Abstract:
Power quality issues are gaining significant attention due to the increase in use of equipment that are
sensitive to distortions or dips in supply voltages. At the same time, the usage of static power converters has
been growing tremendously to provide controlled electric power in various applications such as arc furnaces,
computer power supplies and adjustable speed drives. The nonlinear characteristics of these power
converters create poor power factor, low system efficiency, interference in nearby communication networks
and disturbance to other consumers due to increased harmonics, negative sequence and reactive power
components of current from AC mains. To curb this, regulations apply in many places that limit the
distortion and unbalance that a customer can inject to a distribution system. These regulations may require
the installation of active filter on customer premises to reduce harmonics. In this paper behavior of a simple
converter circuit has been analyzed experimentally to find its effectiveness for cost effective solution as
power conditioner. The circuit consists of four diodes and one MOSFET has been used at the input of a
resistive loaded single phase rectifier circuit to mitigate harmonics. It is found that the total harmonic
distortion (THD) is reduced; power factor and efficiency are improved. The work has also been simulated by
ORCAD simulation software and it is found that simulation results matched closely with those of
experimental results.
