AC

A Voltage Coontrolleer [Ch. 6 oor Ch. 11]

AC
A voltage controller: If a thyristoor is connectted between n ac supply aand load, thee power flow w can be
controlled
c b varying th
by he rms valuee of ac voltagge applied too the load; aand this typee of power ccircuit is
known
k as an
n ac voltage controller.

Application
A ns of AC volltage controoller
Industrial
I heeating, on-lo
oad transform
mer conneciion changingg, light contrrols, speed control
c of innduction
motors,
m and ac magnet controls
c

Control Strrategies of Switching

S Devices for AAC Voltage Controller
Two
T types ofo control aree normally used
u for pow
wer transfer:
1. On-o off control: In this type of control, thyristor
t swiitchs connecct the load too the ac sourrce for a
few cycles
c of thee input voltaage and then disconnect it i for anotherr few cycless.
2. Phasse-angle con ntrol: In thiss type of conntrol, thyristo
or switchs connect the looad to the acc source
for a portion of input
i voltagee.

Classifiactioon of ac volltage controollers:

1. Sing gle phase conntroller, and (i) U
Unidirectionaal or half-waave control, and
2. Threee-phase conntroller (ii) bidirectional
b l or Full-wavve control

11.2 Princip
ple of ON-O
OFF Control
The
T principlle of on-off control can be explainedd with a single-phase fuull-wave con
ntroller, as shhown in
Fig.
F 11.1.

(a) Ciircuit

(b) Waveformss

(c) Poweer factor

Fig. 11. 1 On-Off Coontrol
DMAM
D P 1 f6 AC V lt C t ll
The thyristor switch connects the ac supply to load for a time tn; this switch is turned off for time to.
The on-time tn usually consists of an integer number of cycles. The thyrostors are turned on at the
zero-voltage crossing of ac source due to natural commutation.
The gate pulses of T1 send when input voltage goes to positive and the gate pulses of T2 send when
input voltage goes to negative.
This type of control is applied in applications that have a high mechanical inertia and high thermal
time constant (e.g. industrial heating and speed control of motors).
Due to zero-voltage and zero current switching of thyristrs, the harmonics generated by switching
actions are reduced.
For a sinusoidal input voltage, vs = Vmsinωt = √2Vs sinωt. If the input voltage is connected to load for
n cycles and is disconnected for m cycles, the rms output (or load) voltage can be found from:
1
⎡ n 2π 2V 2 sin 2 ωtd (ωt )⎤ 2 = V n
V =⎢ ∫ ⎥ = Vs k (11.1)
o ⎣ 2π (n + m) 0 s ⎦
s
n+m
V V k
The rms load current is: I = o = s
o R R
The time-period (To) of output voltage is:
To = (m + n)Ti
Where, Ti is the time period of input voltage.
(m+n)Ti should be less than the mechanical or thermal time constant of the load, and usually less
than 1 s, but not in hours or days. The sum of m and n is generally around 100.
The frequency of output voltage is:
ω 1 1 fi
fo = o = = =
2π To (m + n)Ti (m + n)
Where, k = n/(n+m) and k is called duty-cycle. Vs is the rms phase voltage. The circuit configurations
for on-off control are similar to those of phase control and the performance analysis is also similar.
The input current is same as load (or output) current, so the input voltampere is:
VA = V I = V I (11.1.1)
s s s o
The load power is:
Po = V I = I o2 R = Vo2 / R
o o
The input power factor:
P V I V n
PF = o = o o = o = = k (11.2)
VA V I V n+m
s o s
The power factor and output voltage vary with the square of the duty-cycle. The power-factor is poor
at the low value of the duty cycle k and is shown in Fig. 11.1c.
Eq. (11.2) gives erroreous results. For example, if m = 3 days and n = 3 days, PF =
√[3/(3+3)]=0.707, which is not possible. Because if the controller is on for 3 days and off for 3
days, the PF becomes independent on the load impedance angle θ.
The peak thyristor current is:
V
Im = m
R
The average current of thyristor is:
I =
n 2π I sin ωtd (ωt ) = nI m = kI m
A 2π (n + m) ∫0 m π (n + m) π
The rms current of thyristor is:

