RESEARCH PROJECT

ASDs Batt er y

System Compatibility
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Vol. 2, No. 4

EPRI Power Electronics Applications Center

December 1995

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In This Issue

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Electric Power Research Institute Power Electronics Applications Center

ASD research gets a big brake on the road to system compatibility. Thanks to a new consensus, the line between acceptable and unacceptable voltage tolerance gets nudged to benefit utility customers. Weeding confusion from the field of power quality, a new publication plows close to the corn.

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Motor Speed

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Current

Arshad Mansoor demonstrates the effect of a voltage sag on the speed, torque, and current of an ASD-driven motor.

Researchers brake for ASDs

The response of an adjustable-speed drive to voltage sags depends not only on the magnitude and duration of the sag but also on the type of industrial process the ASD is controlling. It might ride through the sag; it might trip and shut down the process. The effects of even a routine power disruption along the local grid is therefore of crucial importance to the industrial customers of an electric utility company. To better understand the effects of voltage sags on industrial processes, PEAC is expanding its ASD research to test the voltage ridethrough characteristics of ASDs in different process settings. To carry out the mission of Task 26, PEAC is relying upon support from sponsors of the first ASD research task (Task 1) to help develop a type of load simulator called a programmable dynamometer, something that would enable
See ASDs, page 3

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D. Rectors View

D. Steve Rector EPRI, Knoxville

System Compatibility
In August of 1986nearly ten years agothe Electric Power Research Institute created PEAC to conduct power quality research on behalf of sponsoring utilities. Who would have known then how consequential the discipline of power quality would be to the success of the electric utility industry? Ten years ago, it was rare for a utility to have a power quality program. Today, it is commonplace. Ten years ago, the line between acceptable and unacceptable power quality was virtually unknown. Today, utilities are teaming with standards groups in an attempt to understand and clarify these boundaries. When I think about how the utility industry has resolved time after time to better itself, a little Latin comes to mind: perspicacity. Perspicacity, acute insight and discernment, enabled the utility industry to transform the commotion of finger pointing into a coordinated effort to understand, solve, and even prevent power quality problems. And the System Compatibility Research Project has given our industry the means to do so. This issue of the System Compatibility Research News celebrates PEACs burgeoning enterprise to help utilities understand, mitigate (in the short-run), and ultimately to eliminate system incompatibilities. We have expanded the newsletter from two to four pages to report the effusion of research news from our laboratory, a further sign of the rapidly expanding importance of power quality. To get involved, just drop me a line at 423-974-8307 or email srector@msm.epri.com.

PEAC throws new CBEMA Curve to computer industry

The System Compatibility Research Project is leading to big changes in manufacturing standards for equipment like personal computers, cash registers, and fax machines. During the September 1995 meeting of a working group of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC), PEAC Laboratory Manager Doug Dorr presented a report on PEACs research into the tolerance of business equipment to electrical disturbances and data on the electrical environment in which business equipment operate. Dorrwho manages Task 19, a project designed to create new markets for system-compatible products lobbied successfully at the Milwaukee meeting to get the committee to adopt several PEAC recommendations for changes in the voltage-tolerance envelope of information technology equipment, known as the CBEMA Curve. (CBEMA stands for Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association, ITICs previous name.) The CBEMA curve shows the range of tolerance to electrical disturbances for a particular type of equipment. The standing curve is definitely obsolete, Dorr said of the CBEMA curve, which, over the years, has been adopted by manufacturers as a default industry standard. It doesnt reflect the performance of equipment anymore. Revision of the widely referenced CBEMA curve has been a major topic for the past five meetings of the ITIC working group, designated ESC-3. A new curve will be ready for a vote at the next meeting, which is in Orlando in February (1996), Dorr said. Personal computer designs meet this new curve. But ITIC wants to proceed cautiously so that all other types of information technology equipment meet it as well before they agree to it. The CBEMA curve was originally intended just to be a good indicator of what typical mainframe computers in the early 70s could actually tolerate, power quality-wise. Since that time, the curve has taken on a significance far beyond what was intended, and its being used as a specification for what equipment should stand. It was never intended for that and thats why it needs to be updated. Still unresolved is the question about moving the zero-voltage ride-through tolerance out to 20 milliseconds. Some manufacturers said during past meetings that they wanted to test some file servers and mainframes to be sure they can ride through a 20-millisecond voltage interruption. Before agreeing on 110 percent of nominal for events lasting longer than one-half second, the manufacturers want more testing for

high-voltage disturbances. After these issues are settled, a new industry standard will emerge. The significance to the average person isnt lost on Dorr. Most common disturbances that show up in our power quality surveys are within the boundaries of the proposed CBEMA curve. This means more power quality-compatible equipment designed to the new curve, fewer unhappy customers making calls to manufacturers, and fewer manufacturers complaining to utility companies. Everybody wins. Contact Doug Dorr at 4239748348, fax 4239748289, email ddorr@msm.epri.com.

