- 810 A New Method for Power Factor Correction and Harmonic Elimination

in Power Systems
I. Kasikci, MIEEE, VDE
University of Applied Sciences of Mannheim, Germany
TeVFax: +49-620 1-I 82301, E-mail: Imail. ~ ~ s i ~ c i i u ! r h ~ i n i i i ~ i n . ~ ~ . i n i l

Abstract : The influence of power electronics-based

technology, which is increasingly used, has disadvantageous
effect on the quality of electric power supply. Pure sinusoidal
voltage supply does not exist anymore. Low and medium
voltage power systems are polluted to an increasing extent by
harmonic currents and voltages, voltage fluctuation, voltage
unbalance, voltage sags, voltage swells and flicker This paper
presents an new configuration for power factor correction and
harmonic current elimination in electrical power systems. A
single-phasecontrol concept is discussed for simplicity. It also
presents a brief discussion of the main problems in the
distributionpower systems.
Keywords: Reactive power compensation, Harmonics, Active
Filters, Control , EM1

I. INTRODUCTION
The increased use of non-linear devices cause voltage
distortion in the network. This leads to malfunctions of
the electric facilities and to costly interruptions of
production.
The filter circuit parameters are analysed and described.
This filter configuration provides an alternative
approach to the existing one. According to the test
results, the proposed approach can achieve a complete
elimination of harmonics.
The switched-capacitor active filter was first presented
in 1982 by C.C. Marouchos [ I ] and is fundamentally
different fiom the inverter configuration. The switchedcapacitor configuration removes the requirement for a
large current or voltage source, which leads, not only to
a reduction in cost but also in physical size [2,3].
Another configuration of shunt active filter was
developed in [4]. The major drawback of these circuit is
that the control algorithm is very complicated, time
consuming and produces itself resonances.
As described in [5] a sampling control is used and a load

is applied to the inverter which requires only the control

of the fundamental current for power factor correction.
In this paper, it is shown that the circuit is capable of
correcting
not only the power factor of the
fundamentals but also of eliminating the harmonics and
ver easy to control. In recent years the proliferation of
non-linear loads has lead to the development of active
filters designed to eliminate current harmonics from the
power supply network.

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This paper examines shunt active filter inverter and

passive filter, highlighting the complexity of the control.
Two different approaches are investigated, with the aim
of reducing the computational requirements associated
with the control technique and hence increase the
applicability of the proposed system.
A significant simplification is presented which eases the
somewhat laborious, but never the less unavoidable
computational requirements. A new control unit is also
developed providing an alternative to the dominated
computer controlled very complicated techniques.
The main characteristics of a non-linear supply are the
voltage interruptions, harmonic pre-distortions and
unbalance in the three phase systems. On the other side,
the main characteristics of a non-linear loads are the
harmonics, hndamental reactive current, unsymmetrical
parts and the stochastic fluctuations called flicker.
There is a strong coupling between reactive power
balance and of a power system and the voltages. Today,
many techniques are used to compensate the reactive
power. Shunt and series compensation is widely used in
the industry.
Two possible loads can be discussed in this point of
view. The non-linear supply voltage which influences
the loads behaviour and non-linear loads which cause
voltage distortions in other supply feedings.
Fig.1 represents the proposed active power filter
configuration. The proposed new control block diagram
shows nine main sections constituting the power active
filter structure. The harmonic current generated by nonlinear load is detected and fed back to the reference
current estimator, in conjunction with the other system
variables. The resulting reference signal drives the
overall system controller, which, in turn, generates the
control effort necessary for the switching pattern.
The resulting filter current is also detected and fed back
to the controller. The power and filter circuit is then
connected to the PCC. Shunt active filter is connected to
the main power circuit as shown in the single-line
diagram of Fig.2. It is mainly aimed towards cancelling
the load current harmonic as it has the ability of
controlling the amount of current flowing in the circuit.
It can also contribute to reactive power compensation
and balancing of three-phase currents, transients and
flicker.

