Control of linear compressor system using virtual AC capacitor

Recently, linear compressors of cooling systems such as refrigerators, which have a free piston driven by a linear motor, have attracted much attention because of their high efficiency. For structural reasons, linear compressors applied in refrigerators should use an AC capacitor to ensure stable control. However, AC capacitors are expensive and bulky. In this paper, we propose a new method to realize stable control without a real AC capacitor by implementing a virtual AC capacitor with software. To realize a virtual AC capacitor, a pure integral is calculated. Nonetheless, if an offset current exists, the calculation may diverge to infinity. To solve this problem, a high-pass filter is applied and the compensation for the phase angle and magnitude are realized with a new method. Finally, a virtual AC capacitor enables variable frequency operations. Hence, in case of a lack of voltage, we can compensate by running the linear compressor in high-frequency operations. To improve efficiency, we may optimize the operation frequency. The validity of a virtual AC capacitor has been verified through simulations and experimental results.