Power Semiconductor Drives

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Chapter 1

Control of DC Motors by Single Phase Converters

Control of DC Motors by single phase converters : Introduction to thyristor controlled drives, single phase semi and fully controlled converters connected to d c separately excited and de series motors - continuous current operation - output voltage and current waveforms - speed torque expressions - speed torque characteristics - problems on converter fed DC Motors.

1.1 Introduction

Electrical motors are used for driving different types of loads. Power semiconductor drives deal with the use of power semiconductor circuits in controlling the motors used for driving mechanical loads. In the earlier semesters students studied the subjects (i) Power Electronics (ii) Electrical machines and (iii) Control Systems. In this course of Power Semiconductor Drives the students will study how the combination of these three subjects is used for controlling the motors used in driving different types of loads.

1.1.1 Different Types of Motors

Types (i) & (ii) require DC supply while (iii) & (iv) require AC Supply.

1.1.2 Types of Loads

1.1.3 Power Converters

1.2 Speed Control of Separately Excited DC Motor

The schematic diagram and equivalent circuit of separately excited DC Motor are given below in Fig. 1.1.

Fig. 1.1 (a) Schematic diagram.

Fig. 1.1 (b) Equivalent circuit.

Ea = Applied voltage in volts.

Eb = Back emf in volts.

Ia = Armature current in Amps.

Ra = Armature resistance in Ohms.

La = Armature inductance in Henrys.

Tm = Electromagnetic torque developed by motor in N-m.

ωm = Speed of motor in rad /sec.

Ef = Applied voltage to field circuit in volts.

If = Field current in Amps.

Rf = Resistance of the field winding in Ohms.

Lf = Inductance of the field winding in Henry s.

J = Moment of inertia of rotor & load in Kg-m.

B = Frictional coefficient in N/m/sec.

TL = Load torque in N-m.

(Note : Lower case letters are used for time varying quantities upper case letters are used for average values or RMS values)

Equations describing the dynamic behavior of the motor are given below

Under steady state conditions the above equations will become

The following facts should be noted :

•   The back emf ‘eb’ is proportional to the product of flux (φ) and the speed (ω).

•   It is independent of armature current.

•   The electromagnetic torque developed by the motor is proportional to the product of armature current Ta’ and flux ‘φ’.

•   It is independent of speed of motor.

The equations given below are CAUSE and EFFECT equations.

(Note : CAUSE is on Right Hand Side and EFFECT on Left Hand Side)

The armature current

From the above equations it can be seen that the speed ‘ω’ of the motor depends on load torque ‘TL' the field current Tf' and the applied voltage ‘Ea’.

Thus for a given load torque the speed can be controlled by either controlling the applied voltage to annature or the field current Tf’ or both. For controlling the speed below its rated speed armature voltage is changed. For controlling the speed above its rated value the field current Tf is controlled. The motor can run above its rated speed only at torque less than the rated torque. The drive above rated speed is known as constant Horse Power (HP) drive. The armature current is held at its rated value and the field current is reduced.

The speed versus torque and speed versus power is shown in Fig. 1.2.

Fig. 1.2 Speed versus torque and speed versus power curves.

Example 1.1

A separately excited DC Motor is running at 800 rpm driving a load whose torque is constant. Motor armature current is 500 A. The armature resistance drop and rotational losses are negligible. Magnetic circuit can be assumed to be linear. Calculate the motor speed and armature current if terminal voltage is reduced to 50% and field current is reduced to 80%.

Solution :

Ia Ra drop is negligible

Torque is proportional to the product of armature current and flux. Hence

Example 1.2

What will be the answ ers to the above problem if torque is proportional to square of speed?

Solution :

The speed N2 will remain same as 500 rpm because back emf Ebis same as applied voltage Va. Only armature current will change.

N1 = 800 rpm ; N2 = 500 rpm

Since torque is proportional to square of the speed,

Example 1.3

A 220 V, 800 rpm, 80 A separately excited motor has an armature resistance of 0.12 Ω. Motor is driving under rated conditions, a load, whose torque is same at all speeds. Calculate motor speed if the source voltage drops to 200 V.

Solution :

Load torque is same. Therefore the armature current is same at all speeds and equal to 80 A.

Let Ebl is the back emf at 800 rpm

Eb2 is the back emf at new speed N2

Example 1.4

A 220 V, 200 A, 750 rpm separately excited DC Motor has an armature resistance of 0.05 Ω. It is driving a load whose torque has an expression T = (500-0.25N) N-m where ‘Ν' is the speed in rpm. Speeds below rated are obtained by armature voltage control with full field and speeds above rated are obtained by field control with rated armature voltage.

