ELEX 244 Electronic Devices III: Power Supply Design Considerations and Examples

POWER SUPPLY DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

This document presents some general power supply design considerations and some examples that
unite the basic power supply components that have previously been mainly considered separately.
First we look at a basic unregulated power supply design, then examine the need for regulation (we
only consider linear regulation at this point). We point out that we can use discrete components for
different type of regulators or use an IC regulator such as the LM723. After presenting some of the
pros and cons of the different linear regulators we proceed to a complete regulated power supply
design using the LM723 regulator. In this document, we skip details of designing zener regulators or
active series regulators since this has been presented elsewhere.
Much of the following discussion is sourced from J. Michael McMenamin, Applied Electronic
Devices and Analog IC's.
1. A Complete Unregulated Power Supply
For this design we will use a full-wave bridge rectifier since it has the advantages of:
1. less discharge time for the filter capacitor over a half-wave rectifier smaller capacitor;
2. not requiring a centre-tapped transformer.
Please refer to Figure 1 above for the discussion that follows.
The DC output voltage (neglecting the drop across R
S
) is :
V
dc
(V
T1sec
.2)1.4 V
The resistor, R
S
, serves to limit the surge current through the diodes when the power supply is first
turned on. This is because the filter capacitor, C
F
, acts as a short circuit until charge builds up on it.
To determine the minimum size of R
S
, we consider the surge current rating of the diodes in the bridge
and the secondary and reflected primary winding DC resistances of the transformer, T
1
. Note that the
surge current rating of a diode is 30 x the max forward current rating.
R
S
+R
XFRMR
=
V
C
I
S
120
VAC
C
f
D
1
D
4
D
2
D
3
R
s
R
L
V
DC
T
1
Fig 1: A Complete Unregulated Power
Supply
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2. Unregulated Power Supply Example
Refer to Figure 1 above for the following discussion.
Power Supply Requirements:
z Input: 120 VAC @ 60 Hz
z Output: 16 VDC
500 mA maximum current
5% maximum ripple
Assume 0.1 transformer resistance.
Transformer and Rectifier Rating:
V
T1sec
=
(V
dc
+1.4V )
.2
V
T1sec
=12.16V
RMS
Use a 12V 1A transformer with a 1A bridge rectifier with a PIV of 100V (closest standard
rating). (PIV > 4 x V
C
= 64V)
Surge Resistor:
Initial power-on: maximum voltage across capacitor driving the uncharged filter capacitor
which appears momentarily as a short circuit. To protect the rectifier diodes we limit the
current to their surge rating (30 x rated forward maximum current).
R
S
+R
XFRMR
=
V
C
I
S
R
S
=
16V
30 A
0.1D
R
S
=0.43D
Filter Capacitor:
The required ripple voltage is 5% of V
OUT
:
AV =0.00516V =0.8V
C=
I At
AV
=
500 mA8ms
0.8V
=5000 jF
To summarize:
Transformer: 120 VAC to 12 VAC, 1 Amp
Rectifier: 1 Amp Bridge Rectifier with PRV = 100 V.
Rs: 0.43
C: 5000 F
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3. The Need for Regulation
Obviously, if the input voltage to the transformer of our power supply changed then the output
voltage will change accordingly. Since there are often significant voltage variations in the line
voltage delivered by our local utility, we want to prevent corresponding variations in our output
voltage. Changes in the load (current) will also cause the output voltage to change. For example, an
increase in load current will cause a slight increase in the forward voltage drop across the diodes in
the bridge rectifier, and a voltage drop in the transformer windings and surge resistor. We want to
somehow compensate for this effect; we need to regulate the output of our power supply.
Note:
Line regulation is the percentage change in output voltage with respect to the nominal
output voltage over a range of input voltages (eg Vin 10%).
line regulation( per cent )=
AV
out
V
out , nominal
100
Load regulation is the percentage change in output voltage with respect to the nominal
output voltage over the full range of specified loads (eg no load where RL= to full load
where RL= minimum resistance.)
load regulation( per cent )=
V
NL
V
FL
V
out , nominal
100
So we need to insert a regulator into our circuit between the unregulated power supply and the load.
Options available:
1. Zener regulator:
+ a combination of a series dropping resistor shunted by a zener (across the
load.
+ Provides line and load regulation.
+ Reduces ripple.
+ Regulation is affected by the zener impedance and the changing current
through the zener.
2. Transistor Follower Regulator (Series Regulator):
+ main current path between power supply and load is through a transistor.
+ Transistor base voltage is maintained by a zener diode.
