Technical Research Paper Competition for Students (TRPCS-2K17), 23 March 2017

G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering and Management, Amravati, Maharashtra, India

http://www.ghrcema.raisoni.net/TRPCS-2K17.php

Application of Power Electronics to Power System

Pavan D. Pulgamkar1, Shripad G. Deshpande2, Vaibhav R. Dharme3
1, 2, 3
Electrical Engineering (E&P), BNCOE, Pusad, Maharashtra, India

Abstract: Power electronics is the application of solid-state electronics for the control and conversion of electric power. It provides a
basic knowledge of circuitry for the control and conversion of electrical power with high efficiency. The structure of Modern power
systems have been separated in three different interlinked sections - generation, transmission and distribution likewise. Mostly the
output of generator is always AC, but in some applications we need DC supply, where we get optimum utilization of efficient power with
respect to applications example different types of sockets, connectors, switches, and fixtures. High-voltage direct current (HVDC)
electric power transmission systems use DC for the bulk transmission of electrical power. Whereas, in some cases we need AC supply
and we are supplied with DC quantity there, example transformers, 3Ø motor, etc. In such cases we need to convert AC to DC or DC to
AC. This can be done using electronic devices such as SCR, Power BJT, Chopper, etc. In this paper we will study particularly
application of SCR, TRIAC, GTO and IGBT in electrical power system.

Keywords: about four key words separated by commas.

1. Introduction
Power Electronics is a branch of Electrical engineering
developed for conversion and control of electrical power
using electronic converters. It also refers to a subject of
research in electronic and electrical engineering which deals
with the design, control, computation and integration of
nonlinear, time-varying energy-processing electronic systems
with fast dynamics. Now, coming towards power system, an
electric power system is a network of electrical components
deployed to supply, transfer, and use electric power. An
example of an electric power system is the network that
supplies a region's homes and industry with power—for
sizeable regions, this power system is known as the grid and
Figure 1: Schematic diagram of SCR and its symbol
can be broadly divided into the generators that supply the
There are three modes of operation for an SCR depending
power, the transmission system that carries the power from
the generating centres to the load centres and the distribution upon the biasing given to it:
system that feeds the power to nearby homes and industries.
2.1 Forward blocking mode
Smaller power systems are also found in industry, hospitals,
commercial buildings and homes. Power Electronics in
In this mode of operation, the anode is given a positive
Power system is mainly used for rectification, inversion,
voltage while the cathode is given a negative voltage,
conversion, etc., and devices used for this are SCR, power
keeping the gate at zero potential i.e. disconnected. In this
BJT, Chopper, power MOSFET, IGBTs, etc. Mainly we will
case junction J1 and J3 are forward-biased, while J2 is
discuss about SCR, TRIAC, DTO and IGBT and their
reverse-biased, due to which only a small leakage current
application in electrical power system.
exists from the anode to the cathode until the applied voltage
reaches its breakover value, at which J2 undergoes avalanche
2. Silicon Controlled Rectifier breakdown, and at this breakover voltage it starts conducting,
but below breakover voltage it offers very high resistance to
The silicon control rectifier (SCR) consists of four layers of the current and is said to be in the off state.
semiconductors, which form NPNP or PNPN structures have
three P-N junctions labelled J1, J2 and J3, and three 2.2 Forward conduction mode
terminals. The anode terminal of an SCR is connected to the
p-type material of a PNPN structure, and the cathode SCR can be brought from blocking mode to conduction mode
terminal is connected to the n-type layer, while the gate of the in two ways: either by increasing the voltage across anode to
SCR is connected to the p-type material nearest to the cathode beyond breakover voltage or by applying positive
cathode. pulse at gate. Once SCR starts conducting, no more gate
voltage is required to maintain it in the ON state. There are
two ways to turn it OFF:

1. Reduce the current through it below a minimum value

called the holding current and
2. With the gate turned off, short out the anode and cathode

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 Technical Research Paper Competition for Students (TRPCS-2K17), 23 March 2017
G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering and Management, Amravati, Maharashtra, India
http://www.ghrcema.raisoni.net/TRPCS-2K17.php
momentarily with a push-button switch or transistor across groups function simply as open or continuously closed
the junction. switches. Feedback into the pulse-generator control circuit
from a current transformer in series with the motor provides
2.3 Reverse blocking mode automatic over-current protection by inhibiting the firing
pulses in the event of an overload, conventional electronic
SCRs are available with reverse blocking capability, which principles being employed to obtain any inverse-time law
adds to the forward voltage drop because of the need to have required to correspond to the thermal ratings of the motor.
a long, low-doped P1 region. (If one cannot determine which
region is P1, a labelled diagram of layers and junctions can
help). Usually, the reverse blocking voltage rating and
forward blocking voltage rating are the same. The typical
application for reverse blocking SCR is in current-source
inverters.

