738 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 52, NO.

3, JUNE 2005

Large Current Rectifiers: State of the Art

and Future Trends
José R. Rodríguez, Senior Member, IEEE, Jorge Pontt, Senior Member, IEEE, César Silva, Member, IEEE,
Eduardo P. Wiechmann, Senior Member, IEEE, Peter W. Hammond, Member, IEEE, Frank W. Santucci,
Rodrigo Álvarez, Rodrigo Musalem, Samir Kouro, Student Member, IEEE, and Pablo Lezana

Abstract—This paper presents the different technologies used losses, which are dissipated with water cooling. The losses are
in the generation of large controlled currents, in the kiloam- so important that they usually are considered in the economic
peres range. After a brief review of processes requiring large evaluation of large current rectifiers.
currents, the paper discusses the working principles of thyristor
phase-controlled rectifiers commonly used in these applications. Reliability is also a critical issue to be considered in the op-
Chopper–rectifiers using high-current insulated gate bipolar eration of these large units due to their important impact on the
transistors are introduced as an alternative being considered in re- production of the plant.
cent projects. The pulsewidth-modulated current-source rectifier, For several years, thyristor rectifiers have been the dominant
currently used in medium-voltage motor drives, is also analyzed technology in large current rectifiers. However, the advent
as a future alternative for rectification in industrial processes.
In addition, this paper presents the most important require- of high-current insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs)
ments and specifications to be considered in the applications of has permitted the introduction of a new alternative called a
these high-power units. A system comparison is developed between chopper–rectifier, which uses a combination of diode rectifiers
thyristor and chopper–rectifiers in terms of quality of control, and power transistors to generate large controlled currents
harmonics, power factor, losses, and efficiency. [4]–[8].
Index Terms—AC–DC power conversion, chopper–rectifiers, This paper summarizes the working principles and main char-
electrochemical processes, phase control, rectifiers, thyristors. acteristics of the most important thyristor and chopper–recti-
fiers. The requirements and specifications necessary to work
I. INTRODUCTION with these units are clearly established. The following sections
also include a system comparison of both technologies consid-

L ARGE current rectifiers (kiloamperes) with power semi-

conductors have approximately 50 years of development,
with applications in several important processes like electro-
ering harmonics, reliability issues, and efficiency. In addition,
the analysis of the pulsewidth-modulated current-source recti-
fier (PWM-CSR) as a future alternative for large current rectifi-
chemical, electrowinning, dc arc furnaces, plasma torches, etc.
cation is presented.
[1]–[3].
Several companies consider that there is not enough field ex-
Today, rectifier systems with more than 300 kA and a power
perience with chopper–rectifiers to be used in applications re-
in the range of hundreds of megawatts are used in aluminum
quiring high levels of reliability. A review of chopper–rectifiers
plants. Such units impose critical demands on the operation of
currently in operation has been included, to show the present
the utility delivering the electrical energy to such large rectifiers.
level of field experience with this technology.
In addition, economic reasons are increasing the power of rec-
tifier units to even higher levels.
The limit in these rectifiers, as in all electrical equipment, is II. APPLICATIONS REQUIRING LARGE DC CURRENTS
established by the capability to dissipate the losses appearing, in
There are a variety of industrial processes that require large dc
this case, in the power semiconductors. In fact, a single thyristor
currents and, hence, make use of large current rectifiers. Among
used in a large current rectifier can have more than 1000 W of
other considerations, the choice of rectification technology is
driven by the application requirements. Therefore, it is useful to
Manuscript received December 29, 2003; revised January 27, 2004. Abstract review the main applications and their characteristics.
published on the Internet March 14, 2005. This work was supported by the
Chilean research fund CONICYT under Grant 1010885 and Grant 7030020 and Among the most common applications for large current rec-
by the Research Department of the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María. tifiers are those in the electrochemical industry such as chlo-
J. R. Rodríguez, J. Pontt, C. Silva, R. Álvarez, S. Kouro, and P. Lezana rine processes and in the metallurgical industry such as electro
are with the Electronics Engineering Department, Universidad Técnica
Federico Santa María, 110-V Valparaíso, Chile (e-mail: [email protected]; winning/refining of copper and other nonferrous metals and pot
[email protected]). lines in aluminum smelting plants. Another common group of
E. P. Wiechmann is with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University applications is where a rectifier is used to generate and main-
of Concepción, 160-C Concepción, Chile (e-mail: [email protected]).
P. W. Hammond and F. W. Santucci are with ASIRobicon Corporation, New tain an electric arc, examples of this are dc arc furnaces and
Kensington, PA 15068 USA (e-mail: [email protected]). plasma torches. These applications are characterized by a high
R. Musalem was with the Electronics Engineering Department, Universidad initial voltage requirement to establish the arc and a much lower
Técnica Federico Santa María, 110-V Valparaíso, Chile. He is now with Proctor
& Gamble Chile, Santiago, Chile (e-mail: [email protected]). voltage in normal operation. This results in oversized rectifier
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2005.843949 transformers and demanding current controllers. Typical ratings
0278-0046/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE
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 RODRÍGUEZ et al.: LARGE CURRENT RECTIFIERS: STATE OF THE ART AND FUTURE TRENDS 739

