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An Active Method for Suppressing Harmonic Current of Power Capacitor

Jinn-Chang Wu Department of Electrical Engineering, Kun Shan University of Technology, Tainan Hsien 710 ,Taiwan Hurng-Liahng Jou Kuen-Der Wu Department of Electrical Engineering, Nationl Kaohsiung University of Applied Sciences, Kaohsiung 807 ,Taiwan Yao-Jen Chang UIS Abler Electronics Co., Ltd. Hsintien,Taipei Hsien 231, Taiwan Web:www.ablerex-ups.com

Abstract: The power capacitor is widely used for power factor correction in a power system. The damage to power capacitor as a result of harmonic pollution has been a problem in recent years. This may result in power interruption or accidents in industries. In this paper, a new power capacitor protection method is proposed. In this method, a low capacity power converter serially connected to the power capacitor to adjust a current flowing through the power capacitor to be approximated as a fundamental sinusoidal waveform, and thereby it can avoid the harmonic resonance generated between power capacitor and the impedance of power system that may damage the power capacitor and adjacent power facilities. A prototype is developed and tested to verify the performance of the proposed method. The test results show that the proposed method has the expected performance. Keywords- power capacitor, harmonic, power converter

Introduction

Most loads in industrial power systems are inductive. The inductive load absorbs reactive power, and the phase of its current lags with that of voltage. Hence, the power factor is low. The poor power factor has the following disadvantages: the efficiency of distribution power system will be degraded, the capacity of transmission, substation and distribution must be increased, the voltage regulation is poor. A rule has been set up by the utility companies to reward those can improve the power factor, and it also has a penalty rule for those can not match the power factor requirement. The power factor correction equipment includes the power capacitor, synchronous condensor, static VAR compensator and power converter based reactive power compensator. Due to the consideration of cost and capacity, the power capacitor is still widely used. C. Wang et al. [1] shows that the power capacitor used in the power system is about half of the power generation capacity in the power system. Recently, power electronic based equipment has

been widely used in the energy conversion system. The input characteristic of this equipment is nonlinear. It issues the problem of high input harmonic current [2-3]. The harmonic current may result in the problems of voltage waveform distortion and resonance. Since the impedance of power capacitor is inversely proportional to the frequency, the harmonic problems of power capacitor are more serious. It will amplify the harmonic current and harmonic voltage of power capacitor. The amplified harmonic current and voltage may damage the power capacitor. Moreover, it may disturb the operation of neighboring equipment. Hence, the selection of power capacitor installation in the designing stage is based not only on the power factor correction but also on the harmonic analysis [4-8]. For solving the harmonic problems of power capacitor, some techniques have been proposed. Most previous techniques switch out the power capacitor when the current amplitude or current total harmonic distortion (THD) of the power capacitor is over its setting value. However, the function of power factor correction is disabled. Recently, a new reactive power compensator, based on the power converter technology, is proposed [9-11], which can avoid the harmonic problem of power capacitor. In this technology, it uses a power converter to generate the reactive power. The power rating of the power converter is very large. Hence, it is too expensive to be applied in the practical applications. 2 THE HARMONIC EFFECT TO POWER

Published in IPEMC 2004 Conference Proceedings, Xian, China, Vol. 1, Aug. 14~16, 2004

CAPACITOR Figure 1(a) shows a simplified industrial system with power factor correction capacitor. The power equipment of the power consumer may be a nonlinear load, and the utility voltage is often distorted due to the neighboring nonlinear load in the industrial power distribution system. Hence, it may contain two harmonic sources, a nonlinear load and a distorted utility voltage. For simplifying the analysis, the nonlinear load is simplified as a harmonic current source (ILh), and the distorted utility voltage is considered as a harmonic voltage source (Vsh). Figure 1(b) shows the harmonic equivalent circuit for this system. For considering the effect of nonlinear load, the harmonic voltage source is assumed as a short circuit. The harmonic current injected into the power capacitor (Ich) can be derived as:
I ch = Z sh I Lh Z ch + Z sh
p = 1 LsC

