Large value AC capacitor for harmonic filtering and reactive power compensation

To overcome the limitations of conventional shunt passive filters, which are invariably used for harmonic filtering, a quasi-passive filter (QPF) has been proposed. It comprises a parallel and series tuned LC tank circuit. Unlike the conventional shunt passive filter, the QPF utilises a large value AC capacitor. Unipolar DC capacitors and power semiconductor devices have been used to realise the large value AC capacitor. The operation of the QPF is simple and it does not require the complex control methods of active power filters. With certain modifications in the QPF, a modified quasi-passive filter (MQPF) has been proposed, which can be used for reactive power compensation in addition to harmonic filtering. The proposed QPF and MQPF have been verified through analysis and simulation. Experiments are carried out to verify the validity of the QPF.