RECTIFIER
Ø 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.
Ø The following two types of rectifier circuit can be used:
I. Half wave rectifier
II. Full wave rectifier
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HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
Ø The process of removing one-half the input signal to establish a dc level is
called half-wave rectification.
Ø In Half wave rectification, the rectifier conducts current during positive half
cycle of input ac signal only
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HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
Ø The half rectifier consist a step down transformer, a diode connected to the
transformer and a load resistance connected to the cathode end of the diode.
Ø The circuit diagram of half wave transformer is shown below:
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WORKING
Ø The input given to the rectifier will have both positive and negative cycles. The half
rectifier will allow only the positive half cycles and omit the negative half cycles.
POSITIVE HALF CYCLE:
Ø In the positive half cycles when the input AC power is given to the primary winding of
the step down transformer, we will get the decreased voltage at the secondary
winding which is given to the diode.
Ø The diode will allow current flowing in clock wise direction from anode to cathode in
the forward bias (diode conduction will take place in forward bias) which will
generate only the positive half cycle of the AC.
Ø The diode will eliminate the variations in the supply and give the pulsating DC
voltage to the load resistance RL. We can get the pulsating DC at the Load resistance.
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WORKING
NEGATIVE HALF CYCLE:
Ø In the negative half cycle the current will flow in the anti-clockwise direction
and the diode will go in to the reverse bias.
Ø In the reverse bias the diode will not conduct so, no current in flown from
anode to cathode, and we cannot get any power at the load resistance.
Ø Only small amount of reverse current is flown from the diode but this current
is almost negligible. And voltage across the load resistance is also zero.
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WAVEFORM
Ø In positive half cycle, D is forward biased and conducts. Thus the output
voltage is same as the input voltage. In the negative half cycle, D is reverse
biased, and therefore output voltage is zero
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CHARACTERISTICS OF HALF WAVE
RECTIFIER
There are some characteristics to the half wave rectifier they are
Ø Efficiency: The efficiency is defined as the ratio of input AC to the output DC. The
efficiency of half wave rectifier is about 40.6%
Ø Ripple factor: It is defined as the amount of AC content in the output DC. It nothing
but amount of AC noise in the output DC. Less the ripple factor, performance of the
rectifier is more. The ripple factor of half wave rectifier is about 1.21
Ø Peak inverse voltage: It is defined as the maximum voltage that a diode can
withstand in reverse bias. The half wave rectifier has Vm (maximum voltage )
Ø Transformer utilization factor (TUF): The TUF is defined as the ratio of DC power is
delivered to the load and the AC rating of the transformer secondary. Half wave
rectifier has around 0.287
Ø Half wave rectifier is mainly used in the low power circuits.
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HALF WAVE RECTIFIER
ADVANTAGE :
Ø Simple
Ø Cheaper up front cost (as their is less equipment. Although there is a
higher cost over time due to increased power losses)
DISADVANTAGE :
Ø The pulsating current in output contains ac components whose
frequency is equal to supply frequency so filtering is needed.
Ø The ac supply delivers power during half cycle only so output is low
Ø The output current we obtain is not purely DC, and it still contains a lot of
ripple (i.e. it has a high ripple factor)
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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
Ø A Full Wave Rectifier is a circuit, which converts an ac voltage into a pulsating
dc voltage using both half cycles of the applied ac voltage.
Ø It uses two diodes of which one conducts during one half cycle while the other
conducts during the other half cycle of the applied ac voltage.
Classification of Full Wave Rectifier
The full wave rectifier can be further divided mainly into following types.
1. Center Tapped Full Wave Rectifier.
2. Full Wave Bridge Rectifier
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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
CENTER TAPPED FULL WAVE RECTIFIER.
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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
CENTER TAPPED FULL WAVE RECTIFIER.
Ø In the first half cycle D1 is forward biased and conducts. But D2 is reverse
biased and does not conduct.
Ø In the second half cycle D2 is forward biased and conducts and D1 is reverse
biased.
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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
FULL WAVE BRIDGE RECTIFIER
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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
Ø Current always flows in one direction through the load resistance R, regardless
of whether v S is positive or negative.
Ø In the positive half cycle, D1 & D2 are forward biased and D3 & D4 are reverse
biased.
Ø In the negative half cycle, D3 & D4 are forward biased, and D1 & D2 are
reverse biased
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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
ADVANTAGE :
Ø PIV is about half the value for full wave rectifier with a center tapped
transformer so diodes with lower breakdown voltage can be used hence
cheaper.
Ø The output is twice that of the center tap circuit for the same secondary
voltage.
DISADVANTAGE :
Ø The main disadvantage is that it requires four diodes.
Ø When low dc voltage is required then secondary voltage is low and diodes
drop (1.4V) becomes significant. Therefore, for low dc output, 2-pulse center
tap rectifier is used because only one diode drop is there.
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FULL WAVE RECTIFIER
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