NonPCC

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Filter elements

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current

Reference
current
Estimator

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Fig. 1: Complete Control Diagram for the proposed System

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Detector I

Switching
Strategy 4

linear
Load

Measurements

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ion-linear Load
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T-Network

Supply Voltage

Current Controller
(Actual current, Reference current, Switch conditions, P W and Hysterisis controller, Supply
voltage, Load current)

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s
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PCC

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Fig.2: Single-phase Full Bridge Inverter-Filter Scheme

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-811

- 812 - 11. ANALYSIS OF THE FILTER

The problem relating to current harmonics is very
important in low and medium power applications. It is the
value of the current and its waveform that determines many
of the power system design criteria (Fig. 3). Due to the
non-linear nature of the load, the load current iL , consists
of a fundamental component

i,, as well as harmonic

components ihorm
,which in the absence of the active filter
are present within the supply current
power system. Therefore if

i, = i,

is,

then

polluting the

is = i,

where

i, contains only the fundamental component.

Most active filters designed for this purpose are voltage or
current fed inverter configurations, using various switching
techniques to control the compensation signal. The inverter
configuration relies on the availability of a constant dc
voltage or current source in order to generate the required
compensation signal. This is accomplished by the use of
large reservoir capacitors or inductors, which are not only
expensive but are also physically very large.
Network

tr.

11.

t'

tr

Fig.4: PWM-hysterisis switching technique

For the top boundary

For the bottom boundary

Idv -

The parallel connected active filter generates a

compensation signal i, , which then supplies the harmonic
components required by the load, shown below:

= iL

-1,

= i,

+i,

-i,

+T,)

(3)

To achieve a hysteresis control band width 1, the current,

which is controlled, can be calculated fiom:

Fig.3: Basic structure of shunt-active powerfilter configurations

is

= 2(Ts

(1)

The energy required to maintain this constant dc level is

obtained from the supply via the inverter, this limits the
performance of the filter.
Using Fig. 4 as an example, the rate of change of current
within the inverter inductor L, is controlled as follows:

(4)

To avoid the harmonics in the main power current and

supply voltage a filter is designed and applied to a single
VSI. The filter resistance R, is inserted to restrain the
oscillation of the capacitor of the network and inverter
inductance. A lower value of R, gives the best results of
the smoothing of the network current and supply voltage.
On the other hand, the filter capacitor CFmust be large
enough to absorb the current and voltage ripples. In order
to limit the failure current the following equation gives:

- 813 -

The resonance frequency is:

fr

<Fe
- 2n

LSLPC,

inverter
601

To avoid the resonance frequency, the following

assumption can be made with sampling frequency fs:

fs '20 f r .
The filter capacitor

SUDDIV

(7)

c, should be:

c, 210- Ls +Lp T 2 s .

SUDDIV

Ls L,

Then, the filter resistance

R, can be expressed as:

0,

R,

= 0.15

LSLP

;/=.
cF(LS

10,o

20.0

30,O

40,C

(9)

+ Lp)

The desired value occurs in time intervals with a constant

length which is given by:

Ts I-

The control delay time '

'7 of the switching circuit can be
expressed by:

In a power distribution system, the total power

consumption (active and reactive power) and harmonic
measurements were carried out. Long time analyses were
recorded. The transformer currents and all consumer
currents were measured simultaneously with the voltage.
The strongest harmonic voltage and current level was the
9'harmonic. With this data, the validity of the model is
proved as in the following sections.
111. EXPERIMENTAL AND PRACTICAL RESULTS

All components in Fig. 2 were designed in a laboratory to

validate the theory. For currents, voltages and switching
frequencies displays the gate controlled components such
as Bipolar Transistor, power MOSFET, GTO and IGBT in
which the components concerned are preferably used.

