POWER QUALITY IN ENERGY

CONVERSION SYSTEMS.
BY:
A.SIREESHA

C.S.ROHINI

IIIB.TECHEEE

IIIB.TECHEEE

Email:siree276@yahoo.com

Email:rohinics_270@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT
Power electronics and power quality
are irrevocably linked together as we strive to

harmonicsandmethodstominimizeharmonics.
Finally we discuss various IEEE Standards in
caseofpowerqualityproblems.

advance both board areas. With the dramatic

increases over the last20 years in energy

Introduction

conversion Systems utilizing power electronic

Thetermpowerqualitymeans

devices,wehaveseentheemergenceofpower

different things to different people. To utility

qualityasamajorfieldofpowerengineering.

suppliers,powerqualityinitiallyreferstoquality

From a Power quality impact view point,

of service delivered as measured by the

applications such as Switched Mode Power

consumers ability to use energy delivered

Supplies, adjustable speed drives, and FACTS

desired manner. This conceptual definition

areoftencauseforconcern.Fromutilitysupply

included such conventional utility planning

system view point, these converterbased

topicsasvoltage andfrequency regulationand

systems can lead to Operational and life

reliability.

expectancy problems for other equipment ,

possibly not owned or operated by the same

party.Itwasfromhisinitialperspectivethatthe

qualityalsocentersaroundtheirabilitytousethe

fieldofpowerqualityemerged.

deliveredenergyinthedesiredmanner,butthe

The endusers definitions of Power

topics considered can be much more specific

Inmostcases,thesamedevicesand

andincludemagnitudeanddurationofdifferent

systemsthatcreatePowerqualityproblemscan

eventsaswellaswaveshapeconcerns.

alsobeusedtosolvepowerqualityproblems."
Problems solving applications such as active

I.Categoriesofpowerquality:

harmonicfilters,Uninterruptiblepowersupplies

1. Steady statevoltage magnitudeand

allutilizethesameswitchingdevicetechnology

frequency,

astheproblemcausingapplications.

2.Voltagesags,

3.Grounding,
4.Harmonics,

Inthispaperwefirstdiscusswhatpower

5.Voltagefluctuationsandflicker,

qualityisandthenvariousCategoriesofpower

6.Transientsand

quality .Harmonics is identified as potential

7.Monitoringandmeasurement.

power quality problem. We discuss effects of

Voltagesagsareprobably
II.Reactivepowerandharmoniccompensation:

the most problematic of all power quality

1.Typicalharmonicsproducedbyequipments

problems.Atthistime,anumberofstandards

2.Harmonicfilters

making bodies, including IEEE ANSI and

ICE,areworkingonstandardsrelatedtosag.

1.STEADYSTATEVOLTAGEFREQUENCYAND Inmostcases,sagsaregenerallyagreedtobe
MAGNITUDE:

more serve and outside of scope of ANSI

C84.1andtheyaretemporaryinnaturedueto

Frequencydeviationscan

the operation of system protection elements.

affectpowerelectronicequipment

Becausetheelectricalsystemisacontinuous

that use controlled switching devices unless

electrical circuit, faults in any location will

thecontrolledsignalsarederivedfromasignal

havesomeimpactonvoltagesthroughoutthe

thatisphaselockedwiththeappliedvoltage.

networkofcourse,areasclosertothefaulted

In most cases, phaselocks are used, or the

area will sea greater voltage sag due to the

convertersconsistofuncontrolledrectifiers.In

fault than other, more (electrically) remote

either case, frequency deviations are not a

areas. Sags can originate any where in a

measure cause of problems. Steady state

system, but are more pronounced in utility

voltageregulationisamuchmorepronounced

distribution systems because of greater

issuethatcanimpactawiderangeofendues

exposureoflowvoltagesystemstothecauses

equipment in most cases, utility supply

ofshortcircuits.

companiesdoaveryeffectivejobofproviding

Mostutilitycompaniesimplement

carefullyregulatedvoltagewithinpermissible

distribution system protection in what is

ranges. Equipment manufactures typically

known as a fuse saving methodology.

offerequipmentthatistolerantofsteadystate

Following figure shows a typical over head

voltage deviations in the range of

distribution system with two feeders being

+10%.virtually all equipment, especially

suppliedfromthesamesubstationtransformer.

sensitiveelectronicequipment,canbeeffected

Each primary circuit has its own automatic

byvoltagedeviatingoutsidethe+10%range

circuitrecluse(ACR)andshowsonefusedtap.

