ECE 3101

INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS
CHOPPER DRIVES
 Chopper Drives

Chopper Drives : A DC Chopper is connected between a fixed voltage dc source

and a dc motor to vary the armature voltage.
The important application of Chopper drives are in the traction drives, mass
rapid transit, battery operated Vehicles, etc.
Advantages of Chopper Drives:
a) High efficient
b) Flexibility in the control
c) Small in size
d) Fast response
e) Less weight and regeneration at very low speeds

By DC chopper regenerative braking is possible and motor can return energy back to
the supply. Thus energy is saved which is the feature of this drive.
Hence it is used in transportation system with frequent stops such as mass rapid
transit (MRT)

ECE 3101 Industrial Electronics 2

 Chopper Drives

Control modes of DC Chopper Drives:

1) Power (Acceleration) control
2) Regenerative Brake control
3) Rheostatic Brake control
4) Combined Regenerative & Rheostatic Brake control
Principle of Power control: The chopper is used to control the armature
voltage of a dc motor.
The circuit arrangement of a chopper
fed DC separately excited motor is
shown in Fig 1.
The chopper switch could be a
transistor or forced-commutated
thyristor chopper.

Fig 1: Chopper fed DC drive in Power control

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 Principle of Power control

The waveforms for the armature voltage, load current and input current
are shown in Fig:2 (Assuming a highly inductive load)

Fig 2: Waveforms for Chopper fed DC drive in Power control

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 Principle of Power control

The average armature voltage is,

Va cycle
, k=Duty kVs of chopper
The power supplied to the motor is,
Po  Va I a  kVs I a Where, Ia is the average armature current
of the motor and it is ripple free.
For lossless chopper, i/p power Ps  Po

So, Vs Is = k Vs Ia
and, Is = K Ia
The average value of input current, I s  kI a
Vs Vs
The equivalent input resistance seen by the source is, Req  
I s kI a
By varying the duty cycle k, power flow to the motor and speed can be controlled

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 Principle of Power control

Problem 01: A dc separately excited motor is powered by a dc Chopper, as shown, from a 600V dc
source. The armature resistance is Ra = 0.05Ω. The back emf constant is Kv = 1.527V/A rad/s. The
average armature current is Ia = 250A. The field current is I f = 2.5A. The armature current is
continuous and has negligible ripple. If the duty cycle of the Chopper is 60%, determine:
a) The input power from the source, b) The equivalent input resistance of the chopper drive
c) The motor speed, d) The developed torque
Solution

Vs  600V
I a  250 A
k  0.6
Rm  Ra  0.05

the input power from the source

Po  Va I a  kVs I a
Po  (0.6)(600V )(250 A)  90kW

the equivalent input resistance of the dc-dc converter drive

Vs Vs 1
Req  
Is Ia k
600V
Req   4
(250 A)(0.6)

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 Principle of Power control

the motor speed

E g  K v I f
Eg  Va  Rm I m
Va  kVs  (0.6)(600V )  360V
Eg  360V  (0.05)(250 A)  347.5V
Eg 347.5V
   91.03rad / s
Kv I f (1.527V / Arad / s )(2.5 A)
 30 
  91.03    869.3rpm
 

the developed torque

Td  K t I f I a  K v I f I a
Td  (1.527V / Arad / s )(250 A)(2.5 A)  954.38 N  m

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 Principle of Regenerative Brake control

Regenerative Brake control : In regenerative braking, the motor act as a generator

and the kinetic energy of the motor and load is returned back to the supply.

Let us consider the armature of a separately

excited dc motor is rotating due to the inertia of
the motor and load. If the transistor is switched
ON, there will be sudden rise in armature
current as the motor terminal get short
circuited.

If the chopper is switched OFF the diode will be turned ON and the energy stored
in the armature ckt inductor would be transferred to the supply.

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 Principle of Regenerative Brake control

The waveforms for the armature voltage, load current and input current are shown in
Fig:3 (Assuming a highly inductive load)

Fig 3: Waveforms for Chopper fed DC drive in Regenerative Brake control

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 Principle of Regenerative Brake control

The average voltage across the transistor is,

Vch = Vs (1 - k)
If Ia is the average armature current, the regenerated power can be found,
Pg = Ia Vch = Ia Vs (1 - k)
The voltage generated by the motor acting as generation,
Eg = Kv If ω = Vch + Rm Ia = Vs (1 - k) + Rm Ia
The equivalent load resistance of the motor acting as a generator is,

Eg Vs
Req   (1  k )  Rm
Ia Ia
By Varying the duty cycle, the Req can be varied from Rm to (Vs / Ia +Rm) and
regenerative power can be controlled.

