Unit 4: DC chopper

T. Mukhopadhyay
 Chopper
• Chopper is a basically static power
electronics device which converts
fixed DC voltage to variable DC
voltage. It is nothing but a high
speed switch which connects and
disconnects the load from source
at a high rate to get variable
voltage at the output.
• Chopper can increase or decrease
the DC voltage level at output side.
• Chopper can be classified as:
1. Step down chopper
2. Step up chopper.
 Step down chopper
• Step down chopper as Buck converted is used to reduce the
i/p voltage level at the output side.
• When CH is turned ON, Vs directly appears across the load.
So, Vo = VS.
• When CH is turned off, Vs is disconnected from the load. So
output voltage Vo = 0.
• 𝑇
1 𝑇 𝑉 ∗𝑇
𝑉0(𝐴𝑣𝑔.) = ‫׬‬0 𝑂𝑁 𝑉𝑠 ∗ 𝑑𝑡= 𝑠 𝑂𝑁 = 𝑉𝑠 ∗ 𝐷. Where, 𝑉𝑠 =supply DC
𝑇
voltage, T= total time, 𝑇𝑂𝑁 = On time of the switch, D= duty ratio.
• 𝑉0(𝑟𝑚𝑠) = 𝑉𝑠 ∗ 𝐷.
1
• Form factor=𝑉0(𝑟𝑚𝑠) /𝑉0(𝐴𝑣𝑔.) = .
𝐷
𝑅
• In this case effective input resistance= , Where R= load
𝐷
resistance.
• For only resistive load no need of freewheeling diode.
• For inductive load when the switch is OFF the current through
inductor can not suddenly be zero so, it discharge through
freewheeling diode.
• In step-down chopper the load voltage and load current is always in
the positive direction. So, the operation of chopper is in First Quadrant.
 Step up chopper
• Step up chopper or boost converter is
used to increase the input voltage level of
its output side.
• When CH is ON it short circuits the load.
Hence output voltage during TON is zero.
During this period inductor gets charged.
𝑑𝑖 Δ𝑖 𝑉𝑠 ∗𝑇𝑂𝑁
𝑉𝑠 = 𝐿 𝑑𝑡 = 𝐿 𝑇 , ∆𝑖 = 𝐿
. ..(A).
𝑂𝑁
• When CH is OFF inductor L discharges
through the load. During off period we
get the output pulse.
𝑑𝑖 𝑉 −𝑉 ∗𝑇
𝑉𝑠 + 𝐿 = 𝑉0 ; ∆𝑖 = 0 𝑠 𝑂𝐹𝐹…(B)
𝑑𝑡 𝐿
• Solving equation A & B, we get
𝑉𝑠∗𝑇𝑂𝑁 𝑉0−𝑉𝑠 ∗𝑇𝑂𝐹𝐹 𝑽𝒔 𝑇𝑂𝑁
= ; 𝑽𝟎 = , Where, D= .
𝐿 𝐿 𝟏−𝑫 𝑇
 Chopper operation in V-I plane
• In first quadrant the polarity of load voltage
and load current must be in positive direction
(from source to load). This quadrant
represents forward motoring mode.
• In the second quadrant the polarity of the
load voltage is positive but the direction of
load current is negative i.e. current flows from
load to source. This modes operates as
forward breaking.
• Two quadrant operation means chopper
operates in either 1st & 2nd quadrants (Type C)
or 1st & 4th quadrant(Type D).
• Type E chopper operates in all four
quadrants.
• According to the quadrant Chopper can be
classified as Type A, Type B, Type C, Type D &
Type E.
 Type A chopper
• Class-A or Type-A chopper is
defined as the chopper in which
the direction of power flow is
always from source to load.
• The operation of this chopper is
always in first quadrant. This is the
reason; it is also known as First
Quadrant Chopper. In this type of
chopper, the output voltage and
load current are positive all the
time. A step-down chopper is an
example of Class-A or Type-A
chopper.
 Type B chopper
• Class-B or Type-B chopper is defined as the chopper in
which the direction of power flow is always from load to
source. The operation of this chopper is confined in the
second quadrant. This is the reason; it is also known as
Second Quadrant Chopper. In second quadrant chopper,
the output voltage is positive but the load current is
negative all the time. Class-B or Type-B chopper is also
known as Step-up chopper.
• It should be noted that load must contain a DC source
(E) in Class-B / Type-B chopper. When chopper CH is ON,
load voltage E drives current through inductor L and CH.