TABLE I
TYPICAL DC RATINGS FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS REQUIRING LARGE
CURRENT RECTIFIERS

for the dc current and voltage for the above-mentioned applica-

tions [7] are summarized in Table I.

III. MAIN REQUIREMENTS AND SPECIFICATIONS

The main requirement for a rectifier from the load side is that
it must have the capability to deliver a controlled dc current in
a range of 0%–100% of rated value. In general, no additional
requirements are applied to the quality of current ripple, which
is acceptable for most processes.
On the other hand, the main requirements and specifications Fig. 1. 12-pulse rectifier single-way (ANSI 45-46).
regarding the interaction with the power supply are the fol-
lowing.
• The first is high power factor (PF), usually PF .
This originates the need to use compensation of reactive
power in rectifiers with thyristors.
• The input current harmonics must comply with national
standards or recommendations, for example, IEEE 519-
1992.
Additional requirements related to the inner operation of the
rectifier are as follows.
• One requirement is high efficiency (usually 97%) due to
the large power and need to dissipate out the losses.
• High reliability is required to avoid unexpected down- Fig. 2. 12-pulse rectifier bridge (ANSI 25-26).
times. This is one of the most important specifications
which is satisfied by oversizing the power semiconduc- A very important aspect in the operation of these 12-pulse
tors in current and voltage. Usual engineering practice is rectifiers is the generation of harmonics in the input current. An-
the requirement of redundancy for thyristors. This other important issue is the generation of reactive power due to
means that the rectifier must continue its normal operation operation with variable firing angle . A compensation of this
at rated current even when one thyristor fails. reactive power is mandatory today. To reduce the angle in
• The refrigeration of transformers and semiconductors is a thyristors rectifiers, hence, reactive power, on-load tap changers
key issue in the operation of large rectifiers and for this in the transformer primary are normally used. However, this
reason, the use of redundant cooling systems is manda- adds mechanical mobile parts and increases maintenance re-
tory. quirements.
Fig. 3 presents the input current of a 12-pulse rectifier,
IV. THYRISTOR PHASE-CONTROLLED RECTIFIERS which contains harmonics of orders 12 k 1 (11, 13, 23, 25,
Thyristor rectifiers with phase control are the most used tech- ). It is usual to use passive power filters to reduce the current
nology in the industrial application of large currents. Fig. 1 harmonics introduced by the rectifier to the power system. Fig. 4
presents the single-way 12-pulse topology with interphase re- shows a typical filter configuration for 12-pulse rectifiers with
actors, known as ANSI 45-46. This topology is widely used for two branches tuned to harmonics 11 and 13, and an additional
low-voltage applications [9]. Fig. 2 presents the 12-pulse bridge high-pass filter.
rectifier, known as ANSI 25-26, which is used for high-voltage In general, the main advantages of thyristor rectifiers are as
applications. It is important to note that these rectifiers have, follows:
in general, high efficiency (approximately 97%). The working • high efficiency;
principles of these rectifiers are clearly explained in classical • high reliability;
textbooks and will not be included here [1]. • good control of load current;
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 740 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 52, NO. 3, JUNE 2005

Fig. 3. Input current of a 12-pulse thyristor rectifier.

