Power supply unit design

Design examples ranging from

very simple unregulated PSU’s to
precise and closely regulated PSU’s
 Definition
For the purposes of this article the term “power
supply unit” means a unit that takes power from
mains AC and produces a DC output.

Throughout this presentation there will be some

slides with RED headings. These are more
advanced ideas and until you are more familiar
with the basic ideas you may want to skip over
these slides.
 Power supply circuit sections
A power supply unit (psu) comprises:
• A transformer to convert mains ac to a
suitable voltage
• A rectifier to change AC to DC
PSU’s may also have:
• Smoothing
• Voltage regulation
• Current limiting
 Basic circuit: Fig 1

N
DC wave

Transformer T1 converts the mains voltage to the voltage required.

BR1 changes the AC wave into a DC wave.
Its usual to include a fuse (not shown here) in the AC line for circuit protection.
 Applications
The circuit shown in Fig 1 would be suitable
for charging a car battery or operating a dc
motor. In these applications the ripple is not
important.

However most applications require a

smoothed output, and to provide this in the
next circuit we will use a capacitor.
 Ripple voltage
The input waveform is a sine wave, normally
Vpk
at 50Hz. Its RMS value is the transformer’s
0V output voltage e.g. 12V

The peak value Vpk is 12 √ 2 = 17.0V

12V

0V The output waveform is a “double hump”.

The peak value is still 17V.

0V

This is equivalent to a constant DC level of

12V with an additional ac signal which we
 Example design calculation
Specification: we have a 12V dc motor which is to run continuously. It
takes 1A in normal operation.

Design:
We choose a 12V transformer rated at 12W (12V * 1A) or a little above.
(The bridge rectifier introduces a voltage drop of 2*0.7=1.4V but the
motor will run just fine on 10.6V)
We need to calculate the PEAK current and voltage the rectifier will
receive.
I(peak) = 1.0 * √2 = 1.414A
V(peak) = 12 * √2 = 17.0V

So we need a bridge rectifier rated over 1.5A, 2A is fine, and a voltage

exceeding 2*17V : >50V for safety margin.
 Basic circuit with smoothing: Fig 2

Here we have added an electrolytic capacitor to reduce the amount of

ripple at the output.
 Capacitor smoothing

The output waveform from the rectifier

is a “double hump”. The peak value is
0V
still 17 V off load, and about 17 - 2*0.7
=15.6V due to the rectifier diodes.
As the voltage rises the capacitor
“charges up” until the peak is reached.
Then it slowly discharges, maintaining
Time: 0……5…….10……15…..20ms the voltage. (red line) When it reaches
the next hump it charges again.
The amount by which it drops is found
from the formula
CV =I t where t= 10msec
 RMS Ripple voltage
As the ripple is not a sine wave we cant
use Vpk/√2 to find the RMS value.
Vpk-pk

However its almost a sawtooth wave, so

0V
instead we can use
Vrms = Vpk-pk/√3

The ripple current flowing in the

capacitor is Iripple = Vrms / Xc

And Xc = 1 / (2 *pi * f *C) = 1 / 628 C

 Design calculations
Specification: A guitar amplifier needs 12V
at 6A with a peak – peak ripple of no more
than 0.5V.

As before
Transformer: 12V 6A= 72VA+
Bridge rectifier: >50V 10A
 Smoothing calculation
Calculate capacitor
CV=I t C * 0.5 = 6 * 0.01
C = 6 * 0.01 / 0.5 = 0.03 Farads = 30,000uF

We need an electrolytic capacitor of 33,000uF * or

more, with a voltage rating of over 17V.

*nearest preferred value

 Ripple Current rating
1: Calculate RMS ripple voltage
Vpk-pk = 0.5V
Vrms = 0.5 / √3 = 0.35V

2: now work out RMS ripple current

Iripple = Vrms / Xc and Xc = 1 / 2 *pi * f *C = 1 / 628 C
Xc = 1 / 628 * .03 = 0.053
Iripple = 0.35 / 0.053 = 6.6 A

The capacitor must have a ripple current rating of

6.6 A or more.
PSU designer is a simulator package for checking results
http://www.duncanamps.com/psud2/
 Regulated supplies
In the previous designs the
voltage at the output will vary. Output
With no load it will be a voltage
maximum and as the load
current is increased the output
voltage will fall. Vmax

