IGBT in Refrigerator Compressors

Refrigerators have become essential appliances in society for the preservation of food and beverages. The quality of life for people has been greatly enhanced with the availability of affordable refrigerators for homes. Most household refrigerators utilize the vapor compression cycle with a circulating refrigerant used to cool the refrigerator compartment. Household refrigerators originally used an on/off controlled, constant-speed, single-phase induction motor to drive the compressor. The poor efficiency of this approach made the refrigerator one of the highest power consumption appliances in the home. In order to improve the efficiency, modern refrigerators with the Energy star rating utilize variable-speed, three-phase induction motor drives. Current models that are Energy Star qualified use 50 percent less energy than the average models made in 1974. The variable speed drive to the induction motor is provided using the six IGBTs in the inverter stage. The author’s state: “The total energy savings was about 40%. The system is very quiet and maintains a constant temperature within 0.1 degree Celsius which improves the quality and shelf life of food stored in the refrigerator.” Many companies have optimized IGBTs for use in refrigerator compressor drives due to the large market opportunity. Some companies have developed intelligent power modules, which combine the IGBTs, fly-back rectifiers, and the drive circuits into a single module. This provides a very compact and low cost motor drive option that can be easily adopted for the manufacturing of refrigerators.

IGBT with Induction Rice Cooker

Rice is the first & foremost food for billions of people around the world, especially in Asian countries such as China, India, and Japan, with mass populations. According to Asian Rice Foundation, “Rice is arguably the world’s most important food. It is the second most widely cultivated cereal in the world, after wheat, and is a staple food of over half the world’s population. Rice can be cooked in a variety of ways, including boiling, baking, roasting, frying, and pressure-cooking. Cooking rice in an automatic rice cooker is becoming very popular, as it ensures consistent results and cooking instruction is much simpler to follow”. Many Asian companies have developed rice cookers based up on the induction heating principle. The induction heating can be accomplished by using an induction cooking plate or preferably by using an induction rice cooker. Two types of circuit topologies have been explored for the induction rice cooker. First one is the half-bridge series resonant converter and another is the quasi-resonant converter. The series resonant converter has the advantages of stable switching, low cost, and streamline design. The quasi-resonant converter has the advantage of a smaller design with reduced heat sink. The quasi-resonant converter is more widely used. Due to the large market for these appliances, some semiconductor companies have developed IGBT products optimized for this market for the quasi-resonant converter topology. IGBTs feature a robust and cost effective Field Stop (FS) trench construction, and provide superior performance in demanding switching applications, offering both low on-state voltage and minimal switching loss. IGBTs are well suited for this type of resonant or soft switching applications.

IGBT Induction Heating Coil in Photocopiers and Printers

The fixing system for the toner in copy machines, laser printers, facsimile machines, data recorders, and scanners needs transfer of toner from the rolling drum to the printing paper with heat and pressure. Radiant heating with halogen lamps was used for this process in the past. However, nearly 90 percent of the printing energy is consumed by this operation. The efficiency can be improved by using the induction heating approach leading to reduction of the size of the printing devices. The induction heating coil is installed concentrically inside the fixing roller. The high frequency inverter required to feed the inductive energy into the heating coil is built using IGBTs. The actual high efficiency of more than 94 percent of the series resonant ZCS-PDM high frequency inverter for IH roller in copy and printing machines has been observed for all the output AC power regulation ranges from 50 to 1200 W.

IGBT with Train Traction

Modern train traction systems use high-speed switching IGBTs in main circuits. High-speed switching reduces electromagnetic noise generated by the main motor and improves the efficiency of energy conversion. For the inverter control system, vector control is employed to control the torque current component and the exciting current component separately, which are output to the induction motor. Since vector control ensures high-speed torque control, it is also applied to slip-slide control to improve adhesion force. The maintenance work for contacts and pneumatic parts can be eliminated by replacing mechanical contacts in each unit with electronic contacts and by changing the pneumatic operation system to an electromagnetic one. The numerous advantages of insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) power modules and their ongoing development for higher voltage and current ratings make them interesting for traction applications. These applications imply high reliability requirements. One important requirement is the ability to withstand power cycles. Power cycles cause temperature changes which lead to a mechanical stress that can result in a failure. Lifting of bond wires is thereby the predominant failure mechanism. A fast power cycling test method activating the main failure mechanism has been developed which allows reproduction of millions of temperature changes in a short time. The applicability of fast testing is supported by a mechanical analysis.

