Series and par allel operation of thyrist ors

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New article of our member Nasir about these 2 type of configur ation. Feel free to leave a
comment.

Thyristors are four layered devices, having a PN-PN structur e. Like transistors, thyristors are
used as switches and the y are considered as ideal switches.

There are some standard available ratings of thyristors. It is not necessar y that we will require
only those standard rated thyristors. Maybe the need of the hour demands some other v alue
components providing different voltage and current ratings which are not available?

For this purpose, we connect the thyristors in series or parallel configuration. Both of the
configurations along with their oper ation style will be discussed in this ar ticle.

Series operation of thyristors

As we know series configur ation increases the voltage ratings while the curr ent ratings
remain the same. Thyrist ors of same type do not have same I-V and off state char acteristics.

So the voltage drop across the thyristors would be unequal. To solve this issue following
parameters are set by default.
 Resistors are connected across each thyristor to avoid the unequal voltage sharing.
The values of the resistors should be selected, so the equiv alent resistance of thyristor
and resistor would be same.
To get best results we may use this formula to find out the value of resistor;

Now, the off state currents would be as shown in the figur e:

High and steep trigger pulses must be used in or der to make the firing of thyristors
simultaneously.

Parallel operation of thyristors

If the load current increases from the current rating of a single thyrist or, then the parallel
configuration is used. The same pr oblem arises here as well. Current is not shared equally
among the thyristors as the V-I characteristics are not similar.

Thermal Runaway

Power is dissipated b y the thyristors which carry high current. This power dissipation causes
the junction temperature to increases, decreasing the internal r esistance. This can damage
the thyristor which is termed as the rmal runaway. Thermal runaway can be avoided by
following these steps:

There should be a common heat sink, making sur e that the thyristors operate at similar
temperature.
Current sharing should be equal. For this resistors or inductors may be used in series
with the thyristors.

Static current sharing

Resistors are used in case of static current sharing. When resistances are used in series, the
losses may become high.

Dynamic current sharing

For dynamic current sharing, inductors are also used in addition t o the resistors. In case of
inductors (magnetically coupled), i f current through the thyristor T1 increases, an opposite
polarity voltage would be induced (as of series coil of T1) in the series coil of thyrist or T2. The
current flow is increased through the thyristor, serving the purpose.

Applications of thyrist ors

Following are some major and mo st common applications of thyrist ors. Both parallel and
series configuration can be used, depending on the natur e of application.

1. Alternating current is controlled using thyristors

2. Extensively used in electric power circuits with high voltage and current requirements
3. They can be used as “enhanced electric circuit breakers” to minimize failures in the
power supplies
4. They are used in HDTC conversion to alternating current or from alternating current to
HDTC
5. They are also used for conv erting DC power to AC power

These were the basics of thyrist ors when connected in series or par allel configuration. We
came to now the variance in their current and voltage properties as well as how we can get
the best desired output by the combination of diff erent configurations.

In the next article we will be discussing some major types of thyrist ors and their uses.

Nasir.

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