Power Electronics
Gate Protection in Thyristors
Gate circuit should also be protected against overvoltages and over currents. Overvoltages across the gate circuit can cause false triggering of the SCR. Overcurrent may raise junction temperature beyond specified limit leading to its damage. Protection against over-voltages is achieved by connecting a zener diode ZD across the gate circuit. A resistor R2 connected in series with the gate circuit provides protection against overcurrents. A common problem in thyristor circuits is that they suffer from spurious, or noise, firing. Turning-on or turning-off of an SCR may induce trigger pulses in a nearby SCR. Sometimes transients in a power circuit may also cause unwanted signal to appear across the gate of a neighbouring SCR. These undesirable trigger pulses may turn on the SCR leading to read more
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Electronic crowbar protection
As thyristor possesses high surge current capability, it can be used in an electronic crowbar circuit for overcurrent protection of power converters using SCRs. An electronic crowbar protection provides rapid isolation of the power converter before any damage occurs Fig. 4.28 illustrates the basic principle of electronic crowbar protection. A crowbar thyristor is connected across the input dc terminals. A current sensing resistor detects the value of converter current. If it exceeds preset value, gate circuit provides the signal to crowbar SCR and turns it on in a few microseconds. The input terminals are then short-circuited by crowbar SCR and it shunts away the converter overcurrent. The crowbar thyristor current depends upon the source voltage and its impedance. After some time, main read more
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