POWER SUPPLY CIRCUIT

Any invention of latest technology cannot be activated without the source of power. So in this fast
moving world we deliberately need a proper power source which will be adoptable for a particular
requirement. All the power electronics components starting from diodes, transistors, relays and
ICs, they all need power to operate because they are not active components. And all these
components only work with a DC supply ranging from 5V to 12V. The cheapest and commonly
available energy source is of 220V AC with 50Hz frequency. By stepping down, rectifying,
filtering and regulating these voltages we can get DC supply of 12V or 5V.

To get this DC supply we used a 220V AC to 12V step down transformer. And then for
rectification purpose we used a bridge rectifier that rectifies stepped down 12V AC into 12V DC.
After that filter capacitor is used to smooth the pulsating DC output and then regulators are used
to regulate the 12V DC to 5V DC. Our projects DC power circuit is shown in figure below:

Step-Down Transformer
A step-down transformer acts as a voltage-decreasing device. The amount by which it decreases
the input voltage depends on the ratio of the number of turns in the primary coil to the number of
turns in the secondary coil.
For example, the primary coil has double the amount of turns as the secondary coil, the ratio will
be 2:1 and the output voltage will be half the input voltage. Though step-down transformers
decrease the voltage of the output voltage, the overall power is not decreased. Transformers are
simply conversion devices. They do not create voltage or power. So if a step-down transformer
decreases voltage, it increases current. If it cuts the voltage output in half, the current output
doubles. So that the output signal now has double the current capability as the input signal. Step-
down transformers never create or loser power; they only convert it into different forms.

Bridge Rectifier
A bridge rectifier makes use of four diodes in a bridge arrangement to achieve full-wave
rectification. This is a widely used configuration, both with individual diodes wired as shown and
with single component bridges where the diode bridge is wired internally.

For Current flow in both positive and negative swings of the transformer, there is a forward path
through the diode bridge. Both conduction paths cause current to flow in the same direction
through the load resistor, accomplishing full-wave rectification.

While one set of diodes is forward biased, the other set is reverse biased and effectively
eliminated from the circuit.

Filter Capacitor
In power supplies, capacitors are used to smooth (filter) the pulsating DC output after rectification
so that a nearly constant DC voltage is supplied to the load. The pulsating output of the rectifiers
has an average DC value and an AC portion that is called ripple voltage.

Figure on next page shows an electrolytic capacitor used as a reservoir capacitor, so called
because it acts as a temporary storage for the power supply output current. The rectifier diode
supplies current to charge a reservoir capacitor on each cycle of the input wave. The reservoir cap
capacitor is a large electrolytic, usually of several hundred or even a thousand or more
microfarads, especially in mains frequency PSUs. This very large value of capacitance is required
because the reservoir capacitor, when charged, must provide enough DC to maintain a steady PSU
output in the absence of an input current; i.e. during the gaps between the positive half cycles
when the rectifier is not conducting.

What is the need of filter capacitor in power supply circuit?

The action of the reservoir capacitor on a half wave rectified sine wave is shown in Figure below:

During each cycle, the rectifier anode AC voltage increases towards Vpk. At some point close to
Vpk the anode voltage exceeds the cathode voltage, the rectifier conducts and a pulse of current
flows, charging the reservoir capacitor to the value of Vpk. Once the input wave passes Vpk the
rectifier anode falls below the capacitor voltage, the rectifier becomes reverse biased and
conduction stops. The load circuit is now supplied by the reservoir capacitor alone (hence the
need for a large capacitor).

Of course, even though the reservoir capacitor has large value, it discharges as it supplies the load,
and its voltage falls, but not by very much. At some point during the next cycle of the mains input,
the rectifier input voltage rises above the voltage on the partly discharged capacitor and the
reservoir is re-charged to the peak value Vpk again.

The amount by which the reservoir capacitor discharges on each half cycle is determined by the
current drawn by the load. The higher the load current, the more the discharge, but provided that
the current drawn is not excessive, the amount of the AC present in the output is much reduced.
Voltage Regulator
A voltage regulator is designed to automatically maintain a constant voltage level. A voltage
regulator may be a simple "feed-forward" design or may include negative feedback control loops.
It may use an electromechanical mechanism, or electronic components. Depending on the design,
it may be used to regulate one or more AC or DC voltages.

