Electricity without doubt is one of the greatest inventions of all times and has definitely proved to be a boon for humankind.
Electrical energy is used throughout the world to power devices, appliances and industrial machinery. Each appliance/machinery needs optimum(recommended) voltage to operate efficiently and deliver intended results.
Voltage Stabilizer is a major & one of the primary requirements of any domestic or industrial setup. Erratic voltage is accountable for more than 90% of the failures in machines and appliances.
Every electrical machine is designed to function under a specific voltage to deliver the intended performance. Voltage stabilizers are primarily used to provide steady voltage supply and to protect electrical machines against voltage fluctuations.
Erratic voltage could cause the appliance to malfunction or even damage it permanently causing downtime resulting in huge production and financial loss.
In case of lighting equipment, low voltage leads to lesser illumination which reduces life of the lamp whereas high voltage damages the filament.
Ups and downs in the input voltage will cause AC motors to constantly vary the output torque and speed. This degrades motor life and causes insulation damage.
In case of machines working with induction heaters, low voltage reduces heat output which causes the load to operate at inappropriate temperatures than what is desired.
In signal communication, the quality of transmission is highly dependent on power quality. Voltage drop will deteriorate signal strength and will also cause the malfunction of other electronic components.
Motor driven appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, industrial compressors will draw large currents during voltage drop conditions which may lead to overheating of windings.
To overcome disastrous effects of voltage variations, voltage stabilizers are needed.
There are two main operations performed by a voltage stabilizer. The process of increasing voltage from under voltage condition is called as boost operation, and reducing the voltage from overvoltage condition is called as buck operation. In addition to these two main operations, a voltage stabilizer also performs lower and higher voltage cut off operations.
Types of Voltage Stabilizers
Voltage Stabilizers can broadly be categorized as:
- Relay Based Voltage Stabilizers
- Servo Based Voltage Stabilizers
- IGBT Based Static Voltage Stabilizers
Relay Type Voltage Stabilizer
This type of stabilizer has transformer with tapping, combination of relays and an electronic circuit. The electronic circuit is built of rectifier unit, amplifier, micro-controller unit and other supporting parts. The electronic circuit board is responsible for detection of the output voltage with reference to the input voltage. As soon as it detects any rise or fall in the input supply beyond the set value, it switches the related relay to connect the required transformer tapping to increase or decrease voltage.
Relay type voltage stabilizer normally stabilize input with output accuracy between ±5% to ±10%.
- Low cost
- Compact size
Disadvantages of Relay type Voltage Stabilizers
- Very slow response time
- Less durability
- Less reliability
- Spikes/surges are generated or transmitted to output
- High noise during operation
- High maintenance requirement
- Their fluctuation tolerance limit is less and are not able to withstand high voltage surges
Servo Voltage Stabilizer
In a servo based voltage stabilizer, voltage regulation is done with the help of servo motor. It comprises of a servo motor, auto-transformer, buck – boost (tapped) transformer, a motor, an electronic circuit board and other supporting components.
One end of the primary coil of buck-boost transformer is connected to the fixed tapping of the auto-transformer, and the other end of the primary coil is connected with the moving arm which is controlled by the servo motor. One end of the secondary coil of the buck-boost transformer is connected to the input supply and the other end is connected to the output of voltage stabilizer.
As the arm on the auto-transformer moves, the input voltage to the primary coil of buck – boost transformer will change to the required voltage output. The servo motor will keep rotating till the difference between reference voltage value and stabilizer output becomes zero.
Advantages of Servo Voltage Stabilizer
- Faster regulation as compared to relay based voltage stabilizer
- More reliable than relay based voltage stabilizer
- High voltage stabilization accuracy
- They can withstand high voltage surges
- Servo motor needs to be aligned properly for efficient working which is a difficult process to execute
- Spikes/surges are likely to be generated or transmitted to output
- Fluctuations may be transmitted to output due to mechanical switching which could damage sensitive equipments
- Higher rating stabilizer needs to be cooled using oil hence it demands maintenance
- Considerable maintenance of servo motor & other moving parts required
- High noise during operation
Disadvantages of Servo Voltage Stabilizer
Servo motor needs to be aligned properly for efficient working which is a difficult process to execute
Spikes/surges are likely to be generated or transmitted to output
Fluctuations may be transmitted to output due to mechanical switching which could damage sensitive equipments
Higher rating stabilizer needs to be cooled using oil hence it demands maintenance
Considerable maintenance of servo motor & other moving parts required
High noise during operation
Static Voltage Stabilizer
Static Voltage Stabilizer is equipped with high frequency IGBT units and Pulse Width Modulation control which provides super smooth and highly stable output voltage even under severe erratic voltage conditions.
In an IGBT based PWM Controlled static voltage stabilizer only the difference voltage is switched through IGBT modules and is added or subtracted @2500v/sec (minimum) from the mains. This is done electronically without any step changing in voltage which occurs when the system regulates. This process is carried by a feedback control system using digital signal processor (DSP).
The input voltage is sensed by DSP and corrections are made by varying the duty cycle of Pulse Width Modulation. This gives the Static Voltage Stabilizer such tight regulation and fast correction speed, which is impossible to obtain using conventional methods such as servo voltage stabilizers, relay type stabilizers etc. It offers absolutely silent operation and pure sinewave output.
Check out the study about static voltage stabilizer in a paper published by IJIRSET (An ISO 3297: 2007 Certified Organization).
Advantages of Static Voltage Stabilizer
- Super quick response time of 50 microseconds
- Fast regulation speed of 2500 volt/sec (minimum)
- Continuous supply of highly stable output voltage
- Independent phase correction and capable to handle unbalanced 3-phase input without any trouble
- Built in protections against: over / under voltage, phase reversal, single phasing, over load, over temperature & short circuit
- Zero maintenance cost because of no mechanical or moving parts
- They are air cooled, no hassle of periodic oil replacement
- Completely noiseless operation
- Lowest foot print (less space needed)
- Compatible for all kinds of loads
- >99% efficiency
- Greatly improves power quality and reduces electricity consumption at site of installation
- Highly effective for sensitive load equipment having high speed solid-state devices and drives
Disadvantage of Static Voltage Stabilizer
- They are costly as compared to relay & servo voltage stabilizers
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