2016 IEEE Conference on Systems, Process and Control (ICSPC 2016), 16–18 December 2016, Melaka, Malaysia

Harmonic Distortion Mitigation for Multiple Modes

Charging Station via Optimum Passive Filter Design
K. H. Shafad J. J. Jamian S. A. S. Nasir
Faculty of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Universiti Teknologi Malaysia Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Skudai, Johor Skudai, Johor Skudai, Johor
hapiz.ummi@gmail.com jasrul@fke.utm.my norazizul.nasir@tnb.com.my

Abstract— Integration of charging station gives negative
impact to the distribution system such as power loss and voltage
profile. This is due to harmonic produced from non-linear load of
electrical vehicle (EV) charging station (CS). Thus, this paper
proposes a suitable design for passive filter to reduce the
harmonic distortion due to EV CS at all levels. The main
advantages of passive filter are due to the simplicity, economical
cost and high reliability in power system. Passive filter provides a
low impedance path for harmonic current. These currents are
then eliminated from the EV CS and make the distribution
system clean from damaging of harmonics current. Thus, this
research focusing on the analysis of the effect on different
charging categories (slow, medium, and high). The different
mode of CS can be obtained by varying the value of pulse width
in pulse generator at this buck converter. Next, the suitable
universal design for passive filter that can be used to all types of
CS is determined to reduce harmonic distortion. All the circuits
are design, simulate and analyses by using MATLAB/Simulink.
From the result, it is proved that the installation of single tuned
passive filter at 5th order and 7th order can reduce both THDv
(2.94%-5.26%) and THDi (4.83%-9.11%). The results also
fulfilled the recommendation of IEEE 519 power harmonic
standard.
Index Terms— electric vehicle, charging station, total
harmonic distortion, passive filter
I. INTRODUCTION
Currently, the world is still heavily depend on conventional
non-renewable energy, such as fossil fuels in producing the
useful energy. From the world energy consumption statistics,
30% of the overall fossil fuel consumption was spent for
transportation sector in 2012 [1]. Due to prospective shortage
of fossil fuels as well as environmental issues on CO2
emission, researchers and vehicle industries have started to
focus on the electrical vehicle (EV) system, in order to find an
alternative ways to overcome these issues [1-3]. Based on the
statistic portal, there are around 200,000 EVs use globally in
2013. In the early 2016, the number of EV has increases to 1.3
million units, and China aims to increase the stock of EV to
about 11.9 million units by 2020. There are many advantages
of EV compared to traditional combustion vehicle such as
environmental friendly, more efficient motor, and require less
cost of maintenance [3].
The increasing number of EV has led to increase in number
of charging station (CS). The function of CS is to transfer
electric power from an electric source to EV outlets through
communication equipment for a safe flow [4]. However, the
integration of CS gives negative impact to the distribution
system such as power loss increased and violation in voltage
profile [4-9]. This is due to the harmonic produced from non-
linear load of EV during charging process at CS.
Based on the experiment conducted by [12], the high power
DC in CS shows a larger potential impact to distribution
system compared to normal power of CS. Thus, the authors
suggested to use suitable technologies based on grid condition,
in order to prevent the significant impact to the distribution
system. Moreover, the variation of CS modes in the same
network can give different impact to distribution system.
However, the result shows that both modes produce THDi that
are violating the recommendation limits.
This paper will focus on the analysis of the effect on
harmonic injection based on different charging categories in
the distribution network. Next, the suitable design for universal
passive filter will be proposed for harmonic mitigation.
This paper is divided into five sections. Section I discussed
the background and contribution of the research. In section II,
the explanation on the types of charger are discussed. Section
III focusing on design of EV CS and passive filter used in this
paper. Then, the results and discussion is presented in section
IV. Lastly, conclusion is discussed in section V.
II. CHOICE OF CHARGERS
CS can be categorized based on charging power (level 1 to
3) or based on charging modes (mode 1 to 4). Basically, the CS
mode is based on power size, rated voltage levels, number of
phases and rated current as well as charging time [10].
Furthermore, there are two standards in charging categories,
which are Europe and U.S standards. In this study, the Europe
standard with voltage of 400V is used in designing the CS
topology. Table I shows the voltage and current levels that is
expected to be obtained in commercial CS [10]. Based on
Table I, the increasing value of current injecting to CS will
effect on the decreasing of charging time to be completed.