inmostcasesovervoltagesabove+10%lead

Voltagesagsareprobablythemostcommon

to loss of life, usually over time ;excessive

powerqualityproblem that isgiventothe

overvoltagescanimmediatelyfailequipment.

end user by the supplying utility. However,

Undervoltagesbelow10%usuallyleadto

improperequipmentgroundingisresponsible

excessive current demands, especially for

for the vast majority of power quality

equipment that as controlled out put like an

adjustablespeeddrivecontrollingamotortoa
constantspeed/torquepoint.
2VoltageSags:

problemsonthecustomerssideofthemeter.
Thegroundloopproblemisasignificant
issuewhenpower,communications,andcontrol
signalsall originates indifferent locations,but
come together at a common electrical point.
Transient include in one location can travel
through the created ground loop, damaging
equipment along the way. Improper neuralto
groundconnectionswillcreateanoisyground
reference that may interfere with lowvoltage
communicationsandcontroldevices.Excessive
neuraltogroundvoltagemaydamageequipment
that is not properly insulated or that has an

3Grounding:

inexpensivepowersupply.

Groundingofequipment was
originally conceived as a personal safety
issue.However, the presence of an electrical
conductorthatiszeropotentialhasbeenwidely
used in many power electronic and
microprocessorscontrolledloads.
Fromapowerqualityperspective,
impropergroundingcanbeconsideredintothree
broadcategories:

Inmostcasespowerelectronic
equipment is considered to be the cause of
harmonics. While switching converter of all
types produces harmonics because of the non
linear relationship between the voltage and
currentacrosstheswitchingdevices,harmonics
are also produced by a large variety of

1.

groundloops,

2.

improper
connections,and

3.

4.Harmonics:

conventionalequipmentincluding:

neuraltoground

Excessiveneuraltogroundvoltage.

powergenerationequipment

(slotharmonics),
induction motors (saturated

magnetics),

transformer (overexitation

Transients,especiallyinthevoltage
supply, can create numerous power quality

leadingtosaturation),

problems.Themajorsourceoftransientsis

magneticballast fluorescent

lampsarcing),and
Ac electric arc furnaces

(arcing).

1.

lightning,

2.

utility circuit switching and

faultclearing,

Allthesedeviceswillcauseharmoniccurrentsto
flow,andsomedevicesactuallydirectlyproduce

3.

capacitorswitching,and

voltageharmonics.

4.

Loadswitching.

Lightningeventscancreatethemostsevere
Any ac current flow trough

overvoltages,butthesetransientsdecay

any circuit at any frequency will produces a

Rapidly,atypicallightningtransienthasdecayed

voltagedropatthatsamefrequency.Harmonic

tozeroinafewhundredmicroseconds,

currents, which are produced by power

Butitcanreachapeakmagnitudeofseveral

electronicloads,willproducevoltagedropinthe

hundred percent if not controlled with surge

powersupplyimpedanceatthosesame

suppressiondevices.

Harmonic frequencies.Besause of this

interrelationship between current flow and

voltage drop,harmonic currents created at any
location will distort the voltage in the entire
supplycircuit.
5.VoltageFluctuationsandFlicker:
Voltage flickers is not
directlycaused byelectronic loadsexcept in
the largest of applications. Voltage
fluctuations, and the corresponding light
flicker due to them, are usually created by
large power fluctuations at frequencies less
thanabout30Hz.
Inmostapplications,only
1.Largedcarcfurnacesandwelders,
2.Reactivepowercompensators,and
3.Cycloconverters.
6.Transients:

7.MonitoringandMeasurements:

Themostbasiccategoryof
powerqualitymeasurementtoolisthehandheld
voltmeter.Itisimportantthatthevoltmeterbea
truerms meter, or erroneous readings will be
obtained that incorrectly suggest low or high
voltages when harmonics are present in the
signal.Itisespeciallyimportanttohavetruerms
capability when measuring currents; voltage

distortionisnottypicallysevereenoughtocreate

as the fundamental frequency

large errors in the readings of nontruerms

component.

meters.

2.

II.REACTIVE

POWER

Unbalanceinvoltagesuppliedto
the production of evenorder

and

harmonicsand,insomeextreme

HARMONICCOMPENSATION:

cases, establish a positive

Theprevioussection

feedback situation leading to

specifically identified harmonics as a potential

stabilityproblems.

powerqualityproblem.Inthatdiscussionitwas

3.

Arcingloads,particularlyinthe

pointed out that nonlinear loads such as

steel industry, generate

adjustablespeeddrivescreateharmoniccurrents,

significant harmonics of all

and when these supply systems, harmonic

orders,includingharmonicsthat

voltagesareproduced.

arenotintegermultiplesofthe
powerfrequency.
4.

