Electr Eng (2007) 89: 411–418

DOI 10.1007/s00202-006-0012-8

O R I G I NA L PA P E R

Hasan Kömürcügil · Osman Kükrer

Globally stable control of three-phase three-wire shunt active power

filters

Received: 26 October 2005 / Accepted: 7 January 2006 / Published online: 23 March 2006
© Springer-Verlag 2006

Abstract This paper proposes a new control strategy for rectifiers, switched mode power supplies and variable speed
three-phase three-wire shunt active power filters. The idea in drive systems present nonlinear loads to the mains supply,
this strategy is to form an energy-like Lyapunov function in generating high harmonic currents and reducing input power
terms of the active filter states and then determine the control factor. Therefore, compensation methods aiming at elimina-
law that makes the time derivative of the Lyapunov function tion of these harmonic currents and achieving unity power
always negative for all values of the states. It is shown analyt- factor have become an important issue recently. In order to
ically that a globally stable control is possible. The references overcome these problems simultaneously, numerous active
for the active filter currents are obtained by subtracting the filtering methods have been developed in recent years [1–
measured load currents from the generated source current 10]. In general, there are two types of active filters: the shunt
references. The amplitude of the source currents is adjusted type and the series type. The shunt active power filter based
by employing a proportional-integral regulator in the volt- on the voltage-source PWM converter topology is the most
age control loop. Matlab simulations are performed for a widely used active filter and is recognized as a viable solution
nonlinear load drawing quasi-square-wave currents from the due to its excellent performance characteristics and simplic-
mains. Simulation results show that the Lyapunov function- ity in the implementation, both in single- and three-phase
based control strategy not only eliminates the load current configurations.
harmonics successfully, but also exhibits excellent transient Various control strategies have been proposed in the lit-
response during large load variations. erature for three-phase shunt active power filters [1,2]. The
instantaneous reactive power theory proposed in [3,4] exhib-
Keywords Active power filter · Lyapunov’s direct method · its excellent dynamic response. However, the performance
Harmonic compensation of the method presented in [3] degrades as the switching
frequency changes due to the hysteretic nature of the con-
trol method. The synchronous d–q reference frame method
presented in [5,6] generates the amplitude of the reference
1 Introduction
source current by regulating the DC capacitor voltage. The
control strategy proposed in [7] operates with fixed switching
The use of power electronic systems is growing in all branches
frequency and exhibits better performance than the control
of industry as well as general consumers of electric energy. It
strategy presented in [3]. Although the sliding-mode control-
is well known that these systems such as diode and thyristor
ler presented in [8] compensates the reactive power and the
current harmonic components of the nonlinear loads simulta-
H. Kömürcügil (B)
Computer Engineering Department, neously, it suffers from the chattering problem. On the other
Eastern Mediterranean University, hand, a completely different approach based on qualitative
Gazimağusa, Mersin 10, control rules, namely, fuzzy control (FC), merits attention
Turkey because of its attractive advantages. There are several pub-
E-mail: hasan.komurcugil@emu.edu.tr
Fax: +90-392-3650711 lications [9,10] on active power filters, which address the
performance and design issues of using FC to achieve non-
O. Kükrer linear control of the switching action.
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, In this paper, the Lyapunov-based control strategy pre-
Eastern Mediterranean University,
Gazimağusa, Mersin 10,
sented in [11] is applied to the control of a three-phase shunt
Turkey active power filter. It is shown analytically that a globally
E-mail: osman.kukrer@emu.edu.tr stable control is possible.
412 H. Kömürcügil and O. Kükrer

is , a iL , a
ea

is ,b i f ,a iL , b Three-
eb phase
n Nonlinear
is , c i f ,b iL , c Load
ec

i f ,c

Sa Sb Sc iC +
L R
a C vc
b
c
_
Sa Sb Sc

Fig. 1 A three-phase three-wire shunt active power filter

vc
2 System description vcn = (− pa − pb + 2 pc ) (10)
6
where pa , pb , and pc are the bipolar switching functions
The three-phase three-wire shunt active power filter is de-
which are defined as
picted in Fig. 1. It is assumed that the three-phase source 
voltages are balanced as 1, Sk closed
pk = , k = a, b, c. (11)
−1, Sk closed
ea (t) = E m cos(ωt), (1)

