An inverter is an electrical or electro-mechanical device that converts direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). Inverters are used in a wide range of applications, from small switching power supplies in computers, to large electric utility applications that transport bulk power. The inverter is so named because early mechanical AC to DC converters were made to work in reverse, and thus were "inverted", to convert DC to AC. The inverter performs the opposite function of a rectifier.
Applications
The following are examples of inverter applications.
DC power source utilization
Inverter designed to provide 115 VAC from the 12 VDC source provided in an automobile
An inverter converts the DC electricity from sources such as batteries, solar panels, or fuel cells to AC electricity. The electricity can then be used to operate AC equipment such as those that are plugged in to most house hold electrical outlets.
Uninterruptible power supplies
An uninterruptible power supply is a device which supplies the stored electrical power to the load in case of raw power cut-off or blackout. One type of UPS uses batteries to store power and an inverter to supply AC power from the batteries when main power is not available. When main power is restored, a rectifier is used to supply DC power to recharge the batteries.
Induction heating
Inverters convert low frequency main AC power to a higher frequency for use in induction heating. To do this, AC power is first rectified to provide DC power. The inverter then changes the DC power to high frequency AC power.
High-voltage direct current (HVDC) power transmission
With HVDC power transmission, AC power is rectified and high voltage DC power is transmitted to another location. At the receiving location, an inverter in a static inverter plant converts the power back to AC.
Variable-frequency drives
Main article: variable-frequency drive
A variable-frequency drive controls the operating speed of an AC motor by controlling the frequency and voltage of the power supplied to the motor. An inverter provides the controlled power. In most cases, the variable-frequency drive includes a rectifier so that DC power for the inverter can be provided from main AC power. Since an inverter is the key component, variable-frequency drives are sometimes called inverter drives or just inverters.
Electric vehicle drives
Adjustable speed motor control inverters are currently used to power the traction motor in some electric locomotives and diesel-electric locomotives as well as some battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric highway vehicles such as the Toyota Prius. Various improvements in inverter technology are being developed specifically for electric vehicle applications.[1] In vehicles with regenerative braking, the inverter also takes power from the motor (now acting as a generator) and stores it in the batteries.
Circuit description
Simple inverter circuit shown with an electromechanical switch and with a transistor switch
] Basic designs
In one simple inverter circuit, DC power is connected to a transformer through the centre tap of the primary winding. A switch is rapidly switched back and forth to allow current to flow back to the DC source following two alternate paths through one end of the primary winding and then the other. The alternation of the direction of current in the primary winding of the transformer produces alternating current (AC) in the secondary circuit.
The electromechanical version of the switching device includes two stationary contacts and a spring supported moving contact. The spring holds the movable contact against one of the stationary contacts and an electromagnet pulls the movable contact to the opposite stationary contact. The current in the electromagnet is interrupted by the action of the switch so that the switch continually switches rapidly back and forth. This type of electromechanical inverter switch, called a vibrator or buzzer, was once used in vacuum tube automobile radios. A similar mechanism has been used in door bells, buzzers and tattoo guns.
As they have become available, transistors and various other types of semiconductor switches have been incorporated into inverter circuit designs.
Square waveform with fundamental sine wave component, 3rd harmonic and 5th harmonic
Output waveforms
The switch in the simple inverter described above produces a square voltage waveform as opposed to the sinusoidal waveform that is the usual waveform of an AC power supply. Using Fourier analysis, periodic waveforms are represented as the sum of an infinite series of sine waves. The sine wave that has the same frequency as the original waveform is called the fundamental component. The other sine waves, called harmonics, that are included in the series have frequencies that are integral multiples of the fundamental frequency.
The quality of the inverter output waveform can be expressed by using the Fourier analysis data to calculate the total harmonic distortion (THD). The total harmonic distortion is the square root of the sum of the squares of the harmonic voltages divided by the fundamental voltage:
The quality of output waveform that is needed from an inverter depends on the characteristics of the connected load. Some loads need a nearly perfect sine wave voltage supply in order to work properly. Other loads may work quite well with a square wave voltage.
