Analysis of reference current identification strategies

for shunt active filter under distorted load conditions

Ali TETA Mohamed Mounir Abdellah KOUZOU Abdelkader Azzeddine Saddam BENSAOUCHA
Applied Automation and REZAOUI Applied Automation and LAOUID Laboratory of studies
Industrial Diagnostics Applied Automation and Industrial Diagnostics Applied Automation and and Development of Semi
Laboratory Industrial Diagnostics Laboratory Industrial Diagnostics conductor and Dielectric
University of Djelfa, Laboratory University of Djelfa, Laboratory Materials
Algeria University of Djelfa, Algeria University of Djelfa, University of Laghouat,
tetaali@hotmail.com Algeria kouzouabdellah@ieee.org Algeria Algreria
mm_rezaoui@yahoo.fr s.laouid@univ-djelfa.com s.bensaoucha@lagh-univ.dz

Abstract—Due to the increasing use of the nonlinear loads, Idq Load currents in dq reference frame
shunt active filters have gained a lot of attention as an effective
solution for harmonic current mitigation. One of the most Vdq Grid voltages in dq reference frame
important units in the shunt active filter is the reference current
identification unit, because of its direct impact on the filter Vdc, Vdc_ref Actual, reference values of dc-link voltage
efficiency, it has been discussed in many researches and several
theories are developed for the purpose of extracting the reference ICabc Compensating currents
currents effectively. This paper examines the performance of two
reference current identification strategies, namely, the
synchronous reference frame or (SRF theory) and the
instantaneous reactive power or (PQ theory) applied to a shunt
active power filter under an unbalanced voltage conditions and a Conventionally, various solutions had been proposed for the
nonlinear load. purpose of eliminating the harmonics such as passive filters
which have the ability to compensate specific harmonics using
Keywords— SAPF, PQ theory, SRF theory, harmonic current series or parallel-connected impedances, although its easy
implementation and low cost, passive filters have certain
I. INTRODUCTION drawbacks such their dependency on the circuit characteristics,
the resonant problem and their large size as well [3-5].
As a result of the industrial evolution, an extensive use of
the nonlinear load has been noticed in recent years, these Among numerous proposed solutions for eliminating the
nonlinear loads are considered as a source of harmonic currents harmonics, the shunt active power filter has several features
which are dangerous and may cause significant damage to the such as offering the optimum solution for the ASD rectifiers,
electronic devices and consequently a decreasing in the power improving the low power factor and balancing the source
factor [1], [2]. current. It can also operate without consuming any power from
the source [6-8].
NOMENCLATURE Many strategies have been developed in the field of the
identification of the compensation current as, instantaneous
reactive power or PQ theory in [9], synchronous d-q reference
SAPF Shunt active power filter frame or SRF theory [10], neural network and fuzzy logic
based techniques. This paper intends to analyze and compare
PQ Instantaneous reactive power theory the performance of the two first methods and to perform their
simulations under nonlinear load and unbalanced load
SRF Synchronous reference frame
conditions using Matlab Simulink.
LPF Low-pass filter
II. SYSTEM DESCRIPTION
Iabc Load currents
Figure 1 shows the configuration of a three-phase three
Vabc Grid voltages wire shunt active power filter which is connected in shunt to
the nonlinear load [10], its operating principle is based on
THD Total harmonic distortion injecting an opposite current to the harmonic one produced by
Iαβ Load currents in αβ reference frame the nonlinear load [5].

Vαβ Grid voltages in αβ reference frame

Ө Phase angle

987-1-5386-4988-6/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE

 �i cd � �id - id �
� �= � �
i
�cq � � iq - iq � (3)

The α-β coordinates of the compensation currents can be

derived by using the inverse Park transformation accordingly to
the equations (4).
i ca � �
� cos q - sin q �i cd �
�
=� �
�
�
�
i c b � �sin q cos q �
�i cq �
� � (4)

