A REPORT

On

“DC Choppers”

Submitted

By

Atul Kumar Thakur (Roll No-16916061023)

Electrical Engineering
4th year

ACADEMY OF TECHNOLOGY
AEDCONAGAR, HOOGHLY (W.B).
PIN-712121

2009
 CONTENTS

Sly. Topic Page No.

No.

1 Introduction 1
2 Step down chopper
3 Step up chopper
4 Classification of choppers
5 Control strategies
6 Applications
Bibliography

Introduction

Many industrial applications require power from dc voltage

sources. Several of these applications, however, perform better in
case these are fed from variable dc voltage sources.
The conversion of fixed DC voltage to an adjustable DC output
voltage, through the use of semiconductor devices is called
chopping. A chopper is a static device that converts fixed dc input
voltage to a variable dc output voltage directly. It is a high speed
on/off semiconductor switch (connects source to the load and
disconnects the load from the source at a fast speed).
The power semiconductor device used for a chopper circuit can be
force commutated thyristor, power BJT, power MOSFET, GTO or
IGBT.

A chopper may be thought of as dc equivalent of an ac transformer

since they behave in an identical manner. Like a transformer, a
chopper can be used to step down or step up the fixed dc input
voltage.

Chopper systems offer smooth control, high efficiency, fast

response and regeneration.

Principle of Step Down operation

The step down chopper can be described by the following circuit;

here a step down chopper with resistive load is shown.
The thyristor in the circuit acts as a switch. The thyristor can be
turned-on or turned-off as desired. When thyristor is ON, supply
voltage appears across the load .When thyristor is OFF, the voltage
across the load will be zero. The output voltage and current
waveforms are shown below.

Now, the various parameters can be assumed as:

Vdc = A verage value of output or load voltage.
I dc = A verage value of output or load current.
tON = Time interval for which SCR conducts.
tOFF = Time interval for which SCR is OFF.
T =t ON+ t OFF= Period of switching or chopping period.
1
f = = Freq. of chopper switching or chopping freq.
T
The average output voltage can be found by
Average Output Voltage
 tON 
Vdc =V  
 tON +tOFF
t 
Vdc =V  ON = V d.
 T
t 
but  ON  =d = duty cycle
 t 
As the duty cycle is always less than 1. So, the output voltage is
less than the input voltage.

Principle of Step Up operation

The step up choppers are used to obtain output voltage greater than
the input voltage. The basic circuit for step up operation is shown
below
 I L D
+
+ −

L
C O V
V A O
D
C h o p p e r

The values of L and C are chosen depending upon the requirement

of output voltage and current.
When the chopper is on the inductor is connected across the
supply. The current in the inductor rises or in other words the
inductor stores energy.
When the chopper is OFF the inductor current is forced to flow
through the diode and the load. The current tend to decrease as to
reverse the polarity of induced emf in the inductor.
The expression for the output current can be written as:
dI
VO = V + L .i .,e VO >V
dt
We clearly see that the output voltage is greater than the input
voltage.

Classification of choppers
Choppers can be classified as:
 Class A chopper
 Class B chopper
  Class C chopper
 Class D chopper
 Class E chopper

Class A chopper: It is a step down chopper in which the average

value of output voltage and current is always positive. A free
wheeling diode (FWD) is connected across the load to prevent the
output current being negative. Its region of operation is in the first
quadrant only, so it is also called first-quadrant chopper. The
circuit and the waveforms are shown below.
i0 v0
+

C h o p p e r
L
O v0 V
V A
F W D D

− i0
ig T h y r i s t o r
g a t e p u l s e

t
i0
O u t p u t c u r r e n t

C H O N
t
v F W D C o n d u c t s
0
O u t p u t v o l t a g e

t
tO N
T

Class B chopper: In this type the average output voltage is

positive but the average output current is negative. Therefore the
class B chopper operates in the second quadrant. Power flows from
the load to the source. It is a step up chopper. It is widely used for
regenerative breaking of DC motors. Its circuit and waveforms are
shown below:

D
i0 v0
+
R

V L v0

C h o p p e r
E − i0
−

ig
T h y r i s t o r
g a t e p u l s e

t
i0 tO F F tO N

T
t
O u t p u t c u r r e n t
Im a x

Im i n D
c o n d uC c h t so p p e r
c o n d u c t s
v 0 O u t p u t v o l t a g e

