El Shorouk Academy

Systems and Biomedical

Engineering Department

Research Name

Voltage stabilizers

Name : Abdalrhman Ehab

Section : 2

Presented to:
eng/mary & eng/ kerolous

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Voltage stabilizers
voltage stabilizer
It is very common to have a voltage stabilizer with
refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, furnace
equipments, micro oven, music systems, washing machines,
etc. The main intention behind the usage of voltage stabilizers is
to protect the devices against voltage fluctuations.
This is because each and every electrical appliance is designed
to operate under a specific voltage to give desired
performance.
If this voltage is below or above certain value, the appliance
would malfunction or might operate at worse condition or even
it might get damaged.
In home and industrial applications, generally automatic
voltage regulators are employed to keep the voltage constant
to the particular equipment. Let us know more about these
voltage stabilizers in detail.

What are Voltage Stabilizers?

As the name suggests, a voltage stabilizer stabilizes or
regulates the voltage if the supply voltage varies or fluctuates
over a given range.

It is an electrical appliance that feeds constant voltage to a load

during over and under voltage conditions. This device detects
these voltage conditions and correspondingly brings the
voltage to desired range.

Voltage stabilizer for refrigerator

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Voltage stabilizers
Voltage stabilizers provide a means to regulate the supply
voltage to the load. These are not meant to provide a constant
voltage output; instead it operates the load or system in an
acceptable range of voltage.

The internal circuit of a stabilizer is shown in figure below. It

consists of auto transformer/ transformer, rectifier unit,
comparators, switching circuit and relays.

In case of modern digital type stabilizers, a microcontroller or

microprocessor is used as central control unit.

There are different types of voltage stabilizers available in

today’s market from various manufacturers. Stabilizers come
with a different KVA rating for normal range (to produce 200-
240V output with 20-35V boost-buck for input range of 180-
270V) as well as a wide range (to produce 190-240V output with
50-55V boost-buck for input range of 140-300V) applications.

These are available as dedicated stabilizers for various homes

as well as industrial appliances such as air conditioners,
LCD/LED TV, refrigerators, music systems, washing machines
and also available as a single large unit for all
appliances.Stabilizers consume very less power, typically
about 2 to 5% of maximum load (i.e., rating of stabilizer). These
are high efficiency devices, typically 95 to 98%.

Three phase stabilizer

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Voltage stabilizers
These can be single phase or three-phase voltage stabilizers.
Both non digital and digital automatic voltage stabilizers are
available from well recognized manufacturers.

Some additional features are available in modern stabilizers

that include high voltage protection, overload protection, zero
voltage switching, frequency variation protection, voltage cut
off display, etc.

Need of Voltage Stabilizers

Voltage fluctuations are nothing but the change in magnitude of
voltage, of which normally exceeding or below the steady state
voltage range prescribed by some standards.

In some countries, electric power distribution is 230 volts for

single phase and 415 volts for three-phase. In such case, all
electrical appliances (especially, single phase) designed to
operate in the voltage range of 220 to 240V.

The acceptable range of voltage in some countries (also in

India) is 220 ± 10V as per the electricity standards. And also,
many appliances can withstand this voltage fluctuation range.

But in most places, voltage fluctuations are quite common and

typically, they are in the range of 170 to 270V. These voltage
fluctuations can be significant in adverse effects on appliances.

• In case of lighting equipment, low voltage drop reduces the

lumen output (illumination) that will further reduce the life
of the lamp.
• AC motor produces less torque and hence the speed under
low voltage, and they produce more speed than desired
during overvoltage. This degrades motor life and also
causes insulation damage under high voltages.
• In case of induction heating, low voltage reduces heat
output which causes the load to operate at inappropriate
temperatures than desired.

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Voltage stabilizers
 • In TV and radio transmission, voltage drop will reduce the
quality of transmission and also cause the malfunction of
other electronic components.
• Refrigerators are AC motor driven appliances that draw
large currents during voltage drop conditions which may
lead to overheating of windings.

To overcome above mentioned effects of voltage variations,

voltage stabilizers are needed.

Basic Principle of Operation of Voltage

Stabilizer
The voltage regulation is required for two distinct purposes;
over voltage and under voltage conditions. The process of
increasing voltage from under voltage condition is called as
boost operation, whereas reducing the voltage from
overvoltage condition is called as buck operations.

These two main operations are essential in each and every

voltage stabilizer.

As discussed above, the components of voltage stabilizer

include a transformer, relays, and electronic circuitry. If the
stabilizer senses the voltage drop in incoming voltage, it
enables the electromagnetic relay so as to add more voltage
from transformer so that the loss of voltage will be
compensated.

