Power System Monitoring Lecture No.

7
Prof. Dr Muhammad Kamran EED. Engg. Department UET, Lahore

Lecture Contents

Harmonics-Fundamentals

3-phase balanced and unbalanced load Zero sequence currents

Harmonic points in power system

Harmonics Phase Sequence

Power engineers have traditionally used symmetrical components to help describe threephase system behavior The three-phase system is transformed into three single-phase systems that are much simpler to analyze The method of symmetrical components can be employed for analysis of the systems response to harmonic currents provided care is taken not to violate the fundamental assumptions of the method

Displacement angle sequence is of 120 degree The sinusoids of the negative-sequence set are also displaced 120, but have opposite phase rotation The sinusoids of the zero sequence are in phase with each other (e.g., 0, 0, 0).

Zero sequence currents

On a three phase system, phase-to-neutral third harmonic components are zero sequence - that is, they are equal in magnitude AND PHASE ANGLE in the three phases With a wye-connected transformer, those currents would naturally want to add together and flow through the grounded neutral of the wye However, for that to happen, there must be a closed path for the corresponding third harmonic zero sequence flux in the transformer

One option is for there to be a delta winding to which the zero-sequence flux can couple (which means that there will be a circulation of zero-sequence current within that closed delta winding) If there is no delta winding, the other option is for the fluxes to link to the tank of a three-phase transformer There are two problems with this option. The first is that the equivalent zero sequence impedance of a transformer relying only on linkage to the tank is very high The passage of third-harmonic zero sequence exciting current through the high zero sequence impedance results in a zero sequence voltage drop that displaces the voltage at the transformer neutral away from ground

The second problem is that if the zero sequence third harmonic current circulates in the transformer tank, there will be resistive losses (heating) of the tank that will cause the paint on the tank to fail
If the transformer bank is constructed of three individual single-phase transformers, the problem is even worse because in this instance, whatever possibilities there might be for third harmonic flux linkages will be through air. The result is that the zero sequence impedance is nearly infinite

Harmonics of order h 1, 7, 13, are generally positive sequence Harmonics of order h 5, 11, 17, are generally negative sequence Triplens (h 3, 9, 15,) are generally zero sequence

Harmonic currents of Phases A, B, C all coincide, that is, no rotation

Harmonics such as the 7th, which rotate with the same sequence as the fundamental, are called positive sequence Harmonics such as the 5th, which rotate in the opposite sequence as the fundamental, are called negative sequence Triplen harmonics (3rd and 9th shown in this table) which don't rotate at all because they're in phase with each other, are called zero

sequence

This pattern of positive-zero-negativepositive continues indefinitely for all oddnumbered harmonics, lending itself to expression in a table given in next slide;

AC motor with respect to sequences of rotation

Sequence especially matters when we're dealing with AC motors, since the mechanical rotation of the rotor depends on the torque produced by the sequential rotation of the applied 3-phase power Positive-sequence frequencies work to push the rotor in the proper direction, whereas negativesequence frequencies actually work against the direction of the rotor's rotation.

Zero-sequence frequencies neither contribute to nor detract from the rotor's torque An excess of negative-sequence harmonics (5th, 11th, 17th, and/or 23rd) in the power supplied to a threephase AC motor will result in a degradation of performance and possible overheating Since the higher-order harmonics tend to be attenuated more by system inductances and magnetic core losses, and generally originate with less amplitude anyway, the primary harmonic of concern is the 5th, which is 300 Hz in 60 Hz power systems and 250 Hz in 50 Hz power systems

Triplens Harmonics

As previously mentioned, triplen harmonics are the odd multiples of the third harmonic (h 3, 9, 15, 21,) They deserve special consideration because the system response is often considerably different for triplens than for the rest of the harmonics

Triplens become an important issue for grounded-wye systems with current flowing on the neutral Two typical problems are overloading the neutral and telephone interference One also hears occasionally of devices that misoperate because the line-to-neutral voltage is badly distorted by the triplen harmonic voltage drop in the neutral conductor

Balanced Loads

For the system with perfectly balanced singlephase loads illustrated in Fig given in next slide, an assumption is made that fundamental and third-harmonic components are present Summing the currents at node N, the fundamental current components in the neutral are found to be zero, but the third-harmonic components are 3 times those of the phase currents because they naturally coincide in phase and time

Transformer winding connections have a significant impact on the flow of triplen harmonic currents from single-phase nonlinear loads Two cases are shown in Fig. In the wye-delta transformer (top), the triplen harmonic currents are shown entering the wye side Since they are in phase, they add in the neutral. The delta winding provides ampere-turn balance so that they can flow, but they remain trapped in the delta and do not show up in the line currents on the delta side