Class C choppers: Class C Chopper is a combination of Class A

and Class B Choppers. For first quadrant operation, CH1 is ON or
D2 conducts. For second quadrant operation, CH2 is ON or D1
conducts. When CH1 is ON, the load current is positive. The
output voltage is equal to ‘V’ & the load receives power from the
source. When CH1 is turned OFF, energy stored in inductance L
forces current to flow through the diode D2 and the output voltage
is zero. Current continues to flow in positive direction. When CH2
is triggered, the voltage E forces current to flow in opposite
direction through L and CH2 .The output voltage is zero turning
OFF CH2, the energy stored in the inductance drives current
through diode D1 and the supply Output voltage is V, the input
current becomes negative and power flows from load to source.
C 1 H D 1
i0 v0
+

V R

C 2 H D L v0
2

C h o p p e r
i0
E
−

ig 1
G a t e p u l s e
o f C 1H

t
ig 2 G a t e p u l s e
o f C 2H
t
i0
O u t p u t c u r r e n t

D 1 C H1 D 2 C H2 D 1 C H1 D 2 C H2
O N O N O N O N
V 0 O u t p u t v o l t a g e

Class D chopper: Class D is a two quadrant chopper. When both

CH1 and CH2 are triggered simultaneously, the output voltage =
V and output current flows through the load. When CH1 and CH2
are turned OFF, the load current continues to flow in the same
direction through load, D1 and D2, due to the energy stored in the
inductor L. Average load voltage is positive if chopper ON time is
more than the OFF time .Average output voltage becomes negative
if tON < tOFF .Hence the direction of load current is always
positive but load voltage can be positive or negative.

v0
C 1 H D 2

R i0 L E
V
+ v 0 − i0

D 1 C 2 H

ig 1
G a t e p u l s e
o f C1 H

t
ig 2 G a t e p u l s e
o f C2 H
t
i0
O u t p u t c u r r e n t

t
C H1 , C 2H D 1 , D 2 C o n d u c t i n g
O N
v 0 O u t p u t v o l t a g e
V
A v e r v a0 g e
t

Class E chopper: Class E is a four quadrant chopper. When CH1

and CH4 are triggered, output current flows in positive direction
through CH1 and CH4, and with output voltage = V. This gives
the first quadrant operation. When both CH1 and CH4 are OFF,
the energy stored in the inductor L drives iO through D2 and D3 in
the same direction, but output voltage vO = -V.
 C 1 H D C 3 H D
1 3

i0 R L E
V
+ −
v0
C 2 H D C 4 H D
2 4

v 0

C H2 - D4 C o C n H1 d u c - t sC H4 O N
D 1 - D 4 C o Cn d H4 u c t- s D2 C o n d u c t s

i0

C H3 - C H2 D 2 - O N D 3 C o n d u c t s
C H2 - D4 C oC n H4 d u c- t D2s C o n d u c t s

Control strategies
The output voltage can be controlled by varying the duty cycle.
Following are the methods for varying duty cycle:
1. Time Ratio Control (TRC)
2. Current-limit control
Time Ratio Control
In this control scheme, the time ratio is varied. This is realized in
two different strategies:

(a.) Constant frequency system: In this scheme the don time is

varied keeping the frequency constant. Variation of on-time means
adjustment of pulse width, as this scheme is also known as pulse-
width modulation (PWM).

(b.) Variable frequency system: In this scheme, the chopping

frequency is varied and either on-time or off-time is kept constant.
This scheme is also known as frequency modulation.

Current-limit control
In this control scheme, the on and off of chopper circuit is guided
by the previous set value of load current. These two set values are
maximum load current and minimum load current. When load
current reaches the upper limit, chopper is switched off. Now load
current freewheels and begin to decay exponentially. When it falls
to lower limit, chopper is switched on and load current begins to
rise. Load current cannot be discontinuous in this case
Current-limit control involves feedback loop, the trigger circuitry
for the chopper is therefore more complex.

Among the various control schemes the pulse width modulation

(PWM) technique is widely used.

Application of choppers