Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351

Single-phase full-wave rectier study with experimental measurements

Luis Sainz

, Joaqun Pedra, Juan Jos e Mesas

Department of Electrical Engineering, ETSEIB-UPC, Av. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Received 15 July 2005; received in revised form 26 January 2006; accepted 17 March 2006
Available online 6 May 2006
Abstract
This paper studies experimentally the harmonic absorbed currents by single-phase rectiers under sinusoidal supply voltage conditions. Labo-
ratory tests have been developed with a rectier supplied with non-distorted voltages to characterize its absorbed harmonic currents (magnitude
and phase angle). From these results, a database that characterizes rectier harmonic behavior experimentally and allows the rectier currents to
be easily calculated is proposed. The database applicability is experimentally studied in three laboratory tests.
2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Single-phase rectiers; Power system harmonics; Power quality
1. Introduction
Studies on harmonics are receiving more attention due to the
increasing number of non-linear loads connected to the distribu-
tion system. One set of these loads uses single-phase rectiers
with dc-smoothing capacitors as their power supply. At present,
these loads account for a small percentage of the total load. How-
ever, this percentage is increasing due to their high efciency.
Unfortunately, this results in problematic voltage distortion lev-
els. For this reason, several studies trying to predict the harmonic
currents injected by these non-linear loads can be found in the
literature. Apart fromthe magnitude of these harmonic currents,
some of these studies evaluate their phase angle so that the har-
monic current content is determined completely.
The majority of these studies present complicated analyti-
cal expressions or graphs based on extensive simulations of the
rectier to calculate the harmonic currents [17]. Unfortunately,
either their theoretical methods are not experimentally validated
or the validation is performed with fewexperiments [6,7]. There
are only a few studies that analyze the rectier behavior experi-
mentally [8,9].
This paper studies the single-phase rectier behavior exper-
imentally assuming sinusoidal supply voltages. A rectier was
constructed in the laboratory and, supplying it with sinusoidal
voltages, experimental tests were performed to characterize its

Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 4011759; fax: +34 93 8967700.

E-mail address: sainz@ee.upc.edu (L. Sainz).
absorbed harmonic currents (magnitude and phase angle). The
study also considers that the supply voltage is not time-varying.
From these tests, a harmonic current database of rectiers is
obtained. This database allows the fundamental and harmonic
currents of any single-phase rectier to be calculated in an easy,
friendly way. Finally, to verify the database applicability, the rec-
tier currents obtained from three laboratory tests are compared
with the currents obtained from the database.
2. Rectier study
2.1. Rectier behavior study
The equivalent circuit of the studied rectier is presented in
Fig. 1(a). The study is based on the following hypotheses:
The supply voltage is assumed to be sinusoidal with a null
phase angle, i.e. v() =

2V cos().
The ac system resistance is not considered.
The resistance R models the dc power consumption [13,5].
The rectier in discontinuous current conduction mode is ana-
lyzed.
As an example of the rectier behavior, Fig. 1(b) shows the
supply voltage, the dc voltage and the ac current measured in a
rectier with L=11.02 mH, C=75.78 F and R=1200 . The
supply voltage is sinusoidal and its rms value is 100 V. In this
plot, the commutation angles (
1
to
4
) which dene the rectier
0378-7796/$ see front matter 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.epsr.2006.03.010
340 L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351
Fig. 1. Study of the single-phase uncontrolled ac/dc rectier: (a) equivalent
circuit; (b) measured voltage and current waveforms.
dc voltage and ac current are presented. These commutation
angles must be determined by analyzing the circuit topologies
corresponding to the four segments labeled in Fig. 1(b) [1,8].
By analyzing Fig. 1(a), the equations which characterize the
dc voltage and current waveforms of segment I (
1
< <
2
) and
III (
3
< <
4
) are
1
X
C
dv
C
d
+
v
C
R
= 0, i = 0 (1)
and the equations which characterize the dc voltage and current
waveforms of segment II (
2
< <
3
) and IV (
4
< <
1
+2)
come from the following second-order differential system:
X
L
di
d
v
C
= v,
1
X
C
dv
C
d
+
v
C
R
= i (2)
where the rst sign (+v
C
and i) corresponds to the segment II
and the second sign (v
C
and +i) to the segment IV.
The expressions of the dc voltage and current waveforms,
v
C
() and i(), are obtained by solving (1) and (2) applying the
continuity and the segment-change conditions.
2.2. Normalization of the rectier equations
The equations that characterize the rectier behavior can be
normalized by using the references U
R
, Z
R
and I
R
=U
R
/Z
R
. In
this way, equations in the normalized variables v
N
= v/U
R
,
v
C,N
= v
C
/U
R
and i
N
=i/I
R
that use only normalized param-
eters are obtained.
The chosen references for the rectier normalization are the
rms value of the supply voltage and the rectier dc resistance
(i.e. U
R
=V, Z
R
=R, and therefore I
R
=U
R
/Z
R
=V/R). From (1)
and (2), the obtained normalized equations are
Segment I (
1
< <
2
) and III (
3
< <
4
):
1
x
C,N
dv
C,N
d
+v
C,N
= 0, i
N
= 0 (3)
Segment II (
2
< <
3
) and IV (
4
< <
1
+2):
x
L,N
di
N
d
v
C,N
= v
N
,
1
x
C,N
dv
C,N
d
+v
C,N
= i
N
(4)
where
v
N
=

