Sixteen level power factor correction by using arduino microcontroller based fuzzy idea

Abstract

Nowadays, a controller that improves the power factor (PF) is automatically designed and implemented to correct the value of the power factor once they falls below a certain one. In industry, day by day, there is an increase in the use of domestic applications and inductive loads such that they consider the essential reason whose responsible on lowering the power factor. Therefore a development method is needed to improve the power factor by adding manually variable capacitors or automatically.  Fuzzy algorithm can be used as an intelligent system to estimate the value of the capacitor that should be added to compensate the effect of inductors. In this work, sixteen level of power factor are corrected automatically by new way through using Arduino Uno that programed with the aid of Fuzzy logic idea. A bank of four capacitors with different values is used and the Fuzzy helps taking the decision of which capacitors be ON or OFF. Here, the correction of power factor is from 0.64 to 0.98, and each level gives an increment of 0.02125 in PF. The experimental results are very close to the theoretical one, and the cost is very acceptable since the circuit is built from cheap equipments such as Arduino, potential transformer, relays, zero crossing circuit and current transformer. In addition, the maximum error due to the difference between the capacitor theoretical calculation and the practical is about 4.1%, while the error between the desired and the result value of PF is about 4.08% for maximum.