An Auxiliary-Supply-Assisted Harmonic Reduction Scheme for 12-Pulse Diode Rectifiers

Diode rectifiers have been widely used for an ac-to-dc converter. A big problem is that they include large harmonic components in the input currents. A 12-pulse configuration is useful for reducing them, but it still includes the (12 mplusmnl)th (m: integer) harmonics in the input currents. In order to further reduce the input current harmonics a single-phase square wave auxiliary voltage supply is inserted in the middle dc bus. It reduces harmonics especially the 11th and 13th and the harmonic characteristic becomes almost equivalent to a 24-pulse rectifier. Theoretical analysis of the combined 12-pulse diode rectifier with the auxiliary supply is presented, and a control method of the auxiliary supply is proposed. The reduction in the input current harmonics is verified by simulation and experimental results. The auxiliary supply is also applied to a 12-pulse thyristor rectifier.