The Application of Tuned Inductors in Electric Power Systems

Abstract

This work focuses on the possibility of using a tuned inductor in electric power systems with adaptive features. The presented idea of inductor operation, using an interaction of the magnetic fluxes, is a new approach to designing such devices. Examples of power adaptive systems are devices for improving the quality of electricity. Therefore, various types of ‘compensators’ of reactive power (or both reactive and distortion power) are used in electrical systems as a preventive measure. The tuned inductor, presented in this work, offers wider possibilities for power compensation in electric systems, compared to the classic solutions of compensators based on fixed inductors. Another possible implementation of such an inductor solution is in static power electronic devices, installed in AC transmission grids to increase power transfer capability, stability, and controllability, through a series and/or shunt compensation. Nevertheless, the use of the proposed device in the aforementioned electric systems is only one example of the possible implementations in the power electronics area. In this work, the following issues are presented: exemplary solutions of compensators with the adaptive features, rules of the tuned inductor operation, test results of the 3D field model of the inductor, and test results of the laboratory model of the electric system with this device.