Operation of three phase fully controlled rectifier with R and RL loads

Three phase full converter is a fully controlled bridge controlled rectifier using six thyristors
connected in the form of a full wave bridge configuration. All the six thyristors are controlled
switches which are turned on at a appropriate times by applying suitable gate trigger signals.
The three phase full converter is extensively used in industrial power applications upto about
120kW output power level, where two quadrant operations is required. The figure shows a three
phase full converter with highly inductive load. This circuit is also known as three phase full
wave bridge or as a six pulse converter.
The thyristors are triggered at an interval of (∏/3) radians (i.e. at an interval of 30°). The
frequency of output ripple voltage is 6f s and the filtering requirement is less than that of three
phase semi and half wave converters.

Figure: 2.20 circuit diagram three phase fully controlled rectifier with R and RL load
At ωt=(∏/6 +α) , thyristor is already conducting when the thyristor is turned on by applying the
gating signal to the gate of . During the time period ωt=(∏/6 +α) to (∏/2 +α), thyristors and
conduct together and the line to line supply voltage appears across the load.
At ωt=(∏/2 +α), the thyristor T 2 is triggered and T 6 is reverse biased immediately and T 6 turns
off due to natural commutation. During the time period ωt=(∏/ +α) to (5∏/6 +α),
thyristor T 1 and T 2 conduct together and the line to line supply voltage appears across the load.
The thyristors are numbered in the circuit diagram corresponding to the order in which they are
triggered. The trigger sequence (firing sequence) of the thyristors is 12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 61, 12,
23, and so on. The figure shows the waveforms of three phase input supply voltages, output
voltage, the thyristor current through T 1 and T 4 , the supply current through the line ‘a’.

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We define three line neutral voltages (3 phase voltages) as follows

V RN = V an = V m sinwt where V m is the maximum voltage

V YN = V bn = V m sin (wt-

V BN = V cn = V m sin (wt-

The corresponding line to line voltages are

π
V RY = V ab = V an - V bn =

π
V YB = V bc = V bn – V cn =

π
V BR = V ca = V cn – V an =

To derive an expression for the average output voltage of three phase full converter with highly
inductive load assuming continuous and constant load current

The output load voltage consists of 6 voltage pulses over a period of 2∏ radians, hence the
average output voltage is calculated as

π
α
Vavg = π
π
α

π
Vo = Vab =
π
α π
Vavg = π
π α

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The RMS value of the output voltage is found from
π
α
Vorms = π
π
α

π
α
= π
π
α

π
α π
= π
π
α

Figure: 2.21 Input and output waveforms of three phase fully controlled rectifier

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 PWM inverters used in EVs

What is a PWM Inverter?

An inverter whose functionality depends upon the pulse width modulation technology is
referred to as PWM inverters. These are capable of maintaining the output voltages as the rated
voltages depending on the country irrespective of the type of load connected. This can be
achieved by changing the switching frequency width at the oscillator.

PWM Inverter Types & Waveforms

The technique of PWM in an inverter comprises of two signals. One signal is for the
reference and the other will be the carrier. The pulse required for switching the mode of the
inverter can be generated by the comparison among those two signals. There are various PWM
techniques.

Single Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM)

For every half cycle, there is only one pulse available to control the technique. The
square wave signal will be for reference and a triangular wave will be the carrier. The gate pulse
generated will be the result of the comparison of the carrier and the reference signals. Higher
harmonics is the major drawback of this technique.

Single Pulse Width Modulation

MPWM technique is used to overcome the drawback of SPWM. Instead of a single pulse,
multiple pulses are used for every half cycle of the voltage at the output. The frequency at the
output is controlled by controlling the frequency of the carrier.

Multiple Pulse Width Modulation

Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation

In this type of PWM technique, instead of a square wave, a sine wave is used as a
reference and the carrier will be a triangular wave. The sine wave will be the output and its RMS
value of voltage is controlled by the modulation index.

Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation

The carrier wave is applied for the first and the last sixty-degree interval per every half
cycle. This modification is introduced to improve the harmonic characteristics. It decreases the
loss due to switching and increases the fundamental component.

Modified Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation

Applications

Most commonly PWM inverters are utilized in the speed AC drives where the speed of the drive
is dependent on the variation in the frequency of the applied voltage. Majorly the circuits in
power electronics can be controlled by using PWM signals. To generate the signals in analog
form from digital devices like microcontrollers, the PWM technique is beneficial. Further, there
are various applications where PWM technology is used in different circuits.