An SCR-based Regenerative Converter for VSI Drives

N. R.Raju
Silicon Power Corporation 252 Welsh Pool Rd. Exton, PA 19341, USA raju@ieee.org
Abstract - This paper presents an SCR-based topology for transferring braking energy from the dc link to the mains for voltage-source inverter (VSI) drives. The proposed topology uses a line-commutated SCR bridge in conjunction with a controlled connection between the neutral and the dc bus capacitance center-tap. It is shown that the center-tap connection provides improved commutation margins and obviates the requirement for matching transformers generally used with linecommutated regenerative circuits. The circuit provides a lower cost alternative to P W M rectifiers and other currently used regenerative modules. An additional function that the circuit can perform is ride-through during input voltage sags. Advantages of the proposed SCR-based circuit include low cost and ruggedness. Disadvantages include elevated neutral current and harmonics during regeneration. Simulation waveforms are presented to indicate circuit operation.

I. INTRODUCTION
The P W M voltage-sourced inverter has become the topology of choice for most industrial drives. The dc link for the inverter is often fed with a diode bridge, which allows power flow only in the motoring direction. During braking, energy is fed back through the inverter to the dc link. This braking energy, unless disposed off, can result in a dangerous build-up of voltage across the dc bus. A common solution, shown in Fig. 1, is to dissipate the energy in a dynamic brake resistor that is placed across the dc link when the dc bus voltage exceeds its normal levels [1,2]. For applications requiring frequent braking, this entails considerable losses and heat generation.

Several alternatives are available to feed the braking energy back into the ac mains. The traditional approach uses a reverse-connected SCR bridge to invert the regenerative power back into the mains [l-31. Natural commutation can be sustained as long as the peak mains voltage exceeds the dc bus voltage. This is difficult, at best, to achieve in a drive with a diode fiont-end, since the dc bus is charged to the peak lineline voltage during regular operation and rises above this level during regeneration. One widely used solution, shown in Fig.2, is to use a phase-backed SCR rectifier and operate the converter at reduced dc link voltage during normal rectification. This ensures that the dc bus voltage is low enough to maintain safe commutation of the inverting SCR bridge as the drive enters the regeneration mode. In another common scheme, shown in Fig. 3, the inverting bridge is connected through an autotransformer to allow adequate commutation margins [ ] 4. To avoid the deficiencies imposed by line commutation, several approaches have been proposed
i -

Fig.2: Dual SCR bridge front-end +

ac supply

! 4
I I
I

+
I I

diode rectifier

brake

inverter

motor

Fig. 1: Dynamic brake resistor method

Fig.3: Autotransformer-connectedSCR bridge

0-7803-7754-0/03/$17.0002003 IEEE

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which augment the inverting bridge with self-turn-off devices to ensure reliable commutations [5-121. Fig. 4 shows one scheme in which commutation of the bridge thyristors is performed by two turn-off switches connected to the positive and negative rails [5,11,12]. Fig. 5 shows a different approach in which a reversing bridge is connected between a SCR front-end and the

+
Fig.6: PWM rectifier front-end

11. PROPOSED METHOD

A new method is proposed which provides an improved way to use an SCR bridge for regenerative power flow. The proposed method involves using a controlled connection between the neutral and the dc bus center-tap to facilitate line-commutation of the regenerative bridge. Fig. 7 shows the proposed circuit for an improved SCR-based regenerative front-end. During normal rectification, the SCRs are gated off and the front-end acts as a six pulse diode bridge. During regeneration, switch S, is tumed on. Switches in the inverting SCR bridge are sequentially gated to transfer power from the dc bus capacitors to the supply phases. Commutation can be achieved as long as the peak line-neutral voltage exceeds the voltages across each of the capacitors. This condition can be met if the dc bus voltage does not rise by more than 15% (1 - d3/2) before the regenerative control is activated. It should be noted that a center-tap in the dc bus is readily available, since a series connection of capacitors is generally used due to voltage limitation of electrolytic capacitors. Fig. 8 shows the equivalent commutation circuit for regeneration for the conventional and the proposed approach. Fig. 8a shows

Fig.4: SCR bridge with tum-off switches

-.

Fig.5: SCR rectifier with reversing bridge DC bus [6,7,9]. Regeneration is achieved by connecting the dc bus in reverse to the phase-controlled rectifier. Another common approach, shown in Fig. 6 is to use a PWM rectifier instead of a diode bridge in the frontend [2]. This circuit, in addition to bidirectional power flow, provides dc bus voltage control and harmonicfree unity power factor operation. This approach, while having many advantages, is expensive since the machine-side inverter is essentially replicated.

Idcl

to drive inverter

Fig.7: Proposed regenerative SCR front-end with center-tap connection for improved line commutation

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I
Fig.8:

n
Si,

(b) bottom - Equivalent commutation circuit for proposed circuit

(a) top - Equivalent commutation circuit for conventionalregenerative SCR bridge

the conventional circuit during an interval, when phases a and b are conducting with power returning from the dc bus. The line-line voltage must exceed the dc bus voltage for a sufficient time to commutate the current. This may be difficult to ensure with the increased dc bus voltage encountered during braking. Fig. 8b shows the proposed circuit during an interval, where phase a is conducting with regenerative current returning from the positive dc rail. In this case, the commutation is relatively easier to achieve since the peak line-neutral voltage is generally greater than half the dc bus voltage. The neutral connection scheme can also boost the dc bus voltage during input voltage sags by converting the front-end from a six-pulse configuration to a series connection of two half-wave bridges [ 131.
111. CIRCUIT ANALYSIS

the braking current returned by the inverter. However, such an analysis has not been undertaken here. With a triggering angle of a, referenced to the zerocrossing of the phase a voltage,
i, =-

