APPLICATION OF A SHUNT ACTIVE POWER FILTER

TO COMPENSATE MULTIPLE NON-LINEAR LOADS

Hanny H. Tumbelaka and Chem V. Nayar

Lawrence J. Borle

School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Curtin University of Technology

Electrical and Electronics Engineering

University of Western Australia

Abstract
In this paper, the implementation of a shunt active power filter with a small series reactor for a
three-phase system is presented. The system consists of multiple non-linear loads, which are a
combination of harmonic current sources and harmonic voltage sources, with significant
unbalanced components. The filter consists of a three-phase current-controlled voltage source
inverter (CC-VSI) with a filter inductance at the ac output and a dc-bus capacitor. The CC-VSI
is operated to directly control the ac grid current to be sinusoidal and in phase with the grid
voltage. The switching is controlled using ramptime current control, which is based on the
concept of zero average current error. The simulation results indicate that the filter along with
the series reactor is able to handle predominantly the harmonic voltage sources, as well as the
unbalance, so that the grid currents are sinusoidal, in phase with the grid voltages and
symmetrical.

1.

INTRODUCTION

Non-linear loads, especially power electronic

loads, create harmonic currents and voltages in
the power systems. For many years, various
active power filters (APF) have been developed
to suppress the harmonics, as well as compensate
for reactive power, so that the utility grid will
supply sinusoidal voltage and current with unity
power factor [1]-[3].

on a three phase system). To compensate for

these mixed non-linear loads, a combined system
of a shunt APF and a series APF can be effective
[4].
In this paper, a combination of a grid current
forcing shunt APF with a series reactor installed
at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC) is
investigated to handle the harmonic and
unbalance problems from mixed loads (see
Figure 1).

Conventionally, the shunt type APF acts to

eliminate the reactive power and harmonic
currents produced by non-linear loads from the
grid current by injecting compensating currents
intended to result in sinusoidal grid current with
unity power factor. This filter has been proven to
be effective in compensating harmonic current
sources, but it cannot properly compensate for
harmonic voltage sources. Many electronic
appliances, such as switch mode power supplies
and electronic ballasts, are harmonic voltage
sources. A voltage sourcing series active power
filter is suitable for controlling harmonic voltage
sources, but it cannot properly compensate for
harmonic current sources [4].
In many cases, non-linear loads consist of
combinations of harmonic voltage sources and
harmonic current sources, and may contain
significant load unbalance (ex. single phase loads

Figure 1. Active Power Filter configuration

2.

SHUNT ACTIVE POWER FILTER

OPERATION

The three-phase shunt active power filter is a

three-phase current controlled voltage-source
inverter (CC-VSI) with a mid-point earthed,
split capacitor in the dc bus and inductors in the
ac output (It is essentially three independent
single phase inverters with a common dc bus).
Conventionally, a shunt APF is controlled in
such a way as to inject harmonic and reactive
compensation currents based on calculated
reference currents. The injected currents are
meant to cancel the harmonic and reactive
currents drawn by the non-linear loads.
However, the reference or desired current to be
injected must be determined by extensive
calculations with inherent delays, errors and slow
transient response.
2.1

Series Inductance

A key component of this system is the added

series inductance XL (see Figure 2), which is
comparable in size to the effective grid
impedance, ZS. Without this inductance (or a
series active filter), load harmonic voltage
sources would produce harmonic currents
through the grid impedance, which could not be
compensated by a shunt APF. Currents from the
APF do not significantly change the harmonic
voltage at the loads. Therefore, there are still
harmonic voltages across the grid impedance,
which continue to produce harmonic currents.
The inductance XL takes the place of a series
active power filter at significantly less cost,
providing the required voltage decoupling
between load harmonic voltage sources and the
grid.
2.2

Direct Control of the Grid Current

In this scheme (see Figure 1), the CC-VSI is

operated to directly control the ac grid current
rather than its own current. The grid current is
sensed and directly controlled to follow
symmetrical sinusoidal reference signals in phase
with the grid voltage. Hence, by putting the
current sensors on the grid side, the grid current
is forced to behave as a sinusoidal current source
and the grid appears as a high-impedance circuit
for harmonics. By forcing the grid current to be
sinusoidal, the APF automatically provides the
harmonic, reactive, negative and zero sequence

currents for the load, following the basic current

summation rule:
igrid = iAPF + i loads

(1)

