Total Power Quality Assessment and Studying the Effect of Incorporating PQ Improvement Techniques for Electrical System of a Nuclear Facility

Power quality (PQ) assessment is an important research field for maintaining reliable and accurate handling of critical equipment, particularly within nuclear facilities. To support operators and stakeholders of electrical networks, it is beneficial to evaluate PQ using a single comprehensive index rather than multiple separate indicators. This paper introduces an assessment approach utilizing a dynamic weighting method based on the integration of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the criteria importance through intercriteria correlation (CRITIC) technique. AHP serves as a subjective tool for assessing the relative importance of various PQ disturbances, while the CRITIC method objectively determines weights by analyzing both the contrast intensity and inter-indicator conflict among PQ phenomena. By combining these two methodologies, a more balanced and scientifically grounded set of weights is produced. Additionally, a dynamic adjustment mechanism is incorporated to ensure that each PQ issue is weighted according to its actual impact on the overall PQ performance of the electrical system. The proposed methodology is applied to a MATLAB/Simulink model of a nuclear research reactor (NRR) electrical network integrated with a renewable energy system to assess the total PQ under different normal and abnormal operating conditions. Harmonics can lead to various harmful effects on the NRR electrical network. This work assesses the total PQ by incorporating passive and active filters in the studied network. The case study of the NRR electrical network under different operating conditions demonstrated that this approach effectively reflects the PQ performance. Also, the results showed that both the two types of filters can enhance the total PQ index, but the active power filter is more effective in eliminating the current harmonic distortion and enhancing the total PQ index.