Power Electronics






Lecture 5: Power Computations
Chapter 2: Hart, Power Electronics

Erasmus Mundus Master Course in

Sustainable Transportation
and Electrical Power Systems
Dr. Giulio De Donato
Power and Energy

• Instantaneous power: p(t) = v(t)i(t)

!
! Z t2
• Energy: W = p(t)dt
! t1

!
! Z t0 +T Z t0 +T
• Average power:
1 1
P = p(t)dt = v(t)i(t)dt
! T t0 T t0

! P =
W
! T
• Power absorbed or supplied by a dc source: Pdc = Vdc Iavg

2
Inductors
1 2
• stored energy in an inductor: w(t) = Li (t)
2
!
• average power absorbed by an
inductor in steady state: PL = 0
!
!
• from the voltage current Z t0 +T
1
relationship for an inductor: i(t0 + T ) = vL (t)dt + i(t0 )
L
! t0
Z
! i(t0 + T ) i(t0 ) =
1 t0 +T
vL (t)dt = 0
! L t0
• The above equation shows that
for periodic currents, the
average voltage across an
Z t0 +T
1
inductor is zero: avg[vL (t)] = VL = vL (t)dt = 0
T t0

3
Exercise n°1

• The current in a 5 mH inductor is a periodic triangular wave shown in the figure.

Determine the voltage, instantaneous power and average power for the
inductor.

4
Capacitors
1 2
• stored energy in a capacitor: w(t) = Cv (t)
2
!
• average power absorbed by a
capacitor in steady state: PC = 0
!
!
• from the voltage-current Z t0 +T
1
relationship for a capacitor: v(t0 + T ) = iC (t)dt + v(t0 )
C
! t0
Z
! v(t0 + T ) v(t0 ) =
1 t0 +T
iC (t)dt = 0
! C t0
• The above equation shows that
for periodic currents, the
average current through a Z t0 +T
1
capacitor is zero: avg[iC (t)] = IC = iC (t)dt = 0
T t0

5
Energy Recovery (1/4)
• dissipative solution.
• ideal transistor switch and diode.
• the transistor turns on at t=0 and off at
t=t1.
• Transistor on: 0<t<t1
– inductor voltage: vL = Vcc
! Vcc t
– inductor current: iL =
L
!
– source current: is = iL
!
• Transistor off: t1<t<T
Vcc t1
– initial condition: iL (t1 ) =
L
!
(t t1 )/⌧
– inductor current: iL (t) = iL (t1 )e
!
– source current: is = 0

6
Energy Recovery (2/4)
• Average power supplied by source:
! " Z # " Z Z T #
T t1
1 1 VCC t 1 (VCC t1 )2
!PS = VS IS = VCC T 0 is (t)dt = VCC T 0 L dt + T t1 0dt = 2LT
!
• Average power absorbed by resistor:
! (VCC t1 )2
!PR = PS = 2LT
!
• Or else, calculate the peak energy stored in the inductor:
!  2
(VCC t1 )2
!W = 2 Li (t1 ) = 2 L (VCCL t1 )
1 2 1
=
2L
!
• Obtain the average power transferred to the resistor as:
W (VCC t1 )2
PR = =
T 2LT

7
Exercise n°2

• Given the following values for the

circuit: VCC = 90 V, L = 200 mH, R =
20 Ω, t1 = 10 ms and T = 100 ms,
find:
– The peak current and peak
energy storage in the inductor.
– The average power absorbed
by the resistor.
– The peak and average power
supplied by the source.