2 1 cos , x
L,N
=
X
L
Z
R
=
X
L
R
,
x
C,N
=
X
C
Z
R
=
X
C
R
(5)
It can be noted that the rectier behavior can be univocally
described by only the above normalized parameters x
L,N
and
x
C,N
.
The usefulness of these normalized parameters lies in the fact
that they are invariants of the rectier behavior. In other words,
any rectier with different values of the parameters X
L
, X
C
and R
has the same behavior (when the normalized voltage and current,
v
N
= v/U
R
, and i
N
=i/I
R
, are used) if it has the same values of
the normalized parameters x
L,N
and x
C,N
.
Fig. 2 shows the inuence of these invariants on the rectier
dc voltage and current waveforms. In this plot, the supply volt-
age waveform is also plotted. These waveforms were measured
in the laboratory for two values of x
C,N
and four values of x
L,N
.
From Fig. 2, it can be seen that the invariant x
L,N
mainly inu-
ences the shape of the line current pulse (a small invariant x
L,N
leads to a sharp line current pulse and enlarges the harmonic
currents) whereas the invariant x
C,N
mainly inuences the dc
voltage ripple. Nevertheless, it can be noticed that the invariant
x
L,N
also has a small inuence on the dc voltage ripple.
The range of x
L,N
and x
C,N
values used in this paper is
obtained relating each one of these invariants with the short-
circuit ratio R
SC
=S
CC
/S
Load
and the rectier dc voltage ripple
v
C
/v
C
, respectively.
The relation between x
L,N
and R
SC
is
R
SC
=
S
CC
S
Load
=
V
2
/X
L
P
Load
/ cos
=
V
2
/X
L
(V
2
C
/R)/ cos

V
2
/X
L
(1.35V)
2
/R
=
R
1.35
2
X
L
x
L,N
=
X
L
R

0.5487
R
SC
(6)
where the approximations cos 1andV
C
1.35V[5], are con-
sidered in (6) for the rectier power factor, cos , and the mean
value of the dc voltage, V
C
.
L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351 341
Fig. 2. Normalized parameters inuence on the measured rectier dc voltage and current waveforms.
The relation bewteen x
C,N
and v
C
/v
C
is
i
C
=
v
C
R
, i
C
=
1
X
C
dv
C
d

1
X
C
v
C

v
C
R

1
X
C
v
C

x
C,N
=
X
C
R

v
C
v
C
(7)
where assuming the width of the rectier current pulse to be
approximately 30 ms (/3 radians) [5], allows us to consider
that the rectier capacitor discharge lasts 2/3, i.e. =2/3.
Hence:
x
C,N
0.4774
v
C
v
C
(8)
Fig. 3. Normalized fundamental and harmonic ac currents obtained from laboratory measurements: (a) normalized rms values of the fundamental and harmonic
currents; (b) phase angles of the fundamental and harmonic currents referred to the supply voltage phase angle.
342 L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351
Table 1
rms values of the normalized harmonic currents, I
k,N
(pu)
x
L,N
(%) I
1,N
I
3,N
I
5,N
I
7,N
I
9,N
I
11,N
0.05 1.92 1.82 1.65 1.40 1.12 0.83
0.075 1.91 1.80 1.61 1.34 1.04 0.74
0.1 1.90 1.74 1.53 1.18 0.81 0.50
0.2 1.88 1.68 1.31 0.90 0.52 0.l9
0.3 1.86 1.63 1.26 0.82 0.43 0.17
0.4 1.84 1.59 1.14 0.64 0.25 0.13
0.5 1.83 1.55 1.08 0.54 0.23 0.13
0.6 1.82 1.52 1.05 0.56 0.21 0.12
0.7 1.80 1.48 1.00 0.50 0.17 0.13
0.8 1.79 1.45 0.95 0.44 0.15 0.14
0.9 1.77 1.43 0.90 0.40 0.13 0.13
1.0 1.76 1.40 0.85 0.35 0.12 0.12
1.5 1.71 1.29 0.70 0.22 0.13 0.10
2.0 1.67 1.20 0.58 0.17 0.14 0.08
2.5 1.64 1.12 0.45 0.14 0.12 0.06
3.0 1.62 1.07 0.40 0.13 0.11 0.05
3.5 1.59 1.02 0.35 0.12 0.09 0.05
4.0 1.57 0.97 0.30 0.12 0.08 0.05
4.5 1.55 0.93 0.27 0.12 0.07 0.05
5.0 1.53 0.90 0.24 0.13 0.07 0.05
5.5 1.52 0.86 0.21 0.12 0.06 0.05
6.0 1.50 0.83 0.19 0.12 0.05 0.05
6.5 1.49 0.80 0.17 0.12 0.05 0.05
7.0 1.47 0.78 0.16 0.11 0.05 0.04
7.5 1.46 0.75 0.15 0.11 0.05 0.04
8.0 1.45 0.73 0.13 0.10 0.05 0.03
8.5 1.43 0.71 0.13 0.10 0.05 0.03
9.0 1.42 0.68 0.12 0.09 0.05 0.02
9.5 1.41 0.65 0.13 0.10 0.06 0.03
10.0 1.40 0.64 0.11 0.08 0.04 0.02
Therefore, the values of x
L,N
and x
C,N
used in this paper are x
L,N
(%) =(0.05,. . .,10) and x
C,N
(%) =(0.5,. . .,4.5), which approxi-
mately correspond to a R
SC
=(5,. . .,1000) and a v
C
/v
C
(%) =
(1, . . . , 10), respectively.
2.3. Rectier harmonic current calculation
Once the previous rectier equations have been solved, the
harmonic currents can be obtained analytically from the Fourier
series of the rectier current expression:
I
-
k
=
1

2
1

2
0
i() e
jk
d =
1

2
1

2
0
I
R
i
N
() e
jk
d
= I
R
1

2
1

2
0
i
N
() e
jk
d = I
R
I
-
k,N
(k = 1, 3, 5, . . .)
(9)
where the currents I
-
k,N
are the rectier normalized harmonic
currents and I
R
=U
R
/Z
R
=V/R is the rectier reference current
(V is the supply voltage rms value and R is the rectier dc resis-
tance).
The normalized harmonic currents I
-
k,N
are the same for rec-
tiers with the same invariants x
L,N
and x
C,N
, i.e. the normalized
harmonic currents are directly related to the invariants.
Table 2
Phase angles of the normalized harmonic currents,
k
(

