Power Electronics

INVERTERS

2018 Dr. Francis M. Fernandez

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM

Inverter Classification

Classification of inverters based on wave shape

 Square wave
 Quasi square wave
 Sine wave

Classification of inverters based on Input

 Voltage source
 Current source

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 2

Half bridge inverter

EDC
 Switches S1 and S2 used
2 are gate commutated
devices such as BJT,
MOSFET, IGBT, GTO etc
EDC
2
 S1 and S2 are turned on
alternately to produce
an ac voltage across the
load
 Each switch is ON for
half time period (T/2) of
the desired frequency

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 3

Full bridge inverter

 S1 and S2 turned on in the first half cycle (T/2)

 S3 and S4 turned on in the second half cycle (T/2)

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 4

Full bridge inverter – R load

Two modes of operation:

Mode 1:
S1 and S2 are ON
Mode 2
S3 and S4 are ON

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 5

 Full bridge inverter – RL load

Four modes of operation:

Mode 1: S1 and S2 are ON, Output +ve
Mode 2: D3, D4 conducts, Output -ve
Mode 3: S3 and S4 are ON, Output –ve
Mode 4: D1, D2 conducts, Output +ve

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 6

Full Bridge Inverter – Transistor Ratings

VCE ( 0 )  E DC

EDC
I T ( ave ) 
2R

E DC
I T ( peak ) 
R

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 7

Harmonics
Original square wave

Fundamental component

Third order harmonic

Fifth order harmonic

Seventh order harmonic


4 EDC
Fourier series for symmetrical square wave, e   sin  n t 
n 1,3,5,.. n

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 8

 Harmonics

4 E DC
Fourier Series, e   sin n t 
n 1, 3, 5,.. n
VL

2 2
Fundamental output voltage, E1  EDC
(rms)  IL
ie. E1  0.9 EDC

th E1
n order output voltage, En 
n

RMS value, E( rms )  E12  E32  E5 2  ...

1
 2
 2
1
Harmonic voltage, Eh    En   2
 E  E1 2
 2
 0.4352 EDC
 n 3,5,.. 

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 9

Harmonic Parameters
Harmonic factor for nth harmonic measures the individual harmonic
contribution
En
Harmonic Factor, HFn 
E1

Total harmonic distortion is a measures of how different is the actual

waveform from its fundamental component
1
 2
1  2 Eh
Total Harmonic Distortion, THD    En  
E1  n 3,5,..  E1

Harmonic factor is a measures of effectiveness in reducing unwanted

harmonics using filters
1
2 2
1    En  
Distortion Factor, DF     2  
E1  n 3,5,..  n  

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 10

 Comparison of parameters in
Half Bridge and Full Bridge Inverters

Full Bridge Half Bridge

E DC
Output voltage EO  EDC EO 
2

Fundamental 2 2 2 2 E DC
output voltage E1  EDC  0.9 EDC E1   0.45 E DC
  2

Harmonic
output voltage Eh  0.4352 EDC Eh  0.2176 E DC

Peak breaking
voltage of switches
EBR  EDC E BR  EDC

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 11

Example
A single phase full bridge inverter is operated from 48 V battery and
supplying power to a 24 ohm load. Determine output power THD of
output and transistor ratings.

Solution:
E 2 482
RMS Power, P    96 W
R 24
VCE  48 V
E1  0.9 EDC  0.9  48  43.2 V
EDC
Eh  0.4352 EDC  0.4352  48  20.89 V IT ( peak ) 
R
48
Eh 20.89   2A
THD    48.36 % 24
E1 43.2

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 12

Cross Conduction or Shoot Through Fault
 Normally the switches in the bridge
switch on in pairs – S1-S2 turn on
first and after they are off, S3-S4
turn on
 Therefore the switches in the same
leg (say S1 and S4) may not turn on
at the same time
 Due to turn off delay, incoming
device and outgoing device of the
same leg in the bridge conduct at
the same instant and short circuits
the DC source.
 This fault damages both the devices

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 13

Cross Conduction or Shoot Through Fault
 A solution for cross conduction
fault is to introduce a dead band
or delay between the trailing
edge of the gate input of
outgoing device and the leading
edge of the gate input of
incoming device
 Dead band should be longer than
the turn off time of the inverter

