A Control Strategy for Load Balancing and Power
Factor Correction in Three-Phase Four-Wire Systems
Using a Shunt Active Power Filter
Majid Pakdel
Isfahan University of Technology
majidpakdelgyahoo.com
Abstract-This paper presents a control scheme for load
balancing and power factor correction in three-phase four-wire
systems using a three-phase four-leg active power filter. It is
assumed that the active power filter is connected to a load that
can be unbalanced and may also draw harmonic currents. The
four-leg active power filter is used for harmonic compensation,
reactive power compensation, load balancing and neutral current
compensation as well as improving the supply side power factor.
The proposed control strategy is more effective and flexible and
also has lower cost and higher efficiency. The topology and
operation principle of the proposed control method is discussed in
detail, finally the feasibility of such a scheme is demonstrated
through simulation studies.
The widespread use of non-linear loads is leading to a
variety of undesirable phenomena in the operation of power
systems. The harmonic components in current and voltage
waveforms are the most important among these.
Conventionally, passive filters have been used to eliminate line
current harmonics. However, they introduce resonance in the
power system and tend to be bulky. With the improved
performance of power and control circuits, active power filters
have gradually been recognized as a viable alternative to
passive filters.
In many commercial and industrial installations, power is
distributed through a three-phase four-wire system. This type
of system has unique problems. If non-linear single phase loads
are present, or the three phase load is unbalanced, line currents
are unbalanced and neutral currents flow. These neutral
currents contain both fundamental and harmonic components.
In extreme cases, the neutral currents are potentially damping
to both the neutral conductor and the transformer to which it is
connected[2]. Three-phase, three-wire active power filters
cannot adequately reduce or eliminate line harmonics in this
situation[3]. To mitigate these problems, three-phase, four-wire
active filters have been proposed. A four-wire active power
filter with a four-leg inverter topology is proposed by [4] and
that is used in this paper. For four-leg active power filters, the
current tracking ability is usually provided by a hysteresis-
based, tolerance-band controller[4-7]. In hysteresis control,
switching frequency and harmonic components of the injected
current vary with the operating point, making design of the
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Hosein Farzaneh-fard
Isfahan University of Technology
hosein@cc.iut.ac.ir
power circuit difficult, so a fixed frequency switching scheme
is desirable instead of that.
In this paper, a strategy for controlling the three-phase, four-
wire active power filter is introduced. The control method has
been used in [1] for the single phase series active power filter,
is extended and improved for a three-phase four-leg shunt
active power filter, which is connected to the three-phase four-
wire systems for load balancing and power factor correchon.
Bandstop filters are used for extracting the harmonic
components of load currents and active power filter currents
are made to follow these harmonics to eliminate line
harmonics. Comparing with other strategies of active power
filter control, the proposed strategy is more effective and
flexible and low cost control method. Simulation results are
given to verify the analysis and demonstrate the control
performance.
II. TOPOLOGY AND OPERATION PRINCIPLE
It is assumed that a non-linear load consisting of a three-
phase diode rectifier and a single phase diode rectifier is
connected to a three-phase balanced source voltages. Also we
consider that the R-L series or R-C series loads are connected
to the dc side of the rectifiers. Since this system is a three-
phase four-wire circuit with nonlinear loads (rectifiers), thus
we would have non-sinusoidal currents, that are unbalanced
(i.e. the current amplitudes are not equal). Since the currents
are unbalanced, the consequent non-sinusoidal currents
flowing in the neutral wire. The purpose, is to eliminate
harmonic currents and to balance the three phase non-
sinusoidal currents resulted from non-linear loads, as well as
improving power factor of supply side. For this purpose, we
use a four-leg three-phase active power filter, that is
constructed from IGBT switches, as shown in Fig. 1. The
active power filter, should satisfy the three objectives
mentioned above namely eliminating harmonic components of
load currents, balancing the load currents and improving power
factor of supply side. Generally, an active power filter
generates a harmonic spectrum that is opposite in phase to the
distorted harmonic current it measures. Harmonics are thus
cancelled and the result is a non-distorted sinusoidal current.
Each leg of active power filter consists of two IGBT
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 Ri R2 i a ~~~~~~~iLa=iLaf+1Lah