) for x
C,N
=0.5%
x
L,N
(%)
1

3

5

7

9

11
0.05 7.4 20.4 34.3 49.3 65.8 86.0
0.075 7.7 21.7 36.5 52.5 70.3 93.1
0.1 8.5 24.4 41.3 59.6 80.8 109.5
0.2 10.8 31.8 54.2 79.1 111.6 122.6
0.3 11.9 35.9 61.5 91.6 134.5 146.0
0.4 12.9 38.8 66.8 100.8 134.8 112.8
0.5 13.3 40.0 69.0 105.1 180.0 97.6
0.6 13.7 41.2 71.2 109.3 180.0 82.5
0.7 14.3 43.0 74.7 116.0 161.3 67.2
0.8 15.2 45.7 79.5 125.2 140.6 52.4
0.9 15.9 47.8 83.4 133.5 124.9 40.7
1.0 16.6 49.9 87.4 141.7 109.1 29.1
1.5 18.8 57.4 102.3 180.0 62.0 16.2
2.0 20.7 63.1 114.6 144.4 32.0 59.9
2.5 22.4 68.3 125.9 109.9 6.9 108.3
3.0 23.8 73.2 136.9 84.1 17.3 148.4
3.5 25.2 77.7 148.3 64.2 38.9 180
4.0 26.5 81.5 158.7 47.8 56.5 152.4
4.5 27.2 84.6 167.1 35.4 75.4 132.4
5.0 27.9 87.5 180.0 25.0 95.0 118.3
5.5 28.9 90.3 174.6 15.1 114.3 104.1
6.0 29.7 92.8 165.8 6.3 132.1 87.0
6.5 30.3 95.1 157.3 1.2 146.3 70.2
7.0 31.0 97.2 148.2 8.8 160.4 57.3
7.5 31.5 99.4 139.5 16.8 173.3 46.4
8.0 32.0 101.4 130.8 22.9 180.0 30.6
8.5 32.3 103.0 124.0 28.0 162.2 16.5
9.0 32.9 105.0 116.4 34.9 155.3 9.3
9.5 33.5 106.9 109.0 40.2 142.7 2.4
10.0 33.9 108.7 100.8 47.2 131.8 19.1
Therefore, a database of normalized harmonic cur-
rents depending on the invariants x
L,N
and x
C,N
can be
built.
This database will allow the harmonic currents of any recti-
er to be easily obtained. This will be done by multiplying the
normalized harmonic currents with the same invariants as the
studied rectier by the reference current of this rectier I
R
=V/R,
(9), where V and R are its supply voltage rms value and dc resis-
tance, respectively.
Nevertheless, the above procedure considers that the normal-
ized harmonic currents of the database and the obtained rectier
currents have the same phase angle. This is only true if the sup-
ply voltage of the studied rectier has the same phase angle as
the supply voltage for which the normalized harmonic currents
of the database were obtained.
Toanalyze the supplyvoltage angle inuence onthe obtaining
of harmonic currents, the supply voltage is assumed sinusoidal.
Then, it must be considered that if the normalized currents of the
database (i
N,D
) were obtained with a sinusoidal supply voltage
of null phase angle and the studied rectier is fed by a sinu-
soidal voltage with a general phase angle , there will be only a
phase angle shift between both currents, i.e. i
N,C
() =i
N,D
( +),
where i
N,C
() is the normalized current of the studied rectier.
Then, the rectier harmonic currents I
-
k
can be calculated from
L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351 343
Table 3
Phase angles of the normalized harmonic currents,
k
(

) for x
C,N
=1.5%
x
L,N
(%)
1

3

5

7

9

11
0.05 4.7 15.6 26.2 37.8 50.5 65.5
0.075 5.4 17.7 29.8 43.0 57.9 76.5
0.1 6.1 19.7 33.4 48.1 65.3 87.5
0.2 8.8 27.8 47.6 69.4 97.1 141.0
0.3 10.0 32.2 55.2 81.9 118.8 180.0
0.4 11.4 35.9 61.8 92.3 140.2 130.8
0.5 11.8 37.3 64.4 97.1 153.0 113.6
0.6 12.2 38.8 66.9 102.0 165.8 96.4
0.7 13.0 41.0 70.8 109.0 180.0 79.3
0.8 13.9 43.7 76.0 118.3 155.6 62.9
0.9 14.6 45.9 79.9 126.3 138.3 50.7
1.0 15.3 48.0 83.8 134.4 121.9 38.5
1.5 17.8 56.0 99.9 172.0 69.0 10.1
2.0 19.7 62.2 111.9 150.7 35.6 52.5
2.5 21.4 67.3 124.0 117.4 3.1 90.1
3.0 22.9 72.1 134.9 89.6 1.7 135.8
3.5 24.3 76.7 145.5 67.8 34.8 180.0
4.0 25.4 80.7 155.8 51.5 52.8 159.8
4.5 26.4 83.8 164.3 39.9 70.1 140.1
5.0 27.3 86.8 173.2 28.1 88.7 122.7
5.5 28.1 89.8 180.0 17.1 109.2 104.6
6.0 28.9 92.5 168.7 8.1 128.0 88.6
6.5 29.7 94.9 160.3 0.2 142.8 76.5
7.0 30.4 97.2 151.8 7.5 158.0 65.4
7.5 31.0 99.4 143.1 14.3 180.0 50.9
8.0 31.5 101.3 134.8 21.0 175.4 35.2
8.5 32.1 103.3 127.5 26.6 162.9 20.9
9.0 32.8 105.0 120.4 31.6 154.3 11.6
9.5 33.0 106.5 113.9 39.8 147.0 5.6
10.0 33.4 108.3 104.7 46.6 135.8 23.5
the normalized harmonic currents as
I
-
k
=
I
R

