High-speed fuse Size-5 and its influence on development of high current rectifiers

摘要

The demands for high power rectifiers are continuously increasing as the user industries face higher targets for performance and efficiency. At first sight it seems that high power rectifier technology is rather simple and well known. The history of large rectifiers is almost a hundred years old and has developed from electromechanical contact converters, through mercury converters to the semiconductor rectifiers of today, which started as diode rectifiers about 50 years ago. Today's rectifiers are based on the latest developments of diodes and thyris-tors and can have ratings of more than 100kA for a single rectifier unit (Fig 1). Even although the components of modern large rectifiers are simple in principle and have been understood for many years new development are needed to match the increase power demands. The latest version of the high-speed Size-5 fuse is an example of front edge development of a component dedicated for large converters. The key components of large rectifiers are the semiconductors (diodes or thyristors) and the associated high speed fuses. The efficient use of high power semiconductors depends to a large extends on the capability to carry away heat from the semiconductors and associated components.