2.4 V-I Characteristics of SCR

V-I: Curve between anode-cathode voltage (V) and anode

current (I) of an SCR at constant Gate current.

Figure 3: AC Motor Starter

Subject to manufacturers' overriding limits, the intermittent

rating applicable to the starting condition can easily be
Figure 2: VI characteristics of SCR estimated if the simplifying assumptions are made that the
starting period may be considered long in relation to the
2.4.1 Forward Characteristics thermal time-constant of the rectifier and short in relation to
 Anode is +ve w.r.t. cathode that of the cooling structure, and that starts are not
 When supply voltage is increased from zero, suddenly the excessively frequent. The rating then depends primarily on
SCR starts conducting => breakover voltage the device base temperature produced by the normal load
 Voltage drops at this point suddenly as shown by the current and the base-to-junction temperature rise produced by
dotted line. the starting current. On this basis, as an example, two 26 A
 If proper gate current is made to flow, then SCR can close controlled rectifiers will control a 3hp single-phase motor
at smaller supply voltage. taking 15 A at full load and 80A on starting in an ambient
temperature of 35°C.
2.4.2 Reverse Characteristics
 Anode is -ve w.r.t. cathode
 Initially the anode current retains small (viz. leakage
current)
 Beyond a particular reverse voltage, the SCR starts
massive conduction (avalanche) => Reverse breakdown
voltage

3. Application of SCR
3.1 A.C. Motor starters and regulators

Probably the simplest application of controlled rectifiers to

motor control is in an A.C. static contactor circuit, which Figure 4: Alternative 3 phase contactor circuit
may be used as a direct-on-line starter for a squirrel-cage
induction motor. Fig:(3) shows typical single-phase and Fig:(4) shows an example of the economy that can sometimes
3phase circuits. The control unit in each case comprises a be made by suiting the load to the control gear, as distinct
pulse generator which is switched by a bistable circuit of from suiting the control gear to the load. By opening, as it
some kind in such a way as to give only 'off' and 'on' were, the star point of a 3-phase motor winding it is possible
conditions without any phase control, so that the rectifier to insert an assembly of only three controlled rectifiers and

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 Technical Research Paper Competition for Students (TRPCS-2K17), 23 March 2017
G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering and Management, Amravati, Maharashtra, India
http://www.ghrcema.raisoni.net/TRPCS-2K17.php
achieve the same result as with the six devices shown in then MT1 is usually connected to positive voltage (e.g. +5V)
Fig:(3). If the simple on/off pulse generators are replaced by and gate is pulled down to 0V (ground).
drivers with phase control, the voltage applied to the motor
may be reduced for starting to limit the starting current and 4.2 V-I characteristics of TRIAC
gradually increased to the normal level. The principal other
application of such A.C. regulators to machine control is to The TRIAC characteristics is similar to SCR but it is
the control of ordinary rectifier circuits, for which purpose applicable to both positive and negative TRIAC voltages.
they may be considered together with non inverting When the device gets turned on, a heavy current flows
controllable rectifiers. through it which may damage the device, hence in order to
limit the current a current limiting resistor should be
4. TRIAC connected externally to it.