2
0
i
N,C
() e
jk
d
=
I
R

2
0
i
N,D
( +) e
jk
d
=
I
R
e
jk

2
0
i
N,D
() e
jk
d = I
R
e
jk
I
-
k,N
(10)
From (10), it can be noted that the harmonic currents of
any rectier supplied by a general sinusoidal voltage v() =

2 V cos( +) can be easily calculated from the normal-

ized harmonic currents obtained from a sinusoidal supply volt-
age with a null phase angle and related to the same invariants
as the rectier by multiplying the normalized harmonic currents
by the rectier reference current I
R
=V/R and the term e
jk
.
3. Experimental characterization of the rectier
behavior
A database of the rectier normalized fundamental and har-
monic currents, I
-
k,N
= I
k,N

k
, is experimentally obtained for
the above invariant values.
Table 4
Phase angles of the normalized harmonic currents,
k
(

) for x
C,N
=2.5%
x
L,N
(%)
1

3

5

7

9

11
0.05 1.8 7.0 11.9 17.6 23.7 32.4
0.075 2.6 9.5 16.3 23.8 32.4 44.4
0.1 3.8 12.0 20.6 30.0 41.1 56.3
0.2 6.7 22.0 37.5 55.1 77.1 113.6
0.3 8.3 27.3 46.9 69.5 101.5 165.2
0.4 9.2 29.3 50.6 76.2 118.2 161.8
0.5 9.5 31.0 54.9 81.3 132.5 139.3
0.6 10.9 34.6 59.9 91.4 149.7 112.8
0.7 11.7 36.8 63.6 98.4 180.0 94.3
0.8 12.6 39.5 69.1 107.5 172.7 77.7
0.9 13.4 41.9 73.5 115.7 154.5 65.1
1.0 14.1 44.3 77.9 123.8 136.3 52.5
1.5 16.8 52.8 94.1 162.1 78.9 3.0
2.0 18.9 59.6 107.3 162.2 45.6 39.9
2.5 19.6 63.9 115.2 131.1 37.2 80.4
3.0 21.2 68.3 126.1 100.0 7.4 125.0
3.5 23.7 75.2 142.4 73.0 27.9 165.4
4.0 25.0 79.1 152.0 55.4 46.3 180.0
4.5 26.0 82.3 161.0 42.4 63.1 146.1
5.0 26.9 85.3 170.2 31.7 83.5 127.8
5.5 27.7 88.3 180.0 21.8 103.2 110.5
6.0 28.6 91.1 177.4 16.8 120.9 100.5
6.5 29.3 93.6 170.3 8.4 137.2 88.7
7.0 29.9 95.7 155.8 3.9 150.6 68.5
7.5 30.6 97.8 147.6 10.9 165.0 52.6
8.0 31.2 100.1 138.5 16.5 180.0 42.1
8.5 31.6 101.9 131.7 25.2 168.9 29.7
9.0 32.3 103.7 124.3 31.3 159.8 13.1
9.5 32.6 105.5 114.5 38.3 150.2 2.4
10.0 33.0 107.2 108.5 45.1 140.2 16.3
In order to obtain this database, the rectier of Fig. 1 was
constructed in the laboratory and experimental tests were per-
formed with it. In the tests, the rectier was fed by a sinusoidal
supply voltage of null phase angle and ve values of x
C,N
(%)
(0.5, 1.5, 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5), and 30 values of x
L,N
(%) (from 0.05
to 10) were considered.
The supply voltage waveforms were generated by a power
source ac ELGAR Smartwave Switching Amplier of 4.5 kVA.
The experimental measurements of the voltage and current
waveforms (v, v
C
and i) were made with a FLUKE 43B power
quality analyzer and recorded with a YOKOGAWA DL 708 E
digital scope.
The ac currents consumed by the rectier were acquired by
the YOKOGAWA DL 708 E digital scope and transferred to a
computer. These laboratory waveforms were analyzed to obtain
fundamental and harmonic currents using the discrete Fourier
transform. The correspondences between the invariants and the
variables R
SC
and v
C
/v
C
, (6) and (8), were also veried in the
test.
Fig. 3 shows the rms value and the phase angle of the nor-
malized fundamental and harmonic currents obtained from the
laboratory measurements as a function of the invariant x
L,N
(%)
and for the ve values of the invariant x
C,N
(%). It must be noted
that the supply voltage phase angle was xed to zero in the
experimental tests.
344 L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351
Table 5
Phase angles of the normalized harmonic currents,
k
(

