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A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The reverse operation (converting DC to AC) is performed by an inverter. The process is known as rectification, since it "straightens" the direction of current. Physically, rectifiers take a number of forms, including vacuum tube diodes, wet chemical cells, mercury-arc valves, stacks of copper and selenium oxide plates, semiconductor diodes, silicon-controlled rectifiers and other silicon-based semiconductor switches.
Stationary fuel-cell applications (or stationary fuel-cell power systems) are applications for fuel cells that are either connected to the electric grid (distributed generation) to provide supplemental power and as emergency power system for critical areas, or installed as a grid-independent generator for on-site service. In 2012 more than 45,700 fuel-cell systems were shipped all over the world — in residential homes, hospitals, nursing homes, hotels, office buildings, schools, utility power plants.
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requiring a continuous source of fuel and oxygen (usually from air) to sustain the chemical reaction, whereas in a battery the chemical energy usually comes from substances that are already present in the battery. Fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.
The current restrictions on the registration of combustion engines in different countries and the harmful impacts of fossil fuels on the environment and human health have motivated decision-makers to use batteries and/or fuel cells as alternatives for comb ...
In two-stage solid-state transformers with input-series output-parallel structure, the LLC converter operating at a fixed switching frequency is a common choice for the isolated DC/DC conversion stage because it can provide a high efficiency and a fixed vo ...
Solid-state transformers with input-series outputparallel structures are being considered for a variety of applications requiring MVAC to LVDC conversion. Due to the singlephase AC/DC conversion at the input side, all floating cells of the solid-state tran ...