Three-Phase Active Power Filter under Non-sinusoidal Voltage Conditions

This article presents a three-phase active power filter (APF) for compensating reactive power and harmonic currents under distorted voltage conditions. This work is motivated by the necessity to correct the deteriorated power factor caused by the increase of consumer electronic equipment. The APF is designed to compensate for the ldquonon-activerdquo power of the loads. The current compensation is based on the concept of non-active current. This definition permits the power factor to become unity, even under non-sinusoidal source voltage conditions, and balances the active power per phase. The paper presents the three-phase non-active current definition and the power system compensation, as well as the details of the control design. The APF is simulated as a non-active power compensator to validate the theory. The line current spectral test shows that the APF brings the electrical power system into compliance with the IEEE standard 519-1002.