) for x
C,N
=3.5%
x
L,N
(%)
1

3

5

7

9

11
0.05 2.1 4.7 7.6 10.1 12.1 12.7
0.075 1.0 1.3 1.9 2.0 1.2 1.5
0.1 1.3 2.1 3.7 6.1 9.7 15.7
0.2 4.4 14.7 25.5 37.9 53.8 77.7
0.3 6.1 20.7 35.9 53.6 78.0 123.0
0.4 7.6 25.5 44.3 66.2 100.2 150.0
0.5 8.5 28.0 48.6 73.5 114.3 180.0
0.6 9.3 30.4 52.9 80.7 128.5 180.0
0.7 10.2 33.1 57.7 89.0 147.0 113.5
0.8 11.1 36.1 63.1 98.5 155.9 96.3
0.9 12.0 39.0 68.2 107.1 180.0 80.2
1.0 12.9 41.8 73.3 115.7 180.0 64.0
1.5 16.1 51.0 90.5 154.6 86.4 13.4
2.0 18.2 57.7 104.1 180.0 52.4 31.3
2.5 20.0 63.4 116.2 132.4 23.0 76.7
3.0 21.7 68.8 127.7 101.8 1.1 120.8
3.5 23.1 73.4 138.7 78.9 22.1 158.0
4.0 24.5 77.6 148.5 60.7 41.7 180.0
4.5 25.4 80.8 157.4 47.6 60.3 152.9
5.0 26.4 83.9 166.5 36.4 77.9 134.4
5.5 27.4 87.2 180.0 24.7 95.8 114.6
6.0 28.1 89.8 180 19.8 114.1 101.9
6.5 28.8 92.2 172.9 12.5 131.4 91.4
7.0 29.5 94.7 158.3 0.8 147.4 73.9
7.5 30.2 97.0 150.4 7.7 161.7 60.4
8.0 30.8 99.3 142.5 15.6 180.0 43.2
8.5 31.3 100.9 134.7 21.6 174.2 33.1
9.0 32.0 103.3 124.6 29.5 161.7 16.1
9.5 32.6 106.0 116.5 37.6 153.4 5.9
10.0 33.1 106.8 109.9 40.2 144.7 1.1
From Fig. 3, it can be noted that
As can be expected from the analysis of Fig. 2, the
higher the invariant x
L,N
, the smaller the harmonic currents
since a sharper line current pulse corresponds to higher
harmonics.
The invariant x
C,N
has a smaller inuence on the fundamen-
tal and harmonic currents than the invariant x
L,N
. This small
inuence of the invariant x
C,N
cannot be considered in the
study of the current rms value but it must be considered in the
study of the current phase angle.
In the Appendix A, a normalized harmonic current database,
obtained from the previous experimental measurements, is pre-
sented. This database is shown in Tables 16.
This database allows the fundamental and harmonic currents
of any single-phase rectier fed by a general supply voltage
v() =

2 V cos( +) to be calculated.
To accomplish this, the normalized fundamental and har-
monic currents of the rectier must be obtained fromTables 16
considering the value of the rectier invariants x
L,N
and x
C,N
.
Next, the rectier currents are calculated from (10) con-
sidering the previously obtained normalized fundamental and
harmonic currents, I
-
k,N
= I
k,N

k
, the phase angle of the rec-
tier supply voltage, , and the rectier reference current,
I
R
=U
R
/Z
R
=V/R (where R is the rectier dc resistance).
Table 6
Phase angles of the normalized harmonic currents,
k
(

) for x
C,N
=4.5%
x
L,N
(%)
1

3

5

7

9

11
0.05 4.1 11.4 18.3 25.4 32.1 37.8
0.075 2.8 7.5 11.9 16.2 19.8 21.7
0.1 1.6 3.6 5.5 7.0 7.4 5.6
0.2 3.0 10.3 18.1 27.3 39.3 60.4
0.3 5.4 17.6 30.6 45.9 68.0 114.1
0.4 6.7 22.1 38.2 57.8 88.1 141.7
0.5 7.5 24.4 42.4 64.6 101.9 180.0
0.6 8.3 26.7 46.6 71.3 115.6 180.0
0.7 9.3 29.8 51.9 79.9 133.8 125.9
0.8 10.6 33.4 58.2 90.4 150.6 104.9
0.9 11.3 35.8 62.8 98.8 180.0 90.5
1.0 12.0 38.2 67.3 107.3 180.0 76.2
1.5 15.2 48.3 85.8 146.3 97.2 23.0
2.0 17.5 55.5 100.0 180 59.8 21.7
2.5 19.4 61.3 112.5 140.5 29.5 66.7
3.0 20.9 65.6 123.8 116.7 12.7 95.5
3.5 21.9 70.0 131.8 93.4 6.9 135.7
4.0 23.7 74.3 141.5 73.0 25.6 160.0
4.5 24.5 79.6 151.3 52.2 49.5 180
5.0 26.0 82.8 163.1 39.9 71.0 138.8
5.5 26.9 85.8 172.2 28.3 90.2 122.0
6.0 27.7 88.7 180.0 18.7 109.4 107.8
6.5 28.5 91.4 170.6 9.5 126.7 91.8
7.0 29.1 93.6 161.8 0.6 143.0 78.1
7.5 29.8 95.7 153.9 4.8 155.5 64.8
8.0 30.5 98.5 145.4 11.2 180.0 49.1
8.5 31.1 100.4 137.9 19.3 176.1 37.3
9.0 31.6 101.6 130.4 26.0 166.9 24.3
9.5 31.7 103.0 121.9 32.6 160.5 9.8
10.0 32.7 106.0 113.9 37.4 147.5 1.0
4. Experimental validation of the database performance
To verify the database applicability, the rectier fundamental
and harmonic currents, I
-
k
= I
k

k
, obtained from three lab-
oratory tests are compared with the currents obtained from the
database, I
-
k,D
= I
k,D

k,D
. To compare both currents, the error
between them is calculated as

ik
(%) = 100

I
k,D
I
k
I
k,D

;
k
(%) = 100

k,D

k,D

(11)
For the experimental tests, the corresponding circuits were
constructed in the laboratory and the supply voltage waveforms
were generated by the power source ac ELGAR Smartwave
Switching Amplier. Finally, the voltage and current waveforms
of the circuits were recorded with a YOKOGAWA DL 708 E
digital scope and treated with a computer to obtain their funda-
mental and harmonic components, I
-
k
= I
k

k
, by means of the
discrete Fourier transform.
The rst test studies a rectier andanalyzes the supplyvoltage
inuence on its fundamental and harmonic currents.
The secondtest studies tworectiers sharingthe same bus and
analyzes the database application to calculate the total harmonic
currents that both rectiers inject into the bus.
The third test studies a three-phase systemloaded with single-
phase rectiers and analyzes the database application to calcu-
late the neutral conductor current.
L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351 345
Fig. 4. Rectier currents for different supply voltage rms values: (a) current waveforms; (b) fundamental and harmonic currents; (c) errors between the calculated
and measured currents.
4.1. First test: study of the supply voltage inuence on the
rectier fundamental and harmonic currents
From (10) in Section 2.3, it can be noted that
The rectier current is linear with the supply voltage rms
value.
A phase angle shift in the supply voltage leads to the same
phase angle shift in the rectier current.
To verify the above assertions, two experimental tests were
performed in the laboratory with a rectier of L=4.9 mH,
C=87.5 F and R=1200 .
In the rst test, the rectier was fed by a voltage v() =

