A CONTROL STRATEGY FOR UNIFIED POWER QUALITY

CONDITIONER BASED ON
INSTANTANEOUS ACTIVE AND REACTIVE POWERS
Document By
SANTOSH BHARADWAJ REDDY
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Abstract: - One of the serious problems in electrical systems is the increasing number of
electronic- components of devices that are used by industry as well as residences. These
devices, which need high-quality energy to work properly, at the same time, are the most
responsible ones for injections of harmonics in the distribution system. Therefore, devices that
soften this drawback have been developed. One of them is the unified power quality
conditioner (UPQC). This paper presents a control strategy for a Unified Power Quality
Conditioner. This control strategy is used in three-phase three-wire systems. The UPQC device
combines a shunt-active filter together with a series-active filter in a back -to- back
configuration, to simultaneously compensate the supply voltage and the load current. Some of
the other control strategy for shunt-active filter that guarantees sinusoidal balanced and
minimized source currents even if under unbalanced and / or distorted system voltages, also
known as “Sinusoidal Fryze Currents”. Then, this control strategy was extended to develop a
dual control strategy for series-active filter. Now, this paper deals about the integration
principles of shunt current compensation and series voltages compensation, both based on
instantaneous active and non-active powers, directly calculated from a-b-c phase voltages and
line currents. Literature-simulated results are presented to validate the proposed
Index Terms: Active Filters, Active Power Line Conditioners, Instantaneous Active and
Reactive Power, Sinusoidal Fryze Currents, Sinusoidal Fryze Voltages.

I. Introduction
ONE of the serious problems in electrical systems is the increasing number of
electronic- components of devices that are used by industry as well as residences. These
devices, which need high-quality energy to work properly, at the same time, are the most
responsible ones for injections of harmonics in the distribution system. Therefore, devices that
soften this drawback have been developed. One of them is the unified power quality
conditioner (UPQC), as shown in Fig.1. It consists of a shunt- active filter together with a
series-active filter. This combination allows a simultaneous compensation of the load currents
and the supply voltages, so that compensated current drawn from the network and the
compensated supply voltage delivered to the load are sinusoidal, balanced and minimized. The
series and shunt-active filters are connected in a back-to-back configuration, in which the shunt
converter is responsible for regulating the common DC-link voltage.

Fig1. General Configuration of UPQC

In the 30’s of the last century, Fryze [1] proposed a set of active and non-active
(reactive) power definitions in the time domain. From these concepts, Tenti et al [2] developed
a control strategy for shunt-active filters that guarantees compensated currents in the network
that are sinusoidal even if the system voltage at the point of common coupling (PCC) already
contains harmonics. However, this control strategy does not guarantee balanced compensated
currents if the system voltage itself is unbalanced (i.e. it contains a fundamental negative-
sequence component). In [3], this drawback was overcome, by the addition of a positive
sequence voltage detector in the shunt-active filter controller. This control circuit determines
the phase angle, frequency and magnitude of the fundamental positive sequence voltage
component. This new control strategy has been denominated as the “Sinusoidal Fryze
Currents” control strategy.
 This work exploits the use of that positive-sequence voltage detector to develop a new
control strategy for series- active filter. It is based on a dual minimization method for voltage
compensation, together with a synchronizing circuit (PLL circuit). The synchronizing circuit is
responsible to detect the fundamental frequency, as well as the phase angle of the positive-
sequence voltage component. The dual minimization method is responsible to accurately
determine the magnitude of this voltage component. This control strategy is denominated here
as the “Sinusoidal Fryze Voltages” control strategy. Further, this paper presents the integration
the “Sinusoidal Fryze Currents” and the “Sinusoidal Fryze Voltages” control strategies into an
UPQC controller. Additionally, the UPQC controller includes an algorithm that provides
damping in harmonic voltage propagation and hinders load harmonic currents to flow into the
network.

II. The UPQC Controller

Fig. 2 shows the complete functional block diagram of the UPQC controller. The
part shown in Fig. 2(a) is responsible to determine the compensating current references for
PWM control of the UPQC shunt converter, whereas the other part shown in Fig. 2(b)
generates the compensating voltage references for PWM series converter. Next, each functional
block of Fig. 2 will be detailed.

