Name: Nagum, Carl Joseph, B.

Date: May 5, 2021

Course/Section: TE1-PSE2-EE32S1 Final Exam Instructor: Engr. Ladero
1.) Define Harmonics
Harmonics is a general concept that describes the distortion of the sinusoidal structure caused by the multiples of the
fundamental frequency (120 Hz, 180 Hz, and so on). The fundamental frequency of a sinusoidal waveform is 60 Hz. This
disruption produces a complex waveform made up of a variety of harmonic frequencies that cause damage to electrical
equipment and power lines. The main source of harmonic devices are the non-linear loads which are highly inductive such as
rectifiers and other electronic devices because they draw current in abrupt short pulses.
2.) What is the difference between THD and TDD?
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is used to measure the distortion of a voltage or current distortion in a single cycle
and defined as the ratio of the sum of the power of all harmonic components to the power of the fundamental frequency. On
the other hand, Total Demand Distortion (TDD) is also used for measuring the voltage or current distortions but this time it
used much longer average time which basically ranging from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the system rated current. It is
because THD can be misleading when the difference between current THD and current TDD values become significantly
greater.
3.) What is voltage and current distortion?
The harmonics is the byproduct of both the voltage and current distortion. Non-linear loads appear to be the main
source of harmonic currents in the power system that results to current distortion. On the other hand, voltage in a system
becomes distorted due to the harmonic currents passing through the impedance of the system which causes voltage drop for
each harmonic. Therefore, voltage distortion depends on the current distortion produced by the total connected load in a
system.
4.) Difference between transients and harmonics.
Transients are power quality disturbance that are characterized by destructively large current and voltage
magnitudes, or in worst-case scenario both are present. This type of disturbance only happens in a short duration and
momentarily only which ranges from 50 nanoseconds to 50 milliseconds. On the other hand, harmonics is the generalized in
term that is used to describe the distortion of the sinusoidal form due to different integer of frequencies (120 Hz, 180 Hz, and
so on). This disturbance creates a complex waveform made up from a number of harmonic frequencies which have a negative
effect in electrical equipment and power lines. The main difference between the two is the duration of distortion wherein
harmonics tend to have long duration of distortion than the transients which are only momentarily.
5.) What are the effects of harmonics in the following electrical equipment: Transformers, electric motors, capacitor
banks, wires and cables, electronic equipment and protection devices?
→Transformers – the windings suffer overheating and as a there is an increase in losses which make the equipment inefficient
and unreliable.
→Electric motors – the windings also suffer overheating which results to mechanical stress and higher losses that makes the
equipment inefficient. Therefore, the torque is reduced and so the performance of the motors.
→Capacitor banks – it results to the capacitor to be worn out earlier than its average useful lifespan because of the heating
and destruction acquired due to harmonic currents.
→Wires and cables – it can cause cable heating and insulation failure which results to high hazard.
→Electronic equipment – it can suffer from overheating and premature failure resulting to the decrease of efficiency during
the operation of the said equipment. In terms of telecommunications, it will result to interferences in the signal.
→Protection devices – the main cause of harmonic is the nuisance tripping of the protection device. The consequence of
frequently tripping of protective devices will result to wear and tear which means the useful life is below the average lifespan.
6.) Give mitigation techniques in controlling harmonics.
→Reduce the harmonic currents produced by the load – it is mentioned that non-linear loads are one of the common sources
of harmonics because they draw a large amount of current during the starting operation. Therefore, adding line reactor or
transformer in series will significantly reduce the harmonic current produced by the load and it also provides transient
protection benefits.
→Filtering – by the use of filters the harmonic currents can be kept off the system, block it from entering the system, or
monitor and sense the harmonic current. First, by the use of shunt filter, it keeps the harmonic current out of the system by
short-circuiting it close to the source of distortion. Second is the passive filtering wherein it uses the application of inductors
and capacitors to block the harmonic currents. Lastly, the active filtering wherein it is used to sense harmonic currents
electronically then generates corresponding waveforms that can oppose it.
