Systematic Evaluation for Harmonic Distortion
Limits from IEEE 519
J. Barreiro, M. Hernandez and G. Ramos
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Universidad de los Andes
Bogota D. C. Colombia
AbstractEvery day industry growths and with it, non-linear
load components growth as well. This causes sever implications
on the power quality. Some standards establish rules and limits
in order to guarantee adequate conditions for equipment, and to
supply appropriate power to final users. Automatic mechanisms
should be explored to contribute with this process of power qual-
ity improvement, helping with design and necessary corrections
related to harmonic distortion.
Index TermsPower quality, harmonic distortion, software
algorithm.
I. I NTRODUCTION
The amount of non-linear loads has increased considerably
since there are many devices useful (for instance adjust speed
drives or converter ac-dc, ac-ac, dc-ac and dc-dc) in industry
which generate harmonics; however despite the fact this aspect
affects electrical systems in several ways, it is necessary to find
solutions different from stop using this kind of equipment.
That is why the study and analysis of harmonic limits is
significant in electric power systems [1]. As mentioned above,
there are many devices which generate harmonics in indus-
try and whose applications are necessary and irreplaceable,
therefore, it is imperative to study and analyze harmonics
limits to mitigate them without stopping using this equipment.
Some common harmonic sources in industry are converters,
arc furnaces, switched mode power supplies, etc. In order to
analyze harmonic contents, equations (1) and (2) are used to
determine harmonics generated h by a converter respect to the
number of pulses q and the harmonic Ih and fundamental I1
magnitude.
h = kq 1 where k = 0, 1, 2, 3, ... (1)
I1
Ih = (2)
h
IEEE 519 [2] presents tables of current distortion limits
whose values depend on the voltage at point of common
coupling (PCC) and additionally, each table establish some
ranges for the maximum short-circuit current at PCC Isc and
maximum demand load current for the fundamental frequency
The authors are with the Universidad de los Andes, Bogota D.C., Colombia.
(email: j.barreiro135@uniandes.edu.co; me.hernandez47@uniandes.edu.co;
gramos@uniandes.edu.co).
978-1-4799-1007-6/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE
component at PCC IL . These tables will be shown in section
IV as part of the algorithm.
This paper proposes an automatic way to analyze and
study harmonic limit according IEEE 519 through a program
developed in LabView, in section II explains the importance
to have an automatic way to evaluate harmonic limits in
electrical applications is presented; section III illustrates the
algorithm developed and its advantages in comparison with
other alternative analysis are shown; section IV presents pos-
sible solutions to fulfill harmonics limits by adding another
load and establish a restriction for loads in case the limits
are not exceeded; section V shows an application example
simulated in ATPdraw, gotten from the IEEE 519, is analyzed
with the algorithm and conclusions about possible loads are
made; finally, in section VI and the last one, further work
related to the algorithm presented in this paper is discussed
and general conclusions are made.
II. I MPORTANCE OF DOING AUTOMATIC ANALYSIS
The analysis of harmonic limits based on IEEE 519 is
an analysis oriented to design power systems with non-
linear loads, considering static critic conditions in steady-state
event when these conditions are or could be dynamic [3].
This paper proposes to have an alternative way to analyze
harmonic limits in an automatic way in order to accomplish
evaluate a system in short time, what would allow analyze
dynamic power systems online. Currently, solutions to mitigate
harmonic distortion limits are established based on a critical
or steady-state condition which is not an optimal solution
when conditions change [4]; for instance, when a user is
disconnected during a period of time or when another load
is added at the PCC, the case of study changes dynamically
and the analysis should be done over again. However, some
variables could be considered constant since they belong to the
PCC as own parameters like voltage at PCC, maximum short-
circuit current at PCC, maximum demand load current at PCC
and pulse number [5] [6]; these parameters could maintain
their value for some conditions (for which this paper focuses)
event if a load is added. In section VII, applications using the
algorithm presented in this paper are discussed.
 Maximum Maximum
Demand short-circuit
Load current

Wave of
Voltage Pulse
Current
at PCC Number
at PCC Figure 2. Current distortion limits for 120 < vpcc 69000

