AC to DC Power Conversion Now and in the Future

Copyright Material IEEE Paper No. PCIC-2001-14 Tony Siebert Member, IEEE ABB Automation, Inc P.O. Box 372 Milwaukee, WI 53201 USA Anders Troedson Member, IEEE ABB Automation, Inc P.O. Box 372 Milwaukee, WI 53201 USA

Stephan Ebner Member, IEEE ABB Industrie AG CH- 5300 Turgi Switzerland

Abstract This paper compares the present available converter technologies and provides an assessment of the advantages / disadvantages offered by each technology. The latest advances in high power semiconductor devices have resulted in the introduction of new concepts for high power rectifier systems. A comparison of traditional technologies and future technologies is made. The increased use of modern IT technology will also be briefly reviewed. Index Terms - Rectifier, SCR, Thyristor, Chopper, Active Rectifier

Available network short circuit capability Allowed generated power factor Allowed generated harmonic distortion

I.

INTRODUCTION

High power converters have nearly a hundred years of history. The use of rectifiers in industrial applications started with the electromechanical contact converter followed by the era of mercury converters. In various development stages, mercury converter technology remained until the late 1950s until the invention of the semiconductor component. The new age started with diode rectifier plants and already in 1960 the first diode rectifier above 100 kA was installed; ten years later the first thyristor plant of this rating was operational. Today, rectifier units of more than 150 kA are possible and rectifier plants with process currents more than 350 kA. The future in aluminum industry goes towards 500 kA. Use of a semiconductor element mainly depends on its capability to dissipate the semiconductor losses. Forced cooled heat sinks are used today, which are cooled by de-ionized water or air. For high power converters, water-cooling is standard. On the first glance, we may think that the high power converter technology is a simple and well-established technique. Even when the key system components are well known for a long time, the challenge of today is to install the most suitable and reliable system architecture into the plant environment. Per definition, a power converter transfers energy from one state to another - in our case it is the so-called AC / network side to the DC / process side. On both sides the converter has to meet electrical and various other requirements. The requirements of the network side mostly come from the power utilities and are often defined by a power utility contract. The network side design parameters and decisive factors are: Voltage level / voltage variation Frequency / frequency variation

Meeting the electrical process side power supply requirements is in most cases of highest priority. Every converter system evaluation starts with the process side and is of basic importance when production efficiency and production quality is in a direct relationship to the DC power supply quality. Process technology suppliers count on adequate DC power quality to achieve the stated production guarantees. The DC process side design parameters and decisive factors are: DC voltage / current operating range DC voltage / current ripple DC voltage / current regulation accuracy DC voltage / current regulation speed DC power availability (redundancy concept) Overload capabilities Further decisive factors are: System efficiency System reliability Reparability and diagnostics capabilities Long term engineering, service, and spare parts support Investment cost / installed cost / life-cycle cost Production load schedule criteria Plant start-up / lay-off criteria Energy day-time tariffs criteria with adapted production Footprint and mechanical dimension Industry users deciding on what rectifier technology to choose will base their decision typically on a combination of all or most criteria listed above. This can be quite a complex job to find the best system topology fitting their needs. A benefit is that most high power converter users are experienced in this technology and know what the process and plant requirements exactly are. As already mentioned above, the latest advances in high power semiconductor devices have resulted in the introduction of newer system solutions for high power rectifier systems. This paper compares the available technologies and provides an assessment of the advantages / disadvantages offered by each technology. The pros and cons are discussed in greater detail below, specifically with regard to costs, reliability, efficiency, physical

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size, complexity, and necessary equipment footprint. The technologies reviewed are Diode rectifier, Thyristor rectifier, Diode/Chopper hybrid rectifier, and Active front-end rectifier. The above mentioned rectification technologies have a varying degree of acceptance for various industries and applications. This level of technology acceptance is primarily driven by stringent reliability, controllability and/or efficiency as well as other critical requirements of that particular industry.