→Modify the frequency response of the system – it includes the additional application of shunt filters, reactors, inductors, and
capacitors. This technique also involves the sizing of capacitor to manage the distortion cause by non-linear loads. It can also
be the movement of capacitor in the system with a different short-circuit impedance or higher losses. The most feasible among
the techniques is the application of capacitor because it is used for improvement power factor which means that harmonics
will also be relatively small. The capacitor bank will be able to handle the harmonics as long as it is sized correctly.
7.) Discuss the different switching method in capacitor banks, explain the advantages and disadvantages of each
method of switching.
→Energizing Single Capacitor Bank – in this switching method when the switch closes, the inrush current flows from the
source to charge the capacitor. The inrush current will affect the whole system from the power source to the capacitor bank,
and especially the local bus voltage which initially is depressed to zero. The advantage of this switching method is that by
energizing the capacitor bank it can operate to manage voltage fluctuations in the system however the trade off is while
energizing the capacitor bank there will be a series of transient in the system due to the inrush current draw by the capacitor
during the energization.
→Energizing Back-to-Back Capacitor Banks – in this switching method when the switch closes to insert the second capacitor
bank, the inrush current affects mainly the local parallel capacitor bank circuits and bus voltages. The second bank's
energization seems to be a short circuit to the first. This results in strong inrush currents as the first capacitor bank discharges
into the second capacitor bank. The capacitor switching device's life can be shortened as a result of these in-rush currents.
Transient currents can flow in the ground mat on grounded capacitor banks, causing potential problems with electronic
equipment in the substation due to induced voltage in the control voltage supply.
8.) What is the difference between the series and parallel resonance?
A parallel resonance only occurs if the inductance reactance and inductance capacitance are equal at the same
frequency in the system. This type of resonance can cause overheating of transformer and fuse of the capacitor can be
burned. While, series resonance is the combination of inductance and capacitance that creates a low impedance path for
harmonic currents. Therefore, it will result to a high voltage distortion level because the harmonic currents flow through the
capacitor and eventually the capacitor can be worn out earlier than its average lifespan. Both of the resonance is a power
quality issue that causes distortion to the electrical system that can damage equipment or result to premature failure.
9.) Discuss the steps in designing a filter in power system.
9.1 Choose the value of capacitance needed to improve the power factor to reduce the losses of the system and increase it
efficient. The ideal value for a good power factor is 95 % because if the power factor is in unity when the fluctuation occurs
the risk of voltage sags and over voltage will likely to happen.
9.2 Select a reactor to series tune the capacitor to the desired harmonic. The size of reactor must also be determined to make
sure that the harmonics would cause less damage to the capacitors.
9.3 Calculate the peak voltage across the capacitor and total RMS current of reactor. To have an estimate value to determine
what are the standard size that is available in the market
9.4 Make sure that the when sizing it must not be undersized because the sense of filtering will disappear.
10.) What is VFD? Explain the operation of VFD
VFD stands for variable frequency drive, the basic operation of the VFD is by adjusting the electrical supply to an AC
motor with a corresponding frequency and voltage change in the motor’s speed and torque output to ensure the reduction of
the equipment in energy cost without affecting the efficiency and reliability of its operation. Variable frequency drives are
typically 92-98% efficient with 2-8% losses being due to additional heat dissipation caused by the high-frequency electrical
switching and the additional power required by the electronic components.
11.) Discuss the different grounding system? What is the most effective grounding system that you will recommend?
→Solidly grounding system – the approach of this grounding system is when the neutral line of the wye connection is directly
connected to the ground. The advantage of this grounding system is that it can eliminate transient overvoltage. However, the
disadvantaged of this grounding system outweighs the benefits because it cannot operate under large fault conditions and
has a high risk of arc-flash.