IGBT Rectifier Technology in UPS

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is considered as one of the best ways to save electrical equipments from power problems. It is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source, typically mains power fails. At home we need UPS when we use our PC. Others areas that need UPS are data centre, process backup, military operation etc. There are several varieties of UPS: online UPS, offline UPS and line interactive UPS. Online UPS is inverter supply directly to load; offline UPS is the inverter starts only when utility is not present, line interactive UPS is an offline UPS with an AVR / line conditioner. There is an inverter which converts DC current (Battery power) to AC current is called UPS inverter. IGBT rectifier technology is the latest and most effective technology in the UPS industry. It uses the high frequency to rectify the AC to DC. IGBT rectifier reduces harmonics substantially and reduces the upsize of upstream components. Hence, reduce initial cost and operation cost.

IGBT with Refrigeration Compressors

Refrigerators have become essential appliances in society for the preservation of food and beverages. The quality of life for people has been greatly enhanced with the availability of affordable refrigerators for homes. Most household refrigerators utilize the vapor compression cycle with a circulating refrigerant used to cool the refrigerator compartment. Household refrigerators originally used an on/off controlled, constant-speed, single-phase induction motor to drive the compressor. The poor efficiency of this approach made the refrigerator one of the highest power consumption appliances in the home. In order to improve the efficiency, modern refrigerators with the Energy star rating utilize variable-speed, three-phase induction motor drives. Current models that are Energy Star qualified use 50 percent less energy than the average models made in 1974.

The variable speed drive to the induction motor is provided using the six IGBTs in the inverter stage. The author’s state: “The total energy savings was about 40%. The system is very quiet and maintains a constant temperature within 0.1 degree Celsius which improves the quality and shelf life of food stored in the refrigerator.” Many companies have optimized IGBTs for use in refrigerator compressor drives due to the large market opportunity. Some companies have developed intelligent power modules, which combine the IGBTs, fly-back rectifiers, and the drive circuits into a single module. This provides a very compact and low cost motor drive option that can be easily adopted for the manufacturing of refrigerators.

IGBT with Portable Defibrillators

One of the every four deaths in the advanced world takes place because of cardiac arrest. Eighty-five percent of deaths from sudden cardiac arrest occur due to ventricular fibrillation. Without synchronization of heart muscles, blood flow through the body is interrupted leading to starving oxygen from organs. The victim will almost certainly die within 10 minutes unless aid is provided. A defibrillator applies a dose of electrical energy to the heart muscles which depolarizes a critical mass of the heart muscle, terminates the arrhythmia, and allows normal heart rhythm to be re-established. It is essential that the defibrillator be located close to the victim and be easily operated to provide the life-saving response within 10 minutes.

Automated external defibrillators (AED) are now widely deployed in places such as corporate and government offices, shopping centers, airplanes, airports, restaurants, hotels, sports stadiums, schools and universities with a high density of aging populations. The automated external defibrillator is designed to provide simple voice commands to prompt the administration of the live-saving electrical jolt to the victim. According to USA Today, about 450,000 people die each year in the U.S. from sudden cardiac arrest. Among these victims, the American Medical Association (AMA) estimates that more than 100,000 lives can be saved by the availability of modern AEDs enabled by IGBTs. Many companies have made IGBT particularly customized for the implantable defibrillator market.

IGBT with Microwave Oven

Microwave ovens are used to heat foods quickly and conveniently and it has become an inseparable part of our kitchens and offices now-a-days. It is also used for used for stewing, frying, baking, steaming, and fermenting foods. Microwave ovens are designed for tabletop use or for mounting above the range. Microwave ovens heat food by following the principle of dielectric heating using microwave radiation, usually at a frequency of 2.45 GHz, through the food. Water, fat, and other substances in the food, absorb energy from the microwaves resulting in heating. The microwaves interact with the food in a uniform fashion leading to food being more evenly heated throughout.

Prior the availableness of the IGBT, the traditional power supply for the magnetron was a ferro-resonant circuit. Although simple in construction, this power supply was heavy and bulky because of the large size and weight of the low-frequency (50-60 Hz) step-up transformer. After the availability of the IGBT, a magnetron power supply based up on using a high frequency inverter was developed. In this new power supply the anode voltage of the Magnetron rises above 3500 volts when the IGBT is turned on allowing it to generate microwave energy. The power delivered by the magnetron can therefore be precisely controlled using the on-time for the IGBT. Using the IGBT-based inverter circuit, the weight of the transformer could be lessened by more than 10-times.

IGBT WITH TRACTION INVERTERS

For locomotives, which are driven by diesel or electricity, EMU and DEMU vehicles with AC Traction Motors, new microprocessor based AC-AC Traction System (MAS) offers the latest in technology combining IGBT based Traction Converter with DSP and microprocessor based embedded controls. Microprocessor based Locomotive Control system is used in conjunction with IGBT based traction converter to implement this solution.

