IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution

Research Article

Tuned-TSC based SVC for reactive power ISSN 1751-8687

Received on 6th January 2017
Revised 16th August 2017
compensation and harmonic reduction in Accepted on 16th September 2017
E-First on 20th November 2017
unbalanced distribution system doi: 10.1049/iet-gtd.2017.0033
www.ietdl.org

Sankar Das1, Debashis Chatterjee2 , Swapan K. Goswami2

1ElectricalEngineering Department, Government College of Engineering and Textile Technology, Berhampore, Murshidabad, India
2ElectricalEngineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India
E-mail: debashisju@yahoo.com

Abstract: A reactive power compensation scheme along with harmonic reduction technique for an unbalanced four-wire system
has been addressed in this study. The proposed compensation scheme can mitigate a wider range of thyristor controlled reactor
(TCR) injected harmonics and load harmonics up to specified range. The scheme is realised by using a combination of thyristor
controlled delta (Δ)-connected and star (Y)-connected static VAr compensator (SVC). Each SVC consists of a TCR and a tuned-
thyristor switched capacitor (t-TSC). The proposed SVC scheme can eliminate negative sequence current with source power
factor improvement through Δ-SVC and zero sequence current caused by unbalanced load is removed by Y-SVC. For harmonic
compensation, the tuned-TSC is used to filter harmonics generated by the non-linear load or due to TCR switching in SVC. An
optimised switching function is also adopted in the proposed scheme to minimise TCR harmonic injection in the SVC which
reduces the required filter size. The optimised switching angles are computed off-line using gravitational search algorithm and
stored in microcontroller memory for on-line applications. The proposed scheme has been validated through proper simulations
using MATLAB software backed by suitable experimental results on a practical system.

1 Introduction compensation. Thus, the use of transformer for neutral current

The loads in power distribution system are mainly single-phase
loads supplied from a Δ/Y three-phase transformer with grounded
neutral. The common property of such loads is to provide some
level of unbalance [1] to the supply system. Moreover, the
increased use of non-linear loads, such as single-phase or three-
phase rectifiers and power-electronics-based equipments in the
distribution network create various other power quality problems.
These are poor voltage regulation [2], high reactive power demand,
high harmonic current, excessive neutral current and so on [3, 4].
The asymmetrical load current due to unbalanced load [5, 6]
contains positive, negative and zero sequence component. It will
increase system losses and can also be harmful on industrial
machines and connected generators. Therefore, a majority of
research has been focused towards the development of various
dynamic reactive power compensators schemes [7–10] with
different harmonic mitigation techniques to improve above power
quality issues.
Pulse width modulation based switching compensator,
recognised as ‘active power filters’ [11–14], or ‘power
conditioner’, as reactive power compensator, or both of them as
hybrid devices can be used to mitigate the power quality problems.
It includes distribution static compensator [15, 16] for solving
power quality problem in current, dynamic voltage restorer for
compensating power quality problem in voltage, and unified
power-quality conditioner for both current and voltage power
quality problem. The mitigation methods are mostly differing on
the various voltage source inverters (VSI) topology and their
control algorithm. The mitigation methods are mainly classified
into two types: inverter-based topologies [17–19] and transformer-
based topologies [20–22]. The inverter-based topologies use four-
leg VSI, three-leg VSI with split capacitors, three single-phase
VSIs and three-leg VSI with neutral terminal at the positive or
negative of DC bus. However, all these schemes require additional
control circuitry which increase the overall implementation cost.
On the other hand, transformer-based topologies include three-leg
VSI for compensating positive and negative sequence currents
combined with star-delta transformer, or zig-zag transformer, or T-
connected transformer and so on for zero sequence current
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
compensation makes the system more bulky though it is very
simple and effective. The thyristor-based static VAr compensators
(SVCs) can also dynamically compensate reactive power by
controlling its firing angles. Moreover, the SVCs are much cheaper
than the STATCOMs for same VA rating [23]. The cost difference
between these two schemes is decreasing in the higher kVA rating.
However, in the lower kVA range there is appreciable cost
difference between SVC and STATCOM. Therefore, uses of SVC
in distribution system can still be economical even in present
circumstances. However, the main disadvantage of thyristor-based
SVC is that it generates harmonics in lower order during dynamic
operation. Therefore, SVC can be still used to solve power quality
problems if harmonic current injection is minimised which requires
further investigation.
The SVCs with delta-connected thyristor controlled reactors (Δ-
TCRs) and either fixed capacitors (FCs) or thyristor switched
capacitors (TSCs) can be used to compensate negative-phase-
sequence (NPS) current caused by unbalanced load and to
compensate power factor improvement [24–26]. However, Δ- TCR
cannot mitigate zero-phase-sequence (ZPS) currents caused by an
unbalanced load. Thus, combination of Y-connected SVC (Y-SVC)
and Δ-connected SVC (Δ-SVC) can be used to mitigate both ZPS
and NPS currents simultaneously [27, 28]. The Y-SVC comprises a
Y-connected TCR and either a FC or TSC while Δ-SVC comprises
a Δ-TCR and either a FC or TSC. However, the operation of TCR
releases significant odd harmonic currents [29, 30] into the supply
system, and the FC or TSC amplifies the harmonic currents
generated from TCR and the other non-linear load. Thus, a
combination of reactive power compensator using SVC along with
passive filter [31] tuned at characteristic harmonic frequencies of
TCR is used for both load balancing and harmonic mitigation
problem simultaneously. However, these schemes suffer from
serious problem due to possible series and parallel resonance of
shunt passive filter with source impedances. To overcome this
deficiency, a combined system of a shunt passive filter in series
with an active power filter along with reactive power compensation
scheme [32–36] have proposed to solve power quality problem.
However, these schemes need additional investment [37] and space
to accommodate filtering stages. Thus, improvement of switching
571
Fig. 1  Representation of distribution substation using proposed compensator
schemes of SVC is also studied to minimise harmonics generated
by TCR without using additional filter [38–41]. However, these
switching schemes are insufficient to a wider range of TCR
harmonics as well as harmonics generated by non-linear load.
In this paper, a tuned-TSC-based compensator along with TCR
is proposed for both reactive power and harmonic compensation in
four-wire distribution system. The proposed scheme overcomes the
drawbacks of the existing scheme without additional filter. The
compensation is effective for a wider range of TCR harmonics and
up to specific load harmonics mitigation. The compensator is
configured by using a combination of Δ-SVC and Y-SVC for load
balancing, source power factor correction and neutral current
compensation. The harmonic compensation is achieved in two
ways. First, the harmonic injection due to TCR operation is
minimised by considering its optimum switching function of TCR.
Second, the harmonics injection due to non-linear load and
remaining TCR harmonics are mitigated by using tuned TSC
configuration. The TSC is tuned at a particular frequency by using
a series combination of suitable inductor with FC. In the present
scheme, the Y-TSC is tuned at third-harmonic frequency mainly to
reduce neutral current harmonics. On the other hand, the Δ-TSC is
tuned at sixth harmonic frequency to attenuate fifth and seventh
harmonics injected by load or TCR. Symmetrical component
theory has been used to develop the model of shunt compensators
for reactive compensation. The switching function of TCR is
developed considering reduction of all odd harmonics (up to 31st
order) from the TCR voltage waveform. Gravitational search
algorithm (GSA) [42–46] has been used to calculate the optimised
switching angles off-line although any other standard heuristic
search based technique can be used for this purpose. The switching
angles are computed off-line at close intervals of modulation
indices which can be expressed as the ratio between fundamental
component of reactor voltage to the rated load voltage. The
corresponding reactive power drawn by TCR can be calculated
based on computed switching angles. These optimum switching
angles and reactive power compensation are separately stored in
the processor memory as a function of modulation index for online
application. The ‘piecewise mixed model’ of approximation
technique [47] has been used for this purpose as it requires reduced
processor memory. Different simulations as well as experimental
results on a practical system are presented to validate the proposed
concept.
2 Configuration of proposed compensator
Fig. 1 shows schematic diagram of a tuned Y-connected SVC
(tuned Y-SVC) and Δ-connected SVC (tuned Δ-SVC) based three-
phase four-wire distribution system for reactive power
compensation and harmonic compensation. The tuned Y-SVC
consists of a Y-TCR and a tuned Y-TSC, while the tuned Δ-SVC
includes a Δ-TCR and a tuned Δ-TSC. The Δ-TCR is used for load
572
balancing and source power factor correction by continuous
regulation of reactive power. While, the Δ-TSC is tuned to
compensate fifth and seventh harmonic components generated by
the load and the TCR by providing low-impedance path for the said
harmonic currents and thereby restricting their flow toward the
source. It also can compensate a fixed capacity of reactive power
corresponding to the rating of Δ-TSC. On the other hand, the Y-
TCR is used in the proposed model for neutral current
compensation due to unbalanced load. However, the main
disadvantage using Y-TCR is the injection of third harmonic
component into the line voltage waveform. Thus, a third harmonic
tuned Y-TSC is used mainly to restrict the flow of harmonic
component generated by TCR as well as by load from the source in
addition with fixed capacity reactive power generation. The tuned
TSC is configured by connecting a suitable inductor required for
tuning at a particular harmonic in series with a FC. The
combination of a star-connected resistive inductive type linear and
a three-phase diode rectifier type non-linear load is used as set of
load. In Fig. 1, V xS is the source voltage; Z x is the line impedance;
I xc, I xL are the compensator, load currents; I xcΔ, I xTΔ, I xTY and I xcY are
the Δ-TSC, Δ-TCR, Y-TCR and Y-TSC compensating currents in
each phase. The subscript ‘x’ denotes phases a, b, c and n denotes
neutral phase.
3 Modelling using symmetrical component
approach and control method
Consider the four-wire distribution system with constant balanced
voltage source and equal line impedances. Thus, for an unbalanced
three-phase loads, the unbalanced distribution line currents causes
unequal line voltage drops which make load bus voltages to be
unbalanced. In order to balance the line currents and improve the
source power factor, SVCs are placed at the load bus to generate or
absorb unbalanced reactive power. The unbalanced reactive power
combined with load demand makes balanced load to the supply
system.
3.1 Proposed reactive power compensation model for
unbalanced load
Let, the phase-wise unbalanced loads for a, b and c phases are
PLa + jQLa, PLb + jQLb and PLc + jQLc while the phase-wise
equivalent balanced load seen by the source after compensation is
Ps + jQs. The system configuration is shown in Fig. 1.The phase-
wise reactive power absorbed by Y-TCR is QaTY, jQbTY, jQcTY and
by Δ-TCR is jQab TΔ TΔ
, jQbc TΔ
, jQca , respectively. The phase-wise
reactive power generation by tuned Y-TSC is jQaCY, jQbCY and
jQcCY while by the tuned Δ-TSC is jQab CΔ CΔ
, jQbc CΔ
and jQca . The
prefix T in all the variables denotes TCR quantities, whereas the
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
prefixes S, C and L denote the source, TSC and load quantities, I0CΔ = 0
respectively. The balanced three phase voltage of the system can be
− j CΔ CΔ CΔ
written as I1CΔ = Q + Qbc + Qca
3V ab (8)
V aS = V, V bS 2
= a V, V cS = aV . (1)
I2CY = −
3 CΔ CΔ
Q − Qab +
j CΔ
2Qbc CΔ
− Qab CΔ
− Qca
6V ca 6V
where a is the complex operator given by
Although the load is unbalanced, it is balanced viewed by the
1 3 source due to incorporation of SVCs. Thus, the symmetrical
a = e j2π /3 = − +j . (2) components of source current after compensation are
2 2

