Four-quadrant power converter based on output linear stage

This paper deals with the design of a true four-quadrant power converter. This converter is intended to be used in the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project, which will use a huge number of true bipolar power converters. This paper will first describe the state of the art of this power converter family, pointing out drawbacks and advantages of different possible configurations. A specific review of the converter is then presented. Some key parts are detailed, and a practical realization is studied, giving the characteristics of the power converter which will be used in the LHC accelerator to feed 120 A superconducting magnets, ranging from 10 mH up to 4 H.