Power Factor Correction System Research Articles

A novel strategy towards efficient and reliable electric vehicle charging for the realisation of a true sustainable transportation landscape

This paper proposes an innovative approach for improving the charging efficiency of electric vehicles (EVs) by combining photovoltaic (PV) systems with AC–DC Power Factor Correction (PFC). The proposed approach employs bi-directional power flow management within the PFC system, allowing for enhanced resource utilization and EV battery capacity under a variety of environmental circumstances. A modified Lyapunov-based robust model reference adaptive controller (M-LRMRAC) is developed to provide real-time Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) for the PV array. By quickly recording the MPP, this controller skilfully adjusts to shifting radiation and temperature dynamics. A noteworthy accomplishment is that the M-LRMRAC outperforms traditional Perturb and Observe (P&O) techniques by achieving quick MPP convergence (0.54 s). Additionally, the benefits of this integrated system go beyond effective MPPT. The method achieves operating at unity power factor and reduces total harmonic distortion, which results in improved power quality when charging EV Batteries (EVB). The entire solution provided by this multifaceted architecture improves the quality of electricity delivered to EV batteries while also increasing energy efficiency. This research helps to the evolution of sustainable and dependable EV charging infrastructure by solving difficulties and optimising performance. The combination of PV systems with AC–DC PFC, aided by the M-LRMRAC technology, presents a viable route for attaining efficient, clean, and high-quality EV charging, hence supporting the shift to a greener and more sustainable transportation landscape.

Design of an Internet of Things Powered Automated Power Factor Correction System and Monitoring of Consumption of Energy

Design of an Internet of Things Powered Automated Power Factor Correction System and Monitoring of Consumption of Energy

Automatic Power Factor Correction using Microcontroller

Power quality is a key factor in all industrial and many more applications. An industry need to maintain certain power quality standard during day-to-day work for variety of applications. Power quality of electricity provided by utilities is also vital aspect. The best power quality helps to increase the overall production and gets rid of any sort of technical problems reducing cost of energy. The mains power factor is one of the important parameter which decides the quality of power. When the need of reactive power becomes more, power factor decreases, reducing the efficiency of power system. Therefore, there is need to add capacitance of required value when power factor goes below the specified value, preferably 0.92. Addition of required capacitors reduces the losses improving power factor. The paper proposes digitally controlled topology for performing Automatic Power Factor Correction to improve power quality. The design and simulation of Automatic Power Factor Correction system using microcontroller (AT89S52/C51) has been presented in the paper. The system power factor has been monitored using power factor transducer followed by Arduino microcontroller which control the switching of capacitor banks in order to compensate reactive power and bring power factor near to unity enhancing power quality. The simulation results are also presented in the paper.

Implementation of IoT-based energy monitoring and automatic power factor correction system

Energy monitoring facilitates quick access and helps to know the power utilization and normal and abnormal conditions. Nowadays, many applications and majorly industries face problems regarding power quality. In the power system, the power factor plays a vital role in power quality. The addition of capacitance overcomes the decay of the power factor and reduces the power loss. This paper aims to build an automatic power factor correction (APFC) system, which can monitor the energy consumption of a system and automatically improve its power factor. In the design, an open-source energy monitoring library has been implemented for accurate power calculations. This paper carried out the work of hardware experimentation of energy monitoring and automatic power factor correction using a capacitor bank with the association of Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Build a mobile application to more simply and comfortablely monitor power and correct automatically. The developed hardware model’s performance is validated with and without load conditions. The result proves that the designed Raspberry Pi-based energy monitoring and automatic power factor correction system outperforms to improve the power factor without human interaction by properly switching the capacitor bank. Hence, the power loss, penalty, and power quality-related problems were resolved based on the proposed approach. The proposed design is compact, simple, and easy to implement and aids in power system advancement.

An Active Power Factor Correction Technology for Aircraft

This paper analyzes the influence of harmonics on the system and the importance of power factor correction. According to the requirements of aircraft use, an active power factor correction system based on three phase six switch topology is designed. The article analyzes the working process and control method of the system, then designs a rectifier to convert 220V/400Hz AC power provided by the aircraft to DC power and the power factor of the rectifier is high. Moreover, the performance of the system is tested.

