DRPT2008 6-9 April 2008 Nanjing China

Zero-Sequence Harmonics Current Minimization Using Zero-Blocking Reactor and Zig-Zag Transformer
Qipeng Song, Zhongdong Yin, Jinhui Xue and Lixia Zhou

Abstract--In the distribution power system, the third harmonics of zero-sequence caused by nonlinear loads usually result in high-voltage distortion levels throughout the facility, neutral conductor overloading, motor heating, transformer heating, increased losses, and excessive harmonic injection onto the utility supply system. This paper presents a novel method for minimizing the zero-sequence harmonics by using zero-sequence blocking reactor (ZSBR) and Zig-Zag transformer. Zig-Zag transformer is a special connection of three-phase transformers windings. The ZSBR is also a special connected transformer, whose three windings are wounded in the same core. The ZSBR has zero reactance for positive and negative-sequence components but giving three times of self-reactance for zerosequence reactance. The ZSBR placed in series with the source provides high zero-sequence impedance while the Zig-Zag transformer placed parallel with the load provides low zerosequence impedance. Thus, the zero-sequence harmonics currents tend to flow through the Zig-Zag transformer instead of the source, and the purposes of eliminating harmonic is gained. In this paper, an analysis is carried out; simulations and laboratory tests are used to evaluate the performance of the ZigZag transformer and ZSBR under ideal and non-ideal power conditions. The simulation and laboratory test results indicate that the combination of ZSBR and Zig-Zag transformer as filter is a better and effective way to attenuate the neutral current, which also provides an innovational way to improve power quality. Index Terms-- harmonic; neutral current; nonlinear loads; power quality; simulation; zero-sequence blocking reactor; ZigZag transformer

common power system problems include [5][6][8][9]: 1) Overloaded neutral conductors 2) Overheated distribution transformers 3) High neutral-to-ground voltage (Vn-g) 4) Poor power factor 5) Distortion of the voltage waveform supplying these loads. Third harmonic is most serious for nonlinear loads. The current of integer multiples 3rd are regarded as zero-sequence current. Zero-sequence current flowing in the neutral conductor of the three-phase four-wire distribution power system is three times of the zero-sequence components of each phase current. It causes the main power quality problems, so it is very necessary to find ways to minimize the zero-sequence harmonic current. II. METHODS TO ATTENUATE THE NEUTRAL HARMONIC CURRENT There are two basic ways to attenuate the neutral current: passive filter and active filter. Passive filter as a small investment, high efficiency, simple structure, maintaining the advantages of convenience, is widely used in the main means of harmonic suppression [11][13]. The traditional passive filter remove the neutral harmonic current by provided for a parallel low harmonic impedance pathway (series capacitor resonant inductor) in system, shown in Fig.1.
IS

I. INTRODUCTION

Ih

IDE use of non-linear loads such as personal computers, monitors, laser printers, variable speed drives, UPS systems and other electronic equipment have led to harmonics being a major issue in the electrical industry today. Commercial and industrial power distribution systems designed for the old, linear-style loads are simply no longer suitable for servicing these non-linear, harmonic generating loads - especially when found in high densities. Some
This work was supported by electric railway project of North China Power Grid (SGKJ[2007]102 ) Qipeng Song, Zhongdong Yin, Jinhui Xue and Lixia Zhou are with Key Laboratory of Power System Protection and Dynamic Security Monitoring and Control under Ministry of Education (North China Electric Power University), Beijing, 102206 (e-mail: laoguai2002@sohu.com)

I NS

IF I NL

Fig.1. Passive filter remove the neutral harmonic current

Its characteristic is decided by the ratio of filter impedance and system impedance. So it has the following drawbacks: - Be prone to be influenced by system parameters; -Can only remove several specific harmonics, and may amplify some of the harmonic; -When harmonic current increases, making the filter easy overload;