+ This lowers the current through the zener by a factor of the transistor.
This serves to reduce the zener resistance effect that plagues pure zener
regulation.
+ Improves load regulation by a factor .
3. Active Transistor Regulator:
+ Even less affected by line voltage variations and changes in the base-emitter
voltage of the pass transistor.
+ Second transistor acts as an error amplifier (comparing a divided down
output voltage to a zener reference) to provide a corrective signal to the base
of the pass transistor.
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ELEX 244: Power Supply Design Considerations and Examples 4 / 11
+ There are two current paths through the zener. Each works in the opposite
manner to changes in output to keep the current through the zener relatively
constant. The main current path through the zener is from the regulated
output.
4. Linear Regulator (IC package):
+ Refined Active Transistor regulator packaged as an IC
+ considerably simplifies power supply design.
+ May be adjustable requiring some external components (eg LM723) to set
up output voltage and current limiting.
+ May be adjustable requiring only voltage-divider on reference voltage (eg
LM317). Basic and thermal current limiting provided internally.
+ May be fixed voltage (eg LM7805, 7812). Basic a thermal current limiting
provided internally.
5. Switching Regulator:
+ available configurations: step-up (boost), step-down (buck), boost-buck,
flyback, cuk, and more ...
+ current through switching regulator is limited by chopping the dc current
(turning the pass transistor fully on and off periodically) and then filtering it
into a dc output.
+ The duty cycle of the chopping control signal varies to compensate for
changes in the output voltage.
+ Since current input to regulator is not constant (as for the linear and zener
regulators), these regulators achieve higher efficiencies.
+ Switchers also have many disadvantages: EMI, RFI, worse ripple, worse
regulation ...
We discuss the Zener, Active Transistor, and Switching Regulators elsewhere. The Transistor
Follower regulator is left to the student to investigate. Linear Regulator theory is also presented
elsewhere. For the remainder of this document, we consider power supplies using a Linear
Regulator.
4. Power Dissipation in a Linear Voltage Regulator
The limits of the input power source (unregulated power supply) are determined by the power
dissipation capability of the regulator. The power dissipated in the regulator is:
P
d
=(V
in
V
out
)I
out
If the input voltage is too high, internal components breakdown; if the input voltage is too low and
the voltage differential across the regulator is very low, the internal components do not have enough
voltage across them to function. For example the LM723 has a maximum input voltage of 40V, a
minimum input voltage of 9.5 V, and a minimum voltage across the regulator (V
IN
V
OUT
) of 3V for
the regulator to operate.
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5. Determining Power Supply Component Values for use with a Linear Regulator
The load voltage, load current, and characteristics of the chosen regulator determine the input
transformer, rectifier diodes, and filter capacitor.
The load requirements of the total regulated power supply (voltage, maximum current, maximum
ripple) will, to some extent, determine our choice of regulator. This in turn will set the range of input
voltages and allowable ripple at the filter capacitor and therefore the transformer characteristics and
the PIV and surge current requirements for the diodes in the rectifier and these choices will then
determine the size of the surge resistor. We should select a nominal input voltage to the regulator that
will allow a reasonable power dissipation and not be too close to either the maximum or minimum
input voltages to allow for the inevitable component variations and line surges etc. Now the
selection of the input voltage to the regulator may be affected by the choice of available transformers,
some iteration may be required in the design at this point (or any point for that matter).
If, for the moment, we assume that we can determine an appropriate combination of transformer,
rectifier, and surge resistor then the most important consideration becomes the maximum allowable
ripple at the filter capacitor.
Note that the ripple voltage at the filter capacitor should not drop below the allowed minimum input
voltage to the regulator (or go above the maximum input voltage). Thus the allowable ripple voltage
input to the regulator is given by:
AV=V
C, lowline
V
min input
whereV
mininput
is the minimuminput required by theregulator for thedesired output voltage.
For example, consider a bridge power supply using a 12 V
RMS
transformer input to a LM723
regulator for a required output voltage of 10 VDC:
V
C, lowline
=(1.1V
T , sec
.2)1.4V=14.07 V
V
min input
=(10V +3V )=13V
AV =14.0713.0 V =1.07 V
The actual capacitor value required to achieve this maximum ripple voltage is determined by:
C=
( I
load
+I
quiescent
)(At )
AV
C
where I
quiescent
for the LM723 is 4 mA max.
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6. A Complete Regulated Power Supply
Requirements:
+ V
OUT
= 10 V 0.5% (under line and load variations)
+ I
OUT(MAX)
= 50 mA
+ maximum peak to peak ripple voltage ( V
O
) at full load is 10 mV.
