Power Quality

• The concept of powering,

grounding and protecting
electric equipment in a manner
that is suitable to the operation
of that equipment.

• In other words......doing what it

takes to keep the electric supply
to equipment transparent or un-
noticed.

Why is it a Concern?

• Power quality problems can

cause:
– Equipment malfunctions
– Excessive wear or premature
failure of equipment
– Increased costs from
downtime
– Increased maintenance, repair
time and expense
– Outside consultant expense

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 Why is Equipment Protection
Important Today?
• Electronic equipment
is more sensitive to
minor fluctuations.
• New electronic loads
create conditions that
didn’t exist before.
• We rely on the
equipment more and
have higher
expectations

Electronic Loads are More

Susceptible to Power Problems
• New electronic devices
are more sensitive than
the equipment being
replaced.
– Lighting systems have
electronic ballasts.
– Motors have ASD’s or
PLC’s
– Offices have copiers,
computers, faxes and laser
printers.

2
 Electronic Devices
Produce Problems
60 Cycle Sine Wave
• Utility systems were designed 200

150

assuming loads were electro- 100

mechanical...voltage and 50

Voltage
0

current would always be sine -50

waves. -100

-150

-200

• Electronic devices produce 0.0000 0.0083 0.0167

Time (Seconds)
0.0250

harmonic distortion that

degrades the sine wave
provided by the utility.
• Many electronic devices are
susceptible to power quality
problems AND a source of
power quality problems.

We’re “More Concerned”

• Power Quality has been a
problem since the
conception of electricity,
but only over the last 2
decades has it gotten
considerable attention.
– 1980's: large numbers
of computers &
microprocessors in
business and homes.
– 1990's: the network
revolution and ever
increasing equipment
capability and speed.

3
 Solution Options
• Improve the Supply
– Utility: Less than a quarter of the problems.
– Customer: Not every customer/device needs higher
levels.
• Immunize the Equipment (Protection)
– Manufacturer: Raises the cost of equipment.
– Customer: End use equipment specifications.
• Control the Disturbance (Protection)
– Utility: Some disturbances are un-avoidable and part
of necessary operations.
– Customer: How….and from what?

Electronic Equipment Protection

• Backup Power Supplies
– Auxiliary power during outages &
interruptions.
– Work for longer blinks & outages.
• Power Enhancers
– Improve the characteristics of power
coming in and produce a “clean”
supply to the equipment.
– No blink or outage protection.
• Power Synthesizers
– Combine auxiliary power and
“cleaning” capabilities.
– Most expensive and highest
maintenance.

4
 What Level is Needed?
• Identify and prioritize equipment that is most important
to the mission of the facility.
– At what level will malfunction or failure cause major
disruptions in manufacturing, sales or business processes?
• Result in lost or off specification product?
• Result in lost productivity?
• Jeopardize employee or customer safety?

What Kind of Disturbances

Cause Problems?
• Interruptions
– Outages & Blinks
• Voltage Fluctuations
– Voltage Sags & Swells
• Transients
– Really Fast Spikes,
Surges, etc.
• Waveform Distortion
– Harmonics, Noise &
Interference

5
 Interruptions (Outages & Blinks)
• Voltage falls below 10% of
normal circuit voltage for any
length of time. Temporary Interruption
(+)
– The power is OFF!!!!!
• How Long?
– Can be microseconds to hours

Voltage
seconds to minutes
or days.
– If you noticed the lights
blink…..chances are the power
supplies in most electronic
equipment thought the power (-)
was shut off. Time
– Some interruptions can be so
fast you don’t notice the lights
“blink”.

Interruptions (Outages & Blinks)

• Protection Options – Need Energy Storage!!!!!
– Power Enhancers
• Don’t Work…..no energy storage
– Power Synthesizers
• Battery Backup/Standby Supplies
• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
• Auxiliary Generator
• UPS with Auxiliary Generator
• Motor-Generator Sets

6
 What Should the Equipment
Tolerate?
• ITE (CBEMA) Curve
– Information Technology Data Processing Susceptibility
Industry Council 300
(formerly Computer & 250

Rated Voltage (%)

Business Manufacturers
200
Association)
• Provides ride-through 150

capability minimums for 100

computing and office 50

equipment. 0

• Some power supplies 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100

Disturbance Duration (cycles)
1000

tolerate levels much than

those shown.

