A new 24-pulse diode rectifier for high voltage and high power applications

Uncontrolled diode rectifiers have been widely used at the front end of power electronic equipment as an interface to the electric utility. Due to the nonlinear nature of diodes and DC link capacitors, the input line currents are highly distorted and contain significant harmonics causing a number of harmonic problems in the power system. In this paper, a new 24-pulse diode rectifier system based upon the conventional series-connected 12-pulse rectifier is proposed with the least number of switching devices and low VA rating of the additional passive components. The proposed approach does not employ any active switching devices, and therefore is rugged and simple to implement. Detailed analysis with VA rating calculation of the components is presented and experimental results from a 220 V, 3 kVA rectifier system verify the proposed concept.