POWER QUALITY

Document By
SANTOSH BHARADWAJ REDDY
Email: help@matlabcodes.com
Engineeringpapers.blogspot.com
More Papers and Presentations available on above site

ABSTRACT
The present paper gives a brief introduction to power quality and ways for
Energy Conservation. Electric power quality may be defined as a measure of
how well elect things to different people. There is no agreed definition for
power quality, it may be defined as the problems manifested in voltage,
frequency and the effect of harmonics, poor power factor that results in mis
operation/failure of customer equipment. The widespread use of high-power
semiconductor switches at the utilization, distribution and transmission levels
have made non-sinusoidal load currents more common. Certain type of power
quality degradation result in losses and thus losses in transmission and
distribution system have come under greater scrutiny in recent years.
This paper outlines the issues relating Reactive Power management to Power Quality
and hence Capacitor Demand Meter has been discussed as a Power quality enhancer.
The role of capacitor in power Quality Issues proves to be beneficial particularly
when energy conservation is outlined.This paper also gives a view on various factors
that affect power quality
Introduction
Electric power quality may be defined as a measure of how well electric power
service can be utilized by customers. When wave shapes are irregular, voltage is
poorly regulated, harmonics and flicker are present, or there are momentary events
that distort the usually sinusoidal wave, and the power utilization is degraded. This is
referred as degradation of power quality. The widespread use of high-power
semiconductor switches at the utilization, distribution and transmission levels have
made non-sinusoidal load currents more common. Certain type of power quality
degradation results in losses and thus losses in transmission and distribution system
have come under greater scrutiny in recent years. This paper outlines the issues rela-
ting to Power Quality and their impact on Energy Conservation.
Power Quality
The term Power Quality means different things to different people. Power quality is
the quality of the electric power supplied to electrical equipment. Poor power quality
can result in maloperation of the equipment the electric utility may define power
quality as reliability and state that the system is 99.95% reliable.

Ideally the power would be supplied as a sine wave with the amplitude and frequency
given by national standards (in the case of mains) or system specifications (in the case
of a power feed not directly attached to the mains) with an impedance of zero ohms at
all frequencies.

No real life power feed will ever meet this ideal. It can deviate from it in the
following ways (among others):

• Variations in the peak or rms voltage (both these figures are important to
different types of equipment) When the rms voltage exceeds the nominal
voltage by a certain margin, a surge is produced. A dip is the opposite
situation: the rms voltage is below the nominal voltage by a certain margin.
• A sag occurs when the low voltage persists over a longer time period
• Variations in the frequency.
• Variations in the wave shape - usually described as harmonics
• Quick and repetitive variations in the rms voltage. This produces flicker in
lighting equipment.
• Nonzero low frequency impedance (if the appliance draws more power the
voltage drops)
• Nonzero high frequency impedance (if the appliance demands a large amount
of current or stops demanding it suddenly there will be a dip or spike in the
voltage due to the inductances in the power supply line)
• rapid spikes and dips and longer term variations in voltage (usually caused by
the interaction of other equipment with line impedance)

POWER QUALITY IN POWER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS:

