Introduction to Power Quality

The presentation is based on material from following

sources
1. Introduction to Power Quality:Power Quality and
Harmonics A/Prof. Mohammad A.S. Masoum, CURTIN University of
Technology
2. Mark Stephens, Electric Power Research
Institute,Knoxville, Tennessee.
3. Presentations from FICCI-APQI technical sessions

To suit requirements of the course EEP 3204 : Power

Quality offered for M.Tech (EEE) with PE specialization
1
Purpose of this Presentation

• To understand the definition, propagation, causes and

classifications of power quality
• To introduce and study voltage sag including it’s
characteristics, causes, effects.
• Know about the different PQ standards in use.
• To perform voltage sag calculations and introduce
mitigation approaches

2
Overview

• Definition of Power Quality (PQ)

• Propagation of Harmonics
• Causes of Disturbances in PS
• Classification of PQ Issues
• Voltage Sag (Definition & Causes)
– Definition, Causes & Effects
– Characteristics
– Calculations
– Mitigation Techniques
• Summary

3
Definition of Power Quality

• Electric Power Quality is an important aspect of electric power

systems and electric machinery with direct impacts on efficiency,
security and reliability
• Despite many related papers, articles, and books, its definition has
not been universally agreed upon*
• Judging by the different definitions, "power quality" is generally
meant to express quality of voltage and/or the quality of current
• PQ can be defined variously as:
The measure, analysis and improvement of the bus voltage to
maintain a sinusoidal waveform at rated voltage and frequency.
Any power problem manifested in voltage, current, or frequency
deviations that results in failure or mal-operation of customer
equipment.

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Propagation of Harmonics in PS

Propagation of harmonics (generated by a nonlinear load)

in PS

5
Propagation of Harmonics in PS

Nonlinear loads
PQ disturbances Current harmonics
Magnetic Saturation

Voltage harmonics

6
Causes of Disturbances in PS

• Unpredictable Events (~60%): faults, lightning, resonance,

ferroresonance, and GICs. All utility related problems!
• The Electric Utility: Generation (maintenance, planning, capacity
and expansion constraints, scheduling), transmission (lightning,
flashover, voltage dips), distribution (voltage dips, spikes and
interruptions)
• The Customer (considerable portion): Includes harmonics
(nonlinear loads), poor power factor (highly inductive loads), flicker
(arc furnaces), transients ( switching, electrostatic discharge and
arcing), improper grounding, misapplication of technology…
• Manufacturing Regulations: Includes “lack of standards” and
“equipment sensitivity”

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Classification of Power Quality Issues

• Different classifications, each using a specific property to

categorize the problem.
• Some classify events as "steady-state" & "non-steady-
state" phenomena.
• Some (e.g., ANSI C84.1) use "duration of the event".
• Some (e.g., IEEE-519) use the wave shape (duration
and magnitude).
• Other standards (e.g., IEC) use the frequency range of
the event for the classification.

8
The magnitude and duration of events can also be used
to classify power quality events:

Magnitude-duration plot for classification of power quality events

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PQ Classification
by IEC

10
PQ Classification
by IEEE

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 Impulsive Transient Current Caused by
Lighting Strike, Result of PSpice simulation

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Low-frequency Oscillatory Transient Caused
by Capacitor Bank Energization

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Low-frequency Oscillatory Transient Caused
By Ferroresonance of a Transformer at No
Load, Result of Mathematica Simulation

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 Momentary Interruptions Due to a Fault

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Instantaneous voltage swell caused by a single line-to-ground fault
Voltage Sag Caused by a Single Line to
Ground Fault

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 Power Quality Problems - Causes

Results of a survey on the causes of power

quality problems. (Courtesy of Georgia Power Co.)
Ack: Electric Power Systems Quality , 2e, Dugan et al.

