Filters and protection reactance for distortion compensation in low voltage plants

Low-voltage electrical plants supplying static power converters are often affected by current and voltage harmonic distortion. The effectiveness of harmonic filters and protection reactance in compensating the distortion factor and, in general, nonactive power, is shown by theoretical and experimental results. Good agreement of voltage notch and distortion factor estimates, after filter and protection reaction insertion, with experimental data measured on a model of an electrical plant has been found. The strong contribution to voltage notch and distortion factor reduction of filters connected at the converter-side of protection reactance is pointed out. The final result is that well-designed filters and protection reactances, suitably inserted in the plant, can satisfactorily compensate both reactive and distortion power and lead to compliance with standard limits on harmonic distortion even for electrical plants with a low short-circuit ratio.<>