Analysis, Dimensioning and Robust Control of Shunt Active Filter for Harmonic Currents Compensation in Electrical Mains

TL;DR

This paper discusses the analysis, dimensioning, and robust control strategies for Shunt Active Filters used in harmonic current compensation, emphasizing system theory, control algorithms, and stability considerations.

Contribution

It introduces a control design approach using system theory, singular perturbation, and Internal Model Principle for effective and robust harmonic compensation in SAFs.

Findings

Effective control algorithms for SAFs are developed.

System theory aids in understanding SAF dynamics and stability.

Robust output tracking is achieved through advanced control techniques.

Abstract

In this chapter some results related to Shunt Active Filters (SAFs) and obtained by the authors and some coauthors are reported. SAFs are complex power electronics equipments adopted to compensate for cur-rent harmonic pollution in electric mains, due to nonlinear loads. By using a proper "floating" capacitor as energy reservoir, the SAF purpose is to inject in the line grid currents canceling the polluting har-monics. Control algorithms play a key role for such devices and, in general, in many power electronics applications. Moreover, systems theory is crucial, since it is the mathematical tool that enables a deep understanding of the involved dynamics of such systems, allowing a correct dimensioning, beside an effective control. As a matter of facts, current injection objective can be straightforwardly formulated as an output tracking control problem. In this fashion, the structural and insidious marginally-stable internal/zero dynamics of SAFs can be immediately highlighted and characterized in terms of sizing and control issues. For what concerns the control design strictly, time-scale separation among output and internal dynamics can be effectively exploited to split the control design in different stages that can be later aggregated, by using singular perturbation analysis. In addition, for robust asymptotic output tracking the Internal Model Principle is adopted.