flow only from the a.c system to the d.c
load- unidirectional converters.

• Fully- controller rectifiers it is possible by control of

the point-on- wave at which tching takes place, to
allow power to be transferred from d.c side of the
rectifier back into a.c system.-Bidirectional converter.
i)Phase angle-control [firing angle control]
ii)Exitation angle control
iii)Pulse width modulation(PWM) control
i)With Resistive Load
i)With Resistive Load
i)With Resistive Load
a)Average Load Voltage:
the Average Load voltage can be derrived as

Edc  1   Em .Sin  td ( t )
2 
where Em is the peak value of a.c input voltage

 1 Em[ cost ]
 Edc  Em [1 cos ]
2 2
the Maximum output voltage is obtained when α =0.

E dc max  E
m
i)With Resistive Load
b)Average Load current:
the Average Load current is directly proposional to the average load voltage
divided by the load current

I  E [1  cos  ]
m

2 R
d
i)With Resistive Load
c)RMS Load Voltage:
the RMS Load voltage for a given firing
angle α is given by
Vs n m

wt

Vo
io

wt

ig1 Gate pulse of T1

wt
ig2 Gate pulse of T2

wt

(b) Waveforms
• In phase control the Thyristors are used as
switches to connect the load circuit to the input
ac supply, for a part of every input cycle.
• i.e the ac supply voltage is chopped using
Thyristors during a part of each input cycle.
• Thyristor switch is turned on for a part of every
half cycle, so that input supply voltage appears
across the load and then turned off during the
remaining part of input half cycle to disconnect
the ac supply from the load.
• By controlling the phase angle or the
trigger angle ‘’ (delay angle), the output
RMS voltage across the load can be
controlled.

• The trigger delay angle ‘’ is defined as

the phase angle (the value of t) at which
the thyristor turns on and the load current
begins to flow.
• The basic principle of ac phase control
technique is explained with reference to a single
phase half wave ac voltage controller
(unidirectional controller) circuit shown in the
below figure.

(a) Half-wave AC phase controller (Unidirectional Controller)

• The half wave ac controller uses one thyristor and one
diode connected in parallel across each other in
opposite direction.
• i.e anode of thyristor T1 is connected to the cathode of
diode D 1 and the cathode of T 1 is connected to the
anode of D1.

• The output voltage across the load resistor ‘R’ and

hence the ac power flow to the load is controlled by
varying the trigger angle ‘’.

• The trigger angle or the delay angle ‘’ refers to the

value of or the instant at which the thyristor T 1 is
triggered to turn it ON, by applying a suitable gate
trigger pulse between the gate and cathode lead.
• The thyristor T 1 is forward biased during the
positive half cycle of input ac supply.

• It can be triggered and made to conduct by

applying a suitable gate trigger pulse only during
the positive half cycle of input supply.

• When T 1 is triggered it conducts and the load

current flows through the thyristor T1, the load
and through the transformer secondary winding.
• By assuming T 1 as an ideal thyristor switch it
can be considered as a closed switch when it is
ON during the period ωt=α to πradians.

• The output voltage across the load follows the

input supply voltage when the thyristor T 1 is
turned-on and when it conducts from ωt=α to
πradians.

• When the input supply voltage decreases to

zero at ωt=π, for a resistive load the load
current also falls to zero at ωt=π and hence the
thyristor T1 turns off at ωt=π.
• Between the time period ωt=π to 2π,
when the supply voltage reverses and
becomes negative the diode D1 becomes
forward biased and hence turns ON and
conducts.

• The load current flows in the opposite

direction during ωt=π to 2πradians when
D1 is ON and the output voltage follows
the negative half cycle of input supply.
(b) Waveform
DISADVANTAGES OF SINGLE PHASE HALF WAVE AC
VOLTAGE CONTROLLER
• The output load voltage has a DC component because
the two halves of the output voltage waveform are not
symmetrical with respect to ‘0’ level.
• The input supply current waveform also has a DC
component (average value) which can result in the
problem of core saturation of the input supply
transformer.
• The half wave ac voltage controller using a single
thyristor and a single diode provides control on the
thyristor only in one half cycle of the input supply. Hence
ac power flow to the load can be controlled only in one
half cycle.
• Half wave ac voltage controller gives limited
range of RMS output voltage control. Because
the RMS value of ac output voltage can be
varied from a maximum of 100% of V s at a
trigger angle α=0 to a low of 70.7% of V s
atα=πradians.

