Protection of Devices and Circuits

 Power electronics equipment requires protection

against internal faults, external faults and external
disturbances
 For example, an internal fault such as the failure of
a SCR to turn OFF should not cause damage to
other components
 For example, an external short circuit of the load
should not cause damage to an internal component
 For example, an electrical transient on the incoming
power line should not cause semiconductor device
damage
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 Protection of Devices and Circuits
 Each of these three examples (internal fault,
external fault and external disturbance) can be
prevented by suitable design
 And if possible, the protection feature should allow
the system to resume normal operation when the
problem has been removed
 This means, the reliable operation of a converter
would require ensuring that at all times the circuit
conditions do not exceed the rating of the power
devices, by providing protection against
OVERVOLTAGE, OVERCURRENT and
OVERHEATING 2
 Protection of Devices and Circuits
 Switching devices and circuits may fail due to the
following reasons
 Overheating – thermal failure – Heat sink
 Overcurrent – fuses
 Overvoltage – usually happens during turn OFF-
Snubbers
 Excessive di/dt – Snubbers
 Excessive dv/dt – Snubbers
 Switching loss – excessive switching loss is a major
contributor factor of overheating-Heat sinks, fins
and fans
 Power electronic circuit and their switching devices
and components can be protected from overcurrent by
placing fuses at suitable locations 3
 Protection of Devices and Circuits
 Heat sinks, fins and fans are used to take the
excess heat away from switching devices and
other components

 Snubber circuits are required to limit di/dt, dv/dt

and overvoltage during turn-ON and turn-OFF

4
 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 Due to on-state and switching losses, heat is
normally generated within the power device
 This heat must be transferred from the device to a
cooling medium to maintain the operating junction
temperature within the specified range
 Keeping the junction temperature of a power
device within reasonable bound is the joint
responsibility of the device manufacturer and the
device user

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 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 How:
(a) The manufacturer minimizes the thermal
resistance RJC between the interior of the
device where the power is dissipated and the
outside of the case enclosing the device

(b) The device user must provide a heat conduction

path between the case of the device and the
ambient so that thermal resistance RSA
between the case and the device and the
ambient is minimized in a cost effective manner

6
 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 The user responsibility is made easier by wide
availability of heat sinks (aluminium) of various
shapes that are used for cooling of the power
semiconductor devices
 The choice of the proper heat sink depends on the
allowable junction temperature that the device can
tolerate

 Therefore, the junction temperature of a

semiconductor device is critical in determining the
device’s survival and lifetime in any application

7
 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 Calculation of junction temperature of devices is
therefore a necessary part of the design process
of the power electronic circuitry

8
 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 Heat energy flows from the interior of a power
electronic component mounted on external heat
sink by means of conduction
 In the steady state, the process is modelled by a
series connection of thermal resistance
 Heat transfer from the heat sink to the ambient is
controlled by two heat transfer mechanisms,
convection and radiation
 The junction temperature calculations are
modelled by a thermal resistance that has several
components and is expressed in oC/W
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 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 Three components are generally considered when
a power semiconductor device is mounted on a
heat sink
a) Thermal resistance between the device junction
and the device case denoted as RJC
b) Thermal resistance RCS which models the
imperfect interface between the semiconductor
device case and the hear sink

c) Thermal resistance, RSA which models the effect

of heat rejection to the surrounding ambient
temperature
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 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 The electrical circuit analogy for the thermal
circuit
TJ TC TS

RJC RCS RSA

P TA

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 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 The junction temperature of a device, TJ is given
by T  T  P R  R  R  Where
J A JC CS SA

 P = Average Power Loss in the device

 Surrounding ambient temperature
 Thermal resistance from junction to case, o C / 
 Thermal resistance from case to sink, oC/
 Thermal resistance from sink to ambient, oC/

 RJC and RCS are normally specified by the

manufacturer of the devices

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 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 Once the power loss, PA of the device is known,
the required thermal resistance of the heat sink
can be calculated for a known ambient
temperature, TA

 The next step, is to choose a heat sink and its size

which would meet the thermal resistance
requirement

 When mounted, the contact area between the

device and the heat sink is extremely important to
minimize the thermal resistance between the case
and sink
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 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 The surfaces should be flat, smooth and free of
dirt and corrossion

 Silicon greases are normally applied to improve

the heat transfer capability and to minimize the
formation of oxides and corrossion

 In high power applications, the devices are more

effectively cooled by liquid, normally oil or water

 Water cooling is very efficient and approximately

three times more effective than oil cooling

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 Cooling and Heat Sinks
 It is necessary, however, to use distilled water to
minimize corrosion. Oil is flammable, thus may be
restricted to some applications, however, provides
good insulation and eliminates the problems of
corrosion. Heat pipes and liquid-cooled heat sinks
are commercially available

 We have two types of cooling namely forced-air

and natural-air cooling.

