Unity power factor rectifier with reactive and harmonic current compensation

This work presents the extended capabilities of a single-phase Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) rectifier to achieve a unity power factor (PF) in the Point of Common Coupling (PCC). It can act as a dynamic var compensator, fixed var compensator and Active Power Filter (APF). To accomplish such tasks a control scheme based in two cascaded loops is used. The outer loop regulates the dc bus voltage and provides active power reference; the inner loop performs the tracking of active, reactive and harmonic current references. Transistors are driven by a Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation (SPWM) strategy which receives a modulating signal from the inner loop of the control scheme. An average modeling is carried out and equations based on such model are obtained for the sizing of the passive elements. Simulation and experimental results are presented.