Every traction converter can be configured to have single or multiple inverters. Each Inverter can be further configured to drive single traction motor (independent axle control) or multiple traction motors (bogie control). Existing product offering ranges from 650kW per Inverter for bogie control to 550kW per Inverter for independent axle control. Anywhere between 2 to 6 such inverters are packaged into one traction converter depending on application with total power rating in the range of 1.3MW to 3MW. Last solution can be scaled or optimized for specific application requirement.

Typically heat pipe depended heat sinks are used with forced air cooling to cool down the IGBT switching devices. Both on-board as well as under frame options are available depending on space, weight constraints and cooling air availability. The blowers for cooling air are controllable at different speeds or can be turned off depending on heat sink temperatures, so as to enhance the blower life.

IGBT con Máquina para Lavar La Ropa (Lavadora)

Las lavadoras automáticas eléctricas son ahora comunes en los hogares para la limpieza de ropa diaria del hogar. Las lavadoras se desarrollaron para eliminar la monotonía de fregar y frotar  para eliminar la suciedad de la ropa. Dichas lavadoras se promocionaron, anunciaron y discutieron en los  periódicos desde 1904.

La primera lavadora automática fue introducida por Bendix en 1937. El 60% de los 25 millones de hogares con electricidad en los Estados Unidos tenía una lavadora eléctrica durante el año 1940.

Las ventas anuales de lavadoras han crecido a más de 58 millones de unidades en todo el mundo desde el año 2003. Muchas de estas unidades son máquinas de carga frontal. Las primeras lavadoras automáticas utilizan medios mecánicos para hacer cualquier cambio en la velocidad del rotor / tambor. Desde la década de 1970, el control electrónico de la velocidad del motor se ha convertido en una característica común de la mayoría de las lavadoras.

Las lavadoras automáticas modernas proporcionan muchas características sofisticadas para manejar la limpieza segura de una amplia gama de tejidos con una variedad de requerimientos de eliminación de suciedad.

La eliminación de la suciedad en una lavadora automática eléctrica se realiza mediante un proceso de agitación de la ropa. El agitador se controla a través de módulos de control de motores IGBT. El sentido de giro del motor y su velocidad puede ser regulada mediante el uso de la potencia suministrada a través de los IGBT´s controles del inversor que reduce el ruido de lavado / centrifugado y la vibración permitiendo el ajuste de la cantidad de agua  para adaptarse a la carga de lavado.

IGBT con Horno microondas

El horno de microondas es usado para calentar la comida más rápida y conveniente, se ha vuelto parte inseparable de nuestras cocinas  y oficinas en estos días.  También es usado para guisar, freír, asar, cocer al vapor y para fermentar comidas. El horno Microondas está diseñado para ser usado encima de la mesa para el montaje por encima del rango. El horno microondas calienta la comida siguiendo los principios del calentamiento dieléctrico usando la radiación del microondas,  usualmente en una frecuencia de 2.45 GHz, a través de la comida. Agua, grasa  y otras substancias en la comida, absorben energía del microondas como resultado el calentamiento. Los microondas interactúan con la con la comida  de manera uniforme que conduce a los alimentos que se calienta de manera más uniforme en todas partes.

Antes de la disponibilidad de  IGBT, la tradicional fuente de alimentación para el magnetrón era un circuito ferro-resonante. Aunque simple en construcción, esta fuente de poder eran pesados ​​y voluminosos por el largo y peso  de la baja frecuencia (50-60 Hz) intenso transformador. Después de la disponibilidad del IGBT se convirtió permitiendo que genere energía de microondas.  El poder enviado por el magnetrón  puede ser precisamente controlado usando a-tiempo para el IGBT. Usando el IGBT- base circuito inverso, el peso para el transformador podría ser disminuido por más de 10 veces.

IGBT EN LOS PROCESADORES DE COMIDA

En los países occidentales es totalmente común tener ahora procesadores de comida para la preparación diaria de los platos, al contrario de los cortadores de comida, los procesadores poseen discos de hojillas intercambiables en vez de una sola que permanece fija, las mejoras son considerables, sus bowls son mas amplios y resistentes, esto mejora su rendimiento y reduce el tiempo de preparación, marcas como Cuisineart, KitchenAid, HamiltonBeach, entre otras son las que fabrican estos implementos.

