Control Strategy For Active Power Filter

Based On P-Q Theory

Under Non-Ideal Mains Voltages

Moh. Jauhari Abdillah Fashiha Ilman Lin Prasetyani

Departement of Industrial Electric
Engineering
Politeknik Negeri Madura (POLTERA)
Sampang, Indonesia
mohjauhari51@gmail.com
Departement of Industrial Electric Departement of Mechatronics
Engineering Engineering
Politeknik Negeri Madura (POLTERA) Politeknik Manufaktur ASTRA
Sampang, Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia
abdifashiha@gmail.com lynnprasetya@gmail.com

Tresna Dewi
Department of Electrical Engineering
Politeknik Negeri Sriwijaya
Palembang, Indonesia
tresna_dewi@polsri.ac.id

Abstract— Harmonics on the electrical system is a disturbance
that causes the waveform of currents and or voltages are distorted.
Mitigation of harmonics needed to reduce the negative impacts.
Active power filter (APF) is one method to reduce harmonic waves,
which injects the opposite waveform with harmonic wave. P-Q
Theory is used to calculate the reference current to compensate
harmonics. But, P-Q Theory has weakness if applied under non-
ideal mains voltage. Phase Lock Loop (PLL) is used to
normalization the non-ideal main voltage before calculate the
reference current. Based on the results of simulation and analysis
show the effectiveness of the control strategy being used.
Keywords— harmonic; P-Q Theory; active power filter; non-
ideal mains voltages.
I. INTRODUCTION
The development of power electronics that is used as an
interface between the load and electrical system effect on
power quality, especially the emergence of electrical
harmonics [1],[2]. Harmonic currents generated by non-linear
loads such as rectifiers, variable speed drive, and others. These
harmonic currents will affect the quality of the electrical
power distribution system and the performance of electrical
equipment [3].
Passive filter is one method that used to reduce harmonic
currents. These passive filters use a combination of inductors
and capacitors to eliminate the harmonics frequency that have
been determined. The weakness of passive filters are only able
to eliminate the harmonics frequency that have been
determined, so it can not eliminate the harmonics frequency
than those specified. Active filters have advantages can
eliminate various harmonics frequency that arise. In active
filter, there are voltage source inverter (VSI) and controllers
to regulate the compensation current that given to eliminate
harmonic currents that arise [4],[5].
In a real implementation, the waveform of the voltage
source is often not in a pure sinusoidal condition [6],[7]. so
that the signal voltage to be used in the calculation of active
filter needs to be normalized. This condition is also called non-
ideal main voltage.
p-q theory is one of the reference current generation
methods to determine the anti-harmonic current waveform.
This p-q theory has the advantage of fast response compared
to other methods [8],[9]. but the P-Q Theory has a
disadvantage when applied under non-ideal main voltages. the
performance of the P-Q Theory goes down under non-ideal
main voltages. this causes compensation of active filter
harmonics controlled by P-Q Theory is not optimal [10],[11].
in this paper, the P-Q Theory calculation is improved in
generating reference currents in the harmonic active filter, so
the accuracy of the P-Q Theory calculation is not affected by
the source voltage waveform
II. MODELING OF ACTIVE POWER FILTER
Active filter serves to eliminate harmonics at the source
based on the control system used. In addition, the active filter
also serves to compensate for reactive power to the load [12].
Figure 1 shows configuration of active power filter connected
to non-linier load.
The active power filter circuit configuration consists of
three main parts: a voltage source inverter (VSI) with a
capacitor on the DC side, a control circuit, and a switching
ripple filter. VSI is a three phase inverter with three switch
arms; the control circuit is a digital signal processor (DSP).
And the ripple switch is an inductor that is series on each
phase on the AC voltage side of the inverter. Figure 1 shows
a block diagram of a shunt active power filter.
Nonlinier load
i La
i Lb
Source i Lc
Va AC i a
Vb AC i b
Active power filter
Vc AC ic
ica* LF
icb*
icc*
PCC
Figure 1. active power filter

