540
A New Control Algorithm for Harmonics and
Reactive Power Compensation under Non-ideal
Mains Voltage
Shailendra Kumar Jain, Pramod Agrawal, and H.O. Gupta
Abstract-- This paper presents a new control algorithm for 3-
phase shunt active power filter to compensate harmonics and
reactive power requirements of nonlinear loads under non-ideal
mains. The control algorithm compensates only customer-
generated harmonics and allows similar level of harmonic
distortion as present in the distorted voltage. Therefore, the
resultant source current will have the same waveform as that of
the supply voltage. Due to similar shape of source voltage and
current, reactive power is compensated completely. It works
effectively under ideal mains condition. The proposed scheme
provides an additional feature of compensation of either
harmonics only, or the compensation of both harmonics and
reactive power simultaneously, based on the desired capacity of
the APF. Various simulation results are presented with
distorted as well as ideal mains.
Index Terms - Active power filter, harmonic and
reactive power compensation, non-ideal mains voltage,
power quality.
I. INTRODUCTION
N recent years, power electronic converters utilizing
I switching devices are widely used in various industrial as
well as domestic applications for the control of power flow
to almost all types of electrical loads. These converters take
the advantages of all the recent advances and improvements
of power electronics, suffer from the problem of drawing
non-sinusoidal current and reactive power from the source
and pollute the supply. These controllers are being used in
increasing numbers and their contribution to the waveform
distortion is of growing interest to the power utilities.
Various standards are set the limit these harmonics.
Active Power Filters (APF) are researched and developed
as a viable alternative over the passive filters to solve these
Shailendra Kumar Jain is with the Electrical Engineering Department,
Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, presently persuing
Ph.D. under QIP at Dept. of Elect. Engg., I. I. T., Roorkee (e-mail:
shailjain02@rediffmail.com).
Pramod Agrawal, is Asso. Professor, with the Electrical Engineering
Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (e-mail:
pramoda@nde.vsnl.net.in).
H. O. Gupta is Professor, with the Electrical Engineering Department,
Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (e-mail: harifee@iitr.ernet.in).
NATIONAL POWER SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, NPSC 2002
problems. The APF can compensate the harmonics and
reactive power requirement of the non-linear load
effectively. Presently APFs are designed to absorb all the
harmonics generated and/or reactive power required by the
load and make the source current sinusoidal. Most of the
APF developed are based on the instantaneous reactive
power theory for the calculation of the desired
compensation current [1]-[4]. In this theory the mains
voltages are assumed as an ideal source. However, in most
industrial power system mains voltages are often unbalanced
and/or distorted and affect the calculation accuracy of the
compensation current. When the mains voltage are distorted,
the performance of the instantaneous reactive power theory
is significantly affected [6]. Although several improved
algorithms are proposed [3], most control circuits are
complicated and are not easy to implement.
Another approach is proposed which does not require
sensing the harmonic or VAR requirement of the load [5]-
[7]. This scheme is aimed the mains current to be balanced
and undistorted in spite of distorted and/or unbalanced
mains. Although, this method is simple and easy to
implement, it compensates both harmonics and reactive
power simultaneously and does not provide the
compensation of harmonics only. Usually compensation of
both harmonics and reactive power simultaneously is not
preferred due to limited rating of the APF. Also, in this case
the reactive volt-ampere requirement is not completely
compensated due to the waveform difference between the
mains voltage and current.
Although, the generated voltage waveform is always
sinusoidal but there are many devices that distort the mains
voltage and these distortions are propagated all over the
network. If such distorted supply is being used by a customer
which is true in general, the harmonic generated may be
much more than the harmonics generated in case of
harmonic free supply. To make the mains current sinusoidal,
customers have to put active filter even if load is resistive or
some times they have to put large size active filter even
though they are not responsible for certain harmonics
present due to non-sinusoidal supply.
This paper presents a new control algorithm for 3-phase
shunt active power filter to compensate only those
harmonics, which are generated by the customer using
harmonic generated loads. Therefore, the resultant source
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, KHARAGPUR 721302, DECEMBER 27-29, 2002 541

current will have the same waveform as that of the supply

voltage. Due to similar shape of source voltage and current,
unity power factor is achieved, which provide more effective
reduction of voltage THD at network buses and lower loss on
the line resistance than the other classical methods [11,12].

