Series active power filter compensates current harmonics and voltage unbalance simultaneously LiMoran, LPastorini, J. ixon and F.Wallace Abstract: An active power iter connected in series to the power distribution system is presentod and analysed. The series active power filer is implemented with a chreephase PWM voltagesource inverter and operates witha resonant LC passive filter connected in parallel to the power lines. The ‘proposed scheme is able to simultaneously compensate eurrent harmonics, the fundamental negative and zero sequence voltage components generated by the voltage source unbalance, and also eliminates the zero sequence current harmonic components that circulate through the neutral conductor. The ‘active power filter is discussed in terms of the prineples of operation under steady-state and transient ‘conditions. The design and implementation of the power and control circuits are reported. Key predicied results are verified experimentally on a SKVA prototype model 1 Introduction ‘Normally ative power filters have been proposed to com- ppensate nonlinear three phase balanced loads [1,2] This fs 4 typical situation in industrial power distribution systems ‘where most of the loads are balanced and connected t0 three wires power systems, However, in urban, rural ot ‘commercial power distribution systems, most of the foads are single phase and unbalanced, generating a large amount ‘of non-characterisic current harmonies 3, 4] These non characteristic current harmonies return by the neutral con ductor, overloading power distribution transformers and neutral cables (4). rena _ ca") S a inhale hatohehn oy Tededededege tree Pa pevetin pee me en, SRE, tate Fig. Prop sr ce poner ero ‘The topology of the ative power filler presented in this paper is shown in Fig. 1. The proposed configuration is based on a three-phase PWM voltagesourve inverter con nected! in series with the power lines through three single phase transformers, In ofder to allow current harmonic {BE Pig cbs no, 200027 Dor 11 ip;sda00007 pe fi sia th Db 158 ve fr ay 192 1 Mein Pl an Wal ihe Dp of Ea 1 Ds wit the Depart of let Esring Uae Cain ‘eh: Cail S06Coneo 2 Stag Chie compensation, a parallel LC filter must be connected tbeween the nonlinear loads and the series transformers Fig. 1), Current harmonic and vollage unbalance compen- sation are achieved by generating the appropriate vote waveforms with the three-phase PWM. voltage-source inverter Fig.) Although there are a number of articles which deal with the analysis and design of active power fikers connected in series (1-3, 5], the three-phase series active power filter resented in this paper difers from pre- ously discussed approaches inthe Following ways: (@) ic is implemented with a three-phase PWM voltage- (6) the active power fier is suitable to compensate thres- phase power systems with three and four wires (thee phases plus the neutral), so that it can compensate current harmonic components generated hy thre phase and single phase loads; (6) the series active power filer is able to compensate simul- taneously ine to line voltage unbalances at the load termi- nals and current harmonic components; (@) by compensating the zero sequence harmonics compo- rents generated by single-phase loads, the curent flowing through the neutral cable is significantly reduced, and the total harmonic distortion of the line current waveforms are improved. Since the voltage unbalance is caused mainly by funda ‘mental components, with the proposed conirol scheme, the series active power filter can compensate Une negative and ‘ero Sequence components of the load voltages and current hharmonis simultaneously. Moreover, zero sequence cut rent harmonic components flowing through the neutral conductor ate compensated without sensing the corre sponding mural caret, thus Snpyng te caren on- The treatment presented in this paper includes compre hensive steady-state and transient analysis of the proposed series active power filter. Also, the design criteria and con- trol circuit implementation of the proposed series active power fer are reported.2 Principles of operation Series active power fiers compensate current system dis- tortion caused by nonlinear loads by imposing a high impedance path to the current harmonics, which forces the high frequency currents to flow through the LC passive fi ter connected in parallel to the load [I], The high imped tance imposed by the series active power filter is ereted by generating