Understanding of Harmonics

in Power Distribution System

Dr. Adel. M. Sharaf

Department of Electrical &
Computer Engineering
University of New Brunswick
 Outline
 Power System Harmonics?
 Why Harmonics are Troublesome?
 Nonlinear Loads Producing Harmonic Currents
 Harmonic Distortion?
 Negative Effects of Sustained Harmonics
 Mitigation of the Effects of Harmonics
 Evaluation of AC Power System Harmonics?
 Conclusions
 References

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What are Power System Harmonics?
 Harmonic: a mathematical definition, generally used when
talking about Integral orders of Fundamental frequencies
 Power system harmonics: currents or voltages with
frequencies that are integer multiples (h=0,1,2,…N) of the
fundamental power frequency [1]

 1st harmonic: 60Hz

 2nd harmonic: 120Hz
 3rd harmonic: 180Hz

Figure: 1 [2]

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 How are Harmonics Produced ?
 Power system harmonics: presenting deviations from a perfect
sinusoidal-waveform (voltage
( or current waveform).
 The distortion comes from a Nonlinearity caused by saturation,
electronic-switching and nonlinear electric loads,
Inrush/Temporal/Arc/Converter/Limiter/Threshold Type Loads.

Figure: 2 [1]

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 Why Bother about Harmonics?
 50-60% of all electrical Ac Systems in North
America operate with non-linear type loads
 Power-Quality-PQ Issues & Problems
 Damage to Power Factor Correction capacitors
 Waveform Distortion can create
SAG/SWELL/NOTCHING/RINGING/…
 All can cause damage effects to consumer loads
and power systems due to Over-Current/Over-
Voltage or Waveform Distortion
 Additional Power/Energy Losses
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Loads Producing Harmonic Currents
 Electronic lighting ballasts/Controls
 Adjustable speed Motor-Drives
 Electric Arc Welding Equipment
 Solid state Industrial Rectifiers
 Industrial Process Control Systems
 Uninterruptible Power Supplies ( UPS )systems
 Saturated Inductors/Transformers
 LAN/Computer Networks
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 Current vs. Voltage Harmonics
 Harmonic current flowing through the AC Power
System impedance result in harmonic voltage-
drop at the load bus and along the Feeder!!

Figure: 3 [3]

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 How to Quantify Harmonic Distortion?

 Total Harmonic Distortion-THD: the contribution

of all harmonic frequency Currents/Voltages to
the fundamental current. [3]
 The level of THD-for Current or Voltage is
directly related to the frequencies and amplitudes
of the Offending Quasi-Steady State persistent
Harmonics.
 Individual Distortion Factor-(DF)-h quantify
Distortion at h –harmonic-order
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 Calculation of THD
 THD: Ratio of the RMS of the harmonic
content to the RMS of the Fundamental [3]

(Eq-1)

 Current THD-I
(Eq-2)

 Voltage THD-V
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 Negative Effects of Harmonics
 Overheating and premature failure of distribution transformers [1]
 Increasing iron and copper losses or eddy currents due to stray flux losses
 Overheating and mechanical oscillations in the motor-load system [1]
 Producing rotating magnitude field, which is opposite to the fundamental
magnitude field.
 Overheating and damage of neutral ground conductors [2]
 Trouble sustained type Harmonics: 3rd, 9th, 15th …
 A 3-phase 4-wire system: single phase harmonic will add rather than
cancel on the neutral conductor
 Malfunction/Mal-Operation of Sensitive Tele-control and
Protection Relaying

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 Negative Effects of Harmonics (cont’ d)
 False or spurious Relay operations and trips of circuit
breakers [2]
 Failure of the Firing/Commutation circuits, found in DC
motor-drives and AC drives with silicon controlled rectifiers
(SCR-Thyristor) [1]
 Mal-Operation instability of voltage regulator [1]
 Power factor correction capacitor failure [1]
 Reactance (impedance)-Zc of a capacitor bank decreases as the
frequency increases.
 Capacitor bank acts as a sink for higher harmonic currents.
 The System-Series and parallel Resonance can cause dielectric
failure or rupture the power factor correction capacitor failure due
to Over-Voltages & Over-Currents.

