A Quick Response Power Factor Detector for Nonlinear Loads

Abstract

A fast power factor detector for nonlinear loads is proposed to overcome the drawback of conventional detectors, which can measure only the power factor of linear loads. The design of the proposed detector is based on the concept of additional characteristic of trigonometric function. It does not require any low-pass filter or integrator. Therefore, the transient response of the proposed detector is much faster than that of the conventional detectors. The theoretical response time of the proposed detector is less than one-fourth of a cycle. Because of its promising accuracy and rapid transient response, it can be used in many systems such as the control of power systems, and active power filters, to improve their transient performance. Theoretical analysis and experimental results are also detailed in this paper.