Fig. 5 : Voltage and current spectrum before and after

compensation
The advantages of the bipolar transistors and the
MOSFETs are combined in the Insulated Gate Bipolar
Transistor. The bipolar transistor has lower on-state power
losses when switched on, particularly for high-gate types.
The power MOSFETs are quick and can be switched on
and off especially at high switching frequencies, but their
on-state power loss are distinctly higher at high-gate types.
The actuation of MOSFETs is much easier than the one of
a bipolar transistor. The measured values of the main
network harmonic current is fed into the network model
and simulated. Fig.5, 6 and 7 illustrate significant
reduction of the harmonics before and after the
compensation. When examining the control method of
power converters, the permissible switching frequency for
the semi-conductor is of great importance. It substantially
affects the approximation of voltage and current curves of
the converter to the ideal design value.

A single-phase prototype active power inverter was built

in shunt with a passive filter. The control unit has been
developed by using electronic components such as PWM
and hysterisis controller, gatters and operational amplifiers.
Passive filter components were also calculated and
designed to simulate the whole block system. Figures 8 and
9 show the load current waveform and the measured
waveforms of the supply voltage and currents before and
after compensation.

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Fig. 6: Current harmonic spectrum before compensation

(a) Inverter Current

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20

30

40

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(b) Compensated Current

Fig. 7: Current harmonic spectrum after compensation

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Fig. 8: Load Current waveform

Fig.9: Loading condition

IV. EMC COMPATIBILITY

successfully filters unwanted harmonics generated by a

non-linear load.

The EM1 generated by the proposed system was measured

when employing both hysterisis and PWM techniques.
Permissible level of electromagnetic emissions of the
switching power devices is given in Fig. 10, in conjunction
with the emitted harmonics. These indicate that the passive
filter and the proposed switching technique meet the EM1
regulations.
The emitted interference is decreased about 30 dBN. The
passive filter designed traps the high fkequency harmonics
as shown in the Bode plots of Fig. 11. It stops these
harmonics ffom penetrating into the supply and hence
hrther reduces the EM1 generated by the system.

By using PWM and hysterisis control method outlined

above the switching patterns required to control the filter
can rapidly be determined, and therefore the filter can
respond to varying load.
The main advantage of this technique is that it does not
require very complicated computer algorithms and
microprocessors. Simulation and experimental results show
that this new method can eliminate a wide range of
harmonics currents, flicker and transients. Power factor
correction is also possible.
Further, the response time of the controller much faster
comparing to the existing commercial power conditioner.

VI. REFERENCES
[1] Marouchos C.C., Switched Capacitor Circuits For Reactive
Power Generation, PhD Thesis, 1982.
[2] Mehta P., Darwish M., Thomson T., Switched Capacitor

Filters, IEEE trans on Power Electronics, Vo1.5, No.3, July

1990.

[3] Koozehkani Z.D., Mehta P., Darwish M.K.,An active filter

for retrofit applications, in PEVD-96, Nottingham, UK.
[4]
.lr*

Fig. 10: Permissible level of the electromagnetic emissions

El-Habrouk M., Mehta P., Darwish M.K., A new active

filter for power sytem applications; INPOWER98,
October 1998

[5] Masaaki Ohshima, Eisuke Masada: Novel error tracking

mode ac current waveform control method and ac filter
design procedure, Sevilla EPE 95, page 2.472-2.477.
VII. BIOGRAPHY

II
Fig. 1 1 : Bode diagram of the transfer hnction

V. CONCLUSIONS

The results presented show that the shunt active power

filter configuration combined with a passive filter

Ismail Kasikci was bom in Turkey, on September 1, 1952. He

received two Dipl.-Ing. degrees from the University of Applied
Sciences of Darmstadt in Germany and the MPhil and PhD
degree from Brunel University London. He has been working in
the industry more than 15 years as a Chief Design Engineer. He
is responsible for design and development of electrical power
including power distribution networks, transformer stations,
protection and control of electrical systems. He is also a Lecturer
at University of Applied Sciences of Mannheim Germany and
VDE in Berlin. His special fields of interest is reactive power
compensation and harmonics, design, protection and control of
electrical power systems, VDE and IEC regulations. He is an
author of tree books in electrical engineering being published in
2000 in German and another tree books in Turkish. He is a
member of VDE and IEEE.

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