I am looking to improve the efficiency of a battery charger design that we currently produce. It is of the type which uses phase angle controlled SCRs to regulate the DC voltage which is passed to the battery. The component that is being used currently is a half controlled bridge module made by International Rectifier, part No. P101. I am looking at making my own rectifier out of Discrete PCB mounted components as these modules are fairly expensive and we would like to move all of the components onto a PCB.
I have found lots of information on google on using FETs as ideal diodes to improve the efficiency of bridge rectifiers but I have not found anything to do with improving the efficiency of controlled bridges.
I was thinking that I could replace the diodes with Schottky types to improve the efficiency there but I would also like to replace the SCRs with something more efficient like a combination of MOSFETs and Schottky diodes. My current idea is to make a standard bridge rectifier out of Schottky diodes and control the output of the rectifier with a low Rds P-Channel FET. I have attached a schematic which illustrates this idea and the schematic of the bridge that is currently being used.
Would this even work at all? Does anyone have any experience with this sort of circuit? Any ideas or input is welcome
I have found lots of information on google on using FETs as ideal diodes to improve the efficiency of bridge rectifiers but I have not found anything to do with improving the efficiency of controlled bridges.
I was thinking that I could replace the diodes with Schottky types to improve the efficiency there but I would also like to replace the SCRs with something more efficient like a combination of MOSFETs and Schottky diodes. My current idea is to make a standard bridge rectifier out of Schottky diodes and control the output of the rectifier with a low Rds P-Channel FET. I have attached a schematic which illustrates this idea and the schematic of the bridge that is currently being used.
Would this even work at all? Does anyone have any experience with this sort of circuit? Any ideas or input is welcome