Fig. 5. Chopper–rectifier to 30 pulses.

converter is extremely simple, even simpler than the control of

a line-commutated controlled rectifier with thyristors.
The input transformer has several secondary windings to
supply isolated voltages to the different cells. An important
cancellation of harmonics can be obtained by shifting these
Fig. 4. Harmonics filter for a 12-pulse rectifier. secondary voltages appropriately, as shown in Fig. 5. With
this technique, the input current of the chopper–rectifier can
• reduced costs; be highly sinusoidal with a total harmonic distortion (THD)
• mature technology. of 2%–5% (see Fig. 9; note that it is referring to a 30–pulse
rectifier). This is a major advantage, because high-current
Their disadvantages are the following: rectifiers are usually the biggest consumers of electrical energy
• generation of reactive power; in the plant and, for this reason, special attention has to be paid
• generation of current harmonics; to harmonics. It is an usual engineering practice in thyristor
• use of power filters; rectifiers to do a complete harmonic study with computer anal-
• current ripple. ysis, filter design, and measurements with costly equipment.
All this could be avoided with chopper–rectifiers of an adequate
number of pulses.
Other attractive features of chopper–rectifiers are as follows:
V. CHOPPER–RECTIFIERS
• operation with high and almost constant PF (0.95) for all
The development of large current IGBTs led to the creation of load currents;
a circuit called a chopper–rectifier, shown in Fig. 5. This circuit • operation with redundancy;
uses several cells connected in parallel to generate high currents • fast current dynamic response;
in the load. Each cell, shown in Fig. 6, has a three-phase diode • flexibility and cost savings when processes require large
rectifier at the input side and three transistor choppers operating changes in load;
in parallel through small reactors at the output side. Each of • peak currents inhibit and trip operation, increasing re-
these single choppers corresponds to the basic topology shown liability; this is originated by the rapid response of the
in Fig. 7. The waveforms of Fig. 8 explain very clearly the IGBT’s, which can turn off short circuit currents in a few
working principle of a single chopper. The switching frequency microseconds;
choice is a tradeoff between reduction of dc current ripple and • less downtime because of elimination of mechanical parts
reduction of the switching losses. Typically, the switching fre- (input transformer taps);
quencies range between 1–2 kHz, which is an improvement • transformer design to maximum power while thyristors
compared to a six-pulse rectifier with an equivalent ripple fre- need design for maximum voltage and maximum current;
quency of 300 Hz [4], [10]. Through distributed commutation
Some disadvantages are as follows:
of the different choppers, an increase in the effective switching
commutation as see by the load is achieved, obtaining a load • higher losses than thyristor rectifiers in low-voltage oper-
current with a much reduced ripple, while still operating at the ation;
same relatively low switching frequency. The control of this new • higher number of semiconductor components.
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 RODRÍGUEZ et al.: LARGE CURRENT RECTIFIERS: STATE OF THE ART AND FUTURE TRENDS 741

Fig. 6. Circuit of a power cell.

Fig. 7. Basic chopper circuit.

Fig. 9. Input current of a 30-pulse chopper–rectifier.

VII. SYSTEM EVALUATION AND COMPARISON

The comparisons between IGBT chopper–rectifiers and
thyristor rectifiers have a great importance, because these are
the current technologies in the market.

A. Losses and Efficiency

The double power conversion in chopper–rectifiers and the
use of IGBTs with higher voltage drop than thyristors results in
higher converter losses than in thyristor rectifiers. Nevertheless,
Fig. 8. Basic chopper waveforms. the losses and efficiency should be evaluated for the complete
rectifier system, including transformer, harmonic filter, and
other elements, such as snubbers and fuses. This makes difficult
VI. PWM-CSRS
a general assessment on the efficiency of each technology and
The PWM-CSR is a solution used in medium-voltage appli- the comparison should be done on a case-by-case basis. In the
cations to generate the dc-link current for a current-source in- following analysis, the most important variables that affect the
verter (CSI) [11]. Fig. 10(a) presents the power circuit of this relative efficiency of whole systems using each technology are
rectifier, which uses a basic bridge with six gate-turn-off thyris- presented and efficiency comparisons found in the literature are
tors (GTOs), generating a controlled current at the output. reviewed.
The operation of the GTOs generates a PWM input current Current harmonics in the chopper–rectifier are generally
with the waveform shown in Fig. 10(b). A capacitive filter smaller than those in thyristor rectifiers of the same number
is used for smoothing, achieving near-sinusoidal line current. of pulses and operating at typical firing angle [12]. This pro-
This topology can, in principle, be used to generate large cur- duces lower conduction and eddy-current losses in the rectifier
rents, although there is no practical experience in industrial pro- transformer [13]. Transformer conduction losses as well as the
cesses. This solution should be considered as an alternative in semiconductor losses remain relatively unchanged with voltage
the future, because it can deliver a good controlled current to the increase. On the other hand, rectifier transformer eddy-current
load while consuming near-sinusoidal currents with high from losses increase with higher rated ac voltage. This means that
the supply. the global efficiency of chopper–rectifiers relative to that of
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 742 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 52, NO. 3, JUNE 2005