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Power Quality Evaluation Procedure

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 Developing PQ Metrics
For steady-state phenomena, the following attributes can be used:
■ Amplitude
■ Frequency
■ Spectrum
■ Modulation
■ Source impedance
■ Notch depth
■ Notch area

For non-steady-state phenomena, other attributes may be required:

■ Rate of rise
■ Amplitude
■ Duration
■ Spectrum
■ Frequency
■ Rate of occurrence
■ Energy potential
■ Source impedance
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Categories and Characteristics of Power System
Electromagnetic Phenomena

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Ack: Electrical Power Systems Quality,2e, Dugan et al
Categories and Characteristics of Power System
Electromagnetic Phenomena

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Ack: Electrical Power Systems Quality,2e, Dugan et al
 Transients
Transients are of two types: Impluse and Oscillatory

Impulsive transient - It is a sudden, non–power frequency change in the

steady-state condition of voltage, current, or both.

It is unidirectional in polarity (primarily either positive or negative).

Impulsive transients are normally characterized by their rise and decay

times, which can also be revealed by their spectral content.

A 1.2 *50-μs 2000-volt (V) impulsive transient nominally rises from zero to
its peak value of 2000 V in 1.2μs and then decays to half its peak value in
50μs .

The most common cause of impulsive transients is lightning.

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Transients

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 Transients
Oscillatory Transient

It is a sudden, non–power frequency change in the steady-state

condition of voltage, current, or both.

It includes both positive and negative polarity values.

It consists of a voltage or current whose instantaneous value changes

polarity rapidly.

It is described by its spectral content (predominant frequency),

duration, and magnitude.

The spectral content subclasses are:

High
Medium
Low frequency
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 Transients
HF: Primary Freq component
< 500khz mesd in MicroSec duration - Local sys response to Imp Tr

Med Freq: Primary Freq

component 5-500khz mesd in MicroSec duration - Back-to-back capacitor
energization

Low Freq: Primary Freq component

< 5khz mesd in MicroSec duration 0.3 to 50 ms - Cap Bank energization
(T&D)

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 Transients

Low-frequency oscillatory transient caused by capacitor bank

energization 34.5-kV bus voltage.
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 Transients

Low-frequency oscillatory transient caused by ferro-resonance of

an unloaded transformer.
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 Transients
It is also possible to categorize transients (and other disturbances)
according to their mode.

Basically, a transient in a three-phase system with a separate neutral

conductor can be either common mode or normal mode, depending on
whether it appears between line or neutral and ground, or between line
and neutral.

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 Voltage Variations
Long-Duration Voltage Variations

Long-duration variations encompass root-mean-square (rms)

deviations at power frequencies for longer than 1 min. It can be either
overvoltages or undervoltages.

OVERVOLTAGE
Increase in the rms ac voltage greater than 110 percent at the power
frequency for a duration longer than 1 min.
CAUSES
1.load switching (e.g., switching off a large load or energizing a
capacitor bank)
2. Incorrect tap settings on transformers can also result in system
overvoltages.
EFFECT
The overvoltages result because either the system is too weak for the
desired voltage regulation or voltage controls are inadequate.
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 Voltage Variations
UNDERVOLTAGE
Decrease in the rms ac voltage to less than 90 percent at the power
frequency for a duration longer than 1 min.

Due to switching events that are the opposite of the events that cause
overvoltages.

CAUSES
1.A load switching on or a capacitor bank switching off can cause an
under voltage until voltage regulation equipment on the system can
bring the voltage back to within tolerances.

2.Overloaded circuits can result in undervoltages

SUSTAINED INTERRUPTION
When the supply voltage has been zero for a period of time in excess of
1 min, the long-duration voltage variation is considered a sustained
interruption. This term has been defined to be more specific regarding
the absence of voltage for long periods. 30
SHORT DURATION VARIATIONS
This category encompasses the IEC category of voltage dips and short
interruptions.

Each type of variation can be designated as,

1.Instantaneous,
2.Momentary,
3.Temporary, depending on its duration .

CAUSES
1.Fault conditions
2.The energization of large loads which require high starting currents
3.Intermittent loose connections in power wiring.

