Capacitor-less D-STATCOM for reactive power compensation

This paper presents a D-STATCOM for reactive power compensation in a distribution system that uses inductive energy storage element connected to the grid via a matrix converter (MC). The MC is controlled using model predictive controller (MPC) technique. The D-STATCOM will provide load compensation without using electrolytic capacitors. Electrolytic capacitors have well-known failure modes. Therefore, reactive power compensators that use a voltage-source inverter (VSI) with electrolytic capacitors as energy storage involve periodic replacement and monitoring constantly. Consequently, this will incur an increase in the cost of the traditional approaches of load compensation significantly. MC system controlled using MPC provides reactive power compensation by controlling the output inductors and the input reactive power. Therefore, the proposed compensator which is based on MC and inductive energy storage has a longer expected service life and more reliability compared with VSI based compensators.