8
Energy Recovery (4/4)
• energy recovery circuit
• Transistor on: 0<t<t1
– inductor voltage: vL = Vcc
! Vcc t
– inductor current: iL =
L
!
– source current: is = iL
!
• Transistor off: t1<t<T
– inductor voltage: vL = VCC
!
– inductor current:
Z
!
iL (t) =
1 t
vL ( )d + iL (t1 )
! ✓ t1 ◆
L
! = VCC (2t t) t < t < t
! L
1 1 2

– source current: iS (t) = iL (t)

9
Root Mean Square Values (1/2)
• Power transmitted to a resistor:
! 2
Vdc
– for a dc voltage across the resistor: P =
R
! 2
Vrms
– for a periodic voltage across the resistor: P =
R
! Z Z Z
1 T 1 T 1 T v 2 (t)
• Average resistor power: P = p(t)dt = v(t)i(t)dt = dt
T 0 T 0 T 0 R
! " Z
T
#
1 1
! = v 2 (t)dt
R T 0
! s
Z
1 T 2
• From the above, the rms voltage is expressed as: Vrms = v (t)dt
T 0
!
! s
1
Z T
• Similarly, the rms current is expressed as: Irms = i2 (t)dt
T 0

10
Root Mean Square Values (2/2)
• if a periodic voltage is the sum of two or more periodic, orthogonal voltage
waveforms the rms values is:
v
! q uN
uX
!V = V
rms
2
1,rms +V 2
2,rms +V 2 + ... = t
3,rms V2 n,rms
! n=1

• Similarly for the current:

v
! q uN
uX
! Irms = I1,rms
2 + I2,rms + I3,rms + . . . = t
2 2 2
In,rms
! n=1

• In single phase circuits, apparent power is defined as: S = Vrms Irms

! P P
• the power factor is defined as: pf = =
S Vrms Irms
!
• for three phase circuits, with Vll,rms the line to line rms voltage the apparent
power is defined as: S = p3V I
ll,rms rms
! P P
• the power factor is defined as: pf = =p
S 3Vll,rms Irms

11
Exercises n°3-4:

• Determine the rms value of the periodic pulse waveform that has duty ratio
D.

• Determine the rms values of:

- a sinusoidal voltage v(t) = Vm sin(!t)
- a full-wave rectified sine wave v(t) = |Vm sin(!t)|
! (
Vm sin(!t) f or 0 < t < T /2
- a half-wave rectified sine wave v(t) =
0 f or T /2 < t < T

12
Exercises n°5-6:

• Determine the rms value of v(t) = 4 + 8sin(!1 t + 10 ) + 5sin(!2 t + 50 )

for:
– !2 = 2!1
– !2 = !1

• Determine the rms values of:

- The triangular current waveform
!
!
!
!
- The offset triangular current
waveform

13
Power Computations for Sinusoidal Waveforms

• Single phase ac circuit current and voltage waveforms:

! v(t) = Vm cos(!t + ✓) i(t) = Im cos(!t + )
• Instantaneous power:
✓ ◆
! p(t) = v(t)i(t) = Vm Im [cos(2!t + ✓ + ) + cos(✓ )]
! 2
• Average power:
! P = 1 Z T p(t)dt = ✓ Vm Im ◆ Z T [cos(2!t + ✓ + ) + cos(✓ )]dt
! ✓T 0 ◆ 2 0
! P = Vm Im cos(✓ ) = V I cos(✓ )
! 2
rms rms

• Reactive power (energy storage during one half of the

cycle and energy retrieval during the other half:
!Q = Vrms Irms sin(✓ )
• Apparent power:
p
S = P 2 + Q2

14
Power Computations for Non-Sinusoidal Waveforms
(1/5)
• A non-sinusoidal periodic waveform can be described by a Fourier series:
! f (t) = a + X
1
[an cos(n!0 t) + bn sin(n!0 t)]
! 0
n=1
! Z
1 T /2 2
Z T /2
2
Z T /2

! a0 = T T /2 f (t)dt an = f (t)cos(n!0 t)dt bn = f (t)sin(n!0 t)dt

T T /2 T T /2
!
• Sines and cosines of the same frequency can be combined into one sinusoid
resulting in: 1 ✓ ◆
X p
! f (t) = a0 + Cn cos(n!0 t + ✓n ) ✓n = tan 1 b n
Cn = a2n + b2n
! n=1
an
• In electrical applications, a0 is the dc component, C1 is the amplitude of the
fundamental frequency, C2,C3, etc are the amplitudes of the higher order harmonics.
• The rms value of f(t) can be expressed as:
v
u 1 ✓ ◆2
u X C
= ta20 +
n
Frms p
n=1
2

