The circulating current cycloconverter applies a smoother load voltage with less harmonics compared to the blocking mode case. Moreover, the control is simple because there is no current reversal problem. However, the bulky IGR is a big disadvantage for this converter. In addition to this, the number of devices conducting at any time is twice that of the blocking mode converter. Due to these disadvantages, this cycloconverter is not attractive.
The blocked mode cycloconverter converter and the circulating current cycloconverter can be combined to give a hybrid system, which has the advantages of both. The resulting cycloconverter looks like a circulating mode cycloconverter circuit, but depending on the polarity of the output current only one converter is enabled and the other one is disabled as with the blocking mode cycloconverters. When the load current decreases below a threshold, both of the converters are enabled. Thus, the current has a smooth reversal. When the current increases above a threshold in the other direction, the outgoing converter is disabled. This hybrid cycloconverter operates in the blocking mode most of the time so a smaller IGR can be used. The efficiency is slightly higher than that of the circulating current cycloconverter but much less than the blocking mode cycloconverter. Moreover, the distortion caused by the blocking mode operation disappears due to the circulating current operation around zero current. Moreover, the control of the converter is still less complex than that of the blocking mode cycloconverter.