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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

Advances in the field of electronics led to the development of sophisticated, small size,
light weight power converters to meet the demands of the users applications that varied from a
simple mobile radio to robotic applications. These converters mostly use switching devices for
efficient power system management that has given rise to a phenomenon termed as Harmonic
Emission'. Harmonics is an unwanted spectral component and is integral multiple of the
fundamental power frequency. The effects of the harmonics includes failure of electrical /
electronic components, overheating of neutral wires, transformer heating, failure of power factor
correction capacitors, losses in power generation and transmission, noise coupling on telephone
lines etc., and would seriously affect sensitive equipment connected in parallel to the same
source.

This

necessitates

harmonic

components

of

input

current

produced

by

electrical/electronic equipment connected to public low voltage distribution system to be kept as

low as possible to be well within permissible limits prescribed by standards authority. The effects
of the harmonics can be suppressed using active or passive harmonic filters at the power supply
input point which in turn requires knowledge about the source of harmonics and the level of
distortion that is present.
1.1 Generation of Harmonic
Mains voltage is generally sinusoidal. The current wave forms of the systems connected
to the mains will also be sinusoidal only if a linear load like Incandescent lamps, heaters is
connected to it. Power electronic converters being nonlinear, if connected to the mains, the
current waveform is not sinusoidal and it is distorted. This is mainly due to the nonlinear nature
of devices used in converters drawing current waveform that doesnt follow the voltage
waveform. The total current drawn is given by,
IT = I F + I H

(1.1)

IH = Total harmonic current.

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where IF = Fundamental current.

1.2 Effects of Harmonics
Heating effect on the conductors is one of the main problems caused by the harmonic
currents. Higher frequency harmonic currents generally flow on the outer sides of the conductor
due to the skin effect thus effectively reducing the cross-sectional area of the conductor. This
effect leads to the heating of the conductors. Overheating of the neutral wires is also caused by
the harmonics produced in any one phase of a balanced three phase system. The distorted voltage
produced by the nonlinear loads, if fed to the equipment's having sinusoidal input voltage it
results in overheating of the equipment or it may even lead to malfunctioning of the equipment.
Harmonic current flowing through a network mainly causes two effects. They are
(i) the transmission loss due to the increased r.m.s. value of current.
(ii) The other effect of the harmonic current is the Creation of harmonic voltage drop
across the circuit impedances. The harmonic voltage in a transformer increases the hysteresis and
eddy current losses and also stresses the insulation. The flow of harmonic current increases the
copper losses. The harmonic voltages also affect the communication system through different
types of coupling mechanisms like loop induction, longitudinal electromagnetic induction,
longitudinal electrostatic induction and also by conduction.
1.3 Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
The level of distortion due to the nonlinear load is directly related to the frequencies and
amplitudes of the harmonic current. The contribution of all harmonic frequency currents to the
fundamental current is called Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
THD ( )=

I 2h
X 100
I 2f

(1.2)

where ih = Amplitude of harmonic current

if = Amplitude of fundamental current

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1.4 Single phase AC to DC converters

Introduction to converters that are considered for study is given below highlighting the
harmonic content of the input source current and filters on input side . The converters that are
studied are Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit with and without filter and Single
phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit with and without filter.
1.4.1 Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit

The single-phase half-wave controlled rectifier uses a single thyristor to control the load
voltage as shown in Fig.1.1. The thyristor will conduct (on-state), when the voltage V T is positive
and a firing current pulse iG is applied to the gate terminal. The control of the load voltage is
performed by delaying the firing pulse by an angle . The angle is measured from the zerocrossing point of the supply voltage vs. . The load is resistive and therefore the current i d has the
same waveform of the load voltage. The thyristor goes to the non-conducting condition (offstate), when the load voltage, and consequently the current, reaches a negative value. The load
average voltage is given by

(1.3)
where Vmax is the supply peak voltage. Hence, it can be seen from Eq. (1.3) that
changing the firing angle controls both the load average voltage and the amount of transferred
power.

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Fig.1.1 Single-thyristor rectifier with resistive load.

