6-pulse Converter Operation and Analysis 3.1 INTRODUCTION In the previous chapter, a discussion on the type of DC converters used in HV transmission system had been presented; including different circuit configurations such as 6-pulse and 12-pulse converters, Thyristor valve bridges are basically voltage controlled (constant current) rectifiers and their output is varied by varying the firing angle of the converter (cevariation). As ccvaries, the waveforms of voltage and current change drastically and by incorporating suitable filters, DC voltage with certain amount of ripple is obtained. In this chapter, operation and analysis of 6-pulse and 12-pulse thyristor (SCR) converters is presented. The configuration and operation of a 3-phase fully controlled 6-pulse bridge converter (Graetz’s circuit) is described in this section. The converter has two types of circuits. The main circuit comprises converter transformers, thyristors valves, bus bars and series reactor and DC load. High power flows through this circuit. ‘The second is a control and protection circuit which is a low power circuit. It is used for firing the valves in the desired sequence, monitoring, ete. Each thyristor valve consists of several thyristors connected in series parallel combination to meet system voliage and current requirements. 3.2 CONDUCTION SEQUENCE IN 6-PULSE CONVERTER CONFIGURATION All modem HVDC systems use either 6-pulse or 12:pulse converters. The 3-phase bridge shown in Fig. 3.1 is the only configuration used in HVDC transmission. The bridge configuration provides better utilisation of converter transformer and a lower peak inverse voltage across the converter valves when compared with other possible altetnatives. In Fig. 3.1 conducting valves are indicated by thick lines. The bridge indicates that two valves are connected to each phase (for example, 1, 4 with phase A). In the upper part of the bridge, the anodes of the valves 1. 3, 5 are connected to the phase X, Y, B respectively. Similarly in the lower half of the bridge, the cathodes of valves 4, 6, 2 are connected to the phases R, Y, B respectively. The figure indicates that at any time two valves. will be conducting in series (6, 1; 1, 2; 2, 3: 3, 4; 4, 5; 5, 6) simultaneously when the source induetance of4 R ff le 42 4 - — (b) Conducting valves 1,2 (@) Conducting valves 5,4,5 tg AL < B 5 ah ok ok’ eae ek oh (c) Conducting valves 2,3 (f) Conducting vaives 5,6 —E conducting valve —PF — Nonconducting valve Fig. 3. Sequence of conduction of valve of 3-phase fully controlled 6-pulse bridge converter (Graetz’s circuit)70 | Hv0C Transmission 3.3 THE IDEAL COMMUTATION PROCESS WITHOUT GATE CONTROL Before we understand the operation ofa bridge converter itis assumed that the bridge is connected to an infinite bus of zero source impedance. This eliminates any overlap in the conduction of the valves and simplifies the ‘operation. With zero source impedance, the transfer of current (commutation) between the valves on the same side of the bridge takes place instantancously. The switching sequence and rectified voltage waveforms are illustrated in Fig. 3.2(a) and (b) for an uncontrolled bridge rectifier (i.e. on diode operation) with delay angle = 0. The valves are numbered according to the sequence of operation. Performance of the 3-phase bridge circuit or Graetz’s circuit under balanced sinusoidal 3-phase operation is considered with the following assumptions to simplify the analysis. 