During this ON period of chopper, the inductor stores
energy in it. It may be noted that diode D is reversed
biased during ON time and hence the load is
disconnected from the source. The load voltage or output
voltage vo becomes zero.
• When chopper CH is switched OFF, the load voltage(E +
Ldi/dt) is more than the source voltage. So, Diode is
forward bias and current flows from load to
source. Hence, power flows from load to source.
 Type C chopper
• Class-C or Type-C Chopper is a category of chopper which can
operate in first as well as second quadrant. This basically means
that, the power can either flow from source to load or load to
source in this chopper. Class-C or Type-C chopper is obtained by
the parallel connection of Class-A and Class-B chopper.
• When chopper CH1 is switched ON, source Vs directly gets
connected to the load and hence, load voltage Vo is equal to
source voltage. The direction of load current is from source to
load which is assumed positive.
• When CH1 is switched OFF, the free-wheeling diode FD comes
into the circuit as it gets forward biased and hence shorts the
load. Therefore, the output voltage Vo becomes zero. However,
the io continues to die down through the FD and L in the same
direction. Thus, the average output voltage Vo and current Io are
positive and hence operation of chopper is in first quadrant.
• When chopper CH2 is switched ON, load DC source E drives
current through CH2 and load. The direction of this current io will
be opposite and hence is assumed negative. Output voltage Vo is
zero during this time.
• When CH2 is made OFF, diode D2 gets forward biased and hence
the current into the source from the load. The output voltage is
Vs in this time as the load is connected to the source through D2
during OFF time of chopper CH2. Thus, the load current is always
negative i.e. operation of chopper is within second quadrant.
• The average load voltage is always positive but the average load
current may be positive or negative. Class-C or Type-C choppers
are used for motoring and regenerative breaking of DC Motors.
 Type D chopper
• Class-D or Type-D chopper is a circuit configuration
of chopper in which power can flow in either direction i.e.
from source to load and load to source. The operation of this
chopper is confined in first and fourth quadrant. The
necessary condition for this chopper is that load should be
inductive.
• When both the switches are switched ON, the load is directly
connected to source and hence the output voltage Vo will
become equal to the source voltage Vs. The current flows
from source to load in this case. Thus, both the current and
output voltage i.e. io and vo are positive in this case, hence
the operation is in first quadrant. It should be noted
that diode D1 and D2 are reversed biased in this case and
hence they can be treated as an open.
• When both the choppers are made OFF simultaneously, the
current through the load doesn’t suddenly drops to zero due
to inductive nature of load. However, it decays gradually and
hence a huge amount of voltage is induced in the inductor in
the reverse direction (opposite to the direction of vo). This
makes diode D1 and D2 forward biased. Thus, D1 and D2
starts conducting and connects the load to source again. But
the direction of load current has not changed. he current is
still flowing in positive direction but the polarity of vo has
changed. Thus, io is positive but vo is negative and hence
operation of chopper is in fourth quadrant. The power flows
from load to source.
• It may be noticed that, the average value of output voltage
vo may either be positive or negative. It depends on TON and
TOFF time. If TON time is more than TOFF time then average
value will be positive. If TOFF is more than the
TON time, average value of output voltage will be negative.
 Type E chopper
• Type E chopper is a chopper which can operated in all the four
quadrants. The circuit of a four quadrant chopper or class-E
chopper basically consists of four semiconductor switches CH1 to
CH4 and four diodes D1 to D4. The four diodes are connected in
anti-parallel.
• First Quadrant Operation: When both CH1 & CH4 are ON
simultaneously, the load gets directly connected to the source
and hence the output voltage becomes equal to the source
voltage. This essentially means that vo = vs. It may be noted that
the load current flows from source to load. When CH1 is switched
OFF, the load current free wheels through CH4 and D2. During
this period, the load voltage and current remains positive. Thus,
both the output voltage vs and load current io are positive and
hence, the operation of chopper is in first quadrant. It may be
noted that, Class-E chopper operates as a step-down chopper in
this case.
• Second Quadrant Operation: To obtain second quadrant
operation, CH2 is operated while keeping the CH1, CH3 & CH4
OFF. When CH2 is ON, the DC source in the load drives current
through CH2, D4, E and L. Inductor L stores energy during the On
period of CH2. When CH2 is turned OFF, current is fed back to the
source through D1, D4. It should be noted at this point
that (E+Ldi/dt) is more than the source voltage Vs. As load
voltage Vo is positive and Io is negative, it is second quadrant
operation of chopper. n second quadrant, configuration operates
as a step-up chopper.