Harmonic Information
Limits of the
Tables System Harmonic
Spectrum

yes
Recalculate Pulse Number
Limits greater than 6 Figure 3. Current distortion limits for 69000 < vpcc 161000

no

Limits According
the Case
Figure 4. Current distortion limits for 161000 < vpcc

Evaluate Limits
Figure 3 for 69000v < vpcc 161000v and figure 4 for
161000v < vpcc . After having selected the correct row of
Calculate
Possible Loads /
the relation f racIsc IL from the corrected table, the limits are
Conclusions recalculated if the pulse number is greater than 6 with a factor
of 6q for characteristic harmonics and with a factor of 0.25
p

Figure 1. Flow-chart algorithm evaluation harmonic limits
III. A LGORITHM
The figure 1 illustrates the general scheme of the algorithm
to calculate the limits of the IEEE 519 according to the
parameters of the electric power system. This section explains
each part of the algorithm and shows tables calculated to make
conclusions afterwards.
There are some initial data that describes the characteristics
of the system; these data are maximum demand load IL ,
mximum short-circuit current Isc , voltaje at PCC vpcc , pulse
number q and wave of current at PCC. It is relevant to clarify
that the mentioned wave can be gotten from different sources
and it is exactly what makes this application useful for diverse
cases of study and applications; wave of current is obtained
from a file extension .MAT what guarantees the possibility to
get this information from simulation in ATPdraw as shown
in section VI, from simulation in Simulink, and by using a
CompactRIO for an application in real-time as proposed in
section VII. Broadly, this analysis can be carried out from a
file with this format.
Tables of current distortion limits in IEEE Standard 519 are
stored; the corresponding table is selected based on voltage
at PCC given by the user and the limits within the table are
selected based on the relation Isc/IL . Figure 2 shows the table
of current distortion limits in IEEE Std 519 obtained from the
algorithm storage for a voltage at PCC 120v < vpcc 69000v,
for the non-characteristic harmonics [7].
Once limits are identified, the actual values for the harmonic
spectrum at PCC are determined [8], and harmonics which do
not fulfill the limits can be detected for their analysis and
calculation for possible solutions or limits for additional loads
as explained in section V.
IV. P OSSIBLE CASES IN THE ANALYSIS
Once the limits for harmonic distortion are analyzed, the
developed algorithm evaluates two main cases. The first case
is when limits are exceeded for any or various harmonics, and
the second case is when the limits are not exceeded [9]. In
any case, it is possible to fulfill or continue fulfilling limits
by adding another load at PCC [10]. The algorithm presented
in this paper only considers two kind of loads, a linear load
what just affects the fundamental component and a six pulse
load what affects its characteristic harmonic which can be
calculated with (1); additionally this load can be added after a
wye/wye transformer or a delta/wye transformer that imply
a shift and consequently an annulation of some harmonic
components. Figure 5 shows the two main cases that could
occur and the critical harmonic; the critical harmonic is the
critical to fulfill limits, for example, in case there are various
harmonics components exceeding limits (suppose in figure 5
that limits are represented by color red and actual values are
represented by color black), it is necessary to reduce in a
proportion that guaranties that all of them would be under
limits. For a case where there are limits over the limits, it is
possible to calculate the differential between actual value and
 After that, with this value for a fundamental component
the magnitudes for six pulse characteristic harmonics are
calculated and also the IRM S by (6).