Id

II.
A.

TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENTS

Diode Rectifiers

t Step of the reference value of the current Theoretically possible actual value of current Actual value of the current (saturable reactor in action) Time delay due to voltage steps of OLTC (some seconds)

Diode rectifiers are the simplest of all rectifier technologies. However, a straight diode rectifier is very seldomly applied because it does not, by itself, offer any means to control the output voltage and current as required by almost all industrial applications. Control of current and voltage for diode rectifiers is achieved by changing the rectifier AC input voltage adding to the system equipment requirements as follows: By using on-load tap-changers at the rectifier transformer (typically on the primary of the transformer) the rectifier AC input, and directly the rectifier DC output is controlled in related percent steps. This is the traditional and very proven method of adding controllability to the diode rectifier. However, the major drawback is the wear and tear on the mechanical onload tap changer that results in a need for regular preventative maintenance and service of the contact systems. If the regulation range exceeds approximately 1/3 of the nominal rating, an additional regulation transformer maybe required. This transformer can be in a separate transformer tank or together with the rectifier transformer. The saturable core reactor control works by introducing a variable impedance into the circuit ahead of the diode bridge. The resulting voltage drop enables the control of the rectifier output to be a finite variable. The control range of saturable core reactors are mainly limited by mechanical restrictions. An achievable control range is about 60-80VDC. Saturable core reactors are typically used together with on-load tap-changers to provide stepless regulation characteristic ref. Fig. 2. below shows a typical diode rectifier

Fig. 2. Current Control of Diode Rectifier (Large Change)

B. Thyristor Rectifiers
Due to its simplicity, reliability and efficiency, the thyristor rectifier is, until today, the most commonly used rectifier configuration for high power converter applications. The SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier) or thyristor rectifier is from a design point of view very similar to the diode rectifier. However, unlike the diode, the thyristor rectifier is controlled electronically. Electronic control eliminates the need for special tap changers and saturable reactors.
24 Pulse

+15

Thyristor Rectifier

Load

-15
Fig. 3. Thyristor Rectifier System Somewhat simplified, a thyristor rectifier is built by replacing the diode devices with thyristor devices and saturable reactor control with thyristor control. When a thyristor rectifier is controlled at small delay firing angle it performs similar to a diode rectifier using saturable reactor control. Another benefit is the fast and smooth output control within milliseconds ref. Fig.4.
Id

The diagram configuration.

2 4 P uls e

+15

D io d e R e c tifie r

L oa d

-1 5
Fig. 1. Diode Rectifier System

t Step of the reference value of the Actual value of the time constant typ. 100 ms.. 300 ms depending on the load

Fig. 4. Current Control of Thyristor Rectifier

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C. Choppers 1) Diode Rectifiers with DC to DC Chopper Regulator

Chopper technology utilizes a two stage converter principle: the first stage is an uncontrolled diode rectifier as described above; the second stage is a DC / DC converter ("chopper") to enable control of the current and voltage output. When different rectifier concepts are considered, the word chopper is somewhat misleading as it only refers to the DC to DC converter part of the system, without implying the need for a conventional rectifier front end. More important, the inherent requirement for a higher number of power components has a direct negative impact on cost, energy efficiency, reliability, maintainability, and footprint requirements. More difficult coordination of overall system protection, current fault limitation, and the prevention of crosstalk between multiple chopper modules are other possible drawbacks with the chopper, unless the system topology and system configuration (addition of reactors) properly addresses these issues.

technology used for drive applications is of the voltage source type, while most processes need the current source type. The voltage source topology used for drive applications is not capable of controlling the output voltage completely to zero, which is a process requirement for reliable operation of industrial rectifier applications. While there are no technical drawbacks with this technology, the delayed introduction of active rectifier technology is primarily commercially driven. Active rectifiers are technically more challenging to develop, requiring substantial R&D effort for the limited and highly niche oriented high power rectifier market segment. Thus, there is no strong market drive to develop this technology, as the benefits to the end user in most cases are very moderate. The high component costs for these power electronics devices makes the technology still too expensive for the additional benefits it offers.