+ 120 VAC input line voltage.
+ AC input line voltage variation is 10%
+ Maximum operating temperature is 50
0
C.
Solution:
We need to determine the required/allowable voltages and currents at the various
points of the circuit. These will allow us to select:
1. the transformer;
need to know output voltage required, current, dc resistance of secondary.
2. the rectifier;
diodes: PIV, surge current rating, current. Diodes must handle the turn
on current surge due to the uncharged filter capacitor.
3. the surge resistor (between rectifier and filter capacitor);
value that, along with the transformer dc resistance, limits the current
surge from the filter capacitor when P.S. turned on.
4. the filter capacitor;
determines maximum allowable ripple into the regulator ie max/min voltage
has to be within allowable input range of the chosen regulator.
5. the regulator; and
power dissipation; input range; line and load regulation specs; ripple
regection.
6. setup for the regulator:
1. resistors to setup output voltage (given input voltage); and
2. resistors to setup current limiting
basic or foldback current limiting. Foldback current limiting will be
required if the maximum allowable load current (problem specification)
when output shorted causes too much power to be dissipated in the
regulator.
One can start the design process with the regulator. Since we have no efficiency
requirement, we may choose to use a linear regulator because of it's superior (to
switcher) regulation and ripple rejection. So we browse the data sheets and come up
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with the ... LM723 as one candidate. (Note that we should be prepared to choose a
different regulator at a later time in this design if we find that performance will not
meet specification.)
Linear Regulator:
LM723:
+ Line regulation: 0.1 %
+ Load regulation: 0.2 %
+ Power Supply ripple rejection: 74 dB (5011:1)
+ Minimum input voltage: 9.5 V.
+ Maximum input voltage: 40 V.
+ Minimum in-out voltage differential: 3 V.
+ Maximum in-out voltage differential: 38 V.
+ Maximum power dissipation (25
0
C): 660 mW
+ Maximum power dissipation (50
0
C): 500 mW
We need to determine the maximum allowable voltage drop across the regulator in
order choose our input voltage and therefor the input transformer.
Regulator Power Dissipation and Maximum Voltage Drop Across Regulator:
Maximum load current + regulator idle current = 50 mA + 4 mA = 54 mA
Maximum allowable voltage across the LM723 is
V
REG,MAX
= P
d,MAX
/ I
OUT

= 500 mW / 54 mA
= 9.2 V.
Regulator Input Voltage:
Since the required output voltage is 10 V and the regulator requires a minimum
voltage differential of 3 V, the minimum input (at the filter capacitor) should be
13 V (this figure should include the lowest value of the voltage ripple at the
filter capacitor for low line input, V
IN
- 10%.).
The maximum voltage input to the regulator is the output voltage (10 V) plus the
maximum allowable voltage across the regulator (9.2 V).
V
in. MIN
= 13 V.
V
IN, MAX
= 19.2 V.
Working backwards somewhat, we can then choose the required transformer secondary
voltage rating to produce a voltage at the filter capacitor that satisfies our regulator
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input voltage range.
The Transformer:
A nominal secondary voltage of 12 V
RMS
would give us a peak voltage across the
secondary of 17 V. The peak voltage at the filter capacitor then is 17 V minus 2
diode drops of 0.7 volts each, 15.6 V.
Now, check that the input to the regulator at high and low AC line voltages is
still within the input voltage range of the LM723 ( 13 V 19.2 V).
From the low AC line input condition we can determine the maximum allowable ripple at
the filter capacitor (ie ripple voltage must be within the input voltage requirements of
the LM 723 regulator).
The Filter Capacitor:
At low AC line input (120 VAC 10%) the peak DC voltage across the filter
capacitor is 14 VDC. Since the minimum input to the regulator is 13 V (for 10 V
out) the maximum allowable ripple voltage at the filter capacitor is:
V
CAP
= (14 V 13 V) = 1 V.
From this we obtain the required size of the filter capacitor ...
C =
( I
load
+I
quiescent
)(At )
AV
C
=
54 mA8ms
1 v
= 432jF
choose 470 jF (next standard value)
For this design the choice of diode bridge is simple:
The Diode Bridge:
To be conservative and consider AC line voltage spikes that can pass through the
transformer we choose a diode bridge with a diode PIV (or PRV) of > 4V
PEAK
or 4
x 17 V = 68 V, neglecting diode drops. We would choose the closest standard of
100V PIV.
Choose a bridge rated at 1 A (smallest standard available).
