AC to AC CONVERTERS TUTORIAL

EXAMPLE 1

An ac voltage controller has a resistive load of 𝑅 = 10 Ω and the root-mean-square (rms) input
voltage is 𝑉𝑠 = 120 𝑉, 60 𝐻𝑧 . The thyristors switch is on for 𝑛 = 25 cycles and is off for
𝑚 = 75. Determine (a) the rms output voltage 𝑉𝑜 , (b) the input power factor (PF), and (c) the
average and rms thyristor current of thyristors.

Solution

𝑅 = 10 Ω, 𝑉𝑠 = 120 𝑉, 𝑉𝑚 = 2 × 120 = 169.7 𝑉, and 𝑘 = 𝑛/(𝑛 + 𝑚) = 25/100 = 0.25

(a) From Equation (6.13 ), the rms value of output voltage is

𝑛 25
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉𝑠 𝑘 = 𝑉𝑠 = 120 = 60𝑉
𝑛+𝑚 100

And the load current is 𝐼𝑜 = 𝑉𝑜 /𝑅 = 60/10 = 6.0 𝐴.

(b) The load power is 𝑃𝑜 = 𝐼𝑜2 𝑅 = 62 × 10 = 360 𝑊. Because the current is the same as the load
current, the volt-ampere (VA) input is

(c) The peak thyristor current is 𝐼𝑚 = 𝑉𝑚 /𝑅 = 169.7/10 = 16.97 𝐴. The average current of
thyristors is
EXAMPLE 2

A single phase full-wave ac voltage controller has resistive load of 𝑅 = 10 Ω and the input
voltage of 𝑉𝑠 = 120 𝑉 (𝑟𝑚𝑠), 60 𝐻𝑧 . The delay angles of thyristors 𝑇1 and 𝑇2 are equal:
𝛼1 = 𝛼2 = 𝛼 = 𝜋/2. Determine (a) the rms output voltage 𝑉𝑜 , (b) The input PF, (c) the average
current of thyristors 𝐼𝐴 and (d) the rms current of thyristors 𝐼𝑅 .

Solution

𝑅 = 10 Ω, 𝑉𝑠 = 120 𝑉, 𝑉𝑚 = 2 × 120 = 169.7 𝑉, 𝛼 = 𝜋/2.

From Equation (6.1), the rms output voltage

0.5
𝛼 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝛼
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉𝑠 1 − +
𝜋 2𝜋
EXAMPLE 3

A single-phase full-wave ac voltage controller controls power flow from a 230 V, 60 Hz ac

source into a resistive load. The maximum desired output power is 10 kW. Calculate (a) the
maximum rms current rating of thyristors 𝐼𝑅𝑀 , (b) the maximum average current rating of
thyristors 𝐼𝐴𝑀 , (c) the peak current of thyristors 𝐼𝑝 , and (d) the peak value of thyristor voltage 𝑉𝑝 .

Solution

𝑃𝑜 = 10,000 𝑊, 𝑉𝑠 = 230 𝑉 , 𝑉𝑚 = 2 × 230 = 325.3 𝑉. The maximum power can be

delivered when the delay angle is 𝛼 = 0. From equation (6.1), the rms value of output voltage
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉𝑠 = 230 𝑉, 𝑃𝑜 = 𝑉𝑜2 /𝑅 = 2302 /𝑅 = 10,000, and the load resistance is 𝑅 = 5.29 Ω.

(a) The maximum rms value of load current 𝐼𝑜𝑀 = 𝑉𝑜 /𝑅 = 230/5.29 = 43.48 𝐴, and the
maximum rms value of thyristor current 𝐼𝑅𝑀 = 𝐼𝑜𝑀 / 2 = 30.75 𝐴

(b) From equation (6.4), the maximum average current of thyristors,

2𝑉𝑠
𝐼𝐴,𝑆𝐶𝑅 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛼 + 1
2𝜋𝑅

2 × 230
𝐼𝐴𝑀 = = 19.57 𝐴
𝜋 × 5.29
(c) The peak thyristor current 𝐼𝑝 = 𝑉𝑚 /𝑅 = 325.3/5.29 = 61.4 𝐴.

