Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 324

resistor Rs network and the stored inductor energy ½LI m2 is dissipated as heat in the resistance of the Ls-
Rs-Ds circuit. The power loss is determined by the switching frequency and is given by ½LI m2 f s . Full
design and operational aspects of this turn-on snubber have been considered in chapter 8.3.3.

9
9.1.1 Passive recovery

i. Recovery into the dc supply

Figure 9.2 shows a magnetic coupled circuit technique for passively recovering the inductive turn-on
snubber stored energy back into the dc supply Vs. The inductor is bifilar-wound with a catch winding.
The primary winding is designed to give the required (magnetising) inductance based on core
dimensions, properties, and number of turns, L = N2/. At switch turn-off the current in the coupled
inductor primary is diverted to the secondary so as to maintain continuous core flux. The windings are

Switching-aid Circuits
arranged to transfer current back into the supply via a diode DR which prevents reverse current flow.
The operating principles of this turn-on snubber recovery scheme are simple but a number of important
circuit characteristics are exhibited. Let the coupled inductor have a primary-to-secondary turns ratio of
with Energy Recovery 1:N. At turn-off the catch (secondary) winding conducts and its voltage is thereby clamped to the supply
rail Vs. The primary winding therefore has an induced voltage specified by the turns ratio. That is
V Ap = 1 V s (V) (9.1)
N
The switch collector voltage at turn-off is increased, above the supply voltage, by this component, to
(
Vc = 1 + 1 V s
N
) (V) (9.2)

Passive turn-on and turn-off snubber circuits for the IGBT transistor, the GCT and the GTO thyristor have The turns ratio N should be large so as to minimise the switch voltage rating in excess of Vs.
been considered in chapter 7. These snubber circuits modify the device I-V switching trajectory and in
Vs
so doing reduce the device transient losses. Snubber circuit action involves temporary energy stored in
either an inductor or capacitor. In resetting these passive components it is usual to dissipate the stored
N Cn
energy in a resistor as heat. At high frequencies these losses (being proportional to frequency) may
become a limiting factor because of the difficulties associated with equipment cooling. Instead of DR
dissipating the switching-aid circuit stored energy, it may be viable to recover the energy back into the N C3
1
dc supply or into the load, or both. Two classifications of energy recovery circuits exist, either passive or
active. A passive recovery circuit involves only passive components such as L and C while active N C2
recovery techniques involve extra switching devices, as in a switched-mode power supply, smps.
Ls
N C1

0
(c)

Vs
Im Im

tft /N

Rs

Ds

Figure 9.1. Conventional inductive turn-on snubber principal currents at: (a) turn-on and (b) turn-off.

9.1 Energy recovery for inductive turn-on snubber circuits – single ended

Figure 9.1 shows the conventional inductive turn-on snubber circuit for a single-ended IGBT transistor
switching circuit. Equally the switch may be a GCT or a GTO thyristor, for which an inductive turn-on
snubber is mandatory, if switch derating is to be avoided.
At switch turn-on the snubber inductance controls the rate of rise of current as the collector voltage falls
to zero. The switch turns on without the stressful condition of simultaneous maximum voltage and Figure 9.2. Turn-on snubber with snubber energy recovery via a secondary catch winding:
(a) circuit diagram; (b) circuit waveforms; and (c) multilevel recovery.
current (Vs, Im) being experienced. At turn-off the inductor current is diverted through the diode Ds and

BWW
325 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 326

At switch turn-on the inductor supports the full rail voltage and, by transformer action, the induced
secondary voltage is NVs. The reverse-blocking voltage seen by the secondary blocking diode DR is Vs
Vc = (1 + N )V s (V) (9.3) Im
Df L Im
Thus by decreasing the switch voltage requirement with large N, the blocking diode reverse voltage Dr
O Co
rating is increased, and vice versa when N is decreased. A Dr
One further design compromise involving the turns ratio is necessary. The higher the effective pull-down D +
voltage, the quicker the stored energy is returned to the dc supply. The secondary voltage during + Co>Cs +
recovery is fixed at Vs; hence from v = L di/dt the current will decrease linearly from Im /N to zero in time Lr Co
tft. By equating the magnetically stored primary energy with the secondary energy pumped back into the T Co D Cs
dc rail source Vs
Dc Lr
Im
½Lp I m2 = V s ½t ft (J) (9.4) Im + Cs +
N
The core reset time (and the switch minimum off-time), that is the time for the magnetic core energy to +
Ls Ds
Cs Dc
be returned to the supply, is given by Ls Ds
Im
t ft = Lp N (s) (9.5) 0
Vs
Thus the lower the turns ratio N, the shorter the core reset time and the higher the upper switching (a) (b) (c) (d)
frequency limit. Analysis assumes a short collector current fall time compared with the core reset time.
Primary leakage inductance results in a small portion of the core stored energy remaining in the primary Figure 9.3. Inductive turn-on snubber with snubber energy recovery intermediate capacitors:
circuit at turn-off. This energy, in the form of primary current, can usually be absorbed and controlled by (a) circuit diagram; and successive (b) turn-off; (c) turn-on; and (d) turn-off.
the capacitive turn-off snubber circuit (R-C snubber) across the switch.
Figure 9.2c shows a recovery arrangement with multiple secondary windings, like the link arrangement
of a diode clamped multilevel inverter (Chapter 15.3). The reflected voltage, (1 + N / n ) V s , on to the 9.1.2 Active recovery
switch is significantly reduced as the number of secondary windings, n, increases. Auto balancing and
regulation of the capacitor voltages is achieved since only the lowest charged (voltage) capacitor has i. Recovery into the dc supply
energy transferred to it. Figure 9.4 shows an inductive turn-on snubber energy recovery scheme which utilises a switched-mode
power supply (smps) based on the boost converter in 15.4, and shown in figure 9.26a.
ii. Recovery into the load At switch turn-off the energy stored in the snubber inductor Ls is transferred to the large intermediate
Passive inductive energy recovery into the load tends not to significantly affect load voltage regulation storage capacitor Co via the blocking diode, Db. The inductor current falls linearly to zero in time Ls Im /
since the recovered energy is related to the load current magnitude. VCo. The smps is then used to boost the relatively low capacitor voltage into a higher voltage suitable for
Figure 9.3 shows a passive inductor turn-on snubber with energy recovered into the load and the three feeding energy back into a dc supply. The capacitor charging rate is dependent on load current
recovery stages. magnitude. The smps can be controlled so as to maintain the capacitor voltage constant, thereby fixing
In figure 9.3b, at switch T turn-off, the inductor stored energy ½Ls I m2 is resonantly transferred to the the maximum switch collector off-state voltage, or varied with current so as to maintain a constant
capacitor Cs in the path Ls - Ds - Cs. The switch is assumed to have a short turn-on time compared to the snubber inductor reset time. One smps and storage capacitor can be utilised by a number of switching
resonant period. The capacitor Cs voltage and series resonant current are given by circuits, each with a blocking/directing diode as indicated in figure 9.4. The diode and switch are rated at
Vs+VCo. The smps is operated in a discontinuous inductor current mode in order to reduce switch and
i (ωt ) = I m cos ωt
(9.6) diode losses and stresses.
VCo (ωt ) = I m Z sin ωt If the load and inductive turn-on snubber are re-arranged to be in the cathode circuit, then the
After time t = ½π√LsCs the diode Ds blocks preventing continuation of resonance and the final capacitor complementary smps in figure 9.26b can be used to recover the snubber energy from capacitor Co.
voltage is
Ls
VCs = I m Z = I m (9.7)
Cs
When switch T subsequently turns on, the energy stored in Cs is resonantly transferred to the
intermediate storage capacitor Co, through the path Cs - Lr - D - Co- T shown in figure 9.3c. All the energy Lsmps
in Cs is transferred provided Co > Cs, in which case the diode Dc across Cs conducts, clamping Cs to zero Co VCo on
volts. The final voltage on Co is
Tsmps off
Co L
VCo = VCs = Im s (9.8)
Cs Co Db
see figure 9.26a
During the transfer of energy from Cs to Co the circuit voltage and current waveforms are given by
equations (9.11) to (9.14). The voltage on Co given by (9.8) is retained until subsequent switch turn-off. fsmps

The final stage of recovery is shown in figure 9.3d where the capacitor Co dumps its charge at a Dsmps
constant rate into the load as its voltage falls linearly to zero in a time, independent of the load current
VCo
t Co = C o = Ls C o (9.9)
Im fsmps > fT

during which time the capacitor Co voltage falls according to

0V 0V
Im L I
VCo (ωt ) = VCot =0 − t = Im s − m t (9.10)
Co Co Co
The load freewheel diode Df then conducts the full load current Im. Figure 9.4. Turn-on snubber with active snubber inductor energy recovery.
327 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 328

9.2.1 Passive recovery

i. Recovery into the load

Figure 9.6 illustrates a passive, lossless, capacitive turn-off snubber energy recovery scheme which
Df dumps the snubber energy, ½CV s2f s , into the load. The switch turn-off protection is that with a
conventional capacitive snubber circuit.
At turn-off the snubber capacitor Cs charges to the voltage rail Vs as shown in figure 9.7a.
At subsequent switch turn-on, the load current diverts from the freewheeling diode Df to the switch T.
Simultaneously the snubber capacitor Cs resonates its charge to capacitor Co through the path shown
in figure 9.7b, T - Cs - L - Do - Co.
When the switch next turns off, the snubber capacitor Cs charges and the capacitor Co discharges
OFF + ON + into the load. When Co is discharged, the freewheeling diode conducts. During turn-off Co and Cs act
effectively in parallel across the switching device.
A convenient starting point for the analysis of the recovery scheme is at switch turn-on when snubber
energy is transferred from Cs to Co.

Figure 9.5. Conventional capacitive turn-off snubber showing currents at IGBT transistor:
(a) turn-off and (b) turn-on.

9.2 Energy recovery for capacitive turn-off snubber circuits – single ended

Figure 9.5 shows the conventional capacitive turn-off snubber circuit used with both the GTO thyristor
and the IGBT transistor. At turn-off, collector current is diverted into the snubber capacitor C via D. The
switch turns off clamped to the capacitor voltage which increases quadratically from zero. At the
subsequent switch turn-on the energy stored in C, ½CV s2 is dissipated as heat, mainly in the resistor R. T T
A full functional description and design procedure for the capacitive turn-off snubber circuit is to be found + +
in chapter 8.3.1.
At high voltages and switching frequencies, with slow switching devices, snubber losses ( ½CV s2f s ) may
be too high to be readily dissipated. An alternative is to recover this energy (either into the load or back
into the dc supply), using either passive or active recovery techniques.

Figure 9.7. Energy recovery turn-off snubber showing the energy recovery stages:
(a) conventional snubber action at turn-off; (b) intermediate energy transfer at subsequent switch
turn-on; and (c) transferred energy dumped into the load at subsequent switch turn-off.

At switch turn-on
+ The active equivalent circuit portions of figure 9.7b are shown in figure 9.8a.
+ Analysis of the L-C resonant circuit with the initial conditions shown yields the following capacitor voltage
Co Do
and current equations. The resonant current is given by
L
Vs
Rs i (ωt ) =
sin ωt (A) (9.11)
T + Ds Z
Cs 1 n + 1 L
where Z = ωL = = Zo (ohms) Zo = (ohms)
ωC o n Co
n + 1 1
ω = ωo (rad/s) ωo = (rad/s)
+ n LC o
Cs
n =
Co
(a) (b)
The snubber capacitor voltage decreases from Vs according to
 1
VCs = V s 1 − (1 − cos ωt )  (V) (9.12)
Figure 9.6. A capacitive turn-off snubber with passive capacitor energy recovery into the load:  1+n 
(a) with a capacitive turn-off snubber and (b) with an RC turn-off snubber. while the transfer capacitor voltage charges from zero according to
n
VCo = V s (1 − cos ωt ) (V) (9.13)
1+n
329 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 330

At switch turn-off
Energy dumping from Co into the load and snubber action occur in parallel and commence when the
switch is turned off. As the collector current falls to zero in time tfi a number of serial phases occur.
These phases, depicted by capacitor voltage and current waveforms, are shown in figure 9.10.