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 Harmonics and Parallel Resonance Circuit
 Harmonic currents produced by variable speed motor-drives: can be
amplified up to 10-15 times in parallel resonance circuit formed by the
capacitance bank and network inductance [5]
 Amplified/intensified harmonic currents: leading to internal
overheating of the capacitor unit.
 Higher frequency currents: causing more losses than 60hz currents

having same amplitude

Figure 4: Parallel resonance circuit and its equivalent circuit [5]

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 Harmonics and Series Resonance Circuit
 The voltage of upstream AC Network can be also
distorted due to series/parallel resonance formed by
capacitance of the capacitor bank and System/load
inductance : Ca cause high harmonic current circulation
through the capacitors [5]
 Parallel Resonance can also lead to high voltage distortion.

Figure 5: Series resonance circuit and its equivalent circuit [5]

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 Measure Equipments of Harmonics
 Digital Oscilloscope:
Wave shape, THD and Amplitude of each harmonic
 “True RMS” Multi-Meter:
Giving correct readings for distortion-free sine waves and typically
reading low when the current waveform is distorted

Use of Harmonic Meters-Single Phase or three Phase

Figure 6: “True RMS” Multi-Meter [3]

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 Standards for Harmonics Limitation
IEEE/IEC
 IEEE 519-1992 Standard: Recommended Practices and
Requirements for Harmonic Control in Electrical Power
Systems (Current Distortion Limits for 120v-69kv DS)
Table 1: Current Harmonic Limits [4]

Ratio Harmonic odd Harmonic odd THD-i

Iscc / Iload numbers (<11) numbers (>35)
< 20 4.0 % 0.3 % 5.0 %

20 - 50 7.0 % 0.5 % 8.0 %

50 - 100 10.0 % 0.7 % 12.0 %
>1000 15.0 % 1.4 % 20.0 %

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 Standard of Harmonics Limitation
(cont’d)
 IEEE 519-1992 Standard: Recommended Practices and
Requirements for Harmonic Control in Electrical Power
Systems (Voltage Distortion Limits)
Table 2: Voltage Harmonic Limits [4]

Bus Voltage Voltage Harmonic limit THD-v (%)

as (%) of Fundamental
<= 69Kv 3.0 5.0

69 - 161Kv 1.5 2.5

>= 161 Kv 1.0 1.5

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 Mitigation Of Harmonics [1]

 Ranging from variable frequency motor- drive to other

nonlinear loads and equipments
 Power System Design:
 Limiting the non-linear load penetration to 30% of the maximum
transformer’s capacity
 Limiting non-linear loads to 15% of the transformer’s capacity,
when power factor correction capacitors are installed.
 Avoiding/Detuning resonant conditions on the AC System:

(Eq-4)
hr = resonant frequency as a multiple of the fundamental frequency
kVAsc = short circuit current as the point of study
kVARc = capacitor rating at the system voltage

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 Mitigation the Effects of Harmonics [1]

(cont’d)
 Delta-Delta and Delta-Wye Transformers
 Using two separate utility feed transformers with equal
non-linear loads
 Shifting the phase relationship to various six-pulse
converters through cancellation techniques

Figure 7: Delta-Delta and Delta-Wye Transformers [1]

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 Mitigation the Effects of Harmonics [1]
(cont’d)
 Isolation-Interface Transformers
 The potential to “voltage match” by stepping up or
stepping down the system voltage, and by providing a
neutral ground reference for nuisance ground faults
 The best solution when utilizing AC or DC drives that
use SCR/GTO/SSR.. as bridge rectifiers
 Line Isolation-Reactors
 More commonly used for their low cost
 Adding a small reactor in series with capacitor bank
forms a Blocking series Filter.
 Use diode bridge rectifier as a front end to avoid severe
harmonic power quality problems

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 Mitigation the Effects of Harmonics [1]

(cont’d)
 Harmonic-Shunt or Trap Filters:
 Used in applications with a high non-linear ratio to
system to eliminate harmonic currents
 Sized to withstand the RMS current as well as the value
of current for the harmonics
 Providing true distortion power factor correction

