Harmonic Losses in Induction Motors Caused by

Voltage Waveform Distortions

H. Mõlder1, T. Vinnal1, V. Beldjajev2
1
Department of fundamentals of Electrical Engineering and Electrical Machines, Tallinn University of Technology
2
Department of Electrical Drives and Power Electronics, Tallinn University of Technology

ABSTRACT: This paper focuses on supply voltage with reactive power capability of 25 kvar are installed.
dependence on power factor correction for industrial The capacitors are controlled according to power factor
facilities. The influence on power factor to supply cos. A simplified schematics of such system is shown
voltage level, harmonic distortions, harmonic power in Fig. 1.
losses and particularly induction motors harmonic
losses is analyzed. The measurement results of voltage
harmonics spectrum in industrial 0.4 kV power
system are presented. Practical measurements and
calculations of high level THDU harmonic losses of
an induction motor are analyzed.
1. Introduction
Harmonics and distortions in electrical power system
Fig. 1. Simplified measurements schematic.
have had an influence to current and voltage waveforms
for decades. Nowadays the number of devices that cause Connecting a capacitor to an electrical circuit causes a
harmonic distortions is increasing rapidly. These loads rise in voltage and THDU level. Voltage rise causes a
use diodes, silicon controlled rectifiers (SCR), power rise in consumable active power Ptot. This issue was
transistors, thyristors etc. Due to increase of such measured and results are presented in Fig. 2.
devices, the generation of harmonics and power losses
are becoming more fundamental issues. These losses
lead both to growth of the operating costs and to an
additional heating in the components which in turn
reduces their operational life. In recent papers [3], [4]
the problem of evaluating the operating costs of
harmonic losses to the electric utility have been deeply
addressed with reference to deterministic scenarios. The
cost of replacing the equipment prior to the end of
equipment rated operating life was not included in the
cost estimate but it was recognized as a potential addi-
tional cost to be taken into account.
There are many methods of calculating the harmonic
losses. This paper focuses on generation of harmonics in
Fig. 2. Consumable active power and average supply voltage
industrial facilities, where the energy savings on account of characteristics in dependance of THDu. P1 and U1 –capacitor
harmonics is most effective. Many articles [5], [6] that battery switched off; P2 and U2 – capacitor battery switched on.
describe additional losses in industrial applications, do not
take the character of voltage harmonics in consideration. During the first experiment, the supply voltage U1 and
2. Measurements consumable active power P1 at different THDU levels
were measured. First experiment was carried out
The measurements were carried out in an Estonian without capacitor bank. Second experiment was carried
enterprise where the majority of loads are electrical out with a capacitor bank switched on and respectively
motors. For compensation of reactive power produced the supply voltage U2 and consumable active power P2
by these motors, 12 automatically controlled capacitors were measured. The time difference between switch on

