Controlled Rectifier DC Drives

By
Dr. Ungku Anisa Ungku Amirulddin
Department of Electrical Power Engineering
College of Engineering

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 1

Outline
 Power Electronics Converters for DC Drives
 Controlled Rectifier Fed DC Drives
 Single Phase
 Two-quadrant
 Four-quadrant
 Three Phase
 Two-quadrant
 Four-quadrant
 References

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 2

Power Electronic Converters
for DC Drives
 Speed Control Strategy:
 below base speed: Va control
 above base speed: flux control via Vf control
 Power electronics converters are used to obtain variable
voltage
 Highly efficient
 Ideally lossless
 Type of converter used is depending on voltage source :
 AC voltage source  Controlled Rectifiers
 Fixed DC voltage source  DC-DC converters

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 3

 Controlled Rectifier Fed DC Drives
 To obtain variable DC voltage from fixed AC source
 DC current flows in only 1 direction
 Example of a drive system

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 4

 Controlled Rectifier Fed 

– Single-phase DC Drives Q2 Q1

 Two-quadrant drive Q3 Q4 T
 Limited to applications up to 15 kW
 Regeneration (Q4) only be achieved with loads that can drive
the motor in reverse (-ve )

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 5

Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Single-phase DC Drives +
ia

 Two-quadrant drive Single-

phase Va
For continuous current: supply

 Armature voltage
2Vm
Va  cos a
 2Vm

where Vm = peak voltage
Va  Ea
 Armature current I a  
Ra 90o 180o

2Vm
 Field voltage Vf  cos f 
2Vm
 

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 6

Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Single-phase DC Drives +
ia

+
Single-
 Two-quadrant drive phase Va Ea
supply 
For Quadrant 1 operation:  
  positive  Ea and Va positive
 a  90 2Vm
Va  cos  a
 Ia positive 2V m 


 Rectifier delivers power to motor, Q1

i.e. forward motoring. 90o 180o


2Vm


Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 7
Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Single-phase DC Drives 
ia


Single-
 Two-quadrant drive phase Va Ea 
supply
For Quadrant 4 operation: + +
  negative  Ea negative
 a > 90  Va negative 2Vm
Va  cos  a
 Ia positive (still in same direction) 2Vm 


 Rectifier takes power from motor,

i.e. regenerative braking. 90o 180o


Q4
2Vm


Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 8
 Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Single-phase DC Drives 
 Four-quadrant drive
 Converter 1 for operation in 1st and 4th quadrant Q2 Q1
 Converter 2 for operation in 2nd and 3rd quadrant Q3 Q4 T
 Limited to applications up to 15 kW

+
Single- ia Single-
phase Va phase
supply supply


Two rectifiers
Converter 1 Converter 2 connected in anti-
parallel across
motor armature
Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 9
Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Single-phase DC Drives
 Four-quadrant drive
For continuous current:
 Both converters are operated to produce the same dc voltage across the
terminal, i.e.: V1 V2  0
2Vm 2Vm
where V1  cos  a1 and V2  cos  a 2
 
(Vm = peak supply voltage)
 Hence, firing angles of both converters must satisfy the following:
 a1   a 2  
+ 
Va  Ea
 Armature current I a  V1 V2
Ra
2Vm +
 Field voltage V f  cos f 


Converter 1 Converter 2
Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 10
 Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Three-phase DC Drives 

 Two-quadrant drive Q2 Q1
 Limited to applications up to 1500 kW
Q3 Q4 T
 Regeneration (Q4) only be achieved with loads that can
drive the motor in reverse (-ve )

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 11

Controlled Rectifier Fed
ia
– Three-phase DC Drives +

 For continuous current: 3-phase

supply Va
 Armature voltage

3VL-L, m
Va  cos a

3VL -L, m
where VL-L, m = peak line-to-line voltage 
 Armature current Va  Ea
Ia 
Ra 
90o 180o

 Field voltage V  3VL-L, m cos

f f
 
3VL-L, m

(assuming a three-phase supply is used for
field excitation)
Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 12
Three-phase Controlled Rectifier
2Q DC Drive – Example

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 13

 Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Three-phase DC Drives 
 Four-quadrant drive
 Converter 1 for operation in 1st and 4th quadrant Q2 Q1

 Converter 2 for operation in 2nd and 3rd quadrant Q3 Q4 T

Ia +ve, Ia -ve,
Va +ve or -ve Va +ve or -ve
Converter 1 Converter 2

+
ia
3-phase 3-phase
supply Va
supply

Two rectifiers
connected in anti-
parallel across
motor armature
Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 14
 Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Three-phase DC Drives
 Four-quadrant drive +
ia
For continuous current:
Va
3VLL, m
Va  cos  a 

