Passive harmonic filters are series filters (which means that current goes through the filter) that are used to reduce, or mitigate, harmonics to tolerable levels as defined by IEEE-519.
Passive filters use the following items to ‘filter’ (or clean) the current wave:
- Input reactor
- Output reactor
- Shunt reactor
- Capacitor
Passive filters have many advantages over the active harmonic filters that are available in the market today. For example, MTE Corporation’s Matrix AP harmonic filter provides better performance feeding a 6-pulse drive than using 12-pulse or 18-pulse drives alone. On top of providing better performance, the Matrix AP is available at a much lower cost, and will take up a substantially smaller amount of space.
Along with a lower physical and financial footprint, passive harmonic filters have guaranteed stability and have little to no power consumption.