Design of Control Circuit Using PIC Microcontroller for Automatic Power Factor Correction

The power quality of AC systems has been a key issue in recent years because to the ever-increasing quantity of electronics equipment, power electronic equipment, and high voltage power systems. The majority of industrial installations in countries have substantial inductive electrical loads, resulting in a lagging power factor that has serious effects for energy users. As a result, reactive power compensation must be performed in the proper manner. Hence, we worked on this project and created Automatic Power Factor Correction (APFC) system using the PIC18f4520 microcontroller. APFC device measures the power factor, line voltage, and line current. The power factor is calculated using the system's voltage and current, and if it falls below a specified value defined by the utility provider, the device immediately activates capacitor banks to compensate for the reactive power. The phase angle and corresponding power factor are calibrated at that time. The mother board calculates the required compensation and activates the appropriate capacitor banks. This strategy can be used to increase the system's stability and efficiency in both industries and homes.

Input Small-Signal Characteristics of Selected DC–DC Switching Converters

The main goal of this study was to derive small-signal models of the input characteristics of buck, boost, and flyback converters working in continuous conduction mode (CCM) and discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). The models presented in the paper were derived using the separation of variables approach and included the parasitic resistances of all converter components. The paper features a discussion about the limitations of the model accuracy. The presented characteristics were obtained by calculation and verified by measurements. The input characteristics of converters are essential in the design of converters used in Power Factor Correction systems as well as in maximum power point tracking systems (MPPT).

Mirror-Bridge Phase-Shift Modulation With Low Common-Mode Noise for Single-Phase CHB PFC

For ac/dc power conversion applications like server power supply, telecom power supply, and on-board charger of an electric vehicle, the rising electricity demand has presented challenges toward high efficiency and high power density. The cascaded H-bridge (CHB) based multilevel power factor correction (PFC) converter has much higher power density than that of traditional boost PFC converter. However, the CHB-PFC converter has multiple floating dc outputs, which leads to a common mode (CM) electromagnetic interference (EMI) issue due to the parasitic capacitance of cascaded dc/dc stages and layouts and distributed noise sources existing in the ac/dc system. Thus, a large EMI filter is necessary for the PFC system that sharply degrades the system's power density. In order to quantify the CM noise caused by the floating outputs and cascaded parasitic capacitance, a unified equivalent CM circuit model is derived in this article, which decouples the effects among the multiple CM noise sources in the CHB converter. Based on the derived circuit model, a mirror-bridge phase-shift modulation is proposed to cancel the CM noise within the CHB converter itself. A single-phase 2-kW CHB PFC prototype has been built up to verify the analysis, and 40-dB CM noise reduction compared with conventional unipolar modulation is achieved by the proposed modulation scheme.

Multidimensional harmonic current feedforward compensation control of single‐phase alternating current–direct current power factor correction converter

AbstractGenerally, low‐bandwidth condition of control voltage loop is used for single‐phase alternating current–direct current (AC–DC) power factor correction (PFC) converter, which eliminates the influence of the second harmonic component in the output voltage on control loop but degrades the load dynamic performance. However, the high‐bandwidth condition of voltage loop would cause multiharmonic distortions both in the input current and output voltage. Regarding this issue, this paper proposes a multidimensional harmonic current feedforward compensation control (MHCFC) scheme, to eliminate multiharmonic distortion of the PFC system using a high‐bandwidth condition of voltage loop and improve the dynamic performance as well. In the proposed scheme, the odd harmonics of the input current are extracted through multidimensional band‐pass filters and further converted into even harmonic compensation signals via the coordinate transformation, so as to offset the negative effects of the even harmonics of the output voltage. Taking boost PFC circuit as an example, a digital controlled experimental prototype is built to verify the feasibility of the proposed control scheme. The experimental results show that, compared with the traditional low‐pass filter (LPF) scheme, the proposed scheme guarantees a high‐quality input current while its load dynamic response is improved by about 70%.

