AC Voltage Regulator (Stabilizer)

AC Voltage Regulator (Stabilizer)

Definition of AC Voltage Regulator (Stabilizer) :

• Stabilizer is a device that stabilizes or regulates the single phase or three phase ac supply, in a predecided voltage range.
• The voltage range is dependent on the application. AC supply is being used by almost all the industrial, control, biomedical applications. For their proper functioning a good quality ac supply is needed.
• AC voltage regulator is an AC to AC converter. It produces an ac output voltage without any change in frequency.
• The ac regulators or stabilizers are used to regulate the ac mains supply (single phase or three phase) in a predetermined voltage range.
• This voltage range depends on the application for which the ac supply needs to be regulated.
• The cost of the ac regulator depends on its complexity, performance, dynamic response and nature of output waveform.
• In this section some of the most commonly used ac voltage regulator circuits have been discussed.

Principle of Operation of AC Voltage Regulator (Stabilizer) :

• AC voltage stabilizers (regulators) operate on the principle of keeping the secondary output voltage constant irrespective to the input voltage and the fluctuations taking place in the AC mains at primary of the transformer.
• The output voltage provided to the load according to the requirement is adjusted by using proper turn ratio of primary and secondary of the transformer.
• Voltage regulators or voltage stabilizers are another important power conditioners. Voltage stabilizers can handle almost all the problems except momentary or continuous mains power failures.

Regulator Types of AC Voltage Regulator (Stabilizer) :

AC voltage stabilizers can be classified into different types according to the method used to obtain constant load supply voltage.
The different types of AC voltage stabilizers are as follows :

1. Relay type or tap changing AC voltage stabilizer.
2. Static or solid state AC voltage stabilizer.
3. Servo type AC voltage stabilizer.
4. Resonant type AC voltage stabilizer or constant voltage transformer.

These circuit are most commonly used as AC regulators or stabilizers.