Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated

Rockwell Technologies, Inc.

Walt A Maslowski

Gary Leonard Skibinski

Dongsheng Zhou

Brian R Buchholz

Nickolay N Guskov

Nick Guskov

Bruce A Hachey

A harmonic mitigating apparatus connected between a three phase power source and a load provides a multiple-winding reactor for reducing harmonics directed from the load to the source, the apparatus including, for each system phase, first and second line windings in series between the source and load and oriented so as to have the same polarity such that the winding fluxes add thereby increasing total reactance to harmonics directed from the load to the supply, the apparatus also including at least one trap circuit including a series inductance and capacitor for each phase and linked between the first and second line windings and a neutral point (or another phase), the trap circuit characterized by a reactance that is lower than the reactance of the first line winding such that harmonics flow into the trap circuit, for each phase, at least two of the first and second line windings and the trap winding arranged on the same core.

Harmonic mitigating method and apparatus

A nine-phase AC to DC power converter system may exhibit current unbalance problem among bridges due to two reasons: slight voltage magnitude difference among different sets of three-phase supplies and pre-existing voltage harmonics in the power supply lines. Since the unpredictability of the pre-existing harmonics and manufacturing uncertainty of the nine-phase power supply (it is usually a three to nine phase transformer), all devices in the rectifier bridges are required to carry much higher than necessary current magnitude and have to be designed oversize, as much as 100% up. Here we describe various topologies of harmonic blocking reactors to combat this problem. The described topologies can significantly improve this situation and thus avoid the over-sizing exercise (cost) when such converter system is built. The principle can be easily extended to any multi-phase AC to DC or DC to AC power conversion system of more than nine phases. The principle can be extended to any multi-phase converter system with more than nine phases.

Harmonic blocking reactor for nine-phase converter system

Growing community of inventors

Oak Creek, WI, United States of America

Walt A Maslowski