Fig. 10. PWM current-source rectifiers. (a) Power circuit. (b) Rectifier input current.

thyristor units improves for applications that call for higher TABLE II
rated dc output voltages. Furthermore, the losses in harmonic LOSSES WITH A DC VOLTAGE OF 150 V
filters normally used in thyristor rectifiers makes this compar-
ison even more favorable for chopper–rectifiers.
A detailed comparison of two different thyristor rectifier
topologies and a chopper–rectifier is presented in [8]; all the
units analyzed are 12-pulse and sized to deliver 30 kA dc at
150, 300, and 650 V dc. This analysis includes losses in the
following elements.
For the thyristor rectifier TABLE III
• thyristor conduction; LOSSES WITH A DC VOLTAGE OF 300 V
• transformer;
• ac line filter;
• thyristor snubber;
• ac and dc bus;
• thyristor fuse.

For the IGBT chopper–rectifier

• diode conduction; TABLE IV
• IGBT conduction and switching; LOSSES WITH A DC VOLTAGE OF 650 V
• transformer;
• ac line filter;
• diode snubber;
• dc capacitor bank input reactor;
• dc bus;
• freewheeling diode and dc output reactor.
The results of this analysis are presented in Tables II–IV and
summarized in Fig. 11. The transformer efficiencies considered in the previous anal-
Fig. 11 shows that the efficiency of the chopper–rectifier ysis have been estimated considering typical (low) operating
comes closer to that of the thyristor unit for higher voltages, as values of firing angle for the thyristor rectifier. Nevertheless,
expected. One author reports that the efficiency of their design when operating at reduced voltage, i.e., with a dc load voltage
of a 30-kA chopper–rectifier exceeds even that of thyristor rec- much smaller than the maximum value determined by the
tifiers for rated output voltages higher than 150 V [5]. The total transformer ac output voltage, the improvement in efficiency of
efficiencies obtained in this work are shown in Fig. 12, where the chopper–rectifier transformer relative to that of the thyristor
transformer efficiencies of 98.6% for the chopper–rectifier and rectifier transformer is significantly increased. This is because
97.1% for the thyristor rectifier are considered. reduced-voltage operation in thyristor rectifiers is achieved by
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 RODRÍGUEZ et al.: LARGE CURRENT RECTIFIERS: STATE OF THE ART AND FUTURE TRENDS 743

TABLE V
MAJOR COMPONENT LOSSES IN RECTIFIERS TO DELIVER 70 kA, 35 MW
TO AN ARC FURNACE

Fig. 11. Rectifier system efficiency versus dc output voltage [8].

Fig. 13. Input PF of a chopper–rectifier over the full operating range.

