High current rectifier, power supply

[Heiko]

Hello!

I want to build a high current power supply (up to 1000A).
Where can I find some info on the web? Where can I find some circuits and some
recommendet semiconductors.
The power supply is to be used in a small plating plant.
Does anybody have some experience with high current power supplies???

 

[Rene Tschaggelar]

Hello!

I want to build a high current power supply (up to 1000A).
Where can I find some info on the web? Where can I find some circuits and some
recommendet semiconductors.
The power supply is to be used in a small plating plant.
Does anybody have some experience with high current power supplies???

They tend to be switchmode and polyphase.
There are polyphase controllers with up too 12 phases.
That'd make 80 per phase, doable.
Lookup the manufacturers, linear technology, texas instruments,and the like
and have a look at the polyphase controllers.
And synchronous rectification is another keyword, that lets
a FET do the rectification, such that you don't loose the diode voltage.

The LTC1922 & LTC3722 come to my mind.
http://www.linear.com/prod/datasheet.html?datasheet=601
http://www.linear.com/prod/datasheet.html?datasheet=968

Rene

 

[Roger N]

Hello!

I want to build a high current power supply (up to 1000A).
Where can I find some info on the web? Where can I find some circuits and some
recommendet semiconductors.
The power supply is to be used in a small plating plant.
Does anybody have some experience with high current power supplies???

The place I used to work did chrome plating and they had 5V, 5000A power
supply. I had to work on it a little, it had a large array of stud type
diodes with lots of heat sink fins. There are hocky puck style rectifiers
that may handle the current you want. Newark electronics used to sell them,
though I would recommend finding them surplus (eBay perhaps).

 

[Heiko]

The place I used to work did chrome plating and they had 5V, 5000A power

supply. I had to work on it a little, it had a large array of stud type
diodes with lots of heat sink fins. There are hocky puck style rectifiers
that may handle the current you want. Newark electronics used to sell them,
though I would recommend finding them surplus (eBay perhaps).

Hmm.... what exactly is a "hocky puck rectifier"???

 

[Sir Charles W. Shults III]

Hmm.... what exactly is a "hocky puck rectifier"???

It is a large round disc shaped rectifier. It often has a single flat
surface that is clamped against a conductor or heat sink, and the other face may
have a large threaded bolt or rectangular tab sticking out.

Cheers!

Chip Shults
My robotics, space and CGI web page - http://home.cfl.rr.com/aichip

 

[legg]

Hmm.... what exactly is a "hocky puck rectifier"???

They are the baby brothers of land-mine sized rectifiers.

http://www.semikron.com/databook/08rediod/n4000.pdf

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Hmm.... what exactly is a "hocky puck rectifier"???

Like the middle photo here, but without the wires (which are used to
trigger the hockey puck SCR).

http://www.surplussales.com/SemiC-SCR.html

Here are some mounted in a water cooled stack:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2550043836&category=7287&sspagename=rvi:1:1


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[Terry Given]

I want to build a high current power supply (up to 1000A).

and

What do you want to do with it? It makes a big difference if you want 1V @
1000A or say 24V at 1000A. And do you want a current or a voltage source?

Poor mans monster current source:
take 1 x variac and 1 x big toroidal power transformer having a mains-rated
winding.

1) drive toroid from variac.

2) wind 1 turn of very large wire through the center of the toroid - this is
your high-current winding, so connect it up how you want

3) adjust variac to get desired AC current (make sure toroid primary doesnt
saturate though)

I've successfully generated 5,000Arms this way - very useful for testing
interconnects, or measuring awfully low resistances. Adding a couple of
monster diodes can generate a nasty DC supply too, although big diodes can
be hard to find.