Power Signal Flicker Detection Based on Filter Bank Technique

In power quality monitoring, voltage fluctuation is one of the power quality problems, which cause light flickers. To determine the flicker severity, the flicker meter concept was developed in an IEC 61000-4-15 standard. Generally, voltage fluctuations are described as an amplitude modulation(AM). The flicker meter of IEC 61000-4-15 as an international standard for flicker measurement recommends square demodulation method to detect flicker signals from voltage fluctuation signals. This paper suggests a new effective method using filter bank to detect and estimate flicker signals, which do not need square demodulation. For the accurate detection of flicker signals, the filter bank is designed with a full consideration of the spectrum characteristics of voltage fluctuation signals described as AM. The frequency and magnitude of the detected flicker signals are estimated using recursive method. Computer simulations were performed on synthesized signals to prove validity of the proposed method.