Comparison of active power filter reference current detection methods under distorted and unbalanced PCC voltages

The most used reference current detection methods for shunt active power filter are analyzed and compared in this article, theoretically and through simulations in MATLAB/Simulink. Some practical aspects of hardware implementation are also discussed. Measured data, acquired with a dedicated data acquisition system provides the parameters required for a non-ideal real system simulation, namely a static excitation system of a power generator group. The simulated system consists of a transformer which feeds a controlled rectifier bridge. The Matlab/Simulink models allows for testing of the reference current detection methods implementation and dealing with problems arising with distortion and unbalance of mains voltages. The comparison may be useful in future hardware implementation.