Depending on the fault location and the system conditions, the fault can cause
either temporary voltage drops (sags), voltage rises (swells), or a complete
loss of voltage (interruptions).

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INTERRUPTION
An interruption occurs when the supply voltage or load current decreases to
less than 0.1 pu for a period of time not exceeding 1 min.

CAUSES
1.Power system faults
2.Equipment failures
3.Control malfunctions

The interruptions are measured by their duration since the voltage magnitude is
always less than 10 percent of nominal.

The duration of an interruption due to a fault on the utility system is determined

by the operating time of utility protective devices.

Instantaneous reclosing generally will limit the interruption caused by a non-

permanent fault to less than 30 cycles.

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Delayed reclosing of the protective device may cause a momentary or
temporary interruption.

The duration of an interruption due to equipment malfunctions or loose

connections can be irregular.

Figure shows such a momentary interruption during which voltage on one

phase sags to about 20 percent for about 3 cycles and then drops to zero for
about 1.8 s until the recloser closes back in.

Three-phase rms voltages for a

momentary interruption due to a
fault and subsequent recloser
operation.

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Sags (dips)

A sag is a decrease to between 0.1 and 0.9 pu in rms voltage or current at the
power frequency for durations from 0.5 cycle to 1 min.

Causes of Voltage sags

–Associated with system faults
–Energization of heavy loads
–Starting of large motors.

Figure shows typical voltage sag that can be associated with a single- line-to-
ground (SLG) fault on another feeder from the same substation.

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Voltage sag caused by an SLG fault. (a) RMS waveform for voltage 35
sag event. (b) Voltage sag waveform.
•Figure illustrates the effect of a large motor starting. An induction motor
will draw 6 to 10 times its full load current during start-up.

•In this case, the voltage sags immediately to 80 percent and then
gradually returns to normal in about 3 s.

• Note the difference in time frame between this and sags due to utility
system faults.

Temporary voltage sag

caused by motor starting.

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•Sag durations are subdivided into three categories such as,
•Instantaneous (0.5-30 Cycles)
•Momentary (30 Cycles-3sec)
•Temporary (3sec – 1 min)
Swells
•A swell is defined as an increase to between 1.1 and 1.8 pu in rms voltage
or current at the power frequency for durations from 0.5 cycle to 1 min.
•Swells are characterized by their magnitude (rms value) and duration

Causes of Voltage Swell

-Associated with system faults
–Energization of large Capacitor bank
–Switching off large load
–The severity of a voltage swell during afault co ndition is a function of
•Fault location
•System impedance
•Grounding
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38
Waveform Distortion
Steady-state deviation from a sine wave:
• DC Offset - Enforced by GIC and employment of rectifiers, forcing
even harmonics.
• Harmonics - Sinusoidal voltages or currents with frequencies that
are integer multiples of f0.
• Interharmonics - Their frequencies are not integer multiples of f0.
• Notching - A periodic voltage disturbance caused by line-
commutated thyristor circuits.
• Electric Noise - Unwanted electrical signals (<200 kHz), caused
by faulty connections, arc furnaces, electrical furnaces, power
electronic devices, control circuits, welding equipment, improper
grounding, turning off capacitor banks, adjustable-speed drives…

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Voltage Fluctuation and Flicker Important>>>

• Voltage Fluctuation - systemic variations of voltage

envelope or random voltage changes (0.9<Vmag<1.1),
classified into “step-voltage changes” & “cyclic or
random voltage changes”, caused by “pulsed-power
output”, “resistance welders”, “start-up of drives”, “arc
furnaces”, “drives with rapidly changing loads” and
“rolling mills”.
• Flicker - Continuous and rapid variations in the load
current magnitude which causes voltage variations. It is
most common causes of voltage fluctuations. May be
caused by an arc furnace.

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Power-Frequency Variations

Deviation of the power system fundamental frequency

from its specified nominal value (e.g., 50 or 60 Hz):
• If balance between generation and demand is not
maintained, frequency will deviate because of changes
in the rotational speed of electromechanical generators.
• The amount of deviation and its duration depends on the
load characteristics and response of the generation
control system to load changes.
• Transmission system faults can also cause frequency
variations outside of the accepted range for normal
steady-state operation of the power system.