Phase one
Capacitor Co is charged to n V s , so until the snubber capacitor Cs charges to 1 − n V s , Co is ( )
inactive. Conventional snubber turn-off action occurs as discussed in chapter 8.3.1. The snubber
capacitor voltage increases according to
Im 2
VCs = ½ t (V) (9.15)
C s t fi
while Co remains charged with a constant voltage of n V s . This first phase is complete at to when
I mt o2
Figure 9.8. Equivalent circuit for the intermediate energy transfer phase of snubber energy recovery,
occurring via: (a) the main switch T and (b) then via the snubber diode Ds.
VCs = v o = ½
C s t fi
(
= 1 − n Vs ) (V) (9.16)

whence

to =
(
2 1 − n V s C s t fi ) (s) (9.17)
Im
and the collector current

equation (9.11)
(
I o = I m 1 − to t
fi
) (A) (9.18)

equation (9.14)

equation (9.12)

equation (9.13)

Figure 9.9. Circuit waveforms during intermediate energy transfer phase of snubber energy recovery:
(a) transfer capacitor C0 current; (b) snubber capacitor voltage; and (c) transfer capacitor voltage.

Examination of equation (9.12) shows that if n > 1, the final snubber capacitor Cs voltage at ωt = π will
be positive. It is required that Cs retains no charge, ready for subsequent switch turn-off; thus n ≤ 1, that
is Co ≥ Cs. If Co is greater than Cs equation (9.12) predicts Cs will retain a negative voltage. Within the
practical circuit of figure 9.6, Cs will be clamped to zero volts by diode Ds conducting and allowing the
remaining stored energy in L to be transferred to Co. The new equivalent circuit for ωt = cos −1 ( −n ) is
shown in figure 9.8b. The resonant current, hence transfer capacitor voltage are given by
Figure 9.10. Circuit waveforms at switch turn-off with turn-off snubber energy recovery when:
Vs
i (ωot ) = sin (ωot + φ ) (A) (a) the snubber Cs is fully charged before the switch current at turn-off reaches zero and
Z (9.14) (b) the switch collector current has fallen to zero before the snubber capacitor has charged to Vs.
VCo = n V s cos (ωo t + φ ) (V)
where t ≥ 0 and φ = − tan−1 1−nn .
2
Phase two
In maintaining energy balance, from equation (9.14) when the inductor L current i(ωt) = 0, the final
voltage on Co is n V s and Cs retains no charge, VCs = 0.
( )
When Cs charges to 1 − n V s , the capacitor Co begins to discharge into the load. The equivalent circuit
is shown in figure 9.11a, where the load current is assumed constant while the collector current fall is
The voltage and current waveforms for the resonant energy transfer stage are shown in figure 9.9. assumed linear. The following Kirchhoff conditions must be satisfied
331 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 332

Vs Vs

V s = VCs +VCo (V) (9.19)

I m = i Co + i Cs + I o (1 − t / t fi ) (A) (9.20)
Df L Df L
for 0 ≤ t ≤ tfi – to O Df/b O Df/b
A A
Under these conditions, the snubber capacitor voltage increases according to Im D Lr Im D

n 1 1:N
VCs =
1 + n Cs 
( )
 ( I m − I o ) t + ½t 2 / t o  + 1 − n V s (V) (9.21)
on
with a current on
1 Lp Ls
i Cs = {I m − I o (1 − t / t o )} (A) (9.22) N>2
+
Do
1+n Do 1:N

The transfer dump capacitor Co discharges with a current given by Ds Cs

+
i Co = i Cs / n (9.23) T on T Ds
on
Cs
Lp Ls
Lr
0 0

(a) (b)

Figure 9.12. A capacitive turn-off snubber with passive energy recovery into the supply:
+ + (a) basic capacitive turn-off snubber and (b) an alternative configuration.

At switch T turn-on, the snubber capacitor Cs resonates with inductor Lr through the coupled transformer
primary Lp, in the loop Cs - Do – Lp - Lr - T, returning energy to the dc supply through the coupled
+ + secondary circuit. The primary voltage is Vs /N, and provided this referred voltage is less than a half Vs,
all the energy on Cs is transferred to the dc supply via the transformer. The snubber diode Ds clamps the
capacitor Cs voltage to zero, and excess energy in Lr is transferred to the dc supply, in the loop Do – Lp -
Lr – Ds, as the inductor Lr current falls linearly to zero when opposed by the referred dc link voltage via
the transformer. In figure 9.12a, the secondary winding can be connected to the other terminal of Cs.
Once the energy transfer is complete, the transformer core magnetising current resets to zero in the
same Kirchhoff loop, but at a low voltage. Reset must be complete in one complete period of switch T.
Figure 9.11. Turn-off snubber equivalent circuit during energy recovery into the load when: iii RC snubber recovery
(a) Co begins to conduct and (b) after the switch has turned off. The IGCThyristor is commonly used and characterised with an RC snubber. The figure 9.6b shows how
the snubber diode Ds in figure 9.6a can be replaced by a resistor to form an RC snubber, provided diode
Ds is used to clamp the minimum snubber capacitor voltage to zero. The resistor losses are ½CsV2. The
Phase three snubber capacitor stored energy after turn-off, ½CsV2, can be recovered at switch turn-on, provided the
If the snubber capacitor has not charged to the supply rail voltage before the switch collector current has RsCs time constant is at least comparable with the LC resonant period – an unlikely condition.
reached zero, phase three will occur as shown in figure 9.10b. The equivalent circuit to be analysed is
shown in figure 9.11b. The Kirchhoff equations describing this phase are similar to equations (9.19) and 9.2.2 Active recovery
(9.20) except that in equation (9.20) the component Io(1- t/t0) is zero.
The capacitor Cs, charging current is given by i. Recovery into the dc supply
n Active energy recovery methods for the turn-off snubber are simpler than the technique needed for
i Cs = Im (A) (9.24) active recovery of turn-on snubber circuit stored energy. This is because the energy to be recovered
1+n
while the dumping capacitor Co current is from the turn-off snubber is fixed at ½C sVs 2 and is independent of load current. In the case of the turn-on
snubber, the energy to be recovered is load current magnitude dependent ( α IL2 ) which complicates
i Co = i Cs / n (A) (9.25)
active recovery. Active turn-off snubber energy recovery usually involves an intermediate capacitive
The snubber capacitor charges linearly, according to energy storage stage involving a positive or negative voltage rail (with respect to the emitter of the
n I principal switch).
VCs = v io + m
t (V) (9.26)
1 + n Cs
a Negative intermediate voltage rail
When Cs is charged to the rail voltage Vs, Co is discharged and the load freewheeling diode conducts the
full load current Im. At switch T turn-on the snubber capacitor stored energy is resonated into a large intermediate storage
Since the snubber capacitor energy is recovered there is no energy loss penalty for using a large capacitor Co as shown in figure 9.13a. Recovery from Cs to Co at switch T turn-on occurs through the
following loops:
snubber capacitance and the larger the capacitance, the lower the switch turn-off switching loss. The
energy to be recovered into the load is fixed, ½C sV s2 and at low load current levels the long discharge at switch T turn-on when VCs > 0: Cs -T- Co - L- Da (as shown in figure 9.8a and equations (9.12) - (9.13))
time of Co may inhibit proper snubber circuit action. This is generally not critical since switching losses then when VCs = 0: Ds - Co - L- Da (as shown in figure 9.8b and equation (9.14))
are small at low load current levels. Output voltage regulation is reduced, since the amount of energy
recovered into the load is independent of the load current. The switch current is increased by the resonant current, which has a maximum of VCo / L / C s . It is
possible to use the energy in Co as a negative low-voltage rail supply. This passive recovery technique
ii. Recovery into the dc supply suffers from the problem that the recovered energy ½C sV s2 may represent more energy than the low-
Figure 9.12 show two turn-off snubber circuits where the energy is recovered back into the dc supply. voltage supply requires. An independent buck-boost smps can convert excess energy stored in Co to a
The ac circuit operational mechanisms are the same for both circuits. more useful voltage level. Producing the gate drive for the smps switch Tsmps presents few difficulties
When the switch T is turned off the snubber capacitor Cs charges to the dc rail voltage Vs. since the gate-emitter has a low dc offset and does not experience any dv/dt relative to the emitter
reference voltage of the main switch T.
333 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 334

The basic recovery circuit, with the buck-boost smps, can form the basis of an active turn-off snubber Whether a positive or negative intermediate voltage is produced on Co, (typically a few tens of volts, but
energy recovery circuit when switches are series connected, as considered in section 9.4. much higher if part of a turn-on snubber recovery circuit), the energy on Co is usually smps converted to
It may be noticed that the ‘Cuk’ converter in chapter 17.6 is in fact the snubber energy recovery circuit in stable gate voltage levels of the order of ±15V. Since a dual rail polarity gate level supply is needed, the
figure 9.13a, controlled in a different mode. polarity of the voltage on Co (viz., positive or negative) is inconsequential.
Dc
Da

Cs
9.3 Unified turn-on and turn-off snubber circuit energy recovery – single ended
T
Rs 9.3.1 Passive recovery
Conventional inductive turn-on and capacitive turn-off snubber circuits can both be incorporated around
a switching device as shown in figure 8.20 where the stored energy is dissipated as heat in the reset
SMPS
resistor. Figure 9.14 shows unified turn-on and turn-off snubber circuits which allow energy recovery
L Tsmps Dsmps from both the snubber capacitor Cs and inductor ℓs.
off i. Recovery into the load
Lsmps The snubber capacitor energy is recovered by the transfer process outlined in section 9.2.1. Figure
on 9.14a shows the energy transfer (recovery) paths at switch turn-off. The capacitor Co and inductor ℓs
transfer their stored energy to the load in parallel and simultaneously, such that the inductor voltage is
on clamped to the capacitor voltage VCo.
As Co discharges, the voltage across ℓs decreases to zero, at which time the load freewheel diode Df
conducts. Any remaining inductor energy is dissipated as unwanted heat in circuit resistance. Proper
(a) selection of ℓs and Cs ( ½Ls I m2 ≤ ½C sV s2 ) can minimise the energy that is lost although all the snubber
Vs capacitor energy is recovered, neglecting diode and stray resistance losses. The energy (controlled by,
and transferred to the turn-on snubber inductor ℓs) associated with freewheel diode reverse recovery
SMPS current, is also recovered.
Df L Vs
O Im
A
D off Dsmps
Cs Trev Lsmps
+
Df
off Co Df Dc DR Df/b
Da
T + on
ℓs Ds Do Co
Ds L Co Vs +
1:N
Tsmps Da +
Lo on
0V D1
on T Rs
(b) Cs Do

