5/1/2017 ThyristorOpenElectrical

Thyristor
FromOpenElectrical

Contents
1 Introduction
2 TurnOn
3 Turnoff(commutation)
4 Trivia

Introduction
Athyristorisacontrolledrectifierwherethe
unidirectionalcurrentflowfromanode(a)tocathode
(k)isinitiatedbyasmallsignalcurrentfromgate(g)to
cathode.

TurnOn
Athyristoristurnedonbymakingitsgatepositive Thyristor
withrespecttoitscathode,therebycausingcurrent
flowintothegate.Whenthegatevoltagereachesthe
thresholdvoltageVGTandtheresultingcurrent
reachesthethresholdcurrentIGT,withinaveryshort
timeknownasthegatecontrolledturnontime,tgt,the
loadcurrentcanflowfromatok.Ifthegatecurrent
consistsofaverynarrowpulse,saylessthan1s,its
peaklevelwillhavetoincreaseforprogressively
narrowerpulsewidthstoguaranteetriggering.When
theloadcurrentreachesthethyristorslatchingcurrent
IL,loadcurrentflowwillbemaintainedevenafter
removalofthegatecurrent.Aslongasadequateload
currentcontinuestoflow,thethyristorwillcontinueto
conductwithoutthegatecurrent.Itissaidtobelatched ThyristorUIcharacteristic
ON.NotethattheVGT,IGTandILspecificationsgiven
indataareat25C.Theseparameterswillincreaseat
lowertemperatures,sothedrivecircuitmustprovideadequatevoltageandcurrentamplitudeanddurationforthe
lowestexpectedoperatingtemperature.

Rule1.Toturnathyristor(ortriac)ON,agatecurrentIGTmustbeapplieduntiltheloadcurrentisIL.This
conditionmustbemetatthelowestexpectedoperatingtemperature

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SensitivegatethyristorssuchastheBT150canbepronetoturnonbyanodetocathodeleakagecurrentathigh
temperatures.IfthejunctiontemperatureTjisincreasedaboveTjmax,apointwillbereachedwheretheleakage
currentwillbehighenoughtotriggerthethyristorssensitivegate.Itwillthenhavelostitsabilitytoremaininthe
blockingstateandconductionwillcommencewithouttheapplicationofanexternalgatecurrent.Thismethodof
spuriousturnoncanbeavoidedbyusingoneormoreofthefollowingsolutions:

1.EnsurethatthetemperaturedoesnotexceedTjmax.
2.UseathyristorwithalesssensitivegatesuchastheBT151,orreducetheexistingthyristorssensitivity
byincludingagatetocathoderesistorof1korless.
3.Ifitisnotpossibletousealesssensitivethyristorduetocircuitrequirements,applyasmalldegreeof
reversebiasingtothegateduringtheoffperiods.ThishastheeffectofincreasingIL.Duringnegativegate
currentflow,particularattentionshouldbepaidtominimisingthegatepowerdissipation.

Turnoff(commutation)
Inordertoturnthethyristoroff,theloadcurrentmust
bereducedbelowitsholdingcurrentIHforsufficient
timetoallowallthemobilechargecarrierstovacate
thejunction.Thisisachievedby"forcedcommutation"
inDCcircuitsorattheendoftheconductinghalfcycle
inACcircuits.(Forcedcommutationiswhentheload
circuitcausestheloadcurrenttoreducetozeroto
allowthethyristortoturnoff.)Atthispoint,the
thyristorwillhavereturnedtoitsfullyblockingstate.
IftheloadcurrentisnotmaintainedbelowIHforlong
enough,thethyristorwillnothavereturnedtothefully
blockingstatebythetimetheanodetocathodevoltage
risesagain.Itmightthenreturntotheconductingstate
withoutanexternallyappliedgatecurrent.NotethatIH
isalsospecifiedatroomtemperatureand,likeIL,it
reducesathighertemperatures.Thecircuitmust
thereforeallowsufficienttimefortheloadcurrentto
fallbelowIHatthemaximumexpectedoperating
temperatureforsuccessfulcommutation. SCRThyristor6500V/1500A

Rule2.Toturnoff(commutate)athyristor(ortriac),
theloadcurrentmustbe<IHforsufficienttimetoallowareturntotheblockingstate.Thisconditionmustbemet
atthehighestexpectedoperatingtemperature.

Trivia

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