International Conference on Intelligent Computing and Control Systems
ICICCS 2017
Enhancement of Power Quality and Voltage Flicker
Mitigation Using New PWM Based DSTATCOM
Priyanka Sen Kaibalya Prasad Panda*
Department of Electrical Engineering
C. V. Raman College of Engineering
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, 752054
kaibalya.mgr@gmail.com*
Abstract—Voltage sag, harmonic, transient, over voltage and
under voltage are major voltage quality issues in a distribution
system. The problem occurs due to the shortage or excess of
reactive power transfer in the distribution system. A Static
Compensator (STATCOM) is a flexible ac transmission system
(FACTS) controller, which can either absorb or deliver reactive
power to a power system. A Distribution Static Compensator
(DSTATCOM) is proposed in this paper for compensation of
reactive power and unbalance caused by various loads in
distribution system. DSTATCOM is based on the VSC principle,
injects current into the system to correct the voltage sag, swell
and power factor. It is also an effective measure to maintain
voltage stability and improve power quality of distribution grid.
This paper proposes the dynamic performance of a DSTATCOM
(intended to replace the widely used static VAR compensator) for
mitigation of voltage flicker and power quality improvement
(SVC). The simulation is carried out using
MATLAB/SIMULINK on a 25kV distribution network
connected to DSTATCOM. PSCAD simulation tool is also used
for model implementation with new PWM based control scheme
and results are compared with the prototype model of
DSTATCOM. Results illustrate the performance of DSTATCOM
in mitigation of voltage flicker caused by rapidly varying reactive
current demand and improvement of power handling capability.
Keywords—DSTATCOM; FACTS; power quality; PSCAD;
voltage flicker
I. INTRODUCTION
Now a days, the whole world economy emphasizes on
providing qualitative and uninterrupted services in every
sector. As every sector depends on electric power and
different electric equipments, maintaining the quality of power
is a major issue for profit of all industry. Nonlinear
equipments like light emitting diode lamps, switching mode
power supplies, equipments which use the electronic
controllers and switching devices are very sensitive to poor
voltage quality. They cannot give continuous service and also
can be damaged due to the poor voltage quality. Use of such
devices increases the challenges in power quality. For electric
power, dependence on dispersed and distributed generation
also raises the issue of power quality [1]. The nominal value
of the power supplied at consumer side can be decreased due
to voltage quality problems. So maintaining a good power
quality is the main factor for smooth and reliable operation of
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Sreyasee Rout
different consumer equipments which can increase the profit
of industries. To get maximize and reliable output from power
system most important task is to maintain the system reactive
power.
Flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) [2] can
control the reactive power of the power system either by
absorbing or delivering reactive power to the system. These
devices can improve the controllability and power transfer
capability of power network. They are used for enhancement
of the transmission capability, providing voltage control,
reactive power compensation, improvement of power quality,
mitigation of flicker and interconnection of dispersed and
distributed generation with power system. The FACT devices
can respond very quickly to the changes in system condition.
FACTS are initially designed for transmission system, but it
can also be applied to distribution systems. Distribution
STATCOM (DSTATCOM) is an example of FACT device
used in distribution system. DSTATCOM [3], [4] is basically
a shunt connected voltage source converter used as a solution
for voltage fluctuation and voltage unbalance in distribution
system. It is a solid state power controller whose response is
very fast and also it can provide voltage control at the point
where distribution feeders are connected for the improvement
of quality of power. As now a day, use of renewable energy
system like photovoltaic cells is increased, the voltage
unbalance occurs in low voltage feeders when both single
phase loads and photovoltaic cells are connected together.
DSTATCOM can be connected at coupling point of low
voltage feeders to provide voltage controllability. When any
energy storage system is connected in distribution system,
DSTATCOM can change the amplitude and phase angle of the
converter voltage with respect to the line terminal voltage
thereby absorbing or injecting either active or reactive power
in the distribution system [5].
A digital simulator PSCAD/EMTDC V4.2b. is used to
realize the power quality improvement by the help of
DSTATCOM. To analyze the transient behavior of a
distribution network, PSCAD/ EMTDC is used as a simulation
tool. It is a user friendly tool which can be used for analyzing
the result, not giving more effort on the mathematical model.
The paper is organized as follows: in Section II, the power
quality and voltage flicker issues are discussed. Section III
presents the basic structure and operational principle of
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DSTATCOM. In Section IV and V, the PWM scheme based
design of DSTATCOM using both MATLAB/SIMULINK
environment and PSCAD tool are presented respectively. The
simulation results are discussed and verified with the small
scale model design presented in Section VI. Finally,
conclusions are drawn in Section VII.
II. POWER QUALITY AND VOLTAGE FLICKER
Power quality [6] is the most important factor in the
present scenario which can be determined from the voltage
magnitude. The power quality and voltage flicker issues are
discussed below.
A. Power quality
Power quality means maintaining a bus voltage which is
nearly equal to sinusoidal waveform of a particular magnitude
needed by the customer. There are many power quality
problems such as voltage swells, voltage sag, voltage