XXX-X-XXXX-XXXX-X/XX/$XX.00 ©20XX IEEE

 The main purpose of the shunt active power filter is to −1 −1
va
compensate for harmonic currents due to non-linear load vα 2 12 2 v
currents iL that propagate to the source current is . Harmonics [v ] = √ [ b] (5)
β 3 √3 √3 vc
compensation current ic will eliminate the harmonic current in
[0
2 2]
the source current is so that it becomes sinusoidal. The
harmonic compensation current is obtained by generating a −1 −1
ia
reference current ic * which is a signal waveform from the iα 2 1 2 2
harmonic component current [13]. [ ]=√ [ib ] (6)
iβ 3 √3 √3 i
[0 2 c
III. IDEAL AND NON-IDEAL MAIN VOLTAGES 2]
Before Mains voltage waveform is very influential in the
generation of reference current. so it will also affect the p vα vβ iα
[q] = [-v vα ] [iβ ]
compensation of harmonics. Ideal voltage is purely sinusoidal β
voltage while the non-ideal voltage is distorted or unbalanced
voltage [14],[15]. Ideal voltage as shown in equation (1). p P ~p
[q] = [ ] (7)
q ~q
va sin(ωt)
v
[ b ] = Vrms√2 [sin ωt − 120o )]
( (1) Equation of current source as a function of the power p
vc sin(ωt + 120o ) and q are:
iα 1 vα -vβ p
[i ] = v 2 2 [v vα ] [q] (8)
β α + vβ β
Unbalance voltage is a three-phase voltage which has a
large amplitude and the phase shift is not same. Unbalance
voltage can be expressed in positive and negative sequence as
in equation (2). From equation (7) and equation (8) can be seen that to
eliminate reactive power from the source is to make q variable
vau vau+ vau-
be negative in equation (9). To separate the harmonic
[vbu ] = [vbu+ ] + [vbu-] (2) components of current sources, by using only the AC
vcu vcu+ vcu- components in p power. So that the reference current is raised
is:
Equation (2) describes the unbalanced voltage is the sum iα-c* 1 vα -vβ p~ − PLoss
[i ] = [v vα ] [ ] (9)
of the positive sequence component Vau+, Vbu+, Vcu+, and β-c* vα 2+ 2
vβ β -q
negative sequence components Vau-, Vbu-, Vcu-,
Voltage distortion often found in electrical distribution
systems. Voltage distortion basically occurs when there is a Reference current in equation (9) is then transformed into
harmonic component on the fundamental voltages abc frames with equation (10) below:
component. distorted voltage can be expressed as the equation 1 0
(3). −1
ia-c* √3
vad vaf vah 2 iα-c*
[ib-c* ] = √ 2 2 [i ] (10)
v v v
[ bd ] = [ bf ] + [ bh ] 3 β-c*
(3) ic-c* −1 −√3
vcd vcf vch
[2 2 ]
V. STRATEGY ON NON-IDEAL MAIN VOLTAGES
The voltages Vaf, Vbf, and Vcf are fundamental
Compensation current equation in equation (9) is
components in each phase. The voltages Vah, Vbh, and Vch are
the harmonic components which can consist of several calculated by assuming the mains voltage in ideal conditions.
frequency levels But the condition is often found in industrial electrical
systems, the voltage waveform is often not ideal or not at
IV. REFERENCE CURRENT BASED ON P-Q THEORY sinusiodal conditions that would affect to generation of
reference current waveform.
Compensation current waveform is determined by the
reference current waveform. Reference current compared with In this study, phase lock loop (PLL) is used to detect the
the anti harmonic current injected by using hysteresis current phase (ωt) [18]. then three-phase voltage waveform that will
control. Then, the switching pattern will be obtained to switch be used in the calculation of the reference current generation
the VSI [16],[17]. Reference current in this study were is calculated by equation (11) below:
calculated using P-Q Theory . three-phase waveform of
voltages and currents in the abc frame will be transformed to va sin(ωt)
v (11)
be αβ frame using a Clarke transformation. Equation (4) and [ b ] = 220√2 [sin(ωt − 120o )]
(5) respectively are voltage and current transformation matrix vc sin(ωt + 120o )
of abc coordinates into α-β coordinates.
Control system configuration of active power filter under
non-ideal main voltage as shown in Figure 2. The PI controller
is used to make constant voltage on the DC side of VSI.
 3 phase source Nonlinier Load
A + A +

+
B + B
C C -
+

Voltage Current

+
Ia, Ib, Ic, Ica, Icb, Icc,
sensor sensor
g
+
PLL A

+
B Vdc
-
C

Eq. (11) VSI

Hysterisis current
Eq. (4) Eq. (3) controller

p p~
LPF
q q
p-q Ic-α*
Ica, Icb, Icc Figure 4. THD of current source before compensated.
calculation Ic-β*
Vα Calculation
Eq. (6) Calculation
Vβ Eq. (10)
Eq. (9)