Active Current Source Inverter Load

Diode Rectifier

DC-Link

Chopper Module

+15

Load
Fig. 6. Active Current Source Inverter

-15
Fig. 5. Chopper System DC / DC converters of the chopper type were introduced for DC traction applications more than 30 years ago and are commonly used in many low power applications. The lower cost of high power semiconductors, particularly the IGBT and IGCT, semiconductor type, has brought about the introduction of chopper concepts for industrial applications as well. Certain industries have been slow to embrace this relatively new concept for high power rectifiers. Therefore, it is important to review the system performance industry by industry and technology by technology to thoroughly compare the various characteristics of each considered technology.

III. APPLICATION SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS

The different rectification technologies have a widely varying degree of acceptability for various industries and applications. Industry specific requirements such as different process load or stringent reliability requirements primarily drive it. Therefore, the consideration of what rectification technology to use in a given situation should incorporate a review of the specific ultimate requirements for the particular application. The rectifier system is usually a critical part of the overall production plant. All aspects of each technology must be thoroughly evaluated. Many industries have similar current and voltage rating requirements, but the acceptability to use certain newer technologies varies greatly from industry to industry. The following tabulation shows typical current and voltage requirements by some common industry applications: Table I High Power Rectifiers Typical Power Ranges
Rectifier Application
Chemical electrolysis Aluminum potline DC Arc Furnace Graphitizing Furnaces Zinc/Lead, etc electrolysis Copper refining Traction substations LV AC Drive (DC bus) MV Drive (DC bus) 3

D. Active Rectifier Units

While not yet available for high current rectifier applications, active rectifier technology is the most promising rectifier technology from a power quality viewpoint. It has all the advantages of a diode or thyristor rectifier, but with the added benefit of drawing power from the utility grid with a minimum of harmonic distortion and unity power factor operation. It also has the same low DC current and voltage ripple as offered by the chopper, but it avoids double power conversion. Active rectifiers are now in use as standard products for both low and medium voltage drive applications. However, this technology is currently not available for high power rectifier applications, partly due to unavailability of suitable, cost effective power electronic devices. Further, the active front-end

Typical Rectifier Rating Current (Amps) Voltage (DC)

5,000 - 150,000 10,000 - 300,000 50,000 - 130,000 20,000 - 120,000 5,000 - 100,000 10,000 - 50,000 1,000 - 5,000 0 - 10,000 0 - 5,000 40 - 1,000 Volts < 1,300 Volts 600 - 1,150 Volts 50 - 250 Volts 100 - 1,000 Volts 40 - 350 Volts 500 - 1,500 Volts 250 - 1,000 Volts 3,400 - 6,000 Volts

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Note: Some of the ratings may utilize complete rectifiers operating in parallel. Given the typical rectifier rating by industry above, the table below shows what rectification technology is used by a specific industry. The tabulation below indicates the current status and what the future can offer. Table II High Rectifiers What Technology is used Where
Application
Chemical Electrolysis Aluminum Potline DC Arc Furnace Graphitizing Furnace Zinc Electrolysis Copper Refining Traction Substation LV AC Drive (DC Link) MV Drive (DC Link)

including MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) and MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) for key system components. The following is a comparison between an 80kA thyristor unit and a comparable 80kA chopper solution. Table IV System Equipment
System Equipment Transformer 12 pulse Rectifier, Fuses, Thy, Trigger Rectifier cooling connection Rectifier electronic components Chopper IGBT, Diode, Reactors Chopper Fuses, Cap, Trigger Chopper cooling connection Chopper electronic components Total components approx. Chopper Thyristor 80kA / 600 VDC 80kA / 600 VDC same same 72, 72, 72 154 720 96/96/96 288/80/112 512 12000 13500 1500

