Voltage regulator

A voltage regulator is an electrical regulator designed to

automatically maintain a constant voltage level.

It may use an electromechanical mechanism, or passive or active

electronic components. Depending on the design, it may be used
to regulate one or more AC or DC voltages.

With the exception of shunt regulators, all voltage regulators

operate by comparing the actual output voltage to some internal
fixed reference voltage. Any difference is amplified and used to
control the regulation element. This forms a negative feedback
servo control loop. If the output voltage is too low, the regulation
element is commanded to produce a higher voltage. If the output
voltage is too high, the regulation element is commanded to
produce a lower voltage. In this way, the output voltage is held
roughly constant. The control loop must be carefully designed to
produce the desired tradeoff between stability and speed of
response.

Contents· 1 Electromechanical regulators · 2 Mains regulators ·

3 AC voltage stabilisers · 4 DC voltage stabilisers · 5 Active
regulators o 5.1 Linear regulators o 5.2 Switching regulators
o 5.3 Comparing linear vs. switching regulators o 5.4 SCR
regulators o 5.5 Combination (hybrid) regulators ·
Electromechanical regulators

Early automobile generators and alternators had a mechanical

voltage regulator using two or three relays and various resistors
to stabilize the generator's output at slightly more than 6 or 12 V,
independent of the engine's rpm or the varying load on the
vehicle's electrical system. More modern designs use solid state
technology (transistors) to do the same.

These regulators operate by controlling the field current reaching

the generator (or alternator) and in this way controlling the output
voltage produced by the generator.

Mains regulators

Electromechanical regulators have also been used to regulate the

voltage on AC power distribution lines. These regulators
generally operate by selecting the appropriate tap on a
transformer with multiple taps. If the output voltage is too low, the
tap changer switches connections to produce a higher voltage. If
the output voltage is too high, the tap changer switches
connections to produce a lower voltage. The controls provide a
deadband wherein the controller will not act, preventing the
controller from constantly hunting (constantly adjusting the
voltage) to reach the desired target voltage.
AC voltage stabilisers

A voltage stabiliser is a type of household mains regulator which

uses a continuously variable autotransformer to maintain an AC
output that is as close to the standard or normal mains voltage as
possible, under conditions of fluctuation. It uses a
servomechanism (or negative feedback) to control the position of
the tap (or wiper) of the autotransformer, usually with a motor. An
increase in the mains voltage causes the output to increase,
which in turn causes the tap (or wiper) to move in the direction
that reduces the output towards the nominal voltage.

An alternative method is the use of a type of saturating

transformer called a ferroresonant transformer. These
transformers use a tank circuit composed of a high-voltage
resonant winding and a capacitor to produce a nearly constant
average output with a varying input. The ferroresonant approach
is attractive due to its lack of active components, relying on the
square loop saturation characteristics of the tank circuit to absorb
variations in average input voltage. The ferroresonant output has
a high harmonic content, leading to a distorted output waveform.
The ferroresonant action is a flux limiter rather than a voltage
regulator, but with a fixed supply frequency it can maintain an
almost constant average output voltage even as the input voltage
varies.
DC voltage stabilisers

Many simple DC power supplies regulate the voltage using a

shunt regulator such as a zener diode, avalanche breakdown
diode, or voltage regulator tube. Each of these devices begins
conducting at a specified voltage and will conduct as much
current as required to hold its terminal voltage to that specified
voltage. The power supply is designed to only supply a maximum
amount of current that is within the safe operarating capability of
the shunt regulating device (commonly, by using a series
resistor). In shunt regulators, the voltage reference is also the
regulating device.

If the stabiliser must provide more power, the shunt regulator

output is only used to provide the standard voltage reference for
the electronic device, known as the voltage stabiliser. The voltage
stabiliser is the electronic device, able to deliver much larger
currents on demand.