In many applications this is not

important, either because the
load is constant, or because a
Load current
very stable voltage is not
required.
 General diagram for
series regulated PSU: Fig 3

Positive voltage V+
Series regulator

AC
mains Un-regulated
supply Voltage
(basic circuit with reference
smoothing, Fig 2)
Compare
and
amplify
0V
 General operation of
series regulated supply
This uses a series regulator to control the current flowing
to the load.
The output voltage is compared with a reference voltage
and corrections applied to maintain the output voltage
constant.
Series regulated supplies always require a higher voltage at
the input to the regulator, which is then reduced to give the
required output. This is called insertion loss.
Because of this the series regulator consumes power equal
to (Vin - Vout ) * Iout, and so the regulator must be
designed to cope with the heat produced.
Simple regulated supply: Fig 4

Vin Vout

Iout

Vref
 Circuit explanation
In this simple regulated supply a voltage reference
is produced by passing a current through a zener
diode. The reference voltage Vref is compared
with the emitter voltage Vout. If Vout rises the
base-emitter bias is reduced and the voltage
restored to its proper value.
Here the transistor is acting as series regulator
AND compare/amplify.
 Limitations of simple circuit
1. The current to the zener diode is not
regulated, so Vref can change
2. The base-emitter voltage of the
transistor changes with temperature.
3. The amplification is not very high, so the
regulation is not great.
4. The voltage reference circuit uses up to
10% of the available power.
 Simple regulated supply: Fig 4a
To deliver 7.5V at 1A

Vin Vout

+17V max
8.2V
120 ohm
8.2 - 0.7
= 7.5V

Imax = 8.2V 1W
100mA

When driving a 1A load the transistor will be dissipating

(17V - 7.5V) * 1A = 10W and will need a heat sink.
 Limit of regulation of Fig 4a.
With no load a current of 17 - 8.2 / 120 = 73mA flows
through the zener, establishing a reference voltage of 8.2V.
When a 1A load is applied two things happen; first, a base
current flows from R1 through Q1, reducing the current
through D1.
Secondly, the unregulated supply now has a load, and its
output voltage falls, again reducing the current through D1.
When the current through D1 falls, its voltage also falls.
To improve the regulation we need to stabilise the current
through D1.
Three transistor regulated supply: Fig 5
 How it works.
Q1 and Q2 form a high gain darlington pair so little base
current is needed.
The voltage reference is formed by D1 AND the base-
emitter junction of Q3; so a 7.5V zener + 0.7V Vbe gives
8.2V
At switch-on the output is zero and Q3 is turned off. Bias
current flows through R1 and Q2/Q1 and allows current to
flow through these transistors.
When the output reaches 8.2V Q3 starts to turn on and
diverts some of the bias current, stabilising the output
voltage at 8.2V
 Further improvements
The main factors limiting the performance
of this supply now are:
1. The voltage reference is Vz + Vbe which
are both temperature dependent;
2. The zener diode produces noise. And
3. The current through the reference still
changes as the load or input voltage
varies.
 Zener or avalanche diodes
Voltage reference diodes exhibit both
avalanche mode breakdown and
Zener breakdown. This is frequently
used to provide a stable voltage
reference. However avalanche mode
has a positive temperature coefficient
(tempco). And zener mode a negative
tempco.
Avalanche mode predominates above
5.6V and Zener mode below that.
A 5.6V “zener” has virtually zero
tempco.
The forward biased junction of a
transistor also has a negative tempco,
and a combination of a 6.2V “zener”
and Vbe, giving 6.9V is again almost
zero tempco.
 A better circuit
• We will use an AD580 bandgap reference IC to provide a
stable reference voltage.
• Because this is a fixed value we will use a potential
divider to provide the output voltage required.
• We will replace the discrete darlington pair Q1 Q2 with a
power darlington such as a BD681 (100V 10A 70W)
• We will use an operational amplifier to compare Vout
with Vref.
• Because we are running the op amp from the same
supply the output will never go to zero volts. So we
allow it to sit at a higher voltage , and use a zener to
bring it down.
Very stable power supply: Fig 6
 How it works
The AD580 is a three terminal device comprising a current
source and a stable and accurate voltage reference.
The op amp compares the voltage on the potential divider
at C with the reference voltage at D. If its higher a positive
output drives current into the base of Q2, draining bias
current from the darlington transistor Q1. This reduces the
voltage at B, restoring the output to its correct value.
If the output voltage B falls, due for example to a load
change, the voltage at C also falls, and as it’s now lower
than the reference, the output from the op amp falls,
turning off Q2 and allowing more bias current into Q1,
thereby restoring the output to its desired value.
 Component values
Specification; we need a variable supply of 9 -18V 2A
Design:
Start with the unregulated supply.
To produce an 18V output we need a minimum of about
21V at point A.
Transformer – 18V 2A RMS or better
Bridge rectifier – 100V 3A RMS
This will give us a peak voltage off-load of 18 √2 = 25.6V
MINUS 2 * 0.7 = 1.4 TOTAL: 24V
Ripple voltage peak-peak must be less than 3V
Use CV=It C = 2A * .01 sec / 3V = 6,600 uF rated >32V
We will choose C = 10,000uF so Vmin = 22V
Component values for regulator circuit
Darlington transistor: BD681 (100V 10A 70W)
Op Amp: most are suitable
Voltage reference: AD580 (Vmax: 30V)
HFE is 750 min so for a current of 2A we need a base bias of around 3mA
minimum.