When the incoming voltage is more than normal value,

stabilizer activates another electromagnetic relay such that it
deducts the voltage to maintain the normal value of voltage.

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Voltage stabilizers
Boost Operation
The principle of boost operation of a voltage stabilizer is shown

in figure below.

Here, the supply voltage is given to a transformer, which is

normally a step-down transformer. This transformer is
connected in such a way that the secondary output is added to
the primary supply voltage.

In case of low voltage condition, the electronic circuit in the

stabilizer switches corresponding relay such that this added
supply (incoming supply + transformer secondary output) is
applied to the load.

Buck Operation

The principle of buck operation of a voltage stabilizer is

illustrated in figure below.

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Voltage stabilizers
In buck operation, the secondary of step-down transformer is
connected in such a way that secondary output voltage is
deducted from incoming voltage.

Therefore, in case of incoming voltage rise, the electronic

circuit switches the relay that switches deducted supply
voltage (i.e., incoming voltage –transformer secondary
voltage) to the load circuit.

In case of normal voltage operating condition, electronic circuit

switches the load entirely to incoming supply without any
transformer voltage.

These buck, boost and normal operations are same for all
stabilizers whether they are normal type or servo mechanism
type stabilizers. In addition to these two main operations,
voltage stabilizer also performs lower and higher voltage cut
off operations.

Working of Voltage Stabilizer

The figure below shows the working model of a voltage
stabilizer that contains a step-down transformer (usually
provided with taps on secondary), rectifier, operational
amplifier/microcontroller unit and set of relays.

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Voltage stabilizers
In this, op-amps are tuned in such way that they could sense
various set voltages such as lower cut off voltage, boost
condition voltage, normal operating voltage, higher cut off
voltage and buck operating voltage.

A set of relays are connected in a manner that they trips the

load circuit during higher and lower cut off voltages and also
they switch buck and boost voltages to the load circuit.

A step-down tap changing transformer has different secondary

voltage tapping which are helpful for operating operational
amplifier for different voltages and also to add-up and deduct
voltages for boost and buck operations respectively.

A rectifier circuit converts AC supply into DC to power-up

entire electronic control circuit as well as relay coils.
Let us assume that this is 1 KVA single phase stabilizer that
provides stabilization for voltage range of 200 to 245 with a
boost-buck voltage of 20-35 V for input voltage of 180 to 270 V.

If the input supply is, say 195 V, then operational amplifier

energizes boost relay coil such that 195 + 25 = 220V is supplied
to the load. If the input supply is 260 V, corresponding op-amp
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Voltage stabilizers
energizes buck relay coil so that 260-30 = 225 V is supplied to
the load.

If the input voltage is below 180 V, corresponding op-amp

switches lower cut off relay coil such that load is disconnected
from the supply.

And if the supply is beyond 270 V, corresponding op-amp

energizes higher cut off relay coil and hence load is terminated
from the supply.

All these values are approximate values; it may vary depending

on the application. By this way, a stabilizer operates under
different voltage conditions.

Servo Controlled Voltage Stabilizers

In case of automatic voltage stabilizers, the speed of voltage
correction is very less. The high speed voltage correction at a
greater precision is achieved with servo controlled stabilizers.

In servo controlled stabilizers, voltage correction is done very

precisely, i.e., closer to the base voltage value.

The main components of a servo stabilizer include servo motor

driven continuously variable auto transformer, buck-boost
transformer and solid state control circuit as shown in the
figure below.

servo controlled stabilizer

In this stabilizer, solid state control circuit sense voltage fall
and rise from a predetermined value and correspondingly
operates the servo motor.

The primary winding of buck-boost converter is connected to

the motorized auto transformer whereas its secondary is
connected in series with incoming supply.

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Voltage stabilizers
Whenever motor operates the autotransformer, appropriate
voltage is supplied to the primary of the buck-boost
transformer and hence corresponding secondary voltage
corrects the supply voltage to the load.

Here comparators (nothing but op-amps) in solid state control

circuit senses the voltage changes and activates servo motor
to a desired location so that variable transformer increase or
decrease the output voltage to the load.

When the control circuit finds output voltage higher than a

reference voltage, it feeds the positive signal to the servo
motor controller and hence the arm rotates till the two voltages
are equal.

If the output voltage falls below the reference value, a negative

signal goes to the servo motor such that arm rotates the
contact in other way so as to reduce the voltage. Servo
stabilizers can produce output regulation of ±0.5% with high
efficiency about 98%.