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Voltage Sag
Definition of Voltage Sag
• Classified as short duration PQ events (e.g., short
duration reductions in Vrms).
• Defined by IEEE as “decrease in rms voltage at
power frequency for durations from 0.5 cycles to 1
minute” although they typically only last 1 min to a
few cycles.
• Classified as short interruptions, as the period
system is affected is shorter than a 3 minute
duration.
• Other standards (e.g., IEC) use the frequency range
of the event for the classification.
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 Voltage Sag Due to a Three-phase Short
Circuit Fault (Instantaneous Voltage in One
Phase)

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Voltage Sag Due to Induction Motor Starting

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Note

• The rms voltage is typically calculated every cycle or

half-cycle of the power system.
• We can conclude that magnitude and duration are the
main characteristics of voltage sag.
• However, the during-sag voltage also contains a rather
large amount of higher frequency components.
• It is important to note the difference between voltage sag
and voltage dip:
– North America states voltage dips as the amount nominal
voltage declines
– For example a voltage dip of 30% is the same as a voltage sag
to 70%.
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Voltage Sag
Causes of Voltage Sag
• Short interruptions and most long interruptions
usually originate in the local distribution network.
• However, voltage sag is much more of a “global
problem” than interruptions. It can be causes by
short-circuit faults hundreds of kilometers away in the
transmission system.
• Primary causes of voltage sags are (see figure next
page):
– Starting of large motors
– Energization of heavy loads (e.g., arc furnace).
– Transmission and distribution faults.
– Local starting faults.
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– Protection system faults.
– Load transferring from one power source to another.
Voltage sag causes and durations:
1) transmission faults, 2) remote distribution faults,
3) local distribution starting faults, 4) starting of large motors,
5) short interruptions, 6) fuses.

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Voltage Sag
Effects of Voltage Sag on Power Systems and
Equipment
• Generally speaking, electrical equipment work best under rated
V and will stop operating if V=0 for a certain period.
• For each equipment it is possible to determine how long it
operates after interruption by performing a simple test.
• The same test can be repeated for different voltage magnitudes
(e.g., 90%, 80%,…., 10% of Vrated).
• Connecting points >>>>> “Voltage-Tolerance Curve”.
• Equipment have different voltage-tolerance curves.

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Voltage-tolerance Curve (Requirement) for
Power Stations

49
 Voltage Tolerance Range of Various
Equipment

A voltage tolerance of “α ms, β%” implies that the equipment can

tolerate a zero voltage of “α ms” and a voltage of “β%” of the nominal
indefinitely.
50
 Voltage-tolerance curve was introduced by Thomas Key (1978) for
reliability of power supply to military installations >>> became well-
known when Computer Business Equipment Manufacturers Association
(CBEMA) used them >>>> CBEMA Curve
CBEMA Curve

51
52
 In 1996 CBEMA curve was replaced by the ITIC Curve, as
recommended by the Information Technology Industry Council.

ITIC Curve

53
Detrimental Effects of Voltage Sag on
Equipment and Power Systems
• Televisions - a black screen for up to a few seconds.
• Compact Disk Players - reset or just wait for a new command.
• Microwaves - loss of memory (settings).
• Desktop Computers - tripping >>> loss of unsaved work.
• Process Control Computers (e.g., of a chemical plant)- tripping
>>> leading to restarting procedures of 48 hours plus
sometimes very dangerous situations.
• Equipment - tripping when the rms voltage drops below 90%
for longer than one or two cycles.