thyristor rectifier transformer should be dimensioned for max-

imum currents and voltage, resulting in an oversized thyristor
Fig. 12. Efficiency versus rated output voltage [5].
rectifier transformer. The major losses on 12-pulse rectifiers of
both technologies dimensioned for a dc arc furnace rated at 35
large firing angles and, hence, a very low PF. This means that MW, 70 kA are presented in [10]. The summarized comparison
large transformer currents are needed to deliver a relatively low is shown in Table V.
power to the load. In fact, the transformer and rectifier current As shown in Table V and, indeed in most cases, the losses in
magnitude and, hence, conduction losses, do not change with semiconductors are larger in chopper–rectifiers than in thyristor
the reduction of load voltage and are determined by the mag- rectifiers. However, depending of the particular application,
nitude of the load current only. On the other hand, the double the higher thyristor rectifiers transformer losses may offset the
power conversion of the chopper–rectifier is characterized by semiconductor losses difference.
a high-PF operation across the whole output dc voltage range.
This means that, for reduced-voltage operation, the current B. Harmonics and Input PF
through the transformer and the diode rectifier is of smaller
magnitude, corresponding mainly to active power. This reduces It is well known that thyristor rectifiers operate with low PF
losses in the transformer and the diode rectifier comparatively for reduced loads. It is usual to use power filters at the input of
to those on the thyristor rectifier and offset the extra losses in the rectifier to provide the necessary reactive power compensa-
the second power conversion stage of the chopper–rectifier. tion and harmonics reduction. This practice requires the appli-
Applications such as arc furnaces and plasma torches require cation of a harmonics study in the early phases of the project.
high voltage to establish the initial arc but normal operation is On the other hand, chopper–rectifiers operate with high and
characterized by low voltage and high current. These types of almost constant PF. Fig. 13 shows that the input PF has a value
applications call for rectifiers to operate normally with reduced of 0.95 at rated load and a higher value for reduced loads. No
voltage. Therefore, the lower losses on the chopper–rectifier external compensation of the PF is required.
transformer in this mode of operation are an advantage when
considering this rectification technology for applications in- C. Quality of the Output Current
volving arc generation. Furthermore, for the same reasons Thyristor rectifiers produce a load current ripple, the fre-
discussed above, the dimensioning of the chopper–rectifier quency of which is 12 times the source frequency (for a
transformer is done essentially for maximum power, while the 12-pulse configuration). Chopper–rectifiers work with a higher
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 744 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 52, NO. 3, JUNE 2005

Fig. 14. Simplified power circuit of a unit used in an arc furnace application.

switching frequency, for example, 2 kHz (for a six-pulse con- TABLE VI

figuration), allowing for a reduction in the current ripple. In INSTALLED CHOPPER–RECTIFIERS BY ASIROBICON UP TO 2001
addition, the use of IGBT choppers permits a fast control of
the load current, which is attractive in some applications, like
plasma torches.

D. Reliability
Thyristor rectifiers are quite reliable pieces of equipment. It
is common practice to use redundancy on the thyristors to
increase reliability. On the other hand, chopper–rectifiers have
significantly more power semiconductors, making these units
less reliable. However, their topology is also adequate for the
application of redundancy. Furthermore, this redundancy
can be implemented at different levels. First, redundancy
can be applied to the IGBT legs of a simple cell allowing for
disconnection of one of these legs by a fuse in case of failure
[10]. Redundancy could also be introduced by designing a con-
verter capable of operation at rated current with one complete
cell disconnected, should it fail.

VIII. EXPERIENCES WITH APPLICATIONS

OF LARGE RECTIFIERS

Thyristor rectifiers have been the most used technology

during the past several decades, and their advantages in terms
of performance, efficiency, reliability, and cost are well known.
This is a mature and well-established technology.
The real question today is whether there is enough field ex-
perience with chopper–rectifiers to compete with the thyristor
up to years 2001 and 2000 by two companies. The applications
technology. Still, several engineering companies and users do
cover different areas such as electrometallurgical, electrochem-
not consider this alternative in their projects, because they feel
ical, plasma torches, and arc furnaces with currents up to 130
that this experience is still insufficient.
kA.
As an example of application of chopper–rectifiers, Fig. 14
shows the simplified power circuit of a unit rated 65 MW,
IX. CONCLUSION
130 kA, 650 V, used in an arc furnace. The input-side trans-
former has a 24-pulse configuration. This paper has reviewed the main characteristics of the most
A very important indication of the acceptance of a technology important topologies used in generation of large currents. The
is to observe the amount of units produced and installed by some advantages and drawbacks of these solutions have been high-
manufacturers. Tables VI and VII present the units installed lighted.
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 RODRÍGUEZ et al.: LARGE CURRENT RECTIFIERS: STATE OF THE ART AND FUTURE TRENDS 745