Most of the more important international standards define power

quality as the physical characteristics of the electrical supply provided under normal
operating conditions that do not disrupt or disturb the customer’s processes. Therefore,
a power quality problem exists if any voltage, current or frequency deviation results in a
failure or in a bad operation of customer’s equipment. However, it is important to
notice that the quality of power supply implies basically voltage quality and supply
reliability. A voltage quality problem relates to any failure of equipment due to
deviations of the line voltage from its nominal characteristics, and the supply reliability
is characterized by its adequacy (ability to supply the load), security (ability to
withstand sudden disturbances such as system faults) and availability (focusing
especially on long interruptions).
Power quality problems are common in most of commercial,
industrial and utility networks. Natural phenomena, such as lightning are the most
frequent cause of power quality problems. Switching phenomena resulting in oscillatory
transients in the electrical supply, for example when capacitors are switched, also
contribute substantially to power quality disturbances. Also, the connection of high
power non-linear loads contributes to the generation of current and voltage harmonic
components. Between the different voltage disturbances that can be produced, the most
significant and critical power quality problems are voltage sags due to the high
economical losses that can be generated. Short-term voltage drops (sags) can trip
electrical drives or more sensitive equipment, leading to costly interruptions of
production. For all these reasons, from the consumer point of view, power quality
issues will become an increasingly important factor to consider in order to satisfy good
productivity. On the other hand, for the electrical supply industry, the quality of power
delivered will be one of the distinguishing factors for ensuring customer loyalty in this
very competitive and deregulated market. To address the needs of energy consumers
trying to improve productivity through the reduction of power quality related process
stoppages and energy suppliers trying to maximize operating profits while keeping
customers satisfied with supply quality, innovative technology provides the key to cost-
effective power quality enhancements solutions. However, with the various power
quality solutions available, the obvious question for a consumer or utility facing a
particular power quality problem is which equipment provides the better solution.

Power quality varies significantly from one area to another. Some countries have
very stable power grids while others are extremely short on capacity.
Power disturbances are caused by the generation, distribution and use of power, and
lightning.
A power disturbance can be defined as unwanted excess energy that is presented to
the load.
Causes of Power Disturbances
• Power disturbance originate both outside and inside customer facilities.
• Load switching causes surges because of collapsing fields (-e = l * di/dt)
• Over loaded power distribution systems can cause significant voltage
variations between peak and off-peak hours.
• Significant momentary load changes, such as heavy inrush currents can cause
severe voltage variations
• Black-outs can cause severe voltage surges both on loss and return of power.
• Circuit-breaker tripping and fuse blowing can cause severe surge voltages
• Large ups and variable-speed drives can cause various surge voltages inside
buildings
Results of Power Disturbances
 Sags and under voltages can cause component overheating or
destruction
 Surges and over voltages can cause component overheating,
destruction or can trigger other electronic components such as SCR's.
 Component overheating reduces the life and deteriorates the real
reliability as opposed to the estimated reliability based on steady-state
conditions of the product.
 False triggering of other components can create nuisance alarm
tripping or, worse, can cause overheating or destruction of other
electronic components.
The manufacturer of the equipment defines power quality as characteristics of power
supply that is required to make his equipment work properly but the customer is the
one ultimately affected. While there is no agreed definition for power quality, it may
be defined as the problems manifested in voltage, frequency and the effect of
harmonics, poor power factor that results in mis operation/failure of customer
equipment. According to this approach Power Quality may be co-related with four
topics.
 Voltage
 Frequency
 Harmonic distortion
 Power Factor
Voltage
 In the context this issue must be viewed from two different directions. The
first direction is variation in supply voltage due to the factors arising from
transmission and distribution of power. The second direction is variation in voltage
within a network due to the characteristics of the loads connected therein. It is well
known fact in many other developing Countries that the quality of voltage supplied by
the utilities varies widely depending on the type of distribution network and the
geographical locations of such networks. The problem of voltage variation in this
regard becomes more acute in rural distribution network.
To complicate this problem further the voltage variation is also a function of the
season of the year, for ex: rural feeders experience the lowest voltages when the drawl
of power is the highest, which is invariably in a particular time the year depending on
the agricultural output/crop of that area.
Similarly on particular feeders, which supply highly fluctuating loads of an
industrial nature, it is common to find voltage variations beyond permissible limits.
The impact of such voltage variations is to cause higher energy consumption due to a
combination of factors. Some of the important factors are
 For a given MW of power rating, the current drawn goes up inversely in
proportion to the voltage. Consequently, a drop in voltage would result in
increased current flowing on the network. This increased current then
causes increase in I2R losses of the network. For ex: a 20% drop in voltage
would increase the losses in the network by 56%. Further, this increased
current will contribute to increasing the voltage drop and thereby
intensifying the problem.
 Drop in efficiency of induction motors: It is well known that a substantial
part of electrical energy consumption occurs in induction motors. The cha-
racteristics of these motors are such that a drop in voltage will mean a
higher energy consumption to do the same job. Hence, extra energy is
consumed when there is a voltage drop on the network.
 A variety of studies has shown that the variations in voltage are a frequent
occurrence in power distribution networks. The voltage drop seen in such
studies could be as much as 40%of the rated value, thereby increasing
corresponding I2R losses by 277 %. This results in increased energy
wastage and higher power demand from the system, i.e., the power
generation equipment has to supply higher MW for the same load.
Voltage imbalance have the following adverse effects:
 Overheating of motors lead to insulation breakdown.
 Imbalanced currents.
 Negative voltage sequence
 Motor bearings failure.
 Speed variation in motors.
 Reduced production quality.
 Reduced motor efficiency.
 Wasted energy which leads to higher electric bills-KWD, KWH.
 Wasted investment and operation capital.
 Use of oversized machinery.
 More difficult to provide adequate overload protection.
 Increased noise and vibration.
 Increased maintenance of equipment and machinery
 Three phase motors are even less tolerant of phase-to-phase voltage
unbalance. A 5% unbalance will cause a 50% temperature rise in three phase
motors and is defined by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association
(NEMA) as the absolute maximum unbalance under which motors should be
allowed to operate for short period of time as delineated in the NEMA
specification MG1-14.34 subsequently, 5% voltage unbalance will result in 35%
losses, where 4% voltage unbalance results in 25% losses, and 3% results in 15%
losses, and wasted energy.
The variation of temperature rise with voltage unbalance is shown below