Diode
Seldom Standard Not Acceptable Standard Standard Seldom Standard Standard Standard

Thyristor
Standard Seldom Standard Seldom Seldom Standard Seldom Seldom Seldom

Chopper
Seldom Not Acceptable Seldom Future Future Seldom Future Not Applicable Not Applicable

Active Rectifier
Future Distant Future Future Future Future Future Distant Future Seldom Seldom

The market for rectifiers for various industrial process applications is relatively flat. At the same time, certain industries are reluctant to change to "newer" rectification concepts. Thus, it can be expected that all four described technologies will continue to co-exist for the foreseeable future.

IV. SYSTEM COST

A rectifier system is not a mass produced product. Each system is designed for the specific requirements of its application. Different requirements and specifics per project makes a cost comparison difficult. One method to arrive at a representative cost comparison is achievable by averaging the costs for typical projects with typical industry ratings. The summary result is shown below. Table III System Cost Diode Thyristor

Technology Relative Equipment Cost

Chopper

Active Rectifier 115%*

105%

100%

124%

* Future pricing based upon further development. Research shows that the thyristor technology is the most cost-effective solution from an investment point of view. The chart will change somewhat if energy losses are incorporated and when installation costs are included. It can be noted that the higher cost of the chopper solution is a result of the higher number of components used in this concept.

The lowest magnitude of components is the diode system. The thyristor system has an order of magnitude fewer components compared with the chopper system. Depending on the chopper topology selected, a typical chopper system has 4 to 8 times the amount of power components of the thyristor system. Reliability of any given technology is directly proportional to the component count and to the electrical and cooling system connections used within the system. Therefore, it can be concluded that the chopper system will have a failure rate that is 4 to 8 times that of the thyristor unit. Furthermore, increased component count complicates trouble shooting and the MTTR would typically also increase with the component count further reducing the overall system availability for a chopper system. The thyristor system has field-proven reliability with thousands of installations. The reliability of chopper is still not sufficiently proven to enable actual assessment versus the more established rectification concepts. Specifically, the performance of the DC link capacitors and their ability to withstand high ripple current over many years of operation will need to be evaluated further based on actual operating data. A major contributor to the MTFB, is the failure rate of similar capacitors in low and medium voltage drives. It is also quite helpful to consider industry failure rates and review factors that historically have been contributing to production disturbances for users of large rectifier plants. All the described technologies have more similarities than differences in system requirements and it is important that the issues that are common do not get mixed up in the overall technology comparison.

V.

System Reliability, Availability and Innovative Service Support

A reliability evaluation needs to consider both the rectifier converter alone and more importantly the entire installed system. The total system availability must be considered,

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Table V Rectifier Installation System Failure Assessment by Component

Failure Rate

characteristics of a fault are as follows. voltage waveforms current waveforms chronological listing of faults These can be reviewed by all for the best possible resolution and to have an online monitoring system available for maintenance, engineering, and production personnel could improve overall system availability. In particular, this could be useful for remote production sites, remote engineering staff, and producers to receive the most accurate and direct information from the site.

System Component
Switchgear (1) Surge protection (2) Transformer (3) Rectifier (4) Cooling System (5) Harmonic Filter (6)

Diode
5% / year See below 2% / year 13% / year See below See below

Thyristor
5% / year See below 2% / year 13% / year See below See below

Chopper
5% / year See below 2% / year 67% / year See below See below

Active
5% / year See below 2% / year 13% / year See below See below

(1) Per IEEE Standard 493-1990 (2) IEEE 493-1990 Transient overvoltages, from lightening or switching surges, and other insulation breakdown account for 41percent of the reported failures (3) Per IEEE Standard 493-1990. Certain applications, such as arc furnaces, could have significantly higher failure rate, unless special system consideration are made to reduce the switching frequency (4) As calculated above for a typical modern 18kA system (5) Supplier dependent (6) Supplier dependent

