International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue4- April 2013

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 1196

Selective Harmonic Elimination by Program-
mable Pulse Width Modulation in Inverters
M. Kiran kumar
^1
, A. Madhu Sainath
#2
, V. Pavan Kumar
#3

^1
Assistant Professor, Dept. of EEE, KL University, Guntur, AP, India
#2
Final Year B. Tech, Dept. of EEE, KL University, Guntur, AP, India
#3
Final Year B. Tech, Dept. of EEE, KL University, Guntur, AP, India

Address


Abstract- The objective of the electric utility is to deliver sinusoi-
dal voltage at fairly constant magnitude throughout their system.
This objective is complicated by the fact that there are loads on
the system that produce harmonics currents. These currents re-
sult in distorted voltages and currents that can adversely impact
the system performance in different ways. When harmonic cur-
rents flow through the impedances of the power system they
cause corresponding voltage drops and introduce harmonics onto
the voltage waveform. If harmonics do cause a problem, it is
through the cumulative effect on the power system of numerous
harmonic-generating loads. Problems may be experienced within
the plant that generates the harmonics, or in other premises fed
from the same supply. The main possible effects are: power fac-
tor less than unity- i.e current higher than necessary for given
power, increased heating of power plant , over-stress of power
factor correction plant due to local resonance, noisy bus bars,
electrical protection gear etc., over heating of neutral conduc-
tors(single phase loads only).
Harmonics must be reduced in order to reduce the size of fil-
ters. PWM technique is one of the energy processing methods
used in power electronics. PWM applies a pulse train of fixed
amplitude and frequency, only the width of the pulse is varied in
proportion to the input voltage so that output voltage is constant
but with less wastage of power at the output stage by eliminating
harmonics.

Keywords - PWM (pulse width modulation), SHE (selective har-
monic elimination), and SVPWM (space vector pulse width
modulation).

I. INTRODUCTION
Inverter is usually a device which converts DC power
into AC power. In many industrial applications, it is often
required to vary output voltage of inverter [1] due to the fol-
lowing reasons: 1.To compensate for the variations in input
voltage.2.To compensate for the regulation of inverters.3. To
supply some special loads which need variation of voltage
with frequency. The various methods for the control of output
voltage are:
1. External control of ac output voltage.
2. External control of dc input voltage.
3. Internal control of inverter.
Semiconductor switching devices produce significant
harmonic voltages as they abruptly chop voltage waveforms
during their transition between conducting and cutoff states.
Inverter circuits are notorious for producing harmonics, and
are in widespread use today. An adjustable-speed motor drive
is one application that makes use of inverter circuits, often
using pulse width modulation (PWM) synthesis to produce the
AC output voltage. Various synthesis methods produce differ-
ent harmonic spectra. Regardless of the method used to pro-
duce an AC output voltage from a DC input voltage, harmon-
ics will be present on both sides of the inverter and must often
be mitigated.
Harmonics will undoubtedly continue to become
more of a concern as more equipment that produces them is
added to electrical systems. But if adequately considered dur-
ing the initial design of the system, harmonics can be man-
aged and their detrimental effects avoided.
II. MULTILEVEL INVERTERS FOR
HARMONIC ELIMINATION:
A basic inverter has two levels of output voltage ei-
ther 0,+vdc,-vdc in its pole voltage. Various PWM techniques
were developed on two level inverter to reduce harmonic con-
tent in the output.
When these techniques are used for high power lev-
els, the switching stress is going to increase. So, a switch
which is fast acting and can withstand high switching stress
need to be used. Which maynt be available or even if it is
available it is costly.
Multi level inverters offer a great advantage in this
area. The fundamental component of the output can be real-
ized as a staircase wave. The number of steps of which depend
on the level of inverter and as the level increases the output
reaches sine wave.
There are three types of multi level inverters:
1) Diode clamped inverter
2) Capacitor clamped inverter
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue4- April 2013