978-1-4244-6981-9/10/$26.00 ©2010 IEEE

and switch off of the capacitor is one second. This is to U1 – voltage with capacitor bank turned off (nominal
measure the characteristics at constant power level, that voltage), V;
usually does not vary in such short time. Both experi- U2 – voltage with capacitor bank turned off, V.
ments were carried out many times in order to minimize
the arbitrary errors. Harmonic losses in capacitor bank we can calculate
The total harmonic levels in the factory with as [6]:
switched on and switched off capacitor bank are pre- h max
sented in Fig. 3. 'Pc 3ZC ¦ h(U h ) 2 tgG h (3)
h h1
Uh/U1 (%) with capacitors no capacitors Where:
7,00
 – angular frequency of system;
6,00 C – capacitance of the compensation capacitors used;
5,00 U – capacitor voltage;
4,00
tgh – loss factor at the harmonic of order h.
3,00
The measurement results of active losses of the 12-stage
2,00 controlled capacitor cabinet rated 260 kvar show that
1,00 the active losses were 0.9 kW while the losses in the
0,00
capacitors were only 0.6 kW.
3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 h The harmonic power losses 'Ph can be obtained as
follows:
Fig. 3. Measurement results of harmonic voltages in the
system with capacitors and without capacitors. 'Ph 'Ptot  'Pu  'Pc (4)
3. Calculations Table 1. Measurement results of additional power losses in the
PCC of industrial consumer
As can be observed in Fig. 2, the consumable active
power Ptot increases when capacitor bank is switched System with System without
Parameter capacitors capacitors
on. This Ptot can be considered as a loss that can be
conditionally divided in three components as shown in Ptot (kW) 509 482
Fig. 4. Q (kvar) 150 327
TPF 0.94 0.77
cosM1 0.98 0.78
THDu (%) 6.9 4.8
THDI (%) 26.3 11.2
Umean (V) 234.3 230.7
IL (A) 752 834
Ptot (kW) 27 0
Pc (kW) 0.9 0
Fig. 4. The change in consumable active power P [kW] with Pu (kW) 7.7 0
condenser bank switched on (P1) and switched off (P2). Ph (kW) 18.4 0
Ptot consists of three major components:
The results of performed measurements are shown in
'Ptot 'Pu  'Pc  'Ph (1) Fig. 2 and Fig. 3. When the total harmonic distortions
THDu value increases from 4.8% to 6.9%, then har-
where monic losses Ph increase by 18.4 kW or by 3.8% from
PU – losses due to voltage rise; the total power demand Ptot. As can be seen, the
PC – losses in the capacitor bank; harmonic losses in the consumer low voltage power
Ph – harmonic losses due to higher THDU. systems are remarkable and even higher than expected.
Total harmonic losses 'Ph can also be divided into
§ U ·
'Pu ¨¨ Ptot ˜ 2 ¸¸  Ptot (2) three major parts:
© U1 ¹
'Ph PCa  PT  PM (5)
where
Ptot – active power, kW; where
 PCa – harmonic losses in three-conductors cables; phase shift of the harmonics that is contrary to motor
phase. The influence of harmonics to motor torque is
PT – harmonic losses in the transformer; described in Table 2.
PM – harmonic losses in the induction motors. For example, in 3-phase system the phase shift 5-th
harmonics I5 can be calculated as follows:
Additional harmonic losses in separate parts of an elec-
tric system (transformers, motors, cables, capacitors) I a5 I a 5 sin 5Zt
can be calculated with the following formulae [2], [5], I b5 I b 5 sin 5(Zt  120q) (9)
[6]:
I a5 I b 5 sin 5(Zt  240q)
   
h max
PCa s ¦ I R  3ZhtgG V
h h
Ca
h h 2
(6) The fifth harmonics is a negative sequence harmonics
h h1 [1], [2].
where Table 2. Harmonic Order vs. Phase Sequence
h
RCa – alternating current resistance of one conductor
Harmonic order Sequence
of the cable;
1, 4, 7, 10, 13, 16, 19 Positive
CCa – capacitance per core;
2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20 Negative
h – harmonic order.
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 Zero
Losses in transformers, caused by harmonics can be
obtained as follows.
We assume, that the reactive energy compensators that
mT are installed to industrial loads produce harmonics
§V ·
 
h max h max h
1
3 ¦ I h RTh  PCO ¦ ¨¨ V
2
PT 1
¸
1 ¸
(7) numbers 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, that counteract to motor
h h2 h h2 © ¹ h 2,6 torque causing this way parasitic torque. In order to
achieve a rated torque (to overcome parasitic torque),
where motors have to consume more energy from the grid [7]–
I h – current harmonic of order h; [12].
From the experiment, that was carried out in the
RTh – equivalent resistance of the transformer at the factory, could be seen, that the harmonic losses in the
harmonic of order h; motors are greater than is usually thought. An experi-
h ment was carried out to prove it. The motor losses were
V – voltage harmonic of order h;
h measured with the increased level of THDu and a
PCO – core losses at the funtamental frequency; formula (8) was used to calculate them.
mT – numerical coefficient. 4. Measurements of a three-phase AC Motor for
Losses in electrical motors, caused by harmonics can be additional harmonic losses.
obtained with: For the experiment, a three phase motor with rated
2 mM power of P = 2.2 kW, U = 380 V was used. The motor
h max
§Vh · h h max
§V h · 1
3 ¦ ¨¨ h ¦ ¨¨ 1 ¸¸
was loaded with a P = 1.1 kW DC generator and the
PM ¸¸ RM  PCO
1
(8)
h 0,6 load resistance was connected to the output of the
h h 2© Z M ¹ h h 2© V ¹
generator. For harmonics generation a three phase
where thyristor based converter was connected to the motors
Z Mh – equavalent impedance of the motor at the input. Autotransformer was used for control of the
supply voltage. The schematics of experimental set-up
harmonic of order h; is shown in Fig. 5.
h
R M – equvalent resistance of the motor at the The aim of the experiment was to measure the
harmonic of order h; change in consumable active power Ptot, when the
mM – numerical coefficient. THDU level is higher than usual. Mechanical load of a
motor was held at constant level. The composition of
The power losses are significant in transformers and generated harmonics is shown in Fig. 6.
motors, but neglectable in cables [2], [13]–[18]. An example of harmonics created by different
As can be seen in Fig. 3, the major part of all thyristor firing angle settings is shown in Fig. 7. As this
harmonics constitute even components of harmonics, angle is increased, the thyristor converter current
especially numbers 3, 5, 7 and 13. Some harmonics becomes less sinusoidal, causing increase in current
cause parasitic torque of a motor that weakens the harmonics Ih. The non-sinusoidal current, passing through
normal torque of a motor [1]. This is caused by the resistors (see Fig. 5) after autotransformer in turn causes
non-sinusoidal voltage drop U which is seen as voltage
distortion THDU increase (see Fig. 7).
It was determined that a rise in THDU causes the rise of
consumable active power Ptot. The additional losses are
described in Fig. 8.
If we look at the percentage of harmonic losses in the
motors then we see that result is quite form to of the enter-
prise's overall industrial picture. For example, THDU = 7%
of the motors come to power harmonics Ph = 2.86%.