Effect of Harmonics on Ferroresonance in Low Voltage Power Factor Correction System—A Case Study

This paper presents a case study of three-phase ferroresonance in a low-voltage power factor correction system and investigates the influence of harmonic distortion on the occurrence of ferroresonance. Ferroresonance is an extremely dangerous and rare phenomenon that causes overvoltages and overcurrents in the system and degrades the power quality. The study is carried out on real field measurements in an industrial plant where ferroresonance occurs in the power factor correction (PFC) system at the detuned reactor. The three-phase ferroresonance analysed in this paper is an extremely rare phenomenon that has never been reported in this type of configuration. The measurement results have shown that in this type of configuration the high harmonic distortion is a necessary condition for ferroresonance to occur. In such conditions, switching on the capacitor stage triggers the ferroresonance with quasi-periodic oscillations supported by the medium voltage grid. The main contribution is the analysis of the three-phase ferroresonance in the detuned PFC system and the influence of the harmonics on the occurrence of the ferroresonance in such a case. The possible solutions to this problem and recommendations to avoid this phenomenon are discussed.

Configurations, Power Topologies and Applications of Hybrid Distribution Transformers

Distribution systems are under constant stress due to their highly variable operating conditions, which jeopardize distribution transformers and lines, degrading the end-user service. Due to transformer regulation, variable loads can generate voltage profiles out of the acceptable bands recommended by grid codes, affecting the quality of service. At the same time, nonlinear loads, such as diode bridge rectifiers without power factor correction systems, generate nonlinear currents that affect the distribution transformer operation, reducing its lifetime. Variable loads can be commonly found at domiciliary levels due to the random operation of home appliances, but recently also due to electric vehicle charging stations, where the distribution transformer can cyclically vary between no-load, rated and overrated load. Thus, the distribution transformer can not safely operate under highly-dynamic and stressful conditions, requiring the support of alternative systems. Among the existing solutions, hybrid transformers, which are composed of a conventional transformer and a power converter, are an interesting alternative to cope with several power quality problems. This article is a review of the available literature about hybrid distribution transformers.

Design, Implementation, and Validation of Electro-Thermal Simulation for SiC MOSFETs in Power Electronic Systems

Silicon carbide (SiC) mosfets are getting popular in high-frequency power electronic (PE) applications. More and more concerns for system efficiency and reliability are growing due to the increasing switching losses and thermal stress. In this article, an electro-thermal simulation method for SiC mosfets in modern PE systems is proposed. In the device simulation, a behavioral transient model of SiC mosfets is developed and used for generating a multidimensional power loss table in a wide range of operating conditions. The effects of parasitic elements, temperature-dependent parameters, and reverse recovery effect of the diode are taken into account. Furthermore, the power loss look-up table is integrated into the PE system simulation with an additional Cauer-based dynamic thermal model considering heatsink impact. In this way, the instantaneous power losses and junction temperature can be obtained, respectively, with fast simulation speed, reasonable accuracy, and improved simulation convergence. The proposed approach is implemented in PSCAD/EMTDC and further validated by the experimental results of a double pulse test setup and a power factor correction system.

Techno-economic studies of an industrial biogas plant to be implemented at Kumasi Abattoir in Ghana

Kumasi Abattoir is one of Ghana's largest slaughterhouses. The Abattoir is a state-owned facility and its main activity is the slaughtering of cattle, goats, sheep and pigs. Production takes place 7 days per week, 8 hours per day. The Government of Ghana has planned to construct a pilot industrial biogas plant at the Abattoir to support them manage the waste generated, but to a large extent, support green industrial development and business promotion in Ghana. This study assesses the technical and financial aspects of the pilot biogas project with a focus on the technical solutions for biogas production from the waste, scenarios analyses for the gas usage and financial analysis of selected scenarios. Desk studies, studies of the abattoir slaughter operations, waste fractions, energy consumption patterns and projected energy demand as well as energy efficiency measures were all studied. Analysis of the financial data, namely; electricity bills of the abattoir, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and diesel consumption costs and abattoir staff wages were also done. The main wastes generated at the abattoir are solid waste and wastewater. The solid waste concerns mainly solid rumen content and dung, with a total quantity of about 8 tons per day. This waste is currently disposed off at a nearby landfill. The wastewater mainly consists of flushing water, blood and liquid rumen content, with a total quantity of some 170 tons per day. Wastewater is currently disposed in a stream that runs at the border of the abattoir premises, and this causes the most problems for the neighbouring communities. Total biogas potential of the combined waste components is estimated at 846 m3 per day. Energy demand at the abattoir concerns mainly electricity, LPG and diesel. Potential energy efficiency measures include repair of an existing power factor correction system, replacement of chillers, replacement of insulation of the cooling system, and replacement of the diesel backup generator. Full replacement of the abattoir energy and fuel consumption would require approximately 1448 m3 of biogas, which is 70% more than the total biogas potential of the abattoir. Even with energy efficiency measures, biogas demand would be in the order of 1250 m3/d. The abattoir uses LPG for singeing. Financial analyses show that singeing (substituting LPG) is financially the most attractive application for the biogas; the resulting gas value is 0.46 USD/m3. Using the gas for electricity production yields some 0.10–0.18 USD/kWh (depending on the scale); using it for diesel substitution yields some 0.35 USD/m3. Although sensitivity analysis shows that there are risk factors like elevated investment costs, reduced biogas output and shorter equipment lifetime, is recommended to proceed with the development of the biogas plant.

