Internationalspecificationssetstandardsforthepower

qualityofelectricalandelectronicequipmentconnectedto
thegrid.Basiclinearpowersuppliesareunabletomeetthe
powerfactorandTHDspecsofthesestandards.Thisarticle
showswhy.
Powerfactorandtotalharmonicdistortion(THD)arekeymeasuresofthe
powerqualityofelectricalandelectronicequipment.Ingeneral,powerfactor
shouldbeasclosetooneaspossibleandtotalharmonicdistortionshouldbe
aslowaspossible.
Variousstandardsdefinewhatthelevelsshouldbefora"good"system.Linear
powersuppliestypicallycauseasystemtohavepoorpowerquality,andthis
articledescribeswhythatisandindicateswhatcanbedoneaboutit.
InternationalstandardssuchastheIEC6100032andEnergyStar80
Plusprogramsetspecificationsforthepowerqualityofelectricaland
electronicequipmentthatisconnectedtotheelectricalgrid.Specifically,IEC
6100032:2014setslimitsontheharmoniccurrentsofvariousclassesof
equipmentbasedontheirmaximumpowerlevels.TheEnergyStar80Plus
programspecifiestheminimumpowerfactor(0.9at100%load)andminimum
efficiency(80%)ofpowersuppliesforcomputerequipment.
Thepowerqualityspecificationsarefairlystrictandtheresultisthatthebasic
linearpowersupplycannolongerbeusedinmanyapplicationsbecauseitis
impossibleforthatkindofpowersupplytomeettheseinternationalstandards.

PowerQualityCharacteristics
Beforediscussingwhylinearpowersuppliescannotmeetthesestandards,
let'slookbrieflyatthecharacteristicsinvolvedinthesestandards.

EnergyEfficiency
Energyefficiencyistheeasiestcharacteristictounderstand.Itissimplythe
usefulenergyavailabletoorproducedbyasystemdividedbythetotalenergy
consumedbyasystem.Theimportanceofenergyefficiencystandardsis
obviouslowerefficiencymeansmorewastedenergy.

THD(TotalHarmonicDistortion)
Theconceptoftotalharmonicdistortionisalittlebitmorecomplicatedthan
thatofenergyefficiency.THDisdiscussedinmoredetailhere,butthebrief
descriptionisthatitisdeterminedbysummingalloftheharmoniccomponents
ofasignal(inthiscase,current)andcomparingthissumtothefundamental
frequency.
Inotherwords,THDiscreatedbyallofthefrequenciesinasignalthatare
multiplesofthefundamentalfrequencybutarenotthefundamentalfrequency.
AreallygeneralwaytothinkaboutTHDisasfollows:aperfectsinewavehas
noharmoniccomponents,andthelessthataperiodicsignallookslikea
perfectsinewave,themoreharmoniccomponentsitwillhave.THDstandards
forcurrentareimportantbecausethosehigherfrequencycurrentcomponents
havevariousundesirableeffectsonelectricalsystems,includingincreased
totalcurrents,increasedcorelossesinmotors,andelectromagnetic
interferencewithotherelectronicequipment.

PF(PowerFactor)
Powerfactorisalsoamoreadvancedtopicthanenergyefficiency,andyou
canreadalotmoredetailsaboutithere.Thebasicideaisthatpowerfactoris
theamountofrealpowerdeliveredtoasystemdividedbytheamountof
apparentpowerdeliveredtoasystem(maximumpowerfactoris1andthe
closerto1thebetter):
P
PF =
|S|
PF=P|S|

wherePFisthepowerfactor,Pistherealpower,andSistheapparentpower.
|S|isequaltoIRMSVRMS,andPFindicatesthefractionofthatapparent
powerthatactuallygetsusedbythesystem.
Theremainderofthepoweriscalledreactivepower,whichoscillatesbackand
forthinthesystemfromsourcetoloadwithoutgettingusedup.Iftwosystems
requirethesameamountofrealpower,thecurrentdeliveredtothesystem
withmorereactivepowermustbehigherthanthecurrentdeliveredtothe
systemwithlessreactivepower.Inotherwords,powerfactorstandardsare
importantbecausealowpowerfactorsystemwillrequireahigherpeak
currenttodeliverthesameamountofrealpower.
Thetwokeyaspectsofthesystemthataffectthepowerfactorarethe
harmonicdistortion(thisiscalledthedistortionfactor)andthephase
relationshipbetweentheACvoltageandcurrent(thecosineofthisphase
differenceiscalledthedisplacementfactor).Themoresinusoidalthecurrent
is,theclosertounitythedistortionfactorwillbe.Thesmallerthephase
differencebetweenthevoltageandcurrentis,theclosertounitythe
displacementfactorwillbe.Combiningthedistortionfactorandthe
displacementfactorgivesanotherequationforpowerfactor:
I 1,RMS
P F = (distortionfactor)(displacementfactor) = cos()
I RMS
PF=(distortionfactor)(displacementfactor)=I1,RMSIRMScos()

where
I 1,RMS
I1,RMS
istheRMSvalueofthecurrentatthefundamentalfrequency,I RMS
IRMS
istheRMSvalueofthetotalcurrent,and

isthephasedifferencebetweenthevoltageandcurrent.

