Combatting the Pollution of the Power Distribution Systems By Electronic Equipment
Richard Red1 Paolo Tenti
ELF1 S.A. University of Padova
Derrey-la-Cabuche Dept. of Electronics and Informatics
CH-1756 Onnens FR Via Gradenigo 6/a
Switzerland 35131 Padova
Abstract-The increasing number of line-powered electronic
equipment cause severe pollution in the power distribution
system, mainly by producing distorted line currents and voltages.
In this paper we review the various aspects of power-line
pollution, and provide a general overview of how to combat the
distortion caused by rectifier loads. We also consider the EMI
and cost issues of line-harmonics reduction.
I. EFFECTS,ORIGIN, AND CATEGORIES OF POLLUTION IN THE
POWER SYSTEM
In January 1992 a new computer system was installed in
one of the buildings of the large French insurance company
GROUPAMA. Shortly after it was energized, the main circuit
breaker tripped and disconnected the whole system. At the
expense of considerable time and money, the reason for the
interruption was found: The current in the neutral conductor
was 65% of the phase currents, but the rating of its protective
relay was only 50% of those protecting the phase conductors.
In the US, a Midwest utility reported a transformer failure
where the transformer was not overloaded beyond its kVA
rating but where the customer's load was primarily
variable-speed motor drives with high harmonic content. In
another reported case,a 300-kVA transformer failed, although
a clamp-on averaging-type ammeter showed no overload. A
replacement transformer also failed soon after installation.
Eventually a measurement with a true-rms meter revealed that
the transformer was significantly overloaded with harmonic
currents.
In 1991, a new skiing plant (double-rope cableway) was
installed in the Italian Alps, next to the massif of the
Marmolada. The plant rated to convey 3600 persons per hour,
has two 2 - M w dc motor drives, fed by thyristor rectifiers. At
this location, the drives were powered from a relatively weak
20-kV grid. During acceptance testing, the plant caused a
voltage distortion of about 18% in the grid, forcing the utility
to disconnect the plant until a less polluting (12-pulse) rectifier
configuration was installed. Furthermore-also in t h s
region-the installation of a passive compensation system
(tuned filters plus a capacitor bank for VAR compensation) for
0-7803-3704-2/97 $10.00 0 1 997 IEEE
J. Daan van Wyk
Rand Afrikaans University
Industrial Electronics Technology
Research Group
P.O.Box 524
2006 Auckland Park
Johannesburg
Republic of South Africa
an existing ski lift caused tripping of the capacitor bank of
another plant, a few kilometers away. This happened due to
the resonance between the two compensation systems through
the line inductance, which caused large harmonic currents in
the capacitor bank, exceeding its rms current capability.
All of these problems can be traced back to a common
origiq excessive waveform distortion in the power distribution
system. This distortion has a number of detrimental effects,
including overheating of the various components of the
distribution system, mechanical oscillations in generators and
motors, electrical resonances leading to insulation or capacitor
failure, increased audio noise, impaired performance of
power-line communication systems, and unpredictable
behavior of installed protection systems. In addition to the
distortion, other undesirable phenomena are also becoming
more and more prevalent on the power lines, for example
voltage fluctuation, flicker, sags (dips), and radio-frequency
interference.
The main cause of all these phenomena, which can be
considered a sort of electromagneticenvironmental pollution,
is the increasing usage of line-powered electronic equipment,
such as computers, color TVs, electronic ballasts for
gas-discharge lamps, solid-state motor controllers over the
entire range from watts to megawatts, battery chargers, and
electronic control of a large variety of industrial loads. The
line side of all these equipment incorporates a rectifier circuit
or circuits followed by some form of a switching power
processor. Unless specially so designed, the rectifiers draw
distorted line current. Note that not only the rectifiers are
responsible for line harmonics. Phase-angle controllers,
commonly used for power regulation in heaters and lamp
dimmers also produce waveforms with substantial harmonic
content and high frequency interference. Due to the
nonlinearity of the gas discharge even the standard fluorescent
lamp with its magnetic ballast is a significant contributor to
line harmonics.
In addition to the harmonics, which pollute the line in the
low k€€zrange, high-frequency pollution (up to several tens of
megahertz) is created by the microsecond and submicrosecond
edges of the waveforms of the switching power processors.
42
 (3) More equipment are interconnected in the user’s local
power system, causing increasing amount of locally
generated disturbances.
(4) The proportion of polluting (mostly electronic) load is
increasing.