How to Select a Suitable Stabilizer for

Home Needs?
Voltage stabilizer sizing depends on the rating of equipment to
which stabilization is to be employed. So the first and foremost
thing while purchasing a voltage stabilizer is considering
power of all appliances (or a particular appliance) that will be
supplied by stabilizer. Such power ratings are normally quoted
in VA or KVA. And also need to consider whether it is single or
three phase power.

The power rating of the appliances is normally shown on the

name plate of that appliance; if power rating is not available
simply calculate the product of voltage and current of that
equipment to get the power rating.

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Voltage stabilizers
It is always recommended to consider true RMS voltage of the
load.

Another major factor is, considering future expansion of the

load. So determining total power rating requires possible
future expansion, typically 20% more than actual power
requirement in order to connect loads over the long run.

For home needs, 200VA, 300 VA, 500 VA, 1 KVA, 2 KVA, 3 KVA, 4
KVA, 5 KVA, 8 KVA and 10 KVA rated voltage stabilizers are
suitable. For industrial and commercial purposes, high power
rated servo stabilizers are needed.

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Voltage stabilizers
Types of Voltage Stabilizer
There`s 5 Types of Voltage Stabilizer to work with Electrical equipments

The fluctuations which occur due to sudden load changes, the

lifespan of electronic components is reduced. So in order to
protect them from failures, we take the help of Voltage
Stabilizers. Voltage stabilizer provides a constant supply of
voltage to the load, which is needed for the applications of
devices.
Here we will talk about 5 different types of Voltage
Stabilizers;

1. Coil Rotation AC voltage regulators

One is a fixed coil and the other is a moving coil. Here the
constant voltage is obtained by balancing the magnetic field
acting on the movable coil by moving perpendicular to the fixed
coil. The voltage in the secondary coil can be increased or
decreased by rotating the coil in one or the other direction from
the centre position.
A Servo Mechanism can employ to advance the movable coil
position for increasing or decreasing the voltage. With this
principle of coil rotation, it can be used as a Voltage Regulator.

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Voltage stabilizers
2. Electromechanical Voltage stabilizers

Electromechanical Voltage Regulators are used for regulating

the voltage on AC power distribution lines. It is also called as
voltage stabilizers or tap changers. To select an appropriate
tap from the autotransformer these voltage regulator utilizes
the Servo-mechanism. Thus by changing the turns ratio of the
autotransformer, the output voltage can be held constant.
But there's a major failure in its operation which is known as
Hunting (the failure of the controller to constantly adjust the
voltage with the sudden fluctuations in load, which is also
known as dead-band of the controller).

3. Constant Voltage stabilizers

In the Constant Voltage Regulators (CVT) a compensating

winding is connected to the primary side of the transformer. It
is also called the Ferro-resonant regulator. This voltage
regulator uses a tank-circuit composed of the capacitor for
generating nearly constant average output voltage with varying

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Voltage stabilizers
input current and high-voltage resonant winding. By the
magnetic saturation, the circuit around secondary is used for
regulating the voltage.
Due to lack of active components, CVTs can be used that relies
on the square-loop saturation of the tank circuit for absorbing
changes in the input voltage.

4. DC Voltage stabilizers Reg

Series or Shunt regulators are frequently used for regulating
the voltage of the DC power supplies. A reference voltage is
applied using a shunt regulator like Zener regulator or Voltage
regulator tube. These voltage stabilizing devices start
conduction at a specified voltage and they will conduct
maximum current to hold the specified terminal voltage.
Excess current is diverted to ground often using a low-value
resistor for dissipating the energy. The figure shows the DC-
adjustable-voltage stabilizer using IC LM317.

The shunt regulator output is used only for providing the

standard reference voltage to the electronic device called as
voltage stabilizer, which is capable of delivering much larger
currents based on the demand.

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Voltage stabilizers
5. Automatic Voltage stabilizers
These voltage stabilizers are used on generator sets,
emergency power supply, oil rigs, and so on. It is an electronic
power device used for providing variable voltage and this can
be done without changing the power factor or phase shift.
Large sized voltage stabilizers are fixed permanently on the
distributed lines and small voltage stabilizers are used for
protection of the home appliances from the voltage
fluctuations. If the voltage of the power supply is less than the
required range, then a step-up transformer is used for stepping
up the voltage levels and similarly if the voltage is greater than
the required range, then it is stepped-down using a step-down
transformer.

Reference
https://www.teslashub.com/2018/08/5-types-of-voltage-stabilizer-in.html
https://www.electronicshub.org/voltage-stabilizer-working-and-its-importance/

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Voltage stabilizers