Converter 1 Converter 2
where VL-L, m = peak line-to-line voltage.
 Similar to single-phase drive:  a1   a 2  

Converter 2: Converter 1: 0   a1  90

90   a 2  180 
Ia -ve, Ia +ve,
 a1     a 2 Va +ve Va +ve  a 2     a1
Q2 Q1
T
Q3 Q4

0   a 2  90 Converter 2: Converter 1: 90   a1  180

Ia -ve, Ia +ve,
 a1     a 2  a 2     a1
Va -ve Va -ve
Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 15
 Controlled Rectifier Fed
– Three-phase DC Drives
 For continuous current:
 Armature current I a 
Va  Ea
Ra
3VL-L, m
 Field voltage Vf  cos f

L1
 Disadvantages:
+ ia
 Circulating current
 Inductors L1 and L2 Va
added to reduce

circulating currents
 Slow response
L2
Converter 1 Converter 2

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 16

Three-phase Controlled Rectifier
4Q DC Drive – Example

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 17

 Controlled Rectifier Fed 

– Three-phase DC Drives Q2 Q1
 Four-quadrant drive Q3 Q4 T
 One controlled rectifier with 2 pairs of contactors
 M1 and M2 closed for operation in 1st and 4th quadrant
 R1 and R2 closed for operation in 2nd and 3rd quadrant

M1 ia R1

ia
3-phase
supply
+ Va -
R2 M2

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 18

Rectifier Fed DC Drives Problems
1. Distortion of Supply
 Controlled rectifier introduces harmonics to supply currents
and voltages which cause:
 heating and torque pulsations in motor
 resonance in power system network – interaction between rectifier
RL with capacitor banks in system
 Solution - eliminate most dominant harmonics by:
 install LC filters at input of converters – tuned to absorb most
dominant harmonics (i.e. 5th and 7th harmonics)
 Use 12-pulse converter – consists of two 6-pulse controlled rectifiers
connected in parallel
 Selective switching of supply input using self-commutating devices
(eg. GTOs, IGBTs) in the converter

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 19

Rectifier Fed DC Drives Problems
12-pulse converter – consists of two 6-pulse controlled rectifiers
connected in parallel

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 20

Rectifier Fed DC Drives Problems
2. Low supply power factor
 Power factor related to firing angle  of rectifier
 Low power factor especially during low speed operations
 Solution:
 Employ pulse-width modulated (PWM) rectifiers using GTOs,
IGBTs
 High power factor
 Low harmonic supply currents
 Low efficiency - high switching losses (disadvantage)

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 21

Rectifier Fed DC Drives Problems
3. Effect on motor
 Ripple in motor current – harmonics present (most dominant
is 6th harmonic)
 causes torque ripple, heating and derating of motor
solution: extra inductance added in series with La

 Slow response
 Discontinuous current may occur if
 La not large enough
 Motor is lightly loaded
 Effect of discontinuous current
 Rectifier output voltage increases  motor speed increases
(poor speed regulation under open-loop operation)
Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 22
References
 Rashid, M.H, Power Electronics: Circuit, Devices and
Applictions, 3rd ed., Pearson, New-Jersey, 2004.
 Dubey, G.K., Fundamentals of Electric Drives, 2nd ed., Alpha
Science Int. Ltd., UK, 2001.
 Krishnan, R., Electric Motor Drives: Modeling, Analysis and
Control, Prentice-Hall, New Jersey, 2001.
 Nik Idris, N. R., Short Course Notes on Electrical Drives,
UNITEN/UTM, 2008.
 Ahmad Azli, N., Short Course Notes on Electrical Drives,
UNITEN/UTM, 2008.

Dr. Ungku Anisa, July 2008 EEEB443 - Control & Drives 23

Three-Phase Full-Converter

Figure 10.5
Reference:
Rashid, M.H, Power Electronics: Circuit, Devices and
Applictions, 3rd ed., Pearson, New-Jersey, 2004
4/5/2019 EEL 4242 by Dr. M.H. Rashid 24
Waveforms and Conduction Times
3  / 2 
Vo ( dc ) 
  / 6 
vab d 

3  / 2   

  / 6 
3 Vm sin     d
 6
3 3Vm
 cos 


3  / 2   
Vo ( rms ) 
  / 6 
3Vm2 sin 2     d
 6
1 3 3
 3 Vm  cos 2
2 4

Figure 10.5
Reference:
Rashid, M.H, Power Electronics:
Circuit, Devices and Applictions,
3rd ed., Pearson, New-Jersey, 2004
4/5/2019 EEL 4242 by Dr. M.H. Rashid 25