Power Quality Issues

Basic Requirements for Critical Loads

Is

Vs Load

Continuous, No Break in Power

Voltage Regulation
Sine wave Supply
Isolation
Constant Frequency
 Understanding
Reactive Power and Power Factor

Is Is

Vs R Vs XL

Reactive Power(Q)
Is

in VAR
XL
Vs
R
Imp. Phase
Angle

True Power(P)
in Watts
 Displacement and True Power Factor

Displacement Power Factor:

Ratio of the active power of the fundamental, in
watts, to the apparent Power of the fundamental
wave, in volt-amperes

True Power Factor:

Ratio of the total power, in watts, to the total volt-
amperes. This includes fundamental and all harmonic
components
 Understanding Crest Factor

Is
Non
Vs Linear
Load

Current drawn by single Phase diode rectifier

Peak Amplitude
Crest Factor = --------------------------
RMS Value
 Understanding Harmonics

Is
Non
Vs Linear
Load

Deviation from a perfect sine wave can be represented by Harmonics.

Sinusoidal Component having a frequency that is an integral

multiple of the Fundamental frequency.
 Total Harmonic Distortion

Defines the total harmonic content of current or voltage

Ratio of the RMS of the harmonic content to the RMS of the

Fundamental, as % of Fundamental

sum of squares of amplitudes of all harmonics x 100

THD =
square of amplitude of fundamental

Mathematically,THD of a voltage wave form can be defined as,

2
h Vh
THD = x 100
h2 V 2
1
 Power Quality

Supply Voltage at load must

have fundamental component only
be balanced
have declared magnitude under all conditions
The Voltage at any point in the distribution system is uniquely
described by

V(t)ft
2
VSin
(
2 )
Where
v,f are constants (declared Value) for all t
 PQ affected by Polluting Load

PCC
A

Pure Sinusoidal Polluting

Load

B
Line Impedance ZL

Distorted
voltage
 Common PQ Disturbances

Reactive Power Demand

Harmonic Distortion
Voltage sags and swells
Undervoltages and overvoltages
Voltage Unbalance
Voltage Flicker
Voltage Notching
Voltage Interruption
Transient Disturbances
Frequency variations
 Harmonics-Polluting Loads

Rectifiers

Arc furnaces

Adjustable Speed drives

Power Electronic converters

 Harmonics-FFT Analysis
Current drawn by PC 6 Pulse Converter/Battery Charger

Harmonic Spectrum of PC Harmonic Spectrum of 6 Pulse

Current Waveform Converter/Battery Charger
 Implication of
Reactive and Harmonics currents
Oversize of all installation equipments to transmit Reactive and
Harmonic currents namely
Transformer
Cables
Circuit breakers & distribution switch boards
Neutral overloads
Increase in Transmission & Distribution loss
Reduction in voltage stability margin
Overheating and loss of life & equipments

Major Increase in cost

 Voltage sags and swells

Reduction in the ac voltage, at the power frequency, for durations

from a half-cycle to a few seconds.

Voltage Sag is Characterized by two parameters Magnitude and

Duration

Power Electronics Loads are Sensitive to Voltage Sags

 Causes of Voltage sags and swells
Voltage sag due to Motor Starting
220
Causes for Sag
215

Motor Starting

RMS voltage in V
210

Transformer Energization 205

200
Transmission Faults 195

190 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Time in Cycles
Voltage sag due to Transformer
Energization
Causes for Swell 11
10.9

RMS voltage in kV
Single line to ground fault
10.8
10.7
10.6
Removing a large load / 10.5
10.4
adding a large capacitor bank 10.3
10.2
10.1
10 0 5 10 15 20 25
Time in Cycles
 Voltage Unbalance
Definition
In a balanced sinusoidal supply system the three line-neutral voltages
are equal in magnitude and are phase displaced from each other by 120
degrees V V
a Balanced System a Unbalanced System

1200 1200 1200 1190

1200 1210 Vb
Vc Vb Vc

Causes for Unbalance

Unequal system impedances
Unequal distribution of
single-phase loads
Phase to Phase loads
Unbalanced Three phase loads
Effect of Voltage Unbalance
Induction Motor drive
Overheating and loss of Insulation life
Reduced Motor Efficiency
Noisy in their operation due Torque and speed pulsation
Motor derating factor

NEMA Induction motor derating curve

 Effect of Voltage Unbalance
AC Variable Speed drive
3 Diode Rectifier

Line Current of 3 diode Line Current of 3 diode Line Current of 3 diode Rectifier
Rectifier for Balanced Input Rectifier for 5%unbalanced Input for 15%unbalanced Input

Draws uncharacteristic triplen harmonics

Triplen harmonic current can lead to undesirable
harmonic problems
Excessive thermal stress on diodes
 Voltage Flicker
Definition
Repetitive or random variations of the voltage envelope modulated at
frequencies less than 25 Hz, which the human eye can detect as a
variation in the lamp intensity of a standard bulb due to sudden changes
in the real and reactive Power drawn by a load

Voltage waveform showing flicker created by an arc furnace

 Voltage Flicker

Causes
Induction Motor drive
Arc furnaces
Arc welders
Frequent motor starts

Effect
lamp flicker
Human eye is most sensitive to voltage waveform
modulation around a frequency of 6-8Hz.
 Voltage Notching

Causes
Adjustable Speed Drives

Solid State rectifiers

 Voltage Interruption

Complete loss of electrical supply

Cause
Transmission Fault clearing time
Opening / Recloser of circuit breaker
 Transient Disturbances
Transient disturbances are caused by the injection of
energy by switching or by lightning
Causes
Lightning
Capacitor Switching
Load switching

Oscillatory transient waveform caused by capacitor energizing

 Need for Power Quality
Business Problems:
Momentary disturbance can cause scrambled data, interrupted
communications, system crashes and equipment failure
Lost productivity and idle people and equipment
Overtime required to make up for lost work time
Revenue and accounting problems such as invoices not
prepared, payments held up etc

According to Electric Light and Power Magazine, 30 to 40 percent

of all business downtime is related to Power Quality Problems
 IEEE 519 Harmonic Standard
IEEE 519 Recommended Practices and Requirements for
Harmonic Control in Electric Power Systems

Specifies load current harmonic limits at PCC

Specifies supply voltage harmonic limits at PCC

HARMONIC CURRENT DISTORTION LIMITS IN % OF IL

V 69 kV

I SC/ I L h <11 11 h 17 17h 23 23 h 35 35h TDD

20 4.0 2.0 1.5 0.6 0.3 5.0
20-50 7.0 3.5 2.5 1.0 0.5 8.0
50-100 10.0 4.5 4.0 1.5 0.7 12.0
100-1000 12.0 5.5 5.0 2.0 1.0 15.0
1000 15.0 7.0 6.0 2.5 1.4 20.0
 PQ Mitigation

Reactive and Harmonic Demand

Active Filter
Passive Filter

Voltage sag and Swell

Dynamic Voltage Restorer

Tap changing transformer
 PQ Mitigation
Voltage Unbalance
Static Power balancer
Redistribution of single-phase loads equally
to all phases (Utility level).
Load Balancing (Plant level)

Voltage Flicker
Distribution static VAR compensator
 PQ Mitigation

Transient Disturbances
Surge Arrester
Isolation transformer
Active/Passive Filter