99% Efficient 2.5-kW Four-Level Flying Capacitor Multilevel GaN Totem-Pole PFC

In this article, a high-efficiency and high-density 2.5 kW four-level flying capacitor multilevel (FCML) totem-pole bridgeless power-factor-correction (PFC) rectifier with 200 V GaN devices is analyzed, designed, and tested. This 2.5 kW four-level continuous conduction mode (CCM) GaN totem pole PFC operates with 360 kHz current ripple frequency which significantly reduces the inductor size while keeping a very low switching loss. This article compares the device loss of the four-level and two-level CCM GaN totem-pole PFC with the same ripple frequency (360 kHz) and shows that the four-level CCM GaN PFC has much less device loss. In addition, this article introduces the detailed design of a compact and low-profile matrix inductor based on the commercial composite inductors. This article also introduces the design of a high-density and low-loss flying capacitor. A 2.5 kW four-level FCML GaN totem-pole PFC prototype with 120 kHz switching frequency (360 kHz current ripple frequency) is developed and tested in this article. The tested peak efficiency is 99.25%. The PFC system power density is 104 W/in <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sup> , without a heatsink and with forced air cooling.

Proposed Automatic Load-Side Power Factor Correction System Algorithm and its Economic Benefits in Battery Based Renewable Energy Systems

The low power factor in electrical installations results in high power losses and increased installation costs. This comes as a consequence of the high current flowing through the transmission lines due to high reactive power consumption. Most often, before the installation of renewable energy systems involving battery storage, the load demand is not evaluated in terms of the different load power factors. Because of these diversified power factors for different loads, the overall power factor of the installation will witness a decrease which puts the user at a disadvantage as more charges will be incurred. For these reasons, this paper presents the economic benefits of using an automatic power factor correction system in renewable energy installations. The Arduino microcontroller has been used in the proposal as the main automat. The power factor correction is done by installed capacitor banks connected to the loads automatically using MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor) power electronic switches and relay blocks with control signals from the microcontroller. A small system was analyzed involving a water pump, fan, television, and a fluorescent lamp. A targeted corrected power factor of 0.99 was used and the results showed that 430.18 W of power was saved after power factor correction leading to a reduction of 58% line losses. Also, $1300 could be saved by the user on batteries and photovoltaic modules by incorporation the power factor correction system. The proposed correction algorithm was economically beneficial and is therefore strongly recommended to be employed by renewable energy users in particular and the grid-connected individuals in general.

Microcontroller Based Automatic Power Factor Correction for Single-Phase Lagging and Leading Loads

Power Factor (PF) correction is a major power quality function in electrical distribution systems. This paper proposes a low-cost Automatic Power Factor Correction (APFC) system to increase the PF of both lagging and leading single-phase loads. The Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller was used to calculate the PF and activate the relays that connect the capacitor/inductor banks to the load in parallel. Thus, the required capacitive or inductive reactive power was produced by the APFC system by automatically connecting the capacitor/inductor banks to the load in parallel. The APFC system can also measure and display many electrical parameters of the load such as the rms voltage, the rms current, PF, and the real, reactive, and apparent power on an LCD display. Two zero-crossing detector circuits are used to find the phase angle difference between voltage and current waveforms of the load. The measurement ability of the APFC system was tested for resistive, inductive, and capacitive loads with two different sizes. The measurement results were compared with the measurements of a commercial digital power meter and a measurement error of less than 8.0% was observed. The PF correction ability of the APFC system was verified for inductive and capacitive loads with two different sizes. The experiments show that the PF increased to close to unity for both lagging and leading loads.

