TECH TIP

VFD LINE HARMONIC ISSUE: AC LINE REACTORS

OFFER MORE PROTECTION AND FEATURES THAN DC LINK REACTORS.

VFD manufacturers commonly offer reactors with their drives. Reactors use coils of copper (or aluminum) wound around a core of magnet steel to help smooth current flow from the AC line into the VFD. Smoother current flow reduces stress on the input diodes in the VFD and helps minimize input harmonics. (Refer to Reliance publications D-5062 Dealing with line harmonics in PWM variable frequency drives and D-8308BPWM Harmonic Line Distortion Software Estimator for more input harmonics information.) VFD designers use two different types of reactors. Some engineers build DC link reactors into their drives. Others design their drives so that AC line reactors may be used as an option. Reliance chose the latter approach AC line reactors. Well tell you why we chose this approach and why its best for our customers. These diagrams show the difference between DC link reactors and AC line reactors:

Figure 1, AC Line Reactor

INPUT DIODES AC LINE REACTOR VFD

AC LINE INPUT

IGBT INVERTER SECTION DC BUS CAPACITORS

MOTOR

TECH TIP
VFD LINE HARMONIC ISSUE: AC LINE
REACTORS OFFER MORE PROTECTION AND FEATURES THAN DC LINK REACTORS.

Figure 2, DC Link Reactor

INPUT AC LINE DIODES INPUT VFD DC LINK REACTOR

IGBT INVERTER SECTION DC BUS CAPACITORS

MOTOR

Note the similarities and the advantages of each of the two approaches:

Similarities: Both styles increase the reactance between the AC line and the DC bus capacitors, causing current flow to be smoother than it would be without reactors. They do an equally effective job in this respect. Both are hard wired to the drive taking up some space in the enclosure and emmit heat resulting in lost efficiency. Both are passive devices in that they require no control circuitry.

TECH TIP
VFD LINE HARMONIC ISSUE: AC LINE
REACTORS OFFER MORE PROTECTION AND FEATURES THAN DC LINK REACTORS.
DC Link Reactor Advantages: DC link reactors can be smaller and less expensive than AC line reactors and still give an equal smoothing effect. (Explanation for Techies only: Since DC link reactors see pulses of current from all three input phases through one coil pair, link reactors can have lower inductance and use two coils instead of three for line reactors.) Including DC link reactors in every drive allows the engineers to use smaller, lower-rated diodes in some cases. VFDs with DC link reactors can cost less to build than the same VFD with an AC line reactor, since the diodes and the reactor can both cost less.

DC Link Reactor
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TECH TIP
VFD LINE HARMONIC ISSUE: AC LINE
REACTORS OFFER MORE PROTECTION AND FEATURES THAN DC LINK REACTORS.

AC Line Reactor Advantages:

AC line reactors protect the input diodes from line spikes and transients. Some installations (for example, those with isolation transformers or very small source transformers) should not use reactors at all. Use of AC line reactors makes it easy to eliminate the reactors in these cases.

AC Line Reactor
Summary
DC link reactors cost less and smooth current flow into the VFD, but only AC line reactors can help protect the input diodes from voltage transients and spikes! Customers get benefits by specifying AC line reactors for diode protection, even if the drive has a DC link reactor!
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