Minimizing the harmonics generated in magnetically controllable reactors by shaping the iron core using the variational method and Gauss–Legendre integral

Abstract

Magnetically controllable reactors (MCRs) are widely used to flexibly control reactive power flow in power systems. However, owing to the nonlinear characteristics of saturation of the iron core, the MCR generates large amounts of harmonics that pollute the power network. This paper proposes an optimal shape of the magnetic valve (MV) in the iron core to minimize the harmonics. The variational method analyzes the premise of harmonic optimization of MCR; Gauss–Legendre integral simplifies the evaluation function of harmonic optimization, then the optimal shape of the MV is searched by particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results of simulations show that the generated harmonics of the MCR with the optimal MV can be reduced to less than 1% of the rated current. Models of 380 V/20 A systems verified the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Keywords

• Curvilinear magnetic valve
• Gauss–Legendre integral
• Harmonics
• Magnetically controllable reactor
• Variational method