imbalance, voltage flicker, transients, wave form distortion
long duration voltage variation and short duration voltage
variation. The customer appliances may be damaged due to
the long time buildup of over voltage. Due to under voltage,
the electronic equipment will be suddenly terminated and
cannot be resumed easily. The temperature will be raised in
various motors caused by voltage imbalance which may trip
the motors. Waveform distortion will cause the flow of
undesired harmonic currents in distribution network resulting
high losses. Interharmonic voltages due to waveform
distortion have an adverse effect on fluorescent lamps and
television receivers. It also causes unwanted noise in power
equipments. It also can damage the capacitive components
used in distribution systems due to high voltage resulting from
waveform distortion.
B. Voltage flicker
Use of highly inductively loads such as large motors, arc
furnaces, wielding machines, switching mode power supply
causes frequent variation in voltage magnitude in other home
appliances like incandescent lamps, computer screen and
television screen. These variations can be observed by human
eyes and generally in the range of 3 to 15 times per second.
This phenomenon is known as voltage flicker. The variation in
light intensity strain on human eyes and is harmful to human
health condition. The durability of electronic equipments and
lamps will be highly affected by voltage flicker.
III. ENHANCEMENT OF POWER QUALITY UTILIZING
DSTATCOM
A. DSTATCOM
DSTATCOM is a custom power device. Custom power is
a technology which combines concept of power electronics to
the power distribution system for benefit of customer. These
devices are classified into two groups such as network
reconfiguring type and compensating type. The reconfiguring
type custom power equipments are applied for limiting the
current quickly and breaking the circuit during fault condition.
The compensating devices are used for reducing voltage
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ICICCS 2017
flickering, voltage unbalance and improving power factor.
Compensating type custom power devices include
DSTATCOM [7], Dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) [8],
Unified power quality conditioner (UPQC) [9].
When DSTATCOM is connected to load terminals it can
improve the power factor and reduce the harmonics. By
connecting to distribution bus voltage regulation also can be
done. Its structure is very similar to STATCOM, but the
operating characteristics are different.
Fig. 1. Structure of DSTATCOM
B. Operational principal of DSTATCOM
The DSTATCOM is a shunt connected custom power
device connected at the load end of a distribution network. A
capacitor, three phase inverter module, AC filter, coupling
transformer and a controller are the basic parts of it. The
voltage source inverter (VSI) of a DSTATCOM [10], [11]
helps to convert the input DC voltage to an output of three
phase AC voltage with constant frequency. The phase of the
thyristor-based inverter output voltage (Vi) is maintained at a
controlling level of distribution system voltage (Vs).
The three basic modes of operation of a DSTATCOM are
as follows:
i. When Vi = Vs, the reactive power is zero, it implies that
DSTATCOM neither generates nor absorbs any reactive
power.
ii. When Vi > Vs, it indicates an inductive reactance
connected across the terminal of DSTATCOM. It represents
inductive mode of operation. The current flows from a
DSTATCOM to the AC system through transformer
reactance. At this condition, the DSTATCOM generates
capacitive reactive power.
iii. When Vi < Vs, it indicates a capacitive reactance
connected across it terminals. It represents capacitive mode of
operation. The current flows from AC system to
DSTATCOM. In this case it absorbs inductive reactive power.
Thus DSTATCOM can either absorb or deliver reactive
power to the system.
IV. SIMULINK MODEL DESCRIPTION OF DSTATCOM
A Distribution Static Synchronous Compensator is used to
regulate voltage on a 25kV, 100MVA distribution network.
Loads are connected at bus B2 and B3 through two feeders
present at 21km and 2km respectively. The feeders are
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supposed to transmit power to the loads. For the purpose of
power factor correction, a shunt capacitor is connected at bus
B2. At the end of bus B3, a load of 600V is connected through
a step-down transformer of rating 25KV/600V. This load
absorbs continuously changing current. The varying current is
controlled by the help of DSTATCOM which is connected
near the bus B3 at a constant frequency of 5Hz. Thus the
apparent power of the load varies in a specified range of
±3MVA. During this operation, the load power factor is
maintained at 0.9 lagging.
The DSTATCOM controls the voltage eat bus B3 either by
generating or absorbing reactive power depending upon the
current direction. The leakage reactance of the coupling
transformer is the medium through which the reactive power
transfer is taken place. The transformer generates a secondary
voltage in phase with the primary voltage of the network. The
PWM voltage source inverter delivers this voltage. Comparing
the magnitudes of voltages at the secondary side of the
transformer and bus B3 voltage, the flow of reactive power
takes place. If the secondary voltage of transformer is more
than the bus voltage, DSTATCOM generates reactive power
and when the secondary voltage is less than the bus voltage, it
absorbs reactive power.
The DSTATCOM model shown in Fig. 2 consists of a
25KV/1.25KV coupling transformer which ensures coupling
between the PWM inverter and the network. Other
components include a PWM voltage source inverter consisting
of two IGBT bridges, LC damped filters connected at the
inverter output and resistance connected in series with
capacitors. The twin inverter configuration produces fewer
harmonic than a single bridge, resulting in smaller filters and
improved dynamic response. Inverter modulation frequency is
1.4 kHz and the first harmonics will be around 3.36 kHz. The
quality factor is approximately 40.

