A New Fractional-Order Proportional-Resonant Control of Shunt Active Power Filter Based on Genetic Algorithm Optimization

The shunt active power filter (SAPF) is one of the most common solutions to reduce the destructive effects of current harmonic distortion produced by nonlinear loads. The desired performance of this system depends on the control technologies used in it. In this article, a fractional order proportional resonant controller (FOPRC) optimized by genetic algorithm (GA) for the current control of the SAPF is proposed. This controller as a suitable structure has high coordination and compatibility with the SAPF system. In addition, by using the advantages of fractional order calculus can accurately track harmonic currents with a fast dynamic response and a greater degree of freedom in performing control calculations. To confirm the effectiveness, the experimental tests have been done in a real digital signal processing (DSP)-based SAPF. The results show that the amount of total harmonic distortion (THD) of the grid side current under steady-state conditions has been significantly reduced from 21.6% to 2.8%. In addition, the proposed FOPRC has higher tracking accuracy, less vibration, shorter convergence time, better dynamics, high robustness, reliability, flexibility, stability, and better harmonic compensation than the conventional type. This excellent and standard performance, confirms the superiority of the proposed method.