(2)

For considering the effect of the distorted utility, the harmonic current source is assumed as an open circuit. The harmonic current injecting into the power capacitor can be derived as
I ch = Vsh Z ch + Z sh

(3)

The series resonance occurs when the denominator of (3) approaches to zero, and its resonant frequency is the same as that shown in (2). Equation (3) shows that the harmonic current injecting into the power capacitor is amplified as the utility voltage contains the harmonic component near the resonant frequency. Computer simulation is made to explain the resonant phenomenon. The main parameters for computer simulation are shown in Table1. The resonant frequency in the simulation is near 420 Hz. Figure 2 shows the frequency response of the power capacitor current to the load harmonic current and the utility harmonic voltage respectively. From Fig. 2, it can be found that the power capacitor current near the resonant frequency is amplified. Besides, the impedance of power capacitor is inversely proportional to the frequency. It means that the power capacitor supplies a low impedance path for harmonic current. In the industrial power distribution system, the harmonic current of the neighboring nonlinear loads will inject into the power capacitor. Hence, the investigation of background harmonic is necessary before designing the power factor correction capacitor. Otherwise, the installation of power capacitor may degrade the distortion of the utility current and even damage itself. 3 Basic Operation Theory of the Proposed Method Figure 3 shows the power circuit of the proposed method. A power converter is connected in series with the power capacitor by a transformer. The transformer is used for matching the voltage level of the power converter and the utility. The harmonic damage of the power capacitor is almost due to the resonance with the power system impedance or a seriously distorted utility voltage. If the current flowing through the power capacitor can be still controlled to be a fundamental sinusoidal waveform no matter whether the utility voltage is distorted or not, the damage to power capacitor caused by the harmonic resonance and seriously distorted utility voltage can be avoided.

(1)

where h is the index for representing the harmonic. The

(a)

(b)
Fig. 1 the simplified industrial system with power capacitor, (a) configuration, (b) the harmonic equivalent circuit.

parallel resonance occurs when the denominator of (1) approaches to zero. In this time, it will result in a large harmonic current injecting into the power capacitor. The amplitude of injected harmonic current may be several times of the harmonic current source. In the same time, the harmonic voltage across the power capacitor is also amplified. Hence, the parallel resonance may damage the capacitor due to over-voltage or over-current. The resonance frequency can be derived as:

Published in IPEMC 2004 Conference Proceedings, Xian, China, Vol. 1, Aug. 14~16, 2004

The distorted three-phase utility voltages can be represented as:


v an (t ) = E1 sin t +

n =2

Ean sin(nt an )
n =3 n =2

vbn (t ) = E1 sin(t 120o ) + v cn (t ) = E1 sin(t 120o ) +

Ebn sin(nt bn )

Ecn sin(nt cn )

(4 In order to protect power capacitor from the harmonic damage, both of voltage and current waveforms are expected to be sinusoidal. Since the phase of power capacitor current leads the utility voltage by 90o, the expected power capacitor current can be represented as:
i ca (t ) = I1cont i cb (t ) = I1 cos(t 120 o ) i cc (t ) = I1 sin( t 120 o )