The sinusoidal grid current reference signal is

given by:
iref = k vgrid-1

(2)

where vgrid-1 is the fundamental component of the

grid voltage, and k is obtained from an outer
control loop regulating the CC-VSI dc-bus
voltage. This can be accomplished by a simple PI
control loop. This is an effective way of
determining the required magnitude of active
current required, since any mismatch between
the required load active current and that being
forced by the CC-VSI would result in the
necessary corrections to regulate the dc-bus
voltage. In the VSI topology used in the APF,
the dc-capacitor voltage must be greater than the
peak of the ac grid voltage.

Figure 2. Circuit equivalent for harmonics

2.3

Ramptime Current Control

The performance and the effectiveness of the

filter are enhanced by the use of the ramptime
current control technique to control the CC-VSI.
The principle operation of ramptime current
control is based on the concept of zero average
current error (ZACE) [7], [8], [9]. In this
application, the current error signal is the
difference between the actual grid current and
the desired/reference grid current waveform. The
ramptime control produces switching instants
which result in the current error signal crossing
zero at intervals of half the desired switching
period. Hence the current error signal spends
half the time on alternate sides of zero, resulting
in an average value of zero, a close following of
the reference signal, and a switching period (and

hence switching frequency) very close to the

desired value.
As mentioned, in this application, the CC-VSI is
switched so as to regulate the grid current rather
than its own current. Controllability is ensured
by the proper relative sizing of the inverter filter
inductance Linv and the choice of the dc bus
voltage so that the two output pwm states (per
phase) will always result a corresponding
opposite polarity current error signal slopes. The
controllability of the ac grid current is
guaranteed since the CC-VSI can be constructed
so that its minimum di/dt exceeds the maximum
di/dt permitted by the inductance XL. This
provides the CC-VSI complete control over the
ac grid current.

3.

3.1

A SHUNT ACTIVE POWER

FILTER
WITH
HARMONIC
VOLTAGE SOURCING LOADS
Compensation for Harmonic Voltage
Sources

To show a compensation for harmonic voltage

sources, a simulation was conducted using circuit
constants from the literature [4] based on a threephase ac system with a grid voltage of 400V50Hz, a 60kW diode rectifier load with dc filter
capacitor, a filter inductance (Linv) of 0.45mH
(5.3%), ZS of 1.8%, and XL of 1.8%, without a
high frequency filter. The circuit equivalent from
the harmonic point of view is shown in Figure 2.
From computer simulation results shown in
Figure 3, the three-phase shunt APF successfully
forces sinusoidal current from the grid, as shown
in Figure 3(a) and 3(b). In doing this, the APF
compensates the harmonic voltages because the
load harmonic voltage in Figure 3(c) (in spectral
performance up to 1kHz) appears across XL in
Figure 3(d). These same harmonic voltages
appear (in relative proportion to the inductances)
in the inverter voltage in Figure 3(e) and across
the inverter inductance in Figure 3(f). Thus, the
load harmonic voltages do not appear across ZS
and load harmonic currents are not created
through this grid impedance. Also, assuming the
grid voltage harmonics are negligible, the ac grid
voltage at the PCC will be sinusoidal.
It is apparent that the CC-VSI generates
harmonic voltages with the same characteristics
as the load harmonic voltages. Moreover, the

harmonic voltage of CC-VSI yields equal-butopposite voltage on the filter inductance (Linv) to
keep harmonic voltage at the PCC close to zero.
This result leads the output harmonic current of
the active filter to match the harmonic
components of iloads.
Figure 4 shows that when XL is reduced to 0.5%,
the filter cannot suppress the harmonics properly,
so that the grid currents are still distorted and
contain significant amount of harmonics. The
load harmonic voltage cannot be removed
completely by the harmonic voltage on XL,
because the inverter cannot produce sufficient
harmonic voltage to compensate load harmonic
voltage. Then, harmonic voltages still occur
across grid impedance. As a result, the inverter
loses its controllability; and the compensation by
the active filter cannot be accomplished.
3.2