Fig. 2. Simulation model of DSTATCOM

TABLE I. SIMULATION DESIGN PARAMETERS

Sl. No. Parameters Values

1 Source Voltage 25kV/50Hz
2 Source Power 100MVA
3 Total Line length 23Km
4 Coupling Transformer 25kV/1.25kV
5 Modulation frequency 1.40kHz Fig. 3. Voltage at bus B1 and B3 without DSTATCOM
6 DC link Voltage 2.4kV

The voltages at B1 and B3 are shown in Fig. 3. The voltage

at B3 varies between 0.96pu to 1.04pu with a variation of ±4%
when the DSTATCOM is not connected. The variation of
active and reactive power at bus B3 before connecting
DSTATCOM is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 represent the voltage and the active and
Fig. 4. Voltage at bus B1 and B3 with DSTATCOM
reactive power at bus B3 respectively after connecting the
DSTATCOM. From these figures it can be concluded that the
Furthermore proposed DSTATCOM is simulated
voltage fluctuation at bus B3 is reduced to ±0.7% (0.993pu to
integrating compensating current and hysteresis band current
1.007pu) by injecting a reactive current modulated at 5 Hz.
controller. The voltage and current waveforms thus obtained
The reactive current varies between 0.6pu capacitive 0.6pu
are shown in Fig. 7.
inductive when the voltage is low and high respectively.

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Fig. 5. Active and reactive power without DSTATCOM
Fig. 6. Active and reactive power with DSTATCOM
Fig. 7. Voltage (V) and current (IL & IS) waveforms of DSTATCOM with
compensating current and hysteresis band controller
V. PSCAD MODEL DESCRIPTION OF DSTATCOM
PSCAD/EMTDC [12] is an industry standard simulation
tool for analyzing the transient behaviour of almost all
electrical networks. The library of models supports most AC
and DC of system component and controls, in such a way that,
proposed structure can be precisely modeled. All varieties of
the simulation like circuit design, run-time control, and result
analysis can be done within a single integrated environment
[13], [14].
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ICICCS 2017
Single line diagram of power system network is shown in
Fig. 8. A 6-pulse DSTATCOM is designed to integrate in the
network. Proposed design enables voltage control with PI
controller and PWM with carrier frequency of 9 times
fundamental. Further possible modifications can be possible
implementing different control scheme and changing PWM
control strategy. Multi-pulse converter, multi-layer converter,
and more detailed controls with DSTATCOM are possible in
the professional version.
Fig. 8. Model of DSTATCOM connected in a network
Fig. 9 shows gate pulses for a simple 6-pulse DSTATCOM
which enables the circuit for both voltage control loop and
PWM control. A simple 6-pulse DSTATCOM structure using
PSCAD is shown in Fig. 10. In this model the bus system is
having a load power of 88 MVA with an additional power
factor of 0.906. Input side AC system of 115KV voltage with
short circuit power of 500 MVA is considered for designing.
Fig. 9. Gate pulses for 6-pulse DSTATCOM
Fig. 10. Design model of 6-pulse DSTATCOM
Fig. 11 shows the gate pulses for the PWM control. There
are total no of six gate pulses required to enable the PWM
control operation. PWM control shown in Fig. 12 is the
generation of triangular waveforms synchronized with system
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ac voltage. The PWM at its input contains a PLL controller flickering a small scale cost-effective model is demonstrated
which is a combination of GpPLL and GiPLL which are in the in this paper. Fig. 14 shows the block diagram of
range of 0-100 and 0-1000 respectively. After the PLL DSTATCOM.
controller, a constant gain block is connected. Enhancement in 230V AC INPUT
power quality is shown in Fig. 13 after connecting
DSTATCOM to the power system. 12V
AC RECTIFIER &
5V
DC
STEP DOWN ATMEGA16
TRANSFORMER VOLTAGE MICROCONTROLLER
REGULATOR

PWM-VSI

AC OUTPUT

TRIAC DRIVER
LOAD CIRCUIT CIRCUIT
Fig. 11. Gate pulse generation for PWM control

Fig. 14. Block diagram for hardware model design

Table II summarizes the list of components used for the

prototype design.

