A silicon-controlled rectifier inverter with improved commutation

The announcement of the silicon controlled rectifier1,2 in December 1957 instituted a new era in the field of electric power conversion. Almost immediately, attention was focused on the application of this device in inversion equipment.3 At first, silicon-controlled rectifiers were substituted for thyratrons in existing circuits. However, such direct replacements failed to take full advantage of the better characteristics of the new device. This paper presents a silicon-controlled rectifier inverter circuit which makes use of a new commutation method. Here the small size, short turn-off time, and low forward voltage drop of the silicon-controlled rectifier are advantageously utilized to provide a more flexible inverter with higher performance and smaller size. The circuit was developed in the General Engineering Laboratory of the General Electric Company.