Series Inductance XL

There are several ways to determine the size of

XL [4], [6]. In [4], it is suggested that the
minimum value of XL is 6%. In [6], the XL is used
for a different purpose and not related to
harmonic voltage type loads.
The practical choice of XL is that it should be as
small as possible to minimize cost. Furthermore,
if the APF can directly force the grid current to
be sinusoidal, the voltage at the PCC will have
similar characteristics to the grid (except very
small fundamental voltage drop and very small
phase shift). In order to make the loads operate
in the similar operating point to which they were
connected directly to the grid, then the size of XL
should be chosen close to ZS XS in per-unit
value (usually the resistance of the grid
impedance is very small compared to its
inductance).
From the above simulation, it is proven that with
the XL = 1.8%, the compensation is successful.
The value of XL could be lower than 1.8%
provided that minimum di/dt of Linv exceeds the
maximum di/dt permitted by the inductance XL.
Otherwise, the value of Linv has to be reduced.
However, decreasing the Linv will increase the
high switching frequency ripple in the ac grid
currents.

Figure 3. Simulation results for XL = 1.8%; (a)

Igrid, (b) Igrid spectrum, (c) spectrum of V load
harmonics, (d) V on XL, (e) V output CC-VSI,
(f) V on filter inductance, (g) V at PCC
4.

A THREE-PHASE SHUNT ACTIVE

POWER
FILTER
WITH
MULTIPLE NON-LINEAR LOADS

By directly controlling the grid current, a threephase shunt APF can be provided for all nonlinear loads at the PCC instead of compensating
each load individually. The system is simpler
and more efficient because only one current
sensor for each phase is located in the grid side.

Figure 4. Simulation results for XL = 0.5%; (a)

Igrid, (b) Igrid spectrum, (c) spectrum of V load
harmonics, (d) V on XL, (e) V output CC-VSI,
(f) V on filter inductance, (g) V at PCC
From the preceding explanation, the shunt APF
with a series reactor can compensate the
harmonic voltage sources in the loads. This filter
combination can also succeed for harmonic
current sources. In this case, the reactor will
function to limit the slope of the falling and
rising edges of the load current [6]. For mixed
loads, it is practical to provide a series reactor for
total loads. The reactor is installed at the PCC
and integrated with the APF. The size can be

chosen for the possible maximum power of

harmonic voltage sources.
A three-phase shunt APF has been proven for
balanced loads [5]. However, the system may
contain significant amounts of load unbalance as
in commercial buildings with non-linear singlephase computer type loads. Such loads produce
large negative sequence and harmonic currents.
Hence, the filter has to inject the inverse of the
negative sequence current to balance the
unbalanced loads. The shunt APF discussed
previously has the ability to balance the
asymmetrical current. This is because the CCVSI is operated to directly control the ac grid
current to follow a three-phase balanced
sinusoidal reference signal without measuring
and determining the negative sequence
component. Once the grid currents are able to
follow the reference signal, the inverter creates
the inverse of the negative sequence currents
automatically. At the PCC, all three currents
according to (1) are potentially accessible to be
directly controlled by the CC-VSI.
The system in Figure 1 is tested using computer
simulation to verify the concepts discussed in
previous sections. The circuit constants are the
same as of the above section. The mixed loads
are 45kW three-phase diode rectifier with LC
filter on dc side and a 15kW single-phase diode
rectifier with capacitive filter on the dc side
connected phase-to-phase across the ac grid. The
three-phase current waveforms of the mixed
loads are shown in Figure 5. It shows clearly that
the currents are not sinusoidal and are
unbalanced.
4.1

Mixed-Type Harmonic Sources And

Unbalanced loads

three different currents for each phase. For each

phase, the current controller is able to force the
average current error, which is the difference
between the reference signal and the actual
current to be zero. Then, the individual phase
current can follow its reference signal closely.
From Figure 7, it is obvious that phase B of the
inverter current is not the same as other two
phases, since the single-phase load is connected
between phase A and C. Hence, the inverter not
only generates harmonics to eliminate the load
harmonics but also provide balancing to create
the symmetrical grid currents.

