Comparative Analysis of Methods for Reducing Distorting Regime by Simulating Active Power Filters

Abstract

Given the nature of voltages and currents in nonlinear electrical networks with fast and random variation, it is understood that the power measurement methods cannot be based on averages or quadratic mean values, and it is necessary to offset the negative effects due to the presence of certain loads. In order to compensate the distorting regime, it is necessary to use active filters. The paper presents the structure of an active power filter to compensate higher order harmonics. Active Power Filter Control is performed using three theories (instantaneous reactive power, generalized power, and synchronous reference theories). In each of the three theories there is an analysis of the functioning of the system for loads balanced and unbalanced. The authors present the parallel active power filter based on these theories, and the results were simulated in MATLAB-Simulink. With the aims of these simulations, the authors made a comparative analysis in order to reduce the harmonic pollution to obtain conclusions about their efficiency.