Power Electronics

• Electric Power
• Semiconductor Devices
Control, Conversion and Conditioning of Electrical Power
using Semiconductor devices as Switches

 Why Power Conversion?

 Why Switches?
 Why Power Conversion?
Available Power Supply:
• Supply Mains (examples)
- 230V, 50Hz, 1-phase
- 400V, 50Hz, 3-phase
-110V, 60Hz, 1-phase
• Energy Storage in Batteries
-DC Voltage of -12V, 48V etc
• Alternative Sources
 Why Power Conversion?
Power Supply requirements of Loads (examples)
• 1-phase and 3-phase AC loads (voltage regulation)
• DC Motors (rectification, variable dc for speed control)
• Integrated Circuits, Microprocessors (dc voltages -15V, 5V,
3.3V, 1.5V etc)
• X-Rays and Scanning machines (power drawn in pulses)
 Why Power Conversion?
Mismatch b/w Power Supply availability and power supply
requirements of Loads
• Need for rectification and inversion
• No DC transformers (so we have AC/DC and DC/DC conv.)
• No AC batteries (so we have DC/AC conv.)
 Types of Power Conversion
• AC/DC conversion (Rectifiers)
- Uncontrolled rectifiers, controlled rectifiers, active PWM
rectifiers
• DC/DC conversion (Choppers)
- Step-down (buck converter)
- Step-up (boost converter)
• DC/AC conversion (Inverters)
- Voltage source and current source inverters
• AC/AC conversion (cyclo-converters)
• Power Flow – unidirectional (or) bidirectional
 DC-DC Buck Conversion
– A Simple Example
• DC supply of 10V available
• A coil (load) requires 5V dc
- Potential divider
• You need high efficient power conversion method
• Pulsed waveform across load (Average voltage = 5V)
 DC-AC Conversion
– A Simple Example
• DC supply of V available
• A load requires 50Hz ac
• Square waveform across load
• Fourier series expansion
• Fundamental component
Pulse width Modulation - Example
• How to vary ac
fundamental voltage?
• Input dc voltage
• Variable
• Fixed
• Equal width pulses
• Modulated PWs
 Circuit Elements
• Linear Electric Circuits : R, L and C
• Power Electronic Circuits: R, L, C and Switch
• R – dissipates power
• L and C – store energy
• Switch – controls flow of energy, zero loss ideally
 Power Semiconductor Devices

• Diode is an uncontrolled switch

• Thyristor turned on by triggering its gate terminal
• BJT is controlled by its base current
 Power Semiconductor Devices

• Power MOSFET is controlled by gate voltage

• IGBT can be viewed as a combination of MOSFET and a BJT
• IGBT resembles MOSFET in control (gate) side and a BJT in
the power side
• IGBT shown with an anti-parallel diode
Single Quadrant Switches
 Two Quadrant Switches for
Bidirectional Current

Anti-parallel connection of transistor and a Diode provides

bi-directional current carrying capability
 Two-Quadrant Switches
for Bidirectional Voltage

• Anti-Series connection of a transistor and a diode provides

bidirectional voltage blocking capability
• Thyristor is a natural option for bidirectional voltage blocking and
unidirectional conduction
 Four-Quadrant Switches

Anti-series connection of two anti-parallel transistor-diode pairs

provide bidirectional conduction as well as bidirectional voltage
blocking capability
 Four-Quadrant Switches

• Anti parallel connection of two anti-series transistor diode pairs

also results in four quadrant switch
• A four quadrant switch using Four diodes with one controlled
switch
 DC-AC Conversion
- A Simple Example
• DC supply is available
• A load requites 50 Hz ac
• Square waveform across load
• Fourier Series expansion
• Fundamental component
• Connect the load across the DC source for certain duration of
time (say 10 ms)
• Reverse connect the load for an equal duration of time (10 ms)
• Bipolar square wave voltage across load of period (20 ms)
Examples of PWM waveforms
 Requirements on the Switching network
The switching network should be able to:
• Connect the load directly across the DC source
• Reverse connect the load across the DC source
• Short the load
Single-Phase Voltage Source Inverter
Single-Phase Voltage Source Inverter
Three-Phase Voltage Source Inverter
Three-Phase Voltage Source Inverter
Single-Phase Current Source Inverter
Single-Phase Current Source Inverter Redrawn
 Switches in a VSI
• There are two SPDT switches in a single-phase VSI, and three SPDT
switches in a three-phase VSI
• There are as many SPDT switches (or poles) as the number of load
terminals
• Each load terminal is connected to a pole
• Throws are connected across the DC bus
• MOSFET or IGBT with anti-parallel diode can be used as a switch
 Switches in CSI
• There are two single-pole double-throw switches in a single-phase
CSI, and two SPDT switches in a three-phase CSI
• There are as many throws as the number of load terminals
• Each source terminal is connected to a pole
• Throws are connected across the load
• Thyristor is a natural option; transistor with series diode is the
alternative
Two Level and Three level VSI
Why a three-level inverter?