A serious consequence of the increasing amount of

electronic load is the increase in the neutral current. A recent
survey conducted in six office buildings at a large university
complex in the US determined a mean ratio of the neutral
current to the phase current of 133.1%. Such high neutral
Harmonic distortion Interharmonics currents indicates that the dominant load is single-phase
rectifiers powering electronic equipment; this is considered
characteristic of any present and future high-tech environment.

111. STANDARDS AND wGULATIONS

It was recognized already in the 1930s that unintentional

Notches- Frequency variation
man-made electromagnetic noise can interfere with radio
reception. Regulatory work-with the purpose of ensuring
interference-& reception--started as early as 1933 in Europe.
During the following decades the engineering discipline of
electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) was developed, together
with the formidable array of emission and immunity standards,
Swell which are presently in effect. Those standards are enforced by
various national or regional regulations.
Line harmonics and flicker, the two low-frequency
conducted emission phenomena, drew the attention of the
. . I . . ... ... .. standardization bodies rather late. In 1982 the IEC
(Intemational Electrotechnical Commission) released its
Flicker Outage three-part standard as “IEC 555: Disturbances in supply
systems caused by household appliances and similar electrical
Fig. 1. Categories of electromagnetic pollution of the power line. equipment, Part 1: Definitions, Part 2: Harmonics, Part 3:
Voltage fluctuations.” That standard, especially the part
Fig. 1 shows the various categories of electromagnetic discussing harmonics, underwent several amendments and
pollution. Electronic equipment are responsible for a major eventually became part of the IEC 1000 family of EMC
portion of EMI, harmonic distortion, interharmonics, notches, standards in the mid 1990s, as IEC 1000-3-2, “Limits for
and flicker in the power distribution system. harmonic current emissions (equipment input current < 16 A
per phase),” and IEC 1000-3-3, “Limitation of voltage
11. TRENDS fluctuation and flicker in low-voltage supply systems for
equipment with rated current 116 A.” (Note that for
Global power consumption is expected to rapidly increase equipment with 2 16 A per phase the equivalent standards are
in the future,although at Werent rates in different parts of the not yet released.)
world. The biggest growth will be observed in the developing In the United States the ANSI/JEEE Standard 519-1992,
countries. For Eastern Asia the International Energy Agency ‘WEE “ m e n d e d practices and requirements for harmonic
forecasts a 5.4% annual increase, control in electrical power systems,” sets limits to both the
The growing power consumption will inevitably lead to voltage and current harmonics. That standard is an update of
deterioratingpower quality, not so much because of a decline the previous E E E Standard 519-1981, “IEEE guide for
in the quality of high-voltage distribution (that is actually harmonic control and reactive compensation of static power
improving), but rather because of four other reasons: converters,” which dealt only with voltage harmonics.
In the above harmonic standards two distinct approaches
(1) More users are affected by each utility disturbance. are apparent. The IEC standards limit the harmonic emission
(2) The user equipment become more sensitive to produced by the equipment, while the IEEE Std 519-1992
disturbances. limits the emission at the point of common coupling with the

