Enhanced Instantaneous Power Theory Decomposition for Power Quality Smart Converter Applications

Abstract

Power theories are advancing signal decomposition approaches used for electrical power signal analysis. Currently, they are key tools for designing reliable and efficient power electronic interface controllers. Due to the inherent uncertainty in the power generation within new technology of distributed generation units (such as renewable-based microgrids), most of these theories are not directly applicable in the era of new power engineering systems. Furthermore, the traditional formulations are not appropriate once we face the nonlinearity in the consumption along a weak grid that may not maintain steady voltage or frequency. Therefore, a new signal decomposition method with a higher level of selectivity must be developed to modify the traditional power theories and improve the control strategies from a design viewpoint. This paper describes a novel formulation of an instantaneous power theory, enhanced instantaneous power theory (EIPT), for unbalanced and nonlinear three-phase power systems. EIPT establishes a proper decomposition of current components for cases of balanced, unbalanced, and distorted voltage sources. In addition to mathematical analysis, this research provides comprehensive simulations under different loads and source conditions, which supports the performance of the EIPT in the active filtering methods. Moreover, the performance of the proposed method is compared with the state-of-the-art approach widely known as the conservative power theory. Our results indicate that this new comprehensive approach is helpful in optimizing control strategies for power electronic interfaces and power quality compensators.