Vc va_ Lfa LOAD

L I I

Fig. 2. Single phase equivalent circuit of the system and

H.
H<T< H> Active Power Filter

If iLah < ifa S the current i fa in the case of sw2=on and

Fig. 1. Power system Configuration with Active Power Filter
switches which are connected in series and is used only for one
phase harmonic compensation. A seperate leg of switches is
used for current compensation of the neutral wire. The single
phase equivalent circuit of the system and active power filter is
shown in Fig. 2. From Fig. 2, it can be written
iLa = 'fa + ia
iLa = 'Laf + iLah
In equation (2), iLaf is the fundamental component of the
load current and iLah is the harmonic component of the load
current. Since the harmonic components of the load current
('Lah ), should not be transferred to the supply side, we should
have
7Lah = ifa
From equation (3) and (1), we have
swl=off, should be transferred to the ground in order to have
ifa = iLah .It should be noted that the swl and sw2 switches are
the IGBT switches of one leg of an active power filter, that are
connected in series and the on/off states of one is opposite to
the other one. The same discussion is also true for the neutral
wire.
III. CONTROL STRATEGY
(2) In this section, the switching control of IGBTs, capacitor dc
voltage control, switching frequency and voltage ripple and
balancing of switching frequency are discussed in details.
A. Switching Control OfIGBTs
The easiest way to control the proposed topology, is to use a
bandstop filter and a comparator. Since, the ia i i should
follow iLah ' iLbh X iLch respectively thus if ifa < iLah the upper
IGBT switch should be on and the lower one should be off and
(3) if ifa > iLah' the upper IGBT switch should be off and the
lower one should be on, and such as for other phases, b and c.
teeoew hudetatteextract the I,fo
^ therefore we should iLah 'iLbh 'iLch from I

'a = i'Laf (4) iLa'i'Lb,iLc respectively. For this purpose, we use a bandstop
filter, as shown in Fig. 3. The bandstop filter is tuned at 60Hz
So, only fundamental component of the load current is with the bandwidth of 20Hz, since the supply voltage
transferred to the supply side. Also we have the following frequency is 60Hz.
equations B. Voltage Control OfDC Capacitor
In the former discussion, we assumed that the dc capacitor
o -v + LL iL±v o (5) voltage ofthe active power filter is constant, which requires
sw 2 offd t a the net average active power flowing into the capacitor during
-c v one cycle to be zero. However it cannot be automatically
lsw 1 = o n ifa d= c
dt
(6)
guaranteed in the actual circuit. So a voltage feedback control
s w22on d
if V (7)
s - off dt
swl off dtHandStop iLa Sa (upper switch)

These equations explain that if iLah > 'ja'^ thus we should 1 Sa'(lower switch)
have sw2=off and swl=on, so in this case with the current
genraedbydccaacto, s qul o La Fig. 3. Switching control strategy of IGBTs

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as proposed by [1] and shown in Fig. 4, is added to regulate the ifa
capacitor dc voltage of the active power filter. This voltage
control is done in each phase. In this circuit, the actual dc
capacitor voltage is detected and compared with the reference H
value, and the error is fed into a PI controller, with the transfer
function of ++Ts
TS
T is the time constant of the PI controller,
and has been chosen 0.001 seconds in the simulation studies. A
sinusoidal signal in phase with the same phase voltage is -H
subtracted from the harmonic currents of that phase, extracted
by the bandstop filter. The amplitude of the sinusoidal signal is
controlled by the PI controller. By subtracting the sinusoidal
offset from the harmonic current, active power flowing into the Fig. 5. Switching pattern of the proposed control strategy
capacitor will be changed, thus the dc capacitor voltage can be
controlled. It should be noted that, Fig.4 configuration is During period tl, i, h - > iaf thus
Va (Vc* - VC)
repeated for each phase. Ts
The operation principle of dc voltage control is as follows, if the upper IGBT switch is on and the lower one is off, and
the actual capacitor voltage ( v ), is lower than the desired v * according to Fig. 2, we have
the outputs of the PI and limiter are positive and if that is difa
multiplied to its corresponding phase voltage, the sinusoidal L f = Vdc-va (8)
signal in phase with the phase voltage is generated. since this dt
sinusoidal signal is subtracted from the each phase harmonic Vc = Vdc (9)
load current, so the result of this subtraction would be smaller During period t i - v (vc* - vC) I + Ts i th
than the current if of that phase (in the positive alternation of D p 2 - Va c c Ts af u
the phase voltage), resulting the upper IGBT switch to be off the upper IGBT switch is off and the lower one is on and
and the lower one to be on, thus the i current is directed in according to Fig. 2, we have
two directions, one part of the current is transferred to ground L lfa _V (10)
by the lower IGBT switch and the other part of that, is dt a
transferred to the dc capacitor and charging that. Thus it is Assume that the switching frequency is much higher than the
obvious that if the upper switch is on, the i current is fundamental frequency, thus v can be assumed as a constant
transferred to the non-linear load and the capacitor is value during one switching cycle, then the equation of ifa and
discharged, and if the lower switch is on, the capacitor is
charged. ti and t2 can be given by
C. Switching Frequency and Voltage Ripple - Vdc-va < <
In this control method, the switching frequency is not fa - L
constant. However, it is desirable to estimate the average 2HL
frequency for design purposes. Such a scheme has been used in t = (12)
[1]. Fig. 5, illustrates the switching pattern of this control Vdc - va
strategy. In this figure, H, is the maximum fluctuations of the
current i f ,corresponding to its phase (for example phase a), i Va (t-t1)+H t, .t.t, +t2 (13)
in the switching condition. L
2HL (14)
Sa(Upper) Va