10 ∠100° (450 Hz)

20∠80° (150 Hz)
The proposed scheme provides an additional feature of
compensation of either harmonics only, or the compensation 10∠60° (150 Hz)
of both harmonics and reactive power simultaneously, based 80∠5° (50 Hz)
on the desired capacity of the APF. Also, unlike [4], it is iL
applicable to both 1 -phase as well as 3-phase systems. 100∠30° (50 Hz)
VS 10∠-100° (350 Hz)
II. P ROPOSED ALGORITHM

8∠100 ° (450 Hz)

8 ∠-125° (450 Hz)
K. Srinivasan [8],[9] have proposed a method to separate
out the customer and supply side harmonic contributions. iS1 * 80∠5° (50 Hz)
8∠60° (150 Hz)
Based on this principle it is possible to estimate the
reference current, which customer should draw from the 8∠-15° (150 Hz)
utility. Each frequency component of the total source 80∠30° (50 Hz)
iS2 *
current in a distorted supply system is having two
components, one conforming current and other non-
conforming current. The sum of all frequencies of Fig. 2. Frequency spectrum of voltage VS, load current iL and extracted
conforming current is defined as total conforming current currents i S1* & i S2*
and it has the same shape as that of voltage as it has the same
relative levels of harmonics currents as the voltage. It is this other i.e. load draw only active power from the source and
current that the customer should be allowed to draw from a the reactive power demand is zero. While the distortion
non-sinusoidal supply voltage network. On the other hand present in current waveform is of the same level as present
sum of all frequencies of non-conforming current is the in the voltage waveform. Frequency component of such
total non-conforming current and it is the current, which voltage and currents are presented in fig 2.
APF should compensate. This concept is used here for the On examining the corresponding frequency components
estimation of reference current for harmonic compensation. of any voltage and current distorted to the same extent,
A modified algorithm is proposed for the compensation of following relationships are deduces –
both harmonic and reactive power simultaneously. (i) Current to voltage amplitude ratio is constant for all
A non-sinusoidal voltage and load current as a general frequencies.
case can be expressed as - (ii) Current to voltage phase difference of the nth
vS(t) = 100sin(ωt+30)+10sin(3ωt+60)+10sin(9ωt+100), harmonic is n times the current to voltage phase
iL(t) = 80sin(ωt+5)+ 20sin(3ωt+80)+10sin(7ωt-100) difference of the fundamental, for only harmonic
Fig. 1(a) shows the voltage (VS) and extracted current compensation.
(iS1 *) waveform distorted to the same level but not in phase. (iii) Phase angle of nth harmonic current is same of the
Fig. 1(b) shows the voltage (VS) and extracted current (iS2 *) nth harmonic voltage, for harmonic and reactive
waveform distorted to the same level and in phase with each power compensation simultaneously.
A. Mathematical Expressions
Any non-sinusoidal signal can be expressed as a sum of
sinusoidal signal of various frequencies. Based on this the
utility voltage (vs) and load current (i L) can be expressed as –
k
vs(t) = ∑ n=1
Vn sin (nωt + θn ), and (1)

k
iL(t) = ∑ n=1
In sin (nωt + φn) (2)