Now we can determine the value of the surge resistor in series with the diode bridge
and the filter capacitor.
The Surge Resistor:
The one cycle surge current will be limited by the dc resistance of the
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ELEX 244: Power Supply Design Considerations and Examples 9 / 11
transformer secondary, R
t
, and the surge resistor, R
S
. The one cycle surge
current to be protected against is determined by the surge capability of the
rectifier diodes (30 x current rating): I
S
= 30 x 1 A = 30 A.
R
S
+R
XFRMR
=
V
C, max
I
S
R
S
=
17.5V
30 A
0.1DR
XFRMR
R
S
=0.58 DR
XFRMR
- R
S
0.58D0.08D= 0.5D
Now, check that the required output specs can be met with these components:
Basically the output voltage quality is determined by the input to the LM723 and
the LM723 specs:
Output voltage ripple:
AV
O
=
AV
C
5011
=
1V
5011
= 0.2 mV
Line voltage regulation:
LM723 has a line regulation of 0.1% which gives a total power supply
regulation of 10% x 0.1% = 10% x 0.001 = 0.01%.
Load regulation:
for the LM723, going from a 5mA load to a 50 mA load results in a 0.2%
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ELEX 244: Power Supply Design Considerations and Examples 10 / 11
change in output voltage.
Total regulation:
is the line regulation plus the load regulation:
0.01% + 0.2% = 0.21%.
This means that for the specified input and load variations our output
voltage will change by 0.21% < 0.5% (specified)
At this point, all the specifications have been met. We only have to setup the LM723
for the output voltage and current limiting:
The LM723 Regulator Setup:
Output voltage setup:
Nominal input is 15.6 V, more than enough to setup a 10 V output.
Note that the LM723 internal reference is 7 V. To obtain an output voltage
under 7 volts, we normally just have to set up a voltage divider around V
REF
.
However, to get a 10 V output, we will need to connect the Error Amp in a non-
inverting amplifier configuration with a gain of A
V
= 1.429. In practical terms we
will have to adjust the pot, R
6
, so that the output is as close to 10 V as possible.
Note that the offset resistor R
OS
should be set to 0.5 x the value of the
Resistance in the feedback loop. The ratio of resistances in the error amplifier
feedback loop is one thing, another is the resistance to ground at the output.
This will load the output. To minimize this, the total resistance (R
5
and R
6
and
R
7
) to ground should be such that it has a negligible effect on any chosen load
(which will be in parallel to the error amplifier feedback resistances).
Current limiting:
We need to limit current output, not only to the Power supply specification, but
also to make sure that the LM723 isnt dissipating too much power. (ie < 500
mW at 50
0
C).
To protect against a short to ground, we need to make sure that the current
limiting transistor will be turned on. Since the maximum load current specified
is 50 mA, basic current limiting would give us:
R
SC
=
V
BE , Qlim
I
L , max
+I
quiescent
=0.7over 54 mA =13 D
However, the power dissipation in the LM723 when the output is shorted to
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ground (50mA output current plus 4 mA quiescent current) is:
P
d
=13 V 54 mA = 702 mW > P
d , max
= 500 mW
Since this is well above the specification for the LM723, we need to implement
foldback current limiting.
Foldback current limiting:
Given our maximum output current, we can determine the minimum load
resistance. This output voltage and current at this minimum load represent the
knee of the Voltage vs Current plot. The current limiting transistor, Q
LIM
,
should turn on at this point. We set the foldback resistances, R
3
and R
4
so that
above the specified knee current, V
BE(QLIM)
= V
RSC
- V
R3
> 0.7 volts. We then
determine the required short circuit current, I
SC
, for maximum allowable power
dissipation, and the current limiting resistor, R
SC
, is determined from I
SC
and the
resistances, R
3
and R
4
, that makeup the output current foldback.
To limit the power dissipation to 500 mW, we require that the non short-
circuited current limit be:
I
SC
=
500 mW
13V
=38.5 mA
The non shorted current limit, I
CL
, is the current at the knee of the output
voltage versus current curve:
I
CL
=
0.7( R
3
+R
4
)+V
OUT
R
3
R
4
R
SC
R
SC
=0.7over I
SC

R
3
+R
4
R
4
then ,
I
CL
=
0.7(R
3
+R
4
)+V
OUT
R
3
0.7( R
3
+R
4
)
I
SC
R
4
=|
V
OUT
R
3
V
BE , QLIM
( I
CL
/ I
SC
1)
R
3
Choose R
3
= 1 k, then determine R
4
: 47 k.
Finally, R
SC
: 18.6 .
THE END ...
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