Three-Phase Rectifiers with Current Compensation Schemes - Part I: Passive Circuits

Three-phase rectifiers are widely used in several applications. The main feature desired in these power converters is a satisfying regulation of dc output voltage/current, but this ought to be achieved with high quality ac currents and unitary power factor. The most conventional schemes have unidirectional power flow and a compensation of the ac-side current should be implemented in high-performance systems. A small part of the power converted can be employed to enhance the characteristics in the mains side by using additional passive, active or hybrid circuits. This paper is the first of two parts, where the technology of ac-dc three-phase power converters with compensation techniques to attain ac currents with ohmic behaviour is reviewed. This part reports the passive networks used for this aim, describing the most popular topologies and features.