Effects of harmonic distortion of the supply voltage on the optimum performance of a thyristor controlled reactor-type compensator

The present work examines the effect of harmonic distortion of the supply voltage on the optimum gating angle of a thyristor controlled reactor-type compensator (TCR) and hence its influence on the power factor (PF) correction. The values of optimum PF are compared with those calculated using conventional formulae (which assume that the voltage waveform is purely sinusoidal). The real and imaginary components of the current spectrum in a TCR are calculated with a view to minimising the RMS value of the supply current, and thus achieving an optimum PF. The formulae have been simplified by assuming that the switching intervals of the TCR are not affected by the distortion of the voltage supply. This assumption allows one to proceed considering only one control parameter. Different cases are shown to justify the use of the model developed.<>