Power Quality

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 Definition
 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standard
IEEE1100
“The concept of powering and grounding sensitive electronic
equipment in a manner suitable for the equipment.”

 “ Power quality is a set of electrical boundaries that allows a piece of

equipment to function in its intended manner without significant loss of
performance or life expectancy. ”

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Terminology
 Bonding —Intentional electrical interconnecting of conductive parts to ensure
common electrical potential between the bonded parts
 To connect conductive parts
 Grounding

 Capacitance —Property of a circuit element characterized by an insulating

medium contained between two conductive parts
 Coupling —Process by which energy or electrical noise in one circuit can be
transferred to another circuit that may or may not be electrically connected to
it
 Crest factor —Ratio between the peak value and the root mean square
(RMS) value of a periodic waveform
 Distortion — Qualitative term indicating the deviation of a periodic wave
from its ideal waveform
 Distortion factor — Ratio of the RMS of the harmonic content of a periodic
wave to the RMS of the fundamental content of the wave, expressed as a
percent.
 Total harmonic distortion (THD)
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 Figure 1: Crest factor for sinusoidal waveform Figure 2: Crest factor for square waveform

Figure 3: Waveform with distortion

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  Flicker — Variation of input voltage sufficient in duration to allow visual
observation of a change in electric light source intensity
f=

 Form factor —Ratio between the RMS value and the average value of a
 periodic waveform
 Frequency —Number of complete cycles of a periodic wave in a unit time,
usually 1 sec
 Ground electrode —Conductor or a body of conductors in intimate contact
with earth for the purpose of providing a connection with the ground
 Ground grid— System of interconnected bare conductors arranged in a
pattern over a specified area and buried below the surface of the earth
 Ground loop— Potentially detrimental loop formed when two or more
points in an electrical system that are nominally at ground potential are
connected by a conducting path such that either or both points are not at the
same ground potential.

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  Ground ring —Ring encircling the building or structure in direct contact
with the earth
Depth 2.5 ft  20 ft of bare copper  smaller than #2 AWG.

6 Figure 4: AWG of different wires

  Grounding —Conducting connection by which an electrical circuit or
equipment is connected to the earth or to some conducting body of
relatively large extent that serves in place of the earth.

Figure 5: Bonding and grounding of equipment

 Harmonic —Sinusoidal component of a periodic wave having a frequency
that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency
 Harmonic distortion —Quantitative representation of the distortion from a
pure sinusoidal waveform.
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 Impulse —Traditionally used to indicate a short duration
overvoltage event with certain rise and fall characteristics
 Inductance —Inductance is the relationship between the
magnetic lines of flux (Ø) linking a circuit due to the current
(I) producing the flux
 Inrush — Large current that a load draws when initially turned
on
 Interruption —Complete loss of voltage or current for a time
period.
 Isolation — Means by which energized electrical circuits are
uncoupled from each other.
Two-winding transformers
 Linear loads —Electrical load which in steady-state operation
presents essentially constant impedance to the power source
throughout the cycle of applied voltage.
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• Noise —Electrical noise is unwanted electrical signals that produce
undesirable effects in the circuits of control systems in which they occur.
• Nonlinear load —Electrical load that draws currents discontinuously or
whose impedance varies during each cycle of the input AC voltage waveform

Figure 6: Noise in 480-V Figure 7: Nonlinear current drawn

circuit due to switching resonance by fluorescent lighting loads.

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  Notch —Disturbance of the normal power voltage waveform
lasting less than a half cycle

Figure 8: Notch and noise produced at the Figure 9: Periodic function of period T
converter section of an adjustable speed drive

 Periodic —A voltage or current is periodic if the value of the

function at time t is equal to the value at time t+ T, where Tis
the period of the function.
 Power disturbance —Any deviation from the nominal value
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of the input AC characteristics.
  Power factor (displacement) —Ratio between the active
power (watts) of the fundamental wave to the apparent power
(voltamperes) of the fundamental wave
 Power factor (total) —Ratio of the total active power (watts)
to the total apparent power (voltamperes) of the composite
wave, including all harmonic frequency components

Figure 10: Displacement power factor

 Recovery time —Interval required for output voltage or
current to return to a value within specifications after step load
11 or line changes
  Ride through —Measure of the ability of control devices to
sustain operation when subjected to partial or total loss of
power of a specified duration.

Figure 11: Voltage sag Figure 12: Voltage swell

 Sag —RMS reduction in the AC voltage at power frequency
from half of a cycle to a few seconds’ duration. Figure
1.10shows a sag lasting for 4 cycles
 Surge —Electrical transient characterized by a sharp increase
12 in voltage or current
  Swell —RMS increase in AC voltage at power frequency from
half of a cycle to a few seconds’ duration
 Transient —Sub-cycle disturbance in the AC waveform
evidenced by a sharp, brief discontinuity of the waveform

