ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses rectification of electric power for industrial and commercial use. It describes the uncontrolled rectifiers in single-phase and in three-phase circuits and explores the application issues regarding uncontrolled and controlled rectifiers. Rectifiers that employ thyristors are thus also known as silicon controlled rectifiers or silicon-controlled rectifier. Control of dc motors is typically achieved by controlled rectifier circuits employing thyristors. Alternating current to direct current controlled rectifiers employing thyristors and having large inductance on the dc side can be made to operate in the regeneration mode by simply delaying the trigger angle. The trigger signal should have voltage amplitude greater than the minimum gate trigger voltage of the thyristor being turned ON. The thyristor is current controlled switch and so the gate circuit should be able to provide the needed turn ON gate current into the thyristor. Control of dc motors is typically achieved by controlled rectifier circuits employing thyristors.