Do
Figure 9.13. Switching circuit for recovering turn-off snubber capacitor energy,
and for providing either (a) a negative voltage rail and/or transferring to Vs, via a buck-boost smps
or (b) a positive voltage rail and/or transferring to Vs, via a boost smps. +
(c) on
b Positive intermediate voltage rail
A positive voltage source, with respect to the main switch emitter, can be produced with the recovery
circuit in figure 9.13b. Practically, an extra switch, Trev, is needed in order to minimise the time of current (a) (b)
decay in the loop L - Ds, after the switch T is turned on and the voltage on the snubber capacitor Cs has
Figure 9.14. Switching circuits incorporating unified turn-on and turn-off snubber,
resonated to zero. A passive resistor-capacitor network can be used to synchronise the turn-on (due to
showing recovery path of energy (a) in Co and ℓs; (b) in Cs and ℓs through Dr.; and
the main switch T turning on) and turn-off (due to diode Ds becoming forward biased) of the low-voltage (c) recovery circuit when an RC snubber is employed.
switching device Trev. Recovery from Cs to Co at switch T turn-on occurs through the following Kirchhoff
current loops:
at switch T turn-on when Trev is on and VCs > 0: Cs -T - L - Trev for a period ½π√LCs At switch turn-on
then when Trev is off and VCs = 0: Co - L - Da for a period Vs /ωoVCo When the switch is off, the freewheel diode Df conducts the load current Im, capacitor voltage VCs = Vs
A boost smps controls and transfers the energy on Co to the dc rail through diode Dsmsp. and VCo = 0.
The basic recovery circuit, with the boost smps, when cascade connected, can form the basis of an
active turn-off snubber energy recovery circuit for series connected switches, as considered in 9.4. Phase one: t P 1
on

When the switch is turned on, the series inductor ℓs performs the usual turn-on snubber function of
ii. RC snubber recovery
controlling the switch di/dt according to (assuming the switch voltage fall time is relatively short)
The IGCThyristor is commonly used and characterised with an R-C snubber (as opposed to a parallel
Vs
connected series capacitor-diode turn-off snubber). The insert in figure 9.13a, for use in figures 9.13a i (t ) = t (9.27)
and b, shows how the snubber diode Ds can be replaced by a resistor to form an R-C snubber, provided As
diode Dc is used to clamp the minimum snubber capacitor voltage to zero. The resistor losses are The switch current rises linearly to the load current level Im and then continues to a level IRR higher as
½CsV2. Most of the snubber capacitor stored energy after turn-off, ½CsV2 at switch turn-off, (depending the freewheel diode Df recovers with currents in the paths shown in figure 9.15a. This diode reverse
on the Rs-Cs time constant), can be recovered using either of the basic circuits in figure 9.13, or the recovery current IRR is included in the analysis since the associated energy transferred to the turn-on
circuits in figures 9.6 and 9.14, provided the RsCs time constant is greater than the LC resonant period. inductor is subsequently recovered.
335 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 336

The peak switch current Im + IRR is reached after the duration t P 1 and
on

As VCo (t Pon2 ) = nV s (9.35)

t P 1 = ( I m + I RR )
on
(9.28)
Vs
Phase three: t P 3
on
As long as the freewheel-diode conducts, the load is clamped to near zero volts, thus Cs remains
charged to Vs. The remaining energy stored in ℓs is resonantly transferred into Co in the path Do - Co - ℓs - Ds, with initial
Vs Vs Vs conditions given by equations (9.34) and (9.35), according to
VCo (ωo t ) = n V s sin (ωo t + φ ) (9.36)
L L L
and
Df Im O Im O Im O
A A A Vs
D D Co D Co i (ωo t ) = n cos (ωo t + φ ) (9.37)
Zo
+ +
The resonant current reaches zero and energy transfer to Co is complete, after a period
IRR ½π − φ
ℓs ℓs Do ℓs Do
t Pon3 = (9.38)
ωo
If the diode reverse recovery energy is reintroduced, based on energy transfer balance, the final voltage
on Co is
+ Ds
VCo (t Pon3 ) = nV s2 + ( Z o I RR )
0V 2
T T Cs T (9.39)

0V 0V 0V
The turn-on equations (9.29) to (9.37) are essentially the same as equations (9.11) to (9.14) for the turn-
(a) (b) (c) off snubber energy recovery circuit considered in section 9.2.1, except free-wheel diode reverse
Figure 9.15. Unified turn-on and turn-off snubber at switch turn-on, showing (a) current build-up in recovery has now been included. The circuit turn-on voltage and current waveforms shown in figure 9.9
ℓs; (b) energy resonant transfer from Cs to Co; and (c) energy transfer from ℓs to Co through Ds. are also applicable.

At switch turn-off
Phase two: t P 2
on
When the switch is on, it conducts the load current Im and the snubber capacitor Cs voltage is zero,
The turn-off snubber capacitor Cs charge resonates in the path Cs - Do - Co - ℓs and through the switch T, while the transfer capacitor voltage VCo( t P 3 ) = √n Vs = Vo (neglecting the IRR component) is a result of
on

as shown in figure 9.15b. The capacitor voltages and resonant current are given by (n = Cs / Co) the previous switch turn-on. When the switch T is turned off, the collector current decreases linearly from
Vs Im towards zero in time tfi.
i Cs (ωt ) = i Co (ωt ) =
sin ωt + I RR cos ωt (9.29)
Z
 1 ω Z
VCs (ωt ) = V s 1 − (1 − cos ωt )  + o I RR sin ωt (9.30)
Vs Vs Vs Vs
 1+n  ω n
ω L L L L
n
VCo (ωt ) = V s (1 − cos ωt ) + o Z I RR sin ωt (9.31) Df Im O Df Im O DR Df Im O DR Df Im O DR
1+n ω A A A A
D D Co D Co D Co

1 n + 1 As Cs
where Z = ω A s = = Zo (ohms) Zo = (ohms) n = + + +
ωC o n Co Co
ℓs ℓs ℓs Do
n + 1 1
ω = ωo (rad/s) ωo = (rad/s)
n AsC o
The freewheel diode Df voltage is Ds + Cs Ds + Cs Ds
T T T T
V Df (ωt ) = V s + VCo −VCs
(9.32)
= V s (1 − cos ωt ) + I RR Z sin ωt 0V 0V 0V 0V

When the freewheel-diode current reaches its peak recovery level, IRR, it is able to support a voltage
(a) (b) (c) (d)
which from equation (9.32) sinusoidally increases from zero. Specifically the freewheel-diode reverse
bias VDf is controlled such that zero voltage turn-off occurs resulting in low recovery power losses. Stray Figure 9.16. Unified turn-on and turn-off snubber at switch turn-off, showing (a) current diversion to
or inductance deliberately introduced in series with Do (to decrease the resonant peak current given by snubber capacitor Cs; (b) transfer capacitor Co releasing energy (c) energy transfer to the load
equation (9.29), approximately Vs / Z) produces a freewheel-diode recovery step voltage Vs ℓs /( ℓs + simultaneously from ℓs and Co through DR; and (d) energy transfer from Co into the load through DR.
Lstray), where the step is always less than Vs.
The resonant period prematurely ends (since n < 1) when the snubber capacitor Cs voltage reduces to
zero and is clamped to zero by conduction of the snubber diode Ds, as shown in figure 9.15c. Assuming Phase 1: t P 1
off

IRR = 0 (to obtain a tractable solution), equating equation (9.30) to zero yields the time for period 2, t P 2 ,
on
The load current is progressively diverted to the snubber capacitor as the collector current decreases,
that is giving a capacitor (and collector) voltage of
cos −1 ( −n ) 1
t
1
t
t I t2
t Pon2 = v ce = VCs (t ) = (I − i ) dt = ∫ I m dt = m
C s ∫0 m c
(9.33) 0 ≤ t ≤ t fi (9.40)
ω C s 0 t fi C s 2t fi
at which time If the collector current reaches zero before any other associated recovery processes occurs, then after
Vs
i Co (t Pon2 ) = (1 − n 2 ) (9.34) the collector current has reached zero, the collector and snubber voltages rise linearly (being clamped in
Z parallel), with currents in the paths shown in figure 9.16a, according to
337 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 338

I m t fi I m t I m t fi iii. Recovery into the load and supply

v ce = VCs (t ) = ½ + provided ½ ≤ V s −V o (9.41)
Cs Cs Cs Figure 9.14b shows a dual snubber energy recovery technique where a portion of the resonance energy
The collector voltage reaches Vs at a time given from equation (9.41) when VCs = Vs – VCo as is transferred back to the dc supply (as opposed to the load) at switch turn-on, through a magnetically
Cs coupled circuit where it is required of the turns ratio that N > 2. This reduces the energy transferred from
t Poff1 = (V −Vo ) + ½t fi (9.42)
Im s the snubbers to the load, giving better load regulation under light load conditions. Load regulation with
where Vo is given by equation (9.39) and the period duration includes the collector linear fall period tfi. light loads is poor since the snubber capacitor energy is fixed, ½C sV s2 , independent of the load, Im. In
the analysis to follow, the recovery contribution of freewheel diode reverse recovery energy is neglected.

Phase 2: t P 2
off At switch turn-on
When the collector (and snubber) voltage VCs reaches Vs -Vo capacitor Co begins to discharge into the The turn-on phase is essentially the same as the circuit considered in figure 9.14a, except the
load providing the load current Im. Simultaneously Cs charges to Vs through ℓs, as shown in figure 9.16b. transformer is seen as an opposing emf voltage source Vs /N.
The relevant circuit capacitor voltages and current are Phase one: t P 1
on

n  1  The switch current fall period is described by equation (9.27) and the time of the first turn-on period is
i As (ωt ) = I m 1 + cos ωt  (9.43)
1 + n  n  given by equation (9.28).
1  1 
VCs (ωt ) = I m Z o Phase two: t P 2
on
sin ωt + ωo t  + V s −Vo
 (9.44)
n +1 n +1  The equations (9.29) to (9.35) are modified to account for the transformer referred voltage Vs /N
1  1  N − 1 Vs
VCo (ωt ) = I m Z o  sin ωt − ωo t  + Vo (9.45) i As (ωt ) = i Cs (ωt ) = i Co (ωt ) = × sin ωt (9.50)
n +1 n +1  N Z
This phase is complete when the snubber capacitor Cs is charged to the supply voltage, Vs, assuming 1
VCs (ωt ) = V s × × 1 + Nn + (N − 1) cos ωt  (9.51)
the inductor current is greater than zero at that time. Let the inductor current be I2 at the end of the off- N (1 + n ) 
period t P 2 and the capacitor Co voltage be V2.
off
n (N − 1)
VCo (ωt ) = V s (1 − cos ωt ) (9.52)
Phase 3: t P 3
off N ( n + 1)
The snubber capacitor is clamped to the rail voltage. The transfer capacitor Co and snubber inductor ℓs The instantaneous power being returned to the supply through the transformer is given by
both release energy in parallel into the load through the paths shown in figure 9.16c. The inductor Vs V N − 1 Vs N − 1 Vs
2

