A novel non-linear, carrier free, constant frequency integration controlled active power line conditioner to enhance power quality

Power quality (PQ) issues are becoming increasingly important to electrical utilities as well as to individual customers. Energy conservation efforts and the need for continuous control of certain industrial processes have led to an increased use of electronic equipment and motor drives which are the benign sources of power quality problems. The disturbance due to power quality problems are directly related to the proliferation of loads consuming non-sinusoidal currents referred to as "nonlinear loads", where the static rectifier is prominent among them. Understanding and providing an efficient solution for solving the power quality problems has become highly critical. As a remedial measure this paper focused on the performance evaluation of an active power filter (APF) based on constant frequency integration control, which provides a cost-effective and flexible solution to improve power quality. The key features are carrier free, constant switching frequency operation, minimum reactive and harmonic current generation, unity power factor and low cost circuitry. The proposed system has been simulated and the results confirm its superior performance in enhancing power quality.