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 Principle of Regenerative Brake control

The conditions for permissible potentials and polarity of the two voltages
are, 0 ≤ Vch ≤ Vs [0 ≤ (Eg - Rm Ia) ≤ Vs ]
For minimum braking speed of motor, Vch = 0
So, Eg = Kv If ωmin = Rm Ia
Rm I a
Minimum braking speed of motor, min  
Kv I f

For maximum braking speed of motor, Vch = Vs

So, Eg - Rm Ia = Vs
K vmax I f  Rm I a  Vs

Vs R I
Maximum braking speed of motor, max   m a
Kv I f Kv I f

The regenerative braking would be effective only if the motor speed is

between these two speeds limits.
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 Principle of Regenerative Brake control

Problem 02: A dc-dc converter is used in regenerative braking of a dc series motor

similar to the arrangement shown below. The dc supply voltage is 600V. The armature
resistance is Ra = 0.02Ω and the field resistance is Rf = 0.03Ω. The back emf constant
is Kv = 15.27mV/A rad/s. The average armature current is maintained constant at Ia =
250A. The armature current is continuous and has negligible ripple. If the duty cycle
of the dc-dc converter is 60%, determine the following:
a) Average voltage across the chopper, b) The power regenerated to the DC supply
c) The equivalent load resistance of the motor acting as a generator.
d) The minimum permissible braking speed. e) The maximum permissible braking
speed
f) The motor speed

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 Principle of Regenerative Brake control
Solution:
Given, Vs  600V
I a  250 A
K v  0.01527V / Arad / s
k  0.6
Rm  Ra  R f

a) Determine the average voltage across the converter.

Vch  (1  k )Vs
Vch  (1  0.6)(600V )  240V

b) Determine the power regenerated to the dc supply

Pg  I aVs (1  k )
Pg  (250 A)(600V )(1  0.6)  60kW

c) Determine the equivalent resistance of the motor acting as a generator

Eg Vs
Req   (1  k )  Rm
Ia Ia
Rm  Ra  R f  0.02  0.03  0.05
600V
Req  (1  0.6)  0.05  1.01
250 A

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 Principle of Regenerative Brake control

d) Determine the minimum permissible braking speed ω min

Rm I a 0.05 250 A
min    3.274rad / s
K v I f 0.01527V / Arad / s 250 A
1rev 60 s
min  3.274rad / s  31.26rpm
2 rad 1min
e) Determine the maximum permissible braking speed ω max
Vs R I
max   m a
Kv I f Kv I f
600V 0.05
max  
(0.01527V / Arad / s )(250 A) 0.01527V / Arad / s
max  160.445rad / s
 30 
max  160.445    1532.14rpm
 
f) Determine the motor speed
Eg
Eg  K v I f    
Kv I f
Eg  (1  k )Vs  Rm I a  240V  (0.05)(250 A)  252.5V
252.5V
  66.14rad / s
(0.01527V / Arad / s)(250 A)
 30 
  66.14    631.6rpm
 
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 Principle of Rheostatic Brake control
Rheostatic Brake control (Dynamic Braking): An arrangement of the rheostatic
braking of dc separately excited motor is shown if Figure 3.
The waveforms for the armature voltage, load current and input current are shown in
Fig:4 (Assuming a highly inductive load)

Fig 3: Chopper fed DC drive in Rheostatic Brake control

Fig 4: Waveforms for Chopper fed DC drive in Rheostatic Brake control

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 Principle of Rheostatic Brake control

 The average current of the barking resistor,

Ib = Ia (1-k)
The average voltage across the braking resistor,
Vb = Rb Ia (1-k)
The voltage generated by the motor acting as
generation,
Eg = Kv If ω = Vb + Rm Ia = Rb Ia (1-k) + Rm Ia

The equivalent load resistance of the motor acting as a

generator is, = =

The power dissipated in the resistor Rb is Pb  I a Rb (1  k )

2

By controlling the duty cycle k, the effective load resistance can be varied from Rm to
(Rm + Rb ) and the braking power can be controlled.

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 Principle of combined Regenerative & Rheostatic Brake
control
Combined Regenerative & Rheostatic Brake control:
Regenerative (RG) braking is energy efficient braking. On the hand, the energy
is dissipated as heat in Rheostatic (RB) braking.
A combined RG & RB control would be the most energy efficient.

During Regenerative (RG) braking, the line voltage is

sensed continuously. If it exceeds a certain preset value,
normally 20 percent above the line voltage, the
Regenerative (RG) braking is removed and Rheostatic
(RB) braking is applied.
Remove regenerative braking if line voltage is too high
 Turn Thyristor TR on
 Divert current to RB
Fig 1: Chopper fed DC drive in combined Regenerative & Rheostatic Brake control
 Apply rheostatic braking
 TR is “self-commutated”

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