DC Power Supply

(+12V)
In this project, a constant 12V power supply circuit is designed. The

circuit needs to be designed in a way that it should be void of any

fluctuations or ripples. The circuit will input supply from main AC supplies

and will convert it to a ripple free 12V DC supply. The power circuit

designed in this project uses 7812 voltage regulator IC and uses

conventional steps of power circuit design like stepping down AC

voltage, converting AC voltage to DC voltage, and Smoothing DC

voltage for getting direct input from the AC mains.

Components Required:

Components Name Specification Quantity

1. Transformer 18-0-18V 500mA 1

2. Voltage Regulator LM7812 1
3. Diodes 1N4007 4
4. Capacitor 1000uF 1
5. Capacitor 0.01uF 1
Circuit Diagram:

Block Diagram:

How the circuit works-

The power circuit operates in well-defined stages with each stage serving a specific
purpose. The circuit operates in the following stages -
1. AC to AC Conversion
2. AC to DC Conversion – Full Wave Rectification
3. Smoothing
4. Voltage Regulation
AC to AC conversion:

The voltage of Main Supplies (Electricity fed by the intermediate transformer after stepping
down line voltage from generating station) is approximately 220-230V AC which further
needs to be stepped down to 12V level. To reduce the 220V AC to 12V AC, a step-down
transformer with center taping is used. The use of center tap transformer allows to generate
both positive and negative voltage at the input, however, only positive voltage will be drawn
from the transformer. The circuit takes some drop in the output voltage due to resistive loss.
Therefore a transformer of high voltage rating greater than the required 12 V needs to be
taken. The transformer should provide 1A current at the output. The most suitable step-
down transformer that meets the mentioned voltage and current requirements is 18V-0-
18V/500mA. This transformer step downs the main line voltage to +/-18V AC.

AC to DC conversion – full wave rectification:

The stepped down AC voltage needs to be converted to DC voltage through rectification.

The rectification is the process of converting AC voltage to DC voltage. In this circuit, a full-
wave bridge rectifier is used. In full wave bridge rectifier configuration, four diodes are
connected in such a way that current flows through them in only one direction resulting in a
DC signal at the output. During full wave rectification, at a time two diodes become
forward biased and another two diodes get reverse biased. The 1N4007 diodes are chosen to
build the full wave rectifier because they have the maximum (average) forward current
rating of 1A and in reverse biased condition, they can sustain peak inverse voltage up to
1000V. That is why 1N4007 diodes are used in this project for full wave rectification.

Smoothing:

Smoothing is the process of smoothing or filtering the DC signal by using a capacitor. The
output of the rectifier has double the frequency of main supplies but contains ripples.
Therefore, it needs to be smoothed by connecting a capacitor in parallel to the output of full
wave rectifier. The capacitor charges and discharges during a cycle giving a steady DC
voltage as an output. So, a capacitor of high value is connected to the output of rectifier
circuit. As the DC which is to be rectified by the rectifier circuit has many AC spikes and
unwanted ripples, so to reduce these spikes capacitor is used. This capacitor acts as a
filtering capacitor which bypasses all the AC through it to ground. At the output, the mean
DC voltage left is smoother and ripple free.

Voltage Regulation:

For providing a regulated 12V at the output, an LM7812 IC is used. This IC is capable of
providing current up to 1A. It will provide regulated and stabilized the voltage at the output
irrespective of the variations in the input voltage and load current. The LM7812 IC can
have input voltages from 14.8V to 27V and it provides a constant output voltage from 11.5V
to 12.5V. The IC is capable of providing maximum 1A current at the output. LM7812
internally can sustain up to 1.78W power dissipation. Above 1.78W, the IC will not tolerate
the amount of heat generated and will start burning. This can cause a serious fire hazard
also.