Since the power converter is connected to the power capacitor in series and used to protect the power capacitor from the harmonic damage, the power converter only responds to the harmonic frequency. It means that all the fundamental component of the utility voltage is expected to drop on the power capacitor. The dc bus voltage of power converter is only required to be larger than the peak value of harmonic component of the utility voltage. Since the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the utility voltage is limited below 5% in the industrial power system, the peak value of harmonic component of the utility voltage is very small than that of its fundamental component. The dc bus voltage of power converter is very small. Since the voltage rating of power electronic devices is much higher than the peak value of the harmonic component of utility voltage, a transformer is inserted between the power capacitor and power converter to matching this voltage difference for reducing the power ratting of power converter effectively. Figure 4 shows the control block diagram of the proposed method. The current-mode control is used to control the power converter. The output current of power converter must be controlled to be a fundamental sinusoidal current that leads the utility voltage by 90o. The output current of power converter is passing through the power capacitor. Consequently, the power capacitor can avoid the damage from the harmonic resonance because the current flowing is a sinusoidal with the fundamental frequency. The utility voltage is detected and fed to a band-pass filter to get a reference sinusoidal signal with the fundamental frequency, and then sends to a phase-shift circuit that produces the signal that leads the fundamental utility voltage by 90o. Then, the output of the phase-shift circuit is sent to an amplifier with proper gain to obtain a normal power capacitor current that is dependent on the utility voltage level and capacitance of power capacitor. The output of the amplifier is the first control signal S1. In order to maintain the normal operation of the power converter, the DC voltage must be maintained at a constant value. In this condition, the power converter must absorb/ generate real power from/to the utility. This means that the power converter must generate a fundamental current component which phase is in phase with the utility voltage. To achieve this purpose, the DC voltage of the power converter is detected. The detected DC voltage and a preset voltage must be sent to a subtractor, and then the subtracted voltage is sent to the PI controller. The output of the PI controller and the

(5)

Fig. 2 the frequency response of power capacitor current before applying the power converter, (a) under load harmonic current, (b) under utility harmonic voltage.

Fig. 3 the power circuit of the proposed power capacitor protection method.

Published in IPEMC 2004 Conference Proceedings, Xian, China, Vol. 1, Aug. 14~16, 2004

rich harmonics. The power capacitor will supply a low impedance branch for the harmonic current of nonlinear load. The RMS of power capacitor current is dependent on the harmonic current of nonlinear load, and its value may be over 130% of power rating. The above result shows that the consideration of background harmonic is necessary in the process of designing power capacitor. Otherwise, the power capacitor will be often damaged. As seen in Fig. 6(b), the proposed method can suppress the harmonic current of power capacitor effectively.
Fig. 4 the control block diagram of the proposed power converter.

output of the band-pass filter are sent to a multiplier to the get second control signal S2. The reference signal of power capacitor current can be obtained by adding two control signals S1 and S2. For obtaining the current-mode control, the output current of power converter is detected. Then, the reference signal of power capacitor current and the detected output current of the power converter are sent to a subtractor. The output of the subtractor is applied to the controller to obtain a modulation signal, and then the modulation signal is sent to a pulse-width modulation (PWM) circuit to generate the PWM signal. Then, the PWM signals for the power electronic devices of the power converter can be obtained. 4 COMPUTER SIMULATION AND TEST RESULTS For verifying the proposed power capacitor protection method, a three-phase prototype with 380V and 60Hz is used in the computer simulation. The major parameters of the prototype are shown in Tab. 1. By using the parameters shown in the Tab. 1, it can be found that the utility impedance and power capacitor are resonant near the 7th harmonic frequency. Figure 5 shows the power capacitor current under the distorted utility voltage before and after applying the power converter. The utility voltage is distorted with 5% the 7th harmonic voltage. Figure 5(a) shows that the 7th harmonic of power capacitor current is amplified due to the resonance between the utility impedance and power capacitor, and the RMS current of the power capacitor is over 130% of its power rating. Hence, the power capacitor may be damaged. As seen in 5(b), the power capacitor current is nearly sinusoidal, and the resonance between the power capacitor and the system impedance is suppressed by the proposed method effectively. Figure 6 shows the power capacitor current under the condition of nonlinear load before and after applying the power converter. The nonlinear load is a three-phase rectifier. Figure 6(a) shows that the power capacitor current contains

