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FILTER CIRCUITS

The output from any of the rectifier circuits just discussed is not purely DC but also
has some AC components, called ripples, along it. The ripples are maximum in the half-
wave rectifier and being reduced in full-wave rectifier. Such supply is not useful for
driving sophisticated electronic devices/circuits. For such applications, as well as for many
more, the output DC developed will have to be much steady or smoother than that of
the pulsating DC obtained directly from half-wave or full-wave rectifier circuits. Hence,
it becomes essential to reduce the ripples from the pulsating DC supply available from
rectifier circuits to the minimum. This is achieved by using a filter or smoothing circuit
as shown in figure.

Figure: Filter input and output

A filter circuit is a device that converts pulsating output of a rectifier into a steady
DC level. A filter circuit is generally a combination of inductors (L) and capacitors (C).
The filtering action of L and C depends upon the facts that an inductor allows DC only
and capacitor allows AC only to pass. So a suitable L and C network can effectively
filter out (or remove) the ac components from the rectified output. Commonly used
filter circuits are:
1. series inductor filter
2. shunt capacitor filter
3. capacitor input or π filter

Series Inductor (Choke) Filter

In this arrangement a high value inductor or choke L is connected in series with the
rectifier element and the load, as illustrated in figure. The filtering action of an iductor
filter depends upon its property of opposing any change in the current flowing through
it. When the output current of the rectifier increases above a certain value, energy is
stored in it in the form of magnetic field and this energy is given up when the output
current falls below the average value. Thus by placing a choke coil in series with the
rectifier output and load, any sudden change in current that might have occurred in the
circuit without an inductor is smoothed out by the presence of the inductor L.
 Figure: Circuit Diagram of Series Inductor Filter

Figure: I/O Waveforms of Series Inductor Filter

The function of the inductor filter may be viewed in terms of impedances.

𝑋𝐿 = 2𝜋𝑓𝐿
if f=0 (DC)
𝑋𝐿 = 0
if f=∞
𝑋𝐿 = ∞

The choke offers high impedance to the ac components but offers almost zero resistance
to the desired dc components. Thus ripples are removed to a large extent. Nature of
the output voltage without filter and with inductor (choke) filter is shown in figure.
Inductor filter is more efficient for high load current or small load resistance RL.

Shunt Capacitor Filter

This is the simplest form of the filter circuit and in this arrangement a high value
capacitor C is placed directly across the output terminals, as shown in figure. During
the conduction period it gets charged and stores up energy in the electrostatic field and
discharges through the load resistance RL delivering energy to it during non-conduction
period. Through this process, the time duration during which current flows through the
load resistance gets prolonged and AC components or ripples get considerably reduced. It
is to be noted here that the capacitor C gets charged to the peak value of input
voltage quickly because charging time constant is almost zero. It is so because there is
no resistance (except the negligible forward resistance of diode) in the charging path.
But the discharging time is quite large (roughly 100 times more than the charging
time) depending upon the value of RL because it discharges through load resistance RL.

Figure: Circuit Diagram of Shunt Capacitor Filter

Figure: I/O Waveforms of Shunt Capacitor Filter

The function of the capacitor filter may be viewed in terms of impedances.

 1
𝑋𝐿 =
2𝜋𝑓𝐶
if f=0 (DC)
𝑋𝐿 = ∞
if f=∞
𝑋𝐿 = 0

The large value capacitor C offers a low impedance shunt path to the ac components or
ripples but offers high impedance to the de component. Thus ripples get bypassed
through capacitor C and only de component flows through the load resistance RL.

Capacitor filter is very popular because of its low cost, small size, light weight and good
characteristics. It is quite useful for load up to 50 mA as in transistor radio, battery
eliminators.

L Section (LC) Filter

Choke filter came into existence due to shortcomings of the series inductor and shunt
capacitor filter. A series inductor filter filters the output current but reduces the
output current (RMS value and Peak value) up to a large extent. And the shunt
capacitor filter performs filtering efficiently but increases the diode current. The excess
of current in a diode may lead to its destruction.

Thus, for better performance, we need a filter circuit in which ripple factor is low and
do not vary with the variation in load resistance. This can be achieved by using the
combination of series inductor filter and shunt capacitor filter. The voltage stabilization
property of shunt capacitor filter and current smoothing property of series inductor
filter is utilized for the formation of choke filter or L-section filter.

Figure: Circuit Diagram of L Section Filter

When the pulsating DC signal from the output of the rectifier circuit is feed into choke
filter, the AC ripples present in the output DC voltage gets filtered by choke coil. The
inductor has the property to block AC and pass DC. This is because DC resistance of an
inductor is low and AC impedance of inductor coil is high. Thus, the AC ripples get
blocked by inductor coil.

Although the inductor efficiently removes AC ripples, a small percentage of AC ripples is

still present in the filtered signal. These ripples are then removed by the capacitor
connected in parallel to the load resistor. Now, the DC output signal is free from AC
components, and this regulated DC can be used in any application.

If the inductor of high inductive reactance (XL), greater than the capacitive reactance
at ripple frequency is used than filtering efficiency gets improved.

The waveform of DC output signal with a filter and without filter is shown in the
below diagram.

Figure: I/O Waveforms of L Section Filter

Advantages of Choke Filter or L-section Filter

1. It provides better voltage regulation.

2. The ripple factor can be varied according to the need.

Disadvantages of Choke Filter or L-Section filter

1. Bulky Size: These kinds of filters were popular in ancient time but it has become
obsolete now due to bulky size of inductors and capacitors.

2. Not suitable for low voltage power Supplies: These are not suitable for low
voltage power supplies. IC regulators or active filters are used in such devices.
Capacitor input π Filter

Pi filter consists of a shunt capacitor at the input side, and it is followed by an L-

section filter. The output from the rectifier is directly given across capacitor. The
pulsating DC output voltage is filtered first by the capacitor connected at the input
side and then by choke coil and then by another shunt capacitor. The construction
arrangement of all the components resembles the shape of Greek letter Pi (π) as shown
in figure. Thus it is called Pi filter. Besides, the capacitor is present at the input side.
Thus, it is also called capacitor input filter.

Figure: Circuit Diagram of π Filter

The output voltage coming from rectifier also consists of AC components. Thus it is a
crucial need to remove these AC ripples to improve the performance of the device. The
output from the rectifier is directly applied to the input capacitor. The capacitor
provides low impedance to AC ripples present in the output voltage and high resistance
to DC voltage. Therefore, most of the AC ripples get bypassed through the capacitor in
input stage only.

Figure: I/O Waveforms of π Filter

The residual AC components which are still present in filtered DC signal gets filtered
when they pass through the inductor coil and through the capacitor connected parallel
across the load. In this way, the efficiency of filtering increases multiple times. In pi-
filters, the major filtering action is accomplished by the capacitor at input C 1. The
residual AC ripples are filtered by inductor coil L and capacitor C2.