A high frequency AC/DC converter with unity power factor and minimum harmonic distortion

A novel forced commutated AC/DC converter and control strategy is proposed that is able to draw nearly sinusoidal currents at unity power factor from three-phase power lines. The power factor is controlled by adjusting the relative position of the fundamental component of an optimized pulse-width-modulation (PWM) type voltage with respect to the supply voltage. Current harmonic distortion is minimized by the use of optimized firing angles for the converter at a frequency where gate turn-off thyristors (GTOs) can be used. This feature makes this approach attractive at power levels of 100 kW to 600 kW. An 8096 microcontroller is used to minimize the interface hardware requirements. The theoretical analysis of the converter, the control energy, and experimental results for a low-power prototype are presented