Active Damping Method Using Grid-Side Current Feedback for Active Power Filters with LCL Filters

LCL filters installed at converter outputs offer a higher harmonic attenuation than L filters. However, as a three order resonant circuit, it is difficult to stabilize and has a risk of oscillating with the power grid. Therefore, careful design is required to damp LCL resonance. Compared to a passive damping method, an active damping method is a more attractive solution for this problem, since it avoids extra power losses. In this paper, the damping capabilities of capacitor current, capacitor voltage, and grid-side current feedback methods, are analyzed under the discrete-time state-space model. Theoretical analysis shows that the grid-side current feedback method is more suitable for use in active power filters, because it can damp LCL resonance more effectively than the other two methods when the ratio of the resonance and the control frequency is between 0.225 and 0.325. Furthermore, since there is no need for extra sensors for additional states measurements, this method provides a cost-efficient solution. To support the theoretical analysis, the proposed method is tested on a 7-kVA single-phase shunt active power filter.