AIM

To troubleshoot the three phase half wave controller.

INTRODUCTION
AC to DC power converters are widely used for obtaining an adjustable DC voltage from the
commercial three phase mains. The DC output may be used for DC motor drives, DC power
supplies as for generating DC link of an inverter. Phase controlled rectifiers are popularly used in
almost all these applications due to its simplicity. Three phase fully controlled converters are
very popular in many industrial applications particularly in situations where power regeneration
from the dc side is essential. It can handle reasonably high power and has acceptable input and
output harmonic distortion. The configuration also lends itself to easy series and parallel
connection for increasing voltage and current rating or improvement in harmonic behavior.
However, this versatility of a three phase fully controlled converters are obtained at the cost of
increased circuit complexity due to the use of six thyristors and their associated control circuit.
This complexity can be considerably reduced in applications where power regeneration is not
necessary. In that case three thyristors of the top group or the bottom group of a three phase fully
controlled converter can be replaced by three diodes. The resulting converter is called a three
phase half controlled converter. Replacing three thyristors by three diodes reduces circuit
complexity but at the same time prevents negative voltage appearing at the output at any time.
Therefore the converter cannot operate in the inverting mode. The three phase half controlled
converter has several other advantages over a three phase fully controlled converter. For the
same firing angle it has lower input side displacement factor compared to a fully controlled
converter. It also extends the range of continuous conduction of the converter. The output
voltage is periodic over one third of the input cycle rather than one sixth as is the case with fully
controlled converters. This implies both input and output harmonics are of lower frequency and
require heavier filtering. For this reason half controlled three phase converters are not as popular
as their fully controlled counterpart.
THEORY
Phase controlled AC-DC converters employing thyristor are extensively used for changing
constant ac input voltage to controlled dc output voltage. In phase controlled rectifiers, a
thyristor is tuned off as AC supply voltage reverse biases it, provided anode current has fallen to
level below the holding current. Controlled rectifiers have a wide range of applications, from
small rectifiers to large high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission systems. They are used
for electrochemical processes, many kinds of motor drives, traction equipment, controlled power
supplies, and many other applications. The circuit below shows a three phase half controlled
rectifier.

Figure 1: three phase half controlled rectifier.

The thyristor will conduct (ON state), when the anode-to-cathode voltage VAK is positive, and a
firing current pulse iG is applied to the gate terminal to control the load voltage delaying the
firing pulse by an angle . The firing angle  is measured from the crossing point between the
phase supply voltages. At that point, the anode-to-cathode thyristor voltage VAK begins to be
positive. The load average voltage is calculated as follow:
 𝜋
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 +𝛼
VD= 2/3𝜋
∫−3𝜋+𝛼 cos 𝜔𝑡. 𝑑(𝜔𝑡)
3

Where: Vmax= secondary phase-to-neutral peak voltage

𝜔= angular frequency of the main power supply

The figure below shows input waveform and output waveform

Figure 2:waveforms of 3 phase half controlled rectifiers

METHODOLOGY

Equipment used
1. Connecting leads
2. Power electronics panel shown in figure 3
3. Digital multimeter
Figure 3: Connection on the power electronics panel

Procedure
The circuit was connected as shown in figure 4 below . Measurements were taken at different
positions on the circuit connected starting from the supply. The voltage readings that were taken
using a multi meter were recorded on table 1 below. The line and phase voltage were measured.

Figure 4: circuit diagram for the three phase controller experiment

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

Table 1: Measured voltage readings

Point of measurement Voltage reading (V)

Line voltage Phase voltage
Supply voltage 380 219.6

380 219.6

Input at the diodes and thyristors 375 N/A

Output at the diodes and thyristors 0 N/A

Input at the load 0

Load voltage 0 N/A

DISCUSSIONS
From the experiment measuremets, it was seen that phase voltage was approximately 220V
which is much more close to 230V which is normally used when operating at 50 Hz frequency.
Initially from the source, there was voltage supply all the way to the half wave controller. At the
input of the half wave controller, there was line and phase voltage recorded on the digital meter
and at the output of the half wave controller, reading was 0V on the digital meter. This meant
both the thyristor and diode were dead as there was current flowing them. There was suppose to
be a voltage reading of the converted voltage. This resulted in no deflection in the analogue
meters that were connected. The thyristor and diode might be blown due to overvoltage supplied
to them.

CONCLUSION
The troubleshooting exercise was a success as we managed to locate the fault point on the
connected circuit. The output of the thyristor and diode was 0V which implies no current was
flowing through them.