Los módulos IGBT son empleados en los circuitos de los procesadores, El potenciador de entrada AC se rectifica primero por un puente de diodos para crear un con un condensador dc. El motor de corriente continua de imán permanece en su lugar siendo utilizado en el procesador de alimentos, es entonces impulsado por un hélice controlado por el IGBT. La alta impedancia de entrada del IGBT permite su control con un microprocesador que puede ser programado para realizar diversas funciones. Esto crea un diseño compacto y de bajo coste adecuado para el mercado de consumo. Los electrodomésticos fueron los primeros en adoptar la tecnología IGBT, ya que mejora la simplicidad y flexibilidad de diseño, mientras que deriva en más funcionalidad.

IGBT in Plasma Cutters - Spanish

La definición del corte de plasma es cortar materiales electrico-conductivos diferentes (mayormente metales como el acero, aluminio, latón y cobre) de varias tamaños y dimensiones usando un jet de plasma, la antorcha de plasma es lo suficientemente caliente para separar el material que esta siendo cortado y se mueve lo suficientemente rápido para apartar los excesos innecesarios del rustico del corte limpio que esta produciendo, Los IGBT son usados en la tecnología con corte de plasma para mejorar la eficiencia comercial de sus cortadores.

Los cortadores de plasma IGBT se emplean mejor en ambientes profesionales como constructoras industriales, fabricas, reparaciones y restauraciones de automóviles son solo algunos de los usos mayoritarios para estos implementos, la razón principal detrás de su variado y solicitado uso es que es que los cortadores de plasma IGHBT tienen un método diferente de empezar el modo piloto. Muchos cortadores de plasma para metal IGBT tienen la mas alta tecnología en cuanto a alta frecuencia y circuitos de alto voltaje, solo para el proceso inicial, donde la antorcha empieza su función sin tocar la pieza en la que trabaja, creando asi un trabajo impecable y preciso.

IGBT: Es el transistor bipolar de puerta aislada es un dispositivo semiconductor que generalmente se aplica como interruptor controlado en circuitos de electrónica de potencia.

                                                                   VS

El MOSFET: es el transistor de efecto de campo metal-óxido-semiconductor o MOSFET es un transistor utilizado para amplificar o conmutar señales electrónicas:

Este ha sido un tema de debate por mucho tiempo, desde que la tecnología MOSFET llego en los años 80, sin embargo, el IGBT ha probado su superioridad a la hora de trabajar bajo periodos mas rigurosos y por mas duración de tiempo en un ciclo especifico, el IGBT ofrece también una mayor tolerancia al calor que el MOSFET, es por esto que IGBT debería ser siempre su primera opción.

Use of IGBT in Plasma Cutting and Welding

The definition of plasma cutting is cutting different electrically conductive materials (mainly metals such as steel, aluminum, brass and copper) of various sizes and breadth using a plasma jet. This torch of plasma is hot enough to thaw the material which is being cut and it moves fast to blow the ragged part away from the present cut. Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) are used in plasma cutting technology to improve the efficiency of commercial plasma cutting equipments.

IGBTbased plasma cutters suit better in professional environments such as industrial constructions, salvage and scrapping operations, fabrication and welding shops, automobile repair and restorations. The main reason behind this is IGBT plasma cutters take up a different method to start the pilot arc. Significant numbers of IGBT plasma metal cutters often deploy high frequency starting technology and high voltage circuit for the starting process only where the torch enables a constant arc without touching the work piece.

IGBT vs the MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semi-conductor Field Effect Transistor) has been an agitated topic ever since the IGBT technology came into being in the 1980's. IGBT technology for welding applications has clearly proved to more effectively handle the rigorous demands the high duty cycles welders as it offers higher voltage capacities and heat tolerances than the earlier MOSFETs.

IGBT in Arc and Tube Welding

The usual usages of Arc and tube welding machines are to build and repair of the infrastructure in industrial environment. Welding power supplies are needed for creating an electric arc between an electrode and the foundation material to soften the metals at the welding point. Either DC or AC current with consumable or non-consumable electrodes may be used to generate the arc. Some type of inert or semi-inert gas is used sometimes to protect the welding region. Low capital and running cost are the main reasons behind the popularity of Arc welding. In case of arc welding, the voltage is involved right away with the length of the arc, and the current is involved with the sum of heat input with typical currents of 50 to 500 amps is conditional on the size of weld. For arc welding with less voltages and large currents, a soft switching PWM DC-DC power converter with IGBT switches in the elementary side of a high frequency transformer is considered to be the most compatible topology for the welding power supply. Power losses in the IGBTs are lessened by applying soft switching leading to a volume reduction of 59% and weight reduction of 47% in comparison to the hard-switching technique. Because of the operation at 40-kHz, progressive welding performance is enhanced in comparison to the 13-kHz with hard-switching.