• These drawbacks of single phase half wave ac

voltage controller can be over come by using a
single phase full wave ac voltage controller.
• Single phase full wave ac voltage
controller circuit using two SCRs or a
single triac is generally used in most of
the ac control applications.

• The ac power flow to the load can be

controlled in both the half cycles by
varying the trigger angle.
• The input supply current is alternating in the
case of a full wave ac voltage controller and due
to the symmetrical nature of the input supply
current waveform there is no dc component of
input supply current i.e., the average value of
the input supply current is zero.

• It is possible to control the ac power flow to the

load in both the half cycles by adjusting the
trigger angle . Hence the full wave ac voltage
controller is also referred to as to a bi-directional
controller.
(a) Circuit Diagram
• The thyristor T1 is forward biased during the positive half
cycle of the input supply voltage.

• The thyristor T1 is triggered at a delay angle of ‘α’,

0     radians 

• Considering the ON thyristor T 1 as an ideal closed

switch the input supply voltage appears across the load
resistor RL and the output voltage vo=vs during ωt=α to π
radians.

• The load current flows through the ON thyristor T1 and

through the load resistor RL in the downward direction
during the conduction time of T1 from ωt=α to π radians.
• At ωt=π, when the input voltage falls to zero the
thyristor current (which is flowing through the
load resistor R L ) falls to zero and hence T 1
naturally turns off . No current flows in the circuit
during ωt=π to (π+α).

• The thyristor T 2 is forward biased during the

negat ive c y c l e o f i n p u t s u p p l y a n d w h e n
thyristor T2 is triggered at a delay angle (π+α),
the output voltage follows the negative halfcycle
of input from ωt=π+α to 2π.
• When T 2 is ON, the load current flows in the
reverse direction (upward direction) through T2
during ωt=π+α to 2π radians.

• The time interval (spacing) between the gate

trigger pulses of T1 and T2 is kept at π radians
or 1800.

• At ωt=2π the input supply voltage falls to zero

and hence the load current also falls to zero and
thyristor T2 turn off naturally.
(b) Waveform
• The RMS value of output voltage (load
voltage) can be found using the
expression 1
2
v 2 d  t 
V2 V2 
O  RMS  L  RMS 
2 
0
L

• For a full wave ac voltage controller, we

can see that the two half cycles of output
voltage waveforms are symmetrical and
the output pulse time period (or output
pulse repetition time) is π radians.
• It is possible to design a single phase full wave ac
controller with a common cathode configuration by
having a common cathode point for T 1 and T 2 & by
adding two diodes in a full wave ac controller circuit as
shown in the figure below:

(c) Circuit Diagram

• Thyristor T 1 and diode D 1 are forward biased
during the positive half cycle of input supply.
• When thyristor T1 is triggered at a delay angle α,
Thyristor T1 and diode D1 conduct together from
ωt=α to during the positive half cycle.
• The thyristor T2 and diode D2 are forward biased
during the negative half cycle of input supply,
when trigged at a delay angle α, thyristor T2 and
diode D2 conduct together during the negative
half cycle from ωt=(π+α) to 2π.
• In this circuit as there is one single common
cathode point, routing of the gate trigger pulses
to the thyristor gates of T1 and T2 is simpler and
only one isolation circuit is required.
• Due to the need of two power diodes the costs
of the devices increase.

• As there are two power devices conducting at

the same time the voltage drop across the ON
devices increases and the ON state conducting
losses of devices increase and hence the
efficiency decreases.
 D1 D3
+
T1

D4 D2
AC
Supply RL

(d) Circuit Diagram

• The four diodes act as a bridge full wave rectifier.

• The voltage across the thyristor T1 and current through

thyristor T1 are always unidirectional.

• When T 1 is triggered at ωt=α, during the positive half

cycle , the load current flows through D 1 , T1 , diode D 2
and through the load.

