AQUI CONTINUA
History
[edit] Early inverters
From the late nineteenth century through the middle of the twentieth century, DC-to-AC
power conversion was accomplished using
rotary converters or
motor-generator sets. In the early twentieth century,
vacuum tubes and
gas filled tubes began to be used as switches in inverter circuits. The most widely used type of tube was the
thyratron.
The origins of electromechanical inverters explain the source of the term
inverter. Early AC-to-DC converters used an induction or synchronous AC motor direct-connected to a generator (dynamo) so that the generator's commutator reversed its connections at exactly the right moments to produce DC. A later development is the synchronous converter, in which the motor and generator windings are combined into one armature, with slip rings at one end and a commutator at the other and only one field frame. The result with either is AC-in, DC-out. With an M-G set, the DC can be considered to be separately generated from the AC; with a synchronous converter, in a certain sense it can be considered to be "mechanically rectifed AC". Given the right auxiliary and control equipment, an M-G set or rotary converter can be "run backwards", converting DC to AC. Hence an inverter is an inverted converter.
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[edit] Controlled rectifier inverters
Since early transistors were not available with sufficient voltage and current ratings for most inverter applications, it was the 1957 introduction of the
thyristor or
silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) that initiated the transition to
solid state inverter circuits.

12-pulse line-commutated inverter circuit
The
commutation requirements of SCRs are a key consideration in SCR circuit designs. SCRs do not turn off or
commutate automatically when the gate control signal is shut off. They only turn off when the forward current is reduced to zero through some external process. For SCRs connected to an AC power source, commutation occurs naturally every time the polarity of the source voltage reverses. SCRs connected to a DC power source usually require a means of forced commutation that forces the current to zero when commutation is required. The least complicated SCR circuits employ natural commutation rather than forced commutation. With the addition of forced commutation circuits, SCRs have been used in the types of inverter circuits described above.
In applications where inverters transfer power from a DC power source to an AC power source, it is possible to use AC-to-DC controlled rectifier circuits operating in the inversion mode. In the inversion mode, a controlled rectifier circuit operates as a line commutated inverter. This type of operation can be used in HVDC power transmission systems and in
regenerative braking operation of motor control systems.
Another type of SCR inverter circuit is the current source input (CSI) inverter. A CSI inverter is the
dual of a six-step voltage source inverter. With a current source inverter, the DC power supply is configured as a
current source rather than a
voltage source. The inverter SCRs are switched in a six-step sequence to direct the current to a three-phase AC load as a stepped current waveform. CSI inverter commutation methods include load commutation and parallel capacitor commutation. With both methods, the input current regulation assists the commutation. With load commutation, the load is a synchronous motor operated at a leading power factor.
As they have become available in higher voltage and current ratings, semiconductors such as transistors that can be turned off by means of control signals have become the preferred switching components for use in inverter circuits.
[edit] Rectifier and inverter pulse numbers
Rectifier circuits are often classified by the number of current pulses that flow to the DC side of the rectifier per cycle of AC input voltage. A
single-phase half-wave rectifier is a one-pulse circuit and a
single-phase full-wave rectifier is a two-pulse circuit. A three-phase half-wave rectifier is a three-pulse circuit and a three-phase full-wave rectifier is a six-pulse circuit.
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With three-phase rectifiers, two or more rectifiers are sometimes connected in series or parallel to obtain higher voltage or current ratings. The rectifier inputs are supplied from special transformers that provide phase shifted outputs. This has the effect of phase multiplication. Six phases are obtained from two transformers, twelve phases from three transformers and so on. The associated rectifier circuits are 12-pulse rectifiers, 18-pulse rectifiers and so on.
When controlled rectifier circuits are operated in the inversion mode, they would be classified by pulse number also. Rectifier circuits that have a higher pulse number have reduced harmonic content in the AC input current and reduced ripple in the DC output voltage. In the inversion mode, circuits that have a higher pulse number have lower harmonic content in the AC output voltage waveform.