1.4.2 Single phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit

Figure 1.2 shows a fully controlled bridge rectifier, which uses four thyristors to control
the average load voltage. The voltage and current waveforms of the fully controlled bridge
rectifier for a resistive load are illustrated in Fig 1.3. Thyristors T1 and T2 must be fired on
simultaneously during the positive half-wave of the source voltage v s, to allow the conduction of
current. Alternatively, thyristors T3 and T4 must be fired simultaneously during the negative
half-wave of the source voltage. To ensure simultaneous firing, thyristors T1 and T2 use the same
firing signal. The load voltage is similar to the voltage obtained with the bi-phase half-wave
rectifier. The input current is given by

(1.4)
and its waveform is shown in Fig. 1.7. The firing of thyristors T3 and T4 has two effects:
(i) they turn-off thyristors T1 and T2 and (ii) after the commutation, they conduct the load
current. This is the main reason why this type of converters are called naturally commutated or
line commutated rectifiers.

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Fig.1.2. Fully controlled bridge rectifier

Fig.1.3. Waveforms of fully controlled rectifier bridge circuit

1.5 Fourier Analysis
Fourier analysis of the source current can be performed to determine the fundamental
component of the distorted input current and the THD. A Fourier series is an expansion of a
periodic function

in terms of an infinite sum of sines and cosines. Fourier series make use of

the orthogonality relationships of the sine and cosine functions. The computation and study of
Fourier series is known as harmonic analysis and is extremely useful as a way to break up an
arbitrary periodic function into a set of simple terms that can be plugged in, solved individually,
and then recombined to obtain the solution to the original problem or an approximation to it to
whatever accuracy is desired or practical.
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CHAPTER 2
FOURIER ANALYSIS OF CONVERTERS
2.1. Fourier series

The Fourier series involving sines and cosines is obtained by taking

. Since these functions form a complete orthogonal system over
series of a function

and
, the Fourier

is given by

(2.1)
where a0, an and bn are respectively
(2.2)
,
and

(2.3)

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2.2 Fourier analysis of input current

The input current harmonics plays a vital role as the distortion spreads to the other parts
of the network. For the half wave and full wave controlled converters, the input current
waveform is considered with ideal thyristors for different phase angles and Fourier analysis
performed to determine the THD.
2.2.1 Half Wave controlled rectifier
The input current waveform of a halfwave controlled rectifier is shown in fig.2.1., for a
typical delay angle. The current is periodic and is

is

= 0 for wt = 0 to

(2.4)

= Im Sin wt for wt = to
= 0 for wt = to 2

Fig.2.1.input current waveform of a halfwave controlled rectifier

This is taken as f (t) and the Fourier series is obtained as follows.

(2.5)

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Where

(2.6)

(2.7)

(2.8)

Where = for the sine wave current.

RMS value of source current is
(2.9)

Fourier coefficients for the fundamental component can be found from

(2.10)

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(2.11)

(2.12)

(2.13)

Where =

(2.14)
Fig.2.1 shows a simplified schematic of the controlled rectifier circuit. In it four thyristors
are connected in a full bridge configuration with an AC input and a resistive load output. The
firing angle () of the thyristors can be controlled through their gates to chop the input current on
the positive and negative cycles.

Fig.2.2 simplified schematic of the Thyristor controlled circuit.

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Since in determining the THD this analysis is only concerned with the fundamental
component (n = 1), the above equations must only be used for n equal to one.
1
a1= sin 2 ( )

sin(2 )
b1=1 +

(2.16)

(2.17)

Since both a1 and b1 are magnitudes and at the same frequency they must be changes to
rms values and their geometric mean must be calculated.

