4.

4 Principle of Operation and Control of DSTATCOMs

The basic function of DSTATCOMs is to mitigate most of the current-based power quality
problems such as reactive power, unbalanced currents, neutral current, and harmonics (if any)
and to provide sinusoidal balanced currents in the supply with the self-supporting DC bus of the
VSC used as a DSTATCOM. A fundamental circuit of the DSTATCOM for a three-phase three-
wire AC system with balanced/ unbalanced loads is shown in Figure 4.6. An IGBT-based
current-controlled voltage source converter (CC-VSC) with a DC bus capacitor is used as the
DSTATCOM. Using a control algorithm, the reference DSTATCOM currents are directly
controlled by estimating the reference DSTATCOM currents. However, in place of
DSTATCOM currents, the reference supply currents may be estimated for an indirect current
control of the VSC. The gating pulses to the DSTATCOM are generated by employing hysteresis
(carrier less PWM (pulse-width modulation)) or PWM (fixed frequency) current control over
reference and sensed supply currents resulting in an indirect current control. Using the
DSTATCOM, the reactive power compensation and unbalanced current compensation are
achieved in all the control algorithms. In addition, zero voltage regulation (ZVR) at PCC is also
achieved by modifying the control algorithm suitably.

4.4.1 Principle of Operation of DSTATCOMs

The main objective of DSTATCOMs is to mitigate the current-based power quality problems in
a distribution system. A DSTATCOM mitigates most of the current quality problems, such as
reactive power, unbalance, neutral current, harmonics (if any), and fluctuations, present in the
consumer loads or otherwise in the system and provides sinusoidal balanced currents in the
supply with its DC bus voltage regulation.
.
4.5.1 Design of a Three-Phase Three-Wire DSTATCOM
The design of a DSTATCOM involves the estimation and selection of various components of the
VSC of the DSTATCOM such as DC capacitor value, DC bus voltage, interfacing AC inductor,
and a ripple filter. A ripple filter is used to filter the switching ripples from the voltage at PCC.
The design of the interfacing inductors and a ripple filter is carried out to limit the ripple in the
currents and voltages. The design of a DC bus capacitor depends on the energy storage capacity
needed during transient conditions. The rating of the DSTATCOM depends on the required
reactive power compensation and degree of unbalance in the load. Hence, the current rating of
the DSTATCOM is affected by the load power rating and its voltage rating depends on the DC
bus voltage. The design equations for the estimation and selection of the components of the VSC
of the DSTATCOM and the voltage levels are given in the following sections.
4.5.1.1 Design of a Three-Phase Three-Leg VSC-Based DSTATCOM
A three-leg VSC is used as a distribution static compensator as shown in Fig. %and this topology
has six IGBTs, three AC inductors, and a DC capacitor. The required compensation to be
provided by the DSTATCOM decides the rating of the VSC components. The VSC is designed
for compensating a reactive power of 50 kVA (with a safety factor of 0.1) in a 415 V, 50 Hz,
three-phase distribution system. The selection of an interfacing inductor, a DC capacitor, and a
ripple filter is given in the following sections.

Fig. - A three-leg VSC-based three-phase three-wire DSTATCOM

4.5.1.1.1 Selection of the DC Bus Voltage
The minimum DC bus voltage of the VSC of the DSTATCOM should be greater than twice of
the peak of the phase voltage of the distribution system. The DC bus voltage is calculated as
𝑉𝐷𝐶 .
2√2𝑉𝐿𝐿
𝑉𝐷𝐶 = ⁄
(√3𝑚)
Where m is the modulation index and is considered as 1 and 𝑉𝐿𝐿 is the AC line output voltage of
the DSTATCOM. Thus, 𝑉𝐷𝐶 is obtained as 677.69V for a 𝑉𝐿𝐿 of 415V and it is selected as 700
V.

4.5.1.1.2 Selection of a DC Bus Capacitor

The value of the DC capacitor (CDC) of the VSC of the DSTATCOM depends on the
instantaneous energy available to the DSTATCOM during transients. The principle of energy
conservation is applied as
1
𝐶 (𝑉 2 − 𝑉𝐷𝐶1
2 )
= 𝐾1 3𝑉𝑎𝐼𝑡
2 𝐷𝐶 𝐷𝐶
Where 𝑉𝐷𝐶 is the nominal DC voltage equal to the reference DC voltage and 𝑉𝐷𝐶1 is the
minimum voltage level of the DC bus, a is the overloading factor, V is the phase voltage, I is the
phase current, and t is the time by which the DC bus voltage is to be recovered. Considering the
minimum voltage level of the DC bus (VDC1) =677.69 V, VDC = 700 V.
.

4.5.1.1.3 Selection of an AC Inductor

The selection of the AC inductance (𝐿𝑟 ) of a VSC depends on the current ripple icr;pp, switching
frequency fs, and DC bus voltage (𝑉𝐷𝐶 ), and it is given as 𝐿𝑟 .
√3 𝑚𝑉𝐷𝐶
𝐿𝑟 =
12𝑎𝑓𝑠 𝐼𝑐𝑟𝑝𝑝
Where m is the modulation index and a is the overloading factor. m=1, VDC =700 V, and a =1.2,
the value of Lr is calculated to be 5.5mH.
4.5.1.1.4 Selection of a Ripple Filter
A high-pass first-order filter tuned at half the switching frequency is used to filter out the noise
from the voltage at PCC. The time constant of the filter should be very small compared with the
fundamental time period (T), 𝑅𝑓 𝐶𝑓 , considering 𝑅𝑓 𝐶𝑓 . Ts/10, where 𝑅𝑓 , 𝐶𝑓 , and Ts are the ripple
filter resistance, ripple filter capacitance, and switching time, respectively. Considering
switching frequency equal to 1.8 kHz, the ripple filter parameters are selected as 𝑅𝑓 =10Ω and
𝐶𝑓 = 550 μF.