Fig. 8. Consumed active power Ptot change of a motor

at different THDU.

If we have industrial system THDU | 7%, then total har-

Fig. 5. The schematic of the experimental set-up.
monic losses comes to 3.8% (also cables and trans-
former losses included).
In order to check if the formula (8) takes into account
such as the fifth harmonic of the motor parasitic torque,
we compare the results of the calculation of real experi-
mental data.
For the calculations a simplified equivalent circuit is
used (see Fig. 9). The circuit consists of active harmonic
resistance Rh and harmonic inductance Lh.

Fig. 9. Simplified equivalent circuit of a motor.

Motor parameters that were used for the calculations:
x motor rated power: 2.2 kW;
x rated voltage 380 V;
1
x PCO core losses at the fundamental: 2.40%;
x mT = 2, numerical coefficient.
Fig. 6. Supply voltage harmonics composition at different Table 2. Resistance and inductance at fundamental and
THDU levels. harmonics of the system component
Order h Rh, [] Lh, [mH] XL, [] Z, []
1 2.01 20.14 6.33 6.64
5 6.51 9.03 8.51 10.71
7 7.04 8.91 19.60 20.82
11 8.80 8.79 30.38 31.63
13 9.42 8.74 35.70 36.92

As can be seen in Fig. 10, the measured and calculated

Fig. 7. Current harmonic levels (%) at different THDU .
(using (8)) results coincide to each other. It was
assumed, that 5th order harmonics contradicts to main
motor torque and the formula (8) does not consider this
fact. One possible explanation of the coincidence of
measured and calculated results, is the fact, that some
harmonics have positive influence to motor torque that
compensates the parasitic torque. As the difference
between positive and negative torque almost compen-
sate each other, is the result product very small and is
not seen in the measurements.
Fig. 10. Characteristic of motor harmonic losses, both
measured and calculated.
5. Conclusions
1. The measurements show that capacitor banks that
are connected for reactive power compensation can
cause a rise in voltage level, consumed active power
and harmonic losses.
2. A practical on-site measurement method for estimat-
ing harmonic losses is introduced. The measure-
ment results show that harmonic losses in motors
are remarkable and are around 3…4% of total
power consumed in industrial consumer 0,4 kV
power systems.
3. The experiments show that formula (8) is usable for
calculating additional harmonic losses. It is assumed,
if a harmonic with a negative action will become
more vital, then the reliability of formula (8) will be
under question.
References
[1] C. Sankaran “Power quality” Crc press, 2002, pp. 76, 80.
http://www.crcnetbase.com/isbn/9780849310409
[2] Fuchs E. F. Power Quality in Power Systems and Electri-
cal Machines. Elsevier Acad. Press, 2008, pp. 121
[3] E. Emanuel. The Effect of Harmonic Randomness Upon
Temperature Rise of Electrical Component. Third Interna-
tional Conference of Power Systems Harmonics in Power
Systems, Sept, 1988, Nashville, Indiana (USA), pp. 257–
262.
[4] E. Emanuel, M. Yang, D. J. Pileggi. The Engineering
Economics of Power Systems Harmonics in Subdistribu-
tion Feeders A Preminary Study, Trabs. On Power
Systems, vol 6, 1991, pp, 1092–1098.
[5] G. Carpinelli, P. Caramia, E. Di Vito, A. Losi, P. Verde.
Probabalistic Evaluation of the Economical Damage due
to Harmonic Losses in industrial Energy System. Power
Delivery, IEEE Transactions on. Apr. 1996. pp. 1021–
1031.
[6] G. Carpinelli; P. Caramia; E. Di Vito; A. Losi; P. Verde
The Effects of Power System Harmonics on Power System
Equipment and Loads. IEEE Trans. Power Apparatus and
Systems, Vol. PAS-104, Sept 1985. pp. 2555–2563.
[7] M. Popescu, C. B. Rasmussen, E. TJE. Miller, M. McGilp,
Effect of MMF Harmonics on Single-Phase Induction
Motor Performance – A Unified Approach. Industry
Applications Conference, 2007. 42nd IAS Annual Meeting.