For an unbalanced three-phase load, the load current in terms of I0S = 0

active and reactive power can be expressed as 1 1
I1TΔ = P − j Qs (9)
3V S V
PLa − jQLa
IaL= I2S = 0
V
L 2 PLb − jQLb where
Ib = a (3)
V
PLc − jQLc PLa + PLb + PLc
IcL = a Ps =
3
(10)
V

The symmetrical components of load currents obtained from (3) Since the reactive power taken from source has to be reduced for
are power factor improvement, the source reactive power Qs after
compensation remain in the range of
1
I0L = { 2PLa − PLb − PLc − 3(QLb − QLC)} +
6V QLa + QLb + QLc
0 ≤ Qs ≤ (11)
j 3
{(QLb + QLc − 2QLa) − 3(PLb − PLc)}
6V
In the proposed scheme, the Δ-SVC is considered to compensate
1 j
I1L = P + PLb + PLc − (Q + QLb + QLc) (4) negative sequence current caused by unbalanced load and to
3V La 3V La compensate imaginary part of positive sequence current for power
1 factor improvement. The Y-SVC is used for neutral current
I2L = {(2PLa − PLb − PLc) − 3(QLb − QLc)} +
6V compensation due to load unbalance. Thus, the compensation
j requirements for neutral current compensation, load balancing and
{(QLb + QLc − 2QLa) − 3(PLb − PLc)} source power factor improvement combining (4)–(9) are
6V

Similarly, the symmetrical components of the Y-TCR currents can Re[I0L] + Re[I0TY] = Re[I0CY]
be expressed as Im[I0L] + Im[I0TY] = Im[I0CY]