 Since the three-phase quantities become DC when they are
2π transformed to a rotating d-q frame, it is very convenient to
eb (t) = E m cos ωt − , (2)
3 use this technique for controller design purposes. The trans-

 formed variables of if , iL , is ,e, and the switching functions
4π are defined as
ec (t) = E m cos ωt − , (3)  
3 i f,d 2
= Tif , (12)
where E m and ω are the amplitude of the phase voltage and i f,q 3
the angular frequency of the ac source, respectively. It is clear  
from Fig. 1 that i L,d 2
= TiL , (13)
i L,q 3
i f = is − iL , (4)
 
where i s,d 2
 T = Tis , (14)
if = i f,a i f,b i f,c , i s,q 3
 T  
is = i s,a i s,b i s,c , ed 2
 T = Te, (15)
iL = i L,a i L,b i L,c (5) eq 3
The voltage vector equation describing the operation of the  
pd 2  T
active filter is = T pa pb pc , (16)
pq 3
dif
L + Rif = e − v, (6) where T is the transformation matrix defined as
dt    
where cos(ωt) cos ωt − 2π cos ωt − 4π
 T  T T= 3 3 . (17)
− sin(ωt) − sin ωt − 2π 3 − sin(ωt − 3 )
4π
e = ea eb ec , v = van vbn vcn . (7)
Transforming the three-phase source voltages into the rotat-
The expressions for the phase-to-neutral voltages are [11]
ing d–q frame results in ed = E m and eq = 0. The trans-
vc formation of Eq. (6) from the three-phase to the rotating d–q
van = (2 pa − pb − pc ) (8)
6 frame can be obtained shown in [11] as:
vc di f,d 1
vbn = (− pa + 2 pb − pc ) (9) L + Ri f,d = ωLi f,q − vc pd + E m , (18)
6 dt 2
Globally stable control of three-phase three-wire shunt active power filters 413

Fig. 2 Simulink model of the shunt active filter with Lyapunov-based control

di f,q 1 i s,d = Im , i s,q = 0,

L + Ri f,q = ωLi f,d − vc pq . (19)
dt 2
The output capacitor current in terms of active filter currents pd = Pdo , pq = Pqo ,
(i f,d and i f,q ) and switching functions ( pd and pq ) can be
written as shown in [11] i f,d = If,d = Im − i L,d , i f,q = If,q = −i L,q , (21)
dvc 3
iC = C = ( pd i f,d + pq i f,q ). (20) where Vc is the reference for the capacitor voltage, Im is the
dt 4 amplitude of the three-phase source current, If,d is the ref-
It can be seen clearly that Eqs. (18), (19), and (20) are non- erence for i f,d , If,q is the reference for i f,q , Pdo and Pqo are
linear since the switching functions pd and pq are control the steady-state values of pd and pq , respectively. Substitut-
variables. ing the relationships given in (21) into (18) and Eq. (19) and
solving for Pdo and Pqo gives


2 di L,d
3 Steady-state analysis of the system Pdo = E m + Ri L,d + L −ωLi L,q − R Im , (22)
Vc dt
The main objective of the control strategy is to produce a

reference for the active filter current (compensating current) 2 di L,q 
Pqo = Ri L,q + L + ωL i L,d − Im . (23)
which has the same amplitude but opposite phase to those Vc dt
of the load current harmonics to be eliminated. Since eq is
Note that the derivative, if implemented directly, is liable to
0, then i s,q must be forced to become 0 for the unity power
amplify noise in the load current components in the rotat-
factor operation. When i s,q becomes 0, i s,d corresponds to
ing d–q frame. In order to prevent this, it is implemented as
the amplitude of the source current. In the steady state, we
a high pass filter with a large enough 3-dB frequency such
have the following expressions
that the primary signal is not distorted. It is assumed that the
vc = Vc , three-phase load currents are measured and transformed into
414 H. Kömürcügil and O. Kükrer

25
(a)
20

15

10

5
iLa, A

0
0.160 0.165 0.170 0.175 0.180 0.185 0.190 0.195 0.200
-5

-10

-15

-20

-25
Time, s

600 25
(b)
500 20
400
15
300
10
200

100 5

isa, A
ea,V

0 0
0.160 0.165 0.170 0.175 0.180 0.185 0.190 0.195 0.200
-100 -5
-200
-10
-300
-15
-400

-500 -20

-600 -25
Time, s
25
(c)
20

15

10

5
iaf, A

0
0.160 0.165 0.170 0.175 0.180 0.185 0.190 0.195 0.200
-5

-10

-15

-20

-25
Time, s

Fig. 3 Steady-state waveforms obtained with Lyapunov-based control for (a) i L,a , (b) i s,a , and (c) i f,a
Globally stable control of three-phase three-wire shunt active power filters 415

25
(a)