The delta winding provides ampere-turn balance so that they can flow, but they remain trapped in the delta and do not show up in the line currents on the delta side When the currents are balanced, the triplen harmonic currents behave exactly as zerosequence currents, which is precisely what they are This type of transformer connection is the most common employed in utility distribution substations with the delta winding connected to the transmission feed

Using grounded-wye windings on both sides of the transformer (bottom) allows balanced triplens to flow from the lowvoltage system to the high-voltage system unimpeded (unrestricted) They will be present in equal proportion on both sides

Implications with respect to power Quality

Some important implications related to power quality analysis are;

Transformers, particularly the neutral connections, are susceptible to overheating when serving single-phase loads on the wye side that have high third-harmonic content Measuring the current on the delta side of a transformer will not show the triplens and, therefore, not give a true idea of the heating the transformer is being subjected to

The flow of triplen harmonic currents can be interrupted by the appropriate isolation transformer connection

Harmonic Indices

The two most commonly used indices for measuring the harmonic content of a waveform are the total harmonic distortion and the total demand distortion Both are measures of the effective value of a waveform and may be applied to either voltage or current

Total Harmonic Distortion THD

The THD is a measure of the effective value of the harmonic components of a distorted waveform That is, it is the potential heating value of the harmonics relative to the fundamental This index can be calculated for either voltage or current

where Mh is the rms value of harmonic component h of the quantity M.

The rms value of a distorted waveform is the square root of the sum of the squares as shown in Eqs. The THD is related to the rms value of the waveform as follows;

The THD is a very useful quantity for many applications, but its limitations must be realized It can provide a good idea of how much extra heat will be realized when a distorted voltage is applied across a resistive load

The THD index is most often used to describe voltage harmonic distortion Harmonic voltages are almost always referenced to the fundamental value of the waveform at the time of the sample Because fundamental voltage varies by only a few percent, the voltage THD is nearly always a meaningful number

Harmonic from commercial loads

Electronic power converter loads with their capacity for producing harmonic currents now constitute the most important class of nonlinear loads in the power system Advances in semiconductor device technology have fueled a revolution in power electronics over the past decade, and there is every indication that this trend will continue Equipment includes adjustable-speed motor drives, electronic power supplies, dc motor drives, battery chargers, electronic ballasts, and many other rectifier and inverter applications

Further effects of harmonics

Harmonics are carried through the system from the source and can nearly double the amount of current on neutral conductor in 3-phase 4-wire system Distorted currents from hamonic producing loads also distorts voltage as they pass through system impedance Overall power system and PQ is affected by the introduction of harmonics

How to reduce harmonics

Isolate harmonic loads on separate circuits Harmonic mitigating transformers Phase shifting (Zig zag Transformers)used to cancel harmonics by making one voltage circuit 180degrees out of phase Filter capacitors

Simplified Distribution System Diagram

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Phase Conductors Heating from Skin Effect Conduits Heating from Skin Effect and eddy currents

Simplified Distribution System Diagram

Circuit breakers False tripping due to high heat and higher frequencies caused by harmonics Peak sensing CBs may trip because of higher peaks

Neutral conductors high current from zero sequence triplen rd th 3 harmonics (3 & 9 ) can add as much as 30% to neutral current even if phases are balanced. Shared neutrals or reduced size neutral can be hazardous (no CB to protect from overcurrent!)

Simplified Distribution System Diagram

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Neutral to ground voltage at receptacle (container) Excessive neutral current results in high voltage drops between neutral and ground at the outlet

Neutral bus bar overloading and heat from zero sequence harmonics (3rd and 9th)

Panelboard enclosure heating from eddy currents (induced currents caused by magnetic fluxes), as well as vibration (buzzing sound).

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Transformers heating from eddy currents reduces the life of a transformer insulation system, and lowers efficiency.

Induction Motor Leads Heating from eddy currents and negative sequence harmonics (5th, 11th, 17th,etc.) Note Negative sequence harmonics work AGAINST a motors natural rotation, making it work harder!

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Power factor (kVAR) Capacitors since they are lowest impedence, resultant high harmonic current can overheat capacitors and/or blow fuses.

Simplified Distribution System Diagram

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kW and kVAR meter may have reading errors when harmonic currents are present.

Simplified Distribution System Diagram

In addition, emergency generators can have speed control and voltage supply issues caused by harmonics, and harmonics can impact communications cabling and sensitive electronic equipment.

Next lecture

Locating harmonic sources Series and parallel resonance circuits