3 TY j Re[I2L] + Re[I2TY] + Re[I2TΔ] = Re[I2CY] + Re[I2CΔ] (12)

I0TY = − Q − QbTY + 2QaTY − QbTY − QcTY
6V c 6V L TY TΔ CY
Im[I2 ] + Im[I2 ] + Im[I2 ] = Im[I2 ] + Im[I2 ]CΔ

j
TY
I1 = QTY + QbTY + QcTY (5) Im[I1L] + Im[I1TΔ] = Im[I1CΔ] + Im[I1S]
3V a
3 TY j The sequence current terms for load, Y-TCR, Δ-TCR and source of
I2TY = Q − QbTY + 2QaTY − QbTY − QcTY
6V c 6V (12) can be substituted from (4)–(9). The modified expression of
(12) after substitution will have six unknowns in the terms of
The symmetrical components of the tuned Y-TSC currents are compensating reactive powers of the Y-TCR and Δ-TCR with five
constraints. Thus, an additional constraint is considered to obtain
3 CY j unique solution of (12). The new constraint is derived with
I0CY = Q − QbCY − 2QaCY − QbCY − QcCY
6V c 6V considering that the imaginary part of the positive sequence
component of load current is compensated by Δ-SVC alone with
− j CY
I1CY = Q + QbCY + QcCY (6) minimum source reactive power. Therefore, the imaginary part of
3V a positive sequence currents does not exist for Y-SVC. Hence, the
3 CY j new constraint can be derived as
I2CY = − Q − QbCY − 2QaCY − QbCY − QcCY
6V c 6V
Im I1TY = Im I1CY (13)
Also, the symmetrical components of the Δ-TCR currents are
The compensating reactive power required to be absorbed by each
I0TΔ = 0 phase of Δ-TCR for load balancing, power factor correction and
j each phase of Y-TCR for neutral current compensation can be
I1TΔ = QTΔ + Qbc
TΔ TΔ
+ Qca obtained by solving (12) and (13) after substitution of each
3V ab (7)
sequence current component from (4)–(9). Thus, the per phase
3 TΔ TΔ j TΔ TΔ TΔ compensating reactive power required by Δ-TCR can be calculated
I2TΔ = Q − Qab − 2Qbc − Qab − Qca
6V ca 6V as

The symmetrical components of tuned Δ-TSC currents are

IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585 573
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
Fig. 2  Circuit configuration and frequency response of proposed compensator
(a) Configuration of single-phase t-TSC-based compensator with TCR, (b) Frequency response of Y-SVC under different firing angles with different fixed capacitive reactive power,
(c) Frequency response of Δ-SVC under different firing angles with different fixed capacitive reactive power

TΔ QLa + QLb + QLc 2 PLa − PLb CΔ by TCR or load. In the present scheme, combination of Y-
Qab = + − Qs − Qab
3 3 connected TCR and t-TSC is used to configure Y-SVC while
combination of Δ-connected TCR and t-TSC is used to configure
TΔ QLa + QLb + QLc 2 PLb − PLc CΔ Δ-SVC. The circuit configuration of the TCR in per phase basis
Qbc = + − Qs − Qbc (14)
3 3 using t-TSC scheme is shown in Fig. 2a. In Fig. 2a, series
TΔ QLa + QLb + QLc 2 PLc − PLa CΔ
connected inductor LY and capacitor CY with two back-to-back
Qca = + − Qs − Qca connected thyristors (T 1, T 2) are used to represent the t-TSC branch
3 3
for Y-SVC. On the other hand, the TCR branch for Y-SVC
Similarly, the per phase compensating reactive power required by constitute of inductor LT − Y with two back-to-back connected
Y-TCR can be calculated as thyristors (T 3, T 4). In Fig. 2a, the thyristors T 1, T 2 are on–off
controlled while T 3, T 4 are continuously controlled. The inductor
2QLa − QLb − QLc PLb − PLc LT − Y represents the inductance of TCR under full conduction of T 3,
QaTY = + − QaCY T 4. Alternatively, LΔ and CΔ represent the inductor and capacitor
3 3
2QLb − QLc − QLa PLc − PLa for t-TSC branch of Δ-SVC while LT − Δ represents inductor for
QbTY = + − QbCY (15) TCR of same SVC.
3 3 The equivalent fundamental impedance of Y-SVC with
2QLc − QLa − QLb PLa − PLb considering ideal inductor and capacitor can be expressed as
QcTY = + − QcCY
3 3
XT − Y α XtTSC − Y
XY − SVC = (16)
Thus, for any load power demand PLx + jQLx , the required XT − Y α + XtTSC − Y
reactive power for the Δ-TCR for all the three-phases can be
obtained from (14) after adjusting proper value of source reactive where XT − Y α , XtTSC − Y, are the fundamental impedance of TCR
power Qs and reactive power of tuned Δ-TSC QCΔ . In (14), Qs and tuned-TSC branch, respectively. The α is the firing angle of
can be adjusted considering high source power factor as 0.9 and thyristors. The equivalent fundamental impedance of t-TSC can be
written as
above. The QCΔ in (14) for all the three-phases can be adjusted
such that TCR will generate minimum harmonics. Similarly, for 1
any load demand, the required reactive power for the Y-TCR for all XtTSC − Y = − ωLY (17)
ωCY
the three-phases can be obtained from (15) after adjusting suitable
value of reactive power of tuned Y-TSC QCY based on TCR The fundamental impedance of TCR can be expressed as [37]
minimum harmonic injection.
π
XT − Y α = ωLT − Y α = ω L (18)
3.2 Modelling of proposed tuned-TSC based reactive power 2π − 2α − sin 2α T − Y
compensator with harmonic filtering
The equivalent fundamental impedance from (16) using (17) can be
In the proposed scheme, a tuned-TSC (t-TSC) is used for reactive written as
power compensation in addition with the TCR. The objective of
using t-TSC in the compensator is to generate fixed amount of
reactive power and also to filter out harmonic components injected

574 IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
 ωLT − Y α ω2LYCY − 1 QFCΔ
XY − SVC = (19) CΔ =
ω2CY LT − Y α + LY − 1 3ωV 2
(27)
1
All the fundamental components of source voltage will be applied LΔ =
36ω2CΔ
across the shunt compensator if impedance, XY − SVC at fundamental
frequency is maximum. The XY − SVC will be maximum at where CΔ is the FC of Δ-TSC and LΔ is series inductor tuned at
fundamental frequency, w if sixth harmonic frequency. The reactive power supplied by the t-
TSC for Δ-connection can be written as
ω2CY LT − Y α + LY = 1 (20)
3V 2
The condition for maximum fundamental impedance can be QCΔ = (28)
(1/ωCΔ) − ωLΔ
obtained from (20) as