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 14

3-Phase Inverter

S1 D1 S3 D3 S5 D5
A Three
EDC
B Phase
C Load
S4 D4 S6 D6 S2 D2

Load configurations
A

R R

B
R
C

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 15

 3-Phase Inverter
180° conduction

S1 D1 S3 D3 S5 D5

EDC
A
B 2
Edc
C 3
S4 D4 S6 D6 S2 D2

1
1
E DC Edc
3 3
Connection during first interval

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 16

 3-Phase Inverter
180° conduction

S1 D1 S3 D3 S5 D5

EDC
A
B 2
Edc
C 3
S4 D4 S6 D6 S2 D2

1
2
E DC Edc
3 3
Connection during second interval

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 17

 3-Phase Inverter
180° conduction

S1 D1 S3 D3 S5 D5

EDC
A
B 2
Edc
C 3
S4 D4 S6 D6 S2 D2

1
Incoming Conducting Edc
Interval 3
Device Devices
1 S1 5,6,1
2 S1 6,1,2
3 S3 1,2,3
4 S4 2,3,4
5 S5 3,4,5
6 S6 4,5,6

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 18

Features of 180 degree conduction

 Conduction period for each switch is 180°

 Three switches conduct at a time
 There is possibility of cross conduction if a
dead band delay is not deliberately
introduced.
 Phase voltages are six step waves
 Line voltages are quasi square waves

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 19

 3-Phase Inverter
120° conduction

S1 D1 S3 D3 S5 D5

EDC
A
B
C
S4 D4 S6 D6 S2 D2
Edc
2

Connection during first interval

N Edc Edc
2

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 20

 3-Phase Inverter
120° conduction

S1 D1 S3 D3 S5 D5

EDC
A
B
C
S4 D4 S6 D6 S2 D2
Edc
2

Connection during second interval

N Edc Edc
2

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 21

 3-Phase Inverter
120° conduction

S1 D1 S3 D3 S5 D5

EDC
A
B
C
S4 D4 S6 D6 S2 D2
Edc
2

Connection during third interval

N Edc Edc
2

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 22

 3-Phase Inverter
120° conduction

S1 D1 S3 D3 S5 D5

EDC
A
B
C
S4 D4 S6 D6 S2 D2
Edc
2
Incoming Conducting
Interval
Device Devices
1 S1 6,1
2 S1 1,2
3 S3 2,3
Edc Edc
4 S4 3,4
2
5 S5 4,5
6 S6 5,6

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 23

Features of 120 degree conduction

 Conduction period for each switch is only 120°

 Only two switches conduct at a time
 Two switches in the same leg of bridge have
inherent dead band of 60° and there is no
possibility of cross conduction
 Phase voltages are quasi square waves
 Line voltages are six step waves

Edc

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 24

 Parallel Inverter
 SCRs can be used as switch, simple
forced commutation is possible

L
 When T1 is turned on, the transformer
is energised in one direction and the
capacitor C is charged with a voltage
of 2EDC
EDC T1
 When T2 is turned on capacitor
voltage is applied to T1 in reverse
C direction and commutates it; the
capacitor C is charged with a voltage
of -2EDC
T2  T1 is turned on again forcing T2 to
turn off and the cycle repeats
 Higher output voltage is possible by
suitable transformer turns ratio

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 25

 Voltage Control with Pulse Width Modulation
 Single Pulse width Modulation
 Consists of a pulse with
variable width in each half cycle
 width varies from 0 to π

 Multiple Pulse Width Modulation

 Is an extension of single PWM and
uses several equidistant pulses in
each half cycle

 Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation

 Pulse width is a sinusoidal function
of angular position of the pulse in a
cycle

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 26

Single Pulse PWM

Carrier
Wave

Comparator

Square
Wave

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 27

 
d
Single Pulse PWM 2
3
2
 
2

1
 2d  2
RMS value of output voltage, V  VDC  
 
4 VDC
Peak value of nth harmonic, Vonm  sin nd
n
When pulsewidth is 120, d  60
4 VDC
Then peak value of 3rd harmonic, Vo 3m  sin 3  60  0
3
This implies, when the pulse width is 120°, third harmonics will be eliminated

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 28

 Multiple Pulse PWM

Carrier
Wave

Comparator

Square
Wave

Np = number of
1
pulses in a
 Np  P 2
half cycle
RMS value of output voltage, V  VDC  
   P = pulse width

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 29

Sine PWM

Vr
Modulation Index, MI 
Vc
where Vr is the peak of
reference wave and Vc is the
peak of carrier wave

There will be low order

harmonics when MI is
greater than 1

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 30

Typical MOSFETS

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 31

Typical IGBTs

DEPT. OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING TRIVANDRUM 32