| Abstract |
It is very well known that in very high current transformer-rectifiers the structure of rectifier has to be
large enough to minimize losses and voltage drops due to the high DC current . In copper
electrowinning plants the high DC controlled current must be supplied by enormous transformerrectifiers
24 hrs/day, 365 days/year. Then, efficiency is very important. Losses come from different
components, such as thyristors, fuses, cooling system, transformer, copper or aluminium bars system,
etc. In this paper a comparative analysis of 5 different real cases is presented. This real cases
correspond to high current controlled rectifiers of different electrowinning copper plants that has been
designed using different rectifier structures. Conclusions and recommendations are presented. Finally,
an experimental method to determine in factory the total losses at rated voltage and rated current is
proposed. This method can be applied only for those cases of copper plants with even number of high
current rectifiers operating in parallel. |