For verifying the proposed method practically, a prototype with 380V and 60Hz is established in the laboratory. For observing the effect of the proposed protection method clearly, a 0.6 mH inductor is inserted into the utility to enlarge the utility impedance. However, the utility impedance in the experiment case is slightly lower than that in the simulation case and the resonant frequency of the utility impedance and power capacitor is close to the 8th harmonic frequency for avoiding the damage of the experimental system. A three-phase diode rectifier is used as a nonlinear load. Figure 7 shows the test result under the condition of no-load. It shows that
TABLE I system The major parameters of simulation

Switching frequency Power capacitor Utility impedance

20kHz 180uF 0.8mH, 0.02

DC bus voltage Filter inductor Filter capacitor

100V 0.18mH 15uF

Fig. 5 the simulation result for the power capacitor current under the condition of the distorted utility voltage , (a)before applying the power converter, (b) after applying the power converter.

Published in IPEMC 2004 Conference Proceedings, Xian, China, Vol. 1, Aug. 14~16, 2004

Fig. 6 the simulation result for the power capacitor current under the condition of nonlinear load, (a) before applying the power converter, (b) after applying the power converter.

Fig. 8 the test result for the power capacitor under the condition of nonlinear load, (a) the utility voltage, (b) the power capacitor current.

Fig. 9 the spectrum of power capacitor current under the condition of nonlinear load before applying the power converter. Fig. 7 the test result for the power capacitor under the condition of no-load condition, (a) the utility voltage, (b) the power capacitor current.

the power capacitor current is distorted slightly. Figure 8 shows the test result under the condition of nonlinear load before applying the power converter. As seen in Fig.8, the power capacitor current contains rich harmonic. Figure 9 shows the spectrum of power capacitor current under this condition. The total harmonic distortion (THD) is 114% and the root-mean square (RMS) value of power capacitor current is amplified to more than 1.5 times of its normal value. It may damage the power capacitor. Figure 10 shows the test result under the condition of nonlinear load after applying the power converter. Figure10 shows that the harmonic of power capacitor current is suppressed after applying the power converter. Figure 11 shows the spectrum of power capacitor current under this condition. The total harmonic distortion (THD) is 18% and the root-mean square (RMS) value of power capacitor current is decreased less than 1.05 times of its normal value. It means that the proposed protection method can protect the power capacitor from the harmonic damage by only applying a power converter with small power capacity.

Fig. 10 the test result for the power capacitor under the condition of nonlinear load after applying the power converter, (a) the utility voltage, (b) the power capacitor current.

Fig. 11 the spectrum of power capacitor current under the condition of nonlinear load after applying the power converter.

Published in IPEMC 2004 Conference Proceedings, Xian, China, Vol. 1, Aug. 14~16, 2004

3. 5 Conclusion 4. From the viewpoint of installation cost, the power capacitor is the cheapest solution for reactive power compensation. However, the fast growth of nonlinear loads in the industrial power distribution system results in the disaster for power capacitor. Since the power capacitor supplies a low impedance path for harmonic current, the harmonic current of neighboring nonlinear load may flow into the power capacitor. Moreover, the power resonance occurs between the power capacitor and the utility impedance, and these scenarios will result in the over current and over voltage and destroy the power capacitor. In this paper, a power converter is connected in series with the power capacitor to force the power capacitor current approximating to a sinewave. This power converter can effectively protect the power capacitor from the harmonic damage. The power capacity of the proposed power converter is less than 10% of the power capacitor. A prototype is developed to verify the performance of the proposed method. The test results show that the proposed method can suppress the harmonic current flowing through the power capacitor effectively. The proposed method can protect the power capacitor from the harmonic resonance effectively. 6 1. References C. Wang, T. C. Cheng, G. Zheng, Y. D, L. Mu, B. Palk and M. Moon, Failure Analysis of Composite Dielectric of Power Capacitors in Distribution Systems, IEEE Trans. Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation, Vol. 5, No. 4, Aug. 1998, pp.583-588. H. L. Jou, Performance Comparison of Three Phase Active Power Filter Algorithms, IEE

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Published in IPEMC 2004 Conference Proceedings, Xian, China, Vol. 1, Aug. 14~16, 2004

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