A fair cost function-based diffusion adaptive filtering control of a shunt hybrid active power filter for improved performance and power quality enhancement

Purpose This paper aims to present the development of a shunt hybrid active power filter control using a fair cost function-based diffusion adaptive filtering (FCDAF) method for achieving the solutions of current-related power quality issues, such as harmonics in source current, low power factor, reactive power necessity from the source and unbalanced source currents during faults. Design/methodology/approach The generation of reference currents from the distorted currents by extracting the fundamental component, thereby minimizing the harmonics, is the prime task performed by the proposed controller. Findings Simulations are performed to assess the performance of the proposed technique for different load operating conditions using MATLAB/Simulink software. A laboratory-level, experimental hardware prototype of the system is built using OPAL-RT (OP4510) simulator as the controller. The results from both simulation and experiment are validated, and a comparative performance analysis is made to appraise the efficacy of the proposed filtering method in resolving the aforementioned power quality issues. Originality/value The FCDAF method outperforms most of the existing methods, such as normalized least mean square, normalized least mean fourth and variable step size least mean square, in terms of computational complexity, convergence rate, robustness to impulsive interference environments and steady-state error.