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Why there is no IGBT traction rectifiers?

Conference Paper April 2014
DOI: 10.1115/JRC2014-3802

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Proceedings of the 2014 Joint Rail Conference

JRC2014
Denver, Colorado, USA

JRC2014-3802
WHY THERE IS NO IGBT TRACTION RECTIFIERS?
Vitaly Gelman
VG Controls
Vernon, New Jersey, USA

ABSTRACT
The Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBT) are widely
used in high power converters. Definite advantages of IGBT
rectifiers (also called PWM rectifiers) are: zero reactive power,
low harmonics, and inherent power recuperation capability.
However stationary traction rectifiers are built with either
thyristors or diodes, not with IGBTs. The paper compares
IGBT and thyristor rectifiers and analyzes the factors
precluding the use of IGBT rectifiers at traction power
substations.
INTRODUCTION
By IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) rectifier we
understand a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) rectifier built
with IGBTs, see Figure 1.
+

Figure 1 IGBT rectifier

A PWM rectifier (sometime also called active rectifier) is
just a PWM inverter used to transfer power from AC side to
DC. It has the same power circuit as a PWM inverter, the
difference is in the control instead of controlling the AC
voltage value and frequency we are regulating DC voltage by
controlling the AC currents. To operate at unity power factor
the AC side current in each phase should be proportional to a

product of primary phase voltage and required DC current.

Furthermore, the reactive component can be added to the AC
current to generate reactive power if needed.
PWM rectifier offers many advantages: capability to
regulate the DC voltage, inherent energy recuperation, unity
power factor and low harmonics. PWM rectifiers used
successfully for four decades for train propulsion with AC
catenaries[1], first with SCRs with forced commutation, then
GTOs (Gate Turn Off SCRs) and later with IGBTs. In recent
years there had been a substantial progress in the IGBTs and
now IGBT is a device of choice for converters with DC link
voltage of interest for traction rectifiers (700 to 1500 VDC) [6],
so we will use PWM rectifier and IGBT rectifier
interchangeably.
Yet despite technological advances the IGBTs are not used
for stationary (or wayside) traction rectifiers, though there are
some academic papers investigating the concept, see [2] and
[3]. What is a difference between a rolling stock rectifier and
stationary traction rectifier that makes IGBTs widely accepted
in the first case and prevents their use in the second case? In
our opinion the major factor is a high impedance single phase
railroad AC catenaries power system with wide voltage
regulation ( [1], sections II and III A).
Consequently, the railroads place stringent requirements on
both harmonics distortion and reactive power ([1], section II)
necessitating active AC current shaping of the converter
rectifier. That can be done with PWM rectifier or earlier
"boost" type converter (see [1], fig 4). Single phase linecommutated SCR rectifier generates high harmonics and
consumes high reactive power, precluding its use for rolling
stock. The stationary traction rectifiers operate with multiphase
incoming power that is better regulated and has lower
impedance, so we have two factors acting in the same direction:
the rectifier generates lower harmonics and reactive power,
while at the same time the power system can tolerate higher
level of reactive power and harmonics.

Copyright 2014 by ASME

The second distinction is the environment, namely the cooling

methods: rolling stock converters are liquid cool ('' Fluid
cooling (Fig. 6) is inevitable for high-power applications", see
[4], page 15). The stationary traction rectifier use air cooling
that is more robust and less expensive.
The rest of the paper examines the details of controlled rectifier
for traction application
CONTROLLLED TRACTION RECTIFIER VS. DIODE
RECTIFIER
Majority of stationary traction rectifiers are unregulated diode
rectifiers: they are robust, simple and well understood by the
end users. Their drawback is inability to compensate for the
incoming voltage changes and load changes. Modern trains can
operate with the voltage up to 120% nominal and this condition
together with incoming voltage regulation of 5 to 10% and load
regulation of 6% limits nominal rectifier to be the same as
nominal train voltage ([5], section II). The constraint of the
diode rectifier voltage in turn (together with voltage regulation
at higher current) limits Traction Power Sub-Stations (TPSS)
spacing to about 1 mile for 750 V systems.
We have more flexibility with selection of regulated output
voltage because a regulated rectifier can compensate for both
changes in incoming line voltage and load current. US
transportation authorities typically specify the output voltage of
825 to 850 V DC for the systems with 750 VDC trains.