Limiter
iLah i The duty cycle and switching frequency can be written as
vcf
C*
+ r m
ifa-
ifa D_ t
D= _Va (5
vc va
Sa (Lower)
t 1 +t 2 Vdc (15)
Fig. 4. Block diagram of the proposed control with dc l=1 VVdCVa) (16)
voltage control .1 + 2 2HL Vdc

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 The current if of each phase charges or discharges the dc is variable, also the switching frequencies of other phases
capacitor. The voltage fluctuations of the dc capacitor caused would be different. The unbalance of the switching frequencies
by the current in phase a, is described such as following of phase legs, results in the unbalance of stress and power
equations losses[1]. Fortunately, a switching frequency balancing circuit
using a D-flip flop with constant clock frequency can fix the
0 dv~ switching frequency as shown in Fig. 7. The clock frequency
|C c = =
_ifa1~
if sa= on, sa = off
if Sa = on, s~ off
(17)
(17)
of the D-flip flop is selected according to the switching
dt frequency obtained in the equation (16). In simulation studies
dvt the clock frequency oftOKHz is used.
C = ifa if sa =ff,s~ = on (18)
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
Fig. 6 shows the waveforms of the supply voltage, va , and According to the analysis above, an active power filter is
current ifa in the ideal case with the duty cycle (D), and designed and the simulations are performed using PSIM
switching frequency (f). According to Fig. 6, C keeps charging software. The block diagram of the designed system in the
when va satisfies v a > Vdc , and C keeps discharging when workspace of PSIM, is shown in Fig. 8. The operation of the
v satisfies v Vdc. The maximum and minimum value of
<
active power filter shown in Fig. 8, is performed for rectifiers
aa
with different loads. In all cases, the supply voltages are
Vdc occurs at w- -O1 and 01, respectively. The voltage ripple assumed to be a balanced three-phase voltage sources with the
on the capacitor, can be determined by integrating the current magnitude of 11 OV. The L, C values of the active power filter
flowed into the capacitor over time [01, T - 01], which is according to the analysis above, are selected 2mH and
1 -01 1 1 OOOOuF respectively. The value of vC * (the desired value of
V'i" I, ripple fao-dO
+
wo
d the capacitor dc voltage), according to the analysis above is
chosen 170V. We have simulated the following cases,
] ~r-0D Case I:
1
DIFA sin 0 dO The three-phase rectifier load is
* Series R-L with the values of R=10 Q, L=IOmH.
1 -o1V sin 0 The single-phase rectifier load is
st F Vdca ,IFA sin 0 d0 Series R-L with the values of R=1 Q, LlOmH.
Woc 1 Vdc Case II:
Va I The three-phase rectifier load is
0
CFAdc (T -
20, + sin(201)) (1 * Series R1-L parallel with series R2-C with the values
of R1=10 Q, L=lOmH, R2=1 Q, C=2200 pcF.
Where IFA , is the peak value of the current fa The The single-phase rectifier load is
* Series R-L with the values of R=1 Q,L=IOmH.
required capacitance of the active power filter for an
acceptable voltage ripple can be obtained from (19).
D. Switching Frequency Balancing The simulation results of each case are given in the
According to equation (16), the switching frequency (f), following figures (from Fig. 9 to Fig. 20).
depends on the value Ofva and H. Thus the switching frequency
aA D .Sa (Upper)
Vdc ~~~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ifa
Sa (Lyowe r)
iJa 01 z-~-0, i LaC* clock

Vc* -4
vc
01 tT 01-

Fig. 7. Switching frequency balancing using a D-flip flop

Fig. 6. Waveforms of supply voltage, va, current, ia in the

ideal case with duty cycle (D), and switching frequency (f)

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 5s~ ~ ~ ~ -U.1[<'0
200.00~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2
H, 1~~~~

111
_' 'j

ooo~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1
7-

100,
1f

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~1

0.00 0 05 0.10 0.15

*c
2

0
150.00
looooL

Iu * ~~
rr; W , ir_

0 20

9 _ ____ ___ _______'____ ____________ ______._____ ____________ _____,_______ ____________ ___ Fig.F13.phase
Fig..00
0 0

