New three phase PFCrectifer

Reza Foroozeshfar, Ehsan Adib, Member IEEE

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Isfahan University of Technology
Isfahan, Iran
r. foroozeshfar@ec.iut.ac.ir, e.adib@cc.iut.ac.ir
Abstract-This paper introduces a new topology to improve the
power factor and reduce the total harmonic distortion in three
phase bridge rectifers. For this purpose, an auxiliary circuit
consisting of three switches is added to the conventional diode
bridge rectifer which operates at high switching frequency and
therefore, the auxiliary circuit volume is low. The main features
of this topology are simple structure and control, low cost and
high efciency. Simulation results are presented in order to
justify the performance of the proposed circuit.
Kewords-Ac-Dc converer, dither rectier;power factor
correction; three phase rectier
I.lNTRODUCTION
Owning to low cost and simplicity, diode rectifers and
thyristor rectifers are usually used for converting the Ac input
source to Dc bus voltage. However,the main problem is low
power factor and high harmonic content of the input current.
A simple solution is adding LC flter to diode bridge
rectiferin order to increase power factor, but in this method
tuning the flter resonance fequency is diffcult, due to its
dependenceto the network impedance which is variable by
time and location. Moreover, this methodrequires large and
bulky flters.
Generally, three phase PFC with six active switchesis used for
high power application.The advantage of controlled bridge
three phase converters is good performance for various output
power and also high power factor and low total harmonic
distortion. However six high power switches is required and
also the control circuit is complex. Furthermore, the switches
should process all the output power which results in low
efciency. In the proposed method, total power is not
processed through the auxiliary circuit added which leads in
higher efciency. In addition, the control circuit is very simple
since the auxiliary circuit is controlled with constant
fequency and duty cycle. The proposed three phase PFC is
shown in Fig. 1.
II. OPERATING PRINCIPLES OF PROPOSED PFC RECTIFIER
By connecting three phase ac source to diode bridge rectifer,
in the interval that the phase voltage is -V p/2 to V p/2, the
phase curent is zero (V
p
is the phase peak voltage ).In order to
shape the phase current in this interval, an auxiliary circuit can
be used [1]-[9].In [1] and [2], an auxiliary circuit that consists
of three low fequency bidirectional switches and two
unidirectional switches is applied to shape input current.
Furthermore; current feedback is necessary in order to shape
the input current. In [3] and [4], an auxiliary circuit that
consists of three bidirectional switches is applied. The applied
bidirectional switches operate at low switching fequency and
therefore large input inductances are necessary. In [6]-[8],
auxiliary circuit has bulky passive elements which reduce
efciency. In the proposed converter, a high fequency
transformer is added in the main power path in order to shape
the phase current. The transformer primary side is added i
parallel with the output voltage through an auxiliary switch.