1 ay 5-8 4-f Common cathode potentiat Neutral (a) Common node potential ‘conducting valve OR gy -OC output voltage Volt) = DC output voltage Vq,= Mean direct voitage MY ve (6) Phase current ip — + Conducting valve h (8) Vaive vonage Vy, ol (0) Valve voltage waveform Fig. 3.2 Voltage and current waveforms of 6-pulse bridge converter with «= 0G-pulse Converter Operation and Analysis | 74 (1) The DC current is constant and ri (2) The valves can be modelled as ideal switches with zero forward impedance when conducting and infinite backward impedance when not conducting, (3) Ignition of the valves is carried out in sequence at equal intervals. (4) The AC voltages at the converter bus are sinusoidal and remain constant. The operation of the converter as rectifier can be explained as follows. Considering Fig. 3.2(a), at the instant P, the phase voltage & is more positive with respective to other phases and therefore the valve 1 conducts. Similarly, phase voltage Y is more negative w.rt other phases and therefore the valve 6 conducts. This state of operation continues up to the point Q, after which the valve 2 is forward biased since the phase voltage B becomes more negative, The anode of 2, which is directly connected to the anode of 6 becomes more positive, as it is connected to the phase B. Therefore, at the point Q. the current commutates naturally from the valve 6 to valve 2. The above discussion indicates that the anode of the valve which is driven more positive and the cathode of the valve which is driven more negative will be conducting simultaneously. Therefore, in the region PQ, the valves 1, 6 and in the region OR, the valves 1, 2 conduct. At the point R, the anode of the valve 3 connected to the phase Y will begin to be driven more positive than the anode of the valve 1 connected to the phase R, and the current commutation will take place from the valve 1 to valve 3. This will be followed by commutation of the valve 2 to valve 4 at the point S and the valve 3 to valve 5 at the point 7. Similarly, commutation of the valve 4 to valve 6 at U, and the valve 5 to valve 1 at V takes place. This completes the €*yitching cycle sequence. In the region RS, the valves 2, 3 conduct; and in the region S7, the valves 3, 4 conduct; and so on. The order and the pair of valves conducting at different periods are also indicated in the figure. Further analysing the converters, conduction occurs during the period when anode is positive with respect to the cathode, and line-to-line voltage is applied between two mid-points of the series connected valves 1, 4 or 3,6 of 5, 2. The voltage at any instant is assumed as (0) = V3V.,, cos wr, where Vis the peak value of the phase voltage with zero reference to the y-axis passing through the peak of V.(1) 3.4 He OUTPUT VOLTAGE The output waveform given in Fig. 3.2(a) indicates voltage variation of the positive (common cathode) and negative (common anode) poles with respect to the transformer neutral (i) on the secondary side, Figure 3.2(b) shows the output voltage (1) between the positive and negative poles, which is indicated by thick lines. The output voltage (1) contains ripples of harmonic frequency, which is six times that of the main frequency because the V.(1) contains six pulses in the cycle of the main voltage. When the valves 1, 2 conduct, the output voltage is V,,, ie. line-to-line voltages of the phases R and B (neglecting the drop across the valves), Similarly, U,, is the voltage on the output side when the valves 2, 3 conduct. It can be deduced from Fig. 3.2(b) that the output voltage is the combination of line-to-line voltages. The no-load DC output voltage across the load without phase control is the average of V/(2) and is given by 16 a6 J v,@d@n-2 f Sv, cos@r dor Ga) m 6 216 axis and x as origin in Fig. where V,(1)= V,,(0) in the region OR when 1, 2 conduct. By considering XY as 3.2(b), when V,, is passing through maximum value, V/(1) can be represented as72 | HVDC Transmission =v, V,(1) = BV, cos or, as stated earlier where V,, = Peak voltage between phase and neutral on the secondary side of the converter transformer \3V,,,~ Peak voltage between any two phases (lines) on the secondary (valve) side of the converter transformer ww3V,, " 3 iv, jsin or }t2/¢ G2) x IfV,, ms is the voltage the on the secondary side between two phases of the converter transformer, then Win, = 2h Wy x2 - G3) ® 1357, G4) The phase current J, i also shown in Fig, 3.2(¢). When the valve I conducts, the current in the phase R enters into the bridge circuit through the valve VL, R, and back