Design and application of semiconductor rectifier transformers

The design of semiconductor rectifiers made obsolete the older mercury-arc rectifiers. Accordingly, the transformer standards were modified to address the differences in the two types of transformers supplied for these applications. Short-circuit problems were reduced with the new technology, but harmonic heating became a bigger problem. The Transformers Committee of the IEEE Power Engineering Society developed the new standard for semiconductor power rectifier transformers. This paper intends to highlight some of the major aspects of how specification, design, and testing of semiconductor rectifier transformers have changed based on the new standard, as well as other design and application consideration.