Once the auxiliary switch is on, n.Vo appears across the
transformer secondary winding where n is secondary to
primary tum ratio and Vo is the rectifer output voltage. This
voltage is added to the phase voltage and forward biases the
upper diode of the related phase. Therefore, the other upper
diode which was already conducting tus off By turing the
switch on and off with suitable fequency and duty cycle, the
current is shaped properly in the interval where the phase
voltage is between -V
p
/2 to V
p
f2.
Also, the other secondary of the transformer is placed in series
with the bottom diode which operates for negative half cycle
of line voltage in order to shape the input current. The
operating principle of this winding is completely similar to the
other secondary winding which is placed in series with the
upper diode.
Va
Vb
Ro
Vc
Da Db Dc
Fig.I.Proposed three phase PFC rectifer.
IEEE Catalog Number: CFP121lJ-ART
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ISBN: 978-1-4673-0113-8/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE
A. Transformer model
For each phase a transformer with four windings is used which
is modeled using an ideal transformer and a magnetizing
inductancewhich can be considered in parallel with the reset
winding (na
p
b nb
p
b n
C
p
2). For simplicity leakage inductance is
ignored. When the switch is on, diode Da is reversed biased
and output voltage is applied across the magnetizing
inductance through the transformer and energy is stored in this
inductor. When switch is off, Dais forward biased and output
voltage is reversely applied across the magnetizing inductor
and the transformer core is reset.
III. CIRCUIT OPERATING MODES
Thecircuit has three different operating modes and for
every 90 degee is similar if the input voltages are considered
as following:
Va=Vp sin (wt)
Vb=Vp sin (wt-2n/3)
Vc=Vp sin (wt+2n/3) (1)
For example when phase a isin the interval 0<wt<r/2the
converter is analyzed:
Interval 1 (0<wt<r/6): In this interval, phase b and c
conduct in a regula diode bridge rectifer. Thus the upper
diode of phase c (Dc
p
) and the bottom diode of phase b (Dbn)
conduct the output current. In this interval, switch Sa is tured
on and off with switching fequency fs and duty cycle D. When
Sa is on, output voltage is placed across the transformer
primary side(n
p
al) which is equal to R.Io. Thus,a voltage equal
with nR.IO is placed in series with the phase a voltage across
(nsal) and diode Dap will conduct. Equivalent circuits of tis
interval are shown in the fgure 2.
Thus:
-Va-nRe1o + Relo + Vb=O
And 10 can be obtained as:
Vab
10 = ---
R(l n)
Also:
Ia -nIa=Io(4)
Thus:
Vab
la=
R(l n)2
Therefore, phase a current is:
(2)
(3)
(5)
Sa=on
Sa=off (6)
Va
Dap
Ro
Vb
Dbn
(a)
Vc
I.c
p
no
Vb
I>bn
(b)
Fig 2: Equivalent circuits of interval I (a) when Sa is on (b) when Sa is of.
Interval 2 ( r/6 <wt<2n/3):In a regular diode bridge
rectifer, curent for phase c is zero in this interval and Phase a
(Da
p
) and b (Dbn) are conducting. In order to improve the power
factor during this interval, Sc is tured on and off periodically.
When Sc is tued on, similar to the previous interval diode Dc
p
will conduct instead of Da
p
.Equivalent circuits of this interval
are shown in 3.
-Va + ReIo +Vb=O

