Compensation of Irregular Currents with Active Filters

L. M. Tolbert, Y. Xu, J. Chen, and J. N. Chiasson are with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-2100 USA (e-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]). F. Z. Peng is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1226 USA (e-mail: [email protected]). Abstract Compensation of irregular currents such as those associated with arc furnaces, transient disturbances, and power electronic converters is presented. The compensation is based on a well-defined non-active current definition. The basic concepts required in the definition of non-active current are presented and illustrated by compensation simulations for a variety of different types of non-periodic currents found in distribution electrical systems, including disturbance, subharmonic, and stochastic currents. Further, based on the compensation objectives for different types of load waveforms, the specifications such as current ratings or capacitance requirements of the active filter are also presented.