2
V cos() with V=100, 150 and 200 V to study the inuence of
the supply voltage rms value. In the second test, the rectier
was fed by a voltage v() =

2 100 cos( +) with =0,

2/3 and 2/3 to study the inuence of the phase angle shift
of the supply voltage.
The measured rectier current waveforms and their
fundamental and harmonics, I
-
k
= I
k

k
, are shown in
Figs. 4(a) and (b) and 5(a) and (b) for the rst and second test,
respectively. In the rst test, the current magnitudes hold the pro-
portion of the rms voltage values and the current phase angles
are the same while, in the second test, the current magnitudes are
the same and the current phase angles are modied depending
on the supply voltage phase angle.
346 L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351
Fig. 5. Rectier currents for different supply voltage phase angles: (a) current waveforms; (b) fundamental and harmonic currents; (c) errors between the calculated
and measured currents.
Moreover, the error between the rectier fundamental
and harmonic currents obtained from the database, I
-
k,D
=
I
k,D

k,D
, and the measured ones, I
-
k
= I
k

k
, is shown in
Figs. 4(c) and 5(c). The error has been calculated with (11).
From these gures, the applicability of the database to calculate
the rectier currents can be veried.
For example, the third harmonic current of the rectier when
it is fed with v() =

2 150 cos(), Fig. 4(a), and the fth

harmonic current of the rectier when it is fed with v() =

2
100 cos( +2/3 ), Fig. 5(a), are calculated as
I
-
3,D
=

150
1200

e
j30

I
-
3,N
= 0.215 9.956

A;
I
-
5,D
=

100
1200

e
j5120

I
-
5,N
= 0.122 137.133

A (12)
where the normalized harmonic currents I
-
3,N
= 1.723
9.956

and I
-
5,N
= 1.467 17.133

are obtained from

Tables 16 by interpolation and considering that x
L,N
=0.1283%
and x
C,N
=3.0315%. These values correspond approximately to
points A and B in Fig. 3.
As the corresponding measured harmonic currents are I
-
3
=
0.214 9.239

A and I
-
5
= 0.118 136.450

A, the errors
in the determination of these currents with the database
are
i3
=0.46%,
3
=7.21%,
i5
=2.87% and
5
=0.49%.
These currents and errors are marked with an asterisk in
Figs. 4(b) and (c) and 5(b) and (c).
The database results of the test performed when the rectier
was fedbya supplyvoltage v() =

2 100 cos() have also

been compared with the currents obtained from PSpice simula-
tions, I
-
k,P
= I
k,P

k,P
. To compare the database and the PSpice
L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351 347
Fig. 6. System studied in the second laboratory test.
results, the error between them has been calculated with (11) by
replacing the measured currents I
-
k
= I
k

k
with the PSpice
currents I
-
k,P
= I
k,P

k,P
. The obtained errors are
ik
=1.89,
3.69, 3.84, 3.05, 3.95 and 3.19%and
k
=2.02, 0.21, 1.54, 3.18,
5.05 and 4.48% with k =1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. These errors also
verify the applicability of the database to calculate the rectier
currents.
4.2. Second test: calculation of the harmonic currents
injected into the same bus by two rectiers
The circuit of Fig. 6, where two rectiers share the same bus,
was constructed in the laboratory to study the calculation of the
total harmonic currents that these rectiers inject into the bus
using the above database.
Fig. 7. Rectier currents of the second laboratory test: (a) current waveforms; (b) fundamental and harmonic currents; (c) errors between the calculated and measured
currents.
348 L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351
The measured rectier current waveforms, their fundamen-
tal and harmonics, I
-
k
= I
k

k
, and the error between these
currents and the currents obtained from the database, I
-
k,D
=
I
k,D

k,D
, are shown in Fig. 7(a)(c). The above error has
been calculated with (11). From these gures, the applicabil-
ity of the database to calculate the rectier currents can be
veried.
For example, the seventh harmonic currents are calculated as
I
-
a7,D
=

100
900

e
j70

I
-
a7,N
= 0.0696 77.529

A,
I
-
b7,D
=

100
800

e
j70

I
-
b7,N
= 0.0169109.756

A,
I
-
T7,D
= I
-
a7,D
+I
-
b7,D
= 0.0529 79.849

A (13)
where the normalized harmonic currents I
-
a7,N
=
0.626 77.529

and I
-
b7,N
= 0.135109.756

are obtained
from Tables 16 by interpolation and considering that
x
La,N
=0.4276%, x
Ca,N
=2.5%, x
Lb,N
=2.748% and x
Cb,N
=2%.
These values correspond approximately to points C and D in
Fig. 3.
As the corresponding measured harmonic currents are I
-
a7
=
0.0673 75.665