Fig 2: The functional diagram of the UPQC Controller

(a). Shunt UPQC Converter, (b). Series UPQC Converter
A. The positive sequence voltage Detector:
A positive-sequence voltage detector is [V +1 voltage detector block in Fig. 2(a)] in
terms of "minimized voltages". A dual principle for voltage minimization together with a
phase-locked loop circuit (PLL circuit), as shown in Fig. 3. The used PLL circuit is detailed in
the next section. In fact, this dual principle of voltage minimization is used here for extracting
instantaneously" the fundamental positive-sequence component ( V+1 in phasor notation, or va1,
vb1, vc1 as instantaneous values, as the outputs of Fig. 3) from a generic three-phase voltage.
The distorted and unbalanced voltages vas, vbs, vcs of the power supply are measured and given
as inputs to the PLL circuit.
As shown in the next section, it determines the signals ia1, ib1, ic1, which are in phase
with the fundamental positive-sequence component ( V+1 ) contained in vas, vbs, vcs. Thus, only
the magnitude of V+1 is missing. The fundamental characteristic of the used PLL allows the use
of a dual expression for determining active voltages in the form

 v a  p  i a1 
  v a i a1+s b iv b1+ s c iv c1  s 
 vb  = p 2 2 2  i b1 −−−−− (1)
i + i
 v  a1 b1 c1  i + i
c  p  c1
As an artifice to extract the V+1 component from vas, vbs, vcs. The reason is that the
signals ia1, ib1, ic1 are three symmetric sinus functions with unity amplitude, which correspond to
an auxiliary fundamental positive-sequence current I+1that is in phase with V+1. Hence, the
average value of the "three-phase instantaneous power", 3V+1I+1cosØ , is maximum (would be
zero if V+1and I+1are orthogonal), and the average signal Rbar in Fig. 3 comprises the total
amplitude of V+1 . Therefore, it is possible to guarantee that the signals va1, vb1, vc1 are
sinusoidal and have the same magnitude and phase angle of the fundamental positive-sequence
component of the measured system voltage.
B. The PLL Circuit
The used PLL circuit, Fig.4 can operate satisfactorily under high distorted and
unbalanced system voltages. The inputs are vab = vas – vbs and vcb = vcs – vbs. The outputs of the
PLL circuit are ia1, ib1, ic1. The algorithm is based on the instantaneous active three-phase power
expression P3ø= vabia + vcbic.
The current feedback signals ia(wt) = sin(wt) and ic(wt) = sin(wt – 2 π /3) are built up by
the PLL circuit, just using the time integral of output ω of the PI-Controller. Note that they
have unity amplitude and ic(wt) leads 120º ia(wt). Thus, they represent a feedback from a
positive sequence component at frequency ω . The PLL circuit can reach a stable point of
−
operation only if the input P3ø of the PI-Controller has a zero average value ( P 3φ =0) and has

~ − ~
minimized low-frequency oscillating portions in P3φ ( P3φ = P 3φ + P3φ ). Once the circuit is

stabilized, the average value of P3ø is zero and, with this, the phase angle of the positive-
sequence system voltage at fundamental frequency is reached. At this condition, the auxiliary
currents ia(ω t) and ic(ω t) = sin(ω t – 2π/3), becomes orthogonal to the fundamental positive-
sequence component of the measured voltages vas, vcs respectively. Therefore, ia1(ω t) = sin(ω t
– π/2) is in phase with the fundamental positive-sequence component contained in vas.

.
Fig 3. The V+1 Voltage Detector.
 -
Fig4. The Synchronizing Circuit-PLL Circuit
C. The DC voltage regulator
The dc voltage regulator is used to generate a control signal Gloss, as shown in Fig.
2(a). This signal forces the shunt active filter to draw additional active current from the
network, to compensate for losses in the power circuit of the UPQC. Additionally, it corrects dc
voltage variations caused by abnormal operation and transient compensation errors. Fig. 5
shows the dc voltage regulator circuit. It consists only of a PI-Controller [G(s) = Kp + KI/s],
where for normalized inputs, Kp = 0.50 and KI = 80.

Fig5. The DC Voltage regulator

Fig.6 shows in details that functional block named "Current Minimization" in Fig. 2(a).
It determines the instantaneous compensating current references, which should be synthesized
by the shunt PWM converter of the UPQC. It has the same kernel as the Generalized Fryze
Currents methods widely used, like in [4], [5] and [6]. The inputs of the controller are the load
currents ia1, ib1, ic1, the control voltages va1, vb1, vc1 determined by the V+1 detector, and the DC
voltage regulator signal Gloss.
 Fig.6 The Current Minimization control algorithm