voltage is clamped to the capacitor Co voltage. The snubber inductor current is p (ωt ) = × i (ωt ) = s × × sin ωt = × sin ωt (9.53)
N As N N Z N2 Z
V
i As (ωo t ) = I m + 2 sin ωo t + ( I 2 − I m ) cos ωo t (9.46) The time for this period is given by equation (9.51), when the snubber capacitor voltage is zero
Zo 1  nN + 1 
while the transfer capacitor voltage is t Pon2 = × cos −1  −  (9.54)
ω  N −1 
VCo (ωo t ) = V 2 cos ωo t + Z o ( I 2 − I m ) sin ωo t (9.47)
The energy returned to the supply is
One of two conditions form the completion of this phase n + 1 V s2 1
( )
w Trans t Pon2 =
N
×
ωZ
= × C sV s2 < ½C sV s2 since N > 2
N
( J) (9.55)
• the transfer capacitor voltage reaches zero before the snubber inductor current reaches zero
• the snubber inductor current reaches zero before the transfer capacitor voltage reaches zero
Phase three: t
on
P3
The first condition represents the case where the remaining inductor current associated energy is lost Energy continues to be recovered back into the supply Vs through the transformer when the resonant
as it freewheels to zero in the low voltage path ℓs - Do - DR and the load. current transfers to the diode Ds. Capacitor Cs charges to Vs and is clamped to Vs by diode Dc.
In the second case, the inductor current given by equation (9.46) reaches zero, while the transfer The final voltage on the transfer capacitor Co is
capacitor Co continues to discharge into the load as shown in figure 9.16d. The inductor current is Vs 
prevented from reversing by diode Ds. Once the inductor current has fallen to zero, the transfer capacitor VCo (t Pon3 ) = 1 + nN 2 − 1 (9.56)
N  
voltage falls linearly to zero as it provides the load current Im. This second case represents the situation
when 100% of all snubber (inductor ℓs and capacitor Cs) and diode reverse recovery energy is The total energy transferred to the supply through the transformer is the difference between the initial
recovered, that is energy in ℓs and Cs and the final energy in Co.
½A s ( I m + I RR ) ≤ ½C sV s2
2
(9.48) V s2
w Trans (t Pon2 + t Pon3 ) = ½C sV s2 + ½A s I m2 − ½C o
2
 1 + nN 2 − 1 (9.57)
Snubber reset and recovery is complete when the snubber inductor current and transfer capacitor N2  
voltage are both zero, the collector voltage has ramped to Vs, and the free-diode conducts the full load If the turn-on inductor current reaches zero before the third phase can commence (due to N being too
current Im. From equation (9.47), this stage is complete when VCo( t Poff3 ) = 0, that is small), then the turn-off snubber does not fully discharge, and will act as a soft clamp in the subsequent
  switch turn-off cycle. The capacitors retain the following voltages
1 V2
t Poff3 = tan−1  2 + Nn − N 2
 Z ( I − I ) 
(9.49)
ωo  o 2 m 
VCs = V s =Vs − V (9.58)
N ( n − 1) N ( n − 1) s
Now the switch can be turned on.
2n (N − 1)
VCo = V s (9.59)
ii. RC-L dual snubber recovery N ( n + 1)
The IGCThyristor is commonly used and characterised with an RC snubber and an inductive turn-on
snubber. Figure 9.14c shows how the snubber diode Ds in figure 9.14a can be replaced by a resistor to
form an RC snubber, provided diode combination Da - Ds is used to clamp the minimum snubber At switch turn-off
capacitor voltage to zero. The resistor losses are ½CsV2. The snubber capacitor stored energy after The circuit recovery operation at turn-off is essentially the same as when no transformer is used (N→∞),
turn-off, ½CsV2, can be recovered at switch turn-on, while the inductive turn-on energy ½LsI2 is except that the voltage on Co at the begin of turn-off is given by equation (9.59) or equation (9.56), as
recovered at switch turn-off, provided the RsCs time constant is greater than the LC resonant period. appropriate.
339 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 340

Operating regions of the dual energy recovery circuits 9.3.2 Active recovery

Both the passive unified recovery circuits analysed can be assessed simultaneously for their operational i. Recovery into the dc supply
bounds, since the bounds for the transformerless version in figure 9.14a are obtained by setting N to
infinitely in the appropriate equations for the recovery circuit in figure 9.14b. Figure 9.17 shows various Both turn-on and turn-off snubber energy can be recovered into the dc supply using a dedicated buck-
operational boundaries for the two unified passive energy recovery circuits analysed. The various boost smps formed by Tsmps, Dsmps and Lsmps, shown in figure 9.18. Both snubbers (capacitor Cs and
boundaries are determined from the operating equations for the circuits. inductor Ls) transfer their energy to the intermediated storage capacitor, Co, from which the energy is
The boundaries in figure 9.17a show the regions of full snubbering and for soft snubbering where the smps transferred to the dc supply Vs. The buck-boost smps also maintains a fixed voltage on Co, which
capacitor Cs is not reset to zero voltage during the resonant cycles at turn-on. The boundaries are facilitates rapid energy transfer of the turn-on snubber inductor Ls energy to Co at switch T turn-off, in
summarised as follows time LsIm / VCo. The maximum switch off-state voltage is Vs+VCo. At switch T turn-on, the turn-off snubber
N −2 capacitor Cs energy is resonated to Co through the loop Cs - T - Co - Ls - Do, as considered in detail in
n< (9.60) section 9.3.1. The smps is operated in a discontinuous inductor current mode in order to minimise smps
N
N switch and diode losses and stresses. The maximum smps switch and diode voltages are Vs+VCo.
n< (9.61) Figures 9.18b and c show circuit versions with a reduced component count. With the inductor ℓ removed,
N −2 the resonant reset current magnitude and period is now only controlled by the turn-on snubber inductor.
The boundaries in parts b and d of figure 9.17 satisfy equation (9.57), namely the capacitor energy is A further diode can be removed as shown in figure 9.18c, but the number of series components in the
less than the inductor energy. The current is normalised
∨
with respect to √nVs / Zo. Part d shows that the turn-on inductor reset path is increase as is the loop inductance associated with the path.
relative range for 100% recovery, defined as (I − I ) / I , is independent of the transformer turns ratio. Vs Vs Vs

Figure 9.17c shows the normalised (with respect to 2π√n/ωo) reset time at turn-off. The reset time at Df Df Df
turn-on is the sum of periods one and two, but is dominated by the second turn-on period, namely Im Im Im
∨
1
t on = cos −1 ( −n ) (9.62)
ω
Cs Do Dsmps Cs Dsmps Cs Dsmps

T T T
n>1 n>1 I Fig 9.14a N infinite + ℓ + +
10 1
Df Ds Tsmps Ds Tsmps Df Tsmps
off
transformer turns ratio N:1

100% energy recovery Df

normalised current

8 0.8
on Do Lsmps Ds Do
full N=10 Lsmps
snubbering Ls Co Lsmps Ls Co Ls Co
6 0.6 ∨
+ + +
I 0 0 0
4 0.4 N=4
soft (a) (b) (c)
snubbering
2 N=2 0.2 Figure 9.18. Unified, active turn-on and turn-off snubber energy recovery circuits:
< 100% recovery
(a) basic circuit and (b) and (c) reduced component variations.
0 (a) (b) 0
0 2 4 0 2 4 6 8 10
Co / Cs 1/n capacitance ratio Co / Cs 1/n
9.4 Inverter bridge legs
(c) (d)
Capacitive turn-off snubbers (without any turn-on snubber circuit inductance), both active and passive
are not normally viable on bridge legs because of unwanted capacitor discharging and subsequent
normalised recovery range

4 0.8
uncontrolled charging current, as considered in chapter 8.4. At best capacitive soft turn-off voltage
normalised reset time

Independent of N
max clamps (operational at >Vs) can be employed to reduce turn-off losses, as shown in figure 8.24.
3 0.6
N=2
max 9.4.1 Turn-on snubbers
2 N=100 0.4 ∨
all N I − I
min i. Active recovery - recovery into the dc supply
1 0.2 I Figure 9.19 shows inverter bridge legs where both switches benefit from inductor turn-on snubbers and
min active energy recovery circuits. The circuits also recover the energy associated with freewheel diode
0 0 reverse recovery current. The turn-on energy and diode recovery energies are both recovered back into
the dc supply, Vs, via a buck-boost smps. At switch turn-off, the energy stored in Ls is transferred to
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
capacitor Co via diode Ds.
capacitance ratio Co / Cs 1/n capacitance ratio Co / Cs 1/n For given turn-on snubber inductance Ls, both circuits give the same di/dt in the switches. The capacitor
voltages determine the snubber reset time. When both circuits result in the same switch maximum
Figure 9.17. Unified, passive snubbering characteristics: voltages, the reset times are the same. But the capacitor voltages in figure 18.9a are half those for the
(a) operating regions with recovery transformer; (b) 100% recovery regions with different circuit in figure 9.19b. The main operational difference between the two configurations is the periods
transformer turns ratios; (c) normalised circuit reset limits; and when the capacitors are charged. In figure 9.19a, both capacitors are charged at both switch turn-on and
(d) normalised recovery range independent of transformer turns ratio. turn-off. In figure 9.19b, each capacitor charges once per cycle, one capacitor is charged at turn-on, the
other at turn-off.
Coupling of the turn-on inductors results in virtual identical waveforms as to when the inductors are not
magnetically coupled. No net energy savings or gains result. Close coupling is therefore not necessary.
341 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 342

load gives poor regulation at low load current levels where the capacitor turn-off energy, which is fixed,
Vs Vs
may exceed the load requirements. Energy recovery involves a coupled magnetic circuit which can
Co
induce high voltage stresses across semiconductor devices. Such conditions can be readily avoided if a
Ls Co T Df
Ds
Lsmps Lsmps split capacitor (multilevel) voltage rail, fed from multiple secondaries, is used, as shown in figure 9.2c.
+ +
Dual snubber (inductor and capacitor) energy recovery occurs as follows.
T
For switch S1, the turn-off snubber is formed by CS1 and DS1, and the turn-on snubber comprises LS1.
Tsmps Dsmps Tsmps
Df Ls Ds Dsmps
1. The energy stored in CS1 is resonantly transferred to Co1 when switch S1 is switched on, in the
path CS1 - Dt1 - Co1 - LS2 - LS1 - S1.
o/p o/p 2. The energy stored on Co1 is resonantly transferred to the dc supply Vs through transformer T1
Df Tsmps Dsmps Tsmps
when switch S1 is turned off and (after an underlap period) S2 is turned on (in the path Co1 -
Ls Ds Dsmps
T Lr1 - T1 - S2).
3. When S2 is turned on, the turn-on snubber inductor LS1 releases its energy in parallel with
Ds T capacitor Co1 (in the path LS1 - Ds1 – Dt1 - Lr1 - T1 - S2 - LS2).
Ls Co
Lsmps Df Co Lsmps 4. The diode Dr1 prevents (by clamping) the transfer capacitor Co1 from reverse charging, by
+ + providing an alternate path for the remaining energy in the resonant inductor Lr1 to be
0 0 returned to Vs via the coupling transformer T1.
5. The transformer T1 magnetising current is also returned to the dc supply Vs, thereby
(a) (b) magnetically resetting the coupling transformer T1.

The numerical subscripts ‘1’ and ‘2’ are interchanged when considering the recovery processes
Im Im associated with switch S2.
IDf IDf The recovery circuit can operate at switching frequencies far in excess of those applicable to the
IGCThyristor and the high power IGBT. The limiting operational factor tends to be associated with the
0 0
t t various snubber reset periods which specify the switch minimum on and off times. Although adequate
Irr Irr for IGCThyristor requirements, minimum on and off times are a restriction to the IGBT.
Im+Irr Im+Irr

Im Im
IT IT

0 0
t t
Vs+2VC +
Vs+VC
Vs Vs
VDf VDf

+
0 0
t t
Vs+2VC
Vs + VC
V Vs V Vs

VT VT

off on off off on off

0 0
+ +
t t
Vs + VC Vs+½VC
Vs Vs
Vo/p Vo/p
½Vs ½Vs

0 0
-VC t -½VC t

(c) (d) Figure 9.20. Unified, passive snubber energy recovery circuits for GTO and GCT inverter bridge legs.

