Article

Introduction
Power Quality and Reliability is the key to successful delivery of quality product and uninterrupted operation of an industry, be it conventional or service sector. It is now even more critical to the industry because of increasing application of electronic loads and digital controllers sensitive to the quality of power supplied. These can have serious economic consequences and cost business millions of rupees each year in revenue loss, process improvements, opportunity loss, equipment failure, electrical hazards like fire and scrapped product. There is a dire need for all concerned to deliberate on the vital issue of power quality and the latest technologies for mitigation and improvement of power system efficiency and reliability. With the concept of intelligent and green building setting in, various commercial and industrial building utilities are getting centralized control and automated which calls for high degree of reliable and safe power distribution system. Digital economy demands quality power and while being sensitive to such power quality environment they themselves are also cause for polluting the power quality environment. The world has changed. We are no more in pure sine wave era controlled by linear loads; rather we are almost fully controlled by non-linear loads. In the world of power electronics, bad power quality phenomenon can cause malfunctioning of sophisticated equipment. Harmonics, voltage unbalance, sag and flicker problems, standing waves and resonance - are some of the issues that adversely affect production and its quality, leading to huge loss in terms of product, service, energy and damage to equipment. Thus, it becomes imperative to be aware of quality of power and the deviation of the quality parameters from the norms or standard to avoid breakdown, service failure or equipment damage.

Power Quality and Automation

Automation of the industrial processes has led to effective increase in production and reduction in cost. Somehow, the controls in automation are so sensitive to power supply that even variations often perceived as trivial can create huge negative impact on production and product or service quality. This can be sorted out from the source itself either by adopting mitigation techniques or by over rating power distribution equipments like transformer, switchgear, cables as necessary. Latest innovations for askance distribution system design; including high reliability distribution systems using high-speed fault detection, rapid fault clearing, fault isolation and automatic restoration systems - is not a distant dream. The focus on the dynamic characteristics of the system equipments while facing the abnormal supply should not be lost. Benefits of industrial automation in saving labor cost and enhancing overall efficiency and product /service and quality are well-known. Companies in a wide range of business are expected to increasingly implement automation equipment. However, the increasing level of automation increases the use of electronic or solid state device, further enhancing the need for the safeguarding against power quality issues. These, if denied, result in the system unreliability and loss in efficiency of the equipment. But this cannot be the reason for not implementing automation, what is required is a proper system while going for automation to take care of the pollutants in the power system. In todays advanced technology, automation and power conservation along with better power quality is not far from reality contributing to savings in energy, money and minimizing human intervention.

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Most of the electrical equipment in an industrial or commercial facility requires high - quality electricity, showing zero tolerance towards power outages, no matter how short-lived it may be. Research shows that 80% of all power quality and reliability problems occur inside end-users facilities. The frontline victims of poor power quality environment are various equipments as depicted in fig 1 below. A timely diagnosis of the current status of equipment can help prevent major breakdown, process interruption and reduce monetary loss. Thus, measuring and/or capturing critical electrical parameters pertaining to the system with the right quality instruments is a must.

The generally encountered power quality issues are voltage dips and fluctuation, momentary interruptions, transients, etc (see fig 2 below). Except the power outages and transients due to lightening, other power quality problems like sags, swells, short term interruptions, harmonics, distortions, etc. occur either due to some faults in distribution feeders or interference from loads. During short circuits, fault clearing process in feeder or even heavy loads switching in/out, the neighbouring feeders can get affected with sags or swells in the supply voltages.