it is mostly 750 VDC. Consequently, for regulated rectifiers the

nominal voltage is typically specified as 825 to 850 VDC for
systems with 750 V trains.
The train starting current require very high overload
capacity, for diode rectifiers it is 450% of rated current. For
regulated rectifiers the maximum current is specified at lower
values, from 300% to 400%. The overloads continue for 15 to
30 sec or even longer.
The rectifier must be able to withstand short circuits
caused by faults inside the TPSS and outside. The fault
duration is at least 85 ms (5 cycles), most likely 100 to 250 ms
to allow for selectivity (DC breaker should clear external fault
first). Ideally a regulated rectifier should limit the fault current
to reduce breaker and rectifier transformer stresses to extend
their service life
The rated rectifier power is 1 to 5 MW, typical value for
heavy rail application is 3 MW. To compare the regulated
traction rectifier alternatives, lets assume we have a rectifier
with rated voltage 825 VDC, 3 MW rated power and 300%
overload capacity. The rated current of 3 MW at 825 VDC is
3.63 kA DC; the current at 300% is 10.9 kA DC
We will compare a PWM IGBT based rectifier with a
phase controlled Thyristor Controlled Rectifier (TCR). In
sizing the IGBT rectifier we need to consider overload
capability and short circuit withstanding capability.
IGBT RECTIFIER REQUIREMENTS FOR OVERLOAD
CURRENT
In order to regulate the output DC voltage the IGBT
rectifier must have incoming AC voltage with peak value below
the DC voltage. Further, we need additional margins to
compensate for the transformer leakage inductance voltage
drop and for incoming AC voltage regulation. We estimate the
output DC voltage Vd needs to be 20% above the incoming AC
rated voltage peak. Then assuming negligible losses in the
IGBT rectifier, from the power being equal at AC and DC sides
we get the following:

Vm I m
= Vd I d , or
2
2 Vd
2 1.2
10.9 = 15.1 kA pk
Im =
I dMax =
3 Vm
3 1
3

Figure 2 Voltage regulation of Diode rectifier and TCR

Increase of nominal voltage and ability to keep constant output
voltage with current up to 150-200% load give more margin to
compensate for rails resistance voltage drop (e.g. see Figure 2
from [5] for comparison of diode and thyristor rectifiers
loading curves); thus allowing one to increase the spacing
between TPSS's. The additional cost of a regulated rectifier is a
small incremental portion of installed TPSS cost, therefore
using regulated rectifiers allows us to cut total system cost, see
[5] for details.
REQUIREMENTS FOR REGULATED TRACTION
RECTIFIERS
The traction rectifiers typically operate with trains having
nominal voltage of either 750 VDC or 1500 VDC; in the USA

where: Vm, Im are peak values of the IGBT rectifier AC

voltage and current,
Vd, Id are the rectifier DC voltage and current.
The secondary transformer voltage

Vd
825
V=
= 1.2 =
= 486 VAC
2
2 1.2 2
Vm

To provide 15.1 kA we will need to connect several IGBTs

in parallel. Presently the biggest available IGBT modules are
rated at 3600 A DC, the actual AC current is lower because of
the switching losses and cooling limitation. If we connect 6

Copyright 2014 by ASME

IGBTs in parallel we will need to provide peak AC current per

IGBT of 15.1/6=2.53kA pk, with 8 IGBTs we will need 1.9
kA pk, in both cases we assumed equal current sharing.
Table 1 shows the losses for three 3600A, 1700V IGBTs,
see Annex for the calculations details.
Table 1 IGBT losses per IGBT module
I peak

Carrier freq.