a voltage of the same Frequency of the curent harmonic component that needs to be eliminated. Voltage unbalance is corrected by compensating the fundamental frequency negative and zero sequence voltage components, of the system, 21 Control scheme The block diagram of the proposed control scheme is shown in Fig. 2. Current and voltage reference waveforms are obtained by using the Park transformation, Voltage ‘unbalance is compensated by calculating the negative and 220 sequence fundamental components of the system vot- ages. These voltage components are added to the source voltages through the series transformers which compensate the volge unbalance at the load terminals. In order to reduce the amplitude of the current flowing through the neutral conductor, the zero sequence components of the Tine currents are calculated. In this way, it not necessary ‘o sense the current flowing through the neutal conductor. ge free gener curt ft ese pple, te. oe [rte | TIT | ow oenraie Van You You | Sa] RRS? Peel yon) tat gating fan am a_i 0, M0 Tews] tod enor |e ate oy Te carters [4 in — cetera — el ncaa ‘sn tegen Fig.2 Rost he preps ate pe fer co i. sagan of fie 22 Reference signals generator The compensation charactenstics of the series active power filter are mainly defined by the algorithm used to generate the reference signals required by the control system, These referenoe signals must allow current and voltage compensa- ‘ion with minimum time delay. Tt is important that the ‘accuracy of the information contained in the reference sig nals allows the elimination of the current harmonics and ‘voltage unlpalanees present in the power system, Since the voltage and current control scheme are independent, the ‘equations used to calculate the voltage reference signals are the following: @)-ai)@)° ‘The voltages vp, vi, and vz correspond to the phase 10 neutral voltages Before the series transformer (Fig. 1). The reference voliage signals are obtained by making the posi tive sequence component, 1, 2F0, and then appiving the inverse of the Fortescue transformation. In this way the series active power filter compensates only voltage unbal ‘ance and not voltage regulation. The reference signals for the voltage unbalance control scheme are obtained by applying the following equations (e)-a(i 2 2)(&) © In order fo compensate curtent harmonics generated by the nonlinear loads, the following equations are used tives | = -1/2 y3/2 ievet -1/2 -v3/2, va up)" (Prey), 1 (2 (2) @)-a(*) (3) oe aa 1 fom Fliatinti) a In e403 Pigs drs Yo and ¥p are defined socording to the instantaneous reactive power theory [1], The zero sequence fundamental component ofthe line currents are generated by the source voltage unbalance. Since the system voltage unbalance isciminated by compensating the negative and eto sequence components present in the source voltage, ‘the magnitude of the Fundamental component of the line ‘currents are significantly reduoed, and therefore they need not to be compensated by the current control scheme. For this reason, the fundamental component of from eqn. 3 is filtered, leaving only the zero sequence harmonic conpo- nents Of fy (jy), Which need to. be eliminated from, the source line current, Finally, the general equation ‘that defines the references of the PWM Voltage-source inverter required to compensate voltage unbalance and current har- _monics i the following: Se (Ge) a()] fiovet lat? (2) where K; is the esin of the series transformer, which defines, the magnitude ofthe impedance for high frequency current ccomponens, aad K; defines the degree of compensation for voltage unbalance. ideally Ks equals. I. gy-™ fp ~ fn WHERE {gis the Fundamental component of 4 The block diagram of the control scheme that penerates eqn. S i shown in Fig. 2. Icis important to note that the reference signals cal culated with eqn. $ allow the flow of only reactive power between the series active power fter and the compensated. power system. In order to compensate voltage regulation, the positive sequence component ofthe line voltages must be inciuded in eqn. 5. The compensation of voltage regulation requires that active power is penerated from the active power fille to the power system. Since there i no active power storage element in this topology, ths function ean- not be achieved with the proposed scheme, 2.3 Gating signals generator ‘The ciwuit in Fig 3 provides the gating signals ofthe three- phase PWM vollage-source inverter required to compen- Sate