• With a resistive load, the thyristor current (flowing

through the ON thyristor T 1 ) , the load current falls to
zero at ωt=π, when the input supply voltage decreases
to zero at ωt=π, the thyristor naturally turns OFF.
• In the negative half cycle, diodes D 3 & D 4 are forward
biased during ωt=π to 2π radians.
• When T1 is triggered at ωt=(π+α), the load current flows
in the opposite direction (upward direction) through the
load, through D3, T1 and D4.
• Thus D3, D4 and T1 conduct together during the negative
half cycle to supply the load power.
• When the input supply voltage becomes zero at ωt=2π,
the thyristor current (load current) falls to zero at ωt=2π
and the thyristor naturally turns OFF.
• The waveforms and the expression for the RMS output
voltage are the same as discussed earlier for the single
phase full wave ac controller.
• But however if there is a large inductance in the
load circuit, thyristor T1 may not be turned OFF
at the zero crossing points, in every half cycle of
input voltage and this may result in a loss of
output control.

• This would require detection of the zero

crossing of the load current waveform in order to
ensure guaranteed turn off of the conducting
thyristor before triggering the thyristor in the
next half cycle, so that we gain control on the
output voltage.
• In this full wave ac controller circuit using a single
thyristor, as there are three power devices conducting
together at the same time there is more conduction
voltage drop and an increase in the ON state conduction
losses and hence efficiency is also reduced.

• The diode bridge rectifier and thyristor (or a power

transistor) act together as a bidirectional switch which is
commercially available as a single device module and it
has relatively low ON state conduction loss.

• It can be used for bidirectional load current control and

for controlling the RMS output voltage.
• In practice most of the loads are of RL type.
• For example if we consider a single phase full wave ac
voltage controller controlling the speed of a single phase
ac induction motor, the load which is the induction motor
winding is an RL type of load, where R represents the
motor winding resistance and L represents the motor
winding inductance.

• A single phase full wave ac voltage controller circuit

(bidirectional controller) with an RL load using two
thyristors and (two SCRs) connected in parallel is shown
in the figure below.
(a) Circuit Diagram
• The thyristor T1 is forward biased during the positive half
cycle of input supply.
• Let us assume that T1 is triggered at ωt=α, by applying a
suitable gate trigger pulse to T1 during the positive half
cycle of input supply.
• The output voltage across the load follows the input
supply voltage when T1 is ON.
• The load current i o flows through the thyristor T 1 and
through the load in the downward direction.
• This load current pulse flowing through T 1 can be
considered as the positive current pulse.
• Due to the inductance in the load, the load current i o
flowing through T1 would not fall to zero at ωt=π, when
the input supply voltage starts to become negative.
• The thyristor T 1 will continue to conduct
the load current until all the inductive
energy stored in the load inductor L is
completely utilized and the load current
through T1 falls to zero at ωt=, where  is
referred to as the Extinction angle, (the
value of ωt) at which the load current falls
to zero.

• The extinction angle  is measured from

the point of the beginning of the positive
half cycle of input supply to the point
where the load current falls to zero.
(b) Input supply voltage & Thyristor current waveforms
(b) Gating Signals
The choppers are power circuits which obtain
power from a fixed voltage DC supply and convert
it into a variable DC voltage. They are also called
as DC choppers or DC to DC converters.
Choppers employ forced commutation to turn off
the thyristors.
DC choppers are further classified into several
types depending on the direction of power flow
and the type of commutation.
+ V
0(dc)

+
DC Variable DC
V
s
Chopper Output Voltage
-

-
Applications:

Speed control of DC motors from a DC supply

DC drives
Switch mode power supplies
Battery driven vehicles
DC Chopper Circuit (DC-DC Converter) using IGBT
A chopper is a static device which is used to obtain a
variable dc voltage from a constant dc voltage source.
A chopper is also known as dc-to-dc converter.
The thyristor converter offers greater efficiency, faster
response, lower maintenance, smaller size and
smooth control.
Choppers are widely used in trolley cars, battery
operated vehicles, traction motor control, control of
large number of dc motors, etc…..
They are also used in regenerative braking of dc
motors to return energy back to supply and also as dc
voltage regulators.
A chopper can be considered as dc equivalent
to an ac transformer with a continuously
variable turns ratio.