R1: max V at point F is 18 + 1.4 = 19.4 Min V at point A is 22V

So R1 = (22-19.4)V / 4mA = 650 ohms.
(nearest preferred value is 620)

Q2: max current through Q2 occurs when Vout=9V

V(point F) = 9 + 1.4 = 10.4V. Vmax(point A) = 22V
Current in R1 = (22 – 10.4)/620 = 20mA
Maximum voltage across Q2 = 19.4V. Power is 400mW so no heat sink needed
Most npn transistors (eg BC182) will be fine.
 ZD1 R2
The maximum collector current in Q2 is 20mA. If Q2 has an Hfe > 100
then the maximum base current will be 0.2mA
This is supplied from point A through the op amp via ZD1and R2. If ZD1
is 5.6V the remaining voltage at E is about 21V – 3V - 5.6V = 12.4V.
So the pd across R2 is 12.4 – 0.7 = 11.7V
R2 = 11.7/0.2 = 56k ohms maximum.
We will use a 10k resistor to improve headroom.

The spec is for a variable supply of 9 – 18V. So we need a divider chain

that will reduce the voltage at the output to be the same as the
reference voltage.
 Producing a variable output
B
R4 will have 2.5V across it. We choose a current of about
10mA in the divider chain. So R4 = 270 ohms.
For a 9V output we need a total resistance of R3

Rt / 9 = 270 / 2.5 so Rt = 970 ohms

So the resistance R3 + VR1 = 970-270 = 700 ohms. (750 is
nearest pref value) VR1

For 18V output we need a total resistance of C

Rt / 18 = 270 / 2.5 so Rt = 1940 ohms
R4
So the resistance R3 + VR1 = 1940 -270 = 1670 ohms. VR1
must be 1670 – 700 = 970 ohms. (1K)
0V

We can adjust the voltages to meet the specification by

adding a resistor in parallel with R3 to bring the total value
 Power and heat calculation
The maximum power in the Darlington occurs
when the supply is delivering its maximum current
(2A) and its lowest output voltage (9V)
Voltage across transistor = 24V – 9V = 15V
Current = 2A
Power = I * V = 2 *15 = 30W
If we mount the transistor on a heat sink rated
2 degrees C per watt the transistor will heat up to
about 20C + 30*2 = 80C.
(assuming the ambient temperature is 20C)
 FAQ:
Why doesn’t the math work out properly?
Because you can only buy off-the-shelf components in particular “preferred” values.
Also its good practice to leave margins for error.

Where do all these 0.7V values come from?

The voltage across a single forward biased silicon diode junction (rectifier, transistor base-
emitter junction etc) is around 0.7V

Can I make this circuit provide a 0 – 30V output?

No because the transistors in the op amp need to be at a voltage of about 2V or more
away from the supply rails.
If you really NEED 0V out (WHY?) you will need to provide a –ve supply for the op amp.

Can I play around with the circuit to make it fit my application?

Yes, that’s the whole idea. This basic circuit layout can be used for supplies up to around
30V 10A (with a bigger darlington). You cant go to higher voltages with this layout
because the op amp supplies need to be less than +- 18V or so. Also the AD580 has a
voltage limit of 30V