Implementation of Neural Network Controlled

Three-Leg VSC and a Transformer as Three-

Phase Four-Wire DSTATCOM
1
Bhim Singh, 2P Jayaprakash, 1Sunil Kumar and 3D P Kothari
1
Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Hauz-Khas, New Delhi-110016, India.
2
Centre for Energy Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Hauz-Khas, New Delhi-110016, India.
3
Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore-632 014, Tamil Nadu, India.
E-mail: bsingh@ee.iitd.ac.in, jayaprakashpee@gmail.com,mr.sunil.kr@gmail.com dpk0710@yahoo.com.

Abstract: In this paper, a neural network controlled
DSTATCOM (Distribution Static Compensator) using
dSPACE processor is implemented for power quality
improvement in a three-phase four-wire distribution system. A
three-leg VSC (Voltage Source Converter) based DSTATCOM
with a zig-zag transformer is used for the compensation of
reactive power for voltage regulation or for power factor
correction along with load balancing, elimination of harmonics
currents and neutral current compensation at the point of
common coupling (PCC). The Adaline (adaptive linear
element) based neural network is used to implement the
control scheme of the VSC. This technique gives similar
performance as that of other control techniques, but it is
simple to implement and has a fast response and gives nearly
zero phase shift. The zig-zag transformer is used for providing
a path to the zero sequence current in a three-phase four-wire
distribution system. This reduces the complexity and also cost
of the DSTATCOM system. The performance of the proposed
DSTATCOM system is validated through simulations using
MATLAB software with its Simulink and Power System
Blockset (PSB) toolboxes and hardware implementation.
Keywords: Power Quality Improvement, DSTATCOM,
Voltage Source Converter, Zig-zag Transformer, Neutral
Current Compensation.
I. INTRODUCTION
The power quality problems in the ac distribution systems
are mainly due to the proliferation of different types of non-
linear loads, unplanned expansion of the distribution system
etc. These power quality problems include high reactive
power burden, harmonic currents, load unbalance and
excessive neutral current [1-6]. The power quality at the
point of common coupling (PCC) is regulated by the
various standards such as IEEE-519 standard [7]. Many
remedies to power quality problems are reported in the
literature [2, 4]. Three-phase four-wire DSTATCOM is
used for neutral current compensation along with voltage
regulation or power factor correction, harmonic elimination
and load balancing in a three-phase four-wire system with
linear and non-linear loads [8-14]. There are some
topologies reported in the literature for three-phase four-
wire DSTATCOM such as a VSC (Voltage Source
Converter) with four leg [3], three single-phase VSC [4],
three leg VSC with split capacitors [3] and three-leg VSC
with a zig-zag transformer [11]. The application of a zig-
zag transformer is for compensating the zero-sequence
components of the load currents. The application of a zig-
zag transformer for reduction of neutral current has an
advantage due to passive compensation, ruggedness and
less complexity over the active compensation techniques.
Therefore, the topology of three-leg VSC with a zig-zag
transformer has shown improved performance [10-11].
There are many theories available for the generation of
reference source currents for the control of VSC of
DSTATCOM for three phase four wire system in the
literature viz. instantaneous reactive power theory (p-q
theory), synchronous reference frame theory, power balance
theory etc [2-4]. Adaline based control of an active filter is
proposed in the literature for harmonic elimination in the
supply currents [15]. In this paper, a neural network (NN)
control of DSTATCOM is implemented using dSPACE,
which is a real time control system based on 603 PowerPC
floating point processor and a slave DSP subsystem based
on TMS320F240 DSP microcontroller. A three-leg VSC
with a zig-zag transformer is able to perform these
compensations required for a three-phase four-wire system.
The dynamic performance of the system is studied for
voltage regulation and power factor correction modes of the
DSTATCOM. The compensation of load harmonic currents
and load balancing are also obtained along with voltage
regulation or power factor correction.
II. PROPOSED THREE-PHASE FOUR-WIRE
DSTATCOM
The three-phase four-wire DSTATCOM is used for
reactive power and harmonics currents compensation along
with load balancing and neutral current compensation. Fig.1
shows the power circuit of proposed three-leg VSC based
DSTATCOM with zig-zag transformers. The linear and
non-linear, balanced and unbalanced loads are connected at
the PCC. The transformer connected in zig-zag at the PCC
provides a path for zero sequence harmonics and
fundamental neutral currents. The VSC consists of six