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400 Old Voltage-Tolerance Boundary New Voltage-Tolerance Boundary Enhanced Voltage Tolerance Limit To Be Decided Approved Boundary Points Boundary Points Under Review

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Voltage-Tolerance Envelope

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Duration of Disturbance in Cycles (c) and Seconds (s)

The area of voltage tolerance expands for computers and other office equipment as test results demonstrate that most computer equipment exceeds the original CBEMA curve created in 1978.

System Compatibility Research News

December 1995

ASDs, from page 1

researchers to determine how well ASDs in various process conditions ride through power disruptions. As with Task 1, PEAC engineer Dr. Arshad Mansoor is in charge of Task 26. The ASD controls the speed of the motor, Mansoor said, explaining the complexity of a process environment. Before applying the ASD, you need to know the process its running. Is it a pump application? A fan? Is it for plastic extrusion? Is it running a textile operation? Engineers and mathematicians use what is called a torque/speed curve to characterize different loads, Mansoor explained, adding that processes are some combination of constant torque and horsepower or variable torque and horsepower. Differences between drives also have to be considered. We arent testing motors. We are evaluating how ASDs maintain the processand how long they can maintain a processunder

Using parts from various Ford and Chevrolet automobiles, PEACs Ron Lambert fabricated a friction brake to load an induction motor during ASD testing.

voltage-sag conditions before they drop out, Mansoor said. What is needed now is to see how the type of process, whether a constanttorque or friction-load process, affects ASD tolerance to voltage sags. How does the response vary? Mansoor asked. Maybe for a pump type of process, the ASD can withstand a tencycle, 50 percent sag. Maybe for another, it can handle only two-cycle or 20 percent voltage sag. So, when were drawing the voltage-tolerance envelope to show how much disruption the equipment can tolerate, the ASD would be characterized according to the type of process it was controlling.

However, according to Mansoor, there many types of processes in the real world. As for the five-horsepower test setups used in previous testing, they tested ASDs for only one type of loada motor with an eddy-current brake, Mansoor said. The Task 26 test setup calls for something much more adaptable and sophisticated. With help from sponsors, PEACs engineers will build a programmable dynamometer that can expand the voltage-sag research begun on 17 types of ASDs in Task 1. It will enable researchers to program loads to simulate an array of processes for constant torque/constant horsepower and variable torque/ variable horsepower. The data collected will then inform torque/speed curves that will enable utilities to help their customers choose the right drive for a particular application. The innovative use of an old automotive brake system allowed investigators to simulate a friction- or constanttorque load on one of the original test setups. As Mansoor explained it, the disc brake showed us the performance of an ASD during and after a sag event, depending on a friction load, which is different from the eddy-current brake. With the disc-brake setup, the motor stops cold when the ASD driving it trips because the motor load has no inertia. The unique application of automobile disc brakes was engineered by Ron Lambert. The disc brake caliper, from a 1978 Chevrolet Chevette, was mounted on the friction load setup. The calipers and pads were connected to a 1976 Ford Mustang master cylinder controlled by a brake pedal from a 1932 Ford. Yes, a 32 Ford, Lambert said, because I had it and it would do the job. As for expanding PEACs ASD research, Mansoor noted that a programmable dynamometer is not something you buy off the shelf at Radio Shack. You have to build it, which will bring its own challenges. Contact Arshad Mansoor at 423974 8378, fax 4239748289, email amansoor@msm.epri.com.

