Active and Passive Filtering for Harmonic Compensation

Passive filtering has typically been the standard technology for harmonic and reactive power compensation. With the advancements in power electronics, active filtering is being more widely considered given its flexibility and precise control. This paper presents several active and passive filter topologies in an effort to provide advice to industrial engineers in product selection given their proposed application and system constraints. Mathematical models of active and passive filter topologies were presented and used to develop simulation models in the C programming language. A thorough investigation and comparison of the simulation results reveals the inherent harmonic compensating abilities of passive filters and the precise controllability of active filters.