VI. Overall System Considerations - Meeting System Requirements

All four technologies discussed in this paper - with few exceptions such as the inability to use diode technology for arc furnace applications - can be configured to meet applicable requirements. This includes application specific requirements as well as standard power quality requirements mandated by the utility delivering the electrical power to the facility. Requirements on maximum harmonic distortion, such as IEEE Standard 519, will require a more elaborate filter arrangement for certain technologies, particularly the thyristor. The special requirements for each technology are included in the comparisons below. Additionally, in certain very large rectifier installations, it may be very desirable to connect the rectifier transformer directly to the high voltage grid at 230 kV and above. This often eliminates an intermediate step-down transformer, contributing to lower losses and lower installed equipment cost. This configuration also lends itself to connecting filter equipment to a suitably arranged tertiary transformer winding. A direct high voltage connection to the rectifier transformer is neither feasible nor possible for some of the complex multi-phase-shift transformers offered with chopper systems in an effort to eliminate the need for filters.

The reliability of electronics to a large degree comes down to simple math and statistical calculations. Failures characteristically occur according to the so-called bath tub curve (see below). Assuming that proper design considerations are made, the failure rate lambda (1 / MTBF) is principally independent of manufacturer and only a function of the number of components used in the electronic circuitry.

In fant Failure
(t) [FIT]
Material Testing Component Testing

O perating Failure

End o f Life

In crea sin g Se rv ice

Acceptance Testing

A. Harmonic Distortion
Commissioning

H ig h Lo a ding L ow L o ad in g

W e ek s

// Yea rs

Yea rs

Figure 8 illustrates the harmonic spectrum generated by a chopper-based front-end rectifier. The harmonic distortion generated by a diode rectifier will be the same. This spectrum is also valid for a thyristor type rectifier with a firing angle alpha of zero degrees (maximum output DC voltage).
20 kA, 200 V DC 6 Pulse Diode Rectifier

Fig. 7. Typical failure rate curves for electronic components

A. IT Support
It can be expected that the use of advanced service and trouble-shooting support using web-enabled technologies will increase over the next couple of years, regardless of system configuration and rectification technology used. This will include spare parts inventory, control and automatic generation of technical support calls through the Internet services or mobile phone systems. It is possible to create a fault log and automatically send an e-mail of the fault to the responsible personnel. The
Current in [kA]

0 0 0
10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00 0.00 1 5 7 11 13 17

19

23

25

29

31

Harmonic Number

35

37

Diode 41 43 47

Fig. 8. Harmonic Spectrum of Diode Unit

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Figure 9 illustrates how the harmonic spectrum changes with DC voltage output for a thyristor type rectifier, where each set of curves represent a particular operating point (in firing angle increments of 10 degrees). Please note that the front curve represents the diode operation and is exactly the same as the spectrum shown above.
20 kA, 200 V DC, 6 Pulse Rectifier Diode and Chopper ( 0 degrees) and Thyristor depending on output DC voltage)

actual development of technology, the active rectifier could be better than or equal to the thyristor system. The active rectifier would benefit from the lowest transformer losses but would have the losses of an IGBT or IGCT that are higher than diodes or thyristors.

C. Power Factor
Power factor is defined as the relationship between active and reactive power, or in other words the phase shift between AC voltage and AC current. All systems utilizing a "diode front end", i.e. the diode rectifier and the chopper system, inherently have a power factor approximately between 0.95 and 0.92 (mainly depending on transformer impedance see figure 10). The power factor of a thyristor rectifier further depends on the firing angle of the system. When operating and with a low firing angle, it is in the range of 0.93 to 0.90 near rated output. With larger firing angle the power factor is further reduced. It is also common to lower the AC voltage to the rectifier by using a transformer tap changer. This improves the power factor in of a thyristor installation. Therefore, any filter network supplied with a diode or thyristor system is usually equipped with additional capacitors to achieve the desired power factor of the entire system. (Best PF is with Active front end)
Power Factor vs Transfomer Impedance
0.9600 0.9500 0.9400 0.9300 0.9200 0.9100 0.9000 0.8900 0.8800 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Transformer Impedance