to the point n as shown in Figs. 3.1(a) and (b). This current is treated as positive and /, = /- But when the valve 4 conducts, the current in the phase R of the secondary is reversed as shown in Fig. 3.2(c) and flows from the bridge into the secondary windings of the phase R and is therefore reckoned as negative. The phase current remains constant and is equal to /, because of large inductance L,, The valve currents /,, J, J, are also shown in Fig. 3.2(d). The valve voltage drop is shown in Fig. 3.2(e). During the period when V, conducts, the voltage across the valve | is zero in the interval C,C,. When /, is not conducting in the period R7, the line voltage V/., appears across V, due to conduction of the valve 3. Similarly in the period TV line voltage U,, appears across V, duc ‘o conduction of the valve 5. The valve voltage in the conducting and nonconducting periods is indicated in thick Lines in the interval PV. Maximum voltage across the valve is the maximum of V,, (maximum of line- to-line voltage) and is equal to V3V,, 3.4.1 Peak Inverse Voltage (PIV) The peak inverse voltage is the maximum voltage that appears across the valve when the valve is not conducting. From the valve voltage waveforms the PIV is the maximum line-to-line voltage across any two phases (maximum of V, or V,,). Therefore, the peak inverse voltage is piv = V3V,, =v y & Gs) Peak inverse voltage in terms of DC voltage is 5 = Pay xe 1.047 V,,, G6)6:pulse Convertor Operation and Analysis | 73 3.4%) Peak-to-Peak Ripple Voltage (PPR) Peak-to-peak ripple voltage is the difference in the voltage at = 0 and a = 7/6; by taking X — Yas the reference axis (1 = 0), ~¥@arexio = one0 ~ Vous | PPR = V3¥,,(cos 0- cos 2/6) = \3V,,(1- 0.866) = 0.134 x V3V,,, = 0.134 1.047, = 0.14083 V, G7) [Oat 3.4.3 Valve Current Relations ‘The load current in any one phase is carried by two valves in series. One from the upper-half bridge (valves 1, 3, 5) and the other from the lower-half bridge (valves 2, 4, 6). From Figs. 3.2(c) and (d), each valve conducts during two-third of a half cycle. Assuming that valve current is a rectangular pulse of value /, and lasts for a duration of 2173 and considering the first cycle of the voltage of the phase & Osos 16 HOS an < S26 SW6S nS Reois2a ‘The value current 1 Qn =—|0xn/6+1,x—+0xK7/6 2n IHL is A Ga fs 1 ‘The rms current through the valve 1 is G9)3.4.4 Transformer Current on the Secondary Side ‘The current in each phase of the secondary winding of a star connected transformer is shown in Fig. 3.2(c). The current in the phase R is positive when the valve | conducts and is given by i,)=0 05 ar< 26 J, 6S ons 5nl6 0 Sxb6Sarse and the phase current i, negative, when V, conducts and is given by 0 Ser s7 W6 Tn'6 S aS 11 7/6 116 < a <2 iC ‘The rms value of the phase current j, is ane forc0 13 x24 nfo x04 x/6x0013 x 7% + fox] i Gi 2 Iq(tms) = 1, Ba G.10) where /, is the rms current on the secondary (valve) side of the converter transformer. 3.4.5 Transformer Volt-Ampere Rating The conventional volt-ampere rating 7’ of a 3-phase converter transformer feeding secondary current J, at line-to-line secondary voltage V., to a six-pulse bridge converter is given by T = BV, x1, X10 KVA GAD, But we know /, from (3.3) ae 3y2 Pr fr I ila from B10) Substituting the values for /, and J, in 3.11)6-pulse Converter Operation and Analysis | 75 Ay X10 kVA yh X10 KVA The transformer kVA rating of a 3-phase bridge converter is T= 1.047 V,,1, 10° kVA G.12) where = No-load DC output voltage of a 6-pulse converter with zero phase control («= 0) ° 1,= DC output current of a 6-pulse converter If, is the direct power output of a 6-pulse converter with zero phase control, then Py Vala The transformer kVA rating in terms of P, is T= 1.047 P,x 10° 6.13) 3.4.6 Volt-Ampere Rating of Valve ‘The volt-ampere rating of each valve is the product of the average current through the valve and the peak inverse voltag’y of the valve, and is given by 1 Volt-ampere rating ofall the valves = 6-2. 