Where, θn and φn are the phase difference of nth order

Fig. 1(a). Voltage and Current distorted to the same extent
(b). Voltage and current distorted to the same extent and in phase with each
other
voltage and current waveform. The reference current drawn
from the source is the portion of the current, which retains
the same level of distortion as the voltage, while at the same
time accounts for the entire fundamental frequency
component. The reference current has the same graphical
pattern of variation as the voltage. It might have a time leg or
542
lead or may be in phase with the voltage, depending on the
harmonic or harmonic and reactive power compensation
capability. Thus the fundamental frequency component of
the reference current will equal to the fundamental
frequency component of load current I1 (plus loss
component) for harmonic compensation, and I1cosφ1 (plus
loss component) for both harmonic and reactive power
compensation respectively [11]. All other frequency
components will be in the same proportion as their
counterparts in the voltage, which can be mathematically
expressed as –
For both Harmonic and Reactive Power Compensation
k
 I1 
i s,ref ( t ) = ∑  V
n =1
.Vn sin( nωt + θ n )
1
For Harmonic Compensation
k
 I1 
∑  V .Vn sin( n ωt + θ n + n( φ 1 − θ 1 ))
i s,ref ( t ) =
1
n =1
The balance of reference and load current will flow from
the APF and should be attributable to the customer. It
contains only loss component as the fundamental frequency
component.
ic(t) = i L(t) - is,ref(t)
III. ESTIMATION OF REFERENCE CURRENT
The reference current component are estimated by
measuring the supply voltage harmonics, fundamental load
current and their respective angles, as per equation (3) and
(4). The complete schematic diagram of the proposed 3-
phase shunt active power filter is shown in fig. 3.
A. For harmonic and reactive power compensation
For the compensation of both harmonic and reactive
power simultaneously, both voltage and current should be in
phase. Fundamental voltage and fundamental current gives
the scaling required (I1 /V1 ) for all the current harmonics. All
the voltage frequency components are scaled by this factor
and rotated by the angle of nth harmonic voltage (i.e. θ3 for
the 3rd harmonic, θ5 for the 5th harmonic etc.) to obtain the
harmonic components of the reference current. The sum of
fundamental and harmonic component obtained as per
equation (3) gives the estimated reference current, which is
having same shape as the source voltage and in phase of it.
Since the shape of source current is same as the source
voltage and are in phase with each other reactive power is
compensated completely.
B. For harmonic compensation
For the compensation of harmonics, the fundamental
frequency current is 100% conforming and it is responsible
NATIONAL POWER SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, NPSC 2002
for the power transfer to load and no portion of fundamental
frequency can be considered as non-conforming. Therefore,
fundamental voltage and fundamental current gives the
rotation angle and the scaling required (I1/V1) for all the
conforming current harmonics. If all the voltage frequency
component are properly scaled and rotated by appropriate
angles (3 rd harmonics by 3 times fundamental current-
voltage angle, 5 th harmonic by 5 times fundamental current-
voltage angle etc.), the harmonic components of reference
current can be obtained as described in eq. (4). The sum of
the fundamental load current and harmonic components
obtained gives the resultant reference current, which has the
same shape of the voltage waveform but may not be in phase.
Current that should be drawn from the utility, whose shape
is similar to that of the voltage remains the responsibility of
(3) the utility. The rest of the current is attributed to the
customer. The advantage of splitting in this manner is that :
- Utility have the responsibility of maintaining the distortion
free voltage, while
- Customer have the responsibility of maintaining the
distortion free current.
(4)
i.e., if distortion presents in the utility voltage, similar
level of distortion are allowed in the current, so that
customer have to install a lower capacity APF.
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
Various simulation results are obtained using MATLAB
and its tools Power System Blockset and Simulink. A 3-
phase thyristor converter with firing angle α=30° is used as
(5) a nonlinear load. A voltage source PWM converter with a dc
bus capacitor is used as an APF. The source voltages and
load currents of two phase are measured and their harmonic
components are compued. Using fundamental load current
and voltage harmonics reference currents are obtained. DC
bus capacitor voltage is regulated to obtain the loss
component and added with the fundamental component of
load current. For simulation study following 3-phase mains
voltages are used –
vsa = 325 sin ωt + 30 sin 5ωt
vsb = 325 sin (ωt-120°) + 30 sin (5ωt-120°) (6)
vsc = 325 sin (ωt+120°) + 30 sin (5ωt+120°)
Various simulation results are obtained by the proposed
algorithm, under distorted mains, which can be used for the
compensation of either harmonics only, or for the
compensation of both harmonic and reactive simultaneously.
The important aspect of this algorithm is that, it allows the
similar level of harmonics in compensated current as present
in the utility voltage. However, if the mains voltage is
distortion free, compensated source current will also be free
from distortion.
A. Harmonic & Reactive Power Compensation
Fig. 4 shows the simulation results of the proposed
algorithm under distorted mains voltages, for harmonic and
reactive power compensation simultaneously. Fig. 4(a)
shows the source voltage, load current, source cur rent, APF
current and DC capacitor voltage for phase ‘A’. Fig. 4(b)
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, KHARAGPUR 721302, DECEMBER 27-29, 2002 543