TABLE VII [3] R. Brown, “Rectifiers and DC bus system design for the copper
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1116–1119, Nov./Dec. 1990.
[4] P. Maniscalco, V. Scaini, and B. Urban, “High current DC choppers
and their operational benefits,” in Conf. Rec. IEEE-IAS PCIC, 1998, pp.
173–180.
[5] V. Scaini and W. Veerkamp, “Specifying DC chopper systems for elec-
trochemical applications,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 37, no. 3, pp.
941–948, May/Jun. 2001.
[6] Robicon Co.. (1999) Harmony Series of AC and DC Power Supplies.
[Online] Available: www.robicon.com
[7] A. Siebert, A. Troedson, and S. Ebner, “AC to DC power conversion now
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[8] A. Stevenson and J. Galloway, “High power rectifiers,” in Conf. Rec.
IEEE-IAS Annu. Meeting, Chicago, IL, Sep. 2001, pp. 1–20.
[9] P. Buddingh and J. St. Mars, “New life for old thyristor power rectifiers
using contemporary digital control,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 36, no.
5, pp. 1449–1454, Sep./Oct. 2000.
[10] V. Scaini and T. Ma, “High current DC choppers in the metals industry,”
IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 26–33, Mar./Apr. 2002.
[11] Rockwell Automation. (2002) Power Flex 7000 Medium Voltage Drives.
[Online] Available: www.ab.com
[12] J. Beak, P. Buddingh, and V. Scaini, “Reusing and rerating older rectifier
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2002.

The 12-pulse thyristor rectifiers in single-way (ANSI 45-46)

or bridge (ANSI 25-26) connections are the dominant tech-
José R. Rodríguez (M’81–SM’94) received the
nologies. Poor PF and input harmonics are some of their most Engineer degree from the Universidad Técnica Fed-
important disadvantages. However, these problem are solved erico Santa Maria, Valparaíso, Chile, in 1977, and
with the use of passive filters. The maturity of this technology the Dr.-Ing. degree from the University of Erlangen,
Erlangen, Germany, in 1985, both in electrical
and its high efficiency are probably its most attractive aspects. engineering.
On other hand, chopper–rectifiers present an alternative based Since 1977, he has been with the Universidad
on the availability of high-current IGBTs. Solutions used in Técnica Federico Santa Maria, where he is currently
a Professor and Academic Vice-Rector. During his
industry show reduced input current harmonics and high PF sabbatical leave in 1996, he was responsible for the
without need of filters. The high number of components seems mining division of Siemens Corporation in Chile.
to be an important drawback, negatively affecting efficiency and He has several years consulting experience in the mining industry, especially
in the application of large drives such as cycloconverter-fed synchronous
reliability. However, recent evaluations show that chopper–rec- motors for SAG mills, high-power conveyors, controlled drives for shovels, and
tifiers can be competitive in terms of efficiency at high voltage power quality issues. His research interests are mainly in the areas of power
levels due to lower losses at the input transformer. This may electronics and electrical drives. In recent years, his main research interests
are in multilevel inverters and new converter topologies. He has authored
give an advantage to chopper–rectifiers in applications such as or coauthored more than 130 refereed journal and conference papers and
arc furnaces and plasma torches. However, for applications re- contributed to one chapter in the Power Electronics Handbook (New York:
quiring nearly constant low voltage and large currents, thyristor Academic, 2001).
rectifiers still are the most attractive alternative with higher
efficiencies and a lower capital cost.
The use of PWM-CSRs, presently restricted to medium-
Jorge Pontt (M’00–SM’04) received the Engineer
voltage CSIs, could be used for rectification on industrial and Master degrees in electrical engineering from
processes in the future. This technology can deliver good the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María
controlled current to the load, while keeping low harmonics (UTFSM), Valparaíso, Chile, in 1977.
Since 1977, he has been with UTFSM, where he is
currents and a high PF in the supply. currently a Professor in the Electronics Engineering
As a main conclusion of this paper, it can be stated that Department and Director of the Laboratory for
chopper–rectifiers have enough field experience to be consid- Reliability and Power Quality. He is coauthor of
the software Harmonix used in harmonic studies
ered as an alternative in the generation of controlled current in in electrical systems. He is the coauthor of patent
the kiloamperes range. applications concerning innovative instrumentation
systems employed in high-power converters and large grinding mill drives.
He has authored more than 90 international refereed journal and conference
papers. He is a Consultant to the mining industry, in particular, in the design
and application of power electronics, drives, instrumentation systems, and
REFERENCES power quality issues, with management of more than 80 consulting and R&D
projects. He has had scientific stays at the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt
[1] C. W. Lander, Power Electronics. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1981. (1979–1980), University of Wuppertal (1990), and University of Karlsruhe
[2] IEEE Standard Practices and Requirements for Semiconductor Power (2000–2001), all in Germany. He is currently Director of the Centre for
Rectifier Transformers, IEEE Std C57.18-10-1998, June 15, 1998. Semiautogenous Grinding and Electrical Drives at UTFSM.
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 746 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 52, NO. 3, JUNE 2005