Brownouts

Brownout by definition is low voltage for an extended period of time (greater

than half a cycle) in which the magnitude of the voltage is reduced.
Brownouts cause the following adverse effects:

 Temporary low line voltage.

 Shutdowns.
 Loss of microprocessor memory.
 Loss of control.
 Overheating of motors - insulation breakdown.
 Protective device tripping.
 Speed variation
 Reduced motor torque, which can lead to stalling

Frequency
While this is also an important factor, it is more stable than the voltage due to the
fundamental nature of electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Frequency
variations can occur, due to the load levels on the electricity supply system, for ex: a
highly overloaded power system will experience a drop in frequency. Further, mismatch
of frequency in different sections of a grid can cause power quality and power supply
problems particularly, when it is important to have an integrated and interconnected grid.
The issues relating to these topics are more relevant in the area of power system stability
and load dispatch and are hence, not touched upon in this paper. Impact of this topic on
Energy Conservation is less important in comparison with the other three topics stated
above.

Harmonic Distortion
The problem of Harmonic distortion primarily occurs in modern electrical
networks due to feedback of Harmonic currents from nonlinear loads. Harmonic Voltage
distortion is created due to interaction of such Harmonic currents with source impedances.
Consequently, this can be treated as a form of electrical pollution on the network.
This has resulted in a situation where it is not uncommon for a new consumer on the
electricity grid to find that the incoming supply voltage consists of a basket of frequencies
including the fundamental frequency. This is due to the pollution of the grid by other
consumers. The presence of Harmonic distortion has a significant impact in increasing
energy consumption. Some of the important reasons for this are listed below:
 All electromagnetic equipment such as transformers, motors etc, have two key
constituents of losses namely, iron loss and copper loss. The iron loss is also a function of the
power of the frequency. Consequently, presence of higher frequency components such as 5th
harmonic, 7th Harmonic etc, will result in an increase in iron losses. Hence energy
consumption will go up and this is a particular importance in the distribution transformers
whose All Day Efficiency could be significantly reduced because of this aspect. It is also
harmful for the transformers and motors since it causes faster ageing of the insulation due to
higher temperature rise in the electromagnetic core.
 The phenomena of skin effect are well known. The flow of Harmonic
currents therefore, increases the I2R losses depending on the occurrence of the skin effect.
This phenomenon is well understood and causes over heating of equipment and current
carrying parts thereby, increasing the amount of energy consumption for the same network
load.
Harmonics cause the following adverse effects:

 Overheating of transformers (K- Factor), and rotating equipment.