Solution :

(i)   Va = 220 V; Ia = 200 A; N = 750 rpm; Ra = 0.05 Ω; TL = 500 - 0.25 N

 We have to calculate Va and Ia for N = 400 rpm

 At rated speed of 750 rpm Eb = Va - IaRa

                   = 220-200 x 0.05 = 210 V

Load torque at 400 rpm = 500 - 0.25 χ 400 = 400 N-m.

Let Ti be the torque developed at speed of 750 rpm and armature current of 200 A. We know that Τω = EbIa

To calculate the armature current for torque of 400 N-m we use the equation :

The armature voltage Va = Eb +IaRa = 112 + 149.6 x 0.05 = 119. 48 V

When the speed is 1500 rpm. the torque developed = 500 - 0.25 χ 1500

       = 125 N-m

Speed of 1500 is greater than rated speed of 750 rpm.

% of rated flux = 51.3

1.3 Separately Excited DC Motor Driven by Controlled Rectifiers

The speed of separately excited DC Motor is controlled by the voltage applied to the armature and the field winding. The de voltage can be changed by changing the firing angle of the controlled rectifier connected to the ac mains supply. Now' the operation of DC Motor connected to different types of controlled rectifiers w ill be discussed.

1.3.1 Operation of Separately Excited DC Motor Connected to Single Phase Half-controlled Rectifier

The schematic diagram is shown in Fig. 1.3.

Fig. 1.3 Separately excited DC Motor connected to 1φ half controlled rectifier.

The output voltage of the converter is always positive and the current is also positive. The electrical power is drawn from ac mains and delivered to the motor. The motor can operate only in the first quadrant as motor. The equivalent circuit of the system is shown in the Fig. 1.4.

Fig. 1.4 Equivalent circuit.

Thyristor T1 is triggered at firing angle a and thyristor T2 is triggered at angle π + a.

The current ia drawn by the armature may be continuous or discontinuous. The motor is said to be operating in discontinuous current mode or continuous current mode based on the nature of current drawn by the armature.

Discontinuous current mode of operation : The waveforms of the voltages and currents for discontinuous mode of operation are shown in Fig. 1.5(a). The assumptions made in drawing the waveforms are :

Fig. 1.5 (a) H.C.R waveforms of supply and load voltages and load current (Discontinues current mode).

Under discontinuous conduction mode there are three distinct intervals over each half cycle, oc < cot < (π + cc)

1.   a < ωt < π is called duty interval.

2.   π < ωt < β is called free wheeling interval.

3.   β < ωt < π + α is called zero current interval.

Ia = 0; va = Eb .....(1.13)

The expression for current ia during duty interval is obtained by solving eqn. (1.11)

K i is obtained by substituting the initial value Ia(a) = 0.

Substituting this value of K, in eqn. (1.14).

During free wheeling interval the expression for current is obtained from eqn. (1.12) as

ia at ωt = π is obtained from eqns. (1.15) and (1.16) and the RHS expressions are equated to obtain the value of constant K2.

Substituting the value of K2 in eqn. (1.16), the expression for current during free wheeling interval π < ωt < β is obtained as

At ωt = β the current ia = 0

Substituting in eqn. (1.17), we get

Bringing the terms involving β to the left side and rearranging, we get

From eqn. (1.18) the value of β can be obtained by trial and error. For a given value of a , the extinction angle β depends on the induced emf E. When β is equal to (π + a), the current just becomes zero and starts increasing i.e., for a particular value of induced emf the current mode changes from discontinuous to continuous. This value of E is called the critical value Ec. For separately excited motor the induced emf is proportional to speed. The speed Nc at which E = Ec is called the critical speed. Thus for a given firing angle if the speed of motor is greater than critical speed, the current is discontinuous. If the speed is less than critical speed, the current is continuous.

Critical speed is calculated from eqn. (1.18) by substituting (π +

When the current is discontinuous, the average voltage Va applied to the armature is obtained after knowing the value of β.

Armature current

where N is the speed in rpm.

Va is to be calculated using eqn. (1.20).

This equation shows that speed for a given torque depends on firing angle a.

The speed regulation is poor for discontinuous conduction mode. Moreover torque pulsations occur. Hence in practical cases the current is made continuous by connecting some inductance in series with the armature.

1.3.2 Continuous Conduction Mode

The waveforms of voltages and current are shown in Fig. 1.5(b) for continuous conduction mode of operation.

Fig. 1.5 (b) HCR Waveforms of supply and load voltages and load current (continuous current).

The average voltage applied to armature Va= √2V(1 + cos ρ).

