Characteristic Analysis of Power Compensation Condenser Considering Voltage Harmonics

Most of the industrial loads includes the non-linear load as well as the linear load because there are many kinds of power conversion equipments at the input stage of the load in distribution network. The non-linear load causes the distortion of voltage waveform at PCC because the non-linear load generates the harmonic current. As a result, various voltage harmonics are existed at PCC depending on the current harmonics from the non-linear load. And, a series reactor is generally connected to the power capacitor in series to attenuate the distortion of voltage waveform and to reduce an inrush current of power capacitor. Also, harmonic current of power capacitor is highly dependent on the series reactor because it is operated with the power capacitor as a passive filter against nonlinear loads. Then, these capacitors might be damaged by the excessive voltage and current harmonic components. In this paper, we presented how to select the capacitor and series reactor to meet the requirement of the voltage distortion at PCC and analyzed the voltage, current and capacity rating of the power capacitor by the computer simulation to ensure the safe operation of power capacitor when the voltage harmonics at PCC are existed. Also, the analysis data were compared with the experimental measurements for the verification.