Bridging the Gap

A new publication brings end users, solutions together
The inaugural issue of PEACs newest serial publication, PQTN Application, the third in a series of Power Quality Testing Network (PQTN) publications, is hot off the press. The new document series is designed to help electric utility customers solve and prevent power quality problems through the most effective applications of modern technologies. The idea for PQTN Applications grew out of increasing concerns in the utility industry over its customers need for how-to information. Each PQTN Application provides valuable technical information to end users, but the level of technical detail varies by subject. The language is tailored to utility customers to ensure comprehension. Utility end users want someone to talk to about their power quality problems, said Brad Connatser, PEACs technical writer. Applications offer an efficient compromise: They enable a utility representative to leave behind a reassuring voice after the initial meeting or telephone call. Connatser is ardent about the importance of clearly communicating to utility customers. Applications dont talk around complex subjects and they dont talk down to end users, but they do talk with the authority of our power quality experts, who do an incredible job researching solutions to power quality problems. Regardless of the present hype about the information superhighway, people are not so addicted to information that they will plow through a lot of technobabble to find the information they need to solve a problem, Connatser said. The new serial publication uses what Connatser calls the working vocabulary of the end user that is so vital for how-to documents. An Application can therefore guide the end user from complication to resolution, or at least to someone who can help the end user resolve a particular problem. The information in PQTN Applications comes directly from the results of the numerous tasks of the System Compatibility Research Project, as well as case studies from PEACs Power Quality Hotline, other PQTN laboratoSee PUBLICATION, page 4

System Compatibility Research News

December 1995

System Compatibility Highlights

PUBLICATION, from page 3

ries, and field investigations. This s Eliminating the Jitters in Computer diverse information is channeled and Monitors translated into how-to publications that s Sizing Single-Phase Uninterrupthelp utility end users bridge the gap ible Power Supplies between theory and application, Connatser said, explaining how the document got its name. PEAC started working with utilities in 1994 to develop an application guide that could be customized on request by a qualifying utility, even to the extent of changing the logo and color scheme to match the utilitys literature. This allows PEAC to be an invisible but significant part of a PEACs technical writer Brad Connatser interrupts his utilitys problemproofing of the first five PQTN Applications to inspect the solving efforts, printing plate of PQTN Application Number 1. Connatser said. It also enables the utility to For more information about customstrengthen its customer relationships by izing a batch of PQTN Applications, demonstrating to customers that the contact Brad Connatser, technical utility cares about their power quality writer, at (423) 974-8316; problems. Each PQTN Application focuses on a fax: (423) 974-8289. single topic. The first five issues tackle Sponsored by EPRI and its the following subjects: member utilities, the System Compatibility Research Project is a s Mitigating the Effects of Lineprogressive research effort to Current Unbalance on Adjustableimprove compatibility between the Speed Drives power system and end-use equips Avoiding Temporary Blackouts of ment and appliances. By sponsorHigh-Pressure Sodium Lamps ing a task of the project, utilities s Avoiding Temporary Blackouts of choose which equipment and Metal Halide Lamps appliances will be characterized. Utilities can finance their sponsorships through either a Tailored Collaboration Agreement or Cofunding Agreement with EPRI. All testing is conducted at PEACs Power Quality Test Facility or at other test facilities within the Power Quality Testing Network.
For more information about sponsoring a research task, contact Steve Rector, EPRI-Knoxville, or Gene Sitzlar, SC Research Project Coordinator, at 423-974-8288 or fax 423-974-8289.

Tom Key PEAC

This year, your system compatibility research program has made great progress. With individual utility support, we have investigated personal computers, light flicker, lighting interference, PLCs, and ASDs, among others. Task 8, the most flexible part of the program, allowed sponsoring utilities to look at HID lighting, lamp dimmers, ballast failures, and computer-generated harmonic loading of building wiring. The best news of all is that the program has brought together utilities and manufacturers with an unprecedented spirit of cooperation. To date, we have signed over 100 agreements with manufacturers to improve the compatibility of more than 200 different products. Standards groups are also participating in the program. The CBEMA article (page 2) illustrates how the results of our program are influencing computer tolerance design goals. At the NEMA ballast manufacturers meeting on the ASNI C62 standard, we proposed a limit and measurement method for flicker-free lighting. At the last meeting of the NEMA ASD manufacturers, your results lead to a motion to develop a ride-through tolerance envelope for ASDs. Are these efforts on target and meeting your power quality needs? Please send your comments to keytopq@aol.com or call 423-974-8336.

EPRI Power Electronics Applications Center 10521 Research Drive, Suite 400 Knoxville, Tennessee 37932 NL-106020
1995 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. Electric Power Research Institute and EPRI are registered service marks of the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. Printed with soy inks on recycled paper (at least 50% recycled fiber, including at least 10% postconsumer waste) in the United States of America.

Editor Gene Sitzlar Managing Editor Brad Connatser

System Compatibility Research News

December 1995

Photo by Lisa Wolfenbarger