SINGLE PHASE SERIES INVERTER

AIM:

1. To assemble and study the operation of a basic series inverter with the given
inductor, capacitor and two thyristors, 24V DC power supply and load resistance.

(i) Observe the waveform of the load current, source current, voltage across
capacitor and voltage across a thyristor at different operating frequencies
and draw them at one frequency.
(ii) Obtain the maximum operating frequency, the minimum dead time in the
given inverter circuit.
(iii) Estimate the device turn off time theoretically from the maximum operating
frequency and verify it from the circuit.
(iv) Determine the range of output frequency and the maximum output power.

APPARATUS:










THEORY:

BASIC SERIES INVERTER:

The circuit which converts DC power in to AC power is called an inverter. The
inverter in which the commutating elements L and C are connected in series with the
load to form an under damped circuit is called a series inverter. In the basic series
inverter, the thyristors turn off when the load current becomes zero, due to the natural
characteristic of the circuit and hence it is called a self-commutated or natural
commutated or load commutated inverter. This type of inverter produces damped
sinusoidal ac current waveform at high output frequency and is commonly used in
relatively fixed output applications (Eg. Induction heating, fluorescent lighting and
ultrasonic generators)
Due to high frequency, the size of commutating components is small. Fig. 1
shows the circuit diagram of a basic series inverter using two thyristors T
1
and T
2
,
commutating capacitor C, commutating inductor L and the load resistance R
L
. In practice
R
L
may be the equivalent resistance of the induction heater. L can be part of the
induction heating coil and load.

CIRCUIT OPERATION:
Thyristors T
1
and T
2
are alternately triggered at the required output frequency
with an interval of half a period between their triggering. When T
1
is triggered, a damped
sinusoidal current flows through the load. The current falls to zero at end of half the
period of the damped resonance and T
1
turns off. By the time load current falls to zero, C
Sl No:
ITEMS

NOs
1. Basic series inverter kit 1
2 24V,2A regulated power supply 1
3 Load rheostat 43, 2.8A 1
4 Dual trace oscilloscope 1

would have charged to a voltage greater than the supply voltage V
s
. Immediately after T
1

turns off, due to voltage across C, T
1
is reverse biased. If reverse bias across T
1
is
maintained for a time greater than the turn off time of thyristor, T
1
regains its ability to
block forward voltage. T
2
can be triggered at any time thereafter. Triggering of T
2
causes
reverse damped sinusoidal pulse of current and T
2
turns off when current through it falls
to zero. By the time T
2
turns off, C would have to be charged to a negative voltage. T
2
is
reverse biased by the capacitor voltage. T
1
can be triggered after providing dead time
greater than the turn off time of thyristor. Thus the circuit produces positive and
negative damped sinusoidal pulses of current through the load with dead time t
off

between them. The frequency of the current is (t
off
+ /
r
), where
r
is the
damped resonant frequency



+
Vs
--
C


+ v
c
- i
L

L

R
L
T
2
T
1


Fig 1 BASIC SERIES INVERTER.

CIRCUIT ANALYSIS:

There are 4 modes in the circuit operations. Mode 1 starts when T
1
is
triggered on. It ends when the load current reduces to zero. During mode 2, for duration
of t
off
, there is no current through load. . Mode 3 starts when T
2
is triggered on. It ends
when the load current reduces to zero. Mode 4, with duration t
off
is similar to mode 2
with no current flowing through the load. The load current i
L
is shown in Fig.2. During
mode 4, there is no current through the circuit, as in mode 2.The equivalent circuit for all
modes are shown in Fig 3.
+V
c1


Mode 1 Mode 2 Mode 3

Fig 3 Equivalent circuit different modes

v
c1

-V
c

C
+ -
L
R
+
_
+Vs
i
1

-
+V
c1

v
c2

R
L
+
i
2

C L
-
v
c3

+

+V
c1



C
R
i
3





Mode 1:
In steady state at start of mode 1, there is an initial capacitor voltage V
c
that was present
during the last mode of the previous cycle. Initial current through L is zero. To initiate
mode 1, thyristor T
1
is triggered. The instantaneous load current for mode 1 is described
by Equation
( ) 1
0
1
1
1
1
=
}
+ +
s
V
c
V dt
t
i
C
Ri
dt
di
L
Differentiating and solving, ( ) ( ) t
r
B t
r
A
t
e t i e e
o
sin cos
1
+