A, I
-
b7
= 0.0162118.217

A and I
-
T7
=
0.0509 80.135

A, the errors in the determination of these

currents with the database are
i7
(%) =3.30, 4.14 and 3.78 and

7
(%) =2.40, 7.71 and 0.35, respectively. These currents and
errors are marked with an asterisk in Fig. 7(b) and (c).
In the above numerical example, it can be observed that a
harmonic cancellation is produced for the seventh harmonic
currents because the harmonic currents I
-
a7
and I
-
b7
are in coun-
terphase. Therefore, the geometrical sumof these currents is less
than the arithmetical sum. This is also true for the ninth and the
eleventh harmonics, Fig. 7(b).
The fundamental and harmonic currents of the total cur-
rent i
T
obtained with the database have also been compared
with the currents obtained from PSpice simulations, I
-
k,P
=
I
k,P

k,P
. To compare the database and the PSpice results, the
error between them has been calculated with (11) by replac-
ing the measured currents I
-
k
= I
k

k
with the PSpice currents
I
-
k,P
= I
k,P

k,P
. The obtained errors are
ik
=1.87, 1.35, 1.25,
4.41, 1.60 and 3.83% and
k
=4.53, 3.01, 1.17, 7.87, 6.40 and
2.39% with k =1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. These errors also ver-
ify the applicability of the database to calculate the rectier
currents.
4.3. Third test: calculation of the neutral conductor current
in a three-phase system
The circuit of Fig. 8, where a three-phase system loaded with
single-phase rectiers was constructed in the laboratory to study
the calculation of the neutral conductor current using the above
database.
The measured rectier current waveforms, their fundamental
and harmonics, I
-
k
= I
k

k
, and the error between these cur-
rents and the currents obtained from the database, I
-
k
= I
k

k
,
are shown in Fig. 9(a)(c). The error has been calculated with
Fig. 8. Three-phase system studied in the third laboratory test.
(11). From these gures, the applicability of the database to cal-
culate the rectier currents can be veried.
For example, the seventh harmonic currents are calculated as
I
-
a7,D
=

200
900

e
j70

I
-
a7,N
= 0.1392 77.529

A,
I
-
b7,D
=

200
460

e
j7(120

)
I
-
b7,N
= 0.0522 103.973

A,
I
-
c7,D
=

200
800

e
j7120

I
-
c7,N
= 0.0338 130.247

A,
I
-
n7,D
= I
-
a7,D
+I
-
b7,D
+I
-
c7,D
= 0.2123 91.178

A
(14)
where the normalized harmonic currents I
-
a7,N
= 0.626
77.529

, I
-
b7,N
= 0.12016.027

, I
c7,N
= 0.135109.756

are
obtained from Tables 16 by interpolation and considering that
x
La,N
=0.4276%, x
Ca,N
=2.5%, x
Lb,N
=6.1466%, x
Cb,N
=3%,
x
Lc,N
=2.748% and x
Cc,N
=2%. These values correspond
approximately to points C, E and D in Fig. 3.
As the corresponding measured harmonic currents are I
-
a7
=
0.1327 78.763

A, I
-
b7
= 0.0503 86.007

A, I
-
c7
=
0.0306 119.395

A and I
-
n7
= 0.2090 86.124

A, the
errors in the determination of these currents with the database
are
i7
(%) =4.66, 3.63, 6.50 and 1.55 and
7
(%) =1.59,
17.27, 8.32 and 5.54, respectively. These currents and errors
are marked with an asterisk in Fig. 9(b) and (c).
In the above numerical example, it can be noted that the load
imbalance causes the loss of the positive sequence symmetry in
the seventh harmonics. For this reason, the sum of these har-
monics in the neutral conductor is not zero. In general, load
imbalances cause the loss of the positive and negative sequence
symmetry in the rst- and fth-order harmonics (k =1, 7,. . . and
k =5, 11,. . .) and the zero symmetry in the third-order harmon-
ics (k =3, 9,. . .). Therefore, the sum of the rst- and fth-order
L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351 349
Fig. 9. Rectier currents of the third laboratory test: (a) current waveforms; (b) fundamental and harmonic currents; (c) errors between the calculated and measured
currents.
harmonics of the phase currents is not zero and the sum of the
third-order harmonics is less than the sum of their amplitudes,
Fig. 9(b).
The fundamental and harmonic currents of the neutral con-
ductor current i
n
obtained with the database have also been
compared with the currents obtained from PSpice simulations,
I
-
k,P
= I
k,P

k,P
. To compare the database and the PSpice
results, the error between them has been calculated with (11)
by replacing the measured currents I
-
k
= I
k

k
with the PSpice
currents I
-
k,P
= I
k,P

k,P
. The obtained errors are
ik
=0.41,
4.14, 4.61, 0.94, 3.27 and 11.00% and
k
=1.35, 0.49, 5.14,
0.70, 3.24 and 4.16% with k =1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. These errors
also verify the applicability of the database to calculate the rec-
tier currents.
5. Inuence of the supply voltage and the ac system
resistance hypothesis on the study
5.1. Inuence of the supply voltage
Although actual supply voltages are generally non-sinusoidal
due to background voltage distortion [6], the study conducted
in the paper considers sinusoidal supply voltages to experimen-
tally obtain the harmonic current database of the rectiers. If
sinusoidal voltages are assumed, the rectier behavior can be
univocally described by only two normalized parameters (5)
and the obtained database offers a user-friendly way of nd-
ing the rectier fundamental and harmonic currents. However, it
must be noted that for existing voltage distortion levels in actual
350 L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351
Fig. 10. Inuence of the ac system resistance on the results of the rst test with v() =

2 100 cos().
distribution systems (approximately 23%) the assumption of
sinusoidal supply voltage to determine the rectier currents is
reasonable [2].
If non-sinusoidal supply voltages are considered in the study,
i.e.:
v() =

2 V
1
cos() +

k=1
V
k
cos( +
vk
) (15)
the chosen references for the rectier normalization must
be the rms value of the fundamental supply voltage and
the rectier dc resistance (i.e. U
R
=V
1
, Z
R
=R, and therefore
I
R
=U
R
/Z
R
=V
1
/R). In this situation and considering the proce-
dure developed in Section 2.2, (3) and (4) depend on
v
N
=

2 1 cos +

k=1,3,5,...