Figure 5. Three-phase load currents

Figure 6. Three-phase grid currents after

compensation

Figures 6 and 7 show results with several nonlinear loads to demonstrate the validity of the
filter. In Figure 6, the shunt active power filter
combined with the series reactor is able to
successfully compensate the total mixed loads
that produce harmonic and unbalanced currents.
The grid currents become sinusoidal and in phase
with the grid voltage (in this graph, only phase A
of the grid voltage is shown). The magnitude is
determined by the active power required by the
system.
Furthermore, the grid currents are symmetrical in
magnitude and phase. These currents are
balanced because the CC-VSI is able to generate

Figure 7. Three-phase output currents of the

CC-VSI

3.2

DC Bus

Figure 8 shows the simulation results of the

dynamic condition of the dc-bus voltage. It can
be seen that the dc-capacitor voltage is decreased
when the load is increased. This is because the
active power demanded by the load is higher
than that supplied from the grid. The dc-bus has
to provide the active power to fulfill the power
balance.

4.

This paper proposes the implementation of a

three-phase active power filter together with a
decoupling reactor in series with the load
operated to directly control the ac grid current to
be sinusoidal and in phase with the grid voltage.
From the simulation results, this system provides
unity power factor operation of non-linear loads
with harmonic current sources, harmonic voltage
sources, reactive, and unbalanced components.

5.

REFERENCES

[1]

M. El-Habrouk, M.K. Darwish and P.

Mehta, Active Power Filter: A
Review, IEE Proc. Electr.Power.Appl,
pp. 403-413, Sept 2000
B. Singh, K. Al-Haddad and A.
Chandra, A Review of Active Filter for
Power Quality Improvements, IEEE
Trans. on Industrial Electronics, pp.
960-971, Feb 1999
Fang Zheng Peng, Harmonic Sources
and Filtering Approaches, IEEE
Industry Applications Magazine, pp.
18-25, July 2001
Fang Zheng Peng, Application issues
of Active Power Filters, IEEE Industry
Applications Magazine, pp. 21-30, Sept
1998
H.L. Jou, Performance Comparison of
the Three-phase Active-power-filter
Algorithms, IEE Proc. Gener. Trans.
Distrib., pp. 646-652, Nov 1995
Adil M. Al-Zamil and D.A Torrey, A
Passive Series, Active Shunt Filter for
High Power Applications, IEEE Trans.
on Power Electronics, pp. 101-109,
January 2001
L. Borle, Method and control circuit
for a switching regulator, U.S. Patent
US5801517, granted 1-September-1998
L. Borle, Zero average current error
control methods for bidirectional ACDC converters, PhD thesis, Curtin
University of Technology and the
Australian Digital Theses Program:
http://adt.caul.edu.au/
L. Borle and C. V. Nayar, Ramptime
Current Control, IEEE Applied Power
Electronics Conference (APEC96),
March, 1996, pp 828-834.

[2]

[3]
Figure 8. Dynamic state of dc-bus when the
load is changing; upper graph: load and grid
currents - phase A; lower graph: dc-bus voltage
Once the transient interval is finished, the dc-bus
voltage is recovered and remains at the reference
voltage 800V (by using a PI controller), and
the magnitude of the grid active currents is fixed
at a designated value. At this time, the total
active power demanded by the load is supplied
from the grid, because the active power filter
only supplies the reactive power.
This same process will occur when the load is
decreased. In this case, the dc-capacitor voltage
will increase in a transient state. Hence, the dc
bus capacitor must be sized not only to minimize
the ripple but also to provide maximum expected
power unbalance until the PI loop again achieves
steady state. The above result shows that the
amplitude of the grid currents is regulated
directly by controlling the dc bus voltage, and
the calculation process of the grid current
amplitude can be eliminated. Figure 8 also shows
that the dc-bus contains a ripple voltage at the
second harmonic frequency since the system has
a single-phase diode rectifier load.

CONCLUSION

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]