1 3.2.3 Proposed system performance under different

= CY LT − Y α + LY
ω2
On the other hand, the impedance XY − SVC will be minimum at nth
order harmonics if
nωLT − Y α n2ω2LYCY − 1 = 0
The condition for minimum impedance at nth harmonic can be
obtained from (22) as
1 whereas the harmonics introduced by three-phase loads can be
= LYCY
n2ω2
Therefore, the t-TSC can be tuned for any harmonic order by
selecting proper values of LY and CY. The following analysis and
discussion is valid for Δ-SVC also.
3.2.1 Selection of LY and CY based on third harmonic
rejection for Y-connection t-TSC: In the present scheme, the t-
TSC for Y-connection is tuned at third harmonic frequency mainly
to overcome the shortcomings of Y-TCR configuration which
generated third harmonic component during its operation in
addition with load third harmonic component. For a fixed
capacitive reactive power rating QFCY , the CY can be calculated
as
(21) harmonic order: The schematic diagram of the proposed system
for reactive power compensation with harmonic filtering is shown
in Fig. 2a. In the present scheme, the Y-SVC is tuned at third
harmonic frequency to prevent injection of third harmonic voltage
to source. On the other hand, the Δ-SVC is tuned at sixth harmonic
frequency to restrict the flow of both fifth and seventh harmonic
(22) current to source. These tuned SVCs can also help to prevent other
higher order (i.e. ninth or other higher order) of harmonics being
injected to the source due to natural filtering effect which can be
revealed from the following analysis. The Y-SVC can be effective
mainly to prevent the harmonic injection from single-phase loads
(23)
blocked by both the Y- and Δ-SVCs. Considering initially the
single-phase load, the per phase harmonic impedance offered by
the Y-SVC can be expressed as
nωLT − Y α n2ω2LYCY − 1
XY − SVC = (29)
n2ω2CY LT − Y α + LY − 1
For n ≥ 9 the above expression can be approximated as
nωLT − Y α LY
XY − SVC = (30)
LT − Y α + LY
The impedance offered by transmission line for single-phase load
can be expressed as

QFCY Ztrans = Zline + Zneutral

CY = (24) (31)
ωV 2 = Rline + Rn + jn Xline + Xn

where V is the rms value of fundamental voltage across TSC,
ω = 2π f is the fundamental angular frequency in rad/s, CY is the
FC of Y-TSC. Since the Y-TSC is tuned at third harmonic
frequency, the LY can be calculated using (23) and (24) as
1 line harmonic impedance for Y- and Δ-SVCs can be written as
LY = (25)
9ω2CY
where LY is series inductor tuned at third harmonic frequency.
Thus, the reactive power supplied by t-TSC for Y-connection can
be expressed as
where Rline, Xline and Zline are the line resistance, reactance and
impedance, respectively. The Rn, Xn and Zneutral are the neutral
resistance, reactance and impedance, respectively.
On the other hand, the combined impedance offered by Y- and
N-SVCs can be effective for three-phase loads. Thus, the combined
XY − Δ
(32)
2nω
=
2 (1/LΔ) + (1/(LT − Δ(α))) + (1/LY) + (1/(LT − Y(α)))

