Detection

and filtering
of harmonics

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Press release

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E56404

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 Detection and filtering
of harmonics

Presence of For example, we can quote the case of the

Immeuble

harmonics is computation centre of an insurance company, in

synonymous with which nuisance tripping of a circuit-breaker resulted
distorted voltage in a loss of 100,000 euros per hour of power cut.
Another illustration is of a garden furniture
wave or current wave.
manufacturing factory in which variable speed drive
This distortion failure resulted in downtime estimated at 10,000
results in serious euros per hour.
disturbances in
electrical power
supply. Restoration of
Energy Quality is the
3 actions to be
main concern of the undertaken: quantify,
operator. The solution
chosen must involve analyse and attenuate
measurement and harmonics
diagnosis of the level
of pollution, followed by elimination of pollution Quantify harmonics
by means of suitable equipment. Suitable indicators can be used to evaluate the
harmonic distortion of current waves, namely:
n total harmonic distortion,

The economic impact – n frequency spectrum,

n power factor,
overcosts generated by n crest factor.
These indicators, measured by means of numerical
harmonic pollution – is analysers, allow a rapid diagnosis of the state of
pollution of the network and determination of any
considerable corrective actions required.

Harmonic currents are generated by non-linear loads

E55523

(%)
connected to the network. 100
These non-linear loads are on the increase due to the
growing use of equipment such as:
n office automation devices, household appliances
(TV, microwave oven, etc.) or UPS systems in
tertiary applications,
n rectifiers or variable speed drives, welding
machines, arc or induction furnaces, in industrial
applications.
Unless the entire electrical installation is oversized,
harmonics result in early ageing of the equipment 50 150 250 350 450 f(Hz)
and in additional losses. They make it necessary to
Spectrum of a 50 Hz fundamental component signal
increase the subscribed power and cause nuisance including harmonics of the 3rd order (150 Hz),
tripping. 5th order (200 Hz), 7th order (350 Hz) and 9th order
(450 Hz).

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Analyse harmonic pollution Attenuate harmonics
Analysis of an electrical distribution network requires The possible solutions to attenuate the effects of
the taking of measurements on the site for a harmonics are of three different kinds:
sufficiently long period of observation: n adaptation of the installation, by observing the
n for preventive reasons in order to globally following rules:
estimate network state (by mapping the network), o positioning of polluting loads upstream of the
n for corrective reasons, either to diagnose a problem network:
caused by a disturbance or to check conformity of a
Z2
solution.

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Sensitive
This results in using equipment incorporating loads
harmonic measurement.
In the event of an installation that has never been Z1

monitored, considerable means must be implemented

to conduct this analysis: intervention by specialists
over a number of days, connection and disconnection Polluting With the impedance values
load
of measurement instruments, etc. Z1 < Z 2
To avoid such a deployment – always very expensive
– it is advisable to implement preventive means to
monitor harmonic level: o grouping polluting loads (to tend, by proliferation,
n first, by using the circuit-breakers placed on the to compensate among them undesirable effects):
incomers and outgoers, designed to incorporate Line impedance

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harmonic measurement or detection modules, Sensitive
loads
n then by equipping the sensitive areas with specific
measurement devices. Yes No
Polluting
These devices will give an overview of installation load 1
operation, prepare and simplify the experts’ diagnosis
tasks and enable detection of the occurrence of new
Polluting
disturbances before they have damaging effects. load 2

Acceptable harmonic
levels
Harmonic emissions are subjected to a variety of
rules laid down by standards and regulations:
n compatibility standards adapted to networks,
n emission standards applicable to harmonic
generating loads,
n recommendations of electrical utilities applicable
to installations.
The results of international studies have made it
possible to determine the standard values of
harmonics that can be observed in networks. The
following table reflects the opinion of a large number
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o choice of a suitable earthing system (the TNS
system is recommended).
n use of special devices in the power supply
(reactors, transformers with special couplings,
suitable for pollution),
n use of filtering devices in cases where preventive
actions described above are not sufficient ; there are 3
types of filters:
o the passive filter, allowing both correction of
reactive power and offering a large current filtering
capacity:

of electrical utilities on the levels that it is best not

to exceed.