43

Fig. 2. Single-phasepassive line-harmonics reduction circuits.
Fig. 3. Characteristic line-current waveforms of single-phase passive line-
harmonics reduction circuits.
consumer. Another important difference is that once the IEC
standards, which are only proposals, are accepted by
CENELEC (Comite Europeen de Normalisation
Elmo-technique or European Standardization Committee for
Electrical Products), they become European standards, which
means that compliance with them is enforced by law. In
contrary, compliance with IEEE standards is only
recommended. In Japan, where the IEC harmonic standard
was adopted, the compliance is also only voluntary.
One issue that remains internationally unresolved at
present, is a universally agreed upon definition of the different
electrical power or current components when the voltage and
m n t in the distribution network are distorted. Even among
utilities this fundamental question lingers on. Its eventual
44
Fig. 4. Single-phase active non-isolatedline-harmonics reduction circuits.
solution is conditional for proper metering and tariffs, power
flow studies and proper control of the active power filters
discussed in Section VI (for more information see [ 11 and [2],
and the bibliography of [3]).
IV. HARMONIC REDUCTION TECHNIQUES
IN LOW-POWER,
SINGLE-PHASE APPLICATIONS
To achieve compliance with the European harmonic
regulations in low-power single-phase applications, either a
passive or an active line-current shaping circuit must be
inserted between the line and the rest of the equipment.
Alternatively, the equipment must be substantially redesigned.
Fig. 2 shows some of the popular passive low-harmonic
rectifiers, Fig. 3 shows the corresponding line-current
waveforms.
Passive rectifier circuits are reliable and cost-effective;
also, they do not generate E M , rather contribute to filtering.
They are, however, bulky and heavy, and are not very practical
for applications where the line voltage varies over a wide
range. In such cases, active circuits must be used. Fig. 4a
shows the most popular single-phase active circuit, the boost
rectifier. That circuit is capable of providing essentially
harmonic-free line-current waveform while maintaining
regulation at line voltages from 85 to 270 Vac. It is also
lighter in weight than the passive circuits. Other active non-
isolated line-current shaping circuits include the buck rectifier
(Fig. 4b) and the single-switch and two-switch buck-boost
rectifiers (Figs. 4c and 4d).
Low-harmonic isolated ac/dc converters include the two-
stage system (passive or active low-harmonic rectifier plus
isolated dc/dc converter, e.g. the boost-flyback circuit in
Fig. 5), and a variety of single-stage solutions. Fig. 6 shows
such circuits with the storage capacitor at the output side,
including the flyback rectifier (Fig. 6a), the isolated SEPIC
rectifier (Fig. 6b), and the parallel-loaded full-bridge resonant
converter/rectifier (Fig. 6c). The main advantage of those
schemes is that both the topologies and the control are simple.
They have, however, a number of serious drawbacks, e.g., large
 Fig. 5. Two-stage solution:boost rectXer with dddc converter.

Fig. 8. Three-phaserectifier with line-side inductors.

(Fig. 7d, [7]). We consider some of these circuits the most

promising solutions for highly cost-sensitive applications, e.g.
computer and telecom power supplies or battery chargers.
Similar single-stage approaches are also available for
applications with high-frequency ac output, e.g. electronic
ballasts.
The drawbacks of all active solutions are higher cost,
r e d u d reliability, and the fact that they inject high-frequency
noise into the line. To reduce this noise to the level permitted
by the standards, extra filtering is required.
There are a huge number of papers discussing single-phase
line-harmonics reduction techniques. For a general overview
of the field, and for a detailed list of references, see [ti] or [9].
Fig. 6 . Single-phase isolated line-harmonics reduction circuits with the storage
capacitor located on the output side.
V. HARMONICREDUCTION
TECHNIQUESIN LOW-POWER,
THREE-PHASE
APPLICATIONS