=
With zero initial current and initial
L
c
V
s
V
dt
di
+
=
1
,

( ) 2 sin
1

+
=
|
.
|

\
|
t
r
t
e
L
r
c
V
s
V
t
i e
o
e

Where
and
L
R
LC
r
2
1
2
4
2
1
|
|
.
|

\
|
= e ( ) 3
2
=
L
R
o
The time t
m
when i
1(t)
reaches peak value can be found by equating the time derivative of
( ) t
i
1
as
( ) 4
1
tan
1

=
o
e
e
r
r
m
t
The capacitor voltage during mode 1 is found as

( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 5 cos sin
0
1
1
1
+ +

+
=
}
=
s
V t
r r
t
r
t
e
r
c
V
s
V
c
V dt t
t
i
c
t
c
V e e e o
o
e


When i
1
(t) becomes zero at t = /
r
and it tries to reverse and T
1
becomes off. Mode 1
ends. The capacitor voltage at end of mode 1 from eqn (5) is obtained as
( )
c
V
s
V
c
V
r
t
c
V + = =
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
1 1
e
t
( ) 6 +

s
V
r
e
e
ot


It reaches a value greater than V
s
. After current through T
1
reduces to zero, the excess
capacitor voltage over V
s
appear as a reverse voltage across the thyristor T
1
.If the
reverse bias voltage exists for a time more than the turn off time of thyristor T
1
, T
1
will
regain the ability to block forward voltage at the end of reverse voltage.

Mode 2:
The circuit is in mode 2 during the dead time t
off
when both the thyristors are off.
Nothing happens during this mode. The duration of this mode serves to ( i) provide the
circuit the turn off for the thyristor T
2
(ii) change the operating frequency for control of
power to the load.
During mode 2, i
2
(t)=0, v
c2
(t)=V
c1
.At the end of this mode i
L
= 0 and capacitor voltage
V
c2
= V
c1
.

Mode 3:
Mode 3 starts when T
2
is triggered to initiate the negative load current pulse.
Defining the time origin = 0 at the beginning of the mode 3, the load current can be
found from the equation

( ) 7
1
0
3
1
3
3
=
}
+ +
c
V dt i
c
Ri
dt
di
L

With initial conditions, i
3
(t=0)=0 and .
1 3
L
c
V
dt
di
=
Solution of equation 7 gives
( ) ( ) 8 sin
1
3

= t
r
t
e
L
r
c
V
t i e
o
e


The capacitor voltage is found from
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) 9 cos sin
1
1
0
3
1
3
+

+
}
=
t
r r
t
r
t
e
r
c
V
c
V dt t
t
i
c
t
c
v
e e e o
o
e



When, i
3
(t) becomes zero at at = /
r
and current tries to reverse, the thyristor T
2
is
reverse biased by the voltage across the capacitor. At t = /
r
, mode 3 ends.
From equation (9) ( ) 10
1 3
3

= =
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
r
e
c
V V
r
t
c
v
c
e
ot
e
t

In steady state capacitor voltage at end of mode 3 is same as initial capacitor voltage for
mode 1. Hence,

r
e
c
V
c
V
c
V
e
ot

=
1 3

or
) 11 (
1
=
c
V
z
e
c
V
Where z =
r
e
ot


Using value of V
c1
from (6) in (11),

This yields
( )
c
V
s
V
z
e
c
V + =
s
V
z
e +

( ) 12
1 1
2
1 1

|
.
|

\
|

=

+
=

+
=
z
e
s
V
z
e
z
e
s
V
z
e
z
e
z
e
s
V
c
V

Using this V
c
current in mode 1 given by equation 2 can now be written in terms of
circuit values as i
1
=
( ) 13 sin
) 1 (
1

=
|
.
|

\
|
t
r
t
e
L
V
e
e
t
i
r
S
z
z
e
o
e

Using value V
c
given by equation (12) , value of V
c1
can be found from equation (11)
and i
3
(t),given by equation (8) can be written in terms circuit values.