Figure 9.19. Active inductive turn-on snubber energy recovery circuits: (a) multiple single-ended
circuit; (b) cross-coupled high frequency circuit; and (c) and (d) respectively circuit waveforms. ii. Active recovery - recovery into the dc supply
Figure 9.21 shows two similar turn-on and turn-off snubber, active energy recovery circuits, which are
particularly suitable for bridge leg configurations. In figure 9.21a, the turn-on snubber section is similar in
9.4.2 Turn-on and turn-off snubbers operation to that shown in figure 9.4 while the turn-off snubber section is similar in operation to that
shown in figure 9.13a. A common buck-boost smps is used for each turn-on and turn-off snubber pair.
i. Passive recovery - recovery into the dc supply This arrangement is particularly useful when the two power switches and associated freewheel diodes
Figure 9.20 shows an inverter bridge leg where both switches have inductor turn-on and capacitor turn- are available in a single isolated module package.
off snubbers and passive energy recovery circuits. The circuit also recovers the energy associated with The active recovery circuit in figure 9.21b shows the inductive turn-on snubbers relocated. The buck-
freewheel diode reverse recovery current. Both the turn-on energy and turn-off energy are recovered boost smps inputs are cross-coupled, serving the turn-on snubber of one switch and the turn-off snubber
back into the dc supply, Vs. Although this decreases the energy transfer efficiency, recovery into the of the other switch.
343 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 344

The interaction of turn-off snubbers in both circuits can create high L-C resonant currents as discussed 9.5.1 Snubbers for the cascaded H-bridge multi-level inverter
in section 8.4. In each case, two buck-boost smps and intermediate storage capacitors Co can serve
numerous bridge legs, as in a three-phase inverter bridge. Since the cascade multilevel inverter (see figure 15.37) is comprised of identical H-bridge modules, any
Theoretically the recovery smps diodes Dr can be series connected, thereby eliminating a diode, as of the snubbers for bridge legs considered in section 9.4 are applicable. Snubbers can be active or
shown in figure 9.21c. But to do so assumes the two inductor recovery currents are both synchronised passive, incorporating only an inductive turn-on snubber or a capacitive soft turn-off snubber or both
and equal in magnitude. Extra diodes, Di are needed to divert any inductor current magnitude turn-on and turn-off snubbers. When the cascaded H-bridge approach is used for three-phase VAr
imbalance, as shown in figure 9.21c, which negates the diode saving in having series connected the compensation, real power must be returned to the ac system if the recovered energy is in excess of the
recovery diodes Dr. Alternatively, the single inductor recovery circuit in figure 9.21d may be used inverter losses.
provided the smps switches are not conducting simultaneously. Synchronisation of the smps switch to
its associated main switch avoids such simultaneous operation. The recovery circuits in figure 9.21 parts 9.5.2 Snubbers for the diode-clamped multi-level inverter
c and d are applicable to both the bridge leg circuits in figure 9.21 parts a and b.
Various snubbers have been proposed for the neutral point clamped inverter which involves a split dc
The circuit in figure 9.21a is readily reduced for single-ended operation, as shown in figure 9.18. rail composed of two series connected capacitors, as shown in figure 15.34. Generally devices are
asymmetrically stressed or indirectly snubbered. Indirect snubbering approaches should be avoided
since the main problem with high power multilevel inverters is the decoupling of circuit inductance.
For levels higher than three, only the outer switches have a fixed dc reference, viz., 0V or Vdc, hence
Co recovery circuits on these switches can return energy to the outer link capacitors. Energy recovery from
Co
Dr + snubbers on the inner switches is hampered by the clamping diodes. Thus recovery of snubber energy
x in a three-level inverter is viable since the two link capacitors are in fact two outer capacitors, referenced
Tsmps x Dr
Cs to the dc rails. Recovery must be into the associated level capacitor of a given switch, if recovery circuit
component voltage ratings are to be limited to that of the main switching elements.
Lsmps see
figure 9.4 9.5.3 Snubbers for the flying-capacitor clamped multi-level inverter

Turn-off snubbers for the flying capacitor clamped inverter are problematic since the switch clamping
Tsmps y
y
principle is based on indirect clamping and the level clamping capacitors support multiple-voltages in
Dr excess of the individual device operating voltage ratings. As seen in figure 15.36, the flying capacitors
Dr Co
Co associated with inner switches support lower voltages than the outer capacitors.
+
As a general rule, if snubbering is being considered, then a series connection approach as in section 9.6
(d) is viable, provided device switching delays are minimised. The turn-off delay of the GCThyristor can be
reduced to less than 400ns if high di/dt reverse gate current drive is employed. The key limitation in
reverting to series connected device operation is the loss of amplitude modulation offered by multi-level
circuits. As a consequence, series connected devices produce higher output dv/dt voltages. The neutral
Lsmps point clamped inverter with series connected devices is a favoured medium voltage compromise.
Co Co
Tsmps
+
x Dr
x 9.6 Snubbers for series connected devices
Di Two basic approaches are adopted when power-switching devices are series connected in order to
see
see
Dr figure
figure 9.3
9.4
operate circuits at voltages in excess of individual device voltage ratings.
• Use a multilevel structure as considered in Chapter 15.3, where individual switches are
Di effectively soft clamped or
Dr • series connect devices with fast turn-on and turn-off, minimising device switching delays
y thereby improving transient voltage sharing; possibly using simple R-C snubbers
y
Tsmps Co Co
The use of turn-on and turn-off snubbers greatly increases system complexity and size but does offer a
Lsmps + method for reliably operating series connected devices, a modular structure, and the possibility of
obtaining gate drive power for individual series connected cells. Fast, noise free, isolated
(c) uni/bidirectional signal transmission, without any isolation or dv/dt problems, to virtual any voltage
potential is possible with fibre optics. The production of isolated gate drive supply power at tens,
Figure 9.21. Unified, active snubber energy recovery circuits: (a) multiple single-ended circuit; possibly hundreds of kilovolts is problematic. The usual approach for deriving emitter level supplies
(b) cross-coupled high frequency circuit; and (c) and (d) coupled smps variations. involves tapping energy from static voltage sharing resistors, resulting in high resistor losses, or tapping
energy from the R-C snubber during switching transitions. Both methods do not provide fail-safe device
operation (in the off-state, with static dv/dt capability) at the initial application of the HV dc link voltage.
9.5 Snubbers for multi-level inverters The use of inductive and capacitive switching snubbers offers two advantages, other than enforcing
transient voltage sharing of series connected devices, which may mitigate the associated increased cost
The multi-level inverter introduced in Chapter 15.3 utilises series connected switching elements with and complexity
each switch operated in a voltage clamped mode. Three multi-level inverter configurations are • better device I-V utilisation and a higher switching frequency
commonly presented • the derivation of cell level gate power supplies from snubber recovered energy
• the diode clamped multi-level inverter – see figure 15.34 Many of the previously presented active snubber energy recovery circuits in this chapter are directly
• the flying capacitor clamped multi-level inverter – see figure 15.36 and transferable to multilevel inverter configurations, thereby extending the current and frequency
• the cascaded H-bridge multi-level inverter – see figure 15.37 capabilities of the main switching devices, particularly the GCThyristor, and freewheel diodes. Once
 345 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 346

snubbers are employed, traditional series device connection with snubbers is simpler than a multilevel The turn-on snubber Ls in figure 9.22 is indirectly clamped, with the stored energy released into the
approach, but does not offer the multilevel output voltage features (amplitude modulation and reduced series string of turn-off snubber capacitors. Link inductance is mandatory in order to control recharging
dv/dt) of multi-level inverter configurations. of the turn-off snubber capacitors as considered in section 8.4.
The snubber recovered energy is usually far in excess of that that can be utilised for gate drive power. Although the smps switch Tsmps and diode Dsmps are high voltage devices, rated at the cell voltage level,
The topological nature of series connected devices precludes any form of relatively simple snubber both are not particularly stressed during energy recovery switching, since the recovery buck-boost smps
energy recovery (active or passive) other than recovery back into the dc link supply. are operated in a discontinuous inductor current mode. The switch Tsmps turns on with zero current,
without any diode reverse recovery effects, while diode Dsmps suffers minimal reverse recovery, since its
9.6.1 Turn-off snubber circuit, active energy recovery for series connected devices principal current reduces to zero controlled by Lsmps, with recovery di/dt current (or voltage) controlled (or
supported) by the smps inductors Lsmps. A static voltage-sharing resistor across each cell (not shown in
i. Recovery into the dc supply figure 9.22) compensates for various static voltage and current imbalance conditions on both the main
Series connection of switches and diodes requires static voltage sharing (resistors) and transient voltage switch T and smps diode Dsmps network, particular during converter start-up and shutdown sequencing.
sharing circuitry, viz., capacitive turn-off snubbers for voltage sharing during turn-off and inductive turn-
on snubbers for voltage sharing during turn-on. Figure 9.22 shows series connected devices, each System start-up
modular cell level incorporating a main switch and inverse parallel connected freewheel diode, plus a The intermediate transfer stage capacitor Co can be used to provide a source of gate level power, via a
turn-off snubber Cs - Ds, a resonant circuit L - Do, an intermediate energy storage capacitor Co, and buck- dedicated smps. One of two start-up sequences are used to build-up gate power and cell voltages
boost smps recovery circuitry Tsmps - Lsmps - Dsmps, as shown in figure 9.13a and considered in 9.2.2. The before normal switching operation can commence. In both cases, an ac to dc single or three phase half-
recovery smps is operated so as to maintain a near constant voltage on the intermediate storage controlled converter is used to ramp charge the intermediate capacitor Co associated with the lowest
capacitor Co. The cell energy recovery switches Tsmps are synchronised, all being turned on for up to the potential cell (typically Co operates at about 50V to 100V). This capacitor Co in turn provides gate power,
switch minimum on-time (immediately before the switches T are turned off), and turned off when the via a dedicate 100V dc to ±15Vdc smps, for the lowest level switch T. By using series blocking/directing
main switches T are turned off. The timing sequence for the control signal, switch T and recovery switch diodes, rated at the cell voltage rating, one ac to dc converter can supply the lowest potential cell of all
Tsmps is shown in figure 9.22b. Note that the transmitted control signal is truncated at the switch T turn- bridge legs, as shown in figure 9.23a. Proprietary pre-charging sequences are used to charge Co on
off edge, by the switch minimum on-time, tdelay, which is approximately ½π√LCs. higher cell levels, depending on whether the dc link voltage is established or not. As each Co is
When Tsmps are turned off, the inductive stored energy in each Lsmps is returned to the dc link through progressively charged, its associated gate supply smps is self-activated, enabling external control of that
each corresponding diode Dsmps as shown in figure 9.22a. Any imbalance in the individual inductor switching cell. Inverter start-up can involve the application of the dc link voltage before gate level power
current magnitudes, involves currents in excess of the minimum of all the inductor currents being has been established. This does not present a problem for GCThyristors, but in the case of the IGBT, a
diverted to the cell snubber capacitor Cs through Dsmps - Cs - Ds - Lsmps. The inductor recovery current low passive impedance gate to emitter circuit is needed to avoid inadvertent device turn-on due to Miller
differentials are minimal compared to the principal current in the switches, hence do not unduly affect capacitor dv/dt effects.
capacitive turn-off snubber charging, hence transient turn-off voltage balancing action.
(a) Start-up with an established dc link voltage
Vs In the case of an inverter with an established dc link voltage, each level switch, hence cell, supports half
Ls its normal operating voltage, and each snubber capacitor Cs is charged to the cell voltage level. All the
Df
T intermediate energy storage capacitors Co are discharged, except for the lowest potential cell capacitor,
which has been ramp charged by the ac to dc converter. The recovery smps (and main switch) of the
DC rail lowest potential cell is operable. Tsmps of the lowest potential cell is turned on, then off and the current in
the associated Lsmps tends to overcharge Cs of the lowest potential cell. This forces current to increase
Dsmps
Io + through the Co - L - Ds combinations of the higher potential cells as each Cs is forced to decrease its
charge, therein charging higher-level capacitors Co. The voltage on Cs of the lowest potential cell can be
Cs Da L Tsmps doubled before the cell reaches it normal operating voltage level. Thus for n series connected cells, the
T Df
operating limit of the intermediate capacitor Co voltage satisfies (n-1)VCo < 2Vs /n. That is, any smps
Ds Co
+
Lsmps sourcing from Co used to provide gate supply voltage rails for the main switch T, must be able to
tdelay function (convert) down to a voltage level satisfied by this inequality equation.
signal
When a cell voltage reaches its operating voltage limit, the associated main switch is turned on briefly to
on
resonantly discharge the snubber capacitor Cs. The supported voltage is redistributed among the other
Dsmps t cells, which typically, are only supporting half the normal cell operating voltage.
+
T
on (b) Start-up with no pre-existing dc link voltage
Cs Da L Tsmps In the case where the dc link voltage has not been established, a similar charging process is used as for
T Df
t the case of a pre-existing dc link voltage. The dc link capacitance must be on the inverter side of the
Ds Co Lsmps
+ isolation. The dc link capacitor is initially charged through series diodes Df to the maximum cell voltage
Tsmps
on as capacitor Cs of the lowest potential cell is parallel charged from Co by its associated recovery smps.
The lowest potential recovery smps is commutated numerous time in order to charge the dc link
t capacitance which is usually significantly larger in capacitance than Cs. Once the link capacitor is
Dsmps charged to the maximum allowable cell voltage, the main switch T of the lowest potential cell is turned
+ ILsmps
on to reset its associated snubber Cs voltage to zero. The start-up mechanism used with a pre-existing
Cs L
dc link voltage can then be used. Once Co in each cell is charged sufficiently to enable its gate voltage
Da Tsmps
T Df t smps to become operational, synchronised use of the recovery smps at each level allows charging of
Ds Co Lsmps the dc link capacitor to the operational voltage level (in fact slightly in excess of the rectified peak level).
+
Then the vacuum circuit breakers before the rectifier, feeding the series connected device circuit, can be
closed, which results in zero line current in-rush.
Co >>Cs 0V rail Connection of the load and an interfacing filter may be problematic without dedicated contactors, as is
(a) (b) the influence of the output filter on the cell charging mechanism previously outlined.