Odd harmonics
I har
h order LV MV EHV
3 5 2.5 1.5
5 6 6 2
7 5 5 2
9 1.5 1.5 1
11 3.5 3.5 1.5
13 3 3 1.5
17 2 2 1
19 1.5 1.5 1
23 1.5 1 0.7 Harmonic Filter
generator
25 1.5 1 0.7
>25 0.2+25/h 0.2+25/h 0.1+25/h

Continued on page 5

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 The main harmonic distortion indicators
Power factor Frequency spectrum
P Breakdown into the signal histogram (spectral
PF= analysis).
S
P = active power,

E55530
U(t)
S = apparent power.
1
Note: do not confuse with
p1
cos ϕ =
S1
t
P1 = active power of the fundamental,
S1 = reactive power of the fundamental.

rms values
∞
I rms = ∑ I 2 (in current)

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H%
1
100
∞
U rms = ∑ U (in voltage)
2

Ik, Uk rms current and voltage values of the

harmonic k. 33

Crest factor 20
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 h
IM
k=
I rms (in current)
Total harmonic distortion (THD)
UM
k=
U rms (in voltage) ∞

IM, UM crest current and voltage values,

∑I 2
k

THD I = 2 (in current)

Irms, Urms rms current and voltage values. I1

Total harmonic distortion ∞

I ∑I 2
k
i h (%) = 100 h (in current) THDU = 2 (in voltage)
I1 I1
Uh I k, Uk rms current and voltage values of the
u h (%) = 100 (in voltage) harmonic k.
U1

Using the indicators DBTP152ART1/En - © 1999 Schneider Electric - All rights reserved

The power factor PF is used to evaluate the
oversizing to be applied to the power supply of an
installation.
An initial indication that harmonic level is high can
be a power factor "PF" measured different from the
"cos j" (the power factor will be less than the
"cos j").
A very high crest factor means important occasional
overcurrents. These overcurrents, detected by the
protection devices, may be responsible for nuisance
tripping.
The voltage THD characterises distortion of the
voltage wave.
The value of the THDu measured and phenomena
observed in an installation: a THDu value less than
5% is considered to be normal. No malfunction need
be feared.
A THDu value of between 5 and 8% reveals a
significant harmonic pollution. Some malfunctioning is
possible.
A THDu value greater than 8% reveals an important
harmonic pollution. Malfunctioning is probable. A
thorough analysis and the setting up of attenuation
devices are required.

Schneider Electric Industries SA As standards, specifications and designs develop from time to time, always ask for
5, rue Nadar confirmation of the information given in this publication.
92506 Rueil Malmaison
Cedex France
This document has been printed on ecological paper.
Tel : +33 (0)1 41 29 82 00
Fax : +33 (0)1 47 51 80 20
Published by: Schneider Electric
Designed by: AMEG
http://www.schneiderelectric.com Printed by:

4
DBTP152ART1/En 12-99
 Continued from page 3

o the active filter, allowing harmonic filtering over a o the hybrid filter, grouping the performance of the
wide frequency band, with, however, a limited active and passive filters:
harmonic power:

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Is
I har
Is
I har

Iact
Iact
Active
cond.
Active
cond.