( ) 14
1 1
2
1
1
1

|
.
|

\
|
+
=

+
=
z
e
z
e
s
V
z
e
z
e
z
e
s
V
z
e
z
e
z
e
s
V
c
V

( ) 15 sin
) 1 (
3

=
|
.
|

\
|
t
r
t
e
L
V
e
e
t
i
r
S
z
z
e
o
e



Equations (13) and (15) show that under the steady condition, peak value and form of
of positive current pulse in mode1 are same as those of negative current pulse.
The load current i
1
(t)must be zero and T
1
must have regained its ability to block forward
voltage, before T
2
is trigged on. Otherwise both thyristors will conduct and short the
source. For a given
r
, dead time t
off
must be greater than the turn off time of thyristors
t
q
. t
off
reduces when operating frequency is increased. Thus there is maximum limit for
the output frequency. If
max 0
e
is maximum output frequency, then
i.e
|
|
.
|

\
|
+
s
+ )
) =
r
q
t
f
r
q
t
f
q
t
of f
t
r
e
t
e
t
e
t
e
t
2
1
max 0
max 0
2
1
max 0

A disadvantage of this circuit is that power flow from the source is discontinuous. There
is DC current pulse for less than half a period of switching. The source has to supplied
high peak current with harmonics.

PROCEDURE:
- Assemble the basic series single-phase inverter as shown in fig. A, using the kit.
- Switch on the DC power supply. Set the voltage at 24V, current limit value to
maximum.
- Set the frequency-adjust pot at the middle position. So that the inverter frequency is
less than the maximum possible operating frequency.
- Make the switch S in the inverter power circuit ON.
1. Note the waveform of voltage across the load R
L
, capacitor and T
2
using both traces
of CRO simultaneously (1:1probe, 5V per div). Determine from the waveform the
resonant frequency. Compare with calculated values. Vary the operating frequency
of the inverter and observe the waveforms. Find the maximum operating frequency
just above which the circuit operation fails. Record the waveform of load current at
that frequency.
2. From the output waveform determine the maximum output power of the inverter
with the given load.
3. Switch off and dis-mantle the circuit.



T
1
T
2


L


C

R
L
G1

K1

G2

K2





1 Phase AC,
230V

+


24V,
10A
Power
Supply



-
S
Variable
freq-
Triggering
circuit
390
0.01F
R
0.01F,390

Fig A BASIC SERIES (RESONANT) INVERTER


GIVEN COMPONENT VALUES:
C = 30F
L = 1mH, Resistance of the inductor r
L
= 0.7
R
L
= 5
THYRISTOR DATA:

Type No: =BT151
Turn off time = 50s
Rms current at 110
0
c case temperature = 8A
Repetitive peak voltage V
DRM
/V
RRM
= 400V

OBSERVATIONS AND CALCULATIONS:

1. The observed load voltage is shown in graph.

From the graph, peak value of voltage across load resistance, V
m
= ---.
Peak current (Measured value), I
m
= V
m
/ R
L
= ---
Duration of one pulse of the output voltage = T
r
/2 = ---
Measured resonant frequency, f
r
= 1/T
r
= ---
Calculation of peak current:
= ------------------.



Time at which peak load current occurs from the instant thyristors are triggered

=

=
o
e
e
r
r
m
t
1
tan
1

Initial voltage on capacitor V
c
when T
1
is triggered =
1
z
e
s
V
where
= =
r
z
e
ot

Peak load current
=

+
=
m
t
r
t
e
L
r
c
V
s
V
m
e
o
e
sin

Damped resonant
frequency,w
r

1
= R
L
+r
L
=
=
LC
(R
L
+r
L
)
2
4L
=
2L


.


Calculated resonant frequency =
= t e 2 /
r


2. Maximum output power occurs at maximum operating frequency. Taking the voltage
across R
L
as nearly sinusoidal, from graph 1.

Maximum ideal output power =
=
L
m
R
I
2
2








RESULTS AND COMMENTS:

1. Waveforms of the load current, voltage across commutating capacitor and
thyristor are as shown in graph 1.a, 1.b, 1.c.
Peak value of measured load current = ----- A.
Peak value of calculated load current = ----- A.
Peak value of measured resonant frequency = ----- Hz.
Peak value of calculated resonant frequency = ----- Hz.
2. The maximum output power delivered by the inverter = ----- W.

INFERENCE AND COMMENTS:

- Compare measured peak value of load current with calculated value
& explain the difference.
- Compare the measured resonant frequency with calculated value and verify whether
they are same. If not reason out the cause(s) for the difference.
- Comment on failure of circuit at operating frequency above a certain value.
- Compare observed minimum dead time and the calculated dead time for maximum
operating frequeency.
- Comment on the waveform of source current. (i) is it continuous, constant?. Is it
desirable such a waveform of current through the source.