Lecture Notes
1
Introduction to Power Electronics
Prepared by
Dr. Oday A Ahmed
Website: https://odayahmeduot.wordpress.com
Email: [email protected]
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Lecture Note 1: Introduction to Power Electronics
Instructure: Dr. Oday A Ahmed
Contents of this Lecture:
► What is Power Electronics
► Power Electronic System Structure
► Power Electronic Converters
► Power Semiconductor Devices
► Examples for Power Electronic Applications
What is Power Electronics?
The field of power electronics is concerned with the processing
and control of electrical power using high efficiency electronic circuits.
The primary task of power electronics is to process and control the flow
of electric energy by supplying voltages and currents in a form that is
optimally suited for user loads
Power Electronic System Structure
Figure 1.1 Shows the basic structure of the power electronics system:
Source Power Processer Load
Control System Electronic Circuits
Fig.1.1 Power Electronics System Structure
Source: is an electrical source which is be either DC or AC
Power Processor: is a device that used to change the energy form between
the source and the load.
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Lecture Note 1: Introduction to Power Electronics
Instructure: Dr. Oday A Ahmed
Electronics Circuit: is a low power electronic circuits used to measure the
voltage/current and to drives the power processor
Control System: is a system used to control the power processor so that
maintain different parameters such as voltage, current and power.
Load: is an Electrical load which is be either DC or AC load
Power Electronic Converters
Power electronic converter is a device that can convert of the electric
power from one to another form. The main forms of power conversion are
as follows:
1. Rectification (conversion from ac to dc)
The corresponding converter is known as a rectifier or an ac/dc converter
for rectification.
2. Inversion (conversion from dc to ac)
The corresponding converter is known as an inverter or an ac/dc
converter for inversion.
3. Conversion from dc to dc
The corresponding converter is known as a dc converter or DC Chopper
4. Conversion from ac to ac
The corresponding converter is known as an ac converter. two types exist:
► AC chopper: convert the fixed voltage and frequency to the fixed
frequency and variable voltage
► Frequency Converter: convert the fixed voltage and frequency to
the variable frequency and voltage.
Note:
A. All the above converters can be transferred the energy in
unidirectional from or in bidirectional form.
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Lecture Note 1: Introduction to Power Electronics
Instructure: Dr. Oday A Ahmed
B. The PEs converters can be connected in series or parallel connection
to either increase voltage or current and reduce the ripple.
C. Connection of two different converters types is very common in PE
system.
D. Changing the output voltage in the PE converter on the account of
current magnitude.
Fig.1.2 shows some types of the power electronic converter connections
Fig.1.2 Functional diagrams of converters connections
Depending on the properties of the power source, we may distinguish the
voltage and current converters. At the input of a voltage converter, the
properties of the power source V resemble those of an emf source. As a
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Lecture Note 1: Introduction to Power Electronics
Instructure: Dr. Oday A Ahmed
rule, a capacitor C is connected in parallel to the source (Figure 1.3a). At
the input of a current converter, the properties of the power source I
resemble those of a current source. A choke L is connected in series with
the source (Figure 1.3b).
Fig.1.3 (a) Voltage converter and (b) current converter.
Question will be solved in the class: A 50Hz fixed AC input voltage is
converted to fixed DC voltage and then is stepped up to a higher DC
voltage level. This voltage is converted again to the same level of AC input
voltage but with a higher output frequency. With the aid of block
diagrams, show the power electronic conversion stages that required to
satisfy the system above.
Differences between PE circuits and Electronic Circuits
■ In PE circuits the focus is on power conversion at the highest
possible efficiency using very small control signals.
■ In Electronic circuits the focus is on information processing with
minimum loss of information
How can this converter be realized?
DC-DC conversion can be obtained using electronics/power electronic
circuits as shown in Fig.1.4.
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Lecture Note 1: Introduction to Power Electronics
Instructure: Dr. Oday A Ahmed
(a)
(b)
(c)
Fig.1.4 How to build DC-DC converters
In Fig.1.4.a voltage divider is used to obtain 50V from 100V input source.
to regulate the output DC voltage a series pass regulator circuit is used as
shown in fig.1.4.b. Both circuits have high losses (Why?). To reduce the
loses the third circuit in Fig.1.4b is much efficient.
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Lecture Note 1: Introduction to Power Electronics
Instructure: Dr. Oday A Ahmed
Power Electronics Applications
According to the estimate of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
of the United States, roughly 70% of electrical energy in the United States
is now processed through power electronics, which will eventually
expand to 100%. Some of the PE applications are listed below:
► Residential: heaters, home appliances, electronic lighting,
equipment sources;
► Commercial: heaters, fans, elevators, Uninterruptible Power Supply
(UPS), AC and DC breakers, battery chargers;
► Industrial: pumps, blowers, robots, inductive heaters, welding,
machine drive, portable sources;
► Transportation: electrical and hybrid vehicles, battery chargers,
railroad electric system;
► Utility systems: high voltage direct current, generators, reactive
compensators, interface for photovoltaic, wind, fuel cells systems,
Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) equipment;
► Aerospace: sources for spacecraft, satellites, planes;
Communication: sources, RF amplifiers, audio-amplifiers.
Figures below show various PE converters applications:
Laptop computer power supply
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Lecture Note 1: Introduction to Power Electronics
Instructure: Dr. Oday A Ahmed
Typical wind power system
Typical configuration of photovoltaic system
Typical configuration of Electronic Light