1.9 kA
(8 IGBTs)

500 Hz

2.53 kA
(6 IGBTs)

ABB

Hitachi

Infineon

1.547

1.461

1.331

2000 Hz

2.681

2.747

2.390

500 Hz

2.288

2.107

1.941

2000 Hz

3.798

3.820

3.350

For the high efficiency forced air heatsink we can assume

thermal impedance of 40oC/kW per IGBT module [7]. With
ambient temperature of 40oC and 2 kW total IGBT losses we
get heat sink temperature

40o C+ 2kW 40o C/ kW = 120o C

From the maximum junction temperature of 150oC and
temperature difference between the junction and heatsink of
10oC we get the margin of only 20oC (150-120-10=20). From
Table 1 we can see that we get IGBT module losses close to 2
kW with 500 Hz carrier frequency and ideal current sharing
with 6 devices in parallel (2.53 kA pk). But this doesn't leave
us additional margins for the current imbalance, additional
losses due to switching frequency ripples and other
contingencies. It would be safer to go with 8 parallel devices
(1.9 kA pk) and 500 Hz to 1000 Hz carrier frequency , with the
losses below 2 kW per IGBT module.
IGBT
RECTIFIER
REQUIREMENTS
FOR
WITHSTANDING SHORT CIRCUIT
The IGBT rectifier has "built-in" diode rectifier (see Figure
1 ), so even if we turn off all IGBTs the diodes can still conduct
the current. Therefore IGBT rectifier, unlike TCR, can't limit
the short circuit current and it has to withstand it. We should
allow feeder breaker to open first to isolate the fault, so IGBT
rectifier needs to withstand short circuit current for at least 85
ms, preferably 100 to 250 ms.
For our case with 3MW rectifier with secondary voltage of
486 VAC and rated current of 3.56 kA AC we can consider
using a transformer with high value short circuit impedance of
10 to 15% to reduce short circuit current. At 10% impedance
(the worst case) the steady state short circuit current will be
35.6 kA AC. With 6 IGBTs in parallel the current through each
diode will be 5.93 kA AC, or 8.4 kA pk (assuming ideal current
sharing).
ABB provides data on 3600A, 1700V IGBT
(5SNA3600E170300) diode's surge withstanding capability [8,
section 3.1.1]. Using thermal model parameters and the diode
parameters we estimated the peak overheat temperature reach
210oC for the specified surge current of 20 kA pk at 50 Hz, and
154oC for the specified surge current of 13.5 kA pk at 16.7 Hz.

Using the same IGBT parameters we got only 90oC overheat

for half wave 60 Hz current with 8.4 kA pk (short circuit with 6
IGBTs in parallel). So we have plenty of margins to withstand
the IGBT rectifier short circuit current for 250 ms. The margins
increase even more if increase the transformer impedance or go
with 8 IGBTs in parallel.
PARALLELING DEVICES OR MULTIPHASE SYSTEM?
We see that for both overload and, to a smaller extent,
short circuit conditions, we need to parallel 8 IGBTs to build 3
MW IGBT rectifier with 300% overload. We can achieve this
either using 3 phase rectifier with 8 parallel devices or having
multiple secondary's winding connected to their respective
bridges and then paralleling the bridges outputs.
In the first case (paralleling devices) we have the simplest
control circuit design and simple transformer design. However
this approach has the following disadvantages:
We need to fuse every IGBT to isolate failing devices.
The fuse selection might be difficult because the IGBTs
can conduct short circuit current only for 10 us, then
they need to be shut down; the fuse must melt during
this short time to isolate failed device. Alternative
approach is placing a fuse in the AC line, this removes
limitation on fuse clearing time; but we will need to
shutdown an IGBT in the same leg as failed device,
complicating the control.
There is no way to reduce both DC and AC harmonics
by creating a phase shift between switching of parallel
IGBTs: all parallel devices are switched together.
There is potential problem of unequal current sharing
between parallel devices, both for conduction and
switching.
An alternative is using multiple secondary winding and
connecting each winding to a separate bridge. Since each
bridge is controlled independently, we can introduce a phase
shift on the carrier frequency and practically eliminate both
carrier frequency harmonics and power frequency harmonics
from the rectifier transformer primary [1]. We can fuse each
bridge on AC side: if an IGBT fails, we can disable its bridge
and operate at reduced load with remaining bridges.
Additional benefit of multiple bridges approach is ability
to connect bridges both parallel and in series, thus easily
achieving higher voltage operation, e.g. for 1500 VDC train
system.
These advantages come at a cost: each bridge needs to
have its own current sensors and some controls, transformer
cost with multiple secondary winding would also be higher. We
can also consider a halfway approach: four bridges with two
parallel devices in each bridge.
IGBT RECTIFIER TRANSFORMER IMPEDANCE
There is a tradeoff in selecting the transformer impedance:
on one hand we want to keep it high to reduce the carrier
frequency harmonics and fault currents, on the other hand we
need to keep it low to reduce the secondary AC voltage needed