Then the α-β coordinates are transformed back to the a-b-c

Fig. 1. Block diagram of shunt Active power filter coordinates using inverse Clarke transformation the three-phase
compensation currents can be expressed as:
III. REFERENCE CURRENT IDENTIFICATION STRATEGIES � �
� �
Many developed strategies for the purpose of generating the
�i ca � �1 0 �
reference currents such as the synchronous reference frame 2�1
� �= - 3 ��
i ca �
strategy discussed in [10], and the instantaneous reactive power i
�cb � � �� �
theory that was suggested by H. Akagi, in [9]. 3�2 2 �
icb �
�
�
� �
i cc �
�1 3� (5)
�- - �
A. Synchronous d-q reference frame (SRF theory) �2 2 �
In the synchronous reference frame strategy the three-phase The block diagram of the synchronous reference frame
load currents are converted firstly into α-β then into d-q frame strategy given in figure 3.
using Clarke then Park transformation respectively [10], [8]
according to the equations (1) and (2) respectively.
� 1 1 �
1 - - ia �
�
ia �
� 2� 2 2 �� �
� = � �i b
ib �
� � 3� 3 3 �� �
0
� - �
ic �
� �
� 2 2 ��
(1)
The current components in the rotating reference is related Fig. 3. Block diagram of SRF theory
to the stationary reference [8] as presented in figure 2.
B. Instantaneous reactive power (PQ theory)
The instantaneous reactive power theory was first proposed
by Akagi [9], in this theory the current and voltages are
transformed from a-b-c into α-β coordinates as illustrated in
equations (6) and (7).
�1 1 1 �
�2
�
i0 � � 2 2 �
��
ia �
� � 2� 1 1 �� �
ia �
� = 1 - - �i b
Fig. 2. Representation of the stationary and synchronous frames
� � 3� 2 2 ��
ib � ��
� �
ic �
The current components can be expressed as: � � � 3 3� (6)
�0 - �
� 2 2 �
i d � �cos q
� sin q ��ia �
� =�
iq �
� �� - sin q
��
cos q ��b �
i � (2) �1
�2
1 1 �
�
v0 � � 2 2 �
�
vb �
va�
� � 2� 1 1 �
q = tan -1 va �
� = 1 - - �v b �
�
Where va
� � 3� 2 2 ��
vb � ��
� �
vc �
� � � 3 3� (7)
After the use of a LPF filter the load current is decomposed -
into average and oscillatory components as follows: �0 �
� 2 2 �
 The load current and source voltage equations are expressed
in equations (8) and (9) without the zero sequence component.
1
� 1 1 �
� - - ��
ia
�
ia � 2 2 2 ���
� �= � �ib
ib � 3�0 3 3���
� - �� (8)
� ���
ic
� 2 2 �
1
� 1 1 �
- - �
va �
�
va � 2� 2 2 �
� �= � �v b �
�
v 0
3� 3 3���
�b � - �
vc � (9)
� �� �
� 2 2 � Fig. 5. Hysteresis control technique
Instantaneous active and reactive power can be written as
follows in equation (10). The control signal of the other two phases is generated
using the same idea as illustrated in figure 6
p �
�� va vb � ia �
�
=� ��
��
q
�� vb
� -v a �ib �
� � (10)

The compensating α-β currents are given by:

i ca �
� 1 va
� vb � - p%+ p loss �
�
� �= 2 2 � �� �
i c b � v a +v b �
� vb -v a �� -q � (11)

Finally, the three phase compensating currents is derived Fig. 6. Block diagram of the hysteresis controller
using the inverse Clarke transformation as in equation (12)
The regulation of the voltage across the dc capacitor is an
� � important factor in the improvement of the control system for
� �
�i ca � �1 0 � the shunt active power filter, so the voltage need to be
2�1 maintained at a constant level to overcome the decreasing
� �
i cb = - 3 � �i ca �
�� � �� � causes by the power losses during the switching of the inverter
3�2 2 � �icb �
IGBTs [13]. In this study a PI controller is used to regulate the
�
�cc �
i �
�1 3� (12) dc voltage.
�- - �
�2 2 �
The block diagram of the PQ theory is shown in figure 4.
V. SIMULATION RESULTS
The parameters of the simulation of the shunt active power
filter connected to an uncontrolled diode rectifier are shown in
table I.