V2 In this case, the line impedance offered by transmission line can be

QCY =
(1/ωCY) − ωLY
3.2.2 Selection of LΔ and CΔ based on fifth and seventh
harmonic rejection for Δ-connected t-TSC: The t-TSC for Δ-
connection in the present scheme is tuned at sixth harmonic
frequency in order to filter out both fifth and seventh harmonic
components generated by TCR as well as load. For a fixed
capacitive reactive power rating QFCΔ , the CΔ and LΔ can be
written as
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
(26) expressed as
Ztrans = Zline + Zline = 2 Rline + jnXline (33)
The line and compensator impedances for different harmonic order
with different TCR firing angles are listed in Table 1. The 5 kVAr
rating of TSC is considered for Y- as well as Δ-SVC. The other
parameters such as line impedance, neutral impedance, TCR
inductance under full conduction are listed in Appendix 1. It can be
seen from Table 1 that, for any possible triggering angle α, the
harmonic impedance offered by proposed compensator is much
lower than the harmonic impedance offered by transmission line.
Thus, minimum percentage of load harmonic (i.e. ninth or other
higher order) currents will flow to source and maximum will
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bypass through the compensator circuits. However, their complete
elimination requires additional filtering stages.
3.2.4 Frequency response of t-TSC based compensator: The
required value of tuning inductor corresponding to fixed capacitive
reactive power and step-wise reactive power generation by t-TSC
for both the connections are listed in Table 2. The reactive power
of t-TSC as listed in Table 2 can be used in (14) and (15) to
calculate unbalanced compensating reactive power requirement by
TCR. The frequency responses of the t-TSC based compensator
under different fixed capacitive reactive power rating with distinct
firing angle are plotted in Figs. 2b and c. Fig. 2b shows the
frequency response for Y-SVC whereas Fig. 2c for Δ-SVC. The per
phase ratings of TCR for Y and Δ-connection are considered to be
7 and 11 kVAr, respectively. It is seen from Figs. 2b and c that for a
particular capacitive reactive power a family of equivalent resonant
circuit can be obtained for different firing angle. Moreover, it is
also observed that the resonance frequency for Y-SVC remains far
from the third harmonic 3 ∗ 50 as shown in Fig. 2b, which is the
tuned frequency for Y-TSC. Similarly, the resonance frequency of
Δ-SVC configuration also remains far from the sixth harmonic
6 ∗ 50 as shown in Fig. 2c, which is the tuned frequency of Δ-
TSC. From Fig. 2, it is noticed that resonance frequencies for
different firing angles for both the SVC configurations lie near the
fundamental frequency. The impedance at resonance frequency is
highest compared with the impedance at other harmonics including
the tuned frequency. The harmonic reduction by the SVC-based
filter can be effective for the tuned frequency and all other
frequencies except the resonance frequency. Thus, shifting of
system impedance will not affect the filter performance.
3.3 Computation of firing angle α
The per phase reactive power of TCR can be controlled
independently by changing the firing delay angle of individual
phases. For any delay angle α of a particular phase, the reactive
power absorbed by Δ-TCR QTΔ and Y-TCR QTY can be
calculated [37] as
2π − 2α − sin2α
QTΔ = 3V 12
πx0
(34)
2π − 2α − sin2α 2
QTY = V1
πx0
where x0 is the reactance for full conduction of thyristor α = 00
and V 1 is the per phase fundamental component of TCR voltage.
The per phase fundamental component of TCR voltage V 1 also
depends on delay angle α. The amplitude of reactor voltage
fundamental component (for n = 1) in terms of switching angle α
can be expressed as
2 1
V1 = π − α + sin 2α . (35)
π 2
TΔ
Thus, for required reactive power Qab of Δ-TCR calculated from
(14), the corresponding switching angle α can be obtained from
(34) using (35). Similar equations can be written to find α for the
other two phases and the same procedure can also be used to
compute appropriate angle α for Y-TCR.
The direct solution of (34) to find α requires a suitable
numerical technique to be applied which can result in multiple
values of α with different total harmonic distortions (THDs). Thus,
a heuristic search based method is necessary to obtain the optimum
value of α for minimum reactor voltage THD due to switching of
TCR. However, both of these techniques are difficult to apply for
on-line computation of firing angle. Moreover, the ordinary
solution of (34) using any of these above techniques does not
ensure optimum reactor voltage THD due to switching of TCR.
Also, the non-sinusoidal reactor voltage can result in non-
sinusoidal reactor current, causing the line harmonic injection due
to TCR operation. Thus, the minimisation of harmonics from
576
reactor voltage waveform is necessary for minimum line harmonic
injection due to TCR operation. The GSA-based optimisation
technique is used for computation of α considering minimum
reactor voltage THD and it is explained briefly in Section 4.
3.4 Control method of proposed compensators
Fig. 3a shows control block diagram of the proposed scheme for
load balancing, neutral current compensation and power factor
correction with minimum TCR line harmonic injection due to
switching along with load harmonic rejection using tuned-TSC. In
the proposed scheme, the harmonic minimisation from reactor
voltage is realised by obtaining those values of α for solution of
(34) which results in lower reactor voltage THD. A GSA-based
technique is used for off-line computation of the switching angles
αoff at different modulation indices md for individual phases
considering optimum reactor voltage THD. Then these computed
switching angles are used to calculate reactive power Qoff
absorbed by TCR in each phase using (34). These computed
switching angles are stored in the processor memory as a function
of md∗ using mixed model equation for load balancing, neutral
current compensation and power factor correction with minimum
reactor voltage THD due to switching as described in Section 7.
The tuned-TSC is used to reject harmonic current due to non-linear
load and remaining harmonic components present in the TCR line
current after using optimum TCR switching. The flow chart for
calculating compensating reactive power Qcomp of TCR is shown
in Fig. 3b. In the algorithm described in Fig. 3b, the reactive power
requirements for the individual phases Qcomp are calculated using
(14) and (15) with a consideration of set power factor and set
reactive power of tuned-TSC QC . This calculated Qcomp can
become positive when the load reactive power requirement is more
than capacitive VAr generation. Hence, in this condition the
controller sets α corresponding to minimum reactive power Qmin of
TCR. On the other hand when Qcomp is negative, and its magnitude
is more than rated value then the controller sets α corresponding to
maximum TCR reactive power Qmax. Otherwise, the calculated
Qcomp is directly used for α generation following (39) and (40),
described in Section 7.
This cycle is repeated during the running condition of SVC. The
actual firing angle α given for triggering the thyristor is the
moving average value of ten consecutive calculated angles during
online operation. Thus, the generated firing angle can filter out
possible oscillations generated by voltage fluctuations or load
variations.
4 Proposed GSA-based optimum switching
angles considering minimum TCR harmonics
In the proposed technique, solution of (34) for optimum switching
angle is obtained through GSA-based optimisation technique
considering minimum reactor voltage THD. In the proposed
method, the objective function is so chosen that the reactor voltage
THD is minimised with more weightage given to lower order
harmonic reduction which is difficult to filter out. The per phase
TCR arrangement consisting of a reactor (L) connected in series
with two anti-parallel thyristors (T1, T2) is shown in Fig. 3c. The
reactor voltage V TCR waveform is shown in Fig. 3d. The general
expression for amplitude of nth odd harmonic for n > 1 for the
reactor voltage, shown in Fig. 3d, is given by
2 sin n + 1 α sin n − 1 α
Vn = − . (36)
π n+1 n−1
Mathematically, the optimisation problem can be formulated as
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
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Table 1 Line and compensator impedance for different harmonic order
Harmonic order Ztrans, Ω Single-phase load Ztrans, Ω Three-phase load
XY − SVC XY − Δ
∘ ∘ ∘ ∘
α = 110 α = 95 α = 110 α = 95
9 18 9.19 9.16 12.6 5.34 5.31
11 22 11.24 11.2 15.4 6.53 6.51
15 30 15.32 15.26 21 8.9 8.87
17 34 17.36 17.31 24 10.1 10.0
19 38 19.4 19.3 26.6 11.3 11.2

Table 2 Inductance and reactive power of tuned TSC

Configuration Fixed capacitive reactive power, Fixed capacitance, mF Series inductance, mH Reactive power of t-TSC, kVAr
kVAr
Y-TSC 5 CY = 0.3 LY = 3.75 5.65
10 CY = 0.6 LY = 1.87 11.3
15 CY = 0.9 LY = 1.25 16.94
20 CY = 1.2 LY = 0.94 22.61
Δ-TSC 5 CΔ = 0.099 LΔ = 2.83 5.14
10 CΔ = 0.2 LΔ = 1.4 10.34
15 CΔ = 0.3 LΔ = 0.94 15.52
20 CΔ = 0.4 LΔ = 0.7 20.68

Fig. 3  Control strategy, flow chart and TCR configuration for the proposed compensator
(a) Block diagram representation of control strategy for the proposed compensation scheme, (b) Flow chart to calculate compensating reactive power of TCR, (c) Configuration of
single-phase TCR, (d) Voltage across TCR reactor

V1 = M 31

V n ≤ ∈n
f α = K1 V 1 − M 2 + ∑ Kn V n − ∈n 2 . (38)
n = 3, 5, 7, 9, . .
Subjected to (37)
where n = 4i ± 1 i = 1, 2, 3, …
π
≤ α ≤ π. In (38), the coefficient K1 needs to have larger value than K3 to
2
Kn for giving more importance to maintain fundamental
where V 1… . . V n are in per unit and M is the desired amplitude of component, at the same time K3 to Kn are adjusted to descending
the fundamental component of reactor voltage to rated load voltage order such that more priority is given to reduce lower order
which is also known as modulation index and ∈n is the allowable harmonics. Moreover, all the coefficients need to be properly
limits of all individual harmonics and n up to 31st order. adjusted so that GSA can perform non-biased optimisation. Trial
The proposed objective function f α for the GSA satisfying and error method [43] is used until a good balance is reached.
(37) can be defined as

