OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF THE DSTATCOM

Basically, the DSTATCOM system is comprised of three main parts: a Voltage Source Converter (VSC), a set of coupling reactors and a controller. The basic principle of a DSTATCOM installed in a power system is the generation of a controllable ac voltage source by a voltage source inverter (VSI) connected to a dc capacitor (energy storage device). The ac voltage source, in general, appears behind a transformer leakage reactance. The active and reactive power transfer between the power system and the DSTATCOM is caused by the voltage difference across this reactance. The DSTATCOM is connected to the power networks where the voltage-quality problem is a concern. All required voltages and currents are measured and are fed into the controller to be compared with the commands. The controller then performs feedback control and outputs a set of switching signals to drive the main semiconductor switches (IGBT’s, which are used at the distribution level) of the power converter accordingly.

Figure: Block Diagram of the voltage source converter based DSTATCOM

The AC voltage control is achieved by firing angle control. Ideally the output voltage of the VSI is in phase with the bus (where the DSTATCOM is connected.) voltage. In steady state, the dc side capacitance is maintained at a fixed voltage and there is no real power exchange, except for losses. The DSTATCOM differs from other reactive power generating devices (such as shunt Capacitors, Static VAR Compensators etc.) in the sense that the ability for energy storage is not a rigid necessity but is only required for System unbalance or harmonic absorption.

There are two control objectives implemented in the DSTATCOM. One is the ac voltage regulation of the power system at the bus where the DSTATCOM is connected. And the other is dc voltage control across the capacitor inside the DSTATCOM. It is widely known that shunt reactive power injection can be used to control the bus voltage. In conventional control scheme, there are two voltage regulators designed for these purposes. AC voltage regulator for bus voltage control and dc voltage regulator for capacitor voltage control. In the simplest strategy, both the regulators are proportional integral (PI) type controllers.

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