16 14 12 10

AC Current in [kA]

8 6 4 2 0

0o 10o 20o 30o 40o 50o 60o

11

13

60o 17 19 23 40o 25 29 31 20o 35 37 41 0o 43 47

Harmonic Number

Fig. 9. Harmonic Spectrum Based upon Alpha As the diagram illustrates, the thyristor system harmonics are very similar to the diode and chopper (with its diode front-end) harmonics under full load operation - refer to standard IEC-1461-2. For all three system concepts, actual harmonics can be reduced by means of transformer phase shifting to achieve 12, 18, 24 or higher pulse numbers towards the utility grid. Now, let us consider the active rectifier unit. This system has radically different characteristics from the described diode, thyristor or chopper units. It inherently offers a near sinusoidal current, more or less free of harmonics. This is due to the high switching frequencies used by this type of converter, which directly converts the utility AC to ripple free DC power. The use of a high switching frequency combined pulse pattern optimization and with high frequency filtering provides the desired network reaction with a minimum of harmonics. For these reasons, active rectifiers are now the only rectifier technology offered for a few newly introduced very high power drives applications.
Power Factor

Diode / DB Thyristor / DB

Fig. 10. Power Factor vs Transformer Impedance

Pow erfacto r vs Voltage with Process Current

1.00 0.95 0.90 0.85

B. Efficiency
PF [-]

0.80 Udc 0.75 0.70 0.65 0.60 0.55 0.50 0.45 0.40 250.00 Id

Given the wide range of applications a general efficiency evaluation will be given. The evaluation of efficiency can be reviewed on multiple levels. For simplification, the system efficiency will be reviewed. For a diode system including a regulating transformer the efficiency would be slightly lower than a thyristor system. The thyristor system including power factor and harmonic filter would be the most efficient of todays technologies. A chopper system that principally uses double conversion and an equivalent rectifier transformer, as the two previous technologies, would have the lowest efficiency. Based upon the

300.00

350.00 V dc

400.00

450.00

D io de OLTC

Th yris to r OL TC

Th yris to r Un com pen s ated

Th yris to r Co m pen s ated

Fig. 11. Power Factor vs Voltage with Process Chart

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Pow erfactor vs Voltage w ith constant Current

1.00

VII.

Conclusions

0.95

0.90

0.85

0.80 PF [-]

0.75

0.70

0.65

0.60

0.55

0.50 250.00

300.00

350.00 V dc

400.00

450.00

Diode OLTC

Thyristor OLTC

Thyristor Uncompensated

Thyristor Compensated

Fig. 12. Power Factor vs Voltage with Constant Current The diagrams above show a power factor comparison between a diode and a thyristor systems - one with constant and one with variable process loads. The diode system includes a regulation transformer with OLTC and a rectifier transformer. The thyristor system is shown in 2 models. One includes a regulation transformer with OLTC and one without regulation transformer with OLTC simply controlled by varying the voltage through the firing angle. As illustrated in the diagram, the PF with constant current load is maximum as it gets closer to the highest voltage. The PF values are between 0.82 to 0.92 for the systems with regulation transformer and without regulation transformer they are between 0.52 and 0.88. The PF values with variable current load for systems with regulation transformer are between 0.86 and 0.92 with a highest peak of 0.97 at 270V and without regulation transformer they are between 0.39 and 0.88. By varying the compensation load, it is possible to compensate the system and to reach a PF near unity. The goal is to find the best combination of your load and compensation load to reach the highest possible PF. With regards to the active rectifier unit, it again offers some unique advantages over the other technologies. This technology allows the power factor to be actively controlled to provide whatever power factor is desired with the power rating of the unit as the only limitation. Thus, the unit can be operated at unity power factor or even provide leading VARs should the plant need active power factor correction for its other loads.