15
 Cooling and Heat Sinks
Example:

A BJT with power dissipation of 12W is mounted o a

heat sink in an ambient air temperature of 85oC. The
semiconductor device RCS value is reduced to
0.2oC/W by mounting a heat sink on it using thermal
grease. The value of RJC is 0.83oC. The junction
temperature cannot exceed 175 oC. Complete the
design by finding a suitable heat sink thermal
resistance.

16
 Cooling and Heat Sinks
Solution:
TJ  T A  P( R JC  RCS  RSA )
175  85  12(0.83  0.2  RSA )
RSA  6.47 C / W
o

 For reasons of reliability it is not desirable to

operate the device at the limiting junction
temperature
 Good design requires a heat sink that is more
capable than the value just calculated
17
 Snubber Circuits
 Snubber circuits reduces voltage and current
stresses across the semiconductor devices by
providing an alternative path of energy normally
by using capacitors, resistors ad inductors

 Snubber circuits are used to limit di/dt, limit dv/dt

and reduce overvoltages during turn ON and turn
OFF

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 Rapid Change of Semiconductor Voltage and
Current (dV/dt, di/dt)
 Two operating conditions may produce
undesirable conditions for the switching devices
a) The rate of change of voltage:
 Excessive dv/dt may cause unwanted device
turn-ON and possible damage
 The charging current, i  C dVdt of the capacitive
C
AK

junctions may be sufficient enough to turn-ON

the device
 If the dV/dt is higher than the specified dV/dt
the device may be damaged
 The solution to the dV/dt problem is to reduce
the rate at which the VAK (VGK) may change,
usually with the capacitors
DP314 Lecture Notes Sem II 2012/13 - © nkl 19
 Rapid Change of Semiconductor Voltage and
Current (dV/dt, di/dt)
Consider the circuit below

G(A) The thyristor is OFF an

+ VGK
VS TH you would wish it to
- VAK
K remain OFF.

However, due to the capacitive junction between A

and cathode (K), there is a charging current, iC  C dVAK
dt

This current may be enough to turn-ON the device

and possible damage it, if dVAK is high than the
dt
specified
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 Rapid Change of Semiconductor Voltage and
Current (dV/dt, di/dt)
Solution: Connect the capacitor in parallel to the
device as shown in the following diagram
Hence the capacitance
+
VS TH C CT = CTH + C can be increased
- and thus reducing the dVAK by
dt

dV AK dV AK iC
iC  C  
dt dt C
 Besides the reduction of dV/dt , a path has been created for the
charging for current ic through the connected capacitance
 During the turn-ON however, and since the capacitor was charging
due to ic’ the charging
21
 Rapid Change of Semiconductor Voltage and
Current (dV/dt, di/dt)
current at turn-ON of the device, the capacitor will
discharge into the device and possibly damage it.
 Thus, you connect a resistor in series with the
capacitor to limit the current that flows as follows

TH R
VS
+
C
-

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 Rapid Change of Semiconductor Voltage and
Current (dV/dt, di/dt)
 But now, when the thyristor is OFF, the path for the
charging current might not be easy to reduce the
dVAK
dt
 Since the current will also be limited by the
resistance. You thus include a diode to easy the path
of the charging current when the thyristor is OFF, as
shown in the diagram
+
TH R
VS -
C

23
 Rapid Change of Semiconductor Voltage and
Current (dV/dt, di/dt)
Thus, we conclude by saying that;
 The introduction of extra element called snubbers to
protect the switching device from dV/dt is usually
done by capacitors, but other elements are
frequently added to the capacitor as shown before
 The diode provides a path around the resistor so
that the snubber is effectively the capacitor
 If only the capacitor were used, then on subsequent
turn-ON of the device, the capacitor would be
rapidly discharged through the switching device

24
 Rapid Change of Semiconductor Voltage and
Current (dV/dt, di/dt)

 A resistor in series with the snubber capacitor limits

this current on device turn-ON
 Device Data sheets contains information on the
maximum rate at which VAK may change without
causing unwanted device turn-ON

25
 The Rate of Change Current (di/dt )
 If the device’s rate of change of current becomes
very high, the switching device may be damaged
 The device requires a minimum time to spread the
current conduction uniformly throughout the
junctions
 If the rate of rise of anode current is very fast
compared to the spreading velocity of a turn-ON
process, a localized “hot spot” heating will occur
due to high current density and the device may fail,
as a result of excessive temperature. The device
must be protected against  di 
 dt 
26
 The Rate of Change Current (di/dt )
 Consider the following circuit diagram
T1
im

-
Load
VS Dm
+

 Under steady-state operation, Dm conducts when

thyristor T1 is OFF
di
 If T1 is fired when Dm is still conducting, dt can be
very high and can only be limited by stray
inductance
27
 The Rate of Change Current (di/dt )
 In practice, the  di  is limited by adding a series
 
 dt 
inductance LS as shown in the figure
im
LS is
-
Load
VS Dm
+

di di VS

 The forward dt is given by, dt LS
LS is the added series inductance, including the
stray inductance