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-Capacitor parameters changes along with the dielectric of aging, and the filtering effect significantly decreased. Due to the above-mentioned shortcomings of passive filter, with the continuous development of power electronics technology, the application of APF has catch peoples attention. It uses controllable power semiconductor devices to inject current to the network, the current is equal in amplitude and contrast in phase with original harmonic current, leading the total harmonic current to zero, realize the purposes of realtime compensation harmonic current[1][2][12]. Its performance advantages: -with adaptive function; -can also achieve the harmonic and reactive power compensation; -Because it can track power grids frequency changes, so it is not affected by the network impedance, it is not easy to resonate with power networks impedance; Although Active Filters performance of compensation is better than passive filter, its circuit topology, control complexity, high cost, low reliability, limiting its application. With the objective to reduce or to eliminate the zero sequence currents circulation this paper uses an electromagnetic configuration with a three-phase three-leg core in which the windings are connected in zigzag. Under normal conditions of operation the zig-zag transformer requires only a small power loss in the windings and core. III. BASIC THEORY Zig-Zag transformer is a special connection of three singlephase transformers windings or a three-phase transformers windings [3][4]. The circuit connection is as shown in Fig. 2(a). In the three-phase four-wire distribution power system, the three-phase zero-sequence currents ( ia 0 , ib 0 and ic 0 ) have the same amplitude and the same phase, and they can be represented as (1) ia 0 (t ) = ib 0 (t ) = ic 0 (t ) The neutral current in (t ) is the sum of three-phase zerosequence currents, and it is represented as (2) in (t ) = 3ia 0 (t ) Because the turn ratio of the transformers windings is 1:1 in Fig. 2, the input current flowing into the dot point of the primary winding is equal to the output current flowing out from the dot point of the secondary winding. So, we have (3) iza (t ) = izb (t )

Fig.2. Zig-Zag transformer. (a) Circuit connection and (b) phase diagram
Utility Voltage
iLa

i Lb
iLc iza i zb i zc

Load

ZS

Zz

Zig Zag Transformer

Z sn

isn

i zn

iLn

Z Zn

Fig.3.The system configuration of three-phase four wire distribution power system with the Zig-Zag transformer

Fig.4. The zero-sequence equivalent circuit

izb (t ) = izc (t )

(4) (5)

izc (t ) = iza (t )

IV. ANALYSIS OF ZIG-ZAG TRANSFORMER IN THETHREEPHASE FOUR-WIRE SYSTEM Fig.3.shows the system configuration of the Zig-Zag transformer applied in the three-phase four-wire distribution power systems. In Fig. 3, Z Ln is the impedance of neutral conductor between the load and the Zig-Zag transformer, Z Sn is the impedance of neutral conductor between the utility and the Zig-Zag transformer and ZS is the impedance between the utility and the Zig-Zag transformer. The current flowing through the Zig-Zag transformer is only the zero-sequence

Equations (3)(5) indicate that three-phase currents flowing into three transformers must be equal. This means that the ZigZag transformer can supply the path for the zero-sequence current. Fig. 2(b) shows the phase diagram of Fig. 2(a). From Fig. 2(b), it can be found that the voltage across the transformers winding is of the phase voltage of the threephase four-wire distribution power system.

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component, and the zero-sequence equivalent circuit of Fig. 3 is shown in Fig. 4. This consists of two zero-sequence sources, . In the practical three-phase four-wire industry distribution power system, the unbalanced utility voltages may occur frequently due to the unequal load distribution of the upstream in each phase or the abnormal phase change even when the loads are balanced. The vs0(t) is a zero sequence voltage source caused by the unbalanced utility voltages. Assuming the thee-phase voltages ( van (t ) ,
Fig.5. The winding arrangement of ZSBR

vs0 (t) and iL0 (t)

vbn (t ) , vcn (t ) )are unbalanced, the zero-sequence voltage

can be expressed as[7]:

1 vs 0 (t ) = (van (t ) + vbn (t ) + vcn (t )) 3

(6)

iL0 (t) is the zero-sequence current source, and it contains the unbalanced fundamental load currents and zero-sequence of harmonic load currents , and it can be derived as
1 iL 0 (t ) = (vLa (t ) + vLb (t ) + vLc (t )) 3
(7)

So this paper presents a novel method to avoid this problem, it is to insert a zero-sequence blocking rector (ZSBR) between the utility and the Zig-Zag transformer. The impedance of the ZSBR is Z z , shown in Fig. 3. The winding arrangement of ZSBR is shown in Fig.5.The ZSBR is also a special connected transformer, whose three windings are wounded in the same core [10]. Thus, the coupling coefficient can be assumed as unity and mutual reactance is equal to self reactance. It has zero reactance for positive and negative-sequence components but giving three times of self-reactance for zero-sequence component. In (9), the denominator can be changed to ( Z Sn + Z S + Z zn ) + Z z and Z z >> ( Z Sn + Z S + Z zn ) , greatly
reducing the zero-sequence current i ''sn (t ) caused by unbalanced utility voltages vs 0 (t ) . Thus, the zero-sequence current can only flow between the load and the zig-zag transformer, but not the utility, perfectly realizing the function of zig-zag transformer to attenuate the zero-sequence current.