Fig 1: Various Industrial Equipments affected by poor Power Quality (Source: LPQI Survey)

Fig 2: Typical PQ Issues faced by an average Industry

India Perspective
Acute power shortage of course has created an alarming situation in the country. Policy makers are deeply engaged in solving much exasperating demand - supply gap problem in the country. This apart, power quality problems like voltage fluctuation, frequency variation, generation of spikes, impulses, surges and sags, harmonics, high earth leakage current, missing cycles, black-outs, brown-outs, etc. are playing havoc on our critical assets. Besides downtime and production losses they cause incalculable damage to our costly capital equipment and consequent to the economy. Power line disturbances such as voltage sag / swell, outages, flicker; harmonics can cause a heavy loss to electric utility customer. This is due to the wide application of the non-linear and electronically switched devices and distribution systems aspiring to elevate into Smart Grid. At the same time, modern industrial equipment are more sensitive to these power quality problems than before and need better quality of electrical power. The basic reason is that the minor power disruptions which one would have noticed only as momentary flickering in the lights, may now interrupt the whole automated factory assembly lines with sensitive electronic controllers or make all computers in an office go blank at once.

Economic Loss
The massive economic loss that could be suffered by industries is not well understood or captured today at the industry level. Neither there exist any systematic study. Some time back a Universal Consulting study, done for Wartsila India, based report (August 2009) indicated that India suffers a staggering loss of INR 100,000 Crore (1000 Billion) due to nationwide power outage. It also indicated that Indians are spending INR 30,000 Crore (300 Billion) annually to operate inefficient power back-ups using gen sets and inverters. But that is only limited to loss due to energy not supplied. No one has any idea about the cost that arises out of poor power quality. A recent joint study on Impact of PQ in Indian Industries undertaken by IIT Delhi with Asia Power Quality Initiative (APQI) concluded as follows: Almost all the industries suffer due to various power quality problems. In fact, many of the industries are not even aware of various PQ problems like harmonics, flickers etc. They do not even possess equipment to measure these aberrations in power quality. It is a must to educate and create awareness among industries regarding power quality. This calls for BIS taking a firm and bold step to introduce power quality standards that are suited for our country. For this, academicians, industrialists, consumers, utilities and regulatory bodies should come together and have several thorough brainstorming sessions. This will create a healthy and

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reliable power grid and utility in our country enhancing productivity and GDP growth. So we are still far away to assess realistically the economic impact of poor power quality. But some of the developed world study is a clear pointer of the size of iceberg that we might be threatened of. An European research by Copper Development Association indicates typical financial loss per event as follows: Industry Types Typical Loss per event (INR equivalent) Rs 3,00,000,000/ event Rs 1,90,000,000/ event Rs 3,75,00,000/ event Rs 15,00,000/ minute Rs 5,00,000/ minute Rs 1,50,00,000/ event Rs 5,00,0007,50,000/event

Power Quality - Concept

How we define PQ is determined by our perspective. This general definition covers both the users perspective and the utility perspective. Power Quality is a set of characteristics of the electrical power supply and the electrical system. Power Quality is also a set of characteristics of the load and its affect on the supply voltage. Industry requires standards to benchmark and address issues of power quality. Today we are mainly following American or in some cases European Standards. But home grown standards to suit our own environment are a must. Take the case of domestic inverter - an unique case that only exist here and nowhere else in developed world. Another case of voltage stabiliser to protect our domestic and sensitive industrial equipments is very unique to our environment. The recent demand for more efficient use of electricity is impacting Power Quality both at the user level and the utility level. The correlation between power quality and energy efficiency is not well understood though energy efficiency drives have now caught serious attention of both the industry and commerce. There is neither any published study in India on the impact of energy efficiency improvement devices on Power Quality nor any national product standards that could address the issue. Need is to explore each technology of device and its impact on Power Quality. Various equipments (see fig 4) those are perceived to contribute to poor power quality environment; though they are governed by national product standards (BIS), might not have PQ dimension at all. The technologies for investigation could include: Variable Speed Drives (VSD) for motors, Light dimmers, Fluorescent lamps, LED lamps, Computer power supplies and Power Factor improvement capacitors /filters, inverters /UPS etc.