Other gate power derivation methods

Figure 9.22. Active turn-off snubber energy recovery for series GCT connected, inverter bridge legs: Gate power derived from switching recovered energy cannot be maintained during prolonged standby
(a) modular cell circuit and (b) timing diagram. periods. Using dropper resistors (as for static voltage sharing) to provide all gate level power
347 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 348

requirements results in high dissipation losses, particularly during continuous standby periods (that is, maintains the voltage near constant on its associated Co and the higher this voltage the faster the
100% dissipation duty cycle). Although resistors are used for steady-state series voltage sharing, the inductor Ls current is linearly reset to zero, in time treset = LsIm / VCo. Excess energy on Co is transfer
current associated with this mechanism (≈10mA, depending of the degree of device matching and (recovered) to the dc link by synchronised switching of Tsmps. Mismatched inductor Lsmps current
operating temperature range) is well below that needed for gate power (≈50W for IGCThyristors but magnitudes and durations are diverted to charge Co of any cell attempting to recover a lower current
much less for IGBTs). But this level of sharing resistor current (≈10mA) may be sufficient to trickle magnitude, by turning off all Tsmps just before all the main switches T are turned off, as shown in figure
maintain gate level supplies of cells in the off-state during prolong standby periods, using variations of 9.24b. This balancing effect is minimal (but does eliminate any smps diode forward recovery effects) and
the circuits shown in figure 9.23c. any current imbalance subsequently tends to overcharge the output capacitance of the main switch of
Depending on the load and output filter, it may be possible during prolong standby periods to sequence the cells with recovery current in excess of the minimum of all the smps recovery currents. Some form of
the inverter between 000 and 111 states, thereby producing zero average voltage output between turn-off snubbering is therefore necessary in order to avoid excessive main switch T voltages at turn-off.
phases but activating the snubbers hence resonant recovery circuits that charge each Co. The voltage rating of the various cell circuit semiconductors is increased by the voltage on Co. A cell
Provided sufficient switch voltage redundancy is available, sequential bootstrapping is possible where static voltage sharing resistor helps maintain steady-state voltage balance of both the main switch T and
each level is boot strapped supplied from the immediate next lower level, as shown in figure 9.23b. (See the smps diode Dsmps.
figure 7.4). In the case of a positive voltage as shown in figure 9.23b, each switch, starting from the
lowest level is sequentially turned on and off, thereby transferring gate energy from the lowest level to a Start-up
the highest level. (An expanding repetitive simultaneous on-state sequence is used, progressively One ac to dc converter can be used to pre-charge each lowest level capacitor Co of each inverter leg, as
involving higher potential cells.) This approach is viable in single-ending series connected switch shown in figure 9.23a, provided the path to each inverter leg incorporates a series blocking/directing
applications. Although each bootstrap diode Dbs is rated at the cell level voltage, in the case of inverter diode, rated at the cell voltage level. The start-up sequence, using the lowest level smps to charge
legs, only half the inverter leg devices can be supplied, since any bootstrap diode bridging the pole higher level Co and the dc link to the sum of all Co voltages, is straightforward. Synchronised operation
centre take-off node must be rated at the full dc link voltage (actually ½n-1 levels can be charged since of all the smps can then gradually fully charge the dc rail, if it is not already pre-charged.
the lowest level cell is not bootstrapped).
If the bootstrapping voltage is referenced with respect to the high potential terminal of the cell, then the
supply voltage on Co is bootstrap by transferring energy from the highest potential cell down to the
lowest potential cell.
A similar approach can be used with transformer isolated smps’s transferring power between adjacent
levels, which need only be rated at the cell level voltage. Again, this approach is viable in single-ended Vs
applications, but in the case of inverter legs, the pole output take-off node cannot be readily bridged by tdelay
Io signal
an smps because of the high dc link voltage blocking and isolation requirement. Also, each smps
on
experiences dv/dt stresses when the level switches are commutated.
T
Possibly the simplest and most reliable method to derive gate power in series connected circuits, up to a Df t
Dsmps
few 100kV, is to use ac current transformers with series connected single-turn primaries, where each
T
level short-circuits the secondary when not charging. on
hv Tsmps
Ds t
Ls
Tsmps
+ hv Lsmps on
Db3 Co3 Cell Co
+
3
Db2 + t
Dbs 15V T
Df Dsmps ILsmps
Db1
0
+ +
Cell 15V t
Co3 Co2 Co1 Co2 Tsmps
2 0 Ds
Vo + Dbs + Ls
+ + + 15V
Lsmps
Co
0V + + (a) (b)
Co1 Cell 0
1
Figure 9.24. Active turn-on snubber energy recovery for series GCT connected, inverter bridge legs:
(a) modular cell circuit and (b) timing diagram.
(a) (b) (c)
Figure 9.23. Gate supply derivation methods: (a) ac to dc half-controlled converter for ramp pre-
charging of all lowest leg level capacitors Co; (b) bootstrapping a positive voltage supply; and 9.6.3 Turn-on and turn-off snubber circuit active energy recovery for series connected devices
(c) Zener diode based sources using static voltage sharing resistors or/and R-C snubber resistors.
i. Recovery into the dc supply
If a single inductive turn-on snubber Ls is used in the dc link as in figure 9.22a, its stored inductor energy
at switch turn-off is transferred to the capacitive turn-off snubbers of cells supporting off-state voltage.
9.6.2 Turn-on snubber circuit active energy recovery for series connected devices During switching, this causes voltage ringing between the cells and the link inductor. This inductor is
rated at the full dc link voltage and cannot be clamped by the usual resistor-diode parallel connected
i. Recovery into the dc supply reset circuit as in figure 8.19a. This is because any reset components (R-D) need high voltage ratings –
An active energy recovery, inductive turn-on snubber as shown in figure 9.4 (usually with an R-C turn-off in excess of the dc link voltage during diode Df reverse recovery. For this reason, an inductor snubber
snubber), can be adapted and used at each series cell level, therein providing gate level power (possibly saturable) may be used at each cell level, giving a complete modular cell structure. Active
possibilities from Co and energy recovery through series connect buck-boost smps recovery circuitry, as snubber energy recovery of both inductive and capacitive energy is possible, although it may be
shown in figure 9.24a. The capacitor Co is configured to be connected to the emitter of switch Tsmps. convenient to resistively dissipated the turn-on inductive snubber energy, which is load current
Energy stored in the turn-on snubber inductor Ls is transferred to the intermediate storage capacitor Co dependant, ½LsI2.
via diode Ds at switch T turn-off. The switching sequence is shown in figure 9.24b. Each recovery smps
349 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 350

Dual, unified active snubber energy recovery can be achieved by using the recovery circuits shown in gate power, hence external control is established on each cell, judicious operation of each smps and
figure 9.21b, but with the smps diodes series connected as shown in figure 9.25a. For a modular cell main switch T can facilitate charging of the dc link capacitor and contains all cell voltages to within the
structure, all the cells are configured as for the lower switch in figure 9.21a. This switch configuration is rated cell voltage.
preferred since capacitor Co can be readily pre-charged to initiate the start-up sequence for charging The start up mechanism may necessitate a suitable diode connected in series or anti-parallel with Tsmps.
higher level Co, which can be used to derive gate level power for the associated cell. A relatively low
voltage on capacitor Co (if Co operates at about 5 to 10% of the cell operating voltage) may necessitate (b) Shut down
a long switch T minimum off-time in order to ensure reset of the turn-on inductor current to zero. This is After the dc link has been isolated, under zero inverter output current conditions, using a vacuum circuit
not a problem for GTO type devices which have minimum on and off time limitations. Higher operating breaker on the ac side, the intermediate capacitor of the lowest potential cell (in each bridge leg) is
voltages for Co necessitate a more complicated smps to derive gate level power for switch T. At higher maintained in a partially discharged state by a resistive load which is switch connected to the capacitor
cell operating voltages, the intermediate storage capacitor Co can be modified to the circuit in figure Co of the lowest potential cell. The auxiliary ac to dc converter used to initially charge Co is disabled
9.25b. The low voltage output lv can be used to power cell start-up circuitry. during normal operation and shut-down, with all the ac to dc converter thyristors off, therefore blocking
The resonance inductor ℓ (in series with the turn-on snubber inductance Ls) is used to control the current in both directions. Alternatively, if this ac to dc converter has suitable two quadrant operational
magnitude and duration of the resonant period of Cs transferring its charge to Co. The minimum value of modes, then the energy continually being transferred to Co from other cells, can be recovered into the
inductor ℓ can be zero if Ls is large enough to satisfactorily control resonant reset circuit conditions low voltage ac source. The various smps and main switches are operated so as to maintain equal
without ℓ. A further simplification can be made by removing a resonant circuit diode as shown in figure voltage across all cells (by sequentially commutating each main switch on then off), gradually
9.25c, which is derived from the circuits in figure 9.18. decreasing the dc link voltage as energy is continually, but controlled, being transferred to and removed
The timing sequence in figure 9.22b for turn-off snubbers is used. from the lowest potential cell capacitor Co.
One functional design constraint should be observed. At switch turn-on, current builds up in Lsmps
because of the voltage on Ls, during the later part of the cycle when Cs resonates its charge to Co. This 9.6.4 General active recovery concepts for series connected devices
relatively small current magnitude linearly increases to a magnitude dependant on the relative
magnitudes of Ls to ℓ and Lsmps, and the magnitude of the voltage retained on Co. Once established, a In each of the three snubber circuits considered for series connected devices, the common key recovery
near constant, slowly decreasing current flows in a zero voltage loop, Lsmps - Dsmps - T - Ls, and is mechanism is performed by a buck-boost smps, with components rated at the cell voltage level.
recovered during recovery smps action at switch turn-off. Figure 9.26 shows two basic underlying recovery techniques for transferring energy from Co through an
inductor, into the dc supply at a higher potential. The key difference between the two techniques is the
0
Vs polarity orientation of the energy source Co and the dc supply Vs, with respect to their common node.
Co1
+
• Figure 9.26 parts a and b show boost converters, where energy is drawn from Co when
lv
Io Cs
energy is being delivered to the supply Vs, via an inductor.
• Figure 9.26 parts c and b show buck-boost converters, which do not involve Co during
T
+ ℓ Dsmps (b) the period when energy is being delivered to the supply Vs, via an inductor.
Df Ds Tsmps Co2
+
hv
+
Do Vs D
Co1 >> Co2
Ls Co Lsmps Co
+ Ls
+
ON T OFF
Cs Cs
OFF
Dsmps T
T Dsmps T
+ ℓ + + Ls
Vs
Df Ds Tsmps Df Tsmps D Co
+

