Performance enhancement of a reduced rating hybrid D-STATCOM for three-phase, four-wire system

Custom power devices (CPDs) have been developed to solve the power quality problems of the distribution systems. Among these CPDs, distribution static synchronous compensator (D-STATCOM) attained a great interest to the researchers and practising engineers. In this paper, the performance of a reduced rating D-STATCOM has been thoroughly investigated for power quality improvement in three-phase, four-wire distribution systems. The complete arrangement considered in this work comprises of a three-phase, three-wire (3P3W) D-STATCOM, zigzag-delta transformer and a single-phase active power filter (APF). This hybrid approach significantly reduces the rating of the overall compensator and improves the performance under non-ideal utility voltage conditions. To show the efficacy of the compensator, extensive simulation studies have been carried out for both normal an unbalanced/distorted utility voltage conditions in MATLAB/SIMULINK® environment using power system blockset toolboxes. Moreover, experimental results obtained from the laboratory system further verify the viability and effectiveness of the compensator.

► The performance of a reduced rating hybrid D-STATCOM has been investigated for power quality improvement in 3P4W systems. ► This hybrid approach significantly reduces the overall rating of compensator. ► Further, this approach improves the performance under non-ideal utility voltage conditions. ► The performance of the compensator has been investigated through simulation and experimental studies.