54
Detrimental Effects of Voltage Sag on
Variable Speed Drives
• Drive controller (or protection)- detect the sudden change in
operating condition and trip.
• The drop in DC bus voltage (resulting from the sag) will cause
maloperation or tripping of the drive controller or the PWM
inverter.
• The increased AC current during the sag (or the post-sag over-
current) will charge the DC capacitor and enforce over-current
trip or blowing of fuses.
• The process driven by the motor will not be able to tolerate the
drop in speed or torque variations due to sag.
• After a trip (when the voltage comes back) some drives restart
immediately, some restart after a certain delay and others have
to be manually restarted.
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Voltage Sag
Voltage Sag Characteristics
Most common terms to define voltage sags are: sag magnitude,
sag duration, and phase-angle jump.

Voltage Sag Magnitude

• Main approaches to compute sag magnitude are from:
– rms voltage,
– fundamental voltage component, or
– peak voltage.
• These values can be computed over each cycle or half-cycle.
• As long as the voltage is sinusoidal, it does not matter which
approach is used.
• But, especially during voltage sag this is not the case.

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Sag Magnitude from

using a one-cycle window

Vrms

using a half -cycle window

Voltage Sag

1 N 2
Vrms = ∑ vi
N i =1 57
 Sag Magnitude from Vfun
2 t
V fun ( t ) = ∫ t −T v( τ )e jω0 τ dτ
T

Sag Magnitude using a half -

Voltage Sag
cycle window
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
 Sag Magnitude from Vpeak
max
V peak =0 < τ <T v( t − τ )

Sag Magnitude using a half -

Voltage Sag
cycle window
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Voltage Sag
Voltage Sag Duration
• Protection circuits require different fault-clearing time.
• Downstream faults on transmission are cleared faster than in
distribution, as differential and distance protection are used.
Fault clearing times (longer duration sags occur at lower voltage levels)

• These longer sags are due to faults in local distribution (due to

improper start of large induction motors). They are deeper and last
longer than remote distribution faults (due to current-limiting fuses
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clearing and Ztransformer btw the fault and load).
• Figure 1 contains the waveform of the starting current of a 50-hp
induction motor with a rated full-load current of 60 A at 460 VAC.
During the first half of the cycle, the asymmetrical current attains a
peak value of 860 A. When the circuit feeding the motor has high
impedance, appreciable voltage sag can be produced.Fi gure 2
shows a 100-kVA transformer feeding the 50-hp motor just
described.If the transformer leakage reactance is 5 % what is the
voltage sag produced ?

68
Full load current ( rms value )of the 100-kVA transformer at
480 V = 100/(1.732*460) =120 A.
Peak value of FL current = 120 x √2 A
Starting inrush current peak = 860 A
Leakage reactance of transformer = 5 %
Voltage drop due to the starting inrush = 5.0×860÷(120×√2)
= 25.3%.

69
Voltage Sag
Calculations of Voltage Sag
Voltage Sag in Radial Systems
Typical distribution network with load
(letters) and fault positions (numbers)

ZF ZF zL
Vsag = V pcc = E≈ =
Z S + ZF Z S + ZF Z S + z L

ZS V
Lcrit = (wehre z=Zfeeder, L=distance btw fault & pcc)
Z 1 −V 70
 for an overhead line at
different fault levels

the Fault
Sag Magnitude as a
Function of Distance to

for underground cables with for overhead lines with

different cross sections different cross sections

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Voltage Sag
Calculations of Voltage Sag
Voltage Sag in Non-Radial Systems
• Radial systems are common in low- and medium-voltage
networks. At higher voltage levels, other arrangements are
common. Some typical cases will be discussed:
• Voltage Sag with Local Generators
• Voltage Sag in Subtransmission Loops
• Voltage Sag in Branches From Loops
Voltage Sag with Local Generators
• This will mitigate voltage sags of the load in two ways:
– LG increases fault level (especially for a week system) at
distribution bus which mitigates voltage sags due to faults
on distribution feeders,
– LG will also mitigate sags due to faults in rest of system by
72
keeping up voltage at its local bus & feeding into fault.
Power Quality Measures

• The IEEE Standard 519 puts two limits on the harmonic current
disitortion. First, limits on the individual harmonic currents generated
by the user. Second, limits on the current Total Harmonic Distortion
(THD) at the load bus. The THD is usually expressed as a percent of
the fundamental. Current Total Harmonic distortion is given by

