Effect of Harmonics Mitigation on Power Factor Correction for Nonlinear Loads based on Actual Measurement Data

As the various high-tech electronic appliances are used more and more in present, the proportion of electrical loads using DC power is also increasing, and the demand for these DC loads is expected to gradually increase in the future. In these loads, the power electronic devices are required for converting AC to DC power, and they are called nonlinear load since they have nonlinear relation between the voltage and the current. The nonlinear load have some common characteristics that they are sensitive to power quality, produce harmonics and deteriorate power factor. In this case, it is impossible to expect the power factor correction by simply installing capacitors. This paper is written to verify the relationship between nonlinear load and power factor with real measurement data and to show the practical effect of harmonics mitigation on power factor correction for nonlinear load in details.