Allocation of power harmonic filters using Genetic Algorithm

In this paper it is confirmed that the placement of harmonic filters in power systems is not a trivial task. Although it seem obvious the allocation of filters in the buses with the biggest harmonic distortions and/or with the largest harmonic sources, it is going to be proven that these choices are not the best solution regard the network operation and the importance of some areas. The decision criterion in the present problem has the objective to minimize the network average distortion. The presented methodology also uses associated weight for each bus to categorize the most important network nodes and areas. The proposed methodology uses the three-phase harmonic current injection method with Newton-Raphson iterative solution (THCIM) associated with Genetic Algorithm (GA).