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 1197

3) Cascade inverter

III. PWM TECHNIQUES FOR HARMONIC
ELIMINATION

PWM techniques are employed to regulate output
voltage and to reduce harmonics. Inverters inherently have the
property of controlling the output frequency, but the output
voltage cannot be varied.To vary output voltage we have to
vary supply voltage, which is not always possible. Hence we
go for employing PWM techniques.
These techniques serve two purposes:
1) Varying output voltage.
2) Reducing harmonic content (or) improve harmonic pro-
file.
Types of PWM:
1) Single PWM
2) Multiple PWM
3) Sinusoidal PWM
In single PWM we get output voltage when
Vref>Vcar. In square wave single pulse and multiple pulse
PWM inverters the lower order harmonics are 3,5,7 for 1-
phase and 5,7,9 for 3-phase,but in multiple phase the energy
in lower order harmonics is transferred to higher order, there-
by it is easy to filter out and in sinusoidal PWM the lowest
order harmonic present is Mf.Where Mf is called frequency
modulation index
Mf=Fc/Fref
IV. SPACE VECTOR PULSE WIDTH
MODULATION
Space vector modulation is a PWM control algorithm
[2] for multi-phase AC generation, in which the reference sig-
nal is sampled regularly; after each sample, non-zero active
switching vectors adjacent to the reference vector and one or
more of the zero switching vectors are selected for the appro-
priate fraction of the sampling period in order to synthesize
the reference signal as the average of the used vectors. The
topology of a three-leg voltage source inverter is Because of
the constraint that the input lines must never be shorted and
the output current must always be continuous a voltage source
inverter can assume only eight distinct topologies. Six out of
these eight topologies produce a nonzero output voltage and
are known as non-zero switching states and the remaining two
topologies produce zero output voltage and are known as zero
switching states.
V. SELECTIVE HARMONIC ELIMINATION BY
PROGRAMMABLE PULSE WIDTH
MODULATION IN INVERTERS
In the Sinusoidal PWM technique, a large number of
switchings are required, with the consequent associated
switching losses. With the method of Selective Harmonic
Elimination, only selected harmonics are eliminated with the
smallest number of switchings. This methodhowever can be
difficult to implement on-line due to computation and memory
requirements.For a two level PWM waveform with odd and
halfwave symmetries and n chops per quarter cycle as shown
in Fig6.1, the peak magnitude of the harmonic components
including the fundamental, are given by Eqn:

Here hi is the magnitude of the ith harmonic and j is
the jth primary switching angle. Even harmonics do not show
up because of the half-wave symmetry.
The n chops in the waveform afford n degrees of
freedom. Several control options are thus possible. For exam-
ple n selected harmonics can be eliminated. Another option
which is used here is to eliminate n-1 selected harmonics and
use the remaining degree of freedom to control the fundamen-
tal frequency ac voltage. To find the s required to achieve
this objective, it is sufficient to set the corresponding hs in
the above equations to the desired values (0 for the n-1 har-
monics to be eliminated and the desired per-unit ac magnitude
for the fundamental) and solve for the s.

Fig.5.1.A two-level PWM waveform with odd and half wave symmetry.
Equation 1 can be readily proved by finding the Fou-
rier coefficients of the waveform shown in Fig. 5.1. In gen-
eral, for a periodic waveform with period 2n , the Fourier Co-
sine and Sine Coefficients are given by:
a0=1/ 2n (0)J0
2n
0

ak=1/ n (k0) cos(k0) J0
2n
0

bk=1/ n (k0)sin (k)J0
2n
0
5.1
Because of the half-cycle symmetry of the waveform
of Fig.3.1, only odd order harmonics exist. Also, it is easy to
see that the Fourier Cosine coefficients disappear with the
choice of coordinate axes used. Utilizing the quarter cycle
symmetry, the Fourier Sine coefficients become:
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue4- April 2013