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 2016 IEEE Conference on Systems, Process and Control (ICSPC 2016), 16–18 December 2016, Melaka, Malaysia

TABLE I. CATEGORIES OF CHARGERS [10] hardware and simplify of interconnection issues, while
bidirectional power flow can support battery from energy
Type of Power Voltage (V) Current (A) Charging injection back to the grid [11]. In practical, bidirectional
charger (kW) time
Slow charging 3.3 230, AC 16 6-8 h
power flow is mostly used since this topology has isolation
speed- Mode 1 1~ part. Thus, it can prevent energy injection to the grid.
Slow charging 10 400, AC 16 2-3 h
speed- Mode 2 3~ III. EV CHARGING STATION AND PASSIVE FILTER
Moderate 22 400, AC 32 1-2 h DESIGN
charging 3~
speed- Mode 3 Figure 1 shows the topology of CS connected to the public
High charging 43 400,AC 63 20-30 min grid. The public grid is supply with three-phase voltage
speed- Mode 4 3~ (400V), which is referred to Europe standard. The different
between slow (mode 2), moderate (mode 3), and high (mode 4)
In general, CS can be categorized into off-board, on-board charging duration is based on level of current inject into the
types, unidirectional and bidirectional power flow [11]. battery.
Unidirectional power flow gives advantages on limitation of
PF=0.75

11kV 400V

Fig. 1. Three-phase EV charging station

The medium voltage (MV) from the utility is used in PF1 = cos θ1 = 0.75 (2)
Figure 1 with the nominal voltage of 11kV and frequency of PF2 = cos θ2 = 0.87 (3)
50Hz. This voltage is step-down to low voltage (LV) by using
step-down transformer. Then, the CS is connected to this LV ( ( ) ( ))
QC = P tan cos−1 PF1 − tan cos−1 PF2 =14 kVar (4)
grid at the transformer substation. Therefore, the minimum reactive power equal to 14kVar
Simple uncontrolled three-phase bridge diode rectifier is will be considered in the design of passive filters. All the
used as AC-DC conversion. The output of this is converter is:- values of the components used in this circuit simulation have
3V
Vo = m, L−L =
( )
3 2 (400)
= 540V (1)
been shown in Table II. Based on Table II, it is assumed that
the CS may be placed at 50 meters from substation. Then, the
π π
cable has equivalent resistance of 10mΩ and inductance of
Since, this voltage is larger than nominal voltage of the
10mH. While, the calculated values of parameter
battery which is 300V, a simple step-down converter is
(Capacitance, Inductance, and Resistance) of the proposed
needed. Buck converter is selected based on simplicity
passive filters is shown in Table III. The resistance of filter
compared to others. Besides that, the different mode of CS can
depends on the quality factor (Q) by which sharpness of the
be obtained by varying the value of pulse width in pulse
tuning is measured which is assumed to be 40.
generator at this buck converter.
The passive filter connected in shunt configuration that is
used in this research will not require over current protection Table II. VALUES OF COMPONENT USED IN THE SIMULATION
devices. Besides that, passive filters also provides reactive
Component Value Component Value
power at system operating frequency. Thus, it can improve
Supply 11kV (rms) Input Filter L = 15mH
power factor of the system. Voltage f = 50Hz (before buck) C = 33µF
Based on Figure 1, the power factor is equal to 0.75 for (3~AC)
mode 4 charging operation. This power factor is less than Step-down S = 630kVA Isolation S = 250kVA
recommendation which is at least 0.85 for system operates at transformer 11kV/400V transformer 400V/400V
Cable R = 10mΩ Output Filter L = 10mH
33kV or less. Thus passive filters can be implemented because
L = 0.3mH (after rectifier C = 4.4mF
can provide reactive power for power factor correction and at output)
the same time can eliminate the harmonics distortion. Let Buck L = 2mH Lithium-ion V = 300V
consider that the power factor after correction is 0.87 and then Converter C = 660µF battery Capacity = 25Ah
the reactive power can be calculated as follows: Initial stage = 50%

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 2016 IEEE Conference on Systems, Process and Control (ICSPC 2016), 16–18 December 2016, Melaka, Malaysia

Table III. VALUES OF DESIGNED FILTERS IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Harmonic Capacitance Inductance Resistance A. Variation of Pulse Width Analysis

order (F) (H) (Ω)
5th 278.52µ 1.46 m 0.0571
Table IV shows the variation of pulse width at buck
converter and the effect to the input and output of the CS. By
7th 278.52µ 0.7424 m 0.0408 referring to Europe standard for three-phase CS, the different
charging categories is based on the rated current which are at
16A, 32A, and 63A. From Table IV, it is recommended pulse
width at 54% is used for mode 2, while pulse width at 58%
and 64% are recommended for mode 3 and mode 4
respectively.