Conference Record of the 2007 IEEE. Sept. 2007. New
Orleans, LA. pp. 1164 – 1170.
[8] H. Naitoh, T. Haneyosthi, F. G. G. De Buck. Losses and
Parasitic Torques in Electric Motors Subjected to PWM
Waveforms. IEEE transactions on industry applications,
vol. ia-1 5, no. 1, january/february 1979. pp. 47–53.
[9] K. Oberretl. Losses, torques and magnetic noise in induc-
tion motors with static converter supply, taking multiple
armature reaction and slot openings into account” IET
Electr. Power Appl., Vol. 1, No. 4, July 2007. pp. 517
[10] A. A. Jimoh (M), R. D. Findlay (ISM). Parasitic torques
is saturated induction motors” IEEE Transactions on Energy
Conversion, Vol. 3, No. 1, March 1988. pp. 157–163.
[11] M. S. Erlicki. „Parasitic torques of saturated asynchro-
nous motors” Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/TPAS.
1972.293300, IEEE Journals. 1972. pp. 1501–1505.
[12] R. C. Dugan. Electrical Power Systems Quality,
McGraw-Hill, 1996, pp. 124, 155.
[13] G. Carpinelli, P. Caramia, E. Di Vito, A. Losi, P. Verde.
Probabilistic evaluation of the economical damage due to
harmonic losses in industrial energy system. IEEE Transac-
tions on Power Delivery, vol. 11, issue 2, April 1996, pp.
1021–1031.
[14] Verde, P. Cost of harmonic effects as meaning of standard
limits. Proceedings of the 9-th International Conference
on Harmonics and Quality of Power, vol 1, 1-4 Oct. 2000,
pp. 257–259.
[15] M. T. Glinkowski, S. Kalinowsky, S. Salon. Induction Motor
Loads With Adjustable Speed Drives and Their Effect on
the Power System/9-th ICHQP/2000/USA, pp. 602–607.
[16] E. E. Fuchs, D. J. Roesler, M. A. S. Masoum. Are Harmonic
Recommendations According to IEEE and IEC Too
Restrictive? IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery,
Vol. 19, No. 4, October 2004. pp. 1263.
[17] T. Key, J.-S. Lai. Effectiveness of Harmonic Mitigation
Equipment for Commercial Office Buildings. IEEE
Transactions on Industry Applications, Vol. 33, No. 4,
July/August 1997. pp. 2224–2250.
[18] K. Piel Jonathan , J. C. Daniel. Economic and Electrical
Benefits of Harmonic Reduction Methodes in Commer-
cial Facilities. Eaton Electrical Inc., USA, July 2004.
Authors:
Heigo Mõlder was born in Estonia
1982. He received the B.S. degree from
Tallinn University of Technology,
Tallinn, in 2005 and the M.S. Tallinn
University of Technology in 2007.
Now he is Ph.D. Student of Tallinn
University of Technology. Since 2007,
he has been working in the Depart ment
of fundamentals of Electrical Engineering and Electrical
Machines, Tallinn, Estonia, where he is researcher. His special
fields of interest are electrical and magnetic fields.
E-mail: heigo.molder@ttu.ee
 Toomas Vinnal was born in Tallinn
in 1959. He received Dipl. Eng. in
mechanical engineering in 1982 and
M.E. in electrical engineering in 1992
from TTU. He has been working in
Tallinn University of Technology as
researcher in the field of electric power
supply and electric power economy.
Currently he is a Ph.D. student in TTU.
His area of studies is related to volt-
age quality, reactive power compensa-
tion and power supply optimization of industrial companies.
E-mail: toomasvinnal@hot.ee
Viktor Beldjajev received his B.Sc.
degree in Electrical Drives and Power
Electronics in 2007 and M.Sc. degree
in the same field in 2009 in Tallinn
University of Technology. In 2009 he
also received his Dipl. Ing. degree in the
field of Automatics in Giessen-Fried-
berg University of Applied Sciences
in Germany. Since 2009 he has been
studying for his PhD at Tallinn Univer-
sity of Technology and also teaching
Industrial Robotic.He has gained diverse experience working in
several companies in Germany – EAAT GmbH, LUST Antriebs-
technik GmbH, and ABB Flexible Automation GmbH. His re-
search interests include energy quality problems in the
industrial field of Smart Grids.
E-mail: vbeldjajev@gmail.com