César Silva (M’04) received the Electronic Eng. Rodrigo Álvarez was born in Santiago, Chile, in
degree from the Universidad Técnica Federico 1981. He is currently working toward the M.Sc.
Santa María (UTFSM), Valparaíso, Chile, in 1998, degree in power electronics at the Universidad
and the Ph.D. degree from Nottingham University, Técnica Federico Santa María, Valparaíso, Chile.
Nottingham, U.K., in 2003. His research interests include medium-voltage
Since 2003, he has been a Lecturer in the De- drives and modern control techniques.
partment of Electronic Engineering, UTFSM. His
research interests include low-speed sensorless
control of ac machine drives and the control of
power electronics converters.

Eduardo P. Wiechmann (S’81–M’86–SM’94)

received the Electronics Engineering degree from
Santa Maria University, Valparaiso, Chile, in 1975,
and the Ph.D. degree from Concordia University, Rodrigo Musalem was born in Viña del Mar, Chile,
Montreal, QC, Canada, in 1985. in 1978. He received the Engineer and M.Sc. degrees
Since 1976, has been with the University of Con- in electronic engineering from the Universidad Téc-
cepción, Concepción, Chile, where he is currently nica Federico Santa María (UTFSM), Valparaíso,
a Professor in the Electrical Engineering Depart- Chile, in 2004.
ment. His research interests are power converters, He recently joined Procter & Gamble Chile, San-
high-current rectifiers, ac drives, UPS systems, har- tiago, Chile. His main research interests are in auto-
monics, and power-factor control in industrial power matic control and power electronics.
distribution systems. His industrial experience includes more than 6000 hours
working on engineering projects and consulting. He has published numerous
technical papers and has coauthored technical books.
Dr. Wiechmann is currently Chairman of the IEEE Chilean Joint Chapter
of the IEEE Industry Applications, IEEE Power Electronics, and IEEE Indus-
trial Electronics Societies. He is the recipient of the year 2000 Concepción City
Award for Outstanding Achievements in Applied Research.

Samir Kouro (S’04) was born in Valdivia, Chile, in

1978. He received the Engineer and M.Sc. degrees in
Peter W. Hammond (M’74) received the B.S.E.E.
electronics engineering in 2004 from the Universidad
degree from California Institute of Technology,
Técnica Federico Santa María (UTFSM), Valparaíso,
Pasadena, in 1962, and the M.S.E.E. degree from
Chile, where he is currently working toward the Ph.D.
Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, OH, in
degree.
1966.
In 2004, he joined the Electronics Engineering
He has almost 40 years of experience in ac drives.
Department, UTFSM, as a Research Assistant. His
For the last 27 years, he has been an Engineer with
main research interests are power electronics and
ASIRobicon Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA, where he
adjustable-speed drives.
participated in the development of cascaded multi-
level inverters.

Frank W. Santucci received the B.S. and M.S. de-

grees in electrical engineering from the University of
Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, in 1984 and 1990, respec- Pablo Lezana was born in Temuco, Chile, in 1977.
tively. He is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in
From 1983 to 1987, he was a Staff Engineer with power electronics at the Universidad Técnica Fed-
the University of Pittsburgh’s Nuclear Physics Labo- erico Santa María, Valparaíso, Chile.
ratory. In 1987, he joined Robicon as a Design Engi- His research interests include PWM rectifiers and
neer in the Power Systems Group. His areas of expe- modern digital devices.
rience include high-power ac and dc converters and
motor drives. He is currently an Advisory Engineer
in the Application Engineering Group, ASIRobicon
Corporation, New Kensington, PA.

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