A 24-Pulse Rectifier With a Passive Auxiliary Current Injection Circuit at DC Side

In this article, a simple series-connected 24-pulse rectifier with a passive auxiliary current injection circuit (ACIC) is proposed. The proposed rectifier consists of a 12-pulse rectifier and an ACIC. The ACIC includes a circulation current forming circuit, an auxiliary single-phase transformer (AST), and an auxiliary single-phase full-bridge rectifier (ASFR). The ASFR extracts alternating square-wave current from the dc side and injects it into the outputs of three-phase rectifier bridges to increase the output state of these bridges. The operating mode of the proposed rectifier is analyzed, and the functional relationship between the input current and turns ratio of AST is established. The AST turns ratio that minimizes the input line current total harmonic distortion (THD) is derived. The voltage and current rating of AST are calculated, and the design method of capacitors C
₁
and C
₂
in ACIC is given. Under the optimal turns ratio, the ACIC extends the 12- to a 24-pulse rectifier. The resulting 24-pulse rectifier draws near-sinusoidal input currents with less than 5% THD. The AST in ACIC has a very low kilovolt-ampere rating (1.96%
P
_d
), and the current ratings of ASFR are small. The theoretical analyzes are provided and experimentally verified using a 1.7 kW experimental prototype.