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Passive Filter Report
Passive Filter Report
Passive Filter Report
Introduction
A passive harmonic filter is a type of electronic filter used to reduce harmonic distortion
in power systems. Harmonics are unwanted frequencies that result from nonlinear
loads such as variable frequency drives, electronic ballasts, and other types of
Passive harmonic filters work by providing a path for harmonic currents to flow, which
then reduces the amount of harmonic distortion in the system. They are called "passive"
There are different types of passive harmonic filters, but they generally consist of one or
more tuned LC circuits that are connected in series or parallel with the load. The LC
circuit acts as a frequency-selective filter that attenuates the harmonics while allowing
Passive harmonic filters are commonly used in industrial and commercial settings
where harmonic distortion can cause problems such as equipment failure, overheating,
and power quality issues. They are also used in renewable energy systems such as wind
Passive LC filters are conventionally used to suppress the harmonic distortion in power
system. In general they consist of various shunt branches, which are respectively tuned
to the predominant harmonics. However the passive filter has some limitations. The
(1) Well designed passive filters can be implemented in large sizes of Mvars of ratings
(2) These are more economical to implement than the synchronous condensers.
(3) A single installation can serve many purposes, like reactive power compensation
and power factor improvement, reducing THD, voltage support on critical buses in case
of source outage, reducing starting impact and voltage drop of large motors.
The passive harmonic filters are composed of passive elements: inductor and capacitor.
The common types of passive filter harmonic filter include single tuned and double
tuned filters, second order, third order and C type damped filter. The single tuned filter
is the most common shunt filter in use. The general layout of a single tuned passive
shunt filter is shown in Figure. A filter comprises a series of stages each corresponding
to a harmonic order. This can also compensate for the reactive power and thus giving
1. It acts as very low impedance at the frequency for which it is tuned, as such
2. When the source impedance is inductive, there is a resonance peak, which occurs
at a frequency lower than the frequency for which the filter is tuned.
3. The impedance rises with frequency for frequencies above that at which the
frequency is tuned
Filters are either series connected or shunt connected in the AC system. The concept of
series connected filter is parallel resonating electrical circuit, which offers very high
impedance at tuning frequencies. The high impedance offered by the filter allows very
little harmonics to pass through it. The disadvantage of this type of connection is that all
the filter components are required to be rated for full line current, which makes
installation vary expensive. Most commonly the filters are shunt connected to the AC
system. This type of filters use series resonating electrical circuit offering negligible
low impedance path, provided by the filters, attract major portion of the harmonics and
allows very small portion of the harmonics to flow into the AC systems. Components in
the shunt connected filter branch are designed for graded insulation levels, which make
component cheaper than those used for series connected filters. Combination of series
and shunt-connected branch is used in the design of Power Line Carrier (PLC) and
Radio Interference (RI) filters. The series connected branch blocks the harmonics and
the shuntconnected branch allows the harmonics to flow in to the ground. The
combination cannot be used for low order harmonics because high blocking impedance
at low order tuning frequency will have significant voltage drop at fundamental
frequencies while rejecting all others. It is a type of passive filter that uses an LC
The single-tuned filter consists of an inductor and a capacitor. The resonant frequency
At the resonant frequency, the impedance of the LC circuit is at its minimum, and the
filter passes the signal with maximum amplitude. At frequencies above and below the
resonant frequency, the impedance of the LC circuit increases, and the filter attenuates
the signal.
audio equipment, and power systems. They are often used to select a specific frequency
Above figure shows single tuned ideal filter which is commonly used. The tuned
frequency is depends on the designed value of inductor and capacitor for which it
frequencies while attenuating all others. This allows for selective filtering, which
removed.
2. Simple and low-cost design: Single-tuned filters are relatively simple in design
and require only a few components, making them easy to build and low in cost.
3. Low insertion loss: The insertion loss of a single-tuned filter is generally low,
which means that the filter does not significantly attenuate the signal passing
through it.
4. High-Q factor: Single-tuned filters can have a high Q factor, which is a measure of
how selective the filter is. A high Q factor indicates that the filter is very selective
conditions.