Harmonic Linear
generator Hybrid filter load
Harmonic Linear
generator load

Schneider Electric’s
solutions
The special nature of harmonic treatment calls for a
thorough knowledge of LV switchgear and electrical
installation.
Through its experience, Schneider Electric supplies
equipment and services ensuring perfect command of
these phenomena.
The detection devices
Schneider Electric offers a suitable product range that
can be used locally or remotely by means of a
standard PC via a communication bus:
n the Digipact PM measurement units, inexpensive
and simple to implement at various points of the
network, include effective measurement of currents,
voltages and THD,
n the PowerLogic System PM and CM
measurement units are designed to monitor new or
existing installations, when the required level of
quality of electrical power is very high. According to
the model, they make it possible to measure more
than 100 electrical parameters (currents and voltages
up to order 51, THD, etc.), to trip alarm and saving
functions on electrical parameters and to record
waveforms (fault recording),
n the Micrologic H control unit, directly
incorporated into the power circuit-breaker, provides
monitoring incomers or large outgoers, in new
installations. It performs as standard all the
installation monitoring functions, i.e. effective
measurement of more than 100 electrical parameters
(currents and voltages up to the order 51, power,
THD, etc.), tripping of alarm and saving functions on
electrical parameters, recording of waveforms (fault
recording).

The following table summarises the most suitable applications for harmonics measurement:
Purpose of detection PM100/300 PM650 Micrologic H CM2000/2450
Global evaluation HH HHH HHH HHH
Diagnosis H HH HHH HHH
Analysis H HH HH HHH
Advantages First measurement Complete measure- Built into the Very complete
level, easy to use, ment instrument circuit-breaker, measurement
inexpensive, with on-board allows monitoring instrument with
compact and alarms and non- incomers or large high degree of
extremely accurate volatile memory outgoers without accuracy, large
extra cabling or programmable data
additional CTs storage capacity
and rapid measure-
ment
Key:
H : indication of disturbance, to be completed by another means,
H H : satisfactory solution,
H H H : perfectly suited.

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 Connection of these devices to one of the Digivision
or SMS operating and analysis systems, installed on
micro-computer, allows centralisation of data and
increased monitoring of the installation.
o Digivision allows first level analysis (transfer of
information, alarm on a threshold),
o SMS is a very comprehensive network analysis
software, particularly incorporating display of logs
and statistical processing of measurements.
Expert analysis
Schneider Electric proposes a comprehensive service
offer for the treatment of harmonics:
n expert analysis,
n measurement and monitoring devices,
n filtering devices, with guaranteed performance on
solutions.
The entire service is ISO 9002 certified.
The following table explains the choice of the most suitable filter type according to the application:
Application type
Tertiary building (computer, air conditioning,
lighting, lifts)
Paper, board, plastics industry
(conveying, winders, unwinders)
Water treatment industry (pumping, stirring)
Handling (lifting, skilifts)
Key:
H : satisfactory solution,
H H : fully technically adapted, but economically not optimised,
H H H : perfectly suited.
Control of harmonic
disturbances
Faced with the increasing use of harmonic generating
equipment, that are also particularly sensitive to
harmonic effects themselves, the struggle against
harmonics has become a priority. Consequently, an
installation perceived as "sound" may, after a number
of modifications, reach a critical level of disturbance.
Control of quality and continuity of electrical supply
needed by applications, requires active monitoring
and treatment of harmonic currents.
Products to attenuate harmonics
The products applicable in three-phase 400 V voltage
are as follows:
n the RECTIPHASE passive filters, installed in
electrical cubicles, supplying high correction levels,
up to a few hundred kVAR of reactive power, for
currents of around one hundred amperes,
n the MGE UPS systems SINE WAVE active
conditioners correct harmonic currents of up to 100
amperes. Each harmonic current can be individually
corrected or correction can be global,
n the RECTIPHASE hybrid filters, made up of the
above elements, have the performance of both the
active and the passive filters.
Passive filter SineWave Hybrid filter
active conditioner
Rectiphase MGE UPS SYSTEMS Rectiphase
H HHH HH
HHH H HH
HH HHH HHH
HH H HHH
Schneider Electric offers suitable equipment and
services to guarantee such control:
n detection devices on the network to follow up the
few simple indicators for prevention of harmonic
disturbances,
n experts to establish a diagnosis from these
indicators,
n adapted filters for treatment of harmonic pollution.