EMT 369/3 POWER ELECTRONICS

Chapter 1

Introduction to power electronics

 EMT 369 – Power Electronics
• Power electronic circuits are used to convert electrical
power from one form to another using electronic devices.

• Power conversion is needed to match the voltage and

current requirements of the load to those of the source.

• Power electronic circuits, which convert one type or level of

a voltage or current waveform to another e.g. AC (alternating
current) to DC (direct current) or DC to DC, are called as
converters.
 Recap
1) What is AC (alternating current)?

2) What is DC (direct current) signal?

3) What is the output voltage from a 3-point electrical

socket in Malaysia?
 Recap
• AC (alternating current) flows in bidirectional / two
directions.

• DC (direct current) flows in unidirectional / one direction.

 Quiz
1) Identify whether the following signals are AC or DC.
I I

(a) (b)
I I

(c) (d)
 Quiz cont …

(e) (f)

2) Draw and label the output voltage from a 3-point

electrical socket in Malaysia.
 Converters
• Converters serve as an interface between the source and
the load.

• Let’s see some examples of converters which exist in our

daily life.
AC/DC conversion (rectification)

Input: 100-240V~1.5A 50-60Hz

Output: 19V – 3.424A

Input: 100-240V~0.5A 50-60Hz

Output: 5.2V – 2.4A
AC/DC conversion (rectification)

VOUT
• 3.3V
• 5.0V
• 12.0 V
• GND
 DC/DC conversion

USB: 5 V DDR4: 1.2V

VOUT
• 3.3V
• 5.0V
• 12.0 V
• GND
Computer psu
DDR2: 2.5V
DDR3: 1.5V
DDR4: 1.2V
 DC/AC conversion

Solar panels Electrical grid system

Output: 12V/24V/36V
 Classification of converters
• Converters are classified by the input and output relationship.

1) AC/DC converter (rectifier)

– ac input / dc output

2) DC/AC converter (inverter)

– dc input / ac output

3) DC/DC converter (dc chopper)

– dc input / dc output

4) AC/AC converter (ac controller)

– ac input / ac output
 Concept of power electronics
• Consider a design problem of creating a 3-V dc voltage
level from a 9 V dc battery.

• The simplest way is to use a voltage divider circuit as

shown below.
2RL
+
9V RL 3 V
-

• However, there are some problems with this circuit. Can

you spot them?
Concept of power electronics cont …
1) Part of the power from the battery source is absorbed by the
resistor and dissipated as heat, making the circuit less
efficient. Note:
Power (P) = current (I)  voltage (V).
Efficiency is computed using the relation
Output power
Efficiency  100%
Input power

In this case, the circuit is only 33.3% efficient. Not good!!

2) If the value of the load changes, the output voltage will

change, unless the 2RL resistance changes proportionally.
Concept of power electronics cont …
• One way to overcome this • The switch is operated ON and
problem is to use a switch OFF periodically.
in place of RL and control
the switch such that the • Ideally, the switch is short
voltage across it is circuit when it is closed and
maintained at 6 V, thus open circuit when it is opened.
regulating the output at 3 V.
Is
Vs
Is
+ -
Vs
ON

OFF
Concept of power electronics cont …
• Hence, the voltage across RL is 9 V when the switch is closed
and the voltage across RL is 0 V when the switch is opened.

• The resulting voltage across RL is

• Average voltage (vx) , which is the dc voltage, is

1 T 1 T3 1 T
avg  vx   Vx   vx  t  dt   9 dt   0 dt  3V
T 0 T 0 T T3
Concept of power electronics cont …
• Again, note that Power (P) = Current (I)  Voltage (V).

• When the switch is opened, power absorbed by the switch

is zero because the current in it is zero.

• When the switch is closed, power absorbed by the switch

is zero because voltage across it is zero.

• Since power absorbed by the switch is zero for both open

and closed conditions, all power supplied by the 9 V
battery is delivered to RL, making the circuit 100 %
efficient.
Concept of power electronics cont …

• However, the output voltage waveform is a pulsed

voltage waveform.

• This means that the waveform contains not only the

average voltage (dc voltage) but also the sinusoidal
voltages (ac voltages) at frequencies that are multiples of
the pulse frequency.
 A bit on Fourier series
• According to the Fourier theorem, any practical periodic
function of frequency ω0 can be expressed as an infinite sum
of sine or cosine functions that are integral multiples of ω0.
 Fourier series cont …

• Can you recall this?

• So, what does this really mean?

 Fourier series
cont …
Sum of dc and 11 ac components
Concept of power electronics cont …
• Since vx contains ac voltages, vx is applied to a low-pass
filter which allows the dc component of voltage to pass
through to the output while removing the ac voltages, thus
creating the dc output voltage.

• The low-pass filter must be designed with the appropriate

cut-off frequency based on the switching frequency of the
switch.
 A bit on low-pass filter
• An ideal low-pass filter has a frequency response H(j)
H(j)
VOUT  j 
1 H  j  
VIN(j )
Low-pass
VOUT(j ) VIN  j 
filter

0

• Signal with frequency < 0 will pass through the filter and
signal with frequency > 0 will be attenuated.

• Using the square waveform as an example, if the filter is

designed to have a cutoff frequency less than 0.5 rad/s, the dc
component (0 rad/s) will pass through the filter and all other ac
components with frequency >= 0.5 rad/s will be attenuated.
Concept of power electronics cont …
• After a long period of operation, the battery voltage may
drop. Assuming that the battery voltage drops to 6 V, the
switch will have to be closed 50 % of the time to maintain an
average voltage of 3 V for vx. In other words, the time that
the switch is OFF and ON must be changed.

• Therefore, a feedback control system is needed to detect if

the output voltage is not 3 V and adjust the closing and
opening of the switch accordingly.
 Summary
• There are FOUR (4) types of converters classified based on
the input output relationships. These converters are
• AC/DC
• DC/AC
• DC/DC
• AC/AC

• Switches are one of the main components in power electronics

circuits.

• Power electronics is the technology associated with the

efficient conversion, control and conditioning of electric
power by static means from its available input form into the
desired electrical output form.