(2.18)
The total rms value is calculated from:

(2.19)
While the THD can be shown as:

(2.20)

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CHAPTER 3
Simulation of Single Phase Converters
3.1 Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit
Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit in SIMULINK is shown in Fig.3.1. A
typical 12V source with a resistive load of 12 Ohms that would draw a current of around 1A after
filtering is considered. The diode forward drop is 0.8V with negligible resistance. The current
measurement block senses the input current and the magnitude of fundamental component or any
multiple there of is obtained with Fourier block. THD and the harmonic spectra are obtained
using powergui as shown in fig.3.2. and 3.4

Fig.3.1 Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit(without filter) - SIMULINK

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Fig.3.2 Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit(without filter) - Harmonics

Fig.3.3 Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit(with filter) - SIMULINK

Fig.3.4 Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit(with filter) - Harmonics

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3.2 Single phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit

Single phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit in SIMULINK is shown in Fig.3.5. A
12V, 50 Hz source simulating the secondary of a single phase two winding transformer is
considered with a resistive load of 12 Ohms that would draw a current of around 1A after a filter.
The diode forward drop is 0.7V with negligible resistance. The current measurement block
senses the input current and the magnitude of fundamental component or any multiple thereof is
obtained with Fourier block. THD and the harmonic spectra are obtained using powergui as
shown in fig.3.6. and 3.8

Fig.3.5 Single phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit(without) - SIMULINK

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Fig.3.6 Single phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit (without) - Harmonics

Fig.3.7 Single phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit(with) - SIMULINK

Fig.3.6 Single phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit (with) - Harmonics

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CHAPTER 4
Simulink Results
4.1 Single phase half wave controlled circuit without and with filter
Table 4.1 THD Vs Simulink half wave(without filter)
Alpha
0
30

THD
43.68%
54.84%

60

78.72%

90

110.93%

120

178.14%

150

245.74%

180

0.12%

Table 4.2 THD Vs - Simulink half wave(with filter)

Firing Alpha
0

THD1
41.36%

30

51.75%

60

75.58.%

90

108.09%

120

153.24%

150

244.01%

180

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4.2 Single phase full wave controlled circuit without and with filter
Table 4.3 THD Vs Simulink full wave(without filter)
Alpha
0

THD
0.45%

30

0.34%

45

0.32%

60

0.33%

75

0.41%

90

0.32%

120

0.40%

Table 4.3 THD Vs Simulink full wave(with filter)

Firing Alpha
0

0.03%

THD1

30

17.69%

45

17.96%

60

17.82%

75

17.72%

90

17.81%

120

0.39%

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CHAPTER 5
Conclusion
Most electronic equipment is supplied by 50 Hz or 60 Hz utility power, and in almost all
of them power is processed through some kind of power converter. Usually, power converters
use a diode rectifier followed by a bulk capacitor to convert AC voltage to DC voltage. In this
project the total harmonic distortion (THD) of single phase controlled and uncontrolled rectifiers
was investigated. The investigation began with a mathematical derivation of the fundamental
component of the Fourier series of the input current waveform. This result was used to determine
the rms value of the fundamental component of the input current and the corresponding THD.
The converters that are studied are, Single phase half wave fully controlled circuit and Single
phase fully controlled thyristor bridge circuit. So, Improvements in total harmonic distortion can
be achieved by modifying the input stage of the converter circuit with a filter so that the power
supply is isolated from other sensitive equipment as far as harmonics are concerned.

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References

1. Rashid, M., Power Electronics: Circuits, Devices, and Applications,

3rd Edition, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 2004.
2. McCarty, M.; Taufik, T.; Pratama, A.; Anwari, M., "Harmonic analysis
of input current of single- phase controlled bridge rectifier," Industrial
Electronics & Applications, 2009. ISIEA 2009. IEEE Symposium on ,
vol.1, no., pp.520,524, 4-6 Oct. 2009.
3. R. Navaneethan, E. Annie Elisabeth Jebaseel I , A Single Phase AcDc Converter With Improved Power Factor And Harmonic Reduction,
International Journal Of Technology Enhancements And Emerging
Engineering Research, vol 2, issue 3,2014.
4. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FourierSeries.html (Fourier series).
5.Power Electronics Lab Manual, University of Technology, Iraq,
http://www.uotechnology.edu.iq/deplaserandoptoeleceng/laboratory/3/
powere/Experiment No.3.pdf.
6.MATLAB
user
manual
http://www.mathworks.com/products/simpower/

R2009b.

7. Cyril W Lander, "Power Electronics, 3rd Edition., Tata McGraw Hill

Publishing Co., England 1993.

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