Micro controller based Power Factor Correction

This paper presents the simple and low-cost design of an automatic power factor correction (APFC) system for single-phase domestic loads. The proposed design uses TRIACs to switch the capacitor banks in order to correct the power factor of inductive loads. TRIACs are more effective than electro-mechanical relays and hit the high-performance benchmarks. An Arduino board controls the switching of TRIACs. The Arduino is programmed to non-stop monitor and calculate the power factor of the connecting load by sensing the signal from CT, PT and Zero Cross Detectors (ZCDs), and keep the power factor of the load above the reference value (0.95) by appropriately energizing the capacitors in parallel to the connecting load through TRIAC switching. The value of power factor before and after improvement is displayed on LCD. The hardware prototype of the proposed APFC design is also developed to validate its operation. The satisfactory and acceptable results of the APFC system testing have confirmed that the suggested design yields a reliable output and can be further used in any single-phase practical application to ensure the power factor close tounity.

A Real-Time Optimization of Reactive Power for An Intelligent System Using Genetic Algorithm

Power factor (PF) is a measure of how effectively electricity is used. The low power factor causes considerable power losses along the power supply chain. In particular, it overloads the distribution system and increases the power plant’s burden to compensate the expected power losses. Most of the existing PF correction techniques are developed based on placing centralized capacitors, assuming that power systems are static. However, the power systems are dynamic systems such that their states change over time, necessitating dynamic correction systems. In the emerging smart grid systems, real-time measurements can easily be taken for voltage, current and harmonics. Then, the measured data can be transmitted to a PF controller to reach the desired PF value. However, the problem that will arise in real-time applications is how to determine and adjust the optimal capacitor size that can balance the power factor. In this regard, we propose a real-time correction system based on multi-step capacitor banks to improve PF in co-operation with de-tuned filters to mitigate the harmonics. First, a mathematical model has been formulated for the proposed power factor correction system. The mathematical model can be employed to determine the optimal operational settings of the multi-step capacitor and the reactor value that optimize the reactive power while considering the desired PF value and restricting the harmonics. Second, a genetic optimization approach is applied to solve the proposed mathematical model as it can provide accurate solution in a short computational time. A Monte Carlo simulation approach is considered for validating the proposed PF correction system. The simulation results show that the average PF of the randomly generated test instances has improved from 0.7 to 0.95 (35% increase). Furthermore, we conducted real experiments using a PF testbed for experimental validation. The results are found to be consistent with the simulation results, which validate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed correction system. Furthermore, the saved kVA in one day is estimated to be 26% of total kVA.

Multitrack Power Factor Correction Architecture

Single-phase universal-input ac–dc converters are needed in a wide range of applications. This paper presents a novel power factor correction (PFC) architecture that can achieve high-power density and high efficiency for grid-interface power electronics. The multitrack PFC architecture reduces the internal device voltage stress of the power converter subsystems, allowing PFC circuits to maintain zero-voltage-switching at high frequency (1 MHz–4 MHz) across universal input voltage range (85 $\rm V_{\text{ac}}$ –265 $\rm V_{\text{ac}}$ ). The high performance of the power converter is enabled by delivering power in multiple stacked voltage domains and reconfiguring the power processing paths depending on the input voltage. This multitrack concept can be used together with many other design techniques for PFC systems to create mutual advantages in many function blocks. A prototype 150 W, universal ac input, 12 $\rm V_{\text{dc}}$ output, isolated multitrack PFC system with a power density of 50 W/in $^3$ , and a peak end-to-end efficiency of 92% has been built and tested to verify the effectiveness of the multitrack PFC architecture.

A New Cost-Effective Approach for Mitigation of PQ Problem to Maximize the System Performance of Industry: A Case Study

In the present-day scenario, industries face severe problems associated with the power quality. Harmonic pollution causes equipment overheating, transformer overheating, maloperation of control devices and excessive neutral current. An industry located near Mumbai has been taken as a case study for this paper. Detailed power and harmonic analysis was carried out in this industry. In this paper, a cost-effective solution for improvement in power quality has been proposed. The proposed solution is for power factor (PF) improvement using thyristor-switched detuned automatic power factor correction (APFC) systems and passive harmonic filter (HF). Design, control and selection of proposed solution and hardware have been discussed. The designed system is compared for economic aspect with active harmonic filter. A check for the compliance with power quality standard IEEE-519 is also carried out.