The conductance G is determined in Fig. 6 corresponds to the active current of the load.
In other words, it comprises all current components that can produce active power with the
voltages va1, vb1, vc1. A low-pass fifth order Butterworth filter is used to extract the average
value of G, which is denominated as Gbar. Now, since va1, vb1, vc1 comprises only the V+1
component, Gbar must correspond to the active portion of the fundamental positive-sequence
component ( I+1) of the load current. The control signal Gcontrol is the sum of Gbar and Gloss,
which, together with the control voltages va1, vb1, vc1, are used to determine the currents iaw, ibw,
icw. These control signals are pure sinusoidal waves in phase with va1, vb1, vc1 and include the
magnitude of the positive-sequence load current (proportional to Gbar) and the active current
(proportional to Gloss) that is necessary to compensate for losses in the UPQC.
Since the shunt active filter of the UPQC compensates the difference between the
calculated active current and the measured load current, it is possible to guarantee that the
compensated currents ias, ibs, ics drawn from the network are always sinusoidal, balanced and in
phase with the positive sequence system voltages. This characteristic represents a great
improvement done at the “Generalized Fryze Currents” control strategy
D. The Damping Control Algorithm
In a UPQC configuration, instability problems due to resonance phenomena may occur.
In order to enhance the overall system stability, an auxiliary circuit can be added to the
controller of the series active filter. The basic idea consists is increasing harmonic damping, as
a series resistance, but effective only in harmonic frequencies, others than the fundamental one.
This damping principle was first proposed by Peng [7], in terms of components defined in the
pq Theory and used by Aredes [8] and Fujita [9]. This damping control algorithm, now is in
terms of abc variables (in the phase mode), can be seen in Fig. 7.
The inputs to the damping circuit are the source currents ias, ibs, ics (compensated
currents), which are flowing through the series transformers of the UPQC, and the voltages
determined by the V+1 voltage detector va1, vb1, vc1. The active and non-active instantaneous
powers are determined by using the equations (2) and (3);
P = va1ias + vb1ibs + vc1ics
Q = vaq ias + vbq ibs + vcq ics − − − −( 2)

where
vaq = (vb1 −vc1 ) / 3 ., vbq = (vc1 −va1 ) / 3 ., vcq = (va1 −vb1 ) / 3 −−−−(3)

Fig.7. Damping control algorithm in terms of abc variables

Note that the voltages vaq, vbq, vcq are achieved from the fundamental positive-sequence voltages
va1, vb1, vc1. Therefore, it is possible to guarantee that the voltages vaq, vbq, vcq are still sinusoidal
and lag 90º the voltages va1, vb1, vc1, respectively. A conductance G and a susceptance B are
determined from the calculated active and non-active instantaneous powers, as shown in Fig.7.
Then, high-pass, fifth order Butterworth filters are used to extract the oscillating parts of that
conductance and susceptance.
The auxiliary currents iap, ibp, icp and iaq, ibq, icq, are determined as follows:
iap =Gosc .va1 ., ibp =Gosc .vb1 ., iap =Gosc .vc1 −−−−( 4)

iaq =Gosc .vaq ., ibq =Gosc .vbq ., iaq = Gosc .vcq −−−−(5)

Damping signals (harmonic components still present in the source currents) are determined as
described in (6).
iah = iaq +iap ., ibh = ibq +ibp ., ich = icq +ic p −−− −(6)

Finally, the multiplication between the damping signals iah, ibh, ich and a gain K determines the
damping voltages vah, vbh, vch that will be added to the compensating voltage references of the
series active filter of the UPQC, as will be explained in the next section. Thus, the gain K acts
as a harmonic resistance to damp resonance phenomena.
E. Compensating Voltages Calculation
The block diagram that determines the compensating voltages vac, vbc, vcc [Fig. 2(b)],
which is synthesized by the series PWM converter, is shown in Fig. 8. The inputs are the
control voltages determined by the V+1 voltage detector: va1, vb1, vc1, the source voltages: vas, vbs,
vcs, and the damping voltages: vah, vbh, vch.
The compensating voltages are:
vac = va1 − (vas + vah ) ., vbc = vb1 − (vbs + vbh ) ., vcc = vc1 − (vbs + vch ) − − − −(7)

Ideally, the compensated voltages delivered to the critical load will comprise only the
fundamental positive-sequence component (va1, vb1, vc1) of the supply voltage vS. The
damping voltages will improve stability and provide harmonic isolation
 Fig.8. Compensating voltages calculation.

As conclusion, the UPQC control strategy provides compensated voltages and currents
that are sinusoidal balanced and minimized (in phase). Therefore, the power factor is ideal, the
voltages delivered to the load are sinusoidal and balanced, and it is possible to guarantee that
the source currents will be sinusoidal, balanced and minimized even if under unbalanced and /
or distorted system voltages.

