Voltage Flicker Analysis and its Mitigation by STATCOM for Power Quality Improvement

Voltage flicker is considered as one of the most severe power quality problems (especially in loads like electrical arc furnaces) and much attention has been paid to it lately. The reason for this disturbance is mainly due to the large nonlinear loads such as electric arc furnaces. Due to the latest achievements in the semiconductors industry and consequently the emergence of the compensators based on voltage source converters, FACTS devices have been gradually noticed to be used for voltage flicker compensation. This paper covers the contrasting approaches; dealing with the voltage flicker mitigation in three stages and assessing the related results in details. Initially, the voltage flicker mitigation, using FCTCR (Fixed Capacitor Thyristor Controlled Reactor), was simulated. Secondly, the compensation for the Static Synchronous Compensator (STATCOM) has been performed. The voltage flicker compensation by 8? pulse as well as 12 ? pulse static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) has been performed. This paper deals with the voltage flicker mitigation and reduction in total harmonic distortion (THD) and compared the results in detail. The obtained results show that STATCOM is very efficient and effective for the compensation and mitigation of voltage flicker and harmonics all the simulation results have been performed on the MATLAB Software.