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METHODOLOGY

A battery charger is basically a circuit that applies electrical energy to a battery in order to
restore its power once the battery has been discharged. In this paper, we create a simple charger
using SCR as its main component.

Control Circuit

IN Transformer Rectifier Limiting Circuit OUT

Figure 1
A typical battery charger are composed of a transformer, limiting circuit and a control circuit
as shown in Figure 1. Transformer lower the input voltage, which is usually an AC, to the value required
by the battery. Then the lowered voltage is rectified to convert it into DC voltage. The limiting circuit will
ensure the required amount of voltage and/or current for the battery charger. The control circuit will set if
the battery if it is charging or discharging. In this paper, we design the rectifier, limiting circuit and the
control circuit.

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2

Figure 2: Circuit Design


The designed circuit is composed of 3 parts, they are (1) control circuit; (2) rectifier
and; (3) limiting circuit.
The first part of the circuit is the control circuit. It let the battery charge if the battery
is empty and stop charging if the battery is fully charged. When a battery is connected to the output it will
identify first if the battery contains charge. Normally, when a battery is fully charged its voltage is the
maximum rated voltage of the battery, in our circuit its 4.2 V. If a battery with charge is connected, the
current will turn on the transistor Q1 through R3, R4 and R5. The transistor will act as a closed switch,
making the supply to flow through the ground via R1 and D1. In this case, the SCR is turned off and no
rectification of supply that will be needed to charge the battery. The Schottky diode D2 is used as a blocking
diode to allow the current from a battery with charge to flow to the transistor turning it on and blocks the
current from the base of the transistor when it is on so that no current will flow through the battery. The
discharging phase equivalent circuit is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Circuit representation when not charging


As you can see the SCR and D3 act as an open switch preventing the current to flow
through the battery. While D1 and D2 act as a closed switch making the supply to flow through the ground.
When an empty battery is connected, the configuration of circuit will change and will
enter the charging phase. Due to the low voltage of the empty battery, the transistor Q1 will turn off and
will act as an open switch. Since the transistor is turned off voltage will flow through the gate of the SCR
turning it on. While it is turned on, it will act as a rectifier allowing the AC voltage to be converted to DC
voltage therefore charging the connected battery. The equivalent circuit of charging phase is shown in
Figure 4.

Figure 4: Equivalent circuit during charging phase


The next part of the circuit is the rectifier. It is the one responsible for converting the
AC voltage to DC voltage. A diode can be used as a rectifier, but for a battery charger circuit the time when
should it rectify should be controlled and it should be only during charging phase to save power. Therefore,
we choose to use an SCR as a rectifier so that it will only start rectifying when it is needed. We use the gate
triggering method to turn on the SCR by applying a voltage at the gate of the SCR. When it is turned on it
will convert the AC voltage to DC which is the required by the battery to charge. When the battery is fully
charged the SCR must be turned off. To turn off the SCR, we use the forced commutation method to turn
off the SCR. Current will be forced to flow through the cathode of the SCR making the anode current low
therefore turning it off.

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Figure 5: Turning on the SCR by gate triggering method

Figure 6: Turning off the SCR by forced commutation method

The last part of the circuit is the limiting circuit. It is a series of resistors to limit
the current and voltages needed for the battery charger. For this circuit a 4.2 V is needed to charge the
battery.
Simulation

Figure 7: Simulation Circuit


For simulation purposes, a 1Ω resistor is added in series to the battery to represent the internal resistance
of the battery.
When a battery is at low charge, its voltage is almost 0V. To simulate this, we add a battery to the circuit
and gradually increase its voltage to see if the circuit is effective. We use a 4.2V battery to test the circuit’s
functionality. The voltage at which the charger will stop charging can be set by adjusting R4. In this
simulation, R4 is set at 100Ω to charge a 4.2V battery.

As you can see when the voltage of the battery is 0V (low charge) the LED is turned on which means that
the battery is charging. It will remain ON until it does not reach the voltage (4.2V – full charge) where it
would stop charging.
Based on the simulation results, the circuit will continuously charge the battery until the voltage
of the battery is 4.2V.

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