28
 Protection against Overvoltages
 Understand the reverse recovery time of a
semiconductor device
 When the diode is in forward conduction mode and
then its forward current is reduces to zero (due to
the natural behaviour of the diode circuit or by
applying a reverse voltage), the diode continues to
conduct due to minority carriers which remain
stored in the pn-junction and the bulk
semiconductor material
 The minority carriers require a certain time to
recombine with opposite charges and to be
neutralized
29
 Protection against Overvoltages
 This certain time …is called the reverse recovery
time of the semiconductor
 The reverse current associated with this recovery
time di
I RR  t a
dt trr
IF
ta

IRR
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 Protection against Overvoltages
 Now consider the following circuit
IRR
i
L

Device under
VS Dm recovery

 Due to the recovery time trr and recovery curent IRR,

an amount of energy is trapped in the circuit
inductance and as a result transient voltage appears
across the device
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 Protection against Overvoltages
 An R-C snubber circuit with the initial zero voltage
on the capacitor is used to provide abrupt recovery
and recovery current is suddenly switched to zero
IRR Dm – Device under recovery

+ L I
+
C
VS V Dm Open circuit
R
- -

Damping Circuit
 Normally, R and C are chosen such that the circuit is
slightly underdamped. Critical or Insufficient damping
results in large overshoot of transient voltage
32
 Protection against Overvoltages
 An R-C snubber circuit with the initial zero voltage

Safe value
IRR

VS Safe value

-I

Current Transient voltage

33
 Protection against Overvoltages
 The snubber circuit is expressed as
di 1
(i) L  Ri   idt  VC (t 0 )  VS
dt C
di
(ii) Before including R and C in the circuit,   VS  L
dt
i
L
Reverse current

VS Dm 

34
 Protection against Overvoltages
 With RLC circuit and initial conditions,

i( t 0)  I RR and VC (t )  0

 For an underdamped case (RLC circuits), the

solution for the voltage is

 t I RR t
 (t )  VS  (VS  RI RR )(cos t  sin t )e  e sin t ....(a)
 C
R
Where  
2L 1
 The underdamped natural frequency, o 
LC
35
 Protection against Overvoltages
 The damping ratio is
 R C
 
o 2 L

 The damped natural frequency,   o2   2

 o 1   2

d  2  2  t
 VS  RI RR  2 cos t  sin t  e
dt   
I RR    t
  cost - sin  t e ............(b)
C   
36
 Protection against Overvoltages
 The initial reverse voltage and d can be found by
dt
letting t = 0, in (a) and (b) respectively
V(t 0 )  RI RR
d IR
and  VS  RI RR 2 
dt t 0 C


VS  RI RR R I R

L C
 VS o 2  4d 2  d ........................(c)
IR L I RR
 Where d is given by d   called the current
VS C Ip
factor
37
 Protection against Overvoltages
Example 1
The recovery current of a diode I RR  20 A and the circuit
inductance is L  50H . The input voltage is VS  220V .
The graph on optimum snubber parameters for
compromise design gives the optimum current factor,
do = 0.75 and the optimum damping factor  o  0.4
(a) Determine the snubber capacitance (with d = do)

2
IR L I L
d  d 
2
 d VS C  I R L
2 2
R
2
2

VS C V C S

38
 Protection against Overvoltages
Solution 1 IR
2
C 2 2 L
d VS
2
 IR 
C  L 
 dV S 
2
 20 
 50 
 0 .75  220 
 0 .735  F

39
 Protection against Overvoltages
Solution 1
(b) The snubber resistance,
L 50
R  2  2  0 .4  6 .6 
C 0 .735

(c) The undamped natural frequency

1 106 rad
o    164,957
LC 50  0.735 sec
The initial reverse voltage
V( t 0 )  RI R  6.6  20 A  132V
40
 Protection against Overvoltages
Example 2

An RC snubber circuit has C = 0.75µF, R = 6.6Ω

and input voltage, VS = 220V. The circuit inductance is
L = 50µH. Determine;

(a) The peak forward voltage Vp

(b) The initial dv dt and

(c) The maximum dv dt

41
 Protection against Overvoltages
Solution 2

By setting IRR = 0, the forward voltage across the

device can be determined from equation (a) giving:

 (t )  VS  VS (cos t  sin t )e t . . . . . . . . . . . . (d)
dv

The initial dt can be found from settion t = 0 in the
above equation, or from eqn (c) by setting IRR = 0

dv VS R 220  6
 VS 2    29 V / s
dt t  0 L 50

42
 Protection against Overvoltages
Solution 2

The forward voltage will be maximum at t = t1. The time

t1 can be obtained by setting
dv   2 2
t
 VS (2 cos t  sin t )e
dt 
Equal to zero, or by setting IRR = 0 in eqn (c) you obtain
2 2  2
tan t1  2 which gives cos t1   2 . . . . (e) and
  2
  2

2
sin t1  2 . . . . (f)
  2

43