1,047 V7, = 2. (a4) 3.5 GATE CONTROL (PHASE CONTROL) OF VALVES In the previous section, natural commutation of SCRs without gate control has been described. In this process, the transfer of current between the valves takes place at the instant of crossing of phase voltage (C,, C., C, Cy.Cy Cy ele., as shown in Fig, 3.3), By delaying the firing instants of the valves with respect to the voltage crossings, natural commutation can be delayed by a definite time interval cand the process is known as phase control. @ is called the firing angle, as indicated in Fig. 3.3(a). The effect of phase control on DC voltage ‘waveforms is illustrated in Figs. 3.3(a) and (b), where = 30°. It should be noted, that the voltage area under the curve shown in Fig. 3.3(b) decreases with increase in the firing angle a and therefore the mean direct, voltage also decreases with increase inCommon 1 ay 5B 1A cathode potentials 2-8 | Common anode potentials aver” Yer Average Y Be oupur ~<— Vottage - Neutral Volt) = DC output vottage Vg= Mean direct voltage (6) Phase current <— Valve 3 | <—Valve 4 —»! conducts | eonduets (d) Valve voltage Fig.3.3 Voltage and current waveforms of 6-pulse bridge converter with «= 30° 3.5.1 DC Output Voltage with Phase Control ‘As shown in Fig, 3.3(b), the output voltage (0) is the combination of line-to-line veltages. The DC output voltage, which is the average of (1) is given by "TE vodionpulse Converter Operation and Analysis | 77 = J VBr,,cos@rd(wn) “Hi fse}nl-] 3 ey, | 2sin Zeosal ns 3 Av, 7 cos @ = V,, 0s a B.15) where Vis the no-load DC voltage of 6-pulse unit with delay angle of and Vis the no-load direct voltage without phase control (c= 0). The mean DC voltage with phase control can also be obtained as explained in Section 3.3 and is given by the expression ae ,, = 2 °f Vir, costar 1/6) a(n = 5 cosa (3.16) (see footnote) as ® Sa The controlled direct voltage at the output side is maximum when a= 0 and decreases with increase in the ; x ink; firing angle cand becomes zero at c=. The mean DC voltage becomes negative when a >. In Figs 3.3(€) and (d), the phase current /, and the voltage across the valve V, are shown. The phase current /, is shifted by an angle @ with respect to the phase current /, as shown in Fig. 3.2(c) without phase control. The valve V, conducts during the period PR and does not conduct during the period RV. The valve V, conducts during the period SU. The valve voltage V,, as shown in Fig. 3.3(¢) is zero during the conducting period PR of the valve Vand the nonconducting period RV and it is characterised by line-to-line voltages V,, and in the periods RT and 7V respectively. Footwate: Phase vollages ae taken as sin on sin(or= 120°) inca + 120°) Line-torine voltage = V4," F~V, ¥,,= Veiner 120°) = 20608 (ax 60°) sin (€0°)}=2F- eos div, cos 278 | Hv06 Transmission For delay angles above 60°, some negative voltage periods begin to appear: If the output of the bridge were connected to a pure resistance, the bridge’s unidirectional current conduction property would not prevent reverse current flow during these negative voltage periods, and the operation would then be intermittent with no continuous current flow. However, with the provision of the large smoothing reactor (L.), @ positive current flow during the negative periods is maintained, and energy is transferred from reactor magnetic ficld to the AC system. The voltage waveforms for delay angle a= 90° are illustrated in Figs. 3.4(a) and (b). P, Q. R, S, Tare the instants when the valves 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 are fired. The valve 1 conducts during the period PR and the valve 2 conducts during RF, and so on. The output DC voltage ¥/(¢) contains equal positive and Neutral (a) Common Cathode and anode voltages ‘Neutral (” (b) DC output vonage V,(0 7, (¢) Phase eurrent iq (8) Voltage across the valve V, Fig. 3.4 Voltage and current waveforms of 6-pulse bridge converter with «t= 90°6-pulse Converter Operation and Analysis | 79 negative regions (indicated by the shaded areas) and the mean ditect voltage V, is zeto. The phase current /, and valve voltage drops F,, are also shown in Figs. 3.4(c) and (d) respectively. 