Dynamic Power Factor Correction in a Non Linear Environment

Electric power quality mainly refers to maintaining a near sinusoidal power distribution bus voltage at rated magnitude and frequency. In modern electric power supply distribution systems, the sharp rise in the use of both single phase and three-phase non-linear loads leads to the drawing of non-sinusoidal unbalanced current from AC mains, resulting in harmonic injection and increased reactive power burden. This paper presents a simulation of an ideal shunt active power filter (APF) to eliminate harmonics and improve the power factor in a three-phase, three-wire system. Additionally, we simulate a shunt APF using time-domain p-q theory to address harmonic issues. The analysis highlights various power quality problems, focusing on harmonics as the most prominent issue, detailing its causes, effects, and mitigation techniques. A case study comparing the ideal shunt APF and the shunt APF utilizing p-q theory further illustrates the effectiveness of these methods in real-world applications.