Mitigation of harmonic and interharmonic effects using a dithering method in adjustable speed drives

This paper presents the effect of dithering on both harmonics and interharmonics in adjustable speed drives (ASDs). Using a voltage source configuration, a six-pulse rectifier and a sinusoidal pulse width modulated (SPWM) inverter are modeled in the PSCAD/EMTDC simulation platform. The pulse width modulated (PWM) signal for the inverter is modified by means of the additive dither noise. The dither randomizes the timing of rising and falling edges of PWM signals, which eventually reduces periodic harmonics of the inverter output voltage. The reduced harmonics also affect the source voltage of the rectifier and ultimately reduce interharmonics. The mitigated harmonics and interharmonics in the ASD are quantified in conventional power spectrum. Furthermore, frequency coupling is also analyzed using cross bicoherence to investigate causes of interharmonics.