TABLE II. HARDWARE COMPONENT SPECIFICATION

Sl. No. Components with specification Quantity

1 1 ph step down transformer 01

2 Diode (IN4007) 04
Fig. 12. Generation of traingular waveform synchronized with system AC 3 Voltage regulator IC (LM 7805) 01
voltage
4 Filter (Capacitor 1μF) 01

5 Microcontroller (ATmega16) 01

6 TRIAC driver (MOC 3011) 01

7 TRIAC (BT 136) 01

8 Bulb (15W, 60W) 02

Hardware setup shown in Fig. 15 and Fig. 16 consists of a

step down transformer used to step down the 230V AC to 12V
AC which is then fed to a diode bridge rectifier. Rectifier
produces the pulsating DC output and a constant 5V DC is
obtained at the output by using IC 7805. This output is used
for supplying ATmega16 microcontroller which then gives
pulse to the MOC3011 TRIAC driver circuit. TRIAC takes the
supply from a voltage source inverter circuit and bulbs are
used to show voltage flickering. A variable resistance is
connected by varying which, one can observe the change in
rate of flickering.

Fig. 13. Voltage, active and reactive power obtained in PSCAD

VI. HARDWARE DESIGN SETUP

Although there is inability of designing a practical large
scale real model of DSTATCOM, but to illustrate voltage

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[5] G. Ledwich and A. Ghosh, “A flexible DSTATCOM operating in

voltage or current control mode,” Generation, Transmission and
Distribution, IEE Proceedings-, vol. 149, no. 2, pp. 215–224, Mar. 2002.
[6] A. Elnady and M. Salama, “Unified approach for mitigating voltage sag
and voltage flicker using the DSTATCOM,” Power Delivery, IEEE
Transactions on, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 992–1000, 2005.
[7] B. Singh and S. Arya, “Back-propagation control algorithm for power
quality improvement using DSTATCOM,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.,
vol. 61, no. 3, pp. 1204–1212, Mar. 2014.
[8] K. Chan and A. Kara, “Voltage sags mitigation with an integrated gate
commutated thyristor based dynamic voltage restorer,” in Proc. 8th
ICHQP ’98, Athens, Greece, pp. 210–215, Oc. 1998.
[9] K. Karanki, G. Geddada, Mahesh K. Mishra, and B. Kumar, “A
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3566, Sep. 2013.
[10] Mahesh K. Mishra, A. Ghosh, and A. Joshi, “Operation of a
DSTATCOM in voltage control mode,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol.
18, no. 1, pp. 258–264, Jan. 2003.
[11] M. K. Mishra, A. Ghosh, and A. Joshi, “A new STATCOM topology to
compensate loads containing AC and DC components,” in IEEE-PES
Winter Meeting 2000, Singapore, 2000.
[12] O. Anaya-Lara, E. Acha, “Modeling and analysis of custom power
systems by PSCAD/EMTDC”, IEEE Trans. on Power Delivery, Vol. 17,
No. 1, pp.266-272, January 2002.
[13] A. Gole and L. Palav, “Modeling of custom power devices in
PSCAD/EMTDC,” Centre J., Summer 1998.
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Fig. 16. Hardware setup with proper functioning IEEE Power Eng. Rev., pp. 61–62, Dec. 1998.

VII. CONCLUSION
DSTATCOM can be used, at reasonable cost, to improve
the power quality at the medium voltage distribution network
level. Operational principles of DSTATCOM are discussed
briefly. This paper presents the detailed modelling of
DSTATCOM with PWM control strategy in
MATLAB/SIMULINK platform. The results prove the
effective reactive power compensation during dynamic
changes thereby enhancing the power quality and also the
reduction in the voltage flickering at the distribution end.
Simulations of the DSTATCOM model consists of 6-pulse
inverter were also carried out by using Power System
Computer Aided Design software. Simulation result shows
that the D-STATCOM is capable of mitigating voltage
flickering as well as improving power quality of a distribution
system. A cost-effective design model of DSTATCOM with
controller is presented which is proven to be effective for
flicker mitigation.

REFERENCES
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[2] N.G.Hingorani and L.Gyugyi (1999), “Understanding FACTS: Concepts
and Technology of flexible ac transmission systems”, IEEE Press, New
York.
[3] C. Kumar and Mahesh K. Mishra, “A voltage-controlled DSTATCOM
for power-quality improvement,” IEEE Trans. Power Del., vol. 29, no.
3, pp. 1499–1507, Jun. 2014.
[4] A. Ghosh and G. F. Ledwich, Power quality enhancement using custom
power devices. Kluwer Publications, 2002.

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