Copyright 2014 by ASME

to operate at unity power factor. The secondary voltage V is

determined by an equation:

V
i
= 1 + jx
V0
irated

COMPARISON WITH TCR

The TCR (Thyristor Control Rectifier) also provides
capability to regulate the output voltage and with additional
reversible bridge can recuperate the breaking energy into power
grid, see Figure 3.

where: V , V0 are the secondary voltages at secondary

Reverse
Bridge

current i and no-load secondary voltage, respectively;

i, irated are secondary currents, actual and rated;
x is the transformer impedance (%).

V
i
= 1+ x

V0
i
rated

2
+

For 15% impedance transformer and 300% load current we

get voltage increase factor of:
V
2
= 1+( 0.153) =1.096
V0

The 15% impedance looks like a good compromise, in

general we can consider the transformer impedance between
10% and 20%.
SWITCHING FREQUENCY
The switching (or carrier) frequency presents another
compromise: increasing the switching frequency reduces the
carrier harmonics and transformer losses, but it increases IGBT
module switching losses. Since we have multiple IGBT bridges
we can introduce the phase shift between their switching and
thus almost completely cancel the switching frequency from the
rectifier transformer primary [1] and [3] (section IV.B). We can
assume the switching frequency to be between 500 and 2000
Hz.
IGBT RECTIFIER LOSSES
The rectifier losses are important for two reasons: the
cooling cost (fans, heatsinks) and lost energy costs. In addition
to direct energy loss we have additional air conditioning cost to
remove power losses from the substation, especially for
underground substations. To estimate the IGBT rectifier losses
we use formulas from the Annex and assume to have 8 IGBTs
in parallel with switching frequency of 1000 Hz. We calculate
the losses for the IGBTs from the three manufacturers (ABB,
Hitachi and Infineon, see the Annex) and used the average
losses for three brands as IGBT module losses, repeating the
calculations for the loads of 100%, 200% and 300%,.
Table 2 IGBT rectifier and TCR losses
IGBT module Total IGBT Total TCR
Load I(AAC)
losses
losses
losses
100%

633

0.517 kW

25 kW

7 kW

200%

1267

1.128 kW

54 kW

15 kW

300%

1900

1.833 kW

88 kW

22 kW

Figure 3 Reversible 12 pulse TCR

If we use a 100 mm SCR with 2800 V ratings (e.g. ABB
5STP45N2800), we will need two devices in parallel for the
forward bridge and single device for the reverse bridge, 36
devices total.
The SCR threshold voltage is 0.86 V, slope resistance is
0.07 mOhm. The total SCR losses are (we have two parallel
bridges with two parallel devices in each):

PSCR = 2 VthSCR + rdynSCR d I d

4

The results are shown in the last column of Table 2; the

TCR losses are almost four times lower than IGBT rectifier
losses.
POWER QUALITY COMPARISON
We will consider here four characteristics: power factor,
harmonics, constant DC voltage regulation range and fault
current limiting.
Power factor (or actually reactive power consumption) is
an important parameter directly affecting voltage regulation in
the power grid. The IGBT rectifier can operate with zero
reactive power (unity power factor). TCR has to consume
reactive power; at high load (when it matters) TCR reactive
power is close to that of a diode rectifier[5].
The AC harmonics of the TCR is higher than those of a
diode rectifier because of the delayed SCR firing. However at
high current the firing angle is minimal and the TCR harmonics
are similar to those of diode rectifier [5]. Both the calculations
and actual measurements show the 12 pulse TCR AC voltage
harmonics to be below IEEE519 standard requirements. Also,
no harmonic related problems were reported in the TCR
installations. The DC harmonics of the TCR are lower than of
the diode rectifier due to big output capacitor filter. The IGBT
rectifier has low harmonics, both AC and DC.

