High power factor three phase rectifier for high power density AC/DC conversion applications

The conventional three-phase rectifier with bulky LC output filter has been widely used in the industry because of its distinctive advantages over the active power factor correction rectifier such as simple circuit, high reliability and low cost. Over 0.9 power factor can be achieved, which is acceptable in most industry applications. This rectifier, however, is not easy to use for high power density applications since the LC filter is bulky and heavy. To solve this problem, a new simple rectifier is presented in this paper. By eliminating the bulky LC filter from the conventional diode rectifier without losing most of the advantages of the conventional rectifier, very high power density power conversion with high power factor can be achieved. Its operating principle and design considerations are illustrated and verified by PSpice simulation and experimental results from a prototype of 3.3 kW rectifier followed by 100 kHz zero voltage switching full bridge PWM power converter.