Dynamic Improvement of a UPQC System Operating Under Grid Voltage Sag/Swell Disturbances

This brief proposes feed-forward control loops that accelerate the dynamic responses of both the dc-bus voltage and the compensated grid/input currents of a three-phase unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) under the occurrence of voltage sags/swells. The strategy adopted in this brief to control the UPQC is implemented by controlling the input currents and the output voltages for being in phase with their respective input voltages (grid voltages). Since the input currents and voltages are in phase, the UPQC series converter will furnish active power to the system during voltage sags. Thus, to maintain the system power balance, this active power is absorbed by the UPQC parallel converter. In contrast, under a voltage swell event, the series converter absorbs active power and furnishes it to the load through the parallel converter. Therefore, in both mentioned power quality events, the amplitudes of the UPQC input currents must be controlled appropriately to regulate the dc-bus voltage, prevent sudden dc-bus voltage transients, and perform the system power balance as fast as possible. Simulation and experimental results are achieved to present the effectiveness of the proposed feed-forward control loops.