ChallengesinMeetingSpecifications
Let'sgobacktowhylinearpowersuppliestypicallycannotmeetthepower
qualitystandardsofspecificationslikeIEC6100032:2014.First,lets
examinetheoperationofoneofthesesuppliesandlookcloselyatthecurrent
drawandtherelationshipbetweenvoltageandcurrent.
Hereisadiagramandschematicofabasiclinearpowersupply:

 Figure1.Linearpowersupplyschematicandpicture

Itconsistsofatransformertostepdownthegridvoltage,arectifiertoconvert
theACvoltageofthegridtoaDCvoltage,acapacitortofilterthevoltage,and
potentiallyaregulatortokeepthevoltageataconstantvalue(thecircuitin
Figure1doesnotincludearegulator).
Evenifweassumethattheloadislinear(whichitquitelikelyisnot),the
currentflowingintothissystemfromtheACsideisinbursts.Thesebursts
areprimarilyduetothecharginganddischargingofthecapacitorasitfilters
thevoltageripple.Theresultoftheseburstsislowpowerfactorandhigh
harmoniccurrentsinthesystem.
Figure2showsthecurrentintotheDCsideofthesystem(Irect)inrelationship
tothevoltagetotheload(VDC).Notethelargespikesofcurrentfollowedby
periodsofnocurrentdespitethefactthatcurrenttotheloaditselfismoreor
lessconstant,theACsideofthepowersupplymustdelivercurrentinbursts.

 Figure2.CurrentfromrectifierandDCvoltageacrossload

ThecurrentontheACsideduetothelargespikesontheDCsidecanbe
seeninFigure3,whichshowstheACcurrentinrelationshiptotheACvoltage.
TheACvoltageissinusoidal,buttheACcurrentisnot.

 Figure3.ACvoltageandcurrentoflinearpowersupply

TheperiodicbutnonsinusoidalnatureoftheACcurrentgivesanindication
thatthepowerfactorwillbelowandtheTHDwillbehigh.Powerquality
measurementsonthissystemshowthatthepowerfactorisaround0.35and
thetotalharmonicdistortionismorethan30%.Thesevaluesarenot
anywhereclosetomeetingthespecificationsofeitherIEC6100032or
EnergyStar80Plus.

SmoothingCurrentwithanInductor
Toreducethecurrentharmonicsandincreasethepowerfactor,thecurrent
mustbemadesmoother,suchthatitmorecloselymatchestheshapeofthe
ACvoltage.Thatis,we'llneedtomakethecurrentsinusoidalandinphase
withtheACvoltage.
Asimplewaytomakethecurrentsmootheristoaddaninductorattheoutput
oftherectifier.Thisinductorwillactasafilterthatcansmoothoutsharp
changesincurrent.Apowersupplycircuitwithanaddedinductorfilteris
showninFigure4.

Figure4.Linearpowersupplywithinductorfilter

TheinductorcurrentontheDCsideforthisnewcircuitisshowninFigure5.
Thecurrentisstilldeliveredinbursts,butnowthepeakcurrentislowerand
theburstsaremuchlessabrupt.ThismeansthattheACsidewillnothaveto
providesuchlarge,intensespikesofcurrent.Thispartialsmoothingofthe
currenthelpstoimprovethepowerqualityofthesystem.

 Figure5.Currentfromrectifierwheninductorfilterisused

MeasurementsofthecurrentandvoltageontheACsideareshowninFigure
6thesewaveformsgivemoreevidencethatthepowerqualityisimproving.
Thecurrentisstilloutofphasewiththevoltage,butit'slookingmore
sinusoidal.

Figure6.ACvoltageandcurrentwithfilterinductor

MeasurementsofboththepowerfactorandTHDdoindeedshowsignificant
improvement:thepowerfactorisaround0.7andtheTHDisaround20%.
However,theseimprovementsarestillnotenoughtomeetthepowerfactoror
THDrequirementsofIEC6100032orEnergyStar80Plus.Somethingmore
radicalthanapassivecurrentfilterwillneedtobeaddedtothecircuittomeet
thosespecs.
ThetypeofcircuitthatwillbeabletomeetthePFandTHDspecificationswill
besomethingthatforcestheACcurrenttofollowtheACvoltage,thuscausing
thepowerfactortobeveryclosetooneandkeepingtheTHDverycloseto
zero.Thiscircuitwillrequiresensorstomonitorthevoltageandcurrent,as
wellasafeedbacksystemtoforcethecurrenttofollowthevoltage.
Aswitchingcircuitofsomekindwillberequired,andoneofthemostcommon
typesofcircuitsthatcanimplementthisimprovementiscalleda"boostpower
factorcorrection"(or"boostPFC")circuit.Asthenamesuggests,thiscircuitis
basedonaboostconverterandcansignificantlyimprovethePFandTHD.

Conclusion
Thisarticleintroducestheideaofpowerqualityrequirementsforelectricaland
electronicsystems,anditshowsthatastandardlinearpowersupply(even
whenafilterinductorisadded)isunabletomeetbasicpowerquality
requirements.
Ensuringthatapowersupplywillmeetpowerqualityrequirementssuchas
thoseinIEC6100032:2014requiresaddingasystemthatwillcontroltheAC
currenttoensurethatitmatchesthesinusoidalACvoltageascloselyas
possible.Thiscanbeaccomplishedwithaboostpowerfactorcorrection
circuit,andadescriptionofhowthisswitchingcircuitworkswillbeprovidedin
afuturearticle