voltage unbalance und current harmonic components, ‘The current and voltage reference signals are added and thon the amplitude of the resultant relerence waveform is ‘adjusted to increase the vollage utilisation ator of the PWM inverier for steady state operating conditions. The ‘gating signals of the inverter are generated by comparing the resultant reference signal with a fixed frequency teian- gular waveform (4kHz)- The triangular waveform forces {he inverter switching frequency to be constant. "sia vorage trons spk] |. >— sg [sivamen| [> Sara Fig. 3 ck rao oe opt i iu paar ‘The higher voliage utilisation of the inverter is obtained ifthe amplitude of the resultant reference signal s adjusted for the steady state operating condition of the series active power iter. in this cas, the reference current and reference ‘oliage waveforms are smaller. Ifthe amplitude i adjusted for transient operating conditions, the required reference signals wil have a larger value which will reate a higher voltage in the inverter, thus defining a lower voltage utlsation factor for steady state operating conditions. The inverter switching frequency must be higher than 2KFlz to rot interfere with the current harmonics that need to be ccompensited, 3 Power circuit design ‘The power circuit topology of the series active power filter is composed of the three-phase PWM voltage source inverter, the second order resonant LC filters, the current transformers, and the secondary ripple frequency (Fig. 1) “The main design characteristics foreach of the power com- ponents are described below 3.1. PWM voltage-source inverter Since the propose Series active power filter is compensa ing voltage unbalance and current harmonics simoltane- ‘ously, the rated power of the PWM voltage-source inverter ‘increases compared with other previously reported topolo- gies (I-3]. The rated apparent power required by the {verter can be obiained by ealeulating the apparent power _Beneated inthe primary winding of the series transformer. ‘The voltage reflected across this winding i defined by the Iollowing expression: Veeriee = | KF D> Iie + KG + a (6) Where Vous is the RMS voltage across the primary wind- ing of the series transformer. K, depends on the LC filter vals while Ky is equal to one. The current flowing Uhrough the primary winding ofthe sees transformer, de to the harmonic currents gn. 6), can be obtained rom the exuivalent cet shown i Fig Zoli ‘ Tat Zao he i winere Vasix = -Kilw The fundamental component of the primary Current depends on the amplitude of the nesative nd zero sequence Component ofthe source voltage de 10 the system unbalance Is Ze te . O is Fig 4 rane ne fhm om 3.2 Series transformer ‘The tozal apparent power required by each series trans- former is 1/3 of the total apparent power of the inverter. The turn ratio of the series transformer i specified accon!- ing to the inverter DC bus voltage, Ky and Vy. The correct value of the turn ratio ‘a” must be specified according 1 the overall series active power filter performance, ‘The tum ratio of the series transformer must be optimised through the simulation of the overall active power filter, since it depends on the values of different related parameters. In general, the transformer turn ratio must be high to reduce the amplitude ofthe inverter output current and to redoce the voltage induced aeross the primary winding. Also, the section of the transformer turn ratio influences the per- Tormance of the ripple fiter connected to the output of the PWM inverter 3.3. Secondary ripple filter ‘The ripple filter connected in parallel to the secondary winding ofthe series transformer is designed in accordance with the method presented in [I], However, it important to notice that the design of the sscondary sipple filter depends on the series transformer turn ratio and on the fre- quency of the trigngular waveform used to generate the Jnverter gating signals. "The ripple fter connected to the output of the inverter avoids the induction of the high frequency ripple voltage ‘generated by the PWM inverter switching pattern at the \erminals ofthe primary windings ofthe series transformer. Tn this way, the vollage applied in series with the power system corresponds to the components required to. com pensete vollage unbalance and current harmonics. The Single phase equivalent circuit ofthe ripple fier is shown in Fig 5. & Vow Za Fig.5. Srp pint cha of hr fr ‘The voltage across the primary winding of the series