DMAM Page 2 of 6 AC Voltage Controllers

 ⎡ n 2π I 2 sin 2 ωtd (ωt )⎤ = I m n I k
I =⎢ ∫ ⎥ 2 = m
R ⎣ 2π (n + m) 0 m ⎦ n+m π

Example 11.1: An ac voltage controller in Fig. 11.1a has a resistive load of R=10 Ω and the root-
mean-square (rms) input voltage is Vs = 120 V, 60 Hz. The thyristors switch is on for n = 25 cycles and
is off for m= 75 cycles. Determine (i) the rms output voltage Vo, (ii) the input power factor (PF), (iii)
the frequency of output voltage, and (iv) the average and rms current of thyristors.

n 25
k= = = 0.25
n + m 25 + 75
V = Vs k = 120 × 0.25 = 60 V
o
V 60
The rms load current is: I = o = =6 A
o R 10
The frequency of output voltage is:
60
fo = = 0.6 Hz
(75 + 25)
The input power factor: PF = 0.25 = 0.5 (lagging)
2 × 120
The peak thyristor current is: I m = = 16.97 A
10
0.25 × 16.97
The average current of thyristor is: I = = 1.33 A
A π
16.97 × 0.25
The rms current of thyristor is: I = = 4.24 A
R π

11.3 Principle of Phase Control

The principle of phase control can be explained with reference to Fig. 11.2a. The power flow to the
load is controlled by delaying the firing angle of thyristor T1. Fig. 11.2b illustrates the gate pulse of
thyristor T1 and the waveforms for the input and output voltages.
Due to the presence of diode D1, the control range is limited and the effective rms output can only be
varied between 70.7 and 100%. The output voltage and input current are asymmetrical and contain a
dc component.
This circuit is a single-phase half-wave controlled and is suitable only for low power resistive loads,
such as heating and lighting. Because the power flow is controlled during the positive half-cycle of
input voltage, this type of controller is also known as a unidirectional controller.
If vs = Vmsinωt = √2Vs sinωt is the input voltage and the delay angle of thyristor T1 is ωt = α, the rms
output voltage is found from:

{ }
1
⎡ 1 π 2 2 ⎤2
V =⎢ ∫α 2V sin ωtd (ωt ) + ∫π2π 2V 2 sin 2 ωtd (ωt ) ⎥
o ⎣ 2π s s ⎦
1
⎡ 2V 2 ⎤2
V = ⎢ s
o ⎢ 4π ∫α
π { π
(1 − cos 2ωt )d (ωt ) + ∫π (1 − cos 2ωt )d (ωt ) ⎥
2
⎥
}
⎢⎣ ⎥⎦
1
⎡ 1 ⎧ sin 2α ⎫⎤ 2
V =V ⎢ ⎨2π − α + ⎬
o s ⎣ 2π ⎩ 2 ⎭⎥⎦
DMAM Page 3 of 6 AC Voltage Controllers
 (a) Circuit (b) Waveforms
Fig. 11.2 Single-phase angle control.

The average value of output voltage is

V =
1 π
dc 2π ∫α
{ }
2Vs sin ωtd (ωt ) + ∫π2π 2Vs sin ωtd (ωt ) =
2Vs
2π
(cos α − 1)
The average input current is
V
I = dc
dc R

α 0 to π
Vo Vs to Vs /√2
Vdc 0 to -√2Vs/π
The power factor is
1
P V I V ⎡ 1 ⎧ sin 2α ⎫⎤ 2
PF = o = o o = o = ⎢ ⎨2π − α + ⎬
VA V I V ⎣ 2π ⎩ 2 ⎭⎥⎦
s o s

Example 11.2: A single phase ac voltage controller in Fig. 11.2a has a resistive load of R = 10 Ω and
the input voltage Vs = 120 V, 60 Hz. The delay angle of thyristor T1 is α = π/2. Determine (i) the rms
value of output voltage, Vo, (ii) the input power factor, (iii) the average input current.