Electronic voltage regulators are found in devices such as computer power supplies where they
stabilize the DC voltages used by the processor and other elements. In automobile alternators and
central power station generator plants, voltage regulators control the output of the plant. In an
electric power distribution system, voltage regulators may be installed at a substation or along
distribution lines so that all customers receive steady voltage independent of how much power is
drawn from the line.

In our Project we have used 7805 regulator which converts 8-15V DC into fixed 5 volts. It has
three terminals one for input one for output and one for ground. In figure below the internal
structure of 7805 is shown.
AIR BLOWER CIRCUIT
The main circuit of our project is the blower driver circuit which consists of a transistor and a
relay with a proximity sensor. The circuit diagram is shown below:

NPN Transistor
NPN is one of the two types of bipolar transistors, consisting of a layer of P-doped semiconductor
(the "base") between two N-doped layers. A small current entering the base is amplified to
produce a large collector and emitter current.
A bipolar junction transistor (bipolar transistor or BJT) is a type of transistor that uses both
electron and hole charge carriers. In contrast, unipolar transistors, such as field-effect transistors,
only use one kind of charge carrier. For their operation, BJTs use two junctions between two
semiconductor types, n-type and p-type.

BJTs are manufactured in two types, NPN and PNP, and are available as individual components,
or fabricated in integrated circuits, often in large numbers. The basic function of a BJT is to
amplify current. This allows BJTs to be used as amplifiers or switches, giving them wide
applicability in electronic equipment, including computers, televisions, mobile phones, audio
amplifiers, industrial control, and radio transmitters.

Relays
A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to mechanically
operate a switch, but other operating principles are also used, such as solid-state relays. Relays are
used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a separate low-power signal, or where several
circuits must be controlled by one signal. The first relays were used in long distance telegraph
circuits as amplifiers: they repeated the signal coming in from one circuit and re-transmitted it on
another circuit. Relays were used extensively in telephone exchanges and early computers to
perform logical operations.

The advantage of relays is that it takes a relatively small amount of power to operate the relay
coil, but the relay itself can be used to control motors, heaters, lamps or AC circuits which
themselves can draw a lot more electrical power.

NPN Relay Switch Circuit

The design and types of relay switching circuits is huge, but many small electronic projects use
transistors and MOSFETs as their main switching device as the transistor can provide fast DC
switching (ON-OFF) control of the relay coil from a variety of input sources so here is a small
collection of some of the more common ways of switching relays.

A typical relay switch circuit has the coil driven by a NPN transistor switch, TR1 as shown
depending on the input voltage level. When the Base voltage of the transistor is zero (or negative),
the transistor is cut-off and acts as an open switch. In this condition no Collector current flows
and the relay coil is de-energised because being current devices, if no current flows into the Base,
then no current will flow through the relay coil. If a large enough positive current is now driven
into the Base to saturate the NPN transistor, the current flowing from Base to Emitter (B to E)
controls the larger relay coil current flowing through the transistor from the Collector to Emitter.

For most bipolar switching transistors, the amount of relay coil current flowing into the Collector
would be somewhere between 50 to 800 times that of the required Base current to drive the
transistor into saturation. The current gain, or beta value ( ) of the general purpose BC109
shown is typically about 290 at 2mA (Datasheet).

Note that the relay coil is not only an electromagnet but it is also an inductor. When power is
applied to the coil due to the switching action of the transistor, a maximum current will flow as a
result of the DC resistance of the coil as defined by Ohms Law, (I = V/R). Some of this electrical
energy is stored within the relay coils magnetic field. When the transistor switches OFF, the
current flowing through the relay coil decreases and the magnetic field collapses. However the
stored energy within the magnetic field has to go some where and a reverse voltage is developed
across the coil as it tries to maintain the current in the relay coil. This action produces a high
voltage spike across the relays coil that can damage the switching NPN transistor if allowed to
build up.

So in order to prevent damage to the semiconductor transistor, a flywheel diode, also known as
a freewheeling diode, is connected across the relay coil. This flywheel diode clamps the reverse
voltage across the coil to about 0.7V dissipating the stored energy and protecting the switching
transistor. Flywheel diodes are only applicable when the supply is a polarized DC voltage. An AC
coil requires a different protection method, and for this an RC snubbed circuit is used.

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