What is a UPS?
• Not all UPS systems do the
same thing!
• Standby Power Supplies (SPS),
(Battery Backups)
– Provide normal line power to
equipment….switch to battery
supply when an outage occurs.
• Line Interactive UPS
• On-line UPS
– Line supplies a rectifier that
converts AC to DC, charges the
batteries. Batteries supply an
inverter that converts DC to AC,
filters and regulates it, and
supplies the load.

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 Un-interruptible Power Supply
(UPS)
• Provide continuous,
uninterrupted AC power from
an isolated, regulated source
regardless of the quality of the
primary AC line.
• Can be used for interruptions,
sags, swells, and voltage
fluctuations.
• Some success has also been
achieved with impulsive and
oscillatory transients, long
duration over- and under-
voltages and noise.

SPS vs True UPS Devices

• It generally takes a few
milliseconds for an SPS to
switch to the battery backup
source.
• Effective when the equipment
being protected can withstand
the transfer time.
• SPS’s are less expensive than
UPS’s and for most small
systems can be used in place
of a UPS and still gain “most”
of the protection from
interruptions/outages.

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 SPS Advantage/Disadvantage
• Advantages
– Lower cost than a true UPS device.
– Higher efficiency (less losses) than a true UPS device.
– Low operating hours on power components.
– Smaller physical size.
• Disadvantages
– No power conditioning during normal operating mode.
– Produces short interruption of power to load when
switched.
– Battery/Inverter problems not detected until critical
point in time.

On-Line UPS
Advantage/Disadvantage
• Advantages
– Continuous regulated power to load
– Higher system reliability
– Excellent output performance for sensitive loads
• Disadvantages
– Higher cost
– Lower efficiency
– Larger physical size

9
 UPS & Auxiliary Generator
• Allows computers & other
mission critical equipment to
operate during lengthy
outages.
– Generator starts automatically
upon loss of utility power and
the source to the UPS will
automatically transfer to the
generator.
– Generators are available that
utilize different fuels including
gasoline, natural gas, propane or
diesel.

Motor-Generator (MG) Sets

• An electric motor driving a
generator.
• Converts electrical energy into
mechanical energy and back
again to isolate “short”
disturbances from the
equipment it supplies.
– Ride Through
• The mechanical shaft isolates
the electrical load from
incoming disturbances such as
voltage transients, swells and
sags.

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 MG Sets Advantages/Disadvantages
• Advantages
– Ride through many shorter interruptions.
• Inertia keeps the rotor rotating for 10-15 seconds after the power shuts off
which is long enough to ride through a high percentage of problems.
– Long Life
– Simple, rugged device
– Low harmonic distortion content at all load levels.
• Disadvantages
– Will not ride through extended outages.
– Degrade and fail gradually over time rather than all at once.
– Expensive for smaller systems

Voltage Fluctuations
(Sags & Swells)
Voltage Sag
• Sag (+)

– Voltage falls below 90% of Less than 1 minute

normal but stays above 10% of

Voltage

normal for any amount of time.

• Swell
– Voltage rises above 110% of (-)
Time
normal but below 180% of
Voltage Swell
normal for any amount of time. (+) Less than 1 minute

• If it’s long enough, you notice

lights dimming or getting
Voltage

brighter.
• Sags are much more common
than swells (-)
Time

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 Sags & Swells - Protection Options

• Power Enhancers
– Reduced Voltage Starters on large offending motors
– Voltage Regulators
– Constant Voltage Transformers (CVTs)
– Power Conditioners
• Power Synthesizers
– Battery Backup Systems (Sometimes)
• May not switch fast enough for short duration events.
– UPS
– Motor-Generator Set

Voltage Regulators
• Maintain voltage output within a
desired limit or tolerance regardless
how much input voltage varies.
– Can offer some surge protection, but do
not provide good isolation like computer
grade transformers.
– Protection against swells or noise and
limited protection from fast voltage
changes depending upon the response
time of the regulator.
– Voltage regulators respond best to slow
changes in voltage.

12
 Constant Voltage Transformers
(CVT’s)
• Also known as ferroresonant
transformers.
– Used for sags, swells, longer term
over- and under-voltages.
• Especially attractive for
constant, low-power loads like
electronic controllers (PLC’s)
where they provide ride-through
capability.
• Variable loads, especially those
with high inrush currents,
(Drives) present more of a
problem for CVT’s.

CVT Ride Through

• It is not uncommon for
electronic controls to 100
trip from voltage sags
80
caused by motor starts. Ride Through Without CVT's
Voltage (%)

– A common solution is 60
to protect the controls
40
with a CVT.
– With the CVT, the 20
Ride Through With CVT's

controller can ride

through most voltage 0
0.1 1 10 100 1000
sags…but not an Sag Duration (cycles)
interruption.