(d) The peak thyristor voltage 𝑉𝑝 = 𝑉𝑚 = 325.3 𝑉.

EXAMPLE 4

The three-phase full-wave controller supplies a Y-connected resistive load of 𝑅 = 10 Ω and the
line-to-line input voltage is 208 𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠 , 60 𝐻𝑧. The delay angle is 𝛼 = 𝜋/3. Determine (a) the
rms output phase voltage 𝑉𝑜 , and (b) the input PF.
Solution

𝑉𝐿 = 208𝑉, 𝑉𝑠 = 𝑉𝐿 / 3 = 208/ 3 = 120𝑉 , 𝛼 = 𝜋/3 and 𝑅 = 10 Ω

1 𝜋 𝛼 𝑠𝑖𝑛 2𝛼 1/2
(a) From 𝑉𝑜 = 6𝑉𝑠 −4+ the rms output voltage is 𝑉𝑜 = 100.9 𝑉.
𝜋 6 8

EXAMPLE 5

The input voltage to the cycloconverter in the Figure below is 120 𝑉 𝑟𝑚𝑠 , 60 𝐻𝑧. The load
resistance is 𝑅 = 5 Ω and the load inductance is 𝐿 = 40 𝑚𝐻. The frequency of the output
voltage is 20 Hz. If the converters are operated as semiconverters such that 0 ≤ 𝛼 ≤ 𝜋 and the
delay angle is 𝛼𝑝 = 2𝜋/3, determine (a) the rms value of output voltage 𝑉𝑜 , (b) the rms current
of each thyristor 𝐼𝑅 , and (c) the input PF.
Solution
𝑉𝑠 = 120 𝑉 , 𝑓𝑠 = 60 𝐻𝑧, 𝑓𝑜 = 20 𝐻𝑧, 𝑅 = 5 Ω, 𝐿 = 40 𝑚𝐻, 𝛼𝑝 = 2𝜋/3, 𝜔0 = 2𝜋 × 20 =
125.66 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠, and 𝑋𝐿 = 𝜔0 𝐿 = 5.027 Ω.

(a) For 0 ≤ 𝛼 ≤ 𝜋, Equation (6.1) gives the rms output voltage

0.5
𝛼 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝛼
𝑉𝑜 = 𝑉𝑠 1 − + = 53𝑉
𝜋 2𝜋

1/2
𝑃𝑜 𝑉𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 1 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝛼
𝑃𝐹 = = = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝜋−𝛼+
𝑉𝑠 𝐼𝑠 𝑉𝑠 𝜋 2

279.35
𝑃𝐹 = = 0.311 (𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔)
897.6
EXAMPLE 6

Repeat example 5 if the delay angles of the cycloconverter are generated by comparing a cosine
signal at the source frequency with a sinusoidal signal at the output frequency as shown in Fig.
(6.16)

Solution
𝑉𝑠 = 120 𝑉 , 𝑓𝑠 = 60 𝐻𝑧, 𝑓𝑜 = 20 𝐻𝑧, 𝑅 = 5 Ω, 𝐿 = 40 𝑚𝐻, 𝛼𝑝 = 2𝜋/3, 𝜔0 = 2𝜋 × 20 =
125.66 𝑟𝑎𝑑/𝑠, and 𝑋𝐿 = 𝜔0 𝐿 = 5.027 Ω.
2𝑉𝑠 2𝑉𝑝
(a) From equation 𝑉𝑜 = = , the rms value of the output voltage
𝜋 𝜋

2𝑉𝑠
𝑉𝑜 = = 0.6366𝑉𝑠 = 0.6366 × 120 = 76.39 𝑉
𝜋
The input PF

579.73
𝑃𝐹 = 0.6366𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = = 0.449 (𝑙𝑎𝑔𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔)
1292.4

Figure 6.16 Generation of thyristor gating signals