Constant current rectifier - comments welcome

Well, yes and no. Put a 1V DC with 2Ohm internal resistance and tell me how it behaves against 10mOhm load. One might think its a voltage source. But any realistic voltage source can be transformed into an equivalent current source and reverse. Hope you got an idea.

hurz, Yes I believe I understand. You're saying that a relatively large resistance (or impedance I assume) in series with a smaller one will basically act as a current limiter for that smaller load, right? It seems obvious to me now that you've pointed it out, but I hadn't realized that before.

Right, and now try to make it more perfect check this. First top circuit is equivalent to yours here / 2. and 3. are more improved ones. The 3. can be seen as perfect as a current source, that simple 😉 http://everycircuit.com/circuit/6448653309050880

Wow, that's pretty neat. I used to think that a "current source" in simulated circuits was mostly theoretical (i.e., had no real world counterpart), but apparently it's just an (infinitely) high voltage with an (infinitely) high internal resistance! The infinite part is pretty artificial, but you never need to be truly infinite anyway. Just as long as it's sufficiently large relative to the other components in your circuit. Thanks for the insight. ☺️ Looking at your example raised another question: where exactly would the extra 49.5 Watts of power be going in the "perfect current source" setup? Would it be dissipated as heat in the larger resistor? And if so, does that mean every resistor has to dissipate (and therefore, drain) power in order to reduce current?

Yes, and also voltage source are infinite as we use them here on EC. They have an infinite LOW resistance which is the oposite of ideal current sources. You see, current source are not more magical then voltage sources 😉 Topic power or energy, thats pretty easy. Engery can not be destroyed. Energy can only be transformt from e.g. electrical to mechanical or heat (electromagnetic radiation) or similar light. Resistors are "ideal" energy transformers from electric power to heat. Or even the way back as sensor. P = U * I = 100V * 0.5A = 50Watt. The source itself burns P = I² * R = 0.5² * 200Ohm which is for the worst case load is a short, and 10mOhm is like a short. The power loss at load is then zero, no loss at all, but this will increase with its resistance and get a maximum at 200Ohm. Above the power loss will decrease again. So its a quadratic function with an maximum. Think about 💡