Do Ds ON
Ls Lsmps
Ls Co Lsmps Co
(a) (b)
+ +
0
(a) (c)
Figure 9.25. Active turn-on and turn-off snubber energy recovery: Co
+ Vs
(a) circuit for series GCT and IGBT inverter bridge legs; (b) high voltage replacement circuit for Co;
and (c) reduced component variation of part a.
Ls
R
Ls
(a) Start-up
Co
The capacitor Co of the lowest potential cell (in each bridge leg) is negatively ramp charged by a +
dedicated ac to dc converter as shown in figure 9.23a. This establishes cell internally generated gate Vs
supply power and hence external control of both switches of the lowest potential cell.
The recovery smps of the lowest potential cell is operated in a discontinuous mode, which charges up
the turn-off snubber capacitor Cs of that cell. Simultaneously current flows in three other parallel paths,
tending to charge up the dc link capacitor, viz. (c) (d)
• the series connected Lsmps - Dsmps Figure 9.26. Underlying energy recovery circuits when energy in Co is stored at different potentials:
• the series connected Ls - Df (a) and (b) boost smps recovery and (c) and (d) buck-boost smps recovery.
• the series connected Co - Do - Df
Thus provided the smps of the lowest cell delivers a high current, each Co receives charge before the
current is diverted and built up in inductors Lsmps and Ls. The dc link capacitor simultaneously receives A common requirement is that an smps output (whether inductor-diode for buck-boost and inductor-
charge. The switch Tsmps on-time, hence its current, is not restricted during the start-up procedure. Once diode-Co for boost) span a cell, thereby inherently interconnecting in series any number of cells. Each
351 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 352

intermediate storage capacitor Co must therefore be connected to one cell terminal. To confine further • leakage or uncoupled inductance energy release
the possibilities, it is unlikely that Co referenced with respect to the cell collector will yield a useful active • time-displaced energy-transfer coupled-circuits, as with the buck-boost converter or
recovery circuit. If the capacitor Co is referenced with respect to the switch collector/anode, Co coupled voltages as with push-pull centre tapped transformer circuits
undergoes high dv/dt voltages with respect to the switch gate. This complicates any smps using the
stored capacitor Co energy for gate drive purposes. The polarity orientation of Co and the recovery smps Both factors come into operation with the two buck-boost isolated output converters shown in figure
components are therefore restricted to the four possibilities shown in figure 9.27. Series recovery 9.28. When energy is drawn by the coupled circuit secondary, a voltage is induced into the primary,
assumes the smps inductors conduct an identical instantaneous maximum magnitude and same increasing the voltage experience by the switch in the off-state. Energy associated with leakage
duration current. inductance further increases the switch T voltage. If a basic R-C-D turn-off snubber is used, the
capacitor stored energy is increased from ½C sV s2 , if the switch voltage were to be limited to Vs, to in
(a) Start up excess of ½C s (V s + v o /N ) , where N is the transformer turns ratio as defined in figure 9.28. The
2

The general cell structures and their recovery smps can inherently be used to charge other series
leakage energy adds to the voltage component.
connected cells and the dc link, and to provide a dc source (the intermediate storage capacitor Co) from
which to derive cell level power supplies for the gate level circuitry. Specific proprietary switching
9.7.1 Passive recovery
sequences are required at start-up, depending on the cell circuit arrangement, the output filter and load,
the dc link and ac rectifier input arrangement and initial conditions. Figure 9.28a shows a passive turn-off snubber energy recovery configuration for an isolated buck-boost
converter. It is based on the circuit in figure 9.32j, where the transformer leakage inductance, Lℓ, is
(b) Shut down effectively the turn-on snubber inductance.
At shut down, once the inverter is in standby, the dc link supply is isolated (by opening the ac side When the switch T is turned off, the snubber capacitor Cs charges from - Vs to a voltage vo /N, controlled
vacuum circuit breakers) under zero current conditions, then the dc link voltage is cyclically discharged by the leakage inductance Lℓ which causes the capacitor Cs to charge to a higher voltage. Turn-off
into the load via the series connected cells. Such link discharge using cell switching sequences is capacitor Cs snubbering of the switch is achieved indirectly, through the dc supply Vs.
problematic when At switch T turn-on, the charge on Cs resonates in the loop Cs - T – Lr - Dr, reversing the polarity of the
• each cell voltage reaches a level where Co falls below a level to maintain operation of charge on Cs. This reverse voltage is clamped to Vs, as the diode Ds conducts and the remaining energy
the smps used to provide gate level voltage which allows the cell switches to operate; or in Ls is transferred (recovered) to the dc supply Vs. The switch minimum on-time is ½ π Lr C s , whilst the
• cells in another inverter legs cease to operate sooner. energy recovered from Lr to Vs occurs independent of the state of the switch.
Such limitations are mitigated by ensuring the smps that operates across Co has a wide (low minimum At switch T turn-off, after snubber capacitor Cs is fully charged, an oscillation can occur through Lr - Dr -
bounds) input voltage operating range. Cs and the transformer primary back into the supply Vs. Although a lossless oscillation, it can effect the
If the load is isolated at shut down, then the dc link energy can be sequentially transferred to Co of the output voltage regulation, increase output rectifier recovery losses, but can be prevented by using a
lowest potential cell in each leg and dissipated in a single ended resistive dumping circuit or recovery series switch in the Lr - Dr path as shown in figure 9.28d. Then recovery occurs during switch T on-
from Co via the ac to dc converter (fully controlled) used during the start-up sequence, as shown in period, back into the supply Vs, without affecting the output regulation. Once a switch has been used,
figure 9.23a. The sequence involves progressively, but sequentially, not using higher-level recovery other active recovery possibilities may be more attractive.
smps. The same leakage voltage control and recovery technique can be used on the push-pull converter in
Fail-safe start-up and shut down sequencing, so as not to over-volt any cell, usually require cell figure 9.28c, where two recovery circuits are used.
operational coordination. The fibre optic communications link for cell level on/off control of the main
switch T, is therefore bidirectional. Tr + Cs

1:N

Do Lr Do
+ Ds +
Ds vo vo
Lp Ls Co R Lp Ls Co R
Vs + Vs +
Lℓ Lℓ 1:N
+
Co Co
+ Dr Cs Dr
T T
Lr
(a) (c)

(b) (d) (a) (b)

Lℓ Lℓ Lℓ Lℓ

Cs Ds Ds Cs Cs Ds Ds Cs
+
Co Co
+ Vs
Vs +
Dr + Dr T T
T T
Figure 9.27. Cell active energy recovery from Co with: Lr Lr
(a) and (b) a boost converter and (c) and (d) a buck-boost converter. Dr
Lr
(c) (d)
9.7 Snubber energy recovery for magnetically-coupled based switching circuits
Figure 9.28. Recovery of leakage inductance energy:
Coupled circuits can induced circuit and in particular switch voltages that exceed the supply voltage. (a) and (c) passive and (b) and (d) active recovery.
These increased voltages are associated with two factors:
353 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 354

9.7.2 Active recovery 9.8 General passive snubber energy recovery concepts for single-ended circuits
Figure 9.28b show the circuit of an active turn-off soft snubber energy recovery configuration.
Coupled circuit leakage inductance Lℓ energy is transferred to the intermediate storage capacitor Cs via Snubbers are used for stress reduction at
Ds at switch turn-off. The voltage on Cs is maintained at a voltage related to vo /N by the buck-boost • switch turn-on - involving series inductance
smps formed by Tr, Lr and Dr, which returns leakage energy to the dc supply Vs. The circuit function is to • switch turn-off – involving shunt capacitance
clamp the switch voltage rather than to perform a turn-off snubber action. • freewheel diode recovery - involving series inductance
The maximum switch voltage is near constant, where as the voltage experience by the switch at turn-off and the snubber may incorporate more than one of these stress arresting functions.
in figure 9.28a, although variable, is snubbered, but dependant of the output voltage vo. In both circuits,
an R-C snubber may be required across the switch T since the recovery snubber circuits do not A single ended switching circuit usually incorporates a switch T, a freewheel diode Df and an inductive
decouple stray inductance not associated with the coupled magnetic circuit. load, where the load may be configured to be in
• the emitter/cathode circuit of T or
Similar active snubber or clamping circuits can be used with push-pull converters which utilise a centre- • the collector/anode circuit of T.
tapped transformer (or autotransformer), as in figure 9.28d, where, with a full-wave rectified forward
converter secondary circuit, the overvoltage is independent of the transformer turns ratio. The recovery The input energy source, the switch, diode and load may be configured to perform any of the following
circuit switches prevent undesirable lossless oscillations after main switch turn-off, particularly when the functions
switch duty cycle is less than 50%. The diode Dr allows the active recovery switches to be activated with • forward converter
the same control signal timing as the corresponding main switch T, provided the switch minimum on- • buck converter
time is at least ½ π LrC s . In the active recovery form, only one common reset inductor Lr is necessary. • boost converter or
• buck-boost converter
9.7.3 Transformer leakage passive recovery
All transformers have leakage inductance. The leakage inductance of a transformer driven from an H- The differentiation between the forward converter and the buck converter is that the inductive element is
bridge can be utilised as a turn-on snubber, producing turn-on zero voltage switching ZVS conditions, part of the active load in the case of the forward converter.
which eliminate both switch turn-on losses and diode reverse recovery current injection problems. A
consequence of ZVS is purely capacitive snubbers (no snubber diode or reset resistor) also become Figure 9.30a shows a switch-diode and inductor circuit combination, assuming a collector load circuit,
lossless. The sequence of circuit diagrams in figure 9.29 illustrate how the transformer leakage which can be configured as any type of converter viz., forward, buck, boost, etc. Equivalent emitter load
inductance is used to achieve ZVS. circuits, as well as collector loadings, are shown in figures 9.30 and 9.32, which present systematically a
more complete range of circuit possibilities, in each case, with the same functional snubber circuit.