20
Harmonic amplitude, A

15

10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Harmonic order

20
(b)
18

16

14
Harmonic amplitude, A

12

10

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Harmonic order

Fig. 4 Harmonic analyses of (a)i L,a and (b) i s,a

the rotating d–q frame. Also, the amplitude Im is determined as the Lyapunov function, is chosen in terms of the closed-
by a proportional–integral (PI) voltage regulator loop system states. According to Lyapunov’s stability theo-

rem, any linear or nonlinear system is globally asymptotically
Im = K p (vc − Vc ) + K i (vc − Vc )dt (24) stable if V (x) satisfies the following properties:
where K p and K i are the proportional and integral gains, (a) V (0) = 0,
respectively. (b) V (x) > 0, for all x
= 0,
(c) V̇ (x) < 0, for all x
= 0,
(d) V (x) → ∞ as x → ∞.
4 Lyapunov function-based control strategy Notice that the theorem can be applied to both linear or non-
linear systems but does not give a method to construct a
The proposed strategy is based on Lyapunov’s direct method. Lyapunov function. This is a matter of intuition, analytical
The main idea is that of proving that the total energy of the skills and trial–error.
system decreases along the system trajectories. This in turn Let us define a positive definite Lyapunov function as
implies that the system will be confined to a bounded set of 3 3
the phase plane. An energy-like function V (x), often termed V (x) = L x12 + L x22 + C x32 (25)
2 2
416 H. Kömürcügil and O. Kükrer

50 50
(a) (b)
40 40

30 30

20 20

10 10
iLa, A

is a, A
0 0
-10 -10
-20 -20
-30 -30
-40 -40
-50 -50
Time, s
Time, s
40
(c)
30 820
(d)
20
800

10
780
ifa, A

vc, V
760
-10
740
-20

720
-30

-40 700
0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.40 0.45 0.50 0.55 0.60 0.65 0.70
Time, s
Time, s

Fig. 5 Transient wave forms for a step change in the load current for (a) i L,a , (b) i s,a , (c) i f,a , and (d) vc

where x1 , x2 , and x3 are the state variables of the system If we substitute Eqs. (30), (31), and (32) into Eq. (27), we
which are defined as obtain
x1 = i f,d − If,d , x2 = i f,q − If,q , x3 = vc − Vc 3
(26) V̇ (x) = −3R(x12 + x22 ) − (x1 Vc − x3 If,d )pd
2
The derivative of Eq. (25) with respect to time is
3
V̇ (x) = 3x1 L ẋ1 + 3x2 L ẋ2 + 2x3 C ẋ3 . (27) − (x2 Vc − x3 If,q )pq . (33)
2
On the other hand, the switching functions outside of the It is clear that V̇ (x) becomes always negative definite, if pd
steady state can be defined as and pq are chosen as
pd = Pdo + pd , (28) pd = K 1 (x1 Vc − x3 If,d ), K 1 > 0, (34)
pq = Pqo + pq , (29) pq = K 2 (x2 Vc − x3 If,q ), K 2 > 0, (35)
where pd and pq are the perturbations of pd and pq , where K 1 and K 2 are the gains of the controller. Now, it
respectively. Substituting Eqs. (28) and (26) into Eq. (18) and is obvious that the closed-loop system is globally stabilized
simplifying the resulting expression with the help of Eq. (22) against large load variations. Note also that the proposed con-
gives troller is globally stable when there is a power flow from
load to the mains supply (a three-phase controlled rectifier
1 1 1 operating in the regenerating mode). It can be easily shown
L ẋ1 = ωL x2 − Rx1 − x3 Pdo − x3 pd − Vc pd (30)
2 2 2 that the same expressions given in Eqs. (34) and (35) are
Similarly, substituting Eq. (29) and (26) into Eq. (19) and sim- obtained if the steady-state expressions given in Eq. (21) are
plifying the resulting expression using Eq. (23) gives modified (for the regenerating operation) as i s,d = −Im , and
1 1 1 i f,d = If,d = −(Im + i L,d ), and the same substitution proce-
L ẋ2 = −ωL x1 − Rx2 − x3 Pqo − x3 pq − Vc pq . (31) dure is applied to obtain the control variables pd and pq .
2 2 2
The expression for C ẋ3 can be obtained by the substitution
of Eqs. (21), (22), and (23) into Eqs. (20)
5 Computer simulations
3
C ẋ3 = Pdo x1 + pd x1 + pd If,d + Pqo x2
4 The operation of the proposed control strategy has been ver-
+ pq x2 + pq If,q . (32) ified through computer simulation using Simulink of
Globally stable control of three-phase three-wire shunt active power filters 417

25 40

20
30
15
20
10
10
5
isa , A

iLa, A
0 0
0,16 0,17 0,18 0,19 0,20 0,21 0,22 0,23 0,24 0,25 0,26
-5
-10
-10
-20
-15
-30
-20