Figure 5: Schematic diagram of TRIAC and its symbol

TRIAC, from triode for alternating current, is a generic

trademark for a three terminal electronic component that
conducts current in either direction when triggered. Its formal Figure 6: VI characteristics of TRIAC
name is bidirectional triode thyristor or bilateral triode
thyristor. A thyristor is analogous to a relay in that a small By applying proper gate signal, firing angle of the device
voltage and current can control a much larger voltage and may be controlled. The gate triggering circuits should be
current. The illustration on Fig:(5) shows the circuit symbol used for proper gate triggering. We can use DIAC for
for a TRIAC where A1 is Anode 1, A2 is Anode 2, and G is triggering the gate pulse. For firing of the device with proper
Gate. Anode 1 and Anode 2 are normally termed Main firing angle, a gate pulse may be applied up to a duration of
Terminal 1 (MT1) and Main Terminal 2 (MT2) respectively. 35 μs.
TRIACs differ from SCRs in that they allow current flow in
both directions, whereas an SCR can only conduct current in 4.3 Application of triac
a single direction. Most TRIACs can be triggered by
applying either a positive or negative voltage to the gate (an 4.3.1 Proposed real time based led driver for street
SCR requires a positive voltage). Once triggered, SCRs and lighting
TRIACs continue to conduct, even if the gate current ceases, Real time based systems are not reliable in outdoor
until the main current drops below a certain level called the environment. Proper design efforts are required to meet the
holding current. real time specification. Fig:(7) shows the functional block
diagram of proposed system. Proposed system limelight on
4.1 Modes of operation of TRIAC phase angle detection of TRIAC and regulation of output
current using single controller in real time to enhance the
In quadrants 1 and 2, MT2 is positive, and current flows from energy efficiency of street lighting and loop stability.
MT2 to MT1 through P, N, P and N layers. The N region Microcontroller is used to control the phase angle and LED
attached to MT2 does not participate significantly. In current which ensure the operation in real time environment.
quadrants 3 and 4, MT2 is negative, and current flows from PWM controller in feedback loop uses extra circuitry
MT1 to MT2, also through P, N, P and N layers. The N conventionally which is reduced same operating on
region attached to MT2 is active, but the N region attached to microcontroller.
MT1 only participates in the initial triggering, not the bulk
current flow. In most applications, the gate current comes
from MT2, so quadrants 1 and 3 are the only operating
modes (both gate and MT2 positive or negative against
MT1). Other applications with single polarity triggering from
an IC or digital drive circuit operate in quadrants 2 and 3,

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 Technical Research Paper Competition for Students (TRPCS-2K17), 23 March 2017
G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering and Management, Amravati, Maharashtra, India
http://www.ghrcema.raisoni.net/TRPCS-2K17.php

Figure 7: Proposed schematic of Dimmable LED driver with

time based control

In the given block schematic additional circuits required for

phase angle detection, primary side regulation integrated
circuit, LED current adjusting circuits are reduced. Digital
controller plays vital roles to drive both TRIAC and current
regulation circuit in the feedback, though design
considerations are not particularized for specific application.
Adoptive timing design is challenge in real time embedded
system. Adoptive timing interfacing with digital controller
replenishes the design considerations accessible in such real
time applications. The following section introduces the main
system function employing controller.

4.3.2 Phase angle detection using microcontroller

TRIAC is an inexpensive solution for controlling the ac
power delivered to load. TRIAC has three terminals namely
MT1, MT2 and gate. During each half cycle of AC, a gate Figure 9: Mains supply waveform and TRIAC dimmer
pulse is required to turn on. Fig:(8) shows block diagram of output waveform.
microcontroller pin can drive TRIAC gate. The waveform
across load is shown in fig. 3. Real time clock feed timing to Brightness of LED is analogous to LED current. While using
microcontroller, based on timing, pulse is generated in PWM dimming accurate controlling of current is important.
microsecond. TRIAC required that firing pulse in millisecond Accurate current regulation used to minimize shifts in colour,
for that gate driving circuit needed. One can use variations in supply voltage. The proposed system designed
transistorized pulse transformer or opto-coupler in gate to achieve high efficiency while controlling the LED current
driving circuit TRIAC. at different real time levels. The time levels are decided by
considering standard time in which street light dimming is
done. Soft control dimming is presented in proposed system
results in an increased efficiency. For achieving high
efficiency wide range of dimming is essential for high
voltage street lighting. As shown in fig:(7), PWM dimming
can be achieved through controller with negative feedback
system, for this linear current regulator is used with fly-back
topology.

Figure 8: Block diagram of Microcontroller driving a 5. Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)
TRIAC gate
An insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is a three-
Current Regulation for Brightness control using terminal power semiconductor device primarily used as an
Microcontroller Adjustment of LED current is done very electronic switch which, as it was developed, came to
precisely, as LEDs are current controlled devices. combine high efficiency and fast switching. It switches
electric power in many modern appliances: variable-
frequency drives (VFDs), electric cars, trains, variable speed
refrigerators, lamp ballasts, air-conditioners and even stereo
systems with switching amplifiers.