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 Fig. 1 Schematics of proposed 3-leg VSC with zig-zag transformer based DSTATCOM

insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), three interface v p (t ) = U sin nωt = usap (3)
inductors, and one dc capacitor. The DSTATCOM can be
operated for power factor correction at the supply side or to vq (t ) = U cos nωt = usaq (4)
regulate the voltage at the PCC to the reference value. The The load current can be decomposed as:
source current is inphase with the voltage, when it is iL = i p + iq + ih (5)
operated in the power factor correction mode, but the
voltage at PCC is not regulated. In the voltage regulation where,ip, iq and iL are the active component, reactive
mode, DSTATCOM injects a current such that the voltage component and harmonic component of load current.
at PCC (VS ) and source voltage (VM) are equal in The initial estimates of positive part of active, reactive and
magnitude. harmonic parts of load current for a single phase is given as
i p (t ) = wp usp (6)
III. CONTROL OF DSTATCOM
iq (t ) = wq usq (7)
The basic theory of decomposer is based on Least Mean
Square (LMS) algorithm and its training is through Adaline The weight Wp and Wq are updated using LMS algorithm.
and use the unit vector for generating the reference source This weight can be represented as:
current. The block diagram of the control scheme is shown wp = ( wpa + wpb + w pc ) / 3 (8)
is Fig. 2. The fundamental active component of load current
is extracted in each phase and this is considered as the wp = ( wpa + wpb + w pc ) / 3 (9)
reference source current (iaref, ibref, icref,). The load current (iLa, The LMS algorithm is used to update this weight as
iLb, iLc,) and the PCC voltages (vSa, vSb, vSc,) are used in the
Adaline based extraction algorithm. The method is based on
{
wp ( k +1) = wp ( k ) + η iL ( k ) − ( wp ( k ) usap ( k ) )} usap ( k ) (10)
the extraction of the weights, Wp and Wq in each phase. Similarly Wq is also updated. The active fundamental
Fig.3 (a) shows the estimation using Adaline in one phase. currents in each phase are obtained as,
For AC system, the source voltage and load current can be i pa (t ) = wp usap
given by
α i pb (t ) = wp usbp (11)
vS = V1 sin ωt + ∑Vn sin (nωt + θ n ) (1)
n−2
i pc (t ) = wp uscp
α where, Wp is the average weight estimated in all the three
iL = ∑ I n sin (nωt + θ n ) (2) phases as,
n =1
wp = ( wpa + wpb + w pc ) / 3 (12)
The unit template for a single phase can be represented as
Similarly, the reactive fundamental currents in each phase
are obtained as,

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 Fig. 2 Adaline based extraction of fundamental real and reactive current in a three phase system

iqa (t ) = wq usaq
iqb (t ) = wq usbq (13)
iqc (t ) = wq uscq
where, Wp is the average weight estimated in all the three
phases as,
wq = ( wqa + wqb + wqc ) / 3 (14)
The reference source currents are obtained as the sum of
active and reactive currents as,
iaref (t ) = i pa (t ) + iqa (t )
ibref (t ) = i pb (t ) + iqb (t ) (15)
icref (t ) = i pc (t ) + iqc (t )
The reference currents in three phases are used for the
control of the 3-leg VSC. The sensed and reference source
currents are compared and the error is used to generate the
gating signals for the IGBT switches.

IV. MATLAB BASED MODELLING OF THE

SYSTEM
The three-leg VSC and the zig-zag transformer based
DSTATCOM for a three-phase four-wire system is
modeled and simulated using the MATLAB and its
Simulink and Power System Blockset (PSB) toolboxes. The
DSTATCOM system shown in Fig. 1 is modeled in
MATLAB. The multi-winding transformer model available
in the PSB is used for modeling the zig-zag transformer.
The ripple filter is connected to the VSC of the
DSTATCOM for filtering the ripple in the PCC voltage.
The system data are given in Appendix.
The control algorithm for the DSTATCOM is also modeled
in MATLAB. The reference source currents are derived
from the sensed PCC voltages (vSa, vSb, vSc), load currents
(iLa, iLb, iLc) and the dc bus voltage of DSTATCOM (vdc). A
Fig. 3 (a) Control algorithm for phase C (b) LMS algorithm
pulse width modulated (PWM) current controller is used
over the reference and sensed source currents to generate
the gating signals for the IGBTs of the VSC of the
DSTATCOM.
V. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The performance of a three-phase VSC based DSTATCOM
and the zig-zag transformer for PCC voltage regulation,
along with neutral current compensation and load balancing
of a three-phase four–wire load is shown in Fig. 4. At 0.5 s,