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Fig. 4  Flow chart and performance comparison of GSA
(a) Flow chart of the GSA algorithm to compute optimum switching angles, (b) Performance comparison of GSA, PSO and GA for minimisation of f α at different modulation
md index
For the present problem, K1 = 256, K3 = 63, K5 = 21,
K7…K31 = 7. For each harmonic component, the ∈n is selected as
0.03 according to IEEE std 519–1992.
The GSA, developed by Rashedi et al. in 2009 is the newest
meta-heuristic searching algorithm [42]. The algorithm is based on
Newton's law of gravity and motion. In GSA, agents are considered
as objects and the performance of agents is estimated by their
masses. Hence, the gravity force acting on each agent causes a
global movement of all agents towards the agents with heavier
masses. The heavier masses have better fitness value. Thus, they
represent good optimal solution to the problem and move more
slowly than lighter ones. In GSA, each mass has four
identifications: its position, its inertial mass, and its active and
passive gravitational mass [42–46]. The position of the mass is
equivalent to a solution of the problem and its gravitational and
inertial masses are calculated by using a fitness function. Thus,
each mass describe a solution of the problem and the algorithm is
navigated by accurately adjusting the gravitational and inertia
masses. The basic flow chart of GSA is shown in Fig. 4a.
To obtain an optimal solution using GSA, the optimum settings
of different input parameters are to be desired. Different trials have
been performed for optimum values of input parameters. Based on
these trials, the following input parameters are found to be best for
optimal performance of the current problem: G0 = 100, γ = 20,
T = 1000, N = no . of agents = 30. Where the initial value of
gravitational constant is G0, γ is the user-specified constant for
gravitational constant and T is the maximum number of iterations.
Any of the optimisation techniques that are used to solve
various optimisation problems like genetic algorithm (GA) and
particle swarm optimisation (PSO) can be applied for this purpose
of computing optimum switching angles for the present
application. However, the GSA is chosen in the present case due to
its faster convergence to optimal solution than most other
optimisation techniques. Moreover, in the GSA technique the
adjustments of controlling parameters are simple and can be
implemented easily compared with the other already available
optimisation techniques. It is also studied that this technique has
been used to solve various optimisation problems but few of the
literatures are found for switching optimisation. To verify the
effectiveness of the proposed technique, GSA is compared with the
other two mostly used optimisation techniques like GA and PSO in
this field. The same objective function f α is optimised at 0.7 and
0.8 modulation index md using the three techniques and the
number of iteration at different modulation index is shown in
578
Fig. 4b which shows that GSA converges more rapidly than other
techniques.
5 Simulation results
MATLAB and its Simulink, SimPower System toolboxes have
been used to model and simulate the proposed scheme. A 6.6 kV/
415 V, 200 kVA distribution substation feeding a variable load is
considered for simulation purpose. TSC-TSR type of SVC with 11 
kVAr per phase capacity of delta (Δ)-TCR and 7 kVAr per phase
capacity of star (Y)-TCR under full conduction is chosen. A Y-TSC
tuned at third harmonic frequency and a Δ-TSC tuned at sixth
harmonic frequency which can vary reactive power step-wise
between 0 and 20 kVAr per phase is considered. The simulation
system parameters are listed in Appendix 1.The optimum switching
angles for TCR with minimum reactor voltage harmonics are
computed at closed interval of modulation indices using GSA. The
computed switching angles are used to calculate phase wise
reactive power absorbed by the Δ- and Y-TCR using (34). The
variation of switching angle α for minimum reactor voltage THD
and the variation of per phase reactive power consumption by Δ-
TCR and Y-TCR with modulation index md are shown in
Figs. 5a) and b, respectively. In the proposed scheme, these three
curves are stored in the processor memory using piecewise mixed
model equation described in Section 7 for on-line applications.
The performance of the proposed scheme has been evaluated by
performing a number of simulations: (i) dynamic response of the
compensator to unbalanced linear load; (ii) dynamic response of
the compensator to non-linear load variation; (iii) dynamic
response of the compensator to the unbalanced linear and balanced
varying non-linear type of load.
5.1 Response of compensator to unbalanced linear load
The dynamic response of the system for an unbalanced resistive–
inductive load without and with the compensator is shown in
Fig. 5c for load balancing, along with neutral current compensation
and source power factor improvement. At 0.5 s, the SVCs are
switched into the line. The three-phase voltages V L at the point of
common coupling, the three-phase unbalanced load currents I L ,
the three-phase balanced source currents I S , the three-phase
unbalanced compensator currents I C , the source neutral current
InS , the load neutral current InL, the three-phase balanced active
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
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Fig. 5  Simulation results
(a) Variation of optimum switching angle α with minimum reactor voltage THD for TCR, (b) Variation of per phase reactive power consumption with modulation index md for
TCR, (c) Dynamic response of the proposed compensator to an unbalanced linear load when the SVCs are switched into the line at t = 0.5 s
power taken from source PS and balanced reactive power drawn
from source QS are demonstrated in this figure. It is observed that
for an unbalanced three-phase load currents I L , the compensated
S
source currents I become balanced with close to sinusoidal and
the source neutral current InS
is maintained at nearly zero after the
SVC is switched into the line at t = 0.5 s. The active PS and
reactive power QS seen by the source after compensation
becomes balanced through proposed scheme. Also it can improve
the source power factor by reducing the reactive power drawn from
source.
5.2 Response of compensator to non-linear load variation
The performance of the proposed compensator is tested under non-
linear rectifier type load variation. Fig. 6a shows the response of
the system for a 105% step increase of load current at t = 0.5 s and
a step decrease at t = 0.6 s by the same amount. The three-phase
load voltage V L , the three-phase load current I L , the three-phase
source current I S , the three-phase compensator current I C and
the source neutral current InS are shown. It is seen that there is a
smooth changeover from one load condition to another load
condition. The voltage overlapping and notches are observed in the
grid voltage waveforms due to harmonic generating rectifier type
non-linear load. Fig. 6b shows the harmonic spectrum of a-phase
load current before and after step change of load. The
corresponding harmonic spectrum of a-phase source current is
plotted in Fig. 6c. The THD of the source current is reduced from
28.68 to 3.28% before step increase of load current and reduced
from 27.75 to 2.89% after step increase of load current. From
Fig. 6a it can be observed that the source current is balanced before
and after the changeover which justify the effectiveness of the
proposed method. Moreover, THD of the source current is within
permissible limit as shown in Fig. 6c during varying load
conditions.
5.3 Response of compensator to unbalanced linear and
varying non-linear load
The behaviour of the compensator is also observed under
unbalanced reactive power type linear and varying harmonic power
generating type non-linear load. The harmonics generating reactive
power load currents were subjected to a 90% step increase at t =  experimental prototype are listed in Appendix 2.
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
0.5 s and a step decrease at t = 0.6 s by the same amount. The
three-phase load voltage V L , the three-phase load current I L , the
three-phase source current I S , the three-phase compensator
C
current I and the source neutral current InS are shown in
Fig. 7a. The harmonic spectrum of source neutral current before
and after step increase of load current is plotted in Fig. 7b. From
Fig. 7b it is noticed that the fundamental component of neutral
current is very low due to neutral compensation and thus the THD
of neutral current becomes high value. The harmonic spectrum of
three-phase load and source current before and after load
changeover are shown in Figs. 7c and d, respectively. It is seen
from Fig. 7d that there is a significant improvement of source
current THD in each phase corresponding to load current THD
before and after step increase of loads. The compensated source
currents plotted in Fig. 7a and harmonic spectrum of source current
suggest that the proposed compensator can effectively compensate
the both load-generated harmonic and reactive power
simultaneously. The numerical results of simulations for load and
source current harmonics in each phase before and after step
increase of load current are listed in Tables 3 and 4, respectively.
From the above numerical results it is also observed that source
current THD is improved significantly corresponding to load
current in each phase before and after step increase of load.
6 Experimental results
A laboratory prototype of the proposed scheme is developed and
tested under different harmonic and reactive power load conditions
for verification of the results. Fig. 8a shows a photograph of the
laboratory setup with schematic diagram for the experimental
system. The three-phase thyristor-based tuned Δ-SVC and Y-SVC
are connected to a 415 V, 50 Hz supply system. The thyristor used
for the experiment is BTW68 with 1200 V, 30 A rating. An input
interfacing circuit consisting of zero crossing detector, a driver
circuit and an isolation circuit using optocouplers (4N35) are used
for prototype configuration. Hall effect current and voltage sensors
are used to get feedback signals such as load currents and load
voltages. The control algorithm is implemented using dSPACE
DS1104 interfacing with personal computer. The test results are
captured using a digital storage oscilloscope of TEKTRONIX
makes, Model No. TDS2024B and analysed by a Yokogawa
CW240 three-phase power analyser. The other parameters for the
579
Fig. 6  Simulation results of the proposed compensator under varying non-linear type of load conditions when load is step increased at t = 0.5 s and again
decreased at t = 0.6 s
(a) Dynamic response of voltage and current with proposed compensator, (b) Harmonic spectrum of the a-phase load current before and after step increase of load, (c) Harmonic
spectrum of the a-phase source current before and after step increase of load