3.5.2 Inverter Operation For firing angles ‘a’ greater than 90°, output voltage waveforms, phase current /, and valve voltage drops are illustrated in Fig. 3.5. The bridge operation can only be maintained in the presence of a DC power supply in place of the DC load. This supply must be connected such that positive polarity to the common anodes and negative polarity to the common cathodes so that it overcomes negative voltage and forees the current to |_ Common cathodo “,_andanode potentials 34 + 457456 +61 HH 12723 +34 +45 ++ 5,6 ~ "Conducting valves \\ (b) Direct voltage 4 Neutral vio Vn +l (©) Phase current In —ot (d) Valve voltage Fig. 3.5 Voltage and current waveforms of 6-pulse bridge converter with «r= 120°80 | HvDC Transmission conduct in the same direction in opposition to the induced emf in the converter transformer. This suggests that power is being supplied from the DC to the AC system. The converter is operating as an inverter. InFig. 3.5, P,, P,.P,.etc., correspond to the instant when valves 1, 2,3, etc..are fired. S,.$,.S, are the instant when valves 1, 2,3, ete. stop conduction respectively. In the rectifier operation, valves 1, 3, 5 will conduct when their anodes are driven more positive and valves 4, 6, 2 will conduct when their anodes are driven more negative. However, in the inverter operation, valves 1, 3, 5 will conduct when their cathodes are driven more negative and valves 4, 6, 2 will conduct when their anodes are driven more positive with respect to others in the same group. Figures 3.6(a) and (b) illustrate the voltage waveforms on full inversion with @~ 180°, (@) Common anode and cathode voltages (©) Direct voltage (6) Phase current (¢) Voltage across the valve Vj, Fig. 3.6 Voltage and current waveforms of 6-pulse bridge converter with a= 180°6-pulse Converter Operation and Analysis | 81 The conduction period of valves 1, 3, 5 is shifted by 180° when compared to the voltage waveforms shown in Fig, 3.2. Valve voltage drop Vis positive on full version and is negative with zero phase control. Three conditions required for power flow from the DC side to an AC source during inversion are (1) Anactive AC voliage source which provides commutating voltage waveforms (2) Provision of firing angle control to delay commutations beyond cr= 90° (3) ADC power supply in place of the DC load, as indicated in the Fig. 3.7(@) in fod ee Lb. , Lao 5 Fig.3.7 (a) 6-pulse bridge connection—inverter operation 3.6 ANALYSIS OF VOLTAGE WAVEFORMS WITH OVERLAP ANGLE (u) As discussed in the previous section, in practice, an AC source with source impedance, which can produce voltage and current waveforms as discussed in the previous section does not exist. Even if the AC system impedance were negligible, there is considerable transformer leakage reactance between the converter and the AC system, However, converter transformers are used for controlling DC power by on-load tap-changing The main effect of AC system reactance is to reduce the rate of current which increases commutation time. During commutation, the magnetic energy stored in the reactance of the previously conducting phase has to be transferred to the reactance of the incoming phase. The energy in the reactance depends upon the direct current level and inductance per phase. The speed of the commutation process is also aifected by the supply voltage and delay in firing angle (a). Before analysing the commutation process, it is essential to know the terms ‘commutating voltage’ and “commutation reactance’. 