V
k
V
1

cos( +
vk
),
x
L,N
=
X
L
Z
R
=
X
L
R
, x
C,N
=
X
C
Z
R
=
X
C
R
(16)
Thus, the rectier behavior can be univocally described with
the normalized parameters presented in the paper, i.e. x
L,N
and x
C,N
, plus the new parameters v
k,N
=V
k
/V
1
and
vk
with
k =3, 5, . . . These new parameters allow considering the har-
monic distortion inuence on the rectier behavior. However,
the study becomes very complicated because of the great num-
ber of involved parameters. For this reason, such a study must
be carefully conducted but this is out of the scope of the paper.
5.2. Inuence of the ac system resistance
Althoughactual supplyimpedances are formedbyresistances
R
L
and inductive reactances X
L
, the resistances of the ac sys-
tem have not been considered in the study, Fig. 1(a), because
their inuence on the rectier behavior is much smaller than the
inductive reactance inuence [4,5].
Nevertheless, this inuence has been experimentally studied
for the rectier circuit of the rst test fed by a supply volt-
age v() =

2 100 cos() (Section 4.1). The fundamental

and harmonic currents for ve different values of the ac sys-
tem resistance ratio r
L
=R
L
/X
L
=0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 have
been measured. It can be noted that the measurements for r
L
=0
correspond to the measurements of Section 4.1. The measured
fundamental and harmonic currents are shown in Fig. 10. The
small inuence of the ac system resistance, particularly on the
low order harmonics, can be veried.
6. Conclusion
This paper presents an experimental characterization of
single-phase rectiers. This study is based on normalized param-
eters, which are called invariants and characterize the rectier
behavior univocally. The inuence of these parameters on the
rectier behavior is studied. The analysis considers the hypoth-
esis of sinusoidal supply voltages but considering the voltage
distortion levels in actual distribution systems (approximately
23%) this assumption is reasonable.
Adatabase of the rectier harmonic currents is also proposed
on the basis of these parameters. This database allows the fun-
damental and harmonic currents of any single-phase rectier fed
by a general sinusoidal supply voltage to be calculated. Three
laboratory tests are developed to verify the database applicabil-
ity.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by grant DPI20012192.
Appendix A. Database of the rectier normalized
harmonic currents
Considering that the rectier behavior is univocally described
by the invariants x
L,N
and x
C,N
, a normalized harmonic current
database of the rectier is obtained from the experimental mea-
surements of Section 3. This database is shown in Tables 16.
The rectier behavior is experimentally characterized with it.
In this database, it is considered that the invariant x
C,N
has an
inuence on the current phase angles only, as can be deduced
from Fig. 3 in Section 3.
It must be noted that the supply voltage phase angle was xed
to zero in the experimental tests.
L. Sainz et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 77 (2007) 339351 351
References
[1] A. Mansoor, W.M. Grady, A.H. Chowdhury, M.J. Samotyj, An investigation
of harmonics attenuationanddiversityamongdistributedsingle-phase power
electronic loads, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery 10 (1) (1995) 467473.
[2] A. Mansoor, W.M. Grady, R.S. Thallam, M.T. Doyle, S.D. Krein, M.J. Samo-
tyj, Effect of supply voltage harmonics on the input current of single-phase
diode bridge rectier loads, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery 10 (3) (1995)
14161422.
[3] A. Mansoor, W.M. Grady, P.T. Staats, R.S. Thallam, M.T. Doyle, M.J. Samo-
tyj, Predicting the net harmonic currents produced by large numbers of
distributed single-phase computer loads, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery 10
(4) (1995) 20012006.
[4] J.G. Mayordomo, A. Hern andez, R. Asensi, L.F. Beites, M. Izzedine, A
unied theory of uncontrolled rectiers, discharge lamps and arc furnaces.
PART I. An analytical approach for normalised harmonic emission cal-
culations, in: Proceedings of the Eighth IEEE International Conference
on Harmonics and Quality of Power (ICHQP), Athens, Greece, 1998, pp.
740748.
[5] S. Herraiz, L. Sainz, J. Pedra, Behavior of single-phase full-wave rectier,
Eur. Trans. Electr. Power 13 (3) (2003) 185192.
[6] S. Hansen, P. Nielsen, F. Blaabjerg, Harmonic cancellation by mixing non-
linear single-phase and three-phase loads, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl. 36 (1)
(2000) 152159.
[7] F.A. Gorgette, J. Lachaume, W.M. Grady, Statistical summation of the har-
monic currents produced by a large number of single phase variable speed air
conditioners: a study of three specic designs, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery
15 (3) (2000) 953959.
[8] A.W. Kelley, W.F. Yadusky, Rectier design for minimum line-current har-
monics and maximum power factor, IEEE Trans. Power Electr. 7 (7) (1992)
332341.
[9] P.J. Moore, I.L. Portugu es, The inuence of personal computer processing
modes on line current harmonics, IEEE Trans. Power Delivery 18 (4) (2003)
13631368.
Luis Sainz was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1965. He received the B.S. degree
in Industrial Engineering and the Ph.D. degree in Engineering from the Uni-
versitat Polit` ecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain, in 1990 and 1995,
respectively. Since 1991, he has been a Professor with the Electrical Engineering
Department, UPC. His main eld of research is power system harmonics.
Joaqun Pedra (S85M88) was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1957. He received
the B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering and the Ph.D. degree in Engineering
from the Universitat Polit` ecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain, in 1979
and 1986, respectively. Since 1985, he has been a Professor with the Electrical
Engineering Department, UPC. His research interests are in the areas of power
system quality and electrical machines.
Juan Jos e Mesas was born in Barcelona (Spain) in 1974. He received his B.S.
degree in Industrial Engineering from the Universitat Polit` ecnica de Catalunya,
Barcelona, Spain, in 2003. His research interest lies in the area of power system
harmonics.