Course Code: EES401

Course title: Power Electronics

Lecturer Contact:
Name: Margret Gechanga
Cell Number: +254 716101105
Email: g.kmaggy1@gmail.com

Pre-requisites: EES214 Analogue Electronics I

Course Purpose:
The aim of this course is to expose the learner to the working principle of various power
electronic devices and their applications in power processing.

The aim of this course is to enable the learner to;

1. Understand the working principle of various power devices
2. Understand applications of the power devices in power control
Expected Learning outcomes:

At the end of this course, the learner should be able to;

1. Design various converters and power control devices
2. Perform harmonic analysis generated by converters

Course Outline and Schedule

Lecture Organization

EET307 Power Electronics

Week No. Contents No. of No. of
lectures Tutorials
Week 1-2: Power
- General introduction to the unit
devices
- Basic structure and operation of
power diodes, thyristors, triacs and
transistors in switching circuits.
- Thyristor triggering circuits. 2 2
- Power semiconductor devices,
characteristics, rating, protection and
parallel operation. dv/dt and di/dt
protection.
Week 3 -4: Rectifier
- operation waveforms, voltage and
circuits: -uncontrolled 2 2
current relationships, output voltage
ripple, supply transformer rating.
 - DC output voltage control, line
communication.
- Power factor, distortion factor,
displacement factor, AC systems
harmonics and filters.
- Voltage drops, output voltage
characteristics and efficiency.
- Smoothing methods for DC output.
- Rectifier operation with resistive and
inductive loads.
- Continuous and discontinuous load
current conduction.
- Active and reactive power flow.
Week 5-6: Rectifier
- Single phase half controlled and fully
circuits: -controlled
controlled bridge converters. Overlap
angle.
2 2
- Three phase half- controlled and
fully-controlled bridge converters.
- CAT 1
Week 7: Forced-
- Definition of forced commutation
commutation
and additional stresses imposed on 1 1
Thyristor applications:
the thyristor.
- Methods of forced commutation.
Week 8-9: Inverters: - Forced commutated inverters: series
capacitor and parallel capacitor
commutation, impulse commutation
with circuit examples.
- Use of feedback diodes.
2 2
- Polyphase inverter circuits.
- Introduction to GTO applications.
- Selection and cost of passive and
magnetic components for high
current applications.
Week 10-11: DC-DC - Step-down and step-up of voltage by
conversion and chopping.
others: - Basic DC chopper theory with voltage 2 2
variation by time ratio control.
- Operation and analysis of simple
chopper circuits.
 - High voltage DC transmission
converters.
- DC-DC and DC-AC conversion using
power transistors. Power transistor
drive requirements, power
dissipation and protection.
Week 12 CAT 2
Week 13 & 14 EXAMS

Teaching Methodology

Blended (face-to-face and virtual) 2 hour lectures and 1 hour tutorial per week, and at least five
3-hour laboratory sessions per semester organized on a rotational basis. Field Trips (Transmission
and Distribution substations)

Practical/Laboratory Exercises
The practical work/laboratory exercises are to cover the following topics:
• VI characteristics of power semiconductor devices: power diodes, SCR, MOSFET and
IGBT
• Gate firing circuits for SCRs
• Single phase rectifiers - characteristics and operation with R and RL loads.
• Three phase rectifiers - characteristics and operation with R and RL loads.
• Forced commutation circuits
• Jones Chopper
• Single-phase parallel inverter with R and RL loads
• Three phase half controlled bridge converter with resistive loads.
• Single-phase cyclo converter with R and RL loads
• Single phase bridge inverter with resistive load
• Microprocessor based firing control of a bridge converter
• Modelling and simulation of power electronics circuits using suitable software such as
PSPICE.
Instructional materials and equipment

1. Electronics Lab
2. LCD projector

Course evaluation
Continuous assessment and written University examinations shall contribute 30% and 70%,
respectively of the total marks.

Core textbooks

1. Rozanov, Y. etal (2015). Power Electronics Basics: Operating Principles, Design, Formulas,
and Applications (1st Ed.). Taylor & Francis, Florida.
2. Rashid, M.H. (2014). Power Electronics: Circuits, Devices & Applications (4th Ed.). Pearson
Education Limited, Enland.
3. Hurley, W.G. & Wolfe, W.H. (2013). Transformers and Inductors for Power Electronics:
Theory, Design and Applications (1st Ed.). John Wiley & Sons, United Kingdom.

Recommended textbooks

4. Ned Mohan, Tore M. Undeland, William P. Robbins (1989), Power Electronics: Converters,
Applications, and Design, Wiley, 3rdEd.
5. P. C. Sen (1992), Power Electronics, McGraw-Hill.
6. Robert Warren Erickson and Dragan Maksimović (2001), Fundamentals of Power
Electronics, Springer, 2ndEd.
7. D. A. Bradley (1995), Power electronics, CRC Press, 2ndEd.