trunsformer bus the same waveform as the vollage across the fier capacitor. For low frequency components, theinverter output voltage must be almost equal to the voltage across C;- However, for high frequency components, most fof the inverter output voltage must drop across which case the voltge at the capacitor terminals isa 2et0, Moreover, Cj, and Ly, must be selected so as not to ‘exceed the burden of the svies transformer. The ripple ter must be designed for the carrier Frequency of the PWM. voltagesource inverter. To calculate Cy and Ly the system equivalent impedance at the carrier freqUeney, Zyx reflected by the secondary winding must be known. This impedance is equal to: Zoprsscantary) = Brostgrimary) (8) FFor the cari fequency, the following design criteria must be sisi: Noy, << Xigy 10 ensure that at the carrier frequency ‘most ofthe inverter output voltage wil drop across Ly. Gi) Ney and Nyy << Zp fo ensure thatthe voltage divider is between Ly and Cy. The valves of Ly and Cy are obiained considering a turn ratio of the series transformer ‘equal to 11.7, assuming Xyy = 1OX,y and a switching fre- quency of Kitz, 4 Control circuit design ‘Since the conteol scheme of the seiesaetive power filter must sranslte the current harmonies components that need to be compensated in voltage signals, a proportional con- troller i used, The use of a PI controller is not recom mended since it would modify the reference waveform and enerate new current harmonic components. The gain of the proportional controller depends on the load charactris- ties, and its value Nuctuates between T and 2. ‘Another important element used in the control scheme is the filter that allows py and dug to be generated (Fig. 2) The frequeney response of this filter is very important ancl ‘must not introduce any phase-shift or atienuation to the Jour frequency harmonic components that must be compen- sated. To achieve this performance, x high-pass fist order fier tuned at 15Hz is used. This comer frequency is required when single phase non-linear loads are compen- sated, since in ths ease the dominant eurrent harmonic is the thd. The filter implemented is shown in Fig 6. The ‘operator ‘a roqured to calculate the sequence components ‘of the system voltages i obtained with the all pass filter shown in Fig. 7 Be * ‘The phase shift between Vi and ¥; is given by the fol- Towing expression: = 2x tg (2x mx fx Rex C) Since the phaseshift is negative, a is obtained by using ‘an inverter (180°) and then by tuning @ = 60". The ‘operator @ (-0.5 ~ jV¥2) is obtained by phaseshiting V7 by -120". Fis synchronised with the system phase-to neu- tral voltage’ Vy The values of the filer components 10 obiain a and a are shown in Table | ‘Tobie 1 ll pass fiter components Componente = = a mt ro toi Re rea sak c OF O1uF a deh ang eae” ‘ gee esi ee, Sateen t cei Ale ini pense os operating & oe Flg.6 sand highs er pete fr hcl of & S09 y= f= 189, R= Fig.7 Als ronda ph sor ~ A if hs Ts ato Fe je fg area Peanreentdeine Re ieaiceesPat SSsEs eats ote fig.12 ced on Ks ey i thas \ BeSeRaeas Fat, coomen ame nn pe ieee the experimental results proves the valiity of the analysis, and the Feasibility ofthe proposed contro scheme. 8 Acknowledgment ‘The authors would like to acknowledge the financial sup- port from "FONDECYT through the 1960572 and 1990413 project, 9 References 1 PENG, FZ, AKAGI, Hand NABAE, AA new approach bat Sora pr 1A a a ae 2 NG Fi" ARAGL and NABNE, A Compemation do {ers HEEB Proms 1993, 29, 0) pp HUIS 3 C&MPOS, ASG0S.G. ZIOGASP. and LINDSAY. 4: “Anis So dep fs ans voltae bane compensa tase oh 2 ‘respec VS operating wih unbalamsecung ancton. Pro ‘Sol of IEEEIBESC 1932p 238 4 ETEZRDLAMOLL Mand FLORENCE, Volage and carat monte ata Seem 9 snare NBD st ‘sen: EEE Trans. 1, PWRDLS, (3) pp. 82-157 5 RASTOGL ML: MOHAN Sod EDR, AA. Hada Des: 13m 1d pe e800 . 6 HEVDE, Gt, HOPTMAN, SP. and RISAL, A: “The impact of ‘hey sing ances hie stra stm pone ul Sg Contras Resod TEEEASIE Te, pp. 1 10 Appendix ‘Technical specification of the experimental setup. Power semiconductors (GBTs) av 25 max 20 208 ‘ow 1ascw ois ‘Table 3: Power semiconductors (cfodes) Von O00 rows 0 ‘Table 4 Passive fiers Fath rmonie Seventh harmonic Taam ame Cau eouF ‘Table 5: Ripple fiter Tami cme ‘Table 6: DC capacitor Caan eer reece eaaaaaaseeeeaaaarceeeaa Vie _400V ‘Table 7: Series transformer Primaryvotage 45 Primaryeurent TTA Secondaryvokage 55 Secondaryeurent 5A Turnrato 117 20 wns in primary) (224 umain secondary)