3.6.1 Commutating Voltage Commutating voltage can be defined as the voltage appearing on the DC line during periods when no commu- lation is taking place. In this operating region, only direct current flows through the AC system impedance and therefore, the voltage waveform is sinusoidal. Commuiating voltage is responsible for circulating commu- tating current when the two valves of the same row (1, 3, 5, ete.) are conducting simultaneously. Before commutation, this voltage appears across the valve which is to be fired. Commutating voltage is that which82 | HVDC Transmission appears between successive phases, i.e. the phase to which the conducting valve is connected and the phase to which the next valve is to be fired in a specific order. In practice, however, phase shifting and filtering are provided with every HVDC converter station and the voltage waveform at the filter bus-bar is reasonably sinusoidal under steady and normal operating conditions. Such voltage can therefore be used as commutating voltage. 3.6.2 Commutation Reactance Commutation reactance can be defined as the reactance between the AC bus and the converter valves as shown in Fig. 3.8, 3.6.3 Rectifier Operation with Overlap Angle (1) In this section, the effect of source reactance on the commutation of 6-pulse fully controlled converter is discussed. The source reactance introduces overlap of currents due to simultaneous conduction of SCRs to be commutated during the commutation period 11. The schematic diagram of a 6-pulse bridge converter with source reactance is shown in Fig. 3.8. The effect of source reactance on the output voltage and current waveforms is shown in Fig. 3.9 with delay angle a and overlap angle 4. During the commutation period, a pair of commutating valves V,, V5 Vi, V5; Vo F, conduct together in the positive group of the converter and \ V,, V, conduct simultaneously in the negative group. In Fig. 3.9, P indicates the firing instant. For example P,, is the firing instant of the valve 1. 5 indicates the end of « commutation and at S, the valve 5 stops condueting. C indicates the instant of crossing of phase voltages. C, indicates positive crossing of B and X phases. At the instant P,, when the valve V, is fired, current in the valve | slowly increases and current in the valve 5 slowly decreases because of inductance of the source. Valves | and 5 will be conducting simultaneously in the positive group in addition to the valve 6 in the negative group. During the commu- tation process, voltage of the cathode war. the transformer neutral is the average of the corresponding phase voltages of the conducting valves, i.e. (V,.+ V,,)/2, which is shown in the dotted line (P,S.). Figure 3.9(a) illustrates positive potentialsent the cathode (1, 3, 5) and negative potentials of the anodes (2, 4, 6) with respect to the transformer neutral. Figure 3.9(b) shows the direct voltage (V,() output waveform, which is a combination of the corresponding line-to-line voltages appearing on the output side of the bridge. The mean direct voltage is the average of (0). Fig.3.8 Schematic diagram ofa 6-pulse bridge converter6-pulse Converter Operation and Analysis | 83 5B pe t-F (@) Common anode potentials ea () Output DC voltage Neutral (©) AC line current or phase (@) Vaive currents a= Delay angle = Overiap angle Fig.3.9 6-pulse bridge converter with overlap ‘The potential across valve 1 is shown in Fig. 3.9(b). When valve | completes a commutation to valve 3 at 5, the voltage across it follows the line-to-line voltage (V’,.) between the red and yellow phases from S,, until P, is reached. Between P, and S,, the commutation from valve 2 to valve 4 (see Fig. 3.9(a)) reduces the negative potential of R phase and causes the first voltage dent in the valve voltage by following the average voltage 2-ray2e, ‘The firing of valve 5 at P, increases the potential of the common cathode to the average voltage of phases Y and B. This eauses a second commutation dent, at the end of which (at S,) the common cathode follows the potential of B due to conduction of valve 5 and voltage across the valve | will follow V,,. Finally commu tation from valve 4 to valve 6 (P, to S,) increases the negative potential of the anode of valve 1 and produces another voltage dent. Figure 3.9(¢) indicates the AC line current in phase R. Figures 3.9(d) and (e) give valve currents from 1 to 6, curve of 9 +084 | HVDC Transmission For obtaining steady state equations, it is presumed that only two or three valves conduct simultaneously in addition to the number of approximations stated earlier. 