Fig. 7  Simulation results of the proposed compensator under unbalanced linear and varying non-linear type of load conditions when load is step increased at
t = 0.5 s and again decreased at t = 0.6 s
(a) Dynamic response of voltage and current with proposed compensator, (b) Harmonic spectrum of the source neutral current before and after step increase of loads, (c) Harmonic
spectrum of the three-phase load current before and after step increase of loads, (d) Harmonic spectrum of the three-phase source current before and after step increase of loads

580 IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
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Table 3 Simulation data for currents (A) before step increase of load
Harmonic order 1st 5th 7th 9th 11th 13th 15th 17th 19th 23th 25th 29th THD (up to 31st)
A-ph load current (peak) 47.07 3.23 1.68 0.11 1.29 0.95 0.11 0.8 0.6 0.5 0.44 0.36 9.02
A-ph source current (peak) 71.17 0.14 0.18 0.1 0.08 0.2 0.11 0.01 0.19 0.04 0.09 0.05 0.81
B-ph load current (peak) 58.33 3 1.72 0.05 1.12 0.91 0.08 0.72 0.6 0.5 0.47 0.4 6.88
B-ph source current (peak) 71.84 0.34 0.13 0.04 0.17 0.15 0.01 0.1 0.14 0.11 0.05 0.05 0.85
C-ph load current (peak) 69.16 3.36 1.77 0.01 1.2 0.92 0.01 0.67 0.58 0.45 0.41 0.34 6.23
C-ph source current (peak) 73 0.62 0.05 0.05 0.16 0.08 0.03 0.07 0.08 0.14 0.02 0.06 1.05

Table 4 Simulation data for currents (A) after step increase of load
Harmonic order 1st 5th 7th 9th 11th 13th 15th 17th 19th 23th 25th 29th THD (up to 31st)
A-ph load current (peak) 89.64 10.83 6.48 0.21 4.32 3.31 0.15 2.41 2 1.4 1.35 0.82 16.02
A-ph source current (peak) 121.9 0.86 0.44 0.16 0.32 0.54 0.2 0.24 0.41 0.23 0.14 0.2 1.21
B-ph load current (peak) 100.1 10.17 6.38 0.11 3.86 3.14 0.14 2.28 1.86 1.36 1.22 0.87 13.56
B-ph source current (peak) 122.0 1.32 0.34 0.07 0.56 0.47 0.02 0.25 0.39 0.3 0.16 0.13 1.47
C-ph load current (peak) 110.3 10.29 6.15 0.06 3.82 3.02 0.11 2.14 1.77 1.35 1.05 0.92 12.22
C-ph source current (peak) 123.1 1.46 0.27 0.08 0.5 0.32 0.05 0.27 0.24 0.28 0.16 0.15 1.46

Fig. 8  Experimental system configuration and experimental results under non-linear load variation
(a) Photograph of laboratory setup with schematic diagram, (b) Experimental results of load current (scale: 5 A/div), (c) Experimental results of source current (scale: 10 A/div), (d)
Experimental results of compensator current (scale: 5 A/div) for step increase and decrease of non-linear load

The different operating conditions considered to verify the
results are: dynamic response of the proposed compensators with
non-linear load variation, dynamic response of the compensator
with stepping non-linear load on firing angle variation, dynamic
response of the compensator with unbalanced linear and varying
non-linear load.
6.1 Dynamic response of compensator to non-linear load
variation
The experimental results of the system with a rectifier type non-
linear load are shown in Figs. 8b–d. The data of the experimental
results are listed in Table 5. The dynamic condition was created by
a 90% step increase of load current at t = 150 ms. The experimental
results shown in Fig. 8d demonstrate the dynamic compensation of
reactive power due to load current changeover as shown in Fig. 8b.
The source current shown in Fig. 8c becomes balance before and
after changeover of load current due to smooth reactive
compensation. From Table 5, it is seen that due to proposed
compensator the average source current THD is reduced to 3.3%
from 29.2% before step increase of load whereas the same is
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
reduced to 2.98% from 28.59% after step increase of load.
Moreover, the source power factor is maintained at nearly unity
before and after load change. The source neutral current is very
negligible due to balanced non-linear load.
6.2 Dynamic response of compensator to stepping non-linear
load on firing angle variation
The experimental results of the system with a stepping non-linear
controlled rectifier type load are shown in Figs. 9a–c. The dynamic
condition was created by changing the firing angle of controlled
∘ ∘
rectifier from 45 to 0 at t = 150 ms. The data of the experimental
results are listed in Table 6.The experimental result shown in
Fig. 9c demonstrates the dynamic compensation of reactive power
due to load current changeover as shown in Fig. 9a. The source
current shown in Fig. 9b becomes balance before and after
changeover of load current due to smooth reactive compensation.
From Table 6, it is seen that due to proposed compensator the
average source current THD is reduced to 4.94% from 42.17%
before step decrease of firing angle whereas the same is reduced to
581
Table 5 Experimental observations
Parameters Before step increase of load After step increase of load
Phase A Phase B Phase C Phase A Phase B Phase C
load current, ARMS 6.67 6.65 6.64 12.49 12.48 12.48
source current, ARMS 6.89 7.17 7.35 12.92 13 13
load current THD, % 29.1 29.2 29.3 28.51 28.68 28.59
source current THD, % 3.4 3.4 3.3 2.93 2.99 3.03
source power Ps + jQs in kVA (1.5 + j0.32) (2.6 + j0.36)
source power factor 0.978 0.99
source neutral current, RMS in µA 0.534 1.21