uX I 3
v !2
u 35
c1
IRM S = t where h for 6 pulse (6)
h=1
h 2
Finally a load, that decreases harmonics that suffer shift in (3),
is determined by (7).
Loaddecrease = vpcc IRM S (7)
The same procedure must be done with harmonics which do
not suffer shift, and then, a load that increases harmonics
Figure 5. Differential between actual values and limits. h = 11, 13, 23, 25 and 35 is determined Loadincrease . And the
conditions for the possible non-linear load are shown in (8).
limit denoted by Ih and the critical harmonic component In case that this relation between loads does not make sense
is the corresponding with the maximum Ih because if this the algorithm gives a message saying that it is not possible to
harmonic is reduced, all of the others unfulfilling harmonics correct harmonics for this case.
will be satisfied reduced under limits as well. Loaddecrease < Load < Loadincrease (8)
For the second case, when all of the harmonic components
are under limits (suppose in figure 5 that limits are represented Lineal load:
by color black and actual values are represented by color
red), there is a Ih for each harmonic and a critical harmonic When a lineal load is added at the PCC, this load only
corresponding with the minimum Ih , it means, the harmonic affects the fundamental component which is the reference to
which is the nearer to the limit. Then, if the closer harmonic calculate the magnitude of other harmonics, and this produces
to the limit does not exceed the limit, all others do not exceed always a decreasing in the percentage of harmonic values.
it either. However, there is a maximum possible load depending on the
short-circuit current and voltage at PCC that is calculated by
Case 1: Limits are exceeded (9). And the current load at PCC for the analysis is determined
Six pulse load from a transformer delta/wye with shift 30: by (10).
Loadmax = vpcc Isc (9)
When there is a shift at the transformer of 30, there is a shift
for some harmonics what produces reduction of their value at
Loadact = vpcc IL (10)
PCC since they are subtracted with the actual corresponding
harmonics; the shift for each harmonic is calculated from (3). In the same way, when limits are exceeded, the critical
harmonic has to be detected and after having identified the
percentage corresponding this critical harmonic, the Ic 1 can
shif th = 30 (h sq(h)) where sq is sequense of h (3)
be calculated by (11).
It is important to point out that if any harmonic that does not [%]
hc IL
suffer a shift with (3), could not be reduce with this strategy Ic 1 = IL (11)
[%]
and it is necessary to check a linear load to fulfill harmonic hlimit
distortion limits. After that, the limits for the lineal load is calculated by (12)
In order to determine the possible load that reduces harmon- and (13), what results in (14).
ics which are exceeding limits, it is necessary to determine
the critical harmonic as explained above excluding harmonics Loadlin = vpcc Ic1 (12)
h = 11, 13, 23, 25 and 35 because they are added instead of
subtracted, this is obtained by (4) and considering that the
Loadmaxlin = Loadmax Loadact (13)
critical fundamental component depends not only on the max-
imum critical harmonic but also on the harmonic component
like in (5). Loadlin < Load < Loadmaxlin (14)
ICritical h = max (Ih Ih Limit ) (4) Case 2: Limits are exceeded.
Six pulse load from a transformer wye/wye:
Once the critical harmonic is identified, the critical fundamen-
tal component IC1 for that with (5).
For this case, the calculation of the load has fewer restric-
IC1 = hc ICritical h (5) tions since there are not problems with harmonic limits but it
 13.8kV
25 MVA

115kV

A K
12.5 MW

50 MVA

A K
12.5 MW

Figure 6. Application example IEEE 519

is necessary to establish a limit for a non-lineal load added

at PCC. Critical harmonic is calculated as explained in the
beginning of the section by (15).

ICritical h = min (Ih Ih Limit ) (15)

Once critical harmonic is identified, the procedure to determine

the load that set the value just at the harmonic limit is obtained
in the same way as explained above. This is (5) and IRM S
is gotten from (6) but including all harmonics components.
Finally the load calculated is (16) and (17)

Loadincrease = vpcc IRM S (16)

Figure 7. Current wave at PCC. ATPdraw and LabView

Load < Loadincrease (17)

Lineal load:

For this case, there is not a lower limit for the lineal load,
because there is not a value exceeding harmonic limit that
should be compensated, however, upper limit is still the same
one established by the short-circuit current and maximum load
current as in the first case. This load is (18).

Load < Loadmaxlin (18)

V. E XAMPLE APPLICATION FROM IEEE 519

The analysis of harmonic limits for the first application

Figure 8. Results from LabView program for case 1.
example of the IEEE 519 (Figure6) is made in this section
by using the algorithm presented. Current wave is obtained by
a simulation made in ATPdraw and opened in the program to
get results. Current wave in ATP and in LabView is shown
in figure 7. Once current wave is loaded at the LabView
program, the application gets the spectrum Figure 8, calculates
limits and points out harmonics that do not fulfill limits. For
the first case proposed in the application example of the IEEE
519 vpcc = 115000, Isc = 10000 and IL = 250 and results
from the program are shown in figure 9. For second case
vpcc = 115000, Isc = 17600 and IL = 251, 4285 and results
from the program are shown in figure 10. And for the third
case vpcc = 115000, Isc = 25100 and IL = 25, 1 and results Figure 9. Results from LabView program for case 1.
from the program are shown in figure 11.