shows the frequency spectrum of load and compensated

source currents, while fig. 4(c) shows the three source
currents with their respective source voltages. It is observed
that, the shape of the source voltages and currents are same,
and they are in phase with each other, so that reactive power
is fully compensated. Fig. 4(b). Frequency spectrum of load and source current
Non-linear

is iL
R s, L s PCC

c, L c

ic

s1 - s6
Vs Compute
voltage
1,3,5... is
harmonics Hysteresis
Compute
controller
current
Compute I1
reference i s*
iL fundamental
load current

PI V dc
controller

V dc,ref

Fig. 3 Schematic diagram of proposed shunt active power filter

After compensation the harmonic level of the 40

Vsa x 0.1

compensated current is same as present in the source

isa

0
&

voltage. In order to study the performance of the APF under

transient condition, load is changed from 50+j31.4 to -40
0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
25+j31.4. Figure 4(d) shows various waveforms during load 40
Vsb x 0.1

change condition. The change in source current is found

isb

0
&

smooth. Steady state is reached within 3-4 cycles.

-40
0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
40
Vsc x 0.1

isc
&

-40
0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
time(sec.)

Fig.4(c) Source voltages, and source currents of all the three phases for
harmonic & reactive power compensation simultaneously

Fig. 4(a). source voltage, load current, source current, APF current and dc
capacitor voltage for phase ‘A’, for both harmonic and reactive power
compensation.
544 NATIONAL POWER SYSTEMS CONFERENCE, NPSC 2002

similar distortion level in source current as present in the

distorted mains, some times customer has to put a small size
Fig. 4(d) Various waveforms during load change for harmonic & reactive
power compensation simultaneously active filter, as compared to maintaining the source current
Proposed algorithm works satisfactorily with ideal mains.
Fig. 5 shows the three-phase compensated current with their
respective sinusoidal source voltages. Compensated source
current becomes sinusoidal and in phase with the source
voltage. For only harmonic compensation case compensated
current will be sinusoidal but displaced with the source
voltage by an angle φ1.

400
Vsa

0
-400
200.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
iLa

0
-20
250.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
sinusoidal. Work in this direction is in progress and will be
isa

0
reported later.
-25
200.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
Fig. 6 Compensated source currents of all the three phases with their
ica

0 respective source voltage for only harmonic compensation

-20
7000.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
VI. ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Vdc

680
660
0.2 0.22 0.24 0.26 0.28 0.3
The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to
time(sec.) Quality Improvement Program of MHRD, Government of
India and Principal, M.A.C.T. Bhopal, (M.P.) for sponsoring
Fig. 5 Simulation results for harmonic and reactive power compensation one of the authors Shailendra Kumar Jain for his Ph.D. work.
simultaneously with ideal mains.

B. Only Harmonic Compensation
Various simulation results are obtained with the proposed
algorithm for only harmonic compensation. Fig. 6 shows the
three-phase source current with their respective phase
voltages. It is observed that, the harmonic level of the
compensated source current is same as present in the source
voltage. The shape of the source voltages and currents are
same, but they are not in phase, hence no reactive power is
compensated.
V. CONCLUSIONS
A new control algorithm is proposed which estimate the
reference compensating current in frequency domain. It is
capable to maintain similar distortion level in the
compensated source current as present in the mains voltage
thereby attributes the responsibility of utility and customer
at PCC. The voltage is the responsibility of the utility, while
the customer is responsible for current. Due to similar shape
of compensated source current and source voltage, unity
power factor operation can be achieved even under distorted
mains conditions. Unity power factor operation provides
harmonics at the same frequencies of the source voltage, as
a consequence lowers the voltage THD at the user busbar. It
is also capable to achieve only harmonic compensation.
Proposed algorithm works effectively under ideal mains
condition as compared to other methods. By maintaining the
VII. REFERENCES
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INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, KHARAGPUR 721302, DECEMBER 27-29, 2002 545

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