Copyright 2014 by ASME

Constant voltage regulation range for a TCR is a tradeoff

with reactive power consumption. Practical range for constant
voltage range is 130 to 200% load. The IGBT rectifier can
provide up to 300% load at constant voltage with zero reactive
power.
Fault current can be limited by TCR thus facilitating DC
breaker current interruption and increasing the DC breaker
service life; IGBT rectifier can't limit the fault current.
The IGBT rectifier is superior in the first three categories:
it can operate with unity power factor over entire range of
300% load, the AC harmonics are low and it can keep the
constant DC voltage over the load 0 to 300%. The TCR can't
match all those characteristics but it is adequate for the most of
the traction application. The TCR advantage is its limiting fault
current and improving DC breaker service life.

Acoustic noise

Higher

Lower

Cost

High

Low

ACOUSTIC NOISE POLLUTION

We expect the IGBT rectifier to have much higher acoustic
noise for two reasons: intensive cooling and higher switching
frequency. The noise pollution is important because many
traction power substations are located in the residential areas.
The IGBT rectifier losses are few times higher than TCR's;
to remove the additional heat we need to run proportionally
more air through the heatsinks. This means higher air speed and
higher noise.
The IGBT switching frequency in the range of 500 to 1000
Hz generates acoustic noise in the transformer windings with
double frequency (1000 to 2000 Hz) that is in the maximum
sensitivity range of human ears.

ACKNOWLEGEMENTS
The author wishes to thank Professor Bih-Yuan Ku of National
Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan for bringing the
subject of using IGBTs in traction rectifiers to my attention.

COST COMPARISON
To compare the cost of IGBT rectifier and TCR lets use the
same 3 MW rectifier built with either 48 IGBTs or reversible
12 pulse TCR built with 36 high current SCRs (5080 A,
2800V). The TCR has two devices in parallel for forward
bridges and single device for reverse bridges. At a price of
$1300 for IGBT and $700 for an SCR we get total IGBTs cost
of $1300*48=$62k, and the total SCRs cost is $25k. Assuming
the converter cost is proportional to the power semiconductor
cost, the IGBT rectifier is at least twice as expensive as TCR.
RESULTS
The table below shows the results of the comparison of the
IGBT rectifier and TCR
Table 3 IGBT rectifier vs. TCR
Parameter

IGBT rectifier

TCR

Reactive power (Power factor) Excellent

Moderate

Harmonics

Low

Moderate

Constant DC voltage range

Excellent

Good

Fault current limiting

No

Yes

Power losses

High

Low

CONCLUSION
The IGBT rectifier offer many advantages for traction
application such as inherent energy recuperation, low
harmonics and unity power factor. However, comparing to a
TCR it has 4 times higher losses with related expenses on
cooling system, and 2.5 times higher power semiconductor
costs; though the cost difference most likely will decrease in
the future. At present time the application of IGBT rectifier for
traction can be justified only for special cases where the power
grid is weak and has limited capacity to absorb the reactive
power and harmonics.

REFERENCES
[1] Hans Kielgas and Reiner Nill "Converter Propulsion
Systems with Three-Phase Induction Motors for Electric
Traction Vehicles" Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on
(Volume:IA-16, Issue: 2), 1980
[2] Lei Wang, Gang Zhang, Maosheng Shen, Hengli Quan,
Zhigang Liu "A Novel Traction Supply System for Urban Rail
Transportation with Bidirectional Power Flow and Based on
PWM Rectifier", 2009 International Conference on Energy and
Environment Technology
[3] Xiwei Lu, Zhigang Liu, Lei Wang and Maosheng Shen.
"On the Characteristics of a Novel Traction Power Supply
System Based on Three-Level Voltage-Source PWM Rectifier"
IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference (VPPC),
September 3-5, 2008, Harbin, China
[4] A. Steimel "Electrical Railway traction in Europe"
IEEE Industry Applications Magazine November/December
1996
[5] Vitaly Gelman. "Thyristor Controlled Rectifiers (TCR)
for traction problems and solutions", EPECS 2013.
[6] H.-G. Eckel, M.M. Bakran, E.U. Krafft, A. Nagel "A
new Family of Modular IGBT Converters for Traction
Applications" EPE2005, Dresden
[7] "HS_katalog2013.pdf", Webra 2013
[8] ABB Application note " Surge currents for IGBT
Diodes" 5SYA2058-02 Mar. 11
[9] ABB Application note "Applying IGBTs" 5SYA205304 Mai 12
[10] ABB Spec 5SYA 1414-05 08-2013 "5SNA
3600E170300 "
[11]
Hitachi
Spec.No.IGBT-SP-10024
R0
P1
"MBNF3600E17F"
[12] Infineon "FZ3600R17HP4_B2"