The power range for low-power three-phase equipment is

typically between 3 and 10 kW.Equipment in this category is
requiredto satis@ the class A limits of the IEC 1000-3-2 norm.
Passive solutions, e.g. the one shown in Fig. 8 (three
inductors in series with the three phases), are acceptable in
many applications. They have the same advantages and
disadvantages as the single-phase passive circuits. Such
circuits are easily scalable, and may be used at medium or high
, power levels (see Section VI for further comments).
The classical active solutions include the six-switch buck
and boost rectifiers (Figs. 9a and 9b). Considering the
Fig. 7. Single-phaseisolated line-harmonics reduction circuits with the storage
complex control requirements and the poor exploitation of the
capacitor located on the input side. semiconductor devices, those circuits are only marginally
acceptable in low-power, lowcost applications.
low-hquency output ripple, excessively large storage capacitor Compared with the six-switch boost rectifier, the three-
at low output voltage, slow response to sudden line or load switch three-level circuit of Fig. 10 (“Vienna rectifier,” [lo])
changes, and fluctuating throughput power. Practically all of offers better switch exploitation and lower switching ripple
those drawbacks can be eliminated by moving the storage under similar operating conditions. However, the amount of
capacitor back to the input side. Fig. 7 shows several such requiredhardware is still too much for low-power and lowcost
circuits, the BlFRED (Boost-Integrated-Flyback-Rectifier- applications. For those applications the single-switch solutions
Mdc converter) (Fig. 7%[4]), boosvflyback combination with of Fig. 11 show the greatest potential. The description of those
diode (Fig. 7b, [ 5 ] ) , boosvflyback combination with capacitor circuits can be found in [ 111 (for Fig. 1la), in [ 121 (for Figs.
(Fig. 7c, [6]), boosusoft-switching half-bridge combination 1lb and 1IC), and in [ 131 (for Fig. 1Id).

45
 f:
Fig.9.Six-switch buck (a) and boost @)three-phaserectifiers.
,
Fig. 10.The Vienna rectifier.
W.PROVISIONS FOR MEDIUM AND HIGH POWER
APPLICATIONS
Compared to equipment at low power ( 4 0 kW), industrial
applications in the range from 10 kW to several megawatt are
subject to very different rules, since no mandatory standards
hold regarding their harmonic pollution at low frequencies. It
is a matter of discussion between the utility and the consumer
to set the minimum power factor and the amount of current (or
voltage) distortion allowed at the point of common coupling
(PCC)-these limits being strongly dependent on the
short-circuit current capability at the PCC.
For a long time, only the reactive power absorption was
limited by utilities. The typical solution was to insert suitable
capacitor banks (possibly switched on and off by thyristors)
across the load terminals. Recently, the utilities have paid
more attention to the injection of current harmonics into the
grid, often enforcing the user to apply harmonic reduction
techniques based on passive filters, either tuned or low-pass.
Unfortunately, due to their low impedance at harmonic
frequencies, these passive compensation devices absorb large
46
- __
t---
I J
(4
Fig. 1 1. Single-switchthree-phase rectifim: boost (a), buck (b),
ZCS-QR (c) and (d).
harmonic currents if the supply voltage is even moderately
distorted, thus ampllfjing the voltage distortion. In addition,
passive compensatorsconnected to different grid nodes tend to
interact, causing resonant currents to flow through the line
inductances, and generating unexpected voltage harmonics at
the consumer's terminals.
In the past much ingenuity had been expended on the
transformers which feed the ac/dc converters, and also on the
converter circuits, such that the harmonics reflected to the
supply were as small as possible. This was achieved by various
stardelta and zig-zag transformer arrangements, by cascaded
identical converter banks phase-shifted with regard to each
other, by unsymmetrical control of banks of converters and
various other techniques (see, e.g. [14]). However, the
availability of turn-off power semiconductors, such as IGBTs
and GTOs, have made the construction of PWM rectifiers
feasible with close to unity input power factor and negligible
harmonics, with IGBTs at present being the favorite at power
levels of 100 kW and below.
Other modern solutions use switching compensators, as
active filters for reducing the distortion and increasing the
power factor. The compensators can be controlled so as to
absorb any current waveform specified to the control system,
thus compensating for reactive and harmonic currents r-7-r-
PWM
converter
L
I l l
irrespective of the voltage distortion. The compensated loads
becomes nearly resistive, damping the resonances and resulting
in a better opemtion of the entire grid. Switching compensators
build on the technology developed for PWM inverters,
containing many power semiconductors. This implies that the AF-CONTROL
solutions are more expensive than passive solutions, so the current sink
current trend is to design integrated compensating systems, 8 (Active Filter)
including passive and switching components, in order to
provide the specified performance at a minimum cost.
Fig. 12 shows the general schematic of an integrated
compensation system, including thyristor-switched capacitors
and inductors, passive filters and switching converters.
For loads, which are fed by uncontrolled diode rectifiers T r i a b l e
three-phase
and are subject to current harmonics regulations (e.g., power capacitor
supplies for telecommunications), an increasingly popular
solution is to insert an active filter for the harmonics in parallel
with the load, providing the minimum compensation currents
needed to meet the required harmonic limitations. In some
traction applications, this active harmonic filter is inserted in ...
parallel to the directvoltage linkbetween rectifier and inverter.
The advantage of this approach is the much reduced rating of
- T Variable
three-Dhase
the filter in relation to the existing converters. This solution is inductor
also useful for retrofitting existing plants.