Choppers are of two types

1. Step-down choppers
2. Step-up choppers
 Chopper
i0
+

V R V0

Step-down chopper with resistive load

When switch SW is closed for a time tON , the input voltage
V appears across the load.

If the switch remains off for a time tOFF , the voltage across
the load is zero.

The chopper switch can be implemented by using a (a)

power BJT (b) power MOSFET (c) GTO (d) forced-
commutated thyristor.
 v0
V

Vdc

t
tON tOFF
i0

V/R
Idc
t
T

Step-down choppers — output voltage and current waveforms

Vdc = average value of output or load voltage
Idc = average value of output or load current
tON = time interval for which SCR conducts
tOFF = time interval for which SCR is OFF
T = t ON +t OFF = period of switching or chopping
period
f=1/T = frequency of chopper switching or
chopping frequency

 tON 
Average output voltage,Vdc  V  
 tON  tOFF 
tON
Vdc  V
T
But,
tON / T  d

Average output current, I dc 

Vdc
R

V  tON  V
I dc    d
R T  R

RMS value of output voltage,

tON
1
VO 
T  vo2dt

But during, t , v  V
0

ON o
Therefore RMS output voltage,
tON
1
 dt
2
VO  V
T 0

V 2  tON t
Vo   ON V  d  V
T T
Output power, PO  VO I O

VO
IO 
R

VO2
PO 
R
dV 2
Po 
R
 Vdc
Effective input resistance of chopper,Ri 
I dc

V
Ri 
V d
R

R
Ri 
d

The output voltage can be varied by varying the

duty cycle.
Figure (a) shows a step-down chopper with R-L
load and free wheeling diode.
The operation of the chopper can be divided
into two modes.
During mode 1, the chopper is switched ON
and the current flow from supply to the load.
During mode 2, the chopper is switched OFF
and the load current continues to flow through
freewheeling diode (FWD)Dm .
 Chopper
i0
+
R

V V0
FWD L

E


(a) Step Down Chopper with R-L Load

When the current exceeds Imax the chopper is turned-off and it

is turned-on when current reduces to Imin.
v0
Output
voltage
V
tON tOFF
t
T
i0 Output
Imax current

Continuous
Imin current
t
i0 Output
current
Discontinuous
current
t

(b) Output Voltage and Load Current Waveforms

  0  t  tON 

i0
+
R

V V0
L

E
-

(c) Circuit Diagram-1

 I L D
+
+ 

L
C O VO
V A
D
Chopper

(a) Step-up arrangement

• The values of L and C are chosen depending upon the
requirement of output voltage and current.

• When the chopper is ON, the inductor L is connected across

the supply.

• The inductor current ‘I’ rises and the inductor stores energy
during the ON time of the chopper, tON.

• When the chopper is off, the inductor current I is forced to flow

through the diode D and load for a period, toff.

• The current tends to decrease resulting in reversing the polarity

of induced EMF in L.
• Voltage across load is given by:
dI
Vo  V  L
dt
• If a large capacitor ‘C’ is connected across the load
then the capacitor will provide a continuous output
voltage .

• Diode D prevents any current flow from capacitor to

the source.

• Step up choppers are used for regenerative braking of

dc motors.
• Assume the average inductor current to be I during
ON and OFF time of Chopper.

When Chopper is ON
• Voltage across inductor L = V
• Therefore energy stored in an inductor = VItON

When Chopper is OFF (energy is supplied by inductor

to load)
• Voltage across L = Vo-V
• Energy supplied by inductor L  VO  V  ItOFF
• Neglecting losses, energy stored in inductor L =
energy supplied by inductor L
VItON  VO  V  ItOFF
 V tON  tOFF 
VO 
tOFF

 T 
VO  V  
 T  t ON 

 
 1 
VO  V  
t
 1  ON 
 T 

 1 
Vo  V  
1 d 
For the variation of duty cycle ‘d’ in the range of 0<d<1 the output
voltage will vary in the range of V<output voltage<infinity.
PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS

The thyristor requires a certain minimum time to turn

ON and turn OFF.
Hence duty cycle d can be varied only between a
minimum and a maximum value, limiting the minimum
and maximum value of the output voltage.
Ripple in the load current depends inversely on the
chopping frequency, f.
Therefore to reduce the load ripple current, frequency
should be as high as possible.