Fig. 9  Experimental results of

∘ ∘
(a) Load current (scale: 2 A/div), (b) Source current (scale: 3 A/div), (c) Compensator current (scale: 2 A/div) for step decrease of firing angle from 45 to 0 at t = 150 ms

Table 6 Experimental observations

Parameters Before step increase of load After step increase of load
Phase A Phase B Phase C Phase A Phase B Phase C
load current, ARMS 4.61 4.63 4.61 6.6 6.64 6.61
source current, ARMS 4.8 4.81 4.78 7.2 7.2 7.02
load current THD, % 42.1 42.1 42.3 29.53 29.11 29.55
source current THD, % 4.87 4.98 4.97 3.23 3.23 3.42
source power Ps + jQs in kVA (0.83 + j0.73) (1.6 + j0.18)
source neutral current, mARMS 0.37 0.36

3.29% from 29.39% after step decrease of firing angle. The source decreased to 0.94% from 7.88% before step increase of load and
neutral current is very negligible due to balanced non-linear load. 1.34% from 13.5% after step increase of load.

6.3 Dynamic response of compensator to unbalanced linear
and varying non-linear load
Figs. 10a–d and Table 7 show the experimental results of the
system with an unbalanced linear and varying non-linear type of
load. The dynamic condition was made by a 90% step increase of
load current at t = 150 ms. The results confirm the good
performance of the proposed compensator for a change in load
condition.
From Table 7, it is observed that source current imbalance,
power factor and source neutral current compensations are
improved. Furthermore, the average source current THD is
7 Implementation of ‘piecewise mixed model’ for
online application
The switching angle curve with varying modulation indices for
minimum reactor voltage THD is shown in Fig. 5a and
corresponding reactive power absorption by TCR is shown in
Fig. 5b. Now it is necessary to store the curve efficiently in the
processor memory for online application. In this paper, a
‘piecewise mixed model’ [47] is used to store the switching angle
curve with a lesser number of sections while maintaining a good
accuracy. The ‘piecewise mixed model’ equation for curves shown
in Fig. 5b is

582 IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
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Fig. 10  Experimental results of
(a) Load current (scale: 20 A/div), (b) Source current (scale: 20 A/div), (c) Compensator current (scale: 5 A/div), (d) Source neutral current (scale: 1 A/div) for step increase and
decrease of load

Table 7 Experimental observations

Parameters Before step increase of load After step increase of load
Phase A Phase B Phase C Phase A Phase B Phase C
load current, ARMS 19.2 21.6 30.2 26.34 29.01 36.85
source current, ARMS 23.1 22.8 24.0 30.7 30.3 31.1
load current THD, % 9.36 8.19 6.09 15.45 13.91 11.16
source current THD, % 0.87 1.00 0.96 1.27 1.46 1.3
source power Ps + jQs in kVA (4.4 + j1.0) (4.5 + j1.05) (4.6 + j1.12) (5.8 + j1.3) (5.7 + j1.3) (5.6 + j1.26)
source power factor 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97 0.97
source neutral current, ARMS 1.56 1.46

md∗ = − 0.0052Qcomp
2
+ 0.1284 Qcomp + 0.1639
… …for Δ − TCR
(39)
md∗ = − 0.0078Qcomp
2
+ 0.181 Qcomp + 0.0963
… …for Y − TCR
The mixed model equation for the curve shown in Fig. 5a is
α = − 0.9787 md∗ + 2.5057
(40)
0.1 ≤ md∗ ≤ 0.98
8 Conclusion
A thyristor-based improved switching scheme to achieve reactive
power compensation for load balancing, neutral current
compensation, source power factor improvement and harmonic
compensation has been proposed in this paper. The scheme has
been implemented using tuned-TSC and TCR-based combined Δ-
SVC and Y-SVC. The Y-SVC is used for neutral current
compensation whereas Δ-SVC is used for load balancing and
source power factor improvement. The tuned-TSC has been used to
filter harmonics due to the non-linear load and due to the TCR
operation in the SVC. The switching function of the TCR is also
optimised using GSA for minimum injection by it during
operation. The optimum switching angles for TCR have been
calculated with varying modulation indices. These computed
switching angles with minimum TCR harmonic injection along
with phase-wise compensating reactive power requirement are
stored in the processor memory as functions of modulation index
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
using ‘piecewise mixed model of approximation’ technique for on-
line application. From both the simulation and experimental
results, it is verified that the proposed compensator can effectively
compensate harmonic current and reactive power during variety of
loads. It has been also seen that the scheme can effectively reduce
the THD of supply currents below the limit of 5% of the IEEE-519
standard. Moreover, the proposed technique is simple and cost
effective and can be easily implemented with any of the already
available drive compatible processors.
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 Appendix
 
Appendix 1
See Table 8 (overleaf).
Appendix 2
See Table 9 (overleaf).
IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017
Table 8 Simulation system parameters
Parameters Value
AC line voltage 415 V (rms) and 50 Hz
line impedance/phase Rline = 0.04 Ω and Xline = 0.7 Ω
neutral line impedance Rn = 0.08 Ω, Xn = 1.3 Ω
non-linear load RL = 40 Ω, XL = 6.3 Ω
asymmetrical linear loads a-phase: 11 + j27 Ω,b-phase: 8 + j18 Ω, c-phase: 6 + j13 Ω
Δ-TCR inductor 45 mH
Y-TCR inductance 24 mH

Table 9 Experimental system parameters

Parameters Value
AC line voltage 415 V (rms) and 50 Hz
line impedance/phase Rline = 0.03Ω and Xline = 0.6 Ω
neutral line impedance Rn = 0.06 Ω, Xn = 1.1 Ω
non-linear load RL = 30 Ω, XL = 6.3 Ω
asymmetrical linear loads a-phase: 18 + j27 Ω, b-phase: 13 + j53 Ω, c-phase: 9 + j18 Ω
Δ-TCR inductor 45 mH
Y-TCR inductance 24 mH
additional data for implementation processor: dSPACE DS1104, gate driver: SKHI 22B, current sensors: LEM CT 100S, voltage sensors: LEM
CV3–1500

IET Gener. Transm. Distrib., 2018, Vol. 12 Iss. 3, pp. 571-585 585
© The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2017