Unit template- or PI Controller-Based Control Algorithm of DSTATCOMs

The unit template- or PI controller-based control algorithm is a simple control algorithm for
active compensating devices such as DSTATCOMs for AC voltage regulation at load terminals
(at PCC) and load balancing of unbalanced loads. This control algorithm of the DSTATCOM is
made flexible and it can be modified either for power factor correction (unity power factor (UPF)
at PCC) or for voltage control (zero voltage regulation at PCC) through reactive power
compensation along with load balancing of unbalanced loads. This control algorithm inherently
provides a self-supporting DC bus of the VSC used as a DSTATCOM. It can be used for the
direct current control of VSC currents of the DSTATCOM and provides an estimation of
reference compensator currents. However, an indirect current control of supply currents is
preferred to obtain PWM switching signals for the devices used in the CC-VSC working as a
DSTATCOM. This indirect current control of the DSTATCOM offers the advantages of fast
control, reduced burden on the processor (DSP used for implementation), inherent elimination of
sharp notches in currents, and so on. For this purpose, three-phase reference supply currents are
derived using sensed AC voltages (at PCC) and DC bus voltage of the DSTATCOM as feedback
signals. Two PI voltage controllers, one to regulate the DC bus of the VSC used as a
DSTATCOM and other to regulate amplitude of the PCC voltages, are used to estimate the
amplitudes of in-phase and quadrature components of reference supply currents.

Control of DSTATCOMs in UPF Mode of Operation

Figure 4.21 shows the unit template-based control algorithm of DSTATCOMs for power factor
correction (PFC) at PCC. In this control algorithm, three-phase voltages at PCC along with the
DC bus voltage of the DSTATCOM are used for implementing this control algorithm. In real-
time implementation of DSTATCOMs, a band-pass filter (BPF) plays an important role. Three-
phase voltages are sensed at PCC and are conditioned in a band-pass filter to filter out any
distortion. The three-phase load voltages are inputs and three-phase filtered voltages (
𝑣𝑠𝑎 , 𝑣𝑠𝑏 , 𝑣𝑠𝑐 )are outputs of band-pass filters.
For the control of the DSTATCOM, the self-supporting DC bus is realized using a PI voltage
∗
controller over the sensed (𝑣𝐷𝐶 ) and reference (𝑣𝐷𝐶 ) values of the DC bus voltage of the
DSTATCOM. The PI voltage controller on the DC bus voltage of the DSTATCOM provides the
∗
amplitude (i∗spp ) of in-phase components (isa , i∗sb , i∗sc ) of reference supply currents. The three-
phase unit current vectors (𝑢𝑠𝑎 , 𝑢𝑠𝑏 , 𝑢𝑠𝑐 ) are derived in phase with the filtered supply voltages
(𝑣𝑠𝑎 , 𝑣𝑠𝑏 , 𝑣𝑠𝑐 ). The multiplication of the in-phase amplitude with in-phase unit vectors results in
the in-phase components of three-phase reference supply currents (i∗sa , i∗sb , i∗sc ). Hence, for
fundamental unity power factor supply currents, the in-phase reference
supply currents, which are estimated in the above-described procedure, become the reference
supply currents.
The amplitude of reference supply currents is computed using a PI voltage controller over the
average value of the DC bus voltage (vDCa) of the DSTATCOM and its reference value (v*
DC). A comparison of average and reference values of the DC bus voltage of the DSTATCOM
results in a voltage error, which is fed to a PI voltage controller
∗ (𝑛)
𝑣𝐷𝐶(𝑛) = 𝑣𝐷𝐶 − 𝑣𝐷𝐶𝑎 (𝑛)
This voltage error is fed to a PI voltage controller, and the output of the PI voltage controller is
𝐼𝑠𝑝𝑝 = 𝐼𝑠𝑝𝑝 (𝑛 − 1) + 𝐾𝑝𝑑 {𝑣𝐷𝐶𝑒 (𝑛) − 𝑣𝐷𝐶𝑒 (𝑛 − 1)} + 𝐾𝑖𝑑 𝑣𝐷𝐶 (𝑛)
∗ (𝑛) ∗
Where 𝑣𝐷𝐶(𝑛) = 𝑣𝐷𝐶 − 𝑣𝐷𝐶𝑎 (𝑛) is the error between the reference 𝑣𝐷𝐶 and the sensed
( 𝑣𝐷𝐶 ) DC voltage at the nth sampling instant, and 𝐾𝑝𝑑 and 𝐾𝑖𝑑 are the proportional and integral
gain constants of the DC bus voltage PI controller, respectively.

Here, proportional (Kpd) and integral (Kid) gain constants are chosen such that a desired DC bus
voltage response is achieved. The output of the PI controller is taken as the amplitude (I*spp) of
the reference supply currents. Now, in-phase components of the three-phase reference supply
currents are computed using their amplitude and in-phase unit vectors derived in phase with the
PCC voltages, and are given as
i∗sa = i∗spp usa
i∗sb = i∗spp usc
i∗sc = i∗spp usc
Where usa , usa , and usa are in-phase unit templates and are derived as
𝑣𝑠𝑎
𝑢𝑠𝑎 = ⁄𝑣𝑠𝑝
𝑣𝑠𝑏
𝑢𝑠𝑏 = ⁄𝑣𝑠𝑝
𝑣𝑠𝑐
𝑢𝑠𝑐 = ⁄𝑣𝑠𝑝
Where 𝑣𝑠𝑝 is the amplitude of the PCC voltage and is computed as
1⁄
2 2 2 2)
2
𝑣𝑠𝑝 = { (𝑣𝑠𝑎 + 𝑣𝑠𝑏 + 𝑣𝑠𝑐 }
3