Solution: Vs = 120; Vm = √2 × 120 = 169.7 V; R = 10 Ω; α = π/2.

The rms value of the output voltage
1
⎡ 1 ⎧ sin 2(π / 2) ⎫⎤ 2 3
V = 120 × ⎢ ⎨2π − (π / 2) + ⎬⎥ = 120 × = 103.92 V
o ⎣ 2π ⎩ 2 ⎭⎦ 4
DMAM Page 4 of 6 AC Voltage Controllers
The rms load current:
V 103.92
I = o = = 10.392 A
o R 10
The load power is: Po = I o2 R = (10.392) 2 / 10 = 1079.94 W
The input voltampere (VA) rating is
VA = V I = V I = 120 × 10.392 = 1247.04 VA
s s s o
1
P V I V ⎡ 1 ⎧ sin 2α ⎫⎤ 2 3 1079.94
PF = o = o o = o = ⎢ ⎨2π − α + ⎬⎥ = = = 0.866 (lagging )
2π
s ⎣ ⎩
VA V I V 2 ⎭⎦ 4 1247.04
s o
2 × 120 s
The average output voltage is: V = [cos(π / 2) − 1] = −27 V
dc 2π
V − 27
The average input current is: I = dc = = −2.7 A
dc R 10

11.4 Single-Phase Bidirectional Controllers With Resistive Load

The dc input will be eliminated by using bidirectional (or full-wave) control, and a single-phase full-
wave controller with a resistive load is shown in Fig. 11.3.

(a) Circuit (b) waveforms

Fig. 11.3 Single-phase full-wave controller.

During the positive half-cycle, the power flow is controlled by varying the delay angle of T1, and T2
controls the power flow during the negative half-cycle of input voltage. The firing pulses of T1 and T2
are kept 180o apart.
The rms output voltage can be found from
1
⎡ 4V 2 ⎤2
{ }
1
⎡ 2 π 2 2 ⎤ ⎢ s2
π ⎥
V =⎢ 2V sin ωtd (ωt ) ⎥ = ∫α (1 − cos 2ωt )d (ωt )⎥
o ⎣ 2π ∫α s ⎦ ⎢ 4π
⎣⎢ ⎦⎥

DMAM Page 5 of 6 AC Voltage Controllers

 1
⎡1 ⎛ sin 2α ⎞⎤ 2
V = Vs ⎢ ⎜ π − α + ⎟
o ⎣π ⎝ 2 ⎠⎥⎦

α 0 to π
Vo Vs to 0
The gatting circuits for T1, and T2 must be isolated.
It is possible to have a common cathode for T1, and
T2 by adding two diodes, as shown in Fig. 11.4. T1
and D1 conduct together during the positive half-
cycle; and T2 and D2 conduct during the negative
half-cycle.
Because this cicuit can have a common terminal of
gating signals of T1 and T2, only one isolation
circuit is required, but at the expense of two power
diodes. The conduction losses of the devices would Fig. 11.4 Single-phase full-wave controller with
increase and efficiency would be reduced. common cathode.

A single-phase full-wave controller can also be implemented with one thyristor and four diodes, as
shown in Fig. 11.5. The four diodes act as a rectifier. The voltage across T1 and its current are always
unidirectional.

(a) Circuit (b) Waveforms

Fig. 11.4 Single-phase full-wave controller with one thyristor.

References
[1] Muhammad H. Rashid, “Power Electronics Circuits, Devices and Applications,” Second/Third
Edition, Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited
[2] M D Singh and K B Kanchandani,”Power Electronics,” Second Edition, Tata McGraw Hill
Education Private Limited

DMAM Page 6 of 6 AC Voltage Controllers