13
 Overvoltages & Transients
• Lightning is the nemesis of
communication stations, tall
structures and other buildings
housing sensitive electronic
equipment.
• Lightning Damage Problems:
– Direct strike problems
– Swells and transients which can
arrive via power,
communications or signal lines,
even though the lightning strike
may be some distance from the
building or installation.

Transients - Causes
Impulsive Transient
• Distribution System (+)

– Lightning
– Switching Operations
Voltage

• Breakers
• Capacitors & Transformers
– Fault Clearing/Breaker (-)
Operations Time (seconds)

• Customer System (+)

Oscillatory Tranients

– Lightning
– Arcing Devices
Voltage

– Starting & Stopping

Motors
– Breaker Operations
– Capacitor Switching (-)
Time

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 Lightning Protection

• Degree of lightning
protection needed in a
facility:
– Strategic importance of
the equipment housed in
the facility
– Level of strike exposure.
• Effective protection
involves the integration
of several concepts.

Lightning Protection System

• Capture the strike on purpose
designed air terminals at designated
points.
• Conduct the strike to ground safely
via purpose-designed down-
conductors.
• Dissipate energy to the earth with
minimal rise in potential through a
low impedance ground system.
• Eliminate earth loops/differentials by
creating an equipotential plane
system.
• Protect equipment from swells and
transients on
– incoming power lines.
– telecommunications and signal lines.

15
 Transients – Protection Options

• Power Enhancers
– Surge Suppressors
– Lightning Protection/Arrestors
– Power Conditioning
– Line Reactors/Chokes
• Power Synthesizers
– Standby Power Systems
• Provide no protection
– UPS
• Limited to low energy transients
– Motor Generator Set

Transient Voltage
Surge Suppressors (TVSS)
• Simplest, least expensive way to
condition power by clamping
voltage when it exceeds a
certain level and sending it
away from the equipment it
protects.
– Excess voltage is sent to MOVs
which convert it to heat which
dissipates over time.
• Most effective with impulsive
transients and short term swells
and have limited success with
oscillatory transients.

16
 Levels of Protection
• High Energy Devices = Service
– High energy suppressors are installed at
service entrances and considered the
minimum necessary protection level even
if other power conditioners are
employed.
– Generally clip high voltages to less than
600 volts.
• TVSS Devices = Equipment
– Transient voltage surge suppressors
(TVSS) can be installed at the terminals
of the sensitive electronic loads.
– Generally do not do well with high
voltage transients like lightning.

Power Line Filters

• Suppress transients, swells, and
noise before they get to the
clipping level of common surge
protectors.
– Power line filters limit noise and
transients to a safe level by
slowing down the rate of change
of these problems and keeping
electronic systems safer than
surge protectors can.
– EMI/RFI Filters, Line Reactors &
Chokes
• More expansive than surge
suppressors.

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 Waveform Distortion
Resultant Waveform
250

• Harmonic distortion and/or 200

150

noise created by the 100

Voltage
50

operation of electronic 0
-50

devices.
-100
-150
-200

• Effects: -250

Time
– motors, transformers & Line Notching
wiring overheat (+)

– Data errors
– Control system errors

Voltage
– Burned circuit boards
• Harmonic Distortion has
become a significant issue. (-)
Time

Waveform Distortion - Causes

• Distribution System
– Customer produced
harmonics feeding back into
the distribution system and
moving down the line.
– EMF and Noise from faulty
electrical equipment that is
about to fail.
• Customer System
– Electronic Office Equipment
– Adjustable Speed Drives
(ASD’s)
– Electronic Control
Equipment
– Lightning

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 Distortion - Protection Options
• Power Enhancers
– Line Reactors/Chokes
– Harmonic Filters
– Isolation Transformers
– Power Conditioners
– Constant Voltage Transformers
• Power Synthesizers
– Backup Power Supply….No protection
– Some UPS systems…if large enough, the
harmonics cause problems for the UPS.
– Motor-Generator Set…motor becomes victim

Line/Load Reactors & Chokes

• A type of “Filter”.
• These devices are used
as protection from
oscillatory transients
and waveform
distortion.
• They are increasingly
being incorporated
into many newer and
existing ASD
installations.

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 Isolation Transformers
• Protect sensitive electronic
equipment by buffering electrical
noise and rejecting common mode
line-to-ground noise including
harmonic distortion.
• Effective at protecting from
oscillatory transients, harmonics,
noise and in some cases impulsive
transients.
• Provide a "separately derived"
power source and permit single
point grounding.

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