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 Technical Research Paper Competition for Students (TRPCS-2K17), 23 March 2017
G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering and Management, Amravati, Maharashtra, India
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Figure 10: Schematic diagram and symbol of IGBT

Figure 11: VSC Transmission
The IGBT is a semiconductor device with four alternating
layers (P-N-P-N) that are controlled by a metal-oxide- 5.1.2 vsc converter design
semiconductor (MOS) gate structure without regenerative
action. The characteristics is same as that of normal VSC-based HVDC transmission utilizes several important
MOSFET but and the end part its current increases due to its technological developments:
BJT characteristics.
• High voltage valves with series-connected IGBTs
5.1 Application of IGBT • Compact, dry, high-voltage dc capacitors
• High capacity control system
5.1.1 DC transmission system • Solid dielectric DC cable
Conventional HVDC transmission employs line commutated, A special gate unit and voltage divider across each IGBT
current-source converters requiring a synchronous voltage maintain an even voltage distribution across the series
source in order to operate. The conversion process demands connected IGBTs. The gate unit not only maintains proper
reactive power from filters, shunt banks, or series capacitors voltage sharing within the valve during normal switching
which are part of the converter station. Any surplus or deficit conditions but also during system disturbances and fault
in reactive power must be accommodated by the ac system. conditions. A reliable short circuit failure mode exists for
This difference in reactive power needs to be kept within a individual IGBTs within each valve position. Depending on
given band to keep the ac voltage within the desired the converter rating, series-connected IGBT valves are
tolerance. The weaker the system or the further away from arranged in either a three-phase two-level or three-level
generation, the tighter the reactive power exchange must be bridge. In three-level converters, IGBT valves may also be
to stay within the desired voltage tolerance. used in place of diodes for neutral point clamping. Each
IGBT position is individually controlled and monitored via
Proper control of the converter and its associated reactive fibre optics and equipped with integrated antiparallel, free-
power compensation allows the ac system voltage to be held wheeling diodes. Each IGBT has a rated voltage of 2.5 kV
within a fairly tight and acceptable range. Unlike a generator with rated currents up to 1500 A. Each VSC station is built
or static variable compensator, however, a conventional up with modular valve housings which are constructed to
HVDC converter cannot provide much dynamic voltage shield electromagnetic interference (EMI). The valves are
support to the ac network. HVDC conversion technology cooled with circulating water and water to air heat
using voltage source converters, however, can not only exchangers. PWM switching frequencies for the VSC
control the power flow but also provide dynamic voltage typically range between 1-2 kHz depending on the converter
regulation to the ac system. Fig:(11) depicts the P – Q topology, system frequency and specific application.
characteristics for a VSC designed for HVDC transmission.
The capacitive limit is due to imposing a voltage limitation.
If the system voltage is reduced, this limit increases. The
reactive power control range available depends on the active
power operating point.

Figure 12: pwm signal for 2-level vsc

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 Technical Research Paper Competition for Students (TRPCS-2K17), 23 March 2017
G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering and Management, Amravati, Maharashtra, India
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[9] Fundamentals of power electronics by robert w. Erickson
[10] Advanced power electronics converters: pwm converters
processing ac voltages by euzeli dos sentos, edison r. Da
silva
[11] High-power converters and ac drives by bin wu.
[12] Power electronics: converters, applications and design
by ned mohan, tore m. Undeland, william p. Robins
[13] Industrial and power electronics by deodatta shingar

Figure 13: pwm signal for 2-level vsc

Each vsc is effectively mid-point grounded and coupled to

the ac bus via phase reactors and a power transformer with
intermediary shunt ac filters. the ac filters are tuned to
multiples of the switching frequency. this arrangement
minimizes harmonic content and avoids dc voltage stresses in
the transformer which allows use of a standard ac power
transformer for matching the ac network voltage to the
converter ac voltage necessary to produce the desired dc
transmission voltage. dc capacitors are used across the dc
side of the vsc. for transmission applications there may also
be dc filters and a zero-sequence blocking reactor. the filters
and zero sequence reactor are used to mitigate interference
on any metallic telephone circuits that run adjacent to the dc
cables. the total capacitance of the pole to ground dc
capacitors vary with the application. dc capacitance is higher
for vsc used for flicker mitigation.

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