TABLE IV. RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF PULSE WIDTH

Pulse Width, Input Output
D (%)
Current (A) THDi (%) THDv (%) Current (A) Voltage (V) Power (kW)
54 16.67 32.94 4.56 32.73 327.9 10.73
(Mode 2) Std. CS (16A) (FAIL) (PASS)
58 32.36 27.29 7.27 63.29 332.2 21.02
(Mode 3) Std. CS (32A) (FAIL) (PASS)
64 63.21 26.19 9.76 125.4 340.7 42.72
(Mode 4) Std. CS (63A) (FAIL) (FAIL)
*Std. CS = Standard Charging Station
S 630 k (6)
I SC = = =1575
Based on IEEE 519 standard, the total harmonic distortion VL 400
(THDv) for voltage in LV system, which less than 1.0 kV, For mode 2,
must less than or equal to 8%. Furthermore, all individual I SC 1575
harmonics also must less than 5%. The simulation results I= = = 94.48 (7)
I L 16.67
show that the THDv and all individual harmonics for mode 2
and 3 are below the recommendation limits, except for mode For mode 3,
4. Whereas, the THDi for all modes are violating the I SC 1575 (8)
I= = = 48.67
recommendation limits, where mode 2 had the highest THDi I L 32.36
followed by mode 3 and mode 4. And for mode 4,
Besides that, it can be observed that when pulse width is I SC 1575 (9)
I= = = 24.92
increased, the current draw from utility and output current also I L 63.21
increase. The formula for output voltage of buck converter is: Table V shows the IEEE 519 power harmonic standard that
Vo = DVs (5) is considered in this paper. From the calculated values, the
Where:- categories of current ratio in between 50 < 100 from IEEE 519
Vo = Output Voltage standard is considered for mode 2 operation. Based on this
Vs = Input Voltage standard, the odd harmonics under 11th must less than 10%.
D = Duty Ratio (normally between 0 to 1) Besides that, current ratio in a range of 20 < 50 are considered
In Addition, short circuit current over full load current for for mode 3 and mode 4 operations respectively. Based on this
overall mode can be calculated as follows: standard, the odd harmonics under 11th should be less than
7%.

TABLE V. IEEE 519 STANDARD FOR CURRENT DISTORTION [13]

ISC/IL Individual Harmonic Order (Odd Harmonics)

<11 11 ≤ h < 17 17 ≤ h < 23 23 ≤ h < 35 35 ≤ h Total THDi
< 20 4.0 2.0 1.5 0.6 0.3 5.0
20 < 50 7.0 3.5 2.5 1.0 0.5 8.0
50 < 100 10.0 4.5 4.0 1.5 0.7 12.0
100 < 1000 12.0 5.5 5.0 2.0 1.0 15.0
> 1000 15.0 7.0 6.0 2.5 1.4 20.0

and THDv as compared to others mode (only fail for THDi).

B. Harmonic Reduction Analysis
Thus, mode 4 is selected as a based case to design a universal
Even though mode 2 has highest THDi, the result obtained passive filter.
in Table IV shows that the mode 4 has failed for both THDi

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 2016 IEEE Conference on Systems, Process and Control (ICSPC 2016), 16–18 December 2016, Melaka, Malaysia

Table VI shows the reduction of THD by using the single
tuned passive filters with connected at point common of
coupling (PCC). Initially, only the parameter of design passive
filters for 5th harmonic order is connected. The results show
that the individual harmonic at 5th order become less than 7%.
Unfortunately, the individual harmonics at 7th order, THDv
and THDi have failed. An additional parameter of design
passive filter for 7th order harmonic is connected in order to
improve the performance. It is observed that the addition of
single tuned passive filter at 7th order has improved the power
quality and full fill all the requirements of IEEE 519 standard
as shown in Table VI.
The same passive filters is applied to CS at mode 3. The
result shows that all the individual harmonics have follow the
requirement and THDi obtained is 6.60%. In addition, the
mode 2 operation also fulfiled the requirement for both
individual harmonics and THDi when applied the same
passive filters used in mode 4. Therefore, the result prove that
the same design of passive filter can be used for different
mode operation of CS.
Based on the result in Table VI, the current supply to the
CS has slightly increase from previous result (before
implement filter) for the same of pulse width, D. In practical,
the controller for CS will be design in closed loop system, so
that the pulse width can be adjusted automatically. Since, this
paper is focusing on the open loop system, the current supply
to the CS (after implement filter) is reduced manually with the
reduction of pulse width value as shown in Table VII. From
the analysis, the CS can achieved the standard current input by
adjusting the pulse width to 53%, 56% and 62% for mode 2,
mode 3 and mode 4 respectively.