JZV,, (cos(a) - cos(ux)) -&(ax

&

2&

- a)

(2)

The extinction angle, p, can be obtained by solving,

Jzv,n vdc (cos(a)-cos(p))--(p-a)

OIL

2mL

=O

(3)

To avoid shorts between the supply phases through the rectifying diode bridge and the regenerating SCR bridge, the triggering and extinction angles should be such that: a >d6;

p< 5 d 6

(4)

The current, io, during the interval when the positive dc bus capacitor is regenerating into phase a, can be described by the following equation,

In addition, to maintain the dc bus voltage during

regeneration, the average power recovered by the supply must equal the braking power returned by the inverter, i.e.,

This assumes that the dc bus capacitor is sufficiently large to maintain a stiff dc voltage. A more accurate analysis would need to model the dc bus voltage, taking into account the dc bus capacitance value and

The gating angle, a, for the regenerative bridge is selected to satisfy equations (4) and (5).

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Fig.9:

Waveforms during motoring and regeneration top - AC input voltage/current and dc bus voltage middle - positive and negative dc bus capacitor voltages. bottom - inverter output power consistent to those encountered during dynamic braking in 460 V drives, where the dc bus voltage is nominally about 625 V. Voltage sharing across the dc bus capacitors is also ensured. It can be noticed that during regeneration the circuit results in third harmonics and neutral currents. This problem may be relieved in the upstream supply if delta-wye isolation transformers are used to feed the drive. Fig. 10 shows operation of the circuit during a voltage sag. As indicated in the waveforms, a 15% three-phase sag is introduced in the supply. For a conventional front-end, the dc bus voltage would drop to about 525 V, which can result in an undervoltage trip. Using the proposed method of connecting the neutral, the dc bus voltage dips moderately to about 575 V and drive shutdown can be avoided.

Iv. RESULTS
Computer simulations have been performed to verify operation of the proposed method. The parameters used are: 460 V rms line-line Input voltage: Load: +IO kW motoring, -7.5 kW braking 1.5 mH Input impedance: DC bus capacitance: 1000 pF (2x 2000 pF in series) Fig. 9 shows waveforms for transition from a rectification mode to a regeneration mode and back. As evident fi-om the waveforms, the dc bus is maintained within about 725 V during regeneration. This level is

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IO6

008

0 -0

Tim.

0 43

, s

Fig. 10: DC bus voltage support provided by the neutral connection during input voltage sags
V. CONCLUSION
[4] Saftronics Inc. Application Note, SCR-RegenerativeAC Drive. [5] J.M.Liptak, F.C.Joyner, and J.C.Guyeska, Regenerative controller for a voltage-source inverter drive, Con$ Rec. IEEE-IASAnnualMeeting, Oct. 1985, pp. 1672-1677. [6] R.M.Davis and C.G.Alexander, A bi-directional ac-dc power converter for fixed polarity d.c. loads, Proceedings of 3 Intemaiional Conference on Power Electronics and Variable SpeedDrives, IEE, July 1988, vol. 1, pp. 142-145. [7] CSchauder, A regenerative two-quadrant converter for dc-link voltage source inverters, Con$ Rec. IEEE-US Annual Meeting, Oct. 1988, vol. 1, pp. 954-960. [8] K.Matsui, K.Tsuboi, and S.Muto, Power regenerative controls by utilizing thyristor rectifier of voltage source inverter, Con$ Rec. IEEE-IASAnnualMeeting, Oct. 1989, vol. I, pp. 913-919. [9] J.C.Clare, P.R.Mayes, and W.F.Ray, Bidirectional power converter for voltage fed inverter machine drives, Proceedings oJIEEEPESC, 1992, vol. 1, pp. 189-194. [IO] D.H.Braun, T.P.Gilmore, and W.A. Maslowski, Regenerative converter for PWM AC drives, IEEE Transactions on Industy Applications, vol. 30, no. 5, SeptlOct. 1994, pp. 1176 -1 184. [ I l l J.W.Kolar, H.Ertl, F.C.Zach, V.Blasko, V.Kaura, and R.Lukaszewski, A novel concept for regenerative braking of PWM-VSI drives employing a loss-free braking resistor, Conference Proceedings ofAPEC, 1997, vol. 1, pp. 297-305. [I21 G.Oriti, and A.L.Julian, Hybrid rectifier using thyristors and IGBTs for low cost regenerative drives, Conference Proceedings ofAPEC, 2000, vol. 2, pp. 951-956. [ 131 N.R.Raju, Improving voltage sag tolerance of three-phase ASDs through addition of a neutral connection, Con$ Rec. IEEE-IAS Annual Meeting, Oct. 2002, vo1.4, pp. 2536 -2541.

A new regenerative front-end has been proposed for VSI drives based on line-commutated SCRs. The proposed approach has the advantage of improved ruggedness and lower cost compared to existing techniques. The new method uses a connection from the supply neutral to the dc bus center-tap to provide improved line-commutation margins. This added connection can also be used during input voltage sags to boost the dc bus voltage, and hence provides a moderate amount of ride-through ability. Drawbacks of the proposed method include the requirement of a neutral connection and increased harmonic content in the line currents during regeneration and voltage sags.
REFERENCES
[I]

R.Belmans, F.Busschots, and R.Timmer, Practical design considerations for braking problems in overhead crane drives, Con$ Rec. IEEE-IAS Annual Meeting, Oct. 1993, vol.1, pp. 473479. N.Mohan, T.Undeland, and W.Robbins, Power Electronics: Converters, Applications and Design, 2dEdition, 1995, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 508-513.

[Z]

[3J V.J.Gosbel1 and P.P.Cugaly, A low cost reversible rectifier,

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