-25 -40
Time, s
Fig. 6 Response of the source current to a step change in load current from linear to nonlinear case

MATLAB. The block diagram of the simulation model is current (i L,a ). Figure 5a–d shows the transient responses for
shown in Fig. 2 where each block is a subsystem that per- the load current (i L,a ), source current (i s,a ), filter current (i f,a ),
forms a certain function. For instance, the block named “vc and output voltage (vc ), respectively. It can be seen that all
solution” computes the capacitor current and then solves the the current variables exhibit fast response to this step change.
differential equation for the capacitor voltage. Similarly, the However, the transient response of the output voltage is much
block named “dq/abc” performs back transformation of the slower compared to that of the three-phase source currents.
switching functions from the rotating d–q frame to the abc The main reason for that comes from the nature of the voltage
frame. The block named “iL,a ” generates the quasi-square loop and from the large value of the output capacitor. Nev-
waveform with limited slope in which the dead zone cen- ertheless, the closed-loop system was stable after the step
ter has been placed at the zero crossings of the source volt- change occurs in the load current.
age. The block with “D=2 ms” represents a 2 ms time delay Figure 6 shows the response of the source current for
and is used to obtain the typical current waveform for i L,a a step change in the load from linear to nonlinear case. Ini-
that exists in a three-phase controlled rectifier. The equiva- tially, it is assumed that a linear load is connected to the mains
lent firing angle of the thyristors obtained with this value of supply. After a while, the load changes abruptly from linear
D=2 ms is α = 30◦ . The parameters of the closed-loop sys- to nonlinear where load current changes from sinusoidal to
tem were selected as E m = 310 V, Vc = 800 V, L = 4 mH, quasi-square wave.
C = 2000 µ F, R = 1, ω = 100π rad/s, K 1 = 0.0004, Figure 7 shows the steady-state waveforms of source cur-
K 2 = 0.0002, K p = −0.16, K i = −1.3. The switching fre- rent (i s,a ), source voltage (ea ), load current (i L,a ), and active
quency of the active filter is f s = 5 kHz. In all the simulation filter current (i f,a ) obtained by the proposed controller for
studies, it is assumed that the nonlinear load is a three-phase the regenerative load case. It can be seen that there is a 180◦
controlled rectifier which draws quasi-square-wave currents phase difference between the source current and the source
(with limited slope) from the mains supply. voltage which verifies the correct and the stable operation of
Figure 3a–c shows the steady-state results of the proposed the proposed controller under the regenerative load case.
controller for load current (i L,a ), source current (i s,a ), and
active filter current (i f,a ), respectively. The harmonic analy-
ses of load current (i L,a ) and source current (i s,a ) with non- 6 Conclusions
linear load are shown in Fig. 4a, b, respectively. The total
harmonic distortion (THD) of the load current was computed A new control strategy that is based on a Lyapunov func-
as 23.56% and the fundamental amplitude as 22.31 A. Simi- tion is proposed for three-phase shunt active power filters.
larly, the THD and the fundamental amplitude of the source It is shown analytically that a globally stable operation is
current were computed as 8.97% and 19.01 A, respectively. possible for the closed-loop system. The amplitude of the
It is obvious from Fig. 3b that the source current is almost source currents is adjusted by employing a PI regulator in
sinusoidal and in phase with the source voltage. The THD the voltage control loop. MATLAB simulations for a nonlin-
of the source current is reduced from 23.56 to 8.97% after ear load drawing quasi-square-wave currents from the mains
compensation. show that the Lyapunov function-based control strategy not
In order to investigate the transient response and the sta- only eliminates load current harmonics successfully, but also
bility properties of the proposed controller, the closed-loop exhibits excellent transient response during large load varia-
system has been simulated under a step change in the load tions.
418 H. Kömürcügil and O. Kükrer

600 25
(a)
500 20
400
15
300
10
200

100 5

isa, A
ea, V

0 0
0.760 0.765 0.770 0.775 0.780 0.785 0.790 0.795 0.800
-100 -5
-200
-10
-300
-15
-400

-500 -20

-600 -25
Time, s

25 25
(b)
20 20

15 15

10 10

5 5
iLa, A

i fa, A
0 0
0.760 0.765 0.770 0.775 0.780 0.785 0.790 0.795 0.800
-5 -5

-10 -10

-15 -15

-20 -20

-25 -25
Time, s

Fig. 7 Steady-state waveforms obtained with Lyapunov-based control during a regenerative load case for (a) i s,a , ea , and (b) i L,a i f,a

7. Moran LA, Dixon JW, Wallace RR (1995) A three-phase active

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