 Increase Hysterisys losses
 Neutral overloading / unacceptable neutral-to-ground voltages.
 Distorted voltage and current waveforms.
 Failed capacitors banks.
 Breakers and fuses tripping.
 Unreliable operation of electronic equipment, and generators.
 Erroneous register of electric meters.
 Wasted energy / higher electric bills -KWD & KWH.
 Wasted capacity - Inefficient distribution of power.
 Increased maintenance of equipment and machinery

Power Factor
Power factor is the phase shift between voltage & current. While the theoretical
definition of Power factor is the ratio of active power to apparent power, it is well
known that in electricity distribution systems this is measured as a ratio of active
energy to apparent energy over a specified time period.
The ideal power factor is unity. However, this cannot be achieved in
reality due to the nature of the loads used. For ex: inductive loads, nonlinear loads etc,
A lower power factor means more current drawn for the same load. This causes
increase in the apparent power demand i.e., kVA demand as well as increases
I2Rlosses.
 Consequently, more system capacity is needed to supply the same load. In
other words a lower power factor results in higher energy consumption. Further,
lowering of power factor also causes a drop in voltage which then brings us back to
the ill effects of voltage variation as described earlier.
A lagging power factor is generally caused as a result of inductive loads, and
particularly, motors that are not fully loaded.

Low Power Factor causes the following adverse effects

 Increased line losses I2R

 Wasted generation capacity (KVA)
 Wasted distribution /transformer/ capacity (KVA)
 Wasted system capacity (KVA)
 Reduced system efficiency (KW)
 Increased maximum demand (KVA), and related charges.
 Possible power factor charges

In line with the above problems, we can expect energy wasted and reduced power
quality through:

•Increased maintenance of equipment and machinery.

•Wasted energy / higher electric bills – KWD and KWH.
•Wasted investment and operation capital.

The oldest solution for a low power factor in industry, in terms of counter
balancing the lagging power factor, are capacitors. But, there are problems
associated with capacitors which industry is staying away from because of the
potential side-effects to today’s sensitive equipment (ex.electronics, computers,
etc.).

Improving power factor is a great idea because it increases the efficiency of the
distribution, reduces losses, and power factor charges are eliminated (if charged)
In addition to these problems intermittent supply failure and phase loss
also adversely affects the power quality.

Intermittent Supply Failure:

Generally, intermittent supply failures are caused by the utility company switching
loads, lines, and source supplies.
The fastest this switching can occur is three to five cycles.
During this period, there is a complete drop-out.
This may or may not be a concern for all industries but intermittent supply failure
takes its toll on the operation and efficiency of equipment and machinery.
Supply failure causes the following adverse effects:

 Voltage control relay tripping.

 Phase imbalance relay tripping.
  Plant and equipment shutdown - downtime!
 Loss off critical microprocessor memory.
 Possible jogging, pinching and stalling of motors.
 Loss of control and resetting of equipment.
 Loss production
Phase Loss
In case of phase loss, a lost phase from the remaining two phases causes
interruption of power supply to industries and thus causing loss of valuable
production time.
Phase loss causes the following adverse effects:

 Imbalanced operation of three phase motors, resulting in insulation breakdown

and destruction.
 Increased downtime
 Loss of production.
 Major maintenance and replacement capital requirement

SOLUTIONS TO POWER QUALITY PROBLEMS:

There are two approaches to the mitigation of power quality problems.
The first approach is called load conditioning, which ensures that the equipment is less
sensitive to power disturbances, allowing the operation even under significant voltage
distortion. The other solution is to install line conditioning systems that suppress or
counteracts the power system disturbances. A flexible and versatile solution to voltage
quality problems is offered by active power filters. Currently they are based on PWM
converters and connect to low and medium voltage distribution system in shunt or in series.
Series active power filters must operate in conjunction with shunt passive filters in order to
compensate load current harmonics. Series active power filters operates as a controllable
voltage source. In addition to it we can also use capacitor demand meter for better power
quality.
SERIES ACTIVE POWER FILTERS:
It is well known that series active power filters compensate current
system distortion caused by non-linear loads by imposing a high impedance path to the
current harmonics which forces the high frequency currents to flow through the LC passive
filter connected in parallel to the load. The high impedance imposed by the series active
power filter is created by generating a voltage of the same frequency that the current
harmonic component that needs to be eliminated. Voltage unbalance is corrected by
compensating the fundamental frequency negative and zero sequence voltage components
of the system.
 Proposed series active filter topology