Copyright 2014 by ASME

ANNEX A
IGBT LOSSES FOR SINUSOIDAL CURRENT
The losses occur in the IGBT and a parallel diode, the losses can be divided into static losses and switching losses.
Static losses
We calculate the static losses following [9]. Lets assume the AC current i is a sine wave with amplitude I m and the duty cycle

. Lets further assume the modulation to be sinusoidal with a phase shift

i = I m sin ;

with respect to the current:

= t

1 + m sin ( + )
2

where:

is line frequency
m modulation index
In real converters the duty cycle is not sinusoidal to achieve better DC voltage utilization, but to get losses estimate we will
neglect that effect. We get the losses by averaging losses during the positive half wave of the current. Lets assume the IGBT forward
voltage drop VIGBT and parallel diode voltage drop VD can be written as

VIGBT = VTH IGBT + rIGBT i

VD = VTH D + rD i
VTH IGBT , rIGBT are IGBT threshold voltage and dynamic (or slope) resistance

where:

VTH D , rD are parallel diode threshold voltage and dynamic resistance

i the current through the device.
The IGBT static losses:

PIGBT ( ) = VIGBT i = (VTH IGBT + rIGBT i ) i = VTH IGBT i + rIGBT i 2

Similarly, the diode static losses are

PD ( ) = (1 ) VD i = (1 ) VTH D i + rD i 2

To get the average losses per mains frequency period we need to integrate the IGBT and diode losses over the positive half wave

of the current, 0 < < and divide the result by the period ( 2 ) .

PIGBT

i d =

i
0

1 + m sin ( + )
2

V
r
1
1
PIGBT ( ) d =
=
VTH IGBT i + rIGBT i 2 d = TH IGBT i d + IGBT i 2 d

2 0
2 0
2 0
2 0

d =

I m sin d =

1 + m sin ( + )
2

Im
mI
m

sin d + m sin ( + ) sin d = I m 1 +

cos

2 0
2 0
4

I m2
mI m2
I m2 2mI m2
2
2
I sin d =
sin d +
sin ( + ) sin d =
cos
+
2 0
2 0
4
3
2
m

The last term in the previous equation is evaluated as:

sin ( + ) sin
0

4
3

d = cos sin d + sin cos sin d = cos sin 3 d = cos

3

Copyright 2014 by ASME

Combining the equations together we arrive at:

PIGBT

2
2
VTH IGBT I m m
rIGBT I m 2m
VTH IGBT I m m
rIGBT I m 8m

=
cos +
cos =
cos +
cos
1 +
+
1 +
1 +
2
4
2 4
3
2
4
8 3

We can perform similar calculations for the diode losses, but since the only difference between the equations for the diode and IGBT
losses is the use of a factor 1 instead of and this corresponds to using modulation index m instead of m , we can get the
equation for the diode losses

PD =

2
VTH D I m m
rD I m

1
cos

2
4
8

8m

cos
1
3

To provide unity power factor we need to compensate for the voltage drop on the rectifier transformer impedance and thus the
cos is less than unity, but even at 300% load and 15% transformer impedance it would still be about 0.9. For the IGBT losses
estimates we can assume the worst case m = 1 and cos = 1 , then we get the static losses