An induction heating technique with high power and operating frequency is required by tube welding and quenching applications. For lessening switching loss, a multiple frequency converter circuit uses IGBTs with zero-current-switching (ZCS). For this reason, the operating frequency can be increased effortlessly up to 250-kHz which is adequate for quenching and arc welding.

IGBTs and Solar Inverters

IGBTs are excellent choices for use in solar inverters where voltage from a solar panel array on a residential or commercial building is converted from direct current to alternating current at a specific voltage output and frequency. IGBTs, like MOSFETS, use voltage rather than current as a means of control, with current applied across their gates being typically very low.

IGBTs are a type of bipolar junction transistor or BJT which have a semiconductor gate structure composed of metal oxide. BJTs have a higher current capability compared to MOSFETs. The speed at which an IGBT turns off is determined by how rapid the minority carrier recombines. The turn off time has an inverse relationship with the voltage drop or VCEON. This means that IGBTs with inherently rapid turn off times have a higher voltage drop and vice versa. Ultra fast IGBTs do switch off much faster than standard IGBTs, even if the IGBTs have the same dimensions and are basically manufactured the same way. The exact combination of speed and voltage drop is determined by adjusting the minority carrier recombination rate this in turn controls the turn off time.

Four switches are typically employed in a solar inverter. Two of the switches are high side IGBTs, while the other two are low side IGBTs. Solar inverters of this type produce a sinusoidal wave form and single phase alternating current. The frequency and voltage depend on the specific use required. In a household solar array system, the inverter will normally deliver voltage and frequency similar or the same as that provided by the mains electricity provider as it will be used to power household appliances that are designed to use mains power.

Inverters for installation in a residential capacity are usually linked to the power grid. These installations usually provide power to the grid when there is a surplus with tariff benefits depending on the location and provider. To enable this feature, the solar inverter is required to pulse width modulate the IGBTs above 20kHZ. The modulation frequency is normally around 50 to 60 Hz. This sort of pulse width modulation means that the two outut indicators can be maintained relatively small in size and they will also have the benefit of suppressing harmonics effectively.

This sort of solar inverter has switching speeds much higher than can be heard by the human ear so they remain basically noiseless.

To keep the power dissipation as low as possible, pulse width modulation is restricted to the two high side IGBTs while the low side IGBTs are commutated at 50 to 60kHz.

What Is IGBT Based Power Inverters?

IGBTs or integrated gate bipolar transistors are the component of choice where high switching speeds and high voltage are required in a device such as a power inverter. Inverters convert direct current to alternating current at a specific voltage and frequency. Power converters can be of very small size – mobile phones have miniature power converters in their circuits – but may be of much larger size and deal with hundreds of mega watts of power. In a power converter, the voltage and current typically control the overall power rating, whereas in an electronic device, these two parameters carry the signal or information in the device.

Power inverters work with the help of a component such as an IGBT or a MOSFET or BJT. These are all switching devices that turn the power on or off at a specific speed and voltage range. In some applications, commutated thyristors are used rather than semiconductors.

The best type of power inverter should have a sinusoidal waveform, but in practice most are not sinusoidal and they tend to contain a specific set of harmonics.

Low and medium power inverters can use a non sinusoidal waveform, such as a square or semi- square waveform, and perform quite satisfactorily, but when the voltage increases, sinusoidal waveform inverters are to be preferred. Power inverters with adjustable alternating current frequency capacity can be designed by using control circuitry which varies the turn on and turn off ties of the IGBTs or other switching components in the circuitry. The switching method of these high speed power semiconductor devices can determine the harmonics of the resulting output voltage.

The input into the power inverter is typically a rectifier producing DC if the application is an industrial one, but the initial voltage may be coming from a variety of different sources, including fuel cells, solar cells or even a battery. The rectifier involves a DC link. The network frequency is at first rectified and then finally inverted back to AC at an adjustable frequency. This sort of rectification can be achieved by using thyristor converter circuits or standard diodes. The inversion itself is carried out by standard circuitry.

An example of a typical power inverter in which the switching components are IGBTs is a single phase Unipolar inverter. This type of inverter typically consists of a bridge form with four IGBTs which are bidirectional. In this example, the circuit’s input voltage is in the region of 220V which is being fed in by the rectifier unit. The AC output is achieved by triggering the four IGBTs in a prescribed sequence. Two of the IGBTs are at first switched on by triggering the IGBT gates. Current flows from the positive side of the IGBTs to the negative. The second half of the cycle reverses the direction of the current.

Power Semiconductor Devices for UPS Technology Systems - Function of IGBT Inverter FZ1800R17KF6C_B2

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