• Better Waveform Quality- Output voltage closer to sinusoid

• For higher DC bus voltages with devices of given voltage rating
Single-Pole Triple Throw Switch- State 1
Single-Pole Triple Throw Switch- State 2
Single-Pole Triple Throw Switch- State 3
Conduction and Voltage Blocking capabilities
– Pole P to throw T1
Electronic Realization – Pole P to Throw T1

• Bi-direction current, Unipolar

voltage blocking capabilities
• Voltage rating of the device : VDC
Conduction and Voltage Blocking capabilities
– Pole P to throw T3
Electronic Realization – Pole P to Throw T3

• Bi-direction current, Unipolar

voltage blocking capabilities
• Voltage rating of the device : VDC
Conduction and Voltage Blocking capabilities
– Pole P to throw T2
Electronic Realization – Pole P to Throw T2

• Bi-direction current, Bipolar voltage

blocking capabilities
• Voltage rating of the device : 0.5 VDC
Electronic Realization of SPTT Switch-
Preliminary
Electronic Realization of using devices with
equal voltage rating
Reduction of number of Transistors
Electronic Realization of SPTT Switch - Final
Neutral-Point Clamped or Diode-Clamped
Inverter
Four Level and Five Level Inverters
One-Leg of Four Level Inverter
Flying-Capacitor Three-Level Inverter
 Flying capacitor Inverter
Realization of switches S1 and S2
 Flying capacitor Inverter
Realization of SPDT switches
One Leg of the Flying Capacitor Inverter
 Applications of VSI’s
• AC Motors
• Uninterrupted Power Supply
• Reactive Power Compensation (STATCOM)
• Harmonic Current Compensation (Active Power Filters)
 Purpose of PWM
• Control of ac-side fundamental voltage V1 (dc bus voltage being fixed
and unregulated)
• Mitigation of harmonic voltages and their harmful effects (harmonic
currents, increased losses in the ac-side elements, pulsating torque in
case of motor drives)
Examples of PWM waveforms
(Periodic Signals)
 Fourier Series
• A periodic signal can be expressed as a sum of several sinusoids
• A periodic signal can be decomposed into DC, fundamental and
harmonic frequency components.
• Fourier series used to calculate the fundamental and harmonic
components in a PWM waveform
 Periodic Signals Examples

• Periodic signal with non-zero dc component

• Current waveforms in dc-dc converters
PWM waveforms in DC-AC Converters
(No DC component)
Sinusoidal Modulating Signal
 Sinusoidal Modulating Signals
for two legs of single phase VSI
Modulating and Carrier Signal
Unipolar and Bipolar PWMs
Three Phase Sinusoidal Modulating Waves
Modulation Methods in Single Phase Inverter
• Bipolar PWM
• UniPolar PWM
• Even Harmonic Injection
• Bus-Clamped PWM
Second Harmonic Injection
 Bus-Clamping PWM
(with unequal loading of switches)
 Bus-Clamping PWM
(with equal loading of switches)
 Bus-Clamping PWM
(with equal loading of switches)
 Addition of Even Harmonics in a
Single Phase Inverter
• Does not affect the output voltage
• Could lead to bus clamping
• Equal loading of Top and Bottom devices
• Equal loading of devices in two legs
Thermal time constant of devices is longer than the line cycle
Three Phase Sinusoidal Modulating Waves
Third Harmonic Injection PWM
Third Harmonic Injection with k = 1/6
120 degree Clamp to +Vdc PWM, m=0.8
120 degree Clamp to -Vdc PWM, m=0.8
 Common-mode signal for bus-clamping
with equal loading of all six devices
• Common mode signal must have periodicity of 120 degree at the
fundamental frequency
• It must contain only triplen frequency components
• It must have zero average value
• It could follow the positive clamping and negative clamping common
mode signals alternatively
60 degree Clamp PWM, m=0.8
60 degree Clamp PWM, m=1.1547
Continual Clamp PWM
Continual Clamp PWM
Positive and Negative Modulating Signal
120-degree clamp PWM
30 degree Clamping PWM
Split Clamp PWM
Split Clamp PWM (cont..)
 Continuous and Discontinuous Modulating
Functions
• Modulating signal can be a continuous or discontinuous function of
time
• Hence continuous PWM and discontinuous PWM schemes
• Sine-Triangle and Third harmonic Injection PWM are continuous
PWM schemes
• Bus Clamping PWM methods are discontinuous PWM schemes
 Bus Clamping or Discontinuous PWM
• Clamping of every phase to one of the dc buses over certain intervals
in a line cycle
• The modulating signal is a discontinuous function of time
• Several such modulating signals are possible
 Properties of Common-mode signal
• Must have a fundamental frequency equal to three times modulation
frequency
• Contains harmonics of order 3,9,15,21
• To ensure equal loading of top bottom devices, averages value of
common-mode component should be zero
 Performance of Continual-clamp and split-
clamp PWM
• Continual clamp PWM reduces inverter switching loss significantly at
high power factors
• Split clamp PWM reduces the switching loss considerably at low
power factors
• Split clamp leads to lower harmonic distortion than continual clamp
at a modulation index