CONTROL SCHEME:

The block diagram of the proposed control scheme is shown in the fig below. Current and
voltage reference waveforms are obtained by using the Instantaneous Reactive Power
Theory. Voltage unbalance is compensated by calculating the negative and zero sequence
fundamental components of the system voltages. These voltage components are added to
the source voltages through the series transformers compensating the voltage unbalance at
the load terminals. In order to reduce the amplitude of the current flowing through the
neutral conductor, the zero sequence components of the line currents are calculated. In this
way, it is not necessary to sense the current flowing through the neutral conductor.

GATI
NG SIGNAL GENERATOR:
This circuit provides the gating signals of the three-phase PWM voltage-
source inverter required to compensate voltage unbalance and current harmonic components.
The current and voltage reference signals are added and then the amplitude of the resultant
reference waveform is adjusted in order to increase the voltage utilization factor of the PWM
inverter for steady state operating conditions. The gating signals of the inverter are generated
by comparing the resultant reference signal with a fixed frequency triangular waveform (5
kHz).

The triangular force the inverting switching frequency to be constant. The higher voltage
utilization of the inverter is obtained if the amplitude of the resultant reference signal is
adjusted for the steady state operating condition of the series active power filter. In this case,
the reference current and reference voltage waveforms are smaller. If the amplitude is
adjusted for transient operating conditions, the required reference signals will have a larger
value, which will create a higher dc voltage in the inverter thus defining a lower voltage
utilization factor for steady state operating conditions.
Capacitor Demand Meter
A brief discussion regarding the Capacitor Demand Meter is presented in this part of paper.
Reactive Power Management is one of the aspects of Power Quality issues as this directly
relates to the customer receiving end voltage .When a capacitor is added to the electrical
network , the magnitude of the resultant network current shall change and this current needs to
be minimum at the load end terminals.
The basic objective of the development of the Capacitor Demand Meter is to develop
an instrument, which when connected at the load end terminals shall directly indicate the
KVAR rating of capacitors to be connected at that point, to keep the supply current drawn at
minimum value. Capacitors, current transformers and micro controller are the basic elements
of Capacitor Demand Meter.
The Role of Power Capacitors in Saving Energy :
 As outlined above the problems of voltage drops are primarily due to excessive flow of
Reactive Power in the network. The use of Capacitor banks to carry out shunt compensation as
well as Series compensation would go a long way in improving the voltage profile and making
it more consistent. Similarly, if all consumers of electricity can improve their power factor
closer to unity, the release of system capacity and reduction in losses would be very
significant. Power Capacitors are the most well proven and cost effective devices to achieve
this objective. As regards Harmonic distortion it is possible to reduce the same by the use of
passive and active harmonic filters. Power capacitors of various types form an essential
constituent of such harmonic filtering devices.Thus a capacitor plays a vital role in the
Reactive Power Management and thus in the Power Quality problems.
Conclusion
The Power Quality issues such as voltage variations, Harmonic distortions and power
factor combine together to reduce the overall operating efficiency of electrical networks and
also result in increased power supply demand and unnecessary wastage of energy.
Power quality can be improved by providing capacitor demand meter, capacitor banks
At the load side. In this paper the use and advantages of applying series active power
filters to compensation power distribution systems has been presented. The principles of
operation of series active power filter have been presented

References:
 www.nadacys.com
 www.reliability web.com
 www.drantz_bmi.com.
 www.puc_state.nh.us.
 www.aafp.org.
 www.google.com
 www.altavista.com.

Document By
SANTOSH BHARADWAJ REDDY
Email: help@matlabcodes.com
Engineeringpapers.blogspot.com
More Papers and Presentations available on above site