 Type E chopper(continue)
• Third Quadrant Operation: For third quadrant operation,
CH1, CH4 is kept off, CH2 is kept ON and CH3 is operated.
When CH3 is ON, load gets connected to source and hence
load voltage is equal to source voltage. The polarity of load
voltage vo is opposite and io is flowing in the negative
direction. Now, when CH3 is turned OFF, the negative load
current free wheels through the CH2 and D4. In this manner,
vo and io both are negative. Hence, the chopper operates in
third quadrant. Polarity of emf E in load must be reversed to
have third quadrant operation.
• Fourth Quadrant Operation: To obtain fourth quadrant
operation, CH4 is operated while keeping CH1, CH2 and CH3
OFF. The polarity of load emf E needs to be reversed in this
case too like third quadrant operation. When CH4 is turned
ON, positive current flows through CH4, D2, L and
E. Inductance L stores energy during the time CH4 is ON.
When CH4 is made OFF, current is fed back to the source
through diodes D2, D3. Here load voltage is negative but the
load current is always positive. This leads to chopper
operation in fourth quadrant.
 Jones chopper
• Jones chopper employs class D commutation to turn off the main
thyristor. Jones chopper circuit consists of two thyristors T1 and TA in
which T1 is the main thyristor and TA is the auxiliary thyristor. The
commutation circuit is formed by TA, capacitor C, diode D1, and
autotransformer L1 and L2. The coils L1 and L2 are tightly coupled,
which provides the necessary energy to the capacitor in order to
commutate the main thyristor.
• Mode – I : In this mode, the main thyristors T1 is triggered at an instant
t1 by providing the gate signal. Once T1 starts conducting, the load
current flows through Vdc+ → T1 → L1 → motor → Vdc–, and at the same
time charged capacitor discharges current IC through the path C+ →
T1 → L2 → D1 → C– . Due to the flow of capacitor current, it starts
charging in the reverse direction with lower plate positive and upper
plate negative. Due to the presence of a diode D, the capacitor retains
the charges till the auxiliary thyristor is triggered.
• Mode – II : This mode starts at instant t3 when the auxiliary thyristor
TA is triggered. Now the load current flows through the path Vdc+ → C
→ TA → L1 → motor → Vdc–, and the capacitor starts discharging the
current through the path C → TA → T1 → C. Due to the discharge of the
capacitor, a reverse voltage appears across T1 from t3 to t4 and hence
the T1 gets turned OFF. Now, the capacitor again charges with upper
plate positive and lower plate negative due to which a reverse voltage
appears across TA at t5, and it gets turned OFF.
• Since the load connected to the circuit is of inductive type, it stores
the energy. When both the thyristors are in an OFF state, the inductive
load releases its stored energy. To carry this released energy, a
freewheeling diode D2 is connected across the load.
 Advantages of jones chopper
• In the Jones chopper circuit, there is no commutation failure as the
commutating capacitor always gets sufficient energy to turn OFF thyristor
T1.
• Flexibility of control is high.
• It is more efficient as the power dissipation is only due to the winding
resistance of the autotransformer, the internal resistance of the diode, and
thyristors which will be very less.
• The filtering requirements are reduced because of the presence of
autotransformer.
• The motor torque which is proportional to the load current is smooth and
ripple-free.
 Numerical problems
• 1. For a step down chopper DC voltage source is 230V, load resistance is 10Ω. Take a voltage drop of 2V
across semiconductor switch when it is on. For a duty ratio of 0.4 calculate i) average and rms value of
output voltage ii) chopper efficiency.
• A step up chopper has input voltage of 220V and output voltage of 660V. If the conducting time (𝑇𝑂𝑁 ) of
thyristor is 100µsec, find the following: 1. duty ratio 2. the pulse width of output voltage.3. The output
voltage if output pulse width is halved maintain the frequency constant.
• A type A chopper has input dc voltage of 200V and load of R=10Ω in series with L=80mH. If load current
varies linearly between 12A & 16A, find the ratio of 𝑇𝑂𝑁 /𝑇𝑂𝐹𝐹 for this chopper.
• A dc battery is to be charged from a constant DC source of 220V. The dc battery is to be charged up to 110V.
The battery has internal resistance of 1Ω. For a constant charging current of 10 A. Find out the duty ratio.
• A step up chopper with a pulse width of 100µsec is operating from 230V dc supply. Compute the average
value of load voltage for a chopping frequency of 2000Hz.
• For a step down chopper DC input voltage is 100V and the average output voltage is 60V, then find out the
value of inductor used in series for a Δi=10mA and switching frequency is 200Hz.