AF TSC TCR n
VI.ELECTROMAGNETIC
COMPATIBILITY AND GRID I I 1 Load
INST
ABILITY

An insidious drawback of all solutions involving power

electronic converters is that they generate high-frequency
pollution, i.e. conducted and radiated noise in the 10-kHzto
100-MHz range [15]. The high-frequency noise can have a
detrimental effect on the operation of surrounding electronic
equipment [161. This aspect is carefully taken into account in
the IEC 1000 standards, which define compliance tests to
e m the electromagnetic compatibility of industrial products
[17]. Today, one of the most difficult trade-offs of line
harmonic reduction is to achieve that the additional high
frequency pollution is sufficiently limited, without a large
increase in cost and size [181.
Another operational aspect of powerelectronics equipment
regards the stability of a grid. Many power-electronics
equipment are designed to draw constant power irrespective of
line voltage fluctuations. Thus, when the line voltage
decreases they absorb higher current, resulting in a “negative
Merenthl resistance” operation that may pose serious stability
problems to the grid. Because today constant-power loads are
not yet prevailing, this issue has not been investigated in depth.
However, under the future pressure of regulations requiring
that loads draw low harmonic currents, it is expected that
constant-power harmonic-reducing line interfaces become
commonplace, making grid instability a quite realistic danger.
Fig. 12. Integrated compensation.
(a) Using a controlled, voltage-fed PWM converter to obtain a controlled three
phase current sink as active filter (AF)
(b) Using thyristor switched capacitor banks (TSC) to obtain an effective three
phase variable capacitor.
(c) Using thyristor controlled reactors (TCR) to obtain an effective three phase
variable inductor.
(d) Integrating AF, TSC, TCR with a tuned filter to achieve the desired
compensation strategy.
VII. COST OF THEPOWER-LINE
POLLUTION
It is very difficult to make a meaningful statement on the cost
of the pollution of the power line. It has been estimated that in
the United States alone poor power quality causes about S 13.3
billion damage per year [ 191. A sigruficant portion of the
powerquality problems is related to harmonic distortion, so a
few billion dollars could probably be saved if the majority of
the loads would include low-harmonic line interfaces.

47
Another side of the balance sheet is the cost of the means of
eliminating or reducing the harmonic distortion and the
resulting increased EM. It is interesting to note that
harmonics reduction in low-power equipment, e.g., personal
computem, pays back in less than three years, due to reduction
of building wiring losses alone [20].
SUMMARY
The recent proliferation of nonlinear load, especially the
electronic equipment with their f r o n t a d rectifiers, leads to a
significant increase of the distortion in the power distribution
system. Realizing that the distortion has many undesirable
effects, standardization agencies, with the backing of utility
companies, started to demand compliance with harmonic
regulations. In this paper we (1) reviewed the effect of
distortion through case studies, (2) gave a brief summary of the
related trends and regulatory activities, (3) presented an
overview of the harmonic-reduction techniques, including low-
power single-phase and three-phase solutions, and also the
provisions for medium and high power applications, (4)
pointed out the inherent problems of active solutions
(increasingEMI,grid instability), and ( 5 ) discussed briefly the
balance sheet of harmonics reduction.
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