N. Radhakrishnan et al.

/ International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology

Vol. 2(4), 2010, 553-558

A FUZZY BASED POWER QUALITY

ENHANCEMENT STRATEGY FOR AC-
AC CONVERTERS
N.Radhakrishnan* M.Ramaswamy
Lecturer Professor
Department of Electrical Engineering,
Annamalai University, Annamalai nagar, TamilNadu-608002.
ABSTRACT
This paper attempts to design a fuzzy controller, with a view to enhance the overall power quality of an ac-
ac converter and regulate the load voltage. Besides it envisages to investigate the performance of three firing
strategies for the power switches in an AC–AC Converter. The algorithm is articulated in order that the input current
vector is allowed to closely follow the source voltage wave such that there is an enhancement in the fundamental
component, while the other harmonic components are significantly reduced. It presents Matlab based simulation
results to demonstrate the comparative merits of the triggering schemes and highlight the suitability of the fuzzy
logic controller over a wide range of load variations.
KEY WORDS: AC-AC Converter, Fuzzy Control, Power Quality, Voltage Regulation.
INTRODUCTION
AC voltage regulators are traditionally used to control power ranging from a few watts to fractions of
megawatts. The repeated switching action of the semiconductor devices in the power converter generates higher
order harmonics at the output. The input voltage distortion in the converter limits the amplitude of the fundamental
and introduces undesired harmonic components. The use of conventional harmonic reduction techniques ends up
only with the reappearance of the lower order harmonics in the output waveform. Besides larger the angle of
advance, poorer is the converter utilization and greater is the reactive power consumed.

Phase-angle and integral-cycle controlled line commutated voltage controllers have been extensively
employed. Though such techniques posses the ability of controlling large amount of power economically, it has been
to found to suffer from inherent disadvantages such as retardation of the firing angle resulting in a lagging power
factor at the input side especially at large firing angles and contaminating the current with high lower order
harmonic content in both load and supply sides. [1-3].
A modified phase angle strategy, built with a desired relationship between the output and input voltage has
been found to yield a higher fundamental component. Forced commutation realized through the use of a free
wheeling diode is implemented in an attempt to improve the input power factor of the ac voltage controller. The
performance evaluation of the EAC technique on a Single Phase Voltage Controller has been illustrated through
static load and the widely used Single-Phase Induction Motor to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach [4].
Owing to the fact that these techniques have not been successful in controlling the harmonics, later developments
have been found to pave the way for the emergence of symmetrical angle control (SAC), asymmetrical angle control
(AAC) and high frequency time ratio control (TRC), in an effort to reduce the harmonics.
The advent of Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) strategies has been found to offer a strong impact in the
sense, sense considerably contribute to the improvement of power quality. [5-8]. PWM ac voltage controllers
however have been found to offer a better performance because the desired output voltage is obtained by varying the
duty cycle of the power switches [10]. The advantages include a nearly sinusoidal input-output relationship, better
transient response and elimination of lower order harmonics. However, at low values of duty cycles, the claim is far
from true and augurs the need for an improvised approach. It is in this direction that a fuzzy based strategy is
suggested to improve the input power factor, lower the total harmonic distortion (THD) and reduce the harmonic
content.

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 N. Radhakrishnan et al. / International Journal of Engineering Science and Technology
Vol. 2(4), 2010, 553-558

PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
The objective is to design a fuzzy controller that envisages to reduce the harmonic content and improve the
overall power quality of an ac-ac conversion system. The performance of Power Converters depend to a large extent
on the suitability of the control technique used to generate the firing pulses for the power switches, which in turn
serve to control the power as desired by the application. It is this prelude that the suitability of three different
schemes is investigated with an AC-AC Converter to decide the choice of a particular scheme for a chosen
application.
FUZZY ALGORITHM
Fuzzy logic has found its role in many interesting application owing to the fact that it does not require a
complete mathematical model. The philosophy of fuzzy is a theory about vagueness or uncertainty and enables the
use of non-precise, ill-defined concepts. The significant feature is that it generates better solutions that cannot be
determined by other methods. It employs linguistic terms with casual relationship between the input and output
variables because of which it is easy to manipulate and rig out solutions.
The fuzzy terms describing both the input identified variables error (e), change in error (ce) and the output
variable (u) are negative big (NB), negative medium (NM), negative small (NS), zero (ZO), positive small (PS),
positive medium (PM) and positive big (PB). The sets defining the e, ce and u are as follows:
e = {NB, NM, NS, ZO, PS, PM, PB}
ce = {NB, NM, NS, ZO, PS, PM, PB}
u = {NB, NM, NS, ZO, PS, PM, PB}
Triangular membership functions with the specified range of values are chosen for input and output
linguistic variables. The variables are fuzzified through a continuous universe of discourse method and Mamdani’s
minimum operator implication is used. The fuzzy results are defuzzified through a centroid defuzzification process,
in order to achieve a crisp numerical value.
RULE BASE
The decisions are made by forming a series of rules that relate the input variable to the output variable
through “IF-THEN” statements. The input fuzzy variable is the output voltage, for which ‘e’ and ‘ce’ are computed.
These decision rules are expressed using linguistic variables. For example, a typical rule reads as follows:
Rule 1: If e is NS and ce is PS, THEN u is ZO
Rule 2: If e is PS and ce is PB, THEN u is PB
A set of fuzzy rules similar to the above can be obtained for different ‘e’ and ‘ce’ values. The algorithm
serves to determine the output, the control action ‘u’ which generates the reference wave.
PROPOSED APPROACH
The power circuit of the single phase 230V, 50Hz ac-ac converter shown in Fig.1 consists of two
bidirectional switches, with an IGBT in each of the legs of a diode bridge. One of them serves to regulate the power
delivered to the load rated for 6 KW, while the other is used in the freewheeling path. The approach includes to
generate pulses for the power switches in Fig.1 through a fuzzy based EAC and PWM schemes. The role of fuzzy is
to create a search mechanism and obtain an appropriate EAC/PWM pulses.

Fig.1 Power Circuit

EXTINCTION ANGLE CONTROL (EAC)

The basic philosophy in EAC is to start the conduction at the zero crossing of the supply voltage and devise
a mechanism so as to force commutate the IGBT at the desired angle before the next zero crossing. The conduction

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Vol. 2(4), 2010, 553-558

is allowed to start at the zero crossing of the supply voltage and the switch is forced to commutate at ωt = π − β. A
freewheeling path is provided for the load current to discharge the stored energy of the load inductance. The output
voltage is controlled by varying the extinction angle β. The fundamental component of the input current therefore
leads the input voltage, and the displacement factor (and power factor) is improved considerably.
The switching state is reversed when π – α < ωt < π. The switching state in the negative half cycle of supply
voltage is same as in positive one. So, the frequency of the switching function is double the supply frequency. The
rms component of the fundamental output phase voltage is:
Vm
V r1  sin 2   (   ) 2  (   ) sin 2
2
It is clear that the fundamental component of the output voltage is inversely proportional to the value of
angle α. The angle between the fundamental component of the output voltage and the supply voltage,  1 is given
by:
          sin  
1  tan 1   tan  *  
 2  2       sin  
PWM SCHEME
The most widely used strategy for controlling the power output of a Power Converter is the technique
known as Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). A modulation scheme aims to create trains of switched pulses which
have the same fundamental volt-second average (i.e. the integral of voltage waveform over time) as a target
reference waveform at any instant. The main aim of any PWM scheme is to calculate the converter switch ON times
which offer the desired target output voltage or current and determine the most effective way of arranging the
switching processes to minimize unwanted harmonic distortion.
Among a number of available schemes, Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) and Random PWM (RPWM) are
preferred on account of their flexibility and ease of implementation. The general principle of SPWM is that an isosceles triangle
carrier wave of frequency “fc” is compared with the sinusoidal fundamental modulating wave of frequency “f” and the points of
intersection determine the switching points of power device.
The RPWM technique is a novel method that serves to distribute the power spectrum of noise over a wide frequency
range and reduce the amplitudes of high frequency harmonics. Randomization of the switching frequency is the most common
implementation of RPWM. The triangular carrier signal, with which the reference voltage signal is compared, is generated
with a random slope.

