Growth of Power Electronics: The Effort Required to Mitigate the Harmonics

Abstract

Power Electronic (PE) devices are welcomed and have improved human lives substantially, but the harmonics produced are a bane to our power systems. This paper details the growth of PE devices and the effort required to mitigate its harmonics. A special filter is studied and experimented to minimize the Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of nonlinear loads. Nonlinear loads are created from PE equipment which may be used to convert energy from AC and DC power forms. Experiments are performed with a parallel-passive filter (PPF). The PPF consists of an inductor and capacitor in series to act as a low impedance bridge to the flowing, damaging harmonics in our power distribution networks. This paper proves the PPF may be used to mitigate distortion of current waveforms and minimize THD percentages, saving the lives of various electrical equipment.