VTH IGBT I m rIGBT I m2

8
PIGBT =
1 + +
1 +

2
8 3
4
For the diode we can assume m = 0.89 and cos = 0.9 ,
V
I 0.8 rD I m2 8 0.8 VTH D I m
rD I m2 6.4
PD = TH D m 1
+
1

=
1

0.2

+
(
)

2
4
8
3
2
8 3
Switching Losses
We calculate switching losses in a simplified way assuming they are linearly changing with current.
Every time the IGBT turns ON or OFF there are switching energy losses EON and EOFF . These losses depend on the current,
bus voltage and temperature. As a first approximation we can assume the losses EswIGBT to be proportional to the current

EswIGBT ( i ) = EON + EOFF =

i
I swIGBT

EswIGBT ( I swIGBT )

where I swIGBT is the current selected to better approximate the switching losses.
Similarly, the diode switching energy losses during turn-off can be presented as:

EswD ( i ) = EOFF =

i
I swD

EswD ( I swD )

To get the average switching losses per mains frequency period we need to integrate the IGBT and diode switching losses over

the positive half wave of the current, 0 < < and divide the result by the period ( 2 ) .

PswIGBT

1
=
2

1
fEswIGBT ( ) d =
2

I swIGBT

EswIGBT ( I swIGBT ) d =

Similarly, for the diode switching losses we get

PswD =

1
2

fEswD ( ) d =

1
2

f
0

i
I swD

EswD ( I swD ) d =

I f EswIGBT ( I swIGBT )
1 fEswIGBT ( I swIGBT )
2Im = m
I swIGBT
I swIGBT
2

I m f EswD ( I swD )

I swD

IGBT parameters and losses

To estimate the losses we need to use actual IGBT parameters. We will use 3600 A, 1700 V IGBT from three leading
manufacturers: ABB's SNA5SNA 3600E170300, Hitachi's MBN3600E17F and Infineon's FZ3600R17HP4_B2: [10], [11], [12].
All these devices are specified to operate at 150 deg C junction temperature. To estimate threshold voltage and dynamic
resistance for both IGBT and a diode we used typical curves for on state characteristics at 150oC. We used best straight line
approximation for the on state voltage at 1200A, 2400A and 3600A. To estimate the switching losses for all IGBTs we used
EswIGBT at current 3600 A, we used 3600 A for the diodes too, except for MBN3600E17F (used 3000A). The losses curves as a

Copyright 2014 by ASME

function of current for the IGBTs is concave, so actual losses are lower than our estimate. For the diodes the curve is convex, so at
lower current the losses are above our estimate, at higher current - lower, so we increase safety margin at high current where it
matters. Now we can calculate losses using the formulas above for carrier frequency of 500 Hz and 2000 Hz.
All three devices have similar characteristics, their losses are within 10% of each other for operating conditions of interest of us.
Further, it appears the Infineon device has the best losses of them. However it is a new device and its data sheet is marked
"preliminary" (the same is true for the Hitachi IGBT) so we have to wait to see if the specs will be confirmed, and at this time its cost
is much higher.

Parameter

Table 4 IGBT parameters

ABB
Hitachi
5SNA3600E170300
MBN3600E17F

Infineon
FZ3600R17HP4

VthIGBT (V)

1.000

1.030

0.933

rdynIGBT(mOhm)

0.583

0.375

0.417

VthD(V)

1.000

0.966

0.833

rdynD(mOhm)

0.208

0.375

0.229

EswIGBT (J)

3.000

3.700

2.800

IswIGBT (kA)

3.600

3.600

3.600

EswD (J)

1.500

1.170

1.400

IswD (kA)

3.600

3.000

3.600

AC current

Carrier frequency

Losses (kW)

500 Hz

1.547

1.461

1.331

2000 Hz

2.681

2.747

2.390

500 Hz

2.288

2.107

1.941

2000 Hz

3.798

3.820

3.350

633 A pk

1000 Hz

0.527

0.548

0.477

1267 A pk

1000 Hz

1.169

1.178

1.038

1900 A pk

1000 Hz

1.925

1.889

1.684

1.9 kA pk

2.53 kA pk

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