Active regulators

Because they (essentially) dump the excess current not needed

by the load, shunt regulators are inefficient and only used for low-
power loads. When more power must be supplied, more
sophisticated circuits are used. In general, these can be divided
into several classes:
· Linear regulators

· Switching regulators

· SCR regulators

Linear regulators

Linear regulators insert a variable resistance in series with the

load current. In the past, one or more vacuum tubes were
commonly used as the variable resistance. Modern designs use
one or more transistors instead. Linear designs have the
advantage of very "clean" output with little noise introduced into
their DC output.

Entire linear regulators are available as integrated circuits. These

chips come in either fixed or variable voltage types.

Switching regulators

Instead of controlling a variable resistance, the output of a

switching regulator is controlled by rapidly switching a series
device on and off. The duty cycle of the switch sets how much
charge is transferred to the load. This is controlled by a similar
feedback mechanism as in a linear regulator. Because the series
element is either fully conducting, or switched off, it dissipates
almost no power; this is what gives the switching design its
efficiency. Switching regulators are also able to generate output
voltages which are higher than the input, or of opposite polarity -
something not possible with a linear design.

Like linear regulators, nearly-complete switching regulators are

also available as integrated circuits. Unlike linear regulators,
these usually require one external component: an inductor that
acts as the energy storage element. (Unfortunately, the inductor
must be external because large-valued inductors tend to be
physically large relative to almost all other kinds of componentry;
because of this, they are impossible to fabricate within integrated
circuits.)

Comparing linear vs. switching regulators

Sometimes only one or the other will work:

· Linear regulators are best when low output noise is required

· Linear regulators are best when a fast response to input and

output disturbances is required.

· Switching regulators are best when power efficiency is

critical (such as in portable computers).

· Switching regulators are required when the only power

supply is a DC voltage, and a higher output voltage is required.

In many cases either one would work. So the choice comes down
to which costs less. At high levels of power (above a few watts),
switching regulators are cheaper. At low levels of power, linear
regulators are cheaper.
SCR regulators

Regulators powered from AC power circuits can use silicon

controlled rectifiers (SCRs) as the series device. Whenever the
output voltage is below the desired value, the SCR is triggered,
allowing electricity to flow into the load until the AC mains voltage
passes through zero (ending the half cycle). SCR regulators have
the advantages of being both very efficient and very simple, but
because they can not terminate an on-going half cycle of
conduction, they are not capable of very accurate voltage
regulation in response to rapidly-changing loads.

Combination (hybrid) regulators

Many power supplies use more than one regulation method in

series. For example, the output from a switching regulator can be
further regulated by a linear regulator. The switching regulator
accepts a wide range of input voltages and efficiently generates a
(somewhat noisy) voltage slightly above the ultimately desired
output. That is followed by a linear regulator that generates
exactly the desired voltage and eliminates nearly all the noise
generated by the switching regulator. Other designs may use an
SCR regulator as the "pre-regulator", followed by another type of
regulator
Regulator (automatic control)

In automatic control, a regulator is a device which has the

function of maintaining a designated characteristic. It performs
the activity of managing or maintaining a range of values, in a
machine. The measurable property of a device is managed
closely by specified conditions or an advance set value; or it can
be a variable according to a predetermined arrangement scheme.
It can be used generally to connote any set of various controls or
devices for regulating or controlling items or objects.

Examples are a voltage regulator (which can be a transformer

whose voltage ratio of transformation can be adjusted, or an
electronic circuit that produces a defined voltage), a gas
regulator, such as a diving regulator, which maintains its output at
a fixed pressure lower than its input, and a fuel regulator (which
controls the supply of fuel).

Regulators can be designed to control anything from gasses or

fluids, to light or electricity. Speed can be regulated by; electronic,
mechanical, or electro-mechanical means. Such instances
include;

· Electronic regulators as used in model railway sets where

the voltage is raised or lowered to control the speed of the engine

· Mechanical systems such as valves as used in fluid control

systems. Purely mechanical pre-automotive systems included
sych designs as the Watt centrifugal governor whereas modern
systems may have electronic fluid speed sensing components
directing solenoids to set the valve to the desired rate.

· Complex electro-mechanical speed control systems used to

maintain speeds in modern cars (cruise control) - often including
hydraulic components