Saturable reactor

been replaced by thyristor dimmers using triacs or SCRs.

1 See also
Magnetic amplier
Constant voltage transformer

2 Notes
[1] Choudhury 2005, Section 2.9.1

3 References
Choudhury, D. Roy (2005). Modern Control Engineering. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India. ISBN
81-203-2196-0.

In concept, the alternating current through the lamp L can be controlled by the saturation of the iron core with the direct current,
regulated by variable resistor R. B- battery, G - AC source.

A saturable reactor in electrical engineering is a special

form of inductor where the magnetic core can be deliberately saturated by a direct electric current in a control
winding. Once saturated, the inductance of the saturable
reactor drops dramatically.[1] This decreases inductive reactance and allows increased ow of the AC current.

4 External links
Electrical engineering training series

Saturable reactors provide a very simple means to remotely and proportionally control the alternating current
(AC) through a load such as an incandescent lamp; the
AC is roughly proportional to the direct current (DC) in
the control winding. In addition, because of the particular
arrangement of the power windings, the control winding,
and the core, the control winding is well isolated from
the AC power. The AC power windings are also usually
congured so that they cancel out AC voltages that would
otherwise be induced into the control winding.
Because the required inductance to achieve dimming
varies with the size of the load, saturable reactors often
have multiple taps, allowing a small inductance to be used
with a large load or a larger inductance to be used with
a smaller load. In this way, the required magnitude of
the control current can be also held roughly constant, no
matter what the load.
Saturable reactors at mains (line) frequency are
larger, heavier, and more expensive than electronic
power controllers developed after the introduction of
semiconductor electronic components, and have largely
1

5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

5.1

Text

Saturable reactor Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturable_reactor?oldid=604341981 Contributors: M.e, Bert Hickman,

Hooperbloob, Atlant, Wtshymanski, VivaEmilyDavies, Pol098, Scottsher, Light current, Audriusa, DA3N, Mild Bill Hiccup, Ali Esfandiari, Addbot, Sigshane, Lee A. Hart, RockMagnetist, Wiki13 and Anonymous: 8

5.2

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5.3

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