Active filters for power quality improvement

Abstract

This paper deals with problems related with harmonics in power system networks. Several international standards issued to control power quality problems are briefly described and some important methods to analyse electrical circuits with non-sinusoidal waveforms are introduced and evaluated. One of these methods - the p-q theory - was used to implement the control algorithm of a shunt active filter, which is also described in this paper as an application example. The filter can compensate for harmonic currents, power factor and load unbalance. Both simulation and experimental results are presented, showing that good dynamic and steady state response can be achieved with this approach.