CHOPPER A dc chopper is a dc-to-dc voltage converter.

It is a static switching electrical appliance that in one electrical conversion, changes an input fixed dc voltage to an adjustable dc output voltage without inductive or capacitive intermediate energy storage. The name chopper is connected with the fact that the output voltage is a chopped up quasi-rectangular version of the input dc voltage. In chapters 11 and 12, thyristor devices were used in conjunction with an ac supply that forces thyristor turn-off at ac supply current reversal. This form of thyristor natural commutation, which is illustrated infigure below, is termed line or source commutation. When a dc source is used with a thyristor circuit, energy source facilitated commutation is clearly not possible. If the load is an R-C or L-C circuit as illustrated in figure below, the load current falls to zero whence the thyristor in series with the dc supply turns off. Such a natural turn-off process is termed load commutation.If the supply is dc and the load current has no natural zero current periods, such as with the R-L load, dc chopper circuit shown in figure below, the load current can only be commutated using a selfcommutating switch, such as a GTO thyristor, GCT, IGBT or MOSFET. An SCR is not suitable since once the device is latched on in this dc supply application, it remains on. The dc chopper in figure below is the simplest of the five dc choppers to be considered in this chapter. This single-ended, grounded-load, dc chopper will be extensively analysed.

DC chopper variations There are five types of dc choppers, of which four are a subset of the fifth - the flexible but basic, fourquadrant H-bridge chopper shown in the centre of figure 13.2. Notice that the circuits in figure below are highlighted so that the derivation of each dc chopper from the fundamental H-bridge four-quadrant, dc chopper can be seen. Each chopper can be categorized depending on which output Io-Vo quadrant or quadrants it can operate in, as shown in figure below. The five different choppers in figure below are classified according to their output Io - Vo capabilities as follows: a) First quadrant - I +Vo +Io (b) Second quadrant - II +Vo -Io (c) Two quadrant - I and II +Vo Io (d) Two quadrant - I and IV Vo +Io (e) Four quadrant - I, II, III, and IV Vo Io In the five choppers in the parts a to e of figure below, the subscript of the active switch or switches and diodes specify in which quadrants operation is possible. For example, the chopper in figure below uses switches T1 and T3, so can only operate in the first (+Io,+Vo) and third (-Io,-Vo) quadrants. The first-quadrant chopper in figure below can only produce a positive voltage across the load since the freewheel diode D1 prevents a negative output voltage. Also, the chopper can only deliver current from the dc source to the load through the unidirectional switch T1. It is therefore a single quadrant chopper and only operates in the first quadrant (+Io,+Vo).

The second-quadrant chopper, (-Io,+Vo), in figure belowis a voltage boost circuit and current flows from the load to the supply, Vs. The switch T2 is turned on to buildup the inductive load current. Then when the switch is turned off current is forced to flow through diode D2 into the dc supply. The two current paths (when the switch on and when its is off) are shown in figure below.

PRINCIPLE OF CHOPPER OPERATION A chopper is a high speed on" or off semiconductor switch. It connects source to load and load and disconnect the load from source at a fast speed. In this manner, a chopped load voltage as shown in Fig. is obtained from a constant dc supply of magnitude Vs. For the sake of highlighting the principle of chopper operation, the circuitry used for controlling the on, off periods is not shown. During the period Ton, chopper is on and load voltage is equal to source voltage Vs. During the period Toff, chopper is off, load voltage is zero. In this manner, a chopped dc voltage is produced at the load terminals [2]. .

Average Voltage, Vo= (Ton/ (Ton+Toff))*Vs = (Ton/T)*Vs =Vs Ton=on-time. Toff=off-time. T=Ton+Toff = Chopping period. =Ton/Toff . Thus the voltage can be controlled by varying duty cycle . Vo = f* Ton* Vs f=1/T=chopping frequency

CONTROL STRATEGY

The average value of output voltage Vo can be controlled through duty cycle by opening and closing the semiconductor switch periodically. The various control strategies for varying duty cycle are as following: 1. Time ratio Control (TRC) and 2. Current-Limit Control. These are now explained below Time ratio Control (TRC

In this control scheme, time ratio Ton/T(duty ratio) is varied. This is realized by two different ways called Constant Frequency System and Variable Frequency System as described below: 1. CONSTANT FREQUENCY SYSTEM In this scheme, on-time is varied but chopping frequency f is kept constant. Variation of Ton means adjustment of pulse width, as such this scheme is also called pulse-width-modulation scheme. 2. VARIABLE FREQUENCY SYSTEM In this technique, the chopping frequency f is varied and either (i) on-time Ton is kept constant or (ii) off-time Toff is kept constant. This method of controlling duty ratio is also called Frequency-modulation scheme CURRENT- LIMIT CONTROL

In this control strategy, the on and off of chopper circuit is decided by the previous set value of load current. The two set values are maximum load current and minimum load current.When the load current reaches the upper limit, chopper is switched off. When the load current falls below lower limit, the chopper is switched on. Switching frequency of chopper can be controlled by setting maximum and minimum level of current.Current limit control involves feedback loop, the trigger circuit for the chopper is thereforemore complex.PWM technique is the commonly chosen control strategy for the power control in chopper circuit.

GATE TURN OFF THYRISTOR AS A SWITCHING DEVICE A GTO (Gate Turn Off) is a more versatile power-semiconductor device. It is like a Conventional Thyristor but with some added features . A GTO can easily be turned off by a negative gate pulse of appropriate amplitude. Thus, a GTO is a pn-pn device that can be turned on by a positive gate current and turned off by a negative gate current at the gate cathode terminals. Self turn off capability of GTO makes it the suitable device for inverter and chopper applications