TABLE VI. SINGLE AND DOUBLE TUNED METHOD USED FOR DESIGNING PASSIVE FILTER
Mode Type of Filters Waveform Spectrum
4 • Single Tuned (5th order) 1) Input
• From utility 9
Fundamental (50Hz) = 96.74 , THD= 12.60%

I(rms) = 68.4 A 8

THDi = 12.60 % 7

M ag (% of Fundam ental)
THDv = 9.52 % 6

• To CS
5

I(rms) = 67.23 A 3

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Harmonic order

• th
Single Tuned (5 order) 1) Input
•
Fundamental (50Hz) = 110.2 , THD= 6.93%
• Single Tuned (7th order) From utility 3.5

I(rms) = 77.95 A 3

THDi = 6.93 %
M ag (% of Fundam ental)

2.5

THDv = 5.46 % 2

• To CS 1.5

I(rms) = 68.54 A 1

Std. CS (63A) 0.5

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Harmonic order

3 • Single Tuned (5th order) 1) Input Fundamental (50Hz) = 84.13 , THD= 6.60%

• Single Tuned (7th order) • From utility 3.5

I(rms) = 59.49 A
3
Mag (% of Fundamental)

THDi = 6.60 %
2.5

THDv = 4.24 %
2

•
1.5
To CS 1

I(rms) = 43.42 A 0.5

Std. CS (32A) 0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Harmonic order

2 • Single Tuned (5th order) 1) Input

• Single Tuned (7th order) • From utility Fundamental (50Hz) = 63.91 , THD= 8.39%

I(rms) = 45.19 A 5

4.5
THDi = 8.39 % 4
M a g (% o f F u n d a m e n ta l)

THDv = 3.64 % 3.5

• To CS 3

I(rms) = 18.22 A
2.5

2
Std. CS (16A) 1.5

0.5

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Harmonic order

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 2016 IEEE Conference on Systems, Process and Control (ICSPC 2016), 16–18 December 2016, Melaka, Malaysia

TABLE VII. RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF PULSE WIDTH WITH PASSIVE FILTERS

Pulse Width, Input Output

D (%)
Current (A) THDi (%) THDv (%) Current (A) Voltage (V) Power (kW)
53 16.10 9.11 2.94 36.02 328.3 11.83
(Mode 2) Std. CS (16A) (PASS) (PASS)
56 31.19 4.83 3.96 64.42 332.3 21.41
(Mode 3) Std. CS (32A) (PASS) (PASS)
62 65.15 7.05 5.62 132.4 341.7 45.24
(Mode 4) Std. CS (63A) (PASS) (PASS)

Power Electronics and Power Quality Applications (PEPQA),”

V. CONCLUSION
The charging station (CS) designed can produce
different mode operation of charging by varies the value of
pulse width which are 54% for mode 2, 58% for mode 3 and
64% for mode 4. However, results show that different mode
operation of charging can produce different levels of THD.
Lower mode (current) operation will produce higher THDi
compared to high mode operation, while for THDv is vice
versa. This THDi is higher than recommended value, thus, it
can give negative impact to distribution system. Therefore,
the mitigation of the harmonics is very important in the CS
system. Passive filter shows a good cost-benefit relationship
compared to other mitigation techniques. By designed well
parameter of single tuned passive filters, the individual
harmonics and THDi values can fulfil the requirement.
However, the result shows that current supply to the CS is
slightly increase from the recommend modes after
implement filters. Thus, by varying again values of pulse
width, each modes of CS can be obtained back as needed.
Besides that, it is proven that the same design of passive
filters can be used for different modes of CS.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported by Ministry of Higher Education
(Malaysia) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia under GUP
Tier 1 Grant (15H89)
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