In Fig.4, Z zn is zero-sequence impedance of the Zig-Zag transformer. The effects of vs0 (t) and iL0 (t) to the neutral current of the utility side after using the Zig-Zag transformer can be analyzed by using the superposition theory. For considering the effect of iL0 (t) , vs0 (t) should be assumed to be a short circuit in Fig. 4. Then, the utility side neutral current i 'sn (t ) caused by iL0 (t) can be expressed as

V. SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS UNDER EMTDC/PSCAD Simulations based on EMTDC/PSCAD under different utility and load conditions are made to verify the performance of the Zig-Zag transformer and ZSBR in the application for attenuating the neutral current of the three-phase four-wire distribution power system. The parameters used in the computer simulation are shown in Table I. The load in the following computer simulation is single phase rectifier with a load of capacitor (C) and resistor (R) connected in parallel. In general, the input power stage of computer related equipment could be regarded as this kind of load. The current of singlephase rectifier contains rich harmonics, such as 3th, 5th, 7th, etc. orders. Because only the steady state is considered in this paper, the start time of computer simulation is 500 ms in the following simulation. Table1
MAJOR PARAMETERS USED IN THE SIMULATION

i 'sn (t ) =

Z zn iL 0 (t ) (Z Sn + Z S ) + Z zn

(8)

Equation (8) indicates that the magnitude of the utility side neutral current caused by iL 0 (t ) will be reduced after applying the Zig-Zag transformer. If is Z zn educed or is Z S increased,

i 'sn (t ) in the utility side can be further attenuated.

For considering the effect of vs 0 (t ) and iL 0 (t ) should be assumed to be an open circuit in Fig. 4. The neutral current of the utility side caused by can be expressed as

i ''sn (t ) =

1 vs 0 (t ) ( Z Sn + Z S ) + Z zn

(9)

Equation (9) shows that the Zig-Zag transformer supplies a path for the zero-sequence current flowing between the utility and the Zig-Zag transformer. However, the impedance of the utility system, the Zig-Zag transformer and the neutral conductor are very small in most of the three-phase four-wire distribution power systems. This implies that a significant neutral current will be generated after applying the Zig-Zag transformer even if under a very small unbalanced utility voltages. This significant neutral current may result in the burn-down of the Zig-Zag transformer, the neutral conductor and the distribution power transformer. It violates original intention of the filter.

Utility voltage

220V 50HZ 0.05 0.1mH 0.01 0.1mH 0.01 0.1mH 0.002 0.01mH 0.002 10mH 1000 8000f

Zsn ZLn Zs Zzn Zz R C

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A. Zig-zag Transformers Performance under balanced Utility Voltages

B. Zig-zag Transformers Performance without ZSBR under Unbalanced Utility Voltages

The simulation results of the Zig-Zag transformers performance under the balanced nonlinear loads is shown in Fig. 6. The current harmonic spectrums are shown in Fig.7. The loads are three same single-phase rectifier loads and the dominant harmonic current of single-phase rectifier is the zero-sequence current. In Fig. 7, the 3th harmonic current is decreased from 0.617A to 0.01A after applying the Zig-Zag transformer. The neutral current on the utility side is very small and only 1.18% of that on the load side. This result shows that the Zig-Zag transformer has the expected performance for attenuating the neutral current effectively under balanced utility conditions. Moreover, the THD (total harmonic distortion) of the utility current is reduced from 276.7% to 187.14% because the 3rd harmonic current is attenuated by the Zig-Zag transformer.

Fig.8. Simulate results of phase A under the unbalanced nonlinear loads

Fig.9. Current harmonic spectrums

Fig.6. Simulate results of phase A under the balanced nonlinear loads. (a) Load current (b) utility current (c) zig-zag transformer current (d) utility side neutral current (e) load side neutral current (same to the following fig.8, 10.). (Ordinate: I/A; Abscissa Ordinate: T/S)

Fig.7. Current harmonic spectrums (a) Load current spectrums (b) Utility current spectrums (c) zig-zag transformer current spectrums (same to the following fig.9, 11.).

In the practical three-phase four-wire industry distribution power system, the unbalanced utility voltages caused by the unequal load distribution in each phase or the abnormal phase change may occur frequently. Since the unbalanced threephase voltages contain a zero-sequence voltage, 2 volts zerosequence voltage was added to utility in the simulation. From the simulation results, we can see even if so small a zerosequence voltage, it can generate a significant fundamental component flows between the utility, the neutral conductor on the utility side and the Zig-Zag transformer. This coincides with the above analysis that the use of Zig-Zag transformer in an unbalanced three-phase four-wire distribution power system will induce a significant unexpected neutral current. As shown in Fig.8. (d)(e), the neutral current on the utility side is as high as 40 A, and that is 6 A on the load side. The neutral current of the utility side becomes larger, and that is more than six times of that on the load side. The above results show that the neutral current and phase current of three-phase four-wire distribution power system under the unbalanced utility voltages becomes larger after applying the Zig-Zag transformer. At the same time, the current flowing through the Zig-Zag transformer is also as high as 42 A. These results are very consistent to (9).

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C. Zig-zag Transformers Performance with ZSBR under Unbalanced Utility Voltages From the analyses of above, we can known that the unbalanced utility voltages, which may cause the neutral current after applying the Zig-Zag transformer to become larger than that before applying the Zig-Zag transformer, is

the load side; the THD of the utility current is reduced from276.7% to 187.9%. That is to say, the zero-sequence current is mostly flowing between the zig-zag transformer and the load. VI. LABORATORY TESTS A series laboratory tests had carried out to verify the accuracy of the theoretical analysis and simulations. Topas 2000 Power Quality Analyzer was used to measure voltage and current waveforms. From it we can more clearly see the effect of the zigzag transformer in suppressing zero-sequence harmonic current. Three single-phase rectifiers were used in the experiment and the loads were light boxes and capacitors connected in parallel. The following is the wiring diagram and results of the experiment.

depended on the impedances of Z S , Z zn and Z Sn . In some papers an inductor is suggested to be inserted into the neutral conductor on the utility side to reduce the neutral current on the utility side. However, this may cause following problems: -the creation of an impedance grounded 4-wire system prohibited by then National Electrical Code (NEC). -over- and under-voltages created by neutral reference shift when loads are unbalanced. So, here, we insert a ZSBR between the utility and the zig-zag transformer, it has only zero-sequence impedance Z z (shown in Fig.4 and Table1). It takes off the impact of unbalance voltage and intensify the effect of the Zig-Zag transformer for attenuating the neutral current.

Fig.10. Simulate results of phase A under the unbalanced nonlinear loads

Fig.12.Experiment equipments installation and wiring diagram

Fig.13. Phase current waveforms of the utility side before and after the zig-zag transformer and ZSBR were installed

Fig.11.Current harmonic spectrums

From Fig.10.11, We can see clearly that the performance of combination of zig-zag transformer and ZSBR under unbalanced voltage is as well as that of zig-zag transformer under balanced voltage. Under the same unbalanced voltage as B, the neutral current on the utility side is only 1.2% of that on

Fig.14. Phase current harmonic spectrums of the utility side before and after the zig-zag transformer and ZSBR were installed.

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filter for the neutral conductor, in Proc. IEEE IAS, vol. 1, 2002, pp. 64 69. P. P. Khera, Application of Zig-Zag transformers for reducing harmonics in the neutral conductor of low voltage distribution system, in Proc. IEEE IAS, vol. 2, 1990, pp. 10921096. Hurng-Liahng Jou; Jinn-Chang Wu; Kuen-Der Wu; Wen-Jung Chiang; Yi-Hsun Chen; Analysis of zig-zag transformer applying in the threephase four-wire distribution power system, Power Delivery, IEEE Transactions on, Volume 20, Issue 2, Part 1, April 2005 Page(s):1168 1173.

[3] [4]

Books:
Fig.15. Neutral current waveforms of the utility side before and after the zigzag transformer and ZSBR were installed. [5] [6] [7] Wang Zhao an, Yang Jun, Liu Jinjun. Harmonic suppression and var compensation [M]. Beijing: China Machine PRESS.1998 Xiao Xiangneng. Analysis and Control of Power Quality. China power press.2004.2 Li Guangqi. Transient stability analysis of power system. XIAN JIAOTONG UNIVERSITY. Water and electricity power Press.1984

Papers from Conference Proceedings (Published):