→Reactance grounding system – the approach of this system is when a reactance either inductor or capacitor is used to link
the neutral line to the ground. The aim of reactance is to keep the earth fault current to a minimum. The earth fault current
can be modified by altering the earthing reactance to achieve conditions identical to strong grounding. However, this grounding
system is not common these days due to its disturbances. For the same fault conditions, the fault current needed to operate
the protective system is higher than that required by resistance grounding which produces too much hazard. Also, this
grounding system produces high harmonic distortions under faulted conditions which is disastrous both for the equipment and
personnel.
→Resistance grounding system – the approach of this system is when a resistance (resistor) is used to link the neutral line
to the ground. It is basic principle in Ohm’s Law that the resistance is indirectly proportional to the current because it opposes
the flow of electrons. Therefore, the resistor application in grounding system is used to limit the faulted current to a safe value.
This grounding system can be categorized to two, the high and low resistance grounding.
→Ungrounded system – technically speaking this system is not ungrounded, hence it uses capacitor banks as the overcurrent
devices. The main goal of the capacitors is to manage the fault without interruption in the operation. Usually, this type of
grounding system is applied for infrastructures which can’t handle any interruption, the best example is the industrial sectors
because any amount can cause financial losses. However, without proper maintenance and sizing of capacitors the system
might not be able to handle the fault conditions that can occur.
The most effective grounding system is the resistance grounding system because it has two categories which are the
high and low resistance grounding which means that the grounding system can operate in a wide range of ground-fault
conditions. Also, technically speaking the fault current always take the lowest impedance path. Therefore, proper sizing of the
resistance can ensure a safe path of faulted current under abnormal conditions.
12.) Explain the difference between system grounding and equipment grounding.
System grounding is the deliberate connection of the neutral conductor of a transformer bank to the earth. The
importance of grounding the system is to protect the system from fault conditions that can lead to hazards such as fires and
casualties due to electric shock. Take note that system grounding is applied to the current-carrying conductors to ensure the
safety when lightning, line surges, and unintentional contact with higher-voltage lines occurs. On the other hand, equipment
grounding is the connection of all non-current conductive materials or equipment to the earth. This includes the metal casing
of equipment, the grounding of equipment is very important because personnel are used to touching the metal casing, which
makes them more vulnerable to the hazard of fault conditions but with equipment grounding the hazard can be reduce because
the fault will not only directly go to the personnel.
13.) What is bonding?
Bonding is the process of connecting two different materials or variables. Hence, electrical bonding is the process
of binding metallic materials to the grounding conductor that may be exposed to electrical faults or induced voltages. When
there is a fault anywhere in the supply of electrical construction, bonding is used to minimize the risk of electric shock to
someone who might come into contact with two different metal pieces. It ensures that bonded conductive materials that are
usually non-current carrying are at the same electrical potential. There would be a shock danger if metal objects that are not
bonded are at slightly different voltage potentials and are touched at the same time. By connecting bonding conductors
between specific parts, the voltage that may have existed is reduced. Moreover, bonding conductors must also be sized that
they can safely bear the maximum load that could occur during fault or abnormal conditions.
14.) Explain the principal operation of GFCI.
A GFCI stands for ground-fault current interrupter which is defined to be a fast-circuit breaker designed to cut off the
electric power in the event of ground fault conditions wherein it can interrupt the fault to as fast as 0.025 second. For instance,
the GFCI outlet that we usually install for the outlet of electric stove and refrigerator, the operation of GFCI is by comparing
the amount of current going to the equipment and returning from the equipment, once the GFCI detects an imbalance or
excess current flow the power will be cut or trip to prevent the risk of electric shock and electrical fire.
15.) Where does the harmonic current flow? And what is triplen harmonics?
The harmonic current which is mainly produced by the non-linear loads will always took the lowest impedance path
in the system. Therefore, without proper filter sizing and installation the harmonic currents produced from different load of the
end-users will flow back to the power system source. Triplen harmonics is defined to be the odd multiples of the third
harmonics which are the 3,9, 15, and so on. This type of harmonics must be monitored and eliminated quickly because it can
result to the overloading of the neutral and telephone interference. It happens because the line-to-neutral voltage is highly
distorted by series of voltage drop in the neutral conductor cause by the triple harmonics.