When you need to smooth a DC power supply, you need to add so-called smoothing capacitors and you calculate the required capacitor value like this:
- When a load increases and demands more power, the power supply charge referred to as Q (in Coulombs) required from the capacitor is Q = I * t, where I is current and t is time.
- Also, Q = C * ΔV, where C is the capacitance and ΔV is the voltage drop as current flows out to the load.
- So rearranging and converting Q into energy-time, then C * ΔV = Q = I * t and rearranging for C gives C = I*t/ΔV
- Lets assume you need no-less than 0.2v drop on the DC supply when a 0.5Amp load is applied, which lasts for 0.05sec (50mS), then the value of C required is found as follows:
C = 0.5 * 0.05/0.2 = 0.125F = 125,000uF
It’s a big capacitor for this example, but that’s what’s required. A more typical example might be:
Lets assume you need no-less than 0.2v drop on the DC supply when a 50mA load is applied, which lasts for 0.005sec (5mS), then the value of C required is found as follows:
C = 0.05 * 0.005/0.2 = 0.000125F = 125uF and practically we’d choose 100uF