a
{or hase a c::in this interval have:
Vab
Sc=off
R
Vc
Vb
DH
(a)
(7)
(8)
Ro
IEEE Catalog Number: CFPI21IJ-ART
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ISBN: 978-1-4673-0113-8/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE
:
> h.
(b)
Fig3: Equivalent circuit for interval 2 (a) when Sc is on (b) when Sc is of.
Interval 3 (2n/3<wt<n/2): Normally in this interval current
though phase c is zero and phase a (Dap) and phase b (Dbn)
are conducting. Therefore, switch Sc is tured on and off
periodically. When Sc is on, -nR.IO appears across nSC2 which
forces Dcn to conduct. When switch is off, diode bridge has
its normal operation. Equivalent circuitsof this interval are
shown in fg.4.
Therefore:
Vae
R(1-n)2
Vab
R
Va
*L
Dap
Den
Sc=on
Sc=off (9)
(a)
:

(b)
Figure 4: Equivalent circuits for interval 3 (a) Sc is on (b) Sc is off
A. Calculating the averge input current
To calculate the average current through phase a,the
average of equations (6), (8) and (9) should be calculated.
Since the switching fequency is much higher than line
fequency, the line voltage can be assumed constant during
each switching fequency. Thus, by integrating the obtained
equations, current through phase a is achieved:
la =
Vab D
R(1-n)2
Vab (i-D)
R
VaeD
I
Vab (i-D)
R(1-n)2 R
(0<wt<r/6)
(r/6<wt<2r/3)
(2r/3<wt<r/2) (10)
In order to flter the curent harmonic at the switching
fequency, a LC flter should used in series with each phase.
B. Selection of n (n is the secondary to primary tus ratio for
each transformer):
An upper and lower restrictions are found for n. Once the
related switch is tured on, the voltage across the transformer
secondary side should force the diode to conduct. This will
result in a lower limitation for n.For example, during interval
I (0<wt<r/6), nVo>Vc. Where Vo is the rectifer output
voltage.
Also, during interval 1, the voltage which appears across nSa2
should not force Da to conduct. In other words, n Vo<Vb.
IV.CONTROLL CIRCUIT OF THE POPOSED PFC RECTIFIER
The control circuit for proposed system is very simple.
Only three comparators are used for determining the control
signal for each auxiliary switch. Each switch is tured on only
when corresponding phase voltage varies between -Vp/2
to+Vp/2. The obtained signalis modulated with a square wave
voltage source (V) with switching fequency of fs and duty
cycle of D. The schematic of the control circuit is shown in
Fig. 5.
vin
vii2
FigS. Schematic of the control circuit.
(a)
IEEE Catalog Number: CFPI21lJ-ART
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ISBN: 978-1-4673-0113-8/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE
(b)
(c)
Fig.6Waveformsof the control circuit (a) phase a voltage[50V/div] (b)
v2(shown in Fig. 5) (c) Gate signal for Sa[O.2/div];Time [lOmsec/div]
V.SIMULATION RESULT
In this section simulation result of proposed three phase
rectifer is presented.
A rectifer with following parameters is simulated:
Line voltage of =180VLLnns;
Line fequency :fL=60 HZ;
Output power = 3 kW;
n=0.45;
0=0.45;
Switching fequency = 50k HZ;
Output voltage: Output voltage of the proposed rectifer is
almost same as a regular diode bridge rectifer.
Figur.7 shows the input thee phase voltages and input
curents of a regular three phase diode bridge rectifer. Fig.8- I O
shows the simulation wavefors of the proposed three phase
rectifer. Fig.8 shows the input three phase voltages and input
curents of the proposed three phase rectifer. Fig.9presents the
input voltage and current of phase a. Fig. I 0 shows the
harmonic spectrum of the input current obtained fom the
simulation results using PSIM sofware. THO of the input
current is about 7.9% and power factor is 0.98. The output
voltage is shown in fg. I I . In order to regulate the output
voltage a I uF capacitor is used. Also, in order to flter the high
fequency haronics of the phase curent a LC flter consisting
of I mH inductor and 500nF capacitor is used for each phase.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(
d
)
Figure7: input voltages and input currents of the Diode bridge rectifer (a)
Phase voltages [50V/div] (b) current of phase a (c) current of phase b (d)
current of phase c [5A/div]; Time [lOmsec/div]
(a)
(b)
........................ ............ ......................... .............. ............. .. .;. ................................; .. ............ ............. .
..................... ........1......... ...................... ........... . ................. : ................................ : .................. .......... .

(c)
(
d)
FigureS: input voltages and input currents of the proposed rectifer(a)
Phasevoltages [50V/div] (b) current of phase a (c) current of phase b (d) current
of phase c [5A/div]; Time [IOmsec/div]
Fig.9 Phase a voltage[50V/div] and current [6.25A/div];Time [lOmsec/div]
IEEE Catalog Number: CFP121IJ-ART
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ISBN: 978-1-4673-0113-8/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE
m
1
Fig.IO. input current hamonic spectrum [2/div]; fequency [0.5KHzdiv]
L
Fig.11 Output voltage [50V/div]; Time [lOmsec/div]
VI.CONCLUSION:
This paper has presented a new topology to reduce the
harmonic content of the thee phase rectifer. Three switches
and three high fequency transformers are applied to shape the
input AC currents especially at the voltage zero crosses.
Hence input current is proportional to the input voltage. The
proposed converter is analyzed and simulation results are
presented which justifes the theoretical analysis. The
proposed topology includes the following feature:
1. No current sensor is needed.
2. Simple structure and control strategy.
3. Low cost and high reliability.
4. High power factor and low THD
Simulation results shows that the proposed auxiliary circuit
increses the power factor fom 0.94 to 0.98.
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IEEE Catalog Number: CFP121lJ-ART
465
ISBN: 978-1-4673-0113-8/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE