Roman D.

Herrera

ME-4

Topic 4: DC Regulated Power Supply

Its been too long since the electricity was first discovered. People tend to use lamps
to light up their houses. They make use of horses and boats in going to other places. But
now, people enjoy lots of benefits from electricity. Its made our daily lives easier. But do
you know where this electricity that we enjoy come from? Do you know how electricity
runs in our homes is?

A power supply takes Alternating Current, commonly known as A.C., power from
your electric utility and converts the A.C. electrical current into D.C. or Direct Current.
Power supplies have several components which are at first understood separately and then
they are joined together. First, the transformer converts the A.C. from Con Edison into a
lower or higher voltage and we have already had some experience using transformers. Next
solid state diode are used to convert the A.C. from the transformer into D.C. albeit not with
a constant voltage. At least after the power has gone through the diode rectifiers, the
electric current is of only one sign either positive or negative. Next the fluctuating electric
current is smoothed with a filter usually made of a resistor and capacitor. The resistor and
capacitor act as a low pass filter and the high frequency electric current is blocked. Finally
some more smoothing is done with a voltage regulator.

A regulated power supply is an embedded circuit; it converts unregulated AC into a

constant DC. With the help of a rectifier it converts AC supply into DC. Its function is to
supply a stable voltage (or less often current), to a circuit or device that must be operated
within certain power supply limits. The output from the regulated power supply may be
alternating or unidirectional, but is nearly always DC (Direct Current).

A DC power supply can perform several functions. It can transform line voltages to
higher or lower values, rectify AC, filter pulsating DC, or make more than one relatively
constant DC voltage available. Each of these functions are integrated into most power
supplies. The primary characteristics that must be considered in the selection of a power
supply. These are: (1) DC voltage or voltages required from the power supply; (2) the
maximum current required by the circuit components to meet their power requirements.
The current drawn is termed the load; (3) the amount of variation in DC output permitted
under constant load; this is referred to as the amount of ripple; (4) the amount of variation
in DC output permitted with changes in load; this is referred to as the amount of regulation
require.

At times regulated supplies can be much more complex. An example supply from a
1980s TV which used bidirectional interaction between the main supply and the line
output stage to operate, generating a range of output voltages with varying amounts of
stabilization. Since neither stage could start without the other running, the supply also
included a kickstart system to pulse the system into operation. The supply also monitored
voltages in the TV power circuitry, shutting down if these voltages went out of spec. For
special applications, supplies can become even more complex.

Modern regulated supplies mostly use a transformer, silicon diode bridge rectifier,
reservoir capacitor and voltage regulator IC. There are variations on this theme, such as

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supplies with multiple voltage lines, variable regulators, power control lines, discrete
circuits and so on. Switched mode regulator supplies also include an inductor.

Before the introduction of solid-state electronics, equipment used valves (vacuum

tubes) which required high voltages; power supplies used step-up transformers, rectifiers,
and filters to generate one or more direct voltages of some hundreds of volts, and a low
alternating voltage for filaments. Only the most advanced equipment used expensive and
bulky regulated power supplies. Below is the block diagram of a power supply.

A transformer is a static electrical device that transfers energy by inductive coupling

between its winding circuits. A varying current in the primary winding creates a varying
magnetic flux in the transformer's core and thus a varying magnetic flux through the
secondary winding. This varying magnetic flux induces a varying electromotive force (EMF)
or voltage in the secondary winding.

Transformers range in size from thumbnail-sized used in microphones to units

weighing hundreds of tons interconnecting the power grid. A wide range of transformer
designs are used in electronic and electric power applications. Transformers are essential
for the transmission, distribution, and utilization of electrical energy.

In a basic power supply the input power transformer has its primary winding
connected to the main (line) supply. A secondary winding, electro-magnetically coupled but
electrically isolated from the primary is used to obtain an AC voltage of suitable amplitude,
and after further processing by the PSU, to drive the electronics circuit it is to supply.

The transformer stage must be able to supply the current needed. If too small a
transformer is used, it is likely that the power supply's ability to maintain full output
voltage at full output current will be impaired. With too small a transformer, the losses will
increase dramatically as full load is placed on the transformer.

As the transformer is likely to be the most costly item in the power supply unit,
careful consideration must be given to balancing cost with likely current requirement.
There may also be a need for safety devices such as thermal fuses to disconnect the

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transformer if overheating occurs, and electrical isolation between primary and secondary
windings, for electrical safety.

In electronics, a center tap is a contact made to a point halfway along a winding of a

transformer or inductor, or along the element of a resistor or a potentiometer. Taps are
sometimes used on inductors for the coupling of signals, and may not necessarily be at the
half-way point, but rather, closer to one end. A common application of this is in the Hartley
oscillator. Inductors with taps also permit the transformation of the amplitude of
alternating current (AC) voltages for the purpose of power conversion, in which case, they
are referred to as autotransformers, since there is only one winding. An example of an
autotransformer is an automobile ignition coil. Potentiometer tapping provides one or
more connections along the device's element, along with the usual connections at each of
the two ends of the element, and the slider connection. Potentiometer taps allow for circuit
functions that would otherwise not be available with the usual construction of just the two
end connections and one slider connection.

A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which

periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction.
The process is known as rectification. Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms,
including vacuum tube diodes, mercury-arc valves, copper and selenium oxide rectifiers,
solid-state diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and other silicon-based semiconductor
switches. Historically, even synchronous electromechanical switches and motors have been
used. Early radio receivers, called crystal radios, used a "cat's whisker" of fine wire
pressing on a crystal of galena (lead sulfide) to serve as a point-contact rectifier or "crystal
detector".

Rectifiers have many uses, but are often found serving as components of DC power
supplies and high-voltage direct current power transmission systems. Rectification may
serve in roles other than to generate direct current for use as a source of power. As noted,
detectors of radio signals serve as rectifiers. In gas heating systems flame rectification is
used to detect presence of flame.

The simple process of rectification produces a type of DC characterized by pulsating

voltages and currents (although still unidirectional). Depending upon the type of end-use,
this type of DC current may then be further modified into the type of relatively constant
voltage DC characteristically produced by such sources as batteries and solar cells.

There are three (3) basic principles of rectification used in a basic power supplies.
The first is the half-wave rectification. A half-wave rectifier is one that uses only half of the
input cycle to produce an output. The dots (polarity marks) on the transformer indicate
points of the same polarity. During the portion of the input cycle that is going positive
(solid line), CR1, the PN junction diode, will be forward-biased and current will flow
through the circuit. L2, acting as the source voltage, will have current flowing from the top
to the bottom. This current then flows up through RL causing a voltage drop across RL
equal to the value of current flowing times the value of RL. This voltage drop will be
positive at the top of RL, with respect to its other side; and the output will therefore be a
positive voltage with respect to ground. In a half-wave rectifier circuit the average DC
output voltage is 0.318 of the peak value of one half AC cycle.

The second principle is the full-wave rectification. A full-wave rectifier is a device

that has two or more diodes arranged so the load current flows in the same direction
during each half-cycle of the AC supply. The PN junction diode works just as well in a full-
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wave rectifier circuit. The circuit shown has a negative voltage output; however, it might
just as well have a positive voltage output. This can be accomplished by either changing the
reference point (ground side of RL) or by reversing the diodes in the circuit.

The AC input is felt across the secondary winding of T1. This winding is center
tapped as shown; the center of the secondary is at ground potential. Ground potential is
defined as a reference point that is of no particular polarity.

When the polarity is such that the top of T1 secondary is negative, the bottom is
positive. At this time, the center tap, as shown, has two polarities, positive with respect to
the top half of the winding, and negative with respect to the bottom half of the winding.
When the secondary winding is positive at the top, the bottom is negative and the center
tap is negative with respect to the top and positive with respect to the bottom.

The third principle is the bridge rectification. A bridge rectifier makes use of four
diodes in a bridge arrangement to achieve full-wave rectification. This is a widely used
configuration, both with individual diodes and with single component bridges where the
diode bridge is wired internally. Now, the PN junction diode will be described as it is used
in a bridge rectifier circuit.