Therefore the speed N is given by

ρ can change from 0 to 180". For any load torque T, the speed can be changed by changing the firing angle a. If a is reduced the speed will increase.

The torque speed characteristics are shown in Fig. 1.6.

Fig. 1.6 Torque -Speed characteristic.

1.4 Separately Excited DC Motor Connected to Single Phase Fully Controlled Converter

The circuit diagram is shown in Fig. 1.7.

Fig. 1.7 Separately excited DC Motor connected to single phase fully controlled converter.

Thyristors T1 and T2 are triggered at firing angle a and thyristors T3 and T4 are triggered at angle π + ρ. The current may be discontinuous or continuous. The wavefonns of voltages and currents are shown in Fig. 1.8(a) for discontinuous current mode of operation. Since T1 and T2 are triggered at wt = ρ the current starts increasing and at wt = β the current becomes zero. T1 and T2 go to off state, β is greater than π but less than π + ρ. At wt = π + ρ, T3 and T4 are triggered and again the current starts increasing and becomes zero at π + β and at this instant T3 and T4 go to off state. The operation repeats for every cycle of input voltage. Since the speed of motor will remain almost constant over one cycle of input voltage and field current is constant the induced emf E b is taken as constant while drawing the waveforms. The waveform repeats in each half cycle. In each half cycle there are two intervals of operation.

There are two modes of operation

(a)   discontinuous current mode,

(b)   continuous current mode.

(a)   Discontinuous Current Mode of Operation :

(i)Derivation of expression for average voltage Va applied to armature : The waveforms of supply voltage Vs, armature voltage Va, and armature current Ia are shown in Fig. 1.8(a). The expression for average voltage applied to armature is derived as follows.

Fig. 1.8 (a) Waveforms of supply and load voltages and load current discontinuous.

(a)   During a < ωt < β the armature is connected to source. Therefore Va = Vs.

Ia= 0 at ωt = ρ and at ωt = β

(b)   β < ωt < π + ρ zero current interval

Va = Eb and Ia= 0

The expression for current during first interval has two components, one due to AC source √2 Vsin ωt and other due to -Eb. Each has got transient term. The solution is

k, is obtained by substituting the initial value Ia(a) = 0.

Substituting this value of kb in eqn. (1.26)

β can be evaluated by iterative method. After obtaining the value of β, average value of voltage applied to the armature Va can be found.

For ρ < ω < β

Va = √2 V sin wt

For β < wt < π + ρ

Va = Eb

Average value of armature voltage

(ii)   Derivation of Relation Between Torque and Speed: Since the average voltage drop across inductance is zero .

Va = Eb+ Ia Ra

where Va and Iaare average values.

Armature current consists of de component Ia and harmonics. When flux is constant, only DC component produces steady torque. Harmonics produce alternating torque components, the average value of which is zero.

∴ Motor torque T = K Ia

But E = K co m

Boundary between the continuous and discontinuous conduction is reached when β = (π + α ). Substituting β = π + ρ gives the critical speed.

For given value of α, β will be equal to (π + ρ) for a certain value of E.

Substituting β = π + ρ in eq. 1.28 and rearranging the terms, we get

The critical value of induced emf Eb is Ec

where CDmc is the critical speed in rad/sec

(b)   Continuous current mode of operation : The waveforms of supply voltage Vs, armature voltage Va, and armature current Ia are shown in Fig. 1.8(b).

Fig. 1.8 (b) Waveforms of supply and load current (continuous current).

The voltage applied to armature Va (ωt) during the interval ρ < ω < π + ρ is equal to √2 V sin ωt.

Therefore the average voltage Va applied to armature for continuous conduction is given by

For controlling the speed of the motor the firing angle is varied from 0 to 90° only.

Example 1.5

A 220 V, 960 rpm, 12.8 A separately excited DC Motor has armature circuit resistance and inductance of 2 Ω and 150 mH respectively. It is fed from a single phase half-controlled rectifier with an ac source voltage of 230 V, 50 Hz. Calculate

(i)    Motor torque for ρ = 60° and speed = 600 rpm.

(ii)   Motor speed for ρ = 60o and torque T = 20 N-m.

Assume continuous current.

Solution :

(i)   Back emf Eb1 at rated speed of 960 rpm = 220 - 12.8 x 2 = 194.4 V

Back emf Eb2 at

∴ Armature current at speed of 600 rpm

We know that Κφω = Eb

Eb at 960 rpm = 194.4 V

Torque developed T = Κφ Ia

   = 1.935 x 16.9

   = 32.70 N-m

(ii)   T = 20 N-m.