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 a three phase linear load is changed to two-phase load and
again to single-phase load at 0.6 s. These loads are applied
at 0.7 s and 0.8 s respectively. The PCC voltage (vs),
balanced source current (is), load current (iL), compensator
current (iC), source neutral current (isn), load neutral current
(iLn), transformer neutral current (iTn), dc bus voltage (vdc)
and amplitude of PCC voltage (VS) are demonstrated under
change of load conditions. It is observed that the amplitude
of PCC voltage (VS) is regulated to the reference amplitude
by the required reactive power compensation and the source
neutral current (isn) is maintained at nearly zero because of
the zig-zag transformer. The dc bus voltage of the capacitor
(vdc) of the VSC of DSTATCOM is regulated by the
controller and the dc voltage is maintained near the
reference dc voltage under varying load disturbances.
The performance of DSTATCOM for voltage regulation
and harmonic elimination along with neutral current
compensation is shown in Fig.5. At 0.8 s, a three phase
non-linear load is changed to two-phase load and again to
single-phase load at 0.9 s. The PCC voltage (vs), balanced
source current (is), load current (iLa,iLb,iLc) compensator
current (iC), source neutral current (isn), load neutral current
(iLn), transformer neutral current (iTn), dc bus voltage (vdc)
and amplitude of PCC voltage (VS) are demonstrated under
varying non-linear loads. The PCC voltage is regulated to
the reference amplitude value. It is observed that the load is
drawing non-sinusoidal and unbalanced current, but the
source current is sinusoidal and balanced due to the proper
Fig. 4. Performance of 3-phase Three-leg VSC and zig-zag
transformer for neutral current compensation, load balancing and
voltage regulation.
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compensation currents injected by the DSTATCOM.
The dynamic performance of the DSTATCOM system in
the unity power factor (UPF) mode of operation is depicted
in Fig.6 and Fig.7. The load balancing and neutral current
compensation are demonstrated in Fig.6. At 0.5 s, a three
phase linear load is changed to two-phase load and again to
single-phase load at 0.6 s. These loads are applied at 0.7 s
and 0.8 s respectively. The PCC voltage (vs), balanced
source current (is), load current (iL), compensator current
(iC), source neutral current (isn), load neutral current (iLn),
transformer neutral current (iTn), dc bus voltage (vdc) and
amplitude of PCC voltage (VS) are shown to demonstrate
the satisfactory behavior.
The harmonic elimination and neutral current compensation
are demonstrated in Fig.7. At 0.8 s, a three phase non-linear
load is changed to two-phase load and again to single-phase
load at 0.9 s. The PCC voltage (vs), balanced source current
(is), load current (iL), compensator current (iC), source
neutral current (isn), load neutral current (iLn), transformer
neutral current (iTn), dc bus voltage (vdc) and amplitude of
PCC voltage (VS) are depicted for compensation of non-
linear load. It is also observed that the PCC voltage is not
regulated in both these cases as the compensator is operated
in the UPF mode. The waveform of the load current and its
harmonic spectrum is shown in Fig. 8 and the compensated
Fig. 5. Performance of 3-phase Three-leg VSC and zig-zag transformer
for neutral current compensation, harmonic compensation and voltage
regulation.