15
Power Computations for Non-Sinusoidal Waveforms
(2/5)
• If periodic voltage and current waveforms are represented
by a Fourier series:
1 1
! v(t) = V0 + X Vn cos(n!0 t + ✓n ) i(t) = I0 +
X
In cos(n!0 t + n)
! n=1 n=1
• The average power can be expressed in terms of the
harmonic contributions as:
1
X 1
X
P = Pn = V 0 I 0 + Vn,rms In,rms cos(✓n n)
n=0 n=1
• If a non-sinusoidal periodic voltage is applied to a load that
is a combination of linear elements, the power absorbed
by the load can be determined by applying superposition:
– step 1: decompose the voltage source into it’s
harmonic components;
– step 2: apply circuit theory to determine the current
associated to each individual harmonic component;
– step 3: calculate the power absorbed by the load due
to each harmonic component;
– step 4: sum all of the power contributions to find the
total absorbed power.

16
Exercise n°7:

• Determine the power absorbed by the load in the circuit for:

v(t) = 10 + 20cos(2⇡60t 25 ) + 30cos(4⇡60t + 20 )

17
Power Computations for Non-Sinusoidal Waveforms
(3/5)
• If a sinusoidal voltage is applied to a nonlinear load, the current waveform will be
non-sinusoidal periodic. The voltage and currents are expressed as:
1
! v(t) = V1 sin(!0 t + ✓1 ) i(t) = I0 + X In sin(n!0 t + n )
! n=1
• The average power absorbed by the load is:
!P = V1,rms I1,rms cos(✓1 1)
!
• The only non-zero power term is at the frequency of the applied voltage!!!
• The power factor is equal to:
✓ ◆
! pf = P = P = P =
I1,rms
cos(✓1 1)
! S V I
rms rms V I
1,rms rms I rms

• The rms current is expressed as:

v v
! u1
uX
u
u X1 ✓
I
◆2
! Irms = t In,rms
2 = tI02 + p n
2
! n=0 n=1

• The displacement power factor is defined as:

dpf = cos(✓1 1)

18
Power Computations for Non-Sinusoidal Waveforms
(4/5)
• The reduction in power factor due to the non-sinusoidal current is quantified by the
distortion factor:
! DF = I1,rms
! Irms
• power factor is therefore also expressed as:
! pf = [cos(✓1 1 )]DF
• Total harmonic distortion is another term that is frequently used to quantify the non-
sinusoidal property of the waveform:
qP q
! sP
2 2
n6=1 In,rms
2
Irms 2
I1,rms
n6=1 In,rms
! T HD = 2
I1,rms
=
I1,rms
=
I1,rms
!
• The distortion
s factor can also be expressed in terms of THD as:
1
DF =
1 + (T HD)2

19
Power Computations for Non-Sinusoidal Waveforms
(5/5)

• The only non-zero term for reactive power is at voltage frequency:

! Q = V1 I1 sin(✓1 1 )
! 2
• Apparent power must include a term to account for the current components at
frequencies that are different from the voltage frequency:
p
! S = V1,rms Irms = P 2 + Q2 + D2
• D is the distortion volt-amperes and is expressed as:
v
! uX
u1
! D = V1,rms t In,rms 2

! n6=1

• Other quantities often used are the following:

Irms
F orm f actor =
Iavg
Ipeak
Crest f actor =
Irms

20
Exercise n°8:

• A sinusoidal voltage source v(t) = 100cos(2⇡60t) is applied to a non-linear

load, resulting in a non-sinusoidal periodic current which is expressed as:
! i(t) = 8 + 15cos(2⇡60t + 30 ) + 6cos(4⇡60t + 45 ) + 2cos(6⇡60t + 60 )
• Determine:
– the power absorbed by the load
– the power factor of the load
– the distortion factor of the load
– the THD of the load

21