Figure 10. Results from LabView program for case 1.
Figure 11. Results from LabView program for case 1.
VI. FURTHER WORK
As mentioned in the introduction of this paper, devices
which are harmonic sources are necessary in industry and
could not be replaced; therefore, it is imperative to find alterna-
tive solutions. Additionally, power systems are dynamic, what
implies different values for harmonic distortion in time, and
of course, different dynamic solutions. The figure 12 shows
a general scheme for a dynamic application with feedback
to control harmonic distortion; this scheme measure current
wave at PCC and dynamically can adjust different parameters
on the system, for instance, can control an adaptive filter for
a specific harmonic or change loads to guarantee the fulfilling
of limits IEEE 519. There is a CompactRIO in charge of
doing this control by measuring the current wave at PCC and
calculates the harmonic spectrum to identify an error between
the measurement and the limits (This is a classic control
scheme where there is a feedback measurement and a reference
which is a desirable value). After having detected the error, in
case the harmonics are exceeded (since there could be an error
that does not exceed limits, and should not be considered), it is
necessary to determine a control action, that could be changing
filter parameters, modifying an actual load or simply indicate
through an alarm that limits are being exceeded to evaluate
design problems.
Figure 12. General Application that Implies the Algorithm Proposed
For this case, it is important to clarify the necessity of
evaluating the error as quickly as possible, because this fact
determines the sample time for the control system and at this
point the importance of the application shown in this paper is
highlighted.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
It is important to highlight the necessity that knowledge
about efficient harmonic values and the angle for each compo-
nent has, among different methods to analyze power in current
and non-sine voltage systems. In this way, the sum of vector
components can be made and calculate the fundamental and
harmonic powers in the system.
Considering the instrument capabilities is fundamental in
the implementation of power calculation methodologies, since
there are alternatives which require calculating the Fourier
transformation so current and voltage waves are decompound
(with the benefit to supply a graphic tool to make analysis),
and alternatives based on wave discrete treatment whose
results in power are precise without demanding significant
computational effort.
It is posible to verify pulse conversion by calculating the
displacement harmonic in a group of transformer connections,
and based on the knowledge of characteristic displacement
factor for each coil. The vector harmonic component sum
can be generated easily for the automatic calculation under
balanced conditions; however, sequence decomposition, to
analyze unbalanced multi-pulse systems, is necessary.
Changing load in balanced systems with multiple nodes im-
plies the necessity of hierarchical calculations of the influence
on the network. Moreover, it is necessary to average the load
in two nodes which contribute current at the same PCC to
obtain the value of THD gotten from the total current; to
make the mentioned average, information about the harmonic
displacements is required and to consider the vector sum
correctly.
R EFERENCES
[1] R. Chu and J. Burns, Impact of cycloconverter harmonics, Industry
Applications, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 427 435,
may/jun 1989.
[2] Ieee recommended practices and requirements for harmonic control in
electrical power systems, IEEE Std 519-1992, 1993.
[3] S. Halpin, Overview of revisions to ieee standard 519-1992, in Power
Engineering Society Summer Meeting, 2002 IEEE, vol. 2, july 2002, pp.
947 949 vol.2.
[4] J. Mazumdar and R. Harley, Determining ieee 519 compliance of a cus-
tomer in a power system, in Power Electronics Specialists Conference,
2007. PESC 2007. IEEE, june 2007, pp. 2758 2764.
[5] M. McGranaghan, Overview of the guide for applying harmonic
limits on power systems-ieee p519a, in Harmonics and Quality of
Power Proceedings, 1998. Proceedings. 8th International Conference
On, vol. 1, oct 1998, pp. 462 469 vol.1.
[6] A. Zobaa, Cost-effective applications of power factor correction for
nonlinear loads, Power Delivery, IEEE Transactions on, vol. 20, no. 1,
pp. 359 365, jan 2005.
[7] E. Gunther, Interharmonics in power systems, in Power Engineering
Society Summer Meeting, 2001, vol. 2, 2001, pp. 813 817 vol.2.
[8] J. Mazumdar, R. Harley, and F. Lambert, System and method for
determining harmonic contributions from non-linear loads, in Industry
Applications Conference, 2005. Fourtieth IAS Annual Meeting. Confer-
ence Record of the 2005, vol. 4, oct. 2005, pp. 2456 2463 Vol. 4.
 [9] P. Ribeiro, Common misapplications of the ieee 519 harmonic standard:
Voltage or current limits, in Power and Energy Society General Meeting
- Conversion and Delivery of Electrical Energy in the 21st Century, 2008
IEEE, july 2008, pp. 1 3.
[10] N. Kandev and S. Chenard, Method for determining customer contri-
bution to harmonic variations in a large power network, in Harmonics
and Quality of Power (ICHQP), 2010 14th International Conference on,
sept. 2010, pp. 1 7.