A DSTATCOM Topology with Fast-Acting DC-Link Voltage Controller to Compensate AC and DC Loads

Abstract—The transient response of the distribution static com- pensator (DSTATCOM) is very important while compensating rapidly varying unbalanced and nonlinear loads. Any change in the load affects the dc-link voltage directly. The sudden removal of load would result in an increase in the dc-link voltage above the reference value, whereas a sudden increase in load would reduce the dc-link voltage below its reference value. The proper operation of DSTATCOM requires variation of the dc-link voltage within the prescribed limits. Conventionally, a proportional-inte- gral (PI) controller is used to maintain the dc-link voltage to the reference value. It uses deviation of the capacitor voltage from its reference value as its input. However, the transient response of the conventional PI dc-link voltage controller is slow. In this paper, a fast-acting dc-link voltage controller based on the energy of a dc-link capacitor is proposed. Mathematical equations are given to compute the gains of the conventional controller based on fast-acting dc-link voltage controllers to achieve similar fast transient response. The detailed simulation and experimental studies are carried out to validate the proposed controller.

Index Terms—DC-link voltage controller, distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM), fast transient response, harmonics, load compensation, power factor, power quality (PQ), unbalance, voltage-source inverter (VSI).