Financial Operations Semi-conductor Manufacturing IT/ITES operations Telecommunications Data Processing Steel/Heavy Manufacturing Industry Plastic

Source: Cost of Power Quality - CDA March 2001

A study done in Europe over a period of three years estimated that EU suffers from a loss of Euro 150 billion per annum due to various power quality issues (see Fig 3a). The same study also has concluded that equipments are most vulnerable (see Fig 3b)

Fig 3a: Cost of Poor Power Quality

Fig 3b: Areas of Loss suffered due to poor PQ

Source: LPQI Survey on Economic Impact of Poor Power Quality in European Union 2007- 08

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without knowing the effects. Recent spate of infernos across India should be a wake up call. It would be interesting to study or technically investigate for quantifying the wiring system losses due to non linear loads - harmonics for typical installations in commercial buildings (high rises). Such study might enable us to disseminate the findings to designers and users of commercial buildings and industries for PQ mitigation coupled with energy efficiency. Power Quality (PQ) is attracting increased attention due to the proliferation of power electronic systems in the consumer market. Power electronic circuits cause distortions in the current and voltage waveforms, reduce the power factor and make the conventional measuring instruments function erroneously. They affect adversely the functioning of other power electronic systems such as adjustable speed drives, personal computers, power supplies etc. resulting in failure of circuit breakers, capacitors and loss of data. Although internationally there have been stringent power quality standards available from electrical standard organizations like IEEE and IEC, in India, there is no such standard available from any of the organizations like BIS or CEA or ERCs. Some of the state regulatory commissions are trying to prescribe some standards regarding supply interruption (SAIDI, SAIFI, CAIDI, CAIFI indexes), frequency, voltage magnitude and harmonic distortion. However given the poor health of the utilities and majority approach of business as usual to opt for load shedding to tide over availability crisis, it is doubtful if they would be interested in pursuing power quality with all eagerness. The business case can best be described in the fig 5 below:

Fig 4: Various equipments perceived to be sources for power quality problem

Recent effort and barriers faced by BEE and BIS while formulating CFL standards is a pointer to this gap. Need exist for testing each technology that improves the efficiency of the loads or the electrical system as well has some positive and negative impact on the power quality or increases the sensitivity of loads to power quality characteristics. Debate surfaces time and again on Electro Magnetic Interference or Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMI/EMC) issues and Effects on human life. Recently the Union Health Ministry commissioned the first large scale study of the effects of radio frequency radiation from mobile phones on humans. With around 800 million (as on March 2011) mobile phone subscribers currently in India, and many more using other appliances like television, computer, inverter based air-conditioners, vacuum cleaner, microwave etc, usually found with high frequency radiation the fear is that these essentials of life may actually be posing a big health risk because of their electromagnetic fields (EMFs). Recent times we also have seen that both at IEC level and also at British Standard Level the issue of electromagnetic compatibility whether for fixed installations or for equipment characteristics have been addressed in detail through standards like BS - 7671 (2008) specifying requirements for electrical installations, but such efforts are completely absent at our national standards level. In absence of any mandatory EMC directive, like in EU (EMC Directive 2004/108/EC), in our country today there is no thrust by designers on considering system performance requirements from power quality perspective. If this is not being implemented, potential PQ site problems may be surfaced very quickly post-commissioning. Our old distribution systems are given make up with latest electronic gizmos but

Fig 5: Utility Business Vs Socio Economic Optimisation

Under the current business as usual arrangement, the utility companies (DISCOMs) in order to maximising their profits will minimize their costs, in point A, but here the outage costs are high.

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But the socio-economic optimal point is in B, where the sum of outage cost and the companies cost are at the lowest. May be on the introduction of Cost of Energy Not Supplied (CENS) through regulatory intervention - the companies will be better off by balancing their internal costs and quality of supply towards a socio-economic optimum. In any case, it is a long way to go when one can see in our country a negotiated contract for quality electricity supply between an utility and a large industrial consumer.