RESULTS

Some of the simulated results are presented based on the literature for the three- phase
six pulse thyristor rectifier, with 0.2 A DC-current (20 %), used as a non-linear load. The
results are based on the per unit bases. Thus, 1V (phase to ground) and 1A (line current) were
used as the basis of the system and a balanced,1V, three-phase, voltage source is used.
The shunt-active filter and the series-active filter start its operation in 0.2s. The total
simulation time is 0.8s. The thyristor rectifier is connected at t = 0.1s. An inductor and a
resistor, whose values correspond to 0.1 % of the system base impedance, compose the source
impedance. In this case, the short-circuit power at the load terminal is equal to 10 p.u. The
small high-pass filters to mitigate switching frequency harmonics at the series and shunt PWM
converters are R=0.6 Ω and C = 170 µ F. Although it seams a high capacitor, it corresponds
to 5% of the system base impedance. A capacitor of 2400µ F is used at the DC link of the
UPQC. The reference voltage is equal to 4.5 V. To give an idea of the capacitor’s dimension,
the unit capacitor constant (UCC) is calculated, by the following equation:
 1 2 1
cv .2400 µ ( 4.5) 2
Ucc = 2 =2 − − − −(8)
p 3.1.1
Fig. 9 shows the load, shunt and source currents ial, iac,ias, before, and after the start of
the shunt-active filter. After the start of the shunt active filter, the source current becomes
almost sinusoidal. It may be noticed, that the time that the source currents take to reach the
steady state is pretty small. This demonstrates that the proportional and integral gains of the DC
voltage regulator are well dimensioned.

Fig.9. Load currents of the shunt active filter and source current.
Fig. 10 shows the supply voltage vas (uncompensated, left side of the UPQC), the
compensating voltage vac of the UPQC, and compensated voltage vaw, delivered to the critical
load, before and after the start of the series active filter. The vaw voltage, after the start of the
series active filter, becomes almost sinusoidal.
 Fig.10. Supply voltages, Compensating voltage, and the compensated voltage delivered
to the critical load.
Fig. 11 shows the source currents ias, ibs, ics, the compensated voltages vaw, vbw, vcw, and
the current ias together with voltage vaw repeated in a separated graphic, before and after the
UPQC energization. It may be seen that, when the UPQC start its operation the source
currents, as well the compensated voltages become almost sinusoidal and balanced. The source
current ias and the compensated voltage vaw are almost in phase after the start of the UPQC. It
confirms that the control strategy proposed is useful in a three phase three-wire system, where
the system voltages are unbalanced and distorted and the load currents with high contents of
harmonics.
CONCLUSIONS

A control strategy for Unified Power Quality Conditioner based on instantaneous active and
reactive powers for three-phase three-wire systems is explained. In case of using in three phase
four-wire systems, there is the necessity of compensating the neutral current. In this case, three-
phase four wire PWM converter is necessary. The computational effort to develop this control
strategy is less as compared with pq-Theory-based controllers, since the (o -d-q) transformation
Fig.11 Source currents, Compensated voltages and the compensated voltages vaw together with
the source currents.
is avoided. For three-phase three-wire systems, the performance of the proposed approach is
comparable with those based on the pq Theory, without loss of robustness even if operating
under distorted and unbalanced system voltage conditions.
References
[1] S. Fryze, “Wirk-, Blind- und Scheinleistung in elektrischen Stromkainsen mit
nichtsinusfömigen Verlauf von Strom und Spannung,” ETZ-Arch. Elektrotech., vol. 53, 1932,
pp. 596-599, 625-627, 700-702.
[2] L. Malesani, L. Rosseto, P. Tenti, “Active Filter for Reactive Power and Harmonics
Compensation”, IEEE – PESC 1986, pp. 321-330.
[3] Luís F.C. Monteiro, M. Aredes, “A Comparative Analysis Among Different Control
Strategies for Shunt Active Filters,” Proc. (CDROM) of the V INDUSCON - Conferência de
Aplicações Industriais, Salvador, Brazil, July 2002, pp.345-350.
[4] T. Furuhashi, S. Okuma, Y. Uchikawa, "A Study on the Theory of Instantaneous Reactive
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[5] L. Rossetto, P. Tenti, "Evaluation of Instantaneous Power Terms in Multi-Phase Systems:
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[6] M. Depenbrock, D. A. Marshall, J. D. van Wyk, "Formulating Requirements
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[7] F.Z. Peng, H. Akagi, A. Nabae, “A New Approach to Harmonic Compensation in Power
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[8] M. Aredes, J. Häfner, K. Heumann, “ A Combined Series and Shunt Active Power Filter,”
IEEE/KTH Stockholm Power Tech Conf., vol. Power Electronics, pp. 237-242, Stockholm,
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[9] H. Fujita, H. Akagi, “The Unified Power Quality Conditioner: The Integration of Series and
Shunt Active Filters,” IEEE Trans. On Power Electronics, vol.13, No.2, March 1998.
[10] Power system Harmonics fundamentals, Analysis and Filter design, by G.J.Wakileh
Document By
SANTOSH BHARADWAJ REDDY
Email: help@matlabcodes.com
Engineeringpapers.blogspot.com
More Papers and Presentations available on above site