Key Technologies of Active Power Filter for Aircraft: a Review

Article history: Received: 27.7.2015. Received in revised form: 4.11.2015. Accepted: 8.11.2015. Active Power Filter (APF) is not only an advanced technology to improve power quality and purify power system pollution but also a good approach to solve electrical problems of an advanced aircraft such as harmonic, reactive power and unbalanced load. However, there are still some specific problems for the application of aeronautic APF in practice. Based on current research on aeronautic APF, this paper reviews three key technologies where APF can be used in aircraft AC power supply system, including the acquisition method of reference current, the strategy of APF current control and the main circuit topology. Consecutively, the features of current aeronautic APF research are summarized, and the future research directions are also suggested.