Figure 13: Motor starting transient voltage waveform

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 30/07/2015
Critical load Devices and equipment whose failure to
operate satisfactorily jeopardizes the health or safety of
personnel, and/or results in loss of function, financial
loss, or damage to property deemed critical by the user
Distributed generation (DG) DG typically refers to
units less than 10 megawatts (MW) in size that are
interconnec14ted with the distribution system rather
than the transmission system
Ferroresonance An irregular, often chaotic type of
resonance that involves the nonlinear characteristic of
iron-core (ferrous) inductors
Interharmonic (component) A frequency component
of a periodic quantity that is not an integer multiple of
the frequency at which the supply system is designed
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to operate (e.g., 50 or 60 Hz)
 Islanding Refers to a condition in which distributed
generation is isolated on a portion of the load served
by the utility power system
Shield As normally applied to instrumentation cables,
refers to a conductive sheath (usually metallic)
applied, over the insulation of a conductor or
conductors, for the purpose of providing means to
reduce coupling between the conductors so shielded
and other conductors that may be susceptible to, or
which may be generating, unwanted electrostatic or
electromagnetic fields

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 Who all are concerned about PQ?
Industrial consumers
Electric utility
Load equipment suppliers
Consumer-Awareness

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 Power Quality Issues

Figure 14
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 Power frequency disturbances
Power system transients
Power system harmonics
Grounding and bonding
Electromagnetic interference
Radio frequency interference
Electrostatic discharge
Power factor

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 Power Frequency Disturbances
Deviation of the power system fundamental frequency
from it specified nominal value

Large Frequency variations

Figure 15:
Faults on the bulk power transmission system
A large block of load being disconnected
Large source of generation going off-line
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 Power Reserve

Figure 16: Power Reserve

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 Apparent issues

• Time deviation of clocks ?

• Motor speed
• Variation of magnetic flux?
• Under-frequency tripping –large large-scale
blackout
• (49.5 Hz –generator under-frequency relay)
• Distributed generation (ROCOF) detect
islanding

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 Power System Transients

Impulsive transient

Oscillatory transient

Long-Duration Voltage Variations

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 Impulsive Transients
sudden, non–power frequency change in the steady-
state condition of voltage, current, or both that is
unidirectional in polarity
normally characterized by their rise and decay times

Figure 17 :Lightning stroke

current impulsive transient.

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 Figure 18: Current of a multiple stroke, with 11 return strokes

conduct for quite some distance along utility lines

excite the natural frequency of power system circuits
and produce oscillatory transients

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 Oscillatory transient
a sudden, non–power frequency change in the steady-
state condition of voltage, current, or both, that
includes both positive and negative polarity values

Parameters
300 and 900 Hz.
1.3 to 1.5 pu
0.5 and 3 cycles

Figure 19: Oscillatory transient current caused

by back-to-back capacitor switching
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 It is described by its spectral content (predominate
frequency), duration, and magnitude
Type Frequency Component Duration
High-frequency greater than 500 kHz microseconds
transients
Medium-frequency 5-500 kHz Microseconds
transient
Low-frequency less than 5 kHz Milliseconds
transient

Figure 20: Low-frequency

oscillatory transient caused by
capacitor bank energization.
34.5-kV bus voltage

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 Long-Duration Voltage Variations
Root-mean-square (RMS) deviations at power
frequencies for longer than 1 min
Over-voltages or Under-voltages
Causes
Load variations on the system
Switching operations
Elimination
Static VAR Compensator
Shunt Capacitor
Series capacitor

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 Power System Harmonics

Figure 21: Voltage and current of a linear load Figure 22: Voltage and current of a non-
linear load

28 Figure 23(a): Production of a symmetrical complex waveform (b) Harmonic

order
 Susceptibility Criteria: Causes & Effects

(b) Criteria for equipment immunity

Figure 24 (a):Criteria for equipment susceptibility

 The ability of the equipment to perform in the installed

environment is an indicator of its immunity
 If the equipment immunity contour is outside the power quality
boundary, then the equipment should function satisfactorily
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  The objective of any power quality study or solution is to ensure
that the immunity contour is outside the boundaries of the power
quality contour
 Make the power quality contour smaller so that it falls within the
immunity contour
 Make the immunity contour larger than the power quality contour

Figure 25: (a) Volts–hertz immunity Figure 25: (b) Volts–hertz–notch depth immunity
30 contour for 460-VAC motor contour for 460-V adjustable speed drive
 Treatment Criteria
It may be more practical to treat the subcomponent
than the power quality for the complete machine

Figure 26: Localized power

quality treatment
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 Power Quality: Interdependence
Two or more machines that could operate satisfactorily
by themselves do not function properly when operating
together in a power system
Causes
Voltagefluctuations
Waveform notching
Ground loops
Conducted or radiated electromagnetic interference
Transient impulses

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 Power Quality Weak Link
A single component can render the entire machine
extremely susceptible
Examples….?

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 Stress-Strain Criteria
Rigid power systems can usually withstand a higher
number of power quality offenders than weak systems.

Addition of such loads might make the power system

unsound and unacceptable for sensitive loads

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 PQ Vs Equipment Immunity
The object is then to a create a balance
By matching the immunity index of a piece of
equipment with the power quality index, we can arrive
at a balance where all equipment in the power system
can coexist and function adequately

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 Equipment Immunity Indices
• High immunity : Motors, transformers, incandescent lighting,
heating loads electromechanical relays
• Moderate immunity: Electronic ballasts, solid-state relays,
programmable logic controllers, adjustable speed
drives
• Low immunity: Signal, communication, and data processing
equipment; electronic medical equipment

Power Quality Indices

• Low power quality problems : Service entrance switchboard, lighting

power distribution panel
• Moderate power quality problems : HVAC power panels
• High power quality problems: Panels supplying adjustable speed
drives,
elevators, large motors
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