Fig.2 Block diagram

The proposed strategy explained through Fig.2 is coined to incorporate a fuzzy based philosophy with a
dual purpose of arriving at the best possible value for the control variable ‘u’ which in turn serves to arrive at an
acceptable performance, in addition to performing its control function with a mission to regulate the output voltage.
The firing pulse is generated using the reference derived from the output fuzzy variable, the control vector ‘u’ and a
saw tooth carrier in the case of EAC and a triangular carrier in the case of PWM schemes. The single pulse coined in
each half cycle serves to obtain the regulated output across the load.

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Vol. 2(4), 2010, 553-558

SIMULATION RESULTS
The scheme is simulated using MATLAB–SIMULINK. The source rms voltage, input current, rms load
voltage and load current waveforms corresponding to a load of 4KW, obtained using SPWM is depicted in Fig 3.
Step changes in supply and load are introduced independently and their results displayed in the same figure.

Fig.3 Closed loop voltage and current wave forms

The sudden increase in load at 0.4 sec is accompanied by a proportionate increase in the load current.
Though the load voltage attempts to decline, it is almost instantaneously corrected by the action of controller in the
feedback path. A similar effect is observed at 0.8 sec when a sudden change occurs in the supply. Thus the FLC
enables the Power Converter to exhibit the desired performance even in the event of occurrence of such
disturbances.
The input current Power Quality indices of the schematic under study for three firing schemes is tabulated
in Table 1 for a range of load powers allowed to vary from 3.5 to 6 KW. The frequency spectra for a load power of 4
KW is depicted in Fig. 4
Table 1. Closed loop performance comparison

The readings in Table 1 exhibit the regulation of load voltage over a range of load powers. Though EAC
generally extracts the best input power factor, the FLC aids in bringing it closer to UPF over the entire range. The

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Vol. 2(4), 2010, 553-558

SPWM is superior in its attempt to minimize the harmonics in the sense it offers the minimum THD and enables to
draw the highest fundamental input current. The FLC on its part contributes to further enhance the fundamental and
still lower the THD. The specific advantage of RPWM as seen from the harmonic spectrum in Fig. 4(c) is that it
facilitates to spread the harmonic power such that no harmonic component has a dominant value, and the FLC in its
bid sustain the spectra.

Fig.4a) Spectra for EAC Fig.4b) Spectra for SPWM

Fig.4c) Spectra for RPWM

The variation of input current power factor with load power obtained through EAC for both PI and Fuzzy
controllers is related through bar chart in Fig 5. A similar chart exhibiting the variation of THD with load power in
the case of SPWM is shown in Fig 6. The diagrams in addition to validating the Fuzzy results serves to point out that
FLC outperforms the traditional controller owing to its logical nature and reasoning capability.

0.995 14

12
0.99
10
P o w er facto r

0.985 8
THD%

0.98 6

4
0.975
2

0.97 0
3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6 3.5 4 4.5 5 5.5 6
Loadpower(KW) Loadpower(KW)

FUZZY PI FUZZY PI

Fig.5 Load vs PF [EAC] Fig.6 Load vs THD% [SPWM]

CONCLUSION
A FLC has been designed in an attempt to improve the power quality indices of an AC–AC Conversion
System, in addition to regulating its output voltage both under steady and transient states. The Fuzzy response,

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Vol. 2(4), 2010, 553-558

validated through PI action has been found to prove worthy for use with Power Converters. The performance of
three firing schemes has been compared to highlight the advantages of the individual method. The fact that SPWM
inherits a number of specific advantages has been amply brought out to illustrate its applicability over a wide range
of applications. The ability of RPWM to spread its harmonic power has been found to tailor itself to be suitable for
high power applications on account of the fact that it significantly curtails the magnitude of harmonic components
besides reducing the filtering requirements. Though the choice of a particular scheme can only be decided by
specific needs still such an analysis along with the merits of the proposed FLC will go a long way in nurturing
innovative applications for AC-AC conversion systems.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors thank the authorities of Annamalai University for providing the necessary facilities in order to
accomplish this piece of work.

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