Energy recovery into the load is usually associated with a parallel connected capacitor discharging
T2 off T1 D1 D3 T3
(since an instantaneous change in capacitor current to match the load current is possible) while recovery
then T3 on when D3 conducts
Lℓ back into the source is usually associated with a parallel connected inductor or magnetically coupled
circuit releasing its energy (since an instantaneous change in inductor terminal voltage to equal the
supply voltage is possible).
Tx
T1 D1 D3 T3 D3 T3 AC and dc circuit theory allows all these circuit configuration combinations to be generalised. This is
because a snubber is an ac circuit – performing a transient function - while the source and load tend to
Lℓ Lℓ
be dc components (constant voltage and constant current sources respectively). Therefore it is possible
Both T1 and T2 off to interchange the connections of the snubber (an ac circuit) with the connections to the dc voltage
Tx then T3 on when D3 conducts source, since ac-wise, a dc source appears as a short circuit. The snubber function can be achieved
and T4 on when D4 conducts directly (across the switch) or indirectly (assuming a well decoupled supply).
Tx
T4 D4 D2 T2 T4 D4
Lℓ Tx
An operational mechanism to be appreciated is the topological relative orientation within the principal
circuit of the turn-on snubber inductor or turn-off snubber capacitor.
(b)

T1 off
Turn-off snubber - capacitor:
then T4 on when D4 conducts (a) (d) Circuits in figure 9.30c and d show the turn-off snubber Ds - Cs combination parallel to the switch
T4 D4 D2 T2 (direct snubbering) or alternatively connected across the freewheel diode to the dc rail (indirect
snubbering). AC circuit wise these are the same connection since the dc source can be considered
(c)
as a short circuit at high frequency. When Ds - Cs are parallel connected to the switch (direct
Figure 9.29. H-bridge current conduction paths: snubbering), the capacitor charges as the switch voltage rises at turn-off, while in the case of the
(a) switches T1 and T2 conducting; (b) switch T2 off and then T3 on; snubber being across the freewheel diode (indirect snubbering), the capacitor discharges, and by
(c) switch T1 off and then T4 on; and (d) switches T1 and T2 off, then T3 and T4 on. Kirchhoff’s voltage law, the switch voltage is indirectly controlled to be the difference between the
capacitor voltage and the source voltage. Practically it is preferred to place the Ds - Cs snubber
directly across the element to be protected, the switch, since the source may not be well
When any switch that is conducting current is turned off, current associated with the leakage inductance decoupled.
diverts to a diode, as shown in the off-loops in figures 9.29 parts b, c, and d. The switch in anti-parallel
with that conducting diode in figure 9.29 can be turned on (at zero voltage), while the diode conducts, Turn-on and diode reverse recovery snubber - inductor:
without any switch turn-on losses, ZVS. The zero volt loops, figures 9.29 b and c, are alternated for low Circuits in figure 9.30a and b show the inductor L configured such that the snubber turn-on
duty cycles. At a maximum duty cycle, the negative voltage sequence in figure 9.29d is used, where the inductor is in series with the switch (direct snubbering) or alternatively in series with the freewheel
leakage inductance current falls rapidly to zero. diode (indirect snubbering). Both arrangements perform the same function at switch turn-on.
Assuming a constant current in the inductor L, by Kirchhoff’s current law, whether the turn-on
An inherent consequence of ZVS is that lossless capacitive turn-off snubbers (solely capacitors, without inductor controls the rate of rise of current in the collector (direct snubbering) or rate of current fall
any resistive reset circuit) can be employed across each bridge switch. If the dc link is well decoupled in the diode (indirect snubbering), the complementary element has its current inversely controlled.
only one snubber capacitor across either switch per leg is needed.
355 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 356

+ + inductive freewheel diode reverse recovery snubber

Figure 9.30 shows variations of a snubber for recovering the energy associated with freewheel diode Dr - passive energy recovery
Df
reverse recovery. All twelve circuits have the same functional ac operating mechanism, although a
number have been published – even patented - as different. US patent 5633579, 1997, according to the Cs Ls
three claims, explicitly covers the boost converter snubber circuit in figure 9.30a. In protecting the
Ds
specific boost converter circuit, all the other topological variations are inadvertently and unwittingly
implicitly precluded. Although a highly skilled expert in the art, Irving, IEEE APEC, 2002, published the L
next recovery circuit, figure 9.30b, as a new diode recovery snubber for the boost converter. inductive turn-on and capacitive turn-off snubber
T
- passive energy recovery
Passive inductive turn-on snubber energy recovery circuit variations are shown in figure 9.32, for
collector and emitter connected buck, boost, forward, and buck boost converters. Six versions exist with 0
the circuitry in each of the switch emitter and collector circuits. + + + +
Dr Df Dr Df
+ +
Df Co
Figure 9.33 shows turn-off and turn-off plus turn-on passive recovery circuit variations. The circuitry can Dr
Cs
Do C
be in the emitter or collector (as shown) circuit. Ls Ls
Do
Cs L
Ls
Ds L
Ds Ds L
(a)
(d)
T Cs T

T
0 0
Reading list
0

Boehringer, A. et al., ‘Transistorschatter im Bereich hoher Leistungen und Frequenzen’, + + + Df +

+ Dr Df Dr
ETZ, Bd. 100 (1979) pp. 664-670. x
Cs Co
Peter, J. M., The Power Transistor in its Environment, B Do C L
Df Do L
Thomson-CSF, Sescosem, 1978. Generalised Ls
Ls
switched-mode circuit
Williams, B. W., et al., ‘Passive snubber energy recovery for a GTO thyristor inverter bridge leg’, Ds Ds
Trans. IE lEEE, Vol. 47, No. 1, Feb. (2000) pp. 2-8. A y
L T
T Cs
Williams, B. W., ‘High-voltage high-frequency power-switching transistor module with switching-aid-
circuit energy recovery’, + + T
C 0 0
Proc. lEE, Part B, Vol. 131, No. 1, (1984) pp. 7-12. Ds Df
z
Finney, S. J. et al., ‘High-power GTO thyristor chopper applications with passive snubber energy recovery’, Ls 0V
Proc. lEE, EPA, Vol. 144, No. 6, (1997) pp. 381-388. Cs

L
+ +
Dr Dr
T Df
ℓ capacitive turn-off snubber
(b) Do Co - passive energy recovery
0 (c)
Problems ℓ

Ds L
9.1. For the circuit in Figure 9.14a show that the upper current limit for total energy recovery is given + Df
+
by ½Ls I m2 ≤ ½C sVs 2 . Ds T
Cs

9.2. Derive capacitor Cs voltage and current equations which describe the operation of the turn-off L
Cs Ls 0
snubber energy recovery circuit in figure 9.13. Assume the storage capacitor Co to be an ideal
voltage source with polarity as shown.
Dr + +
Co Df
ℓ T Ds Dr

0 Do L
ℓ

inductive turn-on snubber Cs

- passive energy recovery transfer
converter ports nodes
function
T
forward
B/A δ xy/xz
/buck
0
boost A/C 1 / (1- δ) xz/yz
buck-
-B/C -δ/ (1- δ) yx/yz
boost

Figure 9.30. Snubber energy recovery circuits for generalised switch-diode-inductive element circuit.
 357 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 358

+ + + T + + + + + + T + + +
Df Dr Df Dr Df Df Dr Dr
Vi Ds Ds Vi
T L T
L Ls ℓ ℓ
Ls L Cs Vi +
L Vi
Cs +
Ds Cs Ls
Cs
Ds Vo Ls Ds Vo Ds Vo Ls Vo Vo Vo Vo Ls Vo
Ls Ls Cs Cs
Cs Cs
+ L Vi + L Vi
L L Ds
Df Dr Dr Df Ds
Vi Vi
T T Dr Df Dr T ℓ T ℓ Df

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

(a) (b) boost (c) (d) (a) (b) boost (c) (d)

+ + + + + + + + + + + +
Df T Df T
Dr Vo Vo
Dr Dr
Df Dr Ds Df Ds
Vo L T Vo ℓ L T
ℓ
Cs Ls Cs L Ls L
Vi Ls Vi Cs Vi Cs Ls Vi Ls
Ds Ds + Ds Ls +
Vi Ds Vi Vi Vi Cs Cs
Cs Ls Ls
L L
Vo L + Dr Vo
Ds L +
Cs Dr Ds
Df Df
T Dr Df Vo T Df Vo
T Dr ℓ ℓ T

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

(e) (f) buck/forward (g) (h) (e) (f) buck/forward (g) (h)

+ + + + + + + +
Df T Df T
Dr Dr Vo Dr Dr
Df Vo Df Ds Vi
Vi Ds
Vo T Vo ℓ L T
L ℓ Vi
Vi
Cs Ls
Cs L+ Ls L+
Cs Cs Ls Ls
Ds Ls Ds + Ds Ls +
Ds Cs Cs
Cs Ls Ls
L + Vi L + Vi
Vo L + Dr Vo
Ds L +
Cs Dr Ds
Vi Df Vi Df
T Df Vo T Df Vo
T Dr Dr ℓ ℓ T

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

(i) (j) buck-boost (k) (l) (i) (j) buck-boost (k) (l)

Figure 9.30. Passive energy recovery of freewheel diode recovery energy: Figure 9.32. Passive energy recovery for inductive turn-on snubber:
(a)-(d) a boost converter; (e)-(h) a buck/forward converter; and (i)-(l) a buck-boost converter. (a)-(d) a boost converter; (e)-(h) a buck/forward converter; and (i)-(l) a buck-boost converter.
 359 Power Electronics Chapter 9 Switching Aid Circuits with Energy Recovery 360

+ +
Df Dr Df Dr
Cs blank
Ls Co Ls Co
L Do Vo Do Vo
+ Ds + L Ds Cs

Vi Vi
T T
+ +
Df Dr Df Dr
Cs 0 0
Co ℓ Co ℓ
L Do Vo Do Vo + +
Df Dr Df Dr
+ Ds + L Ds Cs Cs

Vi Vi + L Co + L Co
T T Ls Do Vo Ls Do Vo

0 0 Vi Ds Vi Ds Cs

T T
Turn-off snubber (a)
(b) 0 0
boost Turn-on and off snubber

+ + + +
Dr Df Dr Df
Cs Co
Vo Do C Vo
Ls Ls
Do
Vi Vi

Ds L Ds L

T Cs T
+ + + +
Dr Df Dr Df
Co 0 0
Cs
Vo ℓ C Vo
Vi
ℓ Vi + + +
Do + Df Df
Do Dr Vo Dr Vo
Ds L L Cs Co
Ds
Do C L
Do L
T Cs T Ls
Vi Ls Vi

0 0 Ds Ds

Cs T
(c) T
Turn-off snubber (d)
0 0
buck/forward Turn-on and off snubber

+ +
Dr Df Dr Df
Cs Co
Vo Vo
Do C
L L
Do

+ + Ds L + Ds L +
Dr Df Dr Df
Cs Co Vi Vi
Vo Vo T Cs T
ℓ Co
Do ℓ
0 0
Do
Ds L + Ds L +
+ Df +
Vi Vi Dr Df Dr Vo
T Cs T Vo
Cs Co
Do C L +
0 0 Do L +
L L
(e)
Ds Vi Vi
Turn-off snubber (f) Ds

T Cs T
buck/boost Turn-on and off snubber
0 0
Figure 9.33. Passive energy recovery circuits for the capacitive turn-off snubber and both turn-on
and turn-off snubber circuits, for the different types of switched mode converters.