Design and Construction of Three Phase PWM Rectifier

Power electronic converters are gaining popularity in conventional power system due enhancement in their voltage rating capabilities. The power range of these converters is from some mill watts (as in a mobile phone) to hundreds of megawatts (e.g. in a HVDC transmission system). These converters are

Project Title

Design and Construction of Three Phase PWM Rectifier

Project Area of Specialization

Electrical/Electronic Engineering

Project Summary

Power electronic converters are gaining popularity in conventional power system due enhancement in their voltage rating capabilities. The power range of these converters is from some mill watts (as in a mobile phone) to hundreds of megawatts (e.g. in a HVDC transmission system). These converters are now a days mostly used in electric cars, high speed rails, ships, and most importantly in HVDC transmission line.

High voltage three phase rectifiers are considered as one of the main topology of the power converters family. They are widely used in DC grids, industries etc. These rectifier should be robust to withstand with variable loads and varying input voltages. Similarly, a good rectifier converter should take care of overall power factor. Uncontrollable converter rectifier not only cause loss to equipment but also power loss. So there is need to design such converter rectifier converter which provides balanced output for changing input voltage and varying loads.

PWM rectifiers used for AC-DC conversion have many advantages like controllable DC voltage, controllable power and unity power factor. The grid-connected PWM Rectifiers are widely employed because they provide low harmonic distortion and high power factor. However the practical study shows poor performance of the control system under unbalanced grid.

To address these problems, different techniques can be used. Through this project, we will design and implement a Three Phase PWM Rectifier.

Project Objectives

The main objective of this project is to understand the modelling and simulation of PWM rectifier and further to get hands on experience on construction of its practical circuit. Upon successful completion, we would have enough experience to design and practically implement any converter circuit, which can help us in our future research. The practical circuit would consist of feedback controlled PWM rectifier which can regulate its output regardless of the changes in the input voltage or variable load conditions.

As the PWM rectifier is an essential part of DC microgrids which is a growing field of research hence the project can be utilized by other students in the campus for their research and analysis or experiment purposes.

Project Implementation Method

This project involves the "Design and Construction of Three Phase PWM Rectifier" which gives us controllable, constant Output Voltage for varying input voltage or varying load through feedback control system.

The Implementation of project consist of two parts:

1. Designing a Model in MATLAB/ Simulink and Proteus (Software Part)

2. Practical Hardware Implementation     (Hardware Part).

1. Model Design (Software Part)

The first part of our project is designing a three phase PWM Rectifier mode. The model is first designed in MATLAB/ Simulink. The model contains the three phase power supply, MOSFETs bridge, a Control Block(which takes feedback from ouput and generate a signal), PWM Generator (it takes input from control block and generate PWM signal for driving the MOSFET), and a capacitor and inductor. The ouput and other parameters of rectifier is verified using different rectifier's equation. After verification of parameters and designing in MATLAB/ Simulink, the same model has been designed in Proteus and the result are verified. The Proteus design is necessary because it is easy to implement physically.

2.Hardware Implementation (Hardware Part)

After designing and verifications of the model in software under different parameters, the next step is to implement the model. The hardware model contains three phase input power supply, three inductors are connected to each phase of input power supply, six MOSFET bridge is used, each leg of MOSFET bridge is connected to one phase of power supply, the Arduino Uno is used for generating the PWM signal for each of MOSFET. The signal generated is based on feedback from output. These PWM signals are fed to the gate driver for operating the MOSFETS. Two capacitors are used at output side of bridge for smoothing the output voltage for the load. At last, we will test the hardware model for proper working and getting desired results.

Benefits of the Project

As in our project we are making a prototype of three phase PWM rectifier, the proposed model can be used for verification of simulation analysis. Moreover, the MOSFETS will be controlled through on-board controller that’s why different control techniques can be applied for verifying new research.

The final prototype of our feedback controlled PWM rectifier can be used in the following research fields.

1. Applications in HVDC power transmission

High voltage direct current (HVDC) power systems use D.C. for transmission of power over long distances. For long-distance power transmission, HVDC lines are less expensive, and losses are less as compared to AC transmission. It interconnects the networks that have different frequencies and characteristics. AC power is generated which can be converted into DC by using a PWM rectifier. 

 2. Application in Industries

Three Phase PWM Rectifier is widely used in industries for various purposes from low voltage DC Power to very high voltage DC Power for running different machineries in industries. 

• Rectifiers are used in electric welding to provide the polarized voltage.
• It is also used in traction, rolling stock and three phase traction motors used for running trains.
• it is also used in modulation, demodulation and voltage multipliers.

3. Application in Hybrid Electric Vehicles(HEVs)

The three phase PWM Rectifier supplies an electric power from a commercial power system to an on-board high-power density such as EV charging station or AFE for the medium voltage drive system.

4. Other Applications

• The transformer utilization factor is high.
• DC Power is easy to store.
• More efficient than conventional rectifier.
• The power output is constant for varying load or input voltage.
• Ripple factor is too much lower and therefore they high-cost filtering is not required to give steady DC output.
• Lower amplitude ripple. so the output voltage is smoother.
• High output voltage for given input voltage.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

The final deliverable i.e Design and Construction of Three Phase PWM Rectifier will use six MOSFETs, a six channel gate driver for operating the mosfets, two capacitors for smoothing the output voltage, an inductor, a resistor and Aduino Uno for generating the PWM signals.

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Energy

Other Industries

Core Technology

Clean Tech

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Quality Education, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Climate Action, Partnerships to achieve the Goal

Required Resources

If you need this project, please contact me on contact@adikhanofficial.com