Cycloconverters

produce

dominant harmonics that are

integer multiples of the power
1.

frequencies that are not integer

Typical Harmonics produced By

multiples of the power

Equipment:

frequency. In some control

schemes, the amplitudes of the

Intheory,mostharmoniccurrents

sidebandcomponentscanreach

followthe 1/nrule where nistheharmonic

damaginglevels.

currents inthreephase systemsare not integer

multiplesofthree.Finally
, in theory, harmonic currents are not usually
evenorderintegermultiplesofthefundamental.
In practice, none of these statements are
completelytrueandusinganyofthemexactly
couldleadtoeitheroverorunderconservatism
depending on many factors. Consider the
followingexamples:

1.

switchingmodepowersupplies,
such as found in televisions,
personal computers, etc., often
produceathirdharmoniccurrent
thatisnearlyaslarge(8090%)

2HarmonicFilters:

Harmonicfilterscomeinmany
shapeandsize.Ingeneral,harmonicfiltersare
shunt filters because they are connected in
parallel with power system and provide low
impedancepathstogroundforcurrentsatoneor
more harmonic frequencies. For power
applications, shunt filters are almost always
more economical than series filters for the
followingreasons:
1.

Seriescomponentsmustberated
forthefullcurrent,includingthe
power frequency components.

Sucharequirementleadstolarge

2.

components sizes and therefore

IEEE5191992establishthepoint

costs.

ofcommoncoupling,orPCC,asthepointatwhich

Shuntfiltercomponentsgenerally

harmonic limits shall be evaluated. In most cases

mustberatedforonlypartofthe

(recall that IEEE5191992 is a recommend

system

practice),thispointwillbe:

voltage.

Such

requirements lead to smaller

component size and therefore
cost.

Current Distortion Limits For General Transmissio

160kV

Shunt filters are designed in three basic

categoriesasfollows:

1.

singletunedfilters,

2.

multipletunedfilters,and

3.

Dampedfilter.

Maximum Harmonic Current Distortion Percent OF IL

Individual Harmonic Order h (odd harmonics)
Isc/Il
TDD

< 11

11 < h < 17

17 < h < 23

< 50
2.5

2.0

1.0

0.75

0.3

> 50
3.75

3.0

1.5

1.15

0.45

Insupplysystem ownedbytheutility
company,

The closest electrical point

to the endusers premises,
and

As in (2), but further

restricted to points where
othercustomersare

(or could be in the future)

provided

Inthiscontext,IEEE5191992harmonic
limitsaredesignedforanentirefacilityandshould
not be applied to individual pieces of equipment
withoutgreatcarebecausethe
PCCisusedtoevaluateharmoniclimitcompliance,
system strength(impendence) is measured at this
point and is described in terms of available(three
III.IEEESTANDARDS:

phase) short circuit current. Also the end users

23 < h <

maximumaveragedemandcurrentisevaluatedatthis

IEEE 5191992 limits for current and voltage

point

harmonicshasledtothereduction,elimination

.Maximumdemandisevaluatedbasedononeof

and prevention of most harmonic problems.

thefollowing:

Other power quality phenomena, like

The maximum value of

groundings,sags,andvoltageflicker,aremost

the15or30minuteaverage

often completely unrelated to power electronic

demand,

systems.Inreality,advancesinpowerelectronic

history,or

considering

usually

circuits and control algorithms are making it

the previous 12 months

more possible to control these events and

billing.

minimizethefinancialimpactsofthemajorityof

.The connected KVA or

powerqualityproblems.

horse power, perhaps

multiplied by a diversity
factor with electric

BIBLOGRAPHY:

service.
1.

ANSISTDC84.1
1995,

Electric

Power System and

EquipmentVoltage
Rating(60Hz).
2.

IEEE STD 493

1997,

IEEE

Recommended
Practice for the

Design of Reliable

CONCLUSION

Industrial

Commercial power

In this paper, various power quality

and

systems.

phenomenahavebeendescribed,withparticular
focus on the implications on power electronic

3.

IEEE

converters and equipment. While one popular

Recommended

opinion blames power electronic equipment

Practice

forcausingmostpowerqualityproblems,itis

Grounding

quite clear that power electronic converter

Industrial

systems can play an equally important role in

commercial Power

reducingtheimpactofpowerproblems.Whileit

Systems.

trues that power electronic converter s and

systemsarethemajorcauseofharmonicrelated
problems, the application(in general terms) of

for

of
and