Hybrid Three-Phase Rectifiers with Active Power Factor Correction: A Systematic Review

The hybrid three-phase rectifiers (HTR) consist of parallel associations of two rectifiers (rectifier 1 and rectifier 2), each one of them with a distinct operation, while the sum of their input currents forms a sinusoidal or multilevel waveform. In general, rectifier 1 is a GRAETZ (full bridge) (can be combined with a BOOST converter) and rectifier 2 is combined with a DC-DC converter. In this HTR contest, this paper is intended to answer some important questions about those hybrid rectifiers. To obtain the correct answers, the study is conducted as an analysis of a systematic literature review. Thus, a search was carried out in the databases, mostly IEEE and IET, and 34 papers were selected as the best corresponding to the HTR theme. It is observed that the preferred form of power distribution in unidirectional hybrid three-phase rectifiers (UHTR) is 55%Po (rectifier 1) and 45%Po (rectifier 2). For the bidirectional hybrid three-phase rectifiers (BHTR), rectifier 1 preferably takes 90% of Po and 10% of Po is processed by rectifier 2. It is also observed that the UHTR that employ the single-ended primary-inductor converter (SEPIC) or VIENNA converter topologies in rectifier 2 can present sinusoidal input currents with low total harmonic distortion (THD) and high Power Factor (PF), even successfully complying with the international standards. The same can be said about the rectifier that employs a pulse-width (PWM) converter of BOOST topology in rectifier 2. In short, the HTR are interesting because they allow using the GRAETZ full bridge topology in rectifier 1, thus taking advantage of its characteristics, being simple, robust, and reliable. At the same time, the advantages of rectifier 2, i.e., high PF and low THD, are well used. In addition, this article also points out the future direction of research that is still unexplored in the literature, thus giving opportunities for future innovation