Figure 8: Typical Harmonic Trap Filter [1]

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 Harmonic Trap Filters (cont’d)
 Tuned to a specific harmonic order such as the 5th, 7th,
11th,… etc to meet requirements of IEEE 519-1992
Standard
 The number of tuned filter-branches depends on the
offending steady-state harmonics to be absorbed and on
required reactive power level to be compensated

Figure 9: Typical Filter Capacitor Bank [5]

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 Harmonics Filter Types [6]

 Isolating harmonic current to protect electrical

equipment from damage due to harmonic voltage
distortion
 Passive Filter-Low cost:
 Built-up by combinations of capacitors, inductors
(reactors) and resistors
 most common and available for all voltage levels
 Active Power Filter APF:
 Inserting negative phase compensating harmonics into
the AC-Network, thus eliminating the undesirable
harmonics on the AC Power Network.
 APF-Used only for for low voltage networks
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 Harmonic Filter Types (cont’d) [7]

 Unified Switched Capacitor Compensator USCS:

The single line diagram (SLD) of the utilization (single-
phase) or (three-phase- 4-wire) feeder and the connection
of the Unified Switched- Capacitor Compensator (USCS)
to the Nonlinear-Temporal Inrush /Arc type Loads or
SMPS-Computer/LAN-Network loads.

Figure 10 [7]
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 Harmonics Filter Types (cont’d) [7]

 The USCS is a switched/modulated capacitor bank

using a pulse-width modulated (PWM/SPWM)
Switching Strategy. The switching device uses
either solid state switch SSR-(IGBT or GTO).

Figure 11 [7]

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 Need To Evaluate System Harmonics? [1]

 The application of capacitor banks in systems

where 20% or more of the load includes other
harmonic generating equipment.

 The facility has a history of harmonic related

problems, including excessive capacitor fuse
operation or damage to sensitive
metering/relaying/control equipment.

 During the Planning/Design stage of any facility

comprising capacitor banks and nonlinear
harmonic generating equipment.
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 When to Evaluate System Harmonics? [1]

(cont’d)
 In facilities where restrictive Electric Power Utility
Company Standards/Guidelines limit the harmonic
injection back into their system to very small magnitudes.

 Industrial/Commercial Plant expansions that add

significant harmonic generating nonlinear type equipment
operating in conjunction with capacitor banks.

 When coordinating and planning to add any emergency

standby generator as an alternate/renewable power source

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 Conclusions
 The harmonic distortion principally comes from
Nonlinear-Type Loads.
 The application of power electronics is causing
increased level of harmonics due to Switching!!
 Harmonic distortion can cause serious
Failure/Damage problems.
 Harmonics are important aspect of power
operation that requires Mitigation!!
 Over-Sizing and Power Filtering methods are
commonly used to limit Overheating Effects of
Sustained Harmonics.

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 References
[1] www-ppd.fnal.gov/EEDOffice-w/Projects/CMS/LVPS/mg/8803PD9402.pdf

[2] www.pge.com/docs/pdfs/biz/power_quality/power_quality_notes/harmonics.pdf

[3] www.metersandinstruments.com/images/power_meas.pdf

[4]http://engr.calvin.edu/PRibeiro_WEBPAGE/IEEE/ieee_cd/chapters/CHAP_9/c9toc/c9_frame.htm

[5]
www.nokiancapacitors.com.es/.../EN-TH04-11_ 2004- Harmonics_and_Reactive_Power_Compensatio

[6]http://rfcomponents.globalspec.com/LearnMore/Communications_Networking/RF_Microwave_Wir
eless_Components/Harmonic_Filters

[7] A.M. Sharaf & Pierre Kreidi, POWERQ UALITYE NHANCEMEUNSTI NGA UNIFIEDSW
ITCHED CAPACITOCRO MPENSATOR, CCECE 2003 - CCGEI 2003, Montreal, Mayimai 2003
0-7803-7781-8/03/$17.00 0 2003 IEEE

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 Question

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