[8] Fig.16. Neutral current harmonic spectrums of the utility side before and after the zig-zag transformer and ZSBR were installed. Halasz, S.; Csonka, G.; Hassan, A.A.M., Sinusoidal PWM techniques with additional zero-sequence harmonics, Industrial Electronics, Control and Instrumentation, 1994. IECON '94., 20th International Conference on, Volume 1, 5-9 Sept. 1994 Page(s):85 - 90 vol.1 P. A. Dahono, R. E. Widjaya, Syafrudin, and Qamaruzzaman, A practical approach to minimize the zero-sequence current harmonics in power distribution systems, in IEEE Proc. Power Conversion Conf., vol. 2, Aug. 1997, pp. 683686. Syafrudin, M.; Hadzer, C.M.; Sutanto, J., Zero-sequence harmonics current minimization using zero-blocking transformer and shunt LC passive filters, Power System Technology, 2002. Proceedings. PowerCon 2002. International Conference on, Volume 1, 13-17 Oct. 2002 Page(s):116 - 120 vol.1. I.Volkov Prof,Dr, Universal Harmonic Filter LINEATOR new approach to harmonic mitigation 10th International Conference on Harmonics and Quality of Power. Proceedings (Cat. No.02EX630), 2002, pt. 2, p 743-7 vol.2. C. A. Quinn, N. Mohan, and H. Mehta, A four-wire, currentControlled converter provides harmonic neutralization in three-phase, four-wire systems, in Proc. IEEE APEC, 1993, pp. 841846. Mahamad, N.; Hadzer, C.M.; Masri, S., Application of LC filter in harmonics reduction, Power and Energy Conference, 2004. PECon 2004. Proceedings. National 29-30 Nov. 2004 Page(s):268 - 271

[9]

Fig.15, 16 shows the zero-sequence neutral current is remarkably decreased after the zig-zag transformer and ZSBR are installed. The results of the experiments are very consistent to the theoretical analysis and simulation. VII. CONCLUSIONS
In todays three-phase four-wire distribution power systems, the over-load of the neutral conductor is a more and more serious problem. Although this problem can be solved effectively by using the three-phase four-wire active power filter, the use of three-phase four-wire active power filter is limited due to its high cost and control complexity. The combination of Zig-Zag transformer and ZSBR provide a popular solution for this problem due to its low cost, easy installation and free maintenance. The analysis, simulation and laboratory tests results in this paper show that: (1) The Zig-Zag transformer can effectively attenuate the neutral current and zero-sequence harmonic currents on the utility side under the balanced utility voltages; (2) The utility side neutral current becomes larger under the unbalanced utility voltages after applying the Zig-Zag transformer; (3) The insertion of ZSBR in the utility side can improve the undesired increasing of the neutral current and the zero-sequence harmonic currents of the utility side after applying the Zig-Zag transformer under the unbalanced utility voltages and the distorted utility voltages with zerosequence harmonic components; (4) The insertion of ZSBR in the utility side can increase the attenuated rate of the utility side neutral current.

[10]

[11]

[12] [13]

IX. BIOGRAPHIES
Qipeng Song was born in Ruzhou, china, in 1981. From 2000 to 2004, he studied in Zhengzhou University, Henan province, and received the B.S. Then he worked in High-voltage Apparatus Research Institute in Pingdingshan as an assistant engineer for two years. Since 2006, he has been in North China Electric Power University, where he is a post-graduate student in School of Electrical Engineering, mainly engaging in research of power electronics, power quality and their control systems.

VIII. REFERENCES
Periodicals:
[1] P. N. Enjeti, W. Shireen, P. Packebush, and I. J. Pitel, Analysis and design of a new active power filter to cancel neutral current harmonics in three-phase four-wire electric distribution systems, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 30, pp. 15651572, 1994. K. Wada and T. Shimizu, Mitigation method of 3rd-harmonic voltage for a three-phase four-wire distribution system based on a series active

[2]

Zhongdong Yin was born in Wuhan, China, in 968. He received the B.S., M.S.,and Ph.D. degrees in Wuhan University of Hydraulic and Electric Engineering, Wuhan, China, in 1991, 1993 and 1997, respectively. From 1997 to 1999, he was with Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronic Technology, Tsinghua University, China, as a postdoctoral research associate. He was with Industry Electronics and System Laboratory, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan, as a senior researcher from 1999 to 2002 and a senior researcher in Advanced Technology R&D Center, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Japan, from 2002

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to 2003. Since 2004, he has been with North China Electric Power University, where he is currently a vice professor in School of Electrical Engineering. His research interests include power electronics, FACTS, distributed generation, power quality and their control systems. Jinhui Xue was born in Zhangjiakou, china, in 1982. From 2002 to 2006, he studied in Yanshan University, Hebei province, and received the B.S. Since 2006, he has been in North China Electric Power University, where he is a post-graduate student in School of Electrical Engineering, mainly engaging in research of power electronics, power quality and their control systems. His research intertest is connection-grid of renewable energy.

Lixia Zhou was born in Xingtai, China, in 1982. She received the M.S. degree in North China Electric Power University, Beijing, China in 2006. Since 2006, she has been with North China Electric Power University, where she is currently a Ph.D candidate in School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Her research interests include reactive power theory, power quality and their control systems.

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