Load currents
1 2.
120.00

X
50.00a < + / t

-00.0

Fig. 12. Neutral currents of 'Ln'

-15.,

-00.00

200.00
0.00

1L,

(II)
in the case
L

g
1 1

1 < < <'n < 4

0 05

X~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.0
0.10
1,

---0-

iN' if in the case (I)

0.15

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11

0.2

T me (5)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-600
-100 00 1. Ar currents in the case (I
Fig.Fig.Blockdiagramofthedesignedsystem,usingthei.
phase

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 F .5 o cp eue itesb

Ti-e()l
400.00

OAciefload phase currents in the case (I)

Fig.
9l

Fig..00 11. Source' 100.00

Fig . 13 v phase currents in the case (
Load
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 00 :
------~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
II)
583o .20
I 0t 0'fl0'a'f';vff1 @ ;0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-2
'ii'
l d ''iy
2 0 0 0 0 p . . T 1 0
0
0

0 00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-300.00

0.15
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.20~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.0 .5 .00.502

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Fig.14. phase currents in the case (I))

Actiercete

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 If, Lr la V.a
200.00 150.00

Fig. 16. Neutral0X currents of 'Ln' 'N -000

0 in the case (II) in the-case-of-(--)

-100.00 -------A s i F 9 t F 2 t d a p

0.00
-1
0.05
0.10 cr
0.15 i
00.204pp T a Tive p r l 05
Time~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i (s)
Fig. 20. Source current and voltage waveforms of the phase a
Fig. 16. Neutral currents of i Ln iN ifn in the case (II) in the case of (II)
As shown in Fig. 9 to Fig. 20, the designed active power
300.00
filter is very effective in load balancing and power factor
250.00 --------------------correction purposes. This active power filter can successfully
20a0 compensate the harmonic currents of the rectifier with
150.00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~capacitive
or inductive loads. The designed active power filter
can also compensate the harmonic currents of other non-linear
loads.

0.0 0.10 0.20 Time-s

0.30 0.40 0.5° V. CONCLUSION

In this paper, a control method for load balancing and power

Fig. 17. The dc capacitor voltage of the case (I) factor correction is applied to a four-leg shunt active power
filter. The simulation results with the designed active power
filter show that this strategy is very effective in harmonic
current compensation of rectifier with capacitive or inductive
300.00 _loads. Also it can compensate harmonic currents of other non-
250O0O i _ linear loads. This control method improves factor
the of
power
200.00
| supply side effectively. The designed active power filter and its
control strategy can be implemented with lower cost in practice
and it has higher efficiency.
150.00 ---~~~------------ r---- ----------------E----_ --
_ _ __ _ _ --

100.00

OOO0 REFERENCES
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50
Time-s
[1] Zhiguo Pan, Fang Z. Peng, Suilin Wang, "Power Factor Correction Using
Fig. 18. The dc capacitor voltage of the case (II) a Series Active Filter," IEEE Transactions on power electronics. Vol.20,
No. 1, January 2005.
[2] D. Shen and P.W. Lehn, "Fixed-frequency space-vector-modulation
control for three-phase four-leg active power filters," IEE Proc-Electr.
Power Appl., Vol. 149, No. 4, July 2002.
[3] Thomas, T., Haddad, K., Joos, G., and Jaafari, A., "Performance
1e;0.00 la V,~evaluation of three phase three and four wire active filters, " Conference
Record of the IEEE IAS Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA, 1996,
100.0
---p 10 16 -10--

[4] Quinn, C.A. and Mohan, N., "Active filtering of harmonic currents in
three-phase four-wire system with three-phase and single-phase nonlinear
°.°° ------i------- loads," Proceings of IEEE APEC92, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 1992,
pp. 829-836.
[5] Quinn, C.A., Mohan. N., and Mehta, H, "A four-wire current cotrolled
-100.00 -------------------converter
---- L------ provides harmonic neutralization in three phase four wire
-1 0.00 -------- system," Proceeding of IEEE APEC93, San Diego, CA, USA, 1993, pp.
----8
-200.00 ~~~~~~~~~~~~[6]
Verdelho,P.,and Marques, G.D. "Four-wire current-regulated PWM
0.42 0.44Time .4 .4 0) voltage converter," IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron., 1998, 45, pp. 761-770.
[7] Verdelho, P., and Marques, G.D. "A current control system based on
Fig. 19. Source current and voltage waveforms ofthe phase a a/,JO variables for a four-leg PWM voltage converter," Proceedings of
in the case of (I) IEEE IECON'98, Aachen, Germany, 1998. pp. 1847-1852.

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