3.6.4 Analysis of the Commutating Circuits Considering the commutation process between valves 5 and 1 of the bridge converter, the source (comm tation) reactance per phase is taken as aL., with negligible resistance. The equivalent circuit of the commutation process is shown in Fig. 3.10(a). Commutation from the valve 5 to the valve | starts at P, and ends at S,, by Vek) ® Neutral 5B 1k ay (Va+ Vwi ©) (a) Equivalent circuit during commutation process (b) Voltage waveforms (©) Commutation of currents between the valves 5 and 1 Fig. 310 Commutation process in a 6-pulse bridge converterG-pulse Converter Operation and Analysis | 85 Let V,,and V,, be the phase voltages of the blue and red phases w.rt. to the neutral of the secondary of the transformer, and are expressed as Vq=¥q Sin wr Vy =V, = ¥,sin(@t—120°) 3.16) Vig = Vg = Vq Sin (1+ 120°) N3V,, cos (ot ~ 2/3) in the period (Esa) 120° is shown in Fig. 3.12. The voltage across the valve | and valve currents i,, i 7, and AC line current in the phase R are shown in Fig. 3.13, The commutation from the valve S to the valve I starts at P, and it is possible only when the voltage of the phase R is more positive than the voltage of the phase B. Further, the commutation must not only be completed (b) Valve current Fig. 5.12 Inverter operation° (c= Delay angle > 120° i= Angle of advance = (7-a) = (+7) = Extinction angle = (-1) (@) Positive and negative voltages with respect to transformer neutral (b) Voltage across the valve 1 and direct bridge voltage V,(f) (6) AC tine current of he phase A (4) and (e) Valve current ©, to C, Fig. 3.13 6-pulse inverter operation90 | HVDC Transmission before C,, but some extinction angle 7, (7, > y,) must be left for the valve 5 which has just stopped conducting to re-establish its blocking ability. This imposes a limit to the maximum angle of firing @— w— (jt +) for successful inverter operation. If this limit were exceeded, the valve 5 would pick up the current again causing commutation failure There is a fundamental difference between rectifier and inverter operations which prevent optimal firing conditions in the later case. In the rectifier operation, the delay angle @ can be chosen accurately to satisfy a particular control constraint, but the same is not possible with respect to angle ybecause of the uncertainty of the overlap angle jt. This is because events taking place after the instant of firing are unpredictable. Therefore a minimum extinction angle y, must have a margin of safety to cope with reasonable uncertainties. The value of y,usually lies between 15% and 20°. An analysis of inverter operation is not different from that of rectification, But when ais more than 90°, itis ‘more convenient to define angle of advance B such that p=n-a B30) The angle of extinction yfor the inverter operation is defined as y=B-u G31) ‘where {1 is the angle of overlap for the rectifier. The operating equations of the inverter are often expressed in terms of fi and 7. The voltage and current equations for the inverter operation can be obtained by substituting c= (7t— f) and ft = (~ 7) in the expres- sions for the rectifier (3.20) and (3.21), " For rectifiers V, = ~4 [eos «+ cos(ai + 4)] Y, For inverter V., = — [eos (x ~ B) + cosa ~ y)] de feos p rc0s7] (3.32) Using (3.23) for the rectifier V, = Vy, 00s oe p+ hte 7 hy For inverter V, = V.,, eos(— 7) +——* 301, Vy = [Van C8 — ° (3.33) Boh, y= [r cos B+ wut) (3.33(6))6-pulse Converter Operation and Analysis | 94 ion for direct current as rectifier is SY, Ls Fr gene costa +19) G.21(b)) =(n-Pyatman-y and for inverter operation " BY, = Fp (oos y — cs B) (334) _ ay, (3.35) ms is presented. In Table 3.1, a comparison between inverter and rectifier equi Table 3.1 Inverter Rectifier IN ©) Line current o 901870" GN © Fig.323 AC current waveform in a 12-pulse converter