Power Quality

Issues

Basic Requirements for

Critical Loads
Is
Vs

Load

Continuous, No Break in
Power
Voltage Regulation
Sine wave Supply
Isolation
Constant Frequency

Understanding
Reactive Power and
Power Factor
Is

Is

Vs

Vs

XL

p
Ap

XL
Vs
R

nt

)
(S
r
we
o
P A
V

in

Imp. Phase
Angle

True Power(P)
in Watts

Reactive Power(Q)
in VAR

Is

e
ar

Displacement and True

Power Factor
Displacement Power Factor:
Ratio of the active power of the fundamental, in
watts, to the apparent Power of the fundamental
wave, in volt-amperes

True Power Factor:

Ratio of the total power, in watts, to the total voltamperes. This includes fundamental and all harmonic
components

Understanding Crest
Factor
Is
Vs

Non
Linear
Load
Current drawn by single Phase diode rectifier

Peak Amplitude
Crest Factor = -------------------------RMS Value

Understanding Harmonics
Is
Vs

Non
Linear
Load

Deviation from a perfect sine wave can be represented by Harmonics.

Sinusoidal Component having a frequency that is an integral
multiple of the Fundamental frequency.

Total Harmonic Distortion

Defines the total harmonic content of current or voltage
Ratio of the RMS of the harmonic content to the RMS of the
Fundamental, as % of Fundamental

THD =

sum of squares of amplitudes of all harmonics x 100

square of amplitude of fundamental

Mathematically,THD of a voltage wave form can be defined as,

2
V

h
h

THD =
x 100
2
h2 V
1

Power Quality
Supply Voltage at load must
have fundamental component only
be balanced
have declared magnitude under all conditions
The Voltage at any point in the distribution system is uniquely
described by

V(t) 2VSin(2ft )
Where
v,f are constants (declared Value) for all t

PQ affected by
Polluting Load
PCC

A
Polluting
Load

Pure Sinusoidal

Line Impedance ZL

Distorted
voltage

Common PQ Disturbances
Reactive Power Demand
Harmonic Distortion
Voltage sags and swells
Undervoltages and overvoltages
Voltage Unbalance
Voltage Flicker
Voltage Notching
Voltage Interruption
Transient Disturbances
Frequency variations

Harmonics-Polluting
Loads
Rectifiers
Arc furnaces
Adjustable Speed drives
Power Electronic converters

Harmonics-FFT Analysis
Current drawn by PC

Harmonic Spectrum of PC
Current Waveform

6 Pulse Converter/Battery Charger

Harmonic Spectrum of 6 Pulse

Converter/Battery Charger

Implication of
Reactive and
Harmonics
currents
Oversize
of all installation equipments
to transmit Reactive and
Harmonic currents namely
Transformer
Cables
Circuit breakers & distribution switch boards
Neutral overloads
Increase in Transmission & Distribution loss
Reduction in voltage stability margin
Overheating and loss of life & equipments

Major Increase in cost

Voltage sags and

swells

Reduction in the ac voltage, at the power frequency, for durations

from a half-cycle to a few seconds.

Voltage Sag is Characterized by two parameters Magnitude and

Duration

Power Electronics Loads are Sensitive to Voltage Sags

Causes of Voltage sags

and swells
Voltage sag due to Motor Starting
220

Causes for Sag

Transmission Faults

RMS voltage in V

Motor Starting
Transformer Energization

215
210
205
200
195
190 0

4 5 6 7
Time in Cycles

10 11

Voltage sag due to Transformer

Energization
RMS voltage in kV

Causes for Swell

Single line to ground fault
Removing a large load /
adding a large
capacitor bank

11
10.9
10.8
10.7
10.6
10.5
10.4
10.3
10.2
10.1
10 0

10
15
20
Time in Cycles

25

Voltage Unbalance
Definition
In a balanced sinusoidal supply system the three line-neutral voltages
are equal in magnitude and are phase displaced from each other by 120
degrees

Va

1200

Vc

Va

Balanced System

1200

1200
1200

Vb

Vc

Causes for Unbalance

Unequal system impedances
Unequal distribution of
single-phase loads
Phase to Phase loads
Unbalanced Three phase loads

Unbalanced System

1190
1210

Vb

Effect of Voltage
Unbalance
Induction Motor drive

Overheating and loss of Insulation life

Reduced Motor Efficiency
Noisy in their operation due Torque and speed pulsation
Motor derating factor

NEMA Induction motor derating curve

Effect of Voltage Unbalance

AC Variable Speed drive
3 Diode Rectifier

Line Current of 3 diode

Rectifier for Balanced Input

Line Current of 3 diode

Rectifier for 5%unbalanced Input

Line Current of 3 diode Rectifier

for 15%unbalanced Input

Draws uncharacteristic triplen harmonics

Triplen harmonic current can lead to undesirable
harmonic problems
Excessive thermal stress on diodes

Voltage Flicker
Definition
Repetitive or random variations of the voltage envelope modulated at
frequencies less than 25 Hz, which the human eye can detect as a
variation in the lamp intensity of a standard bulb due to sudden changes
in the real and reactive Power drawn by a load

Voltage waveform showing flicker created by an arc furnace

Voltage Flicker
Causes
Induction Motor drive
Arc furnaces
Arc welders
Frequent motor starts

Effect
lamp flicker
Human eye is most sensitive to voltage waveform
modulation around a frequency of 6-8Hz.

Voltage Notching

Causes
Adjustable Speed Drives
Solid State rectifiers

Voltage
Interruption
Complete loss of
electrical supply

Cause
Transmission Fault clearing time
Opening / Recloser of circuit breaker

Transient Disturbances
Transient disturbances are caused by the
injection of energy by switching or by
lightning
Causes
Lightning
Capacitor Switching
Load switching
Oscillatory transient waveform caused by capacitor energizing

Need for Power Quality

Business Problems:
Momentary disturbance can cause scrambled data, interrupted
communications, system crashes and equipment failure
Lost productivity and idle people and equipment
Overtime required to make up for lost work time
Revenue and accounting problems such as invoices not
prepared, payments held up etc

According to Electric Light and Power Magazine, 30 to 40 percent

of all business downtime is related to Power Quality Problems

IEEE 519 Harmonic

Standard
IEEE 519 Recommended Practices and Requirements for
Harmonic Control in Electric Power Systems
Specifies load current harmonic limits at PCC
Specifies supply voltage harmonic limits at PCC
HARMONIC CURRENT DISTORTION LIMITS IN % OF IL

V 69 kV
I SC/ I L
20
20-50
50-100
100-1000
1000

h <11 11 h 17 17h 23 23 h 35 35h

TDD

4.0
7.0
10.0
12.0
15.0

5.0
8.0
12.0
15.0
20.0

2.0
3.5
4.5
5.5
7.0

1.5
2.5
4.0
5.0
6.0

0.6
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5

0.3
0.5
0.7
1.0
1.4

PQ Mitigation
Reactive and Harmonic
Demand
Active
Filter
Passive
Filter

Voltage sag and

Swell

Dynamic Voltage
Restorer
Tap changing

PQ Mitigation
Voltage Unbalance
Static Power balancer
Redistribution of single-phase
loads equally
to all phases (Utility level).
Load Balancing (Plant level)

Voltage Flicker
Distribution static VAR
compensator

PQ Mitigation
Transient
Disturbances
Surge Arrester
Isolation
transformer
Active/Passive
Filter