Advanced designs
H-bridge inverter circuit with transistor switches and antiparallel diodes
There are many different power circuit topologies and control strategies used in inverter designs. Different design approaches address various issues that may be more or less important depending on the way that the inverter is intended to be used.
The issue of waveform quality can be addressed in many ways. Capacitors and inductors can be used to filter the waveform. If the design includes a transformer, filtering can be applied to the primary or the secondary side of the transformer or to both sides. Low-pass filters are applied to allow the fundamental component of the waveform to pass to the output while limiting the passage of the harmonic components. If the inverter is designed to provide power at a fixed frequency, a resonant filter can be used. For an adjustable frequency inverter, the filter must be tuned to a frequency that is above the maximum fundamental frequency.
Since most loads contain inductance, feedback rectifiers or antiparallel diodes are often connected across each semiconductor switch to provide a path for the peak inductive load current when the switch is turned off. The antiparallel diodes are somewhat similar to the freewheeling diodes used in AC/DC converter circuits.
Fourier analysis reveals that a waveform, like a square wave, that is antisymmetrical about the 180 degree point contains only odd harmonics, the 3rd, 5th, 7th etc. Waveforms that have steps of certain widths and heights eliminate or “cancel” additional harmonics. For example, by inserting a zero-voltage step between the positive and negative sections of the square-wave, all of the harmonics that are divisible by three can be eliminated. That leaves only the 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th etc. The required width of the steps is one third of the period for each of the positive and negative voltage steps and one sixth of the period for each of the zero-voltage steps.
Changing the square wave as described above is an example of pulse-width modulation (PWM). Modulating, or regulating the width of a square-wave pulse is often used as a method of regulating or adjusting an inverter's output voltage. When voltage control is not required, a fixed pulse width can be selected to reduce or eliminate selected harmonics. Harmonic elimination techniques are generally applied to the lowest harmonics because filtering is more effective at high frequencies than at low frequencies. Multiple pulse-width or carrier based PWM control schemes produce waveforms that are composed of many narrow pulses. The frequency represented by the number of narrow pulses per second is called the switching frequency or carrier frequency. These control schemes are often used in variable-frequency motor control inverters because they allow a wide range of output voltage and frequency adjustment while also improving the quality of the waveform.
Multilevel inverters provide another approach to harmonic cancellation. Multilevel inverters provide an output waveform that exhibits multiple steps at several voltage levels. For example, it is possible to produce a more sinusoidal wave by having split-rail direct current inputs at two voltages, or positive and negative inputs with a central ground. By connecting the inverter output terminals in sequence between the positive rail and ground, the positive rail and the negative rail, the ground rail and the negative rail, then both to the ground rail, a stepped waveform is generated at the inverter output. This is an example of a three level inverter: the two voltages and ground.
Three phase inverters
3-phase inverter with wye connected load
Three-phase inverters are used for variable-frequency drive applications and for high power applications such as HVDC power transmission. A basic three-phase inverter consists of three single-phase inverter switches each connected to one of the three load terminals. For the most basic control scheme, the operation of the three switches is coordinated so that one switch operates at each 60 degree point of the fundamental output waveform. This creates a line-to-line output waveform that has six steps. The six-step waveform has a zero-voltage step between the positive and negative sections of the square-wave such that the harmonics that are multiples of three are eliminated as described above. When carrier-based PWM techniques are applied to six-step waveforms, the basic overall shape, or envelope, of the waveform is retained so that the 3rd harmonic and its multiples are cancelled.
3-phase inverter switching circuit showing 6-step switching sequence and waveform of voltage between terminals A and C
To construct inverters with higher power ratings, two six-step three-phase inverters can be connected in parallel for a higher current rating or in series for a higher voltage rating. In either case, the output waveforms are phase shifted to obtain a 12-step waveform. If additional inverters are combined, an 18-step inverter is obtained with three inverters etc. Although inverters are usually combined for the purpose of achieving increased voltage or current ratings, the quality of the waveform is improved as well.
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