Section 3.

5 - Harmonics

Slide 3.5.1
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 Current/Voltage Harmonic Distortions

Large amount of VFDs installed Harmonic distortions

Harmonic distortions will be generated by non-linear devices such as VFDs (Variable Frequency Drives),
switching (DC) power supplies, battery charges etc.; basically you can say: any equipment that does have
AC->DC converters, using diodes/thyristors AC/DC bridges etc, will generate current harmonics.

Harmonic distortion waves adds up to or subtracts from the original/fundamental wave (being super-
postulated), where the fundamental wave operates at either 50Hz like in Europe/Asia or 60Hz within the
USA; see illustration/example above.

Harmonic distortion waves operates at multiple higher frequencies than its fundamental; e.g. a 5 th harmonic
distortion operates at 5 x the fundamental frequency (== 250 Hz within Europe/Asia, 300 Hz within the
USA).

Harmonic distortions may be expressed in terms of the relative strength of individual components, in
decibels, or the Root Mean Square of all harmonic components = Total Harmonic Distortion (THD), as a
percentage (THD%).

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 Current/Voltage Harmonic Distortions
Basically, we worry about the following three harmful affects due to harmonic distortions within LV distribution systems:
1. Excessive heat due to higher currents flown through the same bus-bar systems, cables etc besides the ‘normal’
(fundamental) current.
• Harmonic currents do not contribute to the performance of motors etc, but will result in more power losses.
• Fluorescent lights and similar loads, generates quite some current distortions of the 3 rd Harmonic; precautions needs
to be undertaken for making sure that corresponding Neutral conductors are properly sized & checked to prevent
overloading them.
2. Insulation damage/punctures that would result into additive heat and/or insulation failure within transformers, cables etc, for
the longer-run
• Generally the harmonic amplitude will decrease with harmonic, so a single bad player can’t generate enough voltage
or energy to do much damage; however, when you have multiple contributors, the effect is additive so you can end up
with voltages in the thousands of volts with enough energy to punch holes in insulation - since the cables and
transformers will resist voltage changes, hence additive heating of the cables/windings occurs.
• Insulation is rated based on volts – so voltage spikes will punch holes in the insulation; the result can be minor – a
leakage current that wastes some energy and/or contributes to heating; however, once you punch enough holes, you
will get a cable or transformer failure.
3. System resonance within PFC (Power Factor Compensation) banks
• System resonance occurs at the frequency where the Inductance and Capacitance impedances becomes equal
• System resonance could severely damage the PFC bank’s Capacitors, when non-linear loads versus transformer
(agreed) load becomes significantly (at approx > 20%).

Next slides would provide general engineering guidelines, mainly based upon below mentioned/attached guidelines from
Schneider Electric and other supporting sites, such as http://ecmweb.com/mag/electric_simplifying_harmonic_mitigation/ , which
were found as being most clear and close to our current/previous engineering guidelines to control/limit on harmonic distortions
generated/being present within our LV power distributions.

We need to consider all these guidelines carefully together with corresponding suppliers/design
institutes, where applicable, prior purchasing our VFD’s, cabling and PFC (Power Factor Compensation) banks; the power
distribution as a whole needs to be considered.

View Schneider-Electric's Guides

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 Current/Voltage Harmonic Distortions
Area 1: Chokes/serial reactors are commonly used within this
area and is most economical worth option. Chokes can be
embedded within the drive (DC choke) or externally(AC-choke) .
Area 2: Drives represent a significant part of the total power. A
filter is necessary, in conjunction with chokes. A passive filter is
well adapted when Power Factor Correction (PFC) is necessary
(low value of cosϕ).
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Area 3: Drives represent a significant part of the total power.
An active filter is well adapted when no PFC is necessary.
Area 4: For drives of typically 400 kW and above, a multi-
pulse solution at equipment level is more convenient in the
majority of cases because of better efficiency (up to 3%
improvement compared to additional filter: active, passive, or
active front end solution). In addition, a multi-pulse
arrangement is usually more cost effective than other
solutions.
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 Current/Voltage Harmonic Distortions
Current without inductor

Current with inductor

Typical 6-pulse VFD Choke

Within most of our installations, previous ‘Area 1’ applies, where we would have
either AC or DC chokes/serial reactors at each of our VFD’s (see above).

Using a 3% or 5% choke/serial reactor is common – see above the obvious

affects for reducing on the current harmonic distortions being generated.

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 Current/Voltage Harmonic Distortions

For some of our installations, ‘Area 4’ applies, then multi-pulse type of VFD’s applies,
mostly MV (10KV) type of VFD’s, used for drives of 400-500KW or above.

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 Current/Voltage Harmonic Distortions
L1 L2 L3

Tuned /De-Tuned
Capacitor Bank
Within our installations, ‘Area 2’ or ‘Area 3’ isn’t applied much – only ‘Area 2’ has been applied where our total
drive’s power exceeded 40% of installed transformer load (‘agreed load’) or when local authorities/norms
stipulates lower limits e.g. 20-25% and above.

For ‘Area 2’, besides the chokes at each VFD, a passive filter is needed as well, when total drive’s power exceeds
40% of installed transformer load (‘agreed load’) or stipulated otherwise; when having a PFC (Power Factor
Compensation) panel, then this means that the PFC bank requires being tuned/de-tuned.

The PFC bank then operates as an inductor-capacitor (LC) filter which provides a low-impedance path for the
harmonic currents. It “traps” the harmonics between itself and the harmonic source(s).

Commonly, such “traps” will be tuned around the 5th harmonic (250Hz (300Hz (USA)); common harmonic being
generated by VFDs).

‘Area 3’ would not be discussed in detail, as all our units do have PFC banks, which would be used for taken care
of the harmonic distortions generated when we do exceed 40% or stipulated otherwise, as it won’t make no sense
installing an very expensive active filter while having a PFC bank + correcting the harmonic distortions close to nil
isn’t necessary within industrial environments either.

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 Current/Voltage Harmonic Distortions

Last, BUT not least, when everything is engineered properly and put into
operation, then we should verify its affectedness on regular bases, e.g.
at least once a year, for making sure that we are (still) within acceptable
limits (generally set as: I-THD << 20%; V-THD << 5%).

Nowadays it becomes quite common having power meters foreseen of

all kind of power quality related metering, such as harmonic distortions
etc; then such meters should be able to store the data for at least
several days, so issues as they happen are traceable, which could
become very useful information when trouble-shooting a power outage
for example, for which cause(s) cannot being pinned-down easily.

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