Copper Promotion Council India, a not for profit organisation, is customizing the learnings for India under the umbrella organization; APQI - India to assist the cause. APQI India, established in 2007-08, with initial EC grant, is a network of key Indian organizations (PQ advocates, utilities, industry associations, universities, OEMs etc.) that supports the awareness raising and capacity building activities implemented under the APQI project in India. There are 3 main reasons/objectives behind the creation of the APQI national support networks (APQI China, APQI India, and APQI Thailand) that has now spread over few other Asian countries namely Malaysia, Philipines, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Issues and initiative to address them

How do power quality problems occur? How do we go scientifically auditing power quality problems? How do we manage power quality? What are the technologies, equipment and systems and standards available for the ensuring continuity of quality power and conditioning it? These are some of the issues. Power Quality is an area with lots of information gap and often misunderstood from the view point of its potential to damage. The effect of power quality deficiency is not quantified accurately. Neither there is any national level study bringing out the gross national level loss due to Power Quality Issues. For cost competitiveness industries are more concerned about direct power cost (physically visible through the bill) rather than the end effect on product quality or process due to PQ which manifests itself in an intangible manner. The solution providers, spanning from multinationals to next door system integrator, often do not work in tandem. Lack of clarity and knowledge at customer end often makes the environment nonconducive for solution providers. These are the areas where Asia Power Quality Initiative (APQI) has stepped in to provide a neutral platform for comprehensive knowledge resources and free sharing of such experiences amongst all stakeholders. The aim is to build up the capacity, facilitate policy debate, market transformation and information dissemination through shared learning. In Europe, a role model has been set up by Leonardo Power Quality Initiative (LPQI) which has become a larger movement with diverse knowledge base. LPQI is a credible non-commercial voice for sharing good things i.e. learning. Having LPQI as a background knowledge base, International

a) Effective outreach
The potential number of beneficiaries from the APQI project is enormous. Beneficiaries include managers and electrical engineers from manufacturing industries but also data processing centres, commercial buildings, stadiums and gymnasiums, hospitals, broadcast and television stations, the telecommunications sector, financial enterprises, transportation industries, and IT/ITES buildings. Beneficiaries also include students in electrical engineering and electrical systems design. The International Copper Promotion Council India (ICPCI) is the Indian co-ordinator in the APQI project. Through each members own network and membership base, APQI India is trying to ensure an effective outreach to the maximum number of beneficiaries. High credibility is the aim pursued through APQI India. During last three years twelve national seminars in all major cities have been conducted under the theme of Total Power Quality Management.

b) Development of local contents

While the APQI project continues to develop and make available a series of technical and training materials, they are not always specific to the Indian situation, except for the 30 case studies that are developed with local content. Some members of APQI India have technical expertise in PQ and could therefore contribute actively to the development of technical articles or training materials that are tailored to the Indian situation. An e-learning software and application notes have been developed. A website is currently under construction for on line continuous professional development.

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c) Sustainability
The APQI initiation project was co-funded by the European Commission and the grant tenure had been completed in May 2010. Improving PQ in manufacturing industries in Asia will require a longterm effort in communications to create awareness and in building capacity of engineers and electrical systems designers. While all the necessary materials and tools required to support capacity building activities have been developed through the project, APQI India continues constituting a structure that will continue dissemination and capacity building activities. While undertaking the awareness and capacity building exercise in PQ domain we believe that positive policy outlook towards managing this issue and addressing the same will go a long way to facilitate our smooth transition into a digital and developed economy. For this, PQ needs due attention of policy makers as a point for deliberation. APQI as a platform can act

as facilitator to help building up dialogues, discussion and dissemination of the knowledge.

REFERENcES 1. 9th International Conference - Electrical Power Quality and Utilisation, Barcelona Oct 2007 - Roman Targosz and Jonathan Manson - Pan European Power Quality Survey 2. Shawn Mc Nulty, Primen (EPRI), The Cost of Power Disturbances to Industrial and Digital Economy Companies -June 2001. 3. Johan Driesen, Hans De Keulenaer et all - Leonardo Power Quality Initiative - An integrated approach towards (E-) Learning in electrical engineering - 2005 4. Report on Economic Impact Of Poor Power Quality In Various Industrial Sectors In India - by Dr G Bhuvaneswari and Dr Bhim Singh - Oct/ Nov 2011. 5. The Relationship between Energy Savings and PQ Mitigation Technologies by Bill Howe, PE, Program Manager, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) -USA.

International Copper Promotion Council (India), Mumbai

Manas Kundu

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