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 1198

bk=4/ n (k0)sin (k)J0
2n
0
5.2
Substituting the two-valued PWM waveform for f(0),
bn=4c/ nn[12cosno1+2cosko2
2cosko3..2coskon].5.3
A. Total harmonic distortion:
The most commonly used measure for harmonics is
total harmonic distortion [3] (THD), also known as distortion
factor. It is applied to both voltage and current.THD is defined
as the RMS value of the harmonics above fundamental, divid-
ed by RMS value of fundamental.
THD=( In
2
N=2
)/ I1
B. Power factor:
To examine the impact of harmonics on power factor,
it is important to consider the true power factor, which is de-
fined as [4]
Pftrue=Pavg/(Vrms*Irms)
Where the average power Pavg=(V1
*I1)/2[cos(q2 q1)]
Harmonics always increase the RMS value
Harmonics dont necessarily increase average power.
Increased RMS values means increased losses.
C. Fourier series representation of output voltage of inverter:
By Fourier series, the output voltage of inverter is
given by
Vk=
4Fdc
na
(1 2cuxku1 +2cuxku2 2cuxku3 +
2cuxku4 2cuxku5 +.)
where Vk is the kth harmonic voltage magnitude.
For fundamental voltage k=1 and
V1=
4Fdc
na
(1 2cuxku1 +2cuxku2 2cuxku3)
To eliminate 3,5,7,9 harmonics the values of V3,V5,V7,V9
are equated to zero.
V1=
4Fdc
na
(1 2cuxu1 +2cuxu2 2cuxu3 +2cuxu4
2cuxu5)
V3=
4Fdc
na
(1 2cuxu31 +2cuxu32 2cux3u3 +
2cux3u4 2cux3u5)=0
V5=
4Fdc
na
(1 2cux5u1 +2cux5u2 2cux5u3 +
2cux5u4 2cux5u5) =
V7=
4Fdc
na
(1 2cux7u1 +2cux7u2 2cux7u3 +
2cux7u4 2cux7u5)=0
V9=
4Fdc
na
(1 2cux9u1 +2cux9u2 2cux9u3 +
2cux9u4 2cux9u5)=0
The equations V1,V3,V5,V7,V9 are solved to obtain the an-
gles u1,u2,u3,u4,and u5 to eliminate 3,5,7 and 9 harmon-
ics.
These angles are used to generate pulses so that the
particular lower order harmonics are eliminated from the in-
verter output voltage.

VI. SIMULATION OF BASIC INVERTER MODEL
The basic model of inverter was first simulated with-
out incorporating angles and THD of the output was found.
The below figure shows the basic model of inverter
without incorporating angles. The input voltage given to the
inverter is 230V.The pulses are generated in the sub system
and these are given to the gate terminal of the inverter. The
output voltage was measured by voltage measurement block
connected across the load.

Fig.6.1 Basic model of inverter.
The below wave form shows the output voltage wave
form of the inverter that is obtained across the load.

Fig.6.2.A two-level PWM waveform with odd and half wave symmetry.
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue4- April 2013

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 1199

The THD was found using FFT analysis tool of the
power gui block. Due to symmetry only odd harmonics exist
and even harmonics doesnt exist. The THD found was
42.77%.

Fig.6.3Determination of THD by FFT analysis

VII. MATLAB program for elimination of
3,5,7&9 harmonics:

function N=spwm2211(x);
i=[3 5 7 9];
k=[1 11 13 17 19];j=1;
m=1;xstart=[14.2 24 47 51 88];
while(m>0)&(m<=1)
options=optimset('display','iter');
[x,fval,output,iter]=fsolve(@smpwm2211,xstart,options);
x_1(j,:)=x(1)';x_2(j,:)=x(2)';x_3(j,:)=x(3)';x_4(j,:)=x(4)';x_5(j,
:)=x(5)';M(j,:)=m';
N(k)=509.2958*(1-(2*cos(k*x(1)))+(2*cos(k*x(2)))-
(2*cos(k*x(3)))+(2*cos(k*x(4)))-(2*cos(k*x(5))));
T(j,:)=(((N(7)^2)+(N(11)^2)+(N(13)^2)+(N(17)^2)+(N(19)^2
))^(1/2))/N(1);
xstart=x';
m=m-0.1;j=j+1;
end
evals=j-1;
fprintf('x_1\t\t x_2\t\t x_3\t\t x_4\t\t x_5\t\t M\n');
fid=fopen('epwm2211.txt','w');
fprintf(fid,'x_1\t\t x_2\t\t x_3\t\t x_4\t\t x_5\t\t M\t\t
THD\n');
for j=1:(evals)
fprintf('%6.4f\t %6.4f\t %6.4f\t %6.4f\t %6.4f\t
%4.2f\n',x_1(j,:),x_2(j,:),x_3(j,:),x_4(j,:),x_5(j,:),M(j,:));
y=[x_1(j,:);x_2(j,:);x_3(j,:);x_4(j,:);x_5(j,:);M(j,:);T(j,:)];
fprintf(fid,'%6.4f\t%6.4f\t%6.4f\t%6.4f\t%6.4f\t%4.2f\t
%6.4f\n',y);
j=j+1;
end
fclose(fid);function F=smpwm2211(x);
F(1)=(1-(2*cos(x(1)))+(2*cos(x(2)))-
(2*cos(x(3)))+(2*cos(x(4)))-(2*cos(x(5)))-m);
F(i)=(1-(2*cos(i*x(1)))+(2*cos(i*x(2)))-
(2*cos(i*x(3)))+(2*cos(i*x(4)))-(2*cos(i*x(5))));
end
end

The output of the above program where the five an-
gles to eliminate 3
rd
,5
th
,7
th
and 9
th
harmonics are