Ploss Vdc
+ PI
- Vdc-ref
Ppv
Figure 2. active power filter with P-Q Theory
VI. RESULT AND ANALYSIS
Active power filter configuration as shown in Figure 3 is
simulated with Matlab / Simulink to determine the
performance of the system. Time sampling is 0.000006 s.
System specifications as shown in Table 1. Figure 5. THD of current source after compensated
TABLE I. Active power filter parameter Simulation results show the THD of current source before
Parameter Value compensated is 28.34% as shown in Figure 4. While after
compensated, the THD current of source is 2.26% as shown
VSource 220 V/Phase in Figure 5.
frequency 50 Hz B. Simulation for Non- ideal Main Voltage
Load 6-pulse Rectifier, 350 Watt, 10 Var Non-Ideal main voltages could be unbalance and or
dirtorted voltage. The unbalanced voltage is formulated on the
VDC 850 volt simulation as shown in the following equation (12).
DC-bus capacitor 20 uF va sin(ωt)
[vb ] = 220√2 [sin(ωt − 120o )]
Inductor filter 5 mH vc sin(ωt + 120o )
sin(3ωt) (12)
A. Simulation for Ideal Main Voltage
The voltage waveforms in ideal conditions is a pure + 31.11 [sin 3ωt + 120o )]
(
sinusoidal. The applied voltage as in equation (11) with Vrms sin(3ωt − 120o )
= 220 volts. Figure 3 shows the results of testing under ideal Figure 6 shows the simulation results in unbalanced
conditions. voltage conditions. Negative sequence components cause the
Non-linear load with 6-pulse rectifier will cause distortion voltage to be non-ideal. Calculation of the reference current
of the current source waveform. Total Harmonic Distortion by P-Q Theory at unbalanced voltage conditions will cause
(THD) at ideal voltage conditions as shown in Figure 4. the THD is relatively larger than at ideal main voltage. Figure
7 show the THD at unbalanced voltage conditions
Ica (A) ILabc (A) Isabc (A) Vabc (V)

400
Ica (A) ILabc (A) Isabc (A) Vabc (V)

400
0
0
-400
-400 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 1
1 0
0 -1
-1 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
1
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
1 0
0 -1
-1 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
0.5
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
0.5 0
0 -0.5
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
-0.5
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 Time(s)
Time(s) Figure 6. simulation results at unbalanced main voltage.
Figure 3. simulation result under ideal voltage.
 C. Simulation for normalizing non-ideal main voltage
Figure 10 shows the simulation results at distorted voltage
with voltage normalization. THD of current source at distorted
main voltage as shown in Figure 11

Ica (A) ILabc (A) Isabc (A) Vabc (V)

400
0
-400
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
1
0
Figure 7. THD of current source after compensated at -1
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
unbalanced main voltage. 1
0
-1
Distorted main voltage at this simulation using the 3rd and 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
0.5
5th harmonic as at following equation (13). The simulation
0
results at distorted main voltage shown in Figure 8. THD of
-0.5
current source at distorted main voltage shown in Figure 9. 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
Time(s)
va sin(ωt)
[vb ] = 220√2 [sin(ωt − 120o )] Figure 10. The simulation results for normalization main
vc voltage.
sin(ωt + 120o )
sin(3ωt)
+ 31.11 [sin(3ωt − 120o )]
sin(3ωt + 120o ) (13)
sin(5ωt)
+ 24.89 [sin(5ωt − 120o )]
sin(5ωt + 120o )

THD at distorted main voltage is relatively larger than at

ideal main voltage. the THD of current source is 10.50% as
shown in Figure 9. Figure 11. THD of current source for normalization main
voltage.
Ica (A) ILabc (A) Isabc (A) Vabc (V)

400
From the test results, the p-q theory can be more
0
precise. The THD at non-ideal main voltages can be corrected
-400 from 10.50% to 2.69%.
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
1
0
-1 VII. CONCLUSION
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
1
In this study, strategy control of active power filter
0
coupled photovoltaic under non-ideal main voltage has been
-1
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 proposed. P-Q Theory is used to calculate the reference
0.5 current, but this theory does not work accurately at under non-
0 ideal main voltage, therefore, PLL is used to normalize the
-0.5 main voltage signal before calculate the reference current.
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1
From the simulation results can be obtained main point as
Time(s)
normalizing main voltage under non-ideal main voltage can
Figure 8. simulation results at distorted main voltage. increase the accuracy of P-Q Theory. The THD at non-ideal
main voltages can be corrected from 10.50% to 2.69%. The
result of THD were very close as in the ideal main voltage.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This study get supporting facilities provided by
Departement of Industrial Electric Engineering of Politeknik
Negeri Madura (POLTERA). Moreover, I like to acknowledge
to the financial support of KEMENRISTEK DIKTI RI.

Figure 9. THD of current source after compensated at

distorted main voltage.
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