Filter capacitors are capacitors used for filtering of undesirable frequencies. They
are common in electrical and electronic equipment, and cover a number of applications.
Some applications of filter capacitors are Glitch removal on Direct current (DC) power rails,
Radio frequency interference (RFI) removal for signal or power lines entering or leaving
equipment, Capacitors used after a voltage regulator to further smooth dc power supplies,
Capacitors used in audio, intermediate frequency (IF) or radio frequency (RF) frequency
filters (e.g. low pass, high pass, notch, etc.) and Arc suppression, such as across the contact
breaker or 'points' in a spark-ignition engine.

The purpose of power supply filters is to smooth out the ripple contained in the
pulses of DC obtained from the rectifier circuit while increasing the average output voltage
or current. Filter circuits used in power supplies are of two general types: Capacitor input
and Choke input. There are several combinations that may be used, although they are
referred to by different names (Pi, RC, L section, etc). The closest element electrically to the
rectifier determines the basic type of filter being used. In the capacitor input filter, a
capacitor is placed in parallel with the load resistor. Rapid variations in voltage are shunted
to ground by the capacitor. This provides a smoother overall output for the output.

The capacitor-input filter, also called the pi filter due to its shape that looks like the
Greek letter , is a type of electronic filter. Filter circuits are used to remove unwanted or
undesired frequencies from a signal. A typical capacitor input filter consists of a filter or
reservoir capacitor C1, connected across the rectifier output, an inductor L, in series and
another filter or smoothing capacitor, C2, connected across the load, RL. A filter of this sort
is designed for use at a particular frequency, generally fixed by the AC line frequency and
rectifier configuration. When used in this service, filter performance is often characterized
by its regulation and ripple.

The simple capacitor filter is the most basic type of power supply filter. The
application of the simple capacitor filter is very limited. It is sometimes used on extremely
high-voltage, low-current power supplies for cathode-ray and similar electron tubes, which
require very little load current from the supply. The capacitor filter is also used where the
power-supply ripple frequency is not critical; this frequency can be relatively high.

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 When this filter is used, the RC charge time of the filter capacitor (C1) must be short
and the RC discharge time must be long to eliminate ripple action. In other words, the
capacitor must charge up fast, preferably with no discharge at all. Better filtering also
results when the input frequency is high; therefore, the full-wave rectifier output is easier
to filter than that of the half-wave rectifier because of its higher frequency.

A capacitor is used as the filter and this high value capacitor is shunted or placed
across the load impedance is called a shunt capacitor filter. This capacitor, when placed
across a rectifier gets charged and stores the charged energy during the conduction period.
When the rectifier is not conducting, this energy charged by the capacitor is delivered back
to the load. Through this energy storage and delivery process, the time duration during
which the current flows through the load resistor gets increased and the ripples are
decreased by a great amount. Thus for the ripple component with a frequency of f
megahertz, the capacitor C will offer a very low impedance. The value of this impedance
can be written as:
Shunt Capacitor Impedance = 1/2 fC

Thus the dc components of the input signal along with the few residual ripple components,
is only allowed to go through the load resistance RLoad. The high amount of ripple
components of current gets bypassed through the capacitor C.

References:

http://www.circuitstoday.com/regulated-power-supply

http://uav.ece.nus.edu.sg/~bmchen/courses/EG1108_Rectifiers.pdf

http://www.talkingelectronics.com/Download%20eBooks/Principles%20of%20electroni
cs/CH-17.pdf

http://www.circuitstoday.com/regulated-power-supply

http://www.idc-
online.com/technical_references/pdfs/electronic_engineering/Filter_Circuits.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor-input_filter

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/physics/courses/physics222/repository/files/pdf/Electroni
csLab13.pdf

http://www.bel.utcluj.ro/dce/didactic/fec_aai/09_voltage_regulators_aai.pdf

http://www.ti.com/lit/an/snva558/snva558.pdf

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