X_1 X_2 X_3 X_4 X_5 M
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 1.00
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.90
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.80
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.70
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue4- April 2013

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 1200

14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.60
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.50
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.40
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.30
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.20
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.10
14.10 23.53 46.51 51.35 88.88 0.00
Table 4.1 Angles to eliminate 3
rd
,5
th
,7
th
and 9
th
harmonics

VIII. SIMULATION OF INVERTER MODEL AFTER
INCORPORATION OF ANGLES:
The below model is the simulink model of the invert-
er to eliminate 3
rd
,5
th
,7
th
and 9
th
harmonics, where the above
found angles are incorporated to eliminate four harmonics[5].
Here also the input DC voltage to the inverter is
230V.The pulses given to the inverter are generated in the
subsystem. The output voltage is measured at the load using
voltage measurement block. The THD is found by using the
power gui block.


Fig.8.1 Simulink model of inverter after incorporating angles to eliminate
3
rd
,5
th
,7
th
and 9
th
harmonics


The below wave form shows the output voltage wave
form of the inverter that is obtained across the load.

Fig.8.2 Output waveformof inverter after eliminating 3
rd
,5
th
,7
th
&9
th
harmon-
ics

The THD was found using FFT analysis tool of the
power gui block. Due to symmetry only odd harmonics exist
and even harmonics doesnt exist. The THD found was
99.15%.
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4Issue4- April 2013

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Fig.7.3Determination of THD by FFT analysis and elimination of
3
rd
,5
th
,7
th
& 9
th
harmonics

IX. CONCLUSION
Through this project we were able to eliminate 3
rd
,
5
th
, 7
th
and 9
th
harmonics from three phase inverter. By reduc-
ing harmonics the size of filters are reduced. PWM technique
is one of the energy processing methods used in power elec-
tronics. PWM applies a pulse train of fixed amplitude and
frequency, only the width of the pulse is varied in proportion
to the input voltage so that output voltage is constant but with
less wastage of power at the output stage by eliminating har-
monics.

X. FUTURE SCOPE
PWM technique requires large number of thyristors
(Or) firing circuits, which increases switching losses. Switch-
ing speed of thyristors must be high which makes it uneco-
nomical. Firing pulse design is complicatory compared to oth-
er techniques.
REFERENCES
[1] P. M. Bhagwat and V. R. Stefanovic, Generalized structure of a
multilevel PWM inverter, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. IA-19,
pp.10571069, Nov./Dec. 1983.
[2] M. Marchesoni and M. Mazzucchelli, Multilevel converter for high
power ac drives: A review, in Proc. IEEE Int. Symp. Industrial Electron
ics, 1993, pp. 3843.
[3] J . S. Lai and F. Z. Peng, Multilevel converterA new breed of power
converters, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 32, pp. 509517, May/J une
1996.
[4] H. Akagi, The state-of-the-art of power electronics in Japan, IEEE
Trans. Power Electron., vol. 13, pp. 345356, Mar. 1998.
[5] G. Carrara, S. Gardella, M. Marchesoni, R. Salutari, and G. Sciutto, A
new multilevel PWM method: A theoretical analysis, IEEE Trans.Power
Electron., vol. 7, pp. 497505, J uly 1992.

BIOGRAPHIES
Malligunta Kiran Kumar received B.Tech
Degree in Electrical and Electronics En-
gineering from Gokula Krishna College
of Engineering and Technology J N T
University,Hyderabad, India, in
2007.,M.E. Degree in Power Electronics
and Drives from Sree Sastha Institute of
Engineering and Technology, Anna Uni-
versity, Chennai, India, in 2010 and Pur-
suing Ph.D in Electrical Engineering at K L University, Gun-
tur, India.
Currently he is Asst. Professor in Electrical and Electron-
ics Engineering, at K L University, Guntur, India. His re-
search interest includes Switched Reluctance Machines, Pow-
er Electronics and Control Systems.
Email Id: [email protected]

Ancha Madhu Sainath was born in India
in 1992. He is pursuing B. Tech final year
in KL University in Electrical and Elec-
tronics Engineering. His field of interest
is in Electrical Machines and Power Elec-
tronics.

Email Id: [email protected]

Vutukuri Pavan Kumar was born in India
in 1991. He is pursuing B. Tech final year
in KL University in Electrical and
Electronics Engineering. He is especially
interested in the Power Electronics,
Control Systems and Electrical Machines.


Email Id: [email protected]