While single-tuned filters have several advantages, they also have some disadvantages,
including:
which can cause the resonant frequency to shift. This can lead to detuning of
components, and their ability to handle high power levels is limited. This can
Overall, while single-tuned filters are useful in many applications, their limited
Q
C= 2
2 πf V
1
L= 2
C ×( 2 π f r)
Where,
f = Fundamental frequency
types of non-linear loads produce current and voltages with frequencies that are integer
harmonic pollution and is having adverse effect on the power system network. This is
Harmonic Distortion Due to increased use of nonlinear loads, one of the PQ issues that
has been gaining continuous attention is the harmonic distortion. The nonlinear loads
control the flow of power by drawing currents only during certain intervals of the
fundamental period. Hence the current supplied by the source becomes non-sinusoidal
Fig. 2.1 shows that any non-sinusoidal signal can be expressed as sum of pure sinusoids.
component, fundamental component (50/60 Hz for power systems) and its integer
multiples called the harmonic components. The harmonic number (h) usually specifies a
harmonic component, which is the ratio of its frequency to the fundamental frequency
[2].
The total harmonic distortion is the most common measurement index of measuring
harmonic distortion [2-3], [10-11]. THD applies to both current and voltage and is
defined as the root-mean-square (rms) value of harmonics divided by the rms value of
the fundamental, and then multiplied by 100% as shown in the following equation:
When a nonlinear load is fed from a sinusoidal supply, non-sinusoid, distorted current
containing harmonics will be drawn from the supply. A voltage drop for each harmonic
will be produced when this harmonic current will pass through the source impedance
resulting in harmonic voltage at the PCC. The amount of voltage distortion depends on
transformer overheating are only a few of the damages that quality problems may bring
into home and industrial installations. What may seem like minor quality problems may
bring whole factories to a standstill. Table below illustrates various effects of poor PQ
Harmonic distortion in power system can be minimized through three basic approaches
a. Passive filter
Out of these techniques, passive filters and its implementation is discussed here.
Passive Filter
This is the most conventional method of mitigating harmonic components and is the first to come
into picture. It is the simplest method of all to suppress harmonics from power system [2], [12-16].
This type of filter is constructed from simple passive elements (resistor, inductor and capacitor) and
is tuned to eliminate particular frequency component. The single tuned filter is connected in shunt
with the power system and is series tuned to present low impedance to a particular harmonic
current. Hence the harmonic currents will be diverted from its normal path through the filter.
High pass filter is one of the type of passive filter which allow large percentage of harmonics to pass
through it above its corner frequency [2], [14]. It is typically one of the three types as shown in Fig.
below
Resonance problem of first order HPF limits the use of it. However connecting a resistance in series
with the capacitor solves a part of the resonance problem, but at a cost of high power loss, which is
also undesirable. The second order filter is the most effective to use considering both design
frequency loss. The third order filter gives improved performance as compared to the second order
filter, but due to the design complexity and reliability & economic factors, use of third order filter is
Though passive filters are simple to design and operate, they do not always respond to dynamics of
(1) size of these type of filters are quite heavy and bulky due to the presence of passive elements.
The harmonics that are to be suppressed are usually of low order [2], [16].
(2) resonance or tuning problem effecting the stability of power system network [12], [16-17].
(3) filtering characteristics gets affected by the frequency variation in power system and tolerances
[1] H. Rudnick, J. Dixon and L. Moran, “Active power filters as a solution to power
[3] A. Ghosh and G. Ledwich, “Power Quality Enhancement Using Custom Power
[5] L. Chen, Y. Xie and Z. Zhang, “Comparision of hybrid active power topologies and
principles,” IEEE Conf. on Elec. Machines and Systems, ICEMS 2008, pp. 2030-2035
[7] S. Fukuda and T. Endoh, “Control Method for a Combined Active Filter System
Employing a Current Source Converter and a High Pass Filter,” IEEE Trans. On
and Stability Analysis of a Hybrid Parallel Active Filter,” Proc. of IEEE Power
Electronics and Drive Systems (PEDS), Singapore Nov. 17-20, 2003, 799-804.
Characteristics of Typical Single Phase Nonlinear Loads,” Proc. of the IEEE National
Conference on Power and Energy 2003, PECon 2003, Bangi, Malaysia, Dec. 15-16, pp.
383-387.
in Industrial Power Systems,” IEEE Trans. on Industry Applications, Vol. 23, 1987,
pp. 504-512.
[14] A. Ludbrook, “Harmonic Filters for Notch Reduction,” IEEE Trans. on Industry