The well-proven diode and thyristor system still offers the best efficiency and reliability of the researched system solutions. Furthermore, these technologies are more cost effective, both from a first cost and life cycle cost standpoint. Often a chopper system would result in an installed cost of 120140% of a more conventional thyristor unit - all factors considered. The system costs include all civil work, installation, equipment, support, training, maintenance, operation, etc. Early experiences with chopper based systems seem to verify the projected higher failure rates using choppers. It has confirmed some of the expected system challenges associated with choppers, particularly where choppers use large common rectifiers. Such systems require large reactors to de-couple the various chopper modules and to reduce instantaneous over current peaks during fault events. Given some of these inherent limitations in the chopper system, combined with the improvements achieved with active rectifiers for industrial drive applications, one can wonder if a transition directly from thyristor to active rectifier would not be more logical progression for applications with extreme current or voltage ripple requirements and where inherent power quality properties are desired. However, it is inevitable that all four described technologies will prevail - at least for the more immediate future. The development of further improvements in IGBT and IGCT technology is critical for choppers and active rectifiers to expand in the future. With the resulting low numbers of reference installations for some of these, system upgradeability, available future control migration paths, diagnostics, and service and parts support will become even more important for the end-user to ensure long term service of a system that is designed for 25+ service years. The optimum system configuration and topology can only be determined after a most thorough review of all critical end-user requirements, measured against cost, efficiency, inherent reliability and other system requirements. The tabulation below summarizes those characteristics. Table VI System Summary of Characteristics
Diode
Product & System
Swgr. Transformer Converter Control Cooling Filter/Swgr Voltage control Civil Installation Busbars AC & DC Loss Penalty Reliability - MTBF Scalability (voltage and current) Protection - Security + + ++ + + ++ + + + + + + ++ + + + ++ ++ + + + + + + ++ ++ ++ +

Chopper Thyristor

Active Rect

D. System Footprint - Space Requirements

The overall system footprint is directly proportional to the amount of components employed in the system. Therefore, the diode and thyristor units as well as the active front-end converter offer significant benefits over the chopper solution. The rectifier units (excluding transformers) are typically installed in a controlled environment or in a container type outdoor enclosure with controlled temperature and humidity. Whenever the equipment is installed in a pre-fabricated building, the footprint requirements tend to become even more critical. If a harmonic filter system is required, it is often installed outdoors in the high voltage substation area.

+ + + +

+ + + +

Process
Return of investment Complexity Commissioning + + + + + +

Service (availability)
Training Skill level Available resources Spare parts

+ ++

Advantage Better Advantage

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VIII. REFERENCES [1] IEEE Std 493-1990, Design of Reliable Industrial and Commercial Power Systems IX. VITA
Anthony Siebert graduated in 1991 at Milwaukee School of Engineering in Electrical Engineering technology. He started at ABB as a design engineer for power electronics. During 1993 to 1995, he was involved with traction, electrochemical, aluminum, copper, arc-furnace, and laboratory power supplies. Since 1997, he is a Product Manager of Power Condition systems and High Power converter systems. Anders Troedson was born in Sweden in 1949 and in 1971, received his Masters degree at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden. During the last 28 years, he has held various positions within the ABB group in Sweden and the United States, with primary emphasis on adjustable speed drives and high power converter systems. He currently holds the position as director of power electronics for ABB Automation, Inc. in New Berlin, Wisconsin with sales, engineering, and operational responsibility for the supply of large rectifiers and specialty power converter systems. Stephan Ebner graduated in electrotechnique and communication technology at Konstanz / Germany (Fachhochschule) Technical University in 1989. He started at BBC / ABB as a Research and Development engineer for plant automation systems. During 1993 to 1995, he was involved in the implementation of automation and optimization in the building material industries. During 1995 to 1999, he was a Sales and Project Engineer of High Power converter systems. Since 1999, he is a Product Manager for High Power converter systems.

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