Fig. 6 Performance of 3-phase Three-leg VSC and zig-zag
transformer for neutral current compensation, load balancing and
power factor correction.
Fig. 7. Performance of 3-phase, three-leg VSC and zig-zag
transformer for neutral current compensation, harmonic compensation
and power factor correction.
source current with its harmonic spectrum is shown in Fig.
9. The voltage at the PCC with its harmonic spectrum is
shown in Fig. 10. It may be observed that the THD (total
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Fig. 8 Load current and the harmonic spectrum
Fig.9 Source current and the harmonic spectrum
Fig. 10. PCC voltage and the harmonic spectrum
harmonic distortion) of the source current is reduced less
than 5% thus meeting the requirement of IEEE-519
standard [7].
VI. EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION
A laboratory prototype of the proposed topology of the 3-
phase 4-wire DSTATCOM based on 3-leg VSC and a zig-
zag transformer is developed and tested under various
operating conditions. The 3-leg IGBTs based ‘Semikron’
make voltage source converter (VSC) is used for
connecting to a 110V, 50Hz supply system. Three single
phase transformers of 2.5 kVA, 120V/120V are used for
zig-zag transformer configuration. The dc bus capacitor
used is 1650 μF and the dc bus voltage is regulated to
 200V. There are five Hall effect current sensors and three
voltage sensors to get feed back signals such as load
currents, source currents, PCC voltages and dc bus voltage.
The control algorithm is implemented using dSPACE.
Neural network estimator using Adaline based LMS
algorithm is developed. The prototype is tested for three
different types of loads as discussed below. Test results are
recorded using Fluke 43B power analyzer and four channel
digital storage oscilloscope of Agilant technology make.
A. Performance of DSTATCOM at Balanced 0.88 lag pf
Linear Load
The load power, source power and source current are shown
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in Figs. 11 (a), (b) and (c) respectively and it is
demonstrated that the reactive power of the load is
compensated by the DSTATCOM. The power factor is
improved to unity, where as it is 0.88 at the load end.
B. Performance of DSTATCOM at Unbalanced Linear
Load
The unbalanced load currents, compensator currents and
balanced source currents along with PCC voltage at phase
‘a’ are shown in Figs. 11 (d) and (e) and (f) respectively.
The load neutral current, compensator neutral current and
source neutral current, when there is an unbalanced load are
shown in Figs. 11 (g) and (h) and (i) respectively. It is
 observed that the source neutral current is few milli ampere
where as the load neutral current is 4.18 A, which is
compensated by the zig-zag transformer. These test results
demonstrate the load balancing and neutral current
compensation by the proposed DSTATCOM.
C. Performance of DSTATCOM at Non-linear load
The load current, source current and compensator current
are shown Figs. 12 (a), (b) and (c) respectively and it is

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 demonstrated that the harmonic current compensation is
achieved by the DSTATCOM. The THD and harmonic
spectra of load current, source current and voltage at PCC
are shown in Figs. 12 (d), (e) and (f) respectively. The
sinusoidal source currents, non-linear load currents and
compensator currents are shown in Fig. 12(g), (h) and (i)
respectively. Fig. 12(j) shows currents in one phase along
with phase voltage of that phase.
VII. CONCLUSION
The analysis, simulation and implementation of a new
topology of three-phase four-wire DSTATCOM consisting
of three-leg VSC with a zig-zag transformer has been
carried out and its performance has been demonstrated for
neutral current elimination along with reactive power
compensation, harmonic elimination and load balancing.
The 3-leg VSC is controlled using a new control technique
using Adaline based Neural Network estimator. The voltage
regulation and power factor correction modes of operation
of the DSTATCOM have been observed as expected ones.
The dc bus voltage of the DSTATCOM has been regulated
to the reference dc bus voltage under wide varying loads.
The zig-zag transformer has been found effective for
compensating the zero sequence fundamental and
harmonics neutral currents. The kVA rating of transformers
in zig-zag configuration is much less compared to a similar
star-delta transformer. It has been found that the technique
is simple to implement, fast in response and gives nearly
zero phase shift in the estimated reference currents.
APPENDIX
DSTATCOM data for Simulation:
Line Impedance: Rs=0.01 Ω, Ls= 2 mH
Loads: (i) Linear: 20 kVA, 0.80 pf lag
(ii) Non-linear: Three single-phase bridge rectifier with an
R-C load with R = 25 Ω and C = 470μF
Ripple filter: Rf = 5 Ω, Cf = 5 μF
DC bus capacitance of DSTATCOM: 3000 μF
DC bus voltage of DSTATCOM: 700 V
AC inductor: Lf= 3.5 mH
AC line voltage: 415 V, 50 Hz
PWM switching frequency: 10 kHz
Zig-zag transformer: Three single-phase transformers of
2.5 kVA, 240V/240V each.
DSTATCOM data for Implementation:
AC line voltage: 110 V, 50 Hz
Source Impedance: Ls= 3.5mH, Rs=0.001Ω
Processor: dSPACE DS 1104R&D Controller board with
TMS320F240 slave DSP.
DC bus voltage of DSTATCOM: 200 V
DC bus capacitance of DSTATCOM: 1650 μF/ 800V
PWM switching frequency: 10 kHz
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Hall Effect Current Sensors: LEM CT 100S
Voltage sensors: LEM CV3 - 1500
IGBT 3-leg Module: SKM 100 GB128DN (1200 V, 105 A,
IGBT Module)
Gate driver: SKHI 22B Driver.
Ripple Filter: Cf=15 µF, Rf =10 Ω.
Zig-zag transformer: Three single-phase transformers of
2.5 kVA, 70V/70V each.
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