SCR Rectification Circuits

To convert an uncontrolled bridge rectifier into a single phase half-controlled rectifier circuit
we just need to replace two of the diodes with thyristors (SCR’s) as shown.

Half-controlled Bridge Rectifier

In the half-controlled rectifier configuration, the average DC load voltage is controlled using
two thyristors and two diodes. As we learnt in our tutorial about Thyristors, a thyristor will only
conduct (“ON” state) when its Anode, (A) is more positive than its Cathode, (K) and a firing
pulse is applied to its Gate, (G) terminal. Otherwise it remains inactive.
We also learnt that once “ON”, a thyristor is only turned “OFF” again when its gate signal is
removed and the anode current has fallen below the thyristors holding current, IH as the AC
supply voltage reverse biases it. So by delaying the firing pulse applied to the thyristors gate
terminal for a controlled period of time, or angle (α), after the AC supply voltage has passed the
zero-voltage crossing of the anode-to-cathode voltage, we can control when the thyristor starts
to conduct current and hence control the average output voltage.
Half-controlled Bridge Rectifier

During the positive half cycle of the input waveform, current flows along the path of: SCR1 and
D2, and back to the supply. During the negative half cycle of VIN, conduction is
through SCR2 and D1 and back to the supply.
It is clear then that one thyristor from the top group (SCR1 or SCR2) and its corresponding
diode from the bottom group (D2 or D1) must conduct together for any load current to flow.
Thus, the average output voltage, VAVE is dependent on the firing angle α for the two thyristors
included in the half-controlled rectifier as the two diodes are uncontrolled and pass current
whenever forward biased. So, for any gate firing angle, α, the average output voltage is given
by:
Half-controlled Rectifier Average Output Voltage

Note that the maximum average output voltage occurs when α = 1 but is still
only 0.637*VMAX the same as for the single phase uncontrolled bridge rectifier.
We can take this idea of controlling the average output voltage of the bridge one step further by
replacing all four diodes with thyristors giving us a Fully-controlled Bridge Rectifier circuit.

Fully-controlled Bridge Rectifier

Single phase fully-controlled bridge rectifiers are known more commonly as AC-to-DC
converters. Fully-controlled bridge converters are widely used in the speed control of DC
machines and is easily obtained by replacing all four diodes of a bridge rectifier with thyristors
as shown.
Fully-controlled Bridge Rectifier

In the fully-controlled rectifier configuration, the average DC load voltage is controlled using
two thyristors per half-cycle. Thyristors SCR1 and SCR4 are fired together as a pair during the
positive half-cycle, while thyristors SCR3 and SCR4 are also fired together as a pair during the
negative half-cycle. That is 180o after SCR1 and SCR4.
Then during continuous conduction mode of operation, the four thyristors are constantly being
switched as alternate pairs to maintain the average or equivalent DC output voltage. As with the
half-controlled rectifier, the output voltage can be fully controlled by varying the thyristors
firing delay angle (α).
Thus, the expression for the average DC voltage from a single phase fully-controlled rectifier
in its continuous conduction mode is given as:
Fully-controlled Rectifier Average Output Voltage

with the average output voltage varying from VMAX/π to -VMAX/π by varying the firing
angle, α from π to 0 respectively. So, when α < 90o the average DC voltage is positive and
when α > 90o the average DC voltage is negative. That is power flows from the DC load to the
AC supply.
Then we have seen here in this tutorial about single phase rectification that single phase rectifiers
can take on many forms to convert AC voltage to DC voltage from uncontrolled single diode
half-wave rectifiers to fully-controlled full-wave bridge rectifiers using four thyristors.
The advantages of the half-wave rectifier are its simplicity and low cost as it requires only
one diode. However, it is not very efficient as only half of the input signal is used producing a
low average output voltage.
The full-wave rectifier is more efficient than the half-wave rectifier as it uses both half-cycles
of the input sine wave producing a higher average or equivalent DC output voltage. A
disadvantage of the full-wave bridge circuit is that is that it requires four diodes.
Phase controlled rectification uses combinations of diodes and thyristors (SCR’s) to convert the
AC input voltage into a controlled DC output voltage.
Fully-controlled rectifiers use four thyristors in their configuration, whereas half-controlled
rectifiers use a combination of both thyristors and diodes.
Then no matter how we do it, the conversion of a sinusoidal AC waveform to a steady state DC
supply is called Rectification.

Fully-controlled 3-phase Bridge Rectifier

Three-phase Rectification Summary
We have seen in this tutorial that three-phase rectification is the process of converting a 3-phase
AC supply into a pulsating DC voltage as rectification converts the input power supply of a
sinusoidal voltage and frequency into a fixed voltage DC power. Thus, power rectification
changes an alternating supply into a unidirectional supply.
But we have also seen that 3-phase half-wave uncontrolled rectifiers, which use one diode per
phase, require a star connected supply as a fourth neutral (N) wire to close the circuit from load
to source. The 3-phase full-wave bridge rectifier which use two diodes per phase requires just
three mains lines, without neutral, such as that provided by a delta connected supply.
Another advantage of a full-wave bridge rectifier is that the load current is well balanced across
the bridge improving efficiency (the ratio of output DC power to input power supplied) and
reducing the ripple content, both in amplitude and frequency, as compared to the half-wave
configuration.
By increasing the number of phases and diodes within the bridge configuration it is possible to
obtain a higher average DC output voltage with less ripple amplitude as for example, in 6-phase
rectification each diode would conduct for only one-sixth of a cycle. Also, multi-phase rectifiers
produce a higher ripple frequency means less capacitive filtering and a much smoother output
voltage. Thus 6, 12, 15 and even 24-phase uncontrolled rectifiers can be designed to improve
the ripple factor for various applications.
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