TABLE I. SYSTEM PARAMETERS

Parameter Value
Fig. 4. Block diagram of PQ theory
Supply 220V, 50HZ
Source Resistance 0.2Ω
IV. HYSTERESIS CURRENT CONTROL Source Inductance 0.15e-3H
Filter Inductance 2e-2H
This control strategy depends on the error signal between Load(R-L) 15Ω 10e-3H
the generated and the reference current, this error will be Capacitor voltage 800V
compared with hysteresis bands as shown in figure 5, according
to this comparison a control signal will be produced [11], [12].
A. Simulation results without SAPF
Figure 7 proves that the source current has been
distorted by the non linear load harmonics, while in figure
8 it’s clearly noticed that the source has been affected by
the unbalanced load connected. These conditions have led
 25

20

15

to an increasing in the THD (about 20.1 %) as illustrated 10

in 80figure 9.

Current (A)
5

0
60
-5

40 -10

20 -15
Current(A)

-20
0
-25
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
-20 Time (S)
-40

-60

-80
0 0.05 0.1 0.15
Time (S)
8 Fig. 11. Source current under nonlinear load
6

Current (A)
20 Fig. 7. Source current under unbalanced load conditions 0
15
-2
10
-4
5
Current (A)

-6
0
-8
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
-5 Time (S)

-10

-15

-20
0 0.05 0.1 0.15
Time (S) Fig. 12. The injected current using SRF

Figure proves that the THD had been minimized to

Fig. 8. Source current under nonlinar load 1.02%, which evidences the effectiveness of the SAPF
100
THD= 20.10% based on the synchronous reference frame strategy.
Mag (%of Fundamental)

80 100
THD= 1.02%
Mag(%of Fundamental)

60 80

40 60

20 40

0 20
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Frequency (Hz) 0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Frequency (Hz)

Fig. 9. Total harmonic distortion spectrum without SAPF

Fig. 13. THD using SRF theory

B. Simulation results of SAPF using SRF theory

As shown in figure 10, the source current is balanced C. Simulation results of SAPF using PQ theory
back ones the shunt active power filter based SRF is In this section the simulation results of the SAPF
connected at 0.04S, while figures 11 and 12 show the based on PQ theory are shown as follows, figures 14, 15
compensated source current under a nonlinear load and the and 16 present respectively the obtained source current
injected
80 current by the SAPF respectively. under unbalanced load, nonlinear load and the injected
60 current before and after the initialization of the SAPF at
40
0.02S, it is obvious that the amplitude of the source current
80

20
is smaller (about 5 A) than the current obtained using SRF.
Current (A)

60

0
40

-20
Curent (A)

20

-40
0

-60
-20

-80
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 -40
Time (S)
-60

-80
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
Time (S)

Fig. 10. Source current under unbalanced load conditions

Fig. 14. Source current under unbalanced load conditions

 25

20

15

10 techniques performed very well under nonlinear load

conditions and achieve an optimal THD (below 5%). However,
Curent (A)

-5 it must be said that the SFR technique performs much better

-10

-15
under unbalanced load.
-20

-25
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
Time (S)

Fig. 15. Source current under nonlinear load

15

10

5
Curent (A)

-5

Fig. 19. THD comparison of PQ and SRF techniques

-10

-15
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12
Time (A)
VII. CONCLUSION
Fig. 16. The injected current using PQ This paper presents a comparative study of two reference
current identification strategies (instantaneous reactive power
Figure 17 outlines the THD spectrum of the source current and synchronous reference frame theories) for a shunt active
which has been reduced to 1.54%. power filter under unbalanced and nonlinear load, the
100
THD= 1.54% simulation results showed that the both used techniques are
Mag (%of Fundamental)

80
efficient under the nonlinear load with a slight better preference
60 for the SRF technique while it’s clearly noticed that the PQ
40 method has a poorer performance than the SRF method under
20
the unbalanced load conditions.
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000
Frequency (Hz)
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