Three Phase Considerations

Balanced THD : Based on positive and negative sequence THDs only
Residual THD: Based on zero sequence only 73
Measures & Indices

• Bus voltage distortion :

• One disadvantage about THD is that it does not show the amplitude
of voltage and current.
• There are many problems caused by harmonics in power system.
Perhaps the most serious problem is the coupling between power
and communication circuits ( primarily analog).
• One representation of measuring these problem is the telephone
Influence Factor (TIF). TIF is a dimensionless value used to
describe the interference: of a power transmission line on the
telephone line. With digital telephony,TIF will not indicate the
interference level between power circuit and a PCM circuit.

74
TIF

• The high weighting factors are given to the harmonic frequencies

which are sensitive to the human ear. TIF for voltage v(t) is
expressed as following

where
VmS : the root mean square voltage of the bus
wh : the TIF weighting coefficient at harmonic h
The infinite sum in the TIF definition is recommended to truncate at
5.0 kHz according to the ANSI standard 368 but a much lower
truncation is often used in actual. practice

75
TIF tables

76
C-Weight

• Another power quality index that are often used is called C-message
weights.They are used to get a reasonable indication of noise interference
on the telephone line from each power system harmonics. In 1960, the Bell
Telephone System (:BTS) revised the C-message weight that had been
published in 1919. The C-message weighted index for current i(t) is defined
as

The C-message weight is very much similar to TIF except the

weights ci are used instead of wi. These weights are related as
follows , 5if0ci = wi.
The TIF weights account for the fact that mutual coupling between
circuits increases linearly with frequency, while the C-message
weights are free of this fact assuming that the mutual inductances 77
between adjacent circuits is essentially frequency independent.
• In Europe, the harmonic Distortion Index, DIN, is used to
measure of the power system harmonic content. DIN is
defined as

Also,

78
• Other often used power quality indices are 1.T and KV-T
product. I.T product is the inductive influence in the
power system and is defined as follows

• kV-T product is the inductive influence in terms of the

product of its root-mean-square magnitude, in kilovolts,
times its telephone influence factor (TIF).
79
PEAK VALUES CAN BE CHARACTERIZED BY
A CREST FACTOR:
CF = PEAK VALUE / RMS VALUE
= 1.414 FOR A PERFECT SINE WAVE
ABSOLUTE LARGEST VALUE CAN BE
OVERESTIMATED FOR ASYNCHRONOUS SIGNALS
AS THE SIMPLE ALGEBRAIC SUM OF THE
AMPLITUDES OF THE ASYNCHRONOUS
FREQUENCIES

80
Consequences of Harmonics

• I2R HEATING DUE TO EXCESS CURRENT

• TRANSFORMER MAGNETIC LOSSES
• INCREASED MOTOR LOSSES
• INCREASED CREST CURRENT
• CIRCUIT BOARD HEATING

TRANSFORMER DERATING
DEFINE PLL-R AND PEC-R AS THE FULL LOAD LOSSES
AND CORE LOSSES PERUNITIZED BY THE I2R
LOSSES. THEN THE DERATED TRANSFORMER
MAXIMUMC URRENT IN PER UNIT IS
81
• Flicker factor = ΔV /|V |
• Incandescent lamp operation; bus voltage regulation;
sufficiency of short circuit capacity

• Unbalance factor |V- |/|V+ | : Three phase circuit

balance

82
PQ Standards

83
PQ Standards

84
Standards Organizations

85
Example

• A purely resistive load is located at a 69kV substation

bus. At the substation, the measured bus voltage was
69.1 kV and the fundamental load power is 16 MVA at
unity power factor. Also, the third harrnonic voltage
measured was 1.0 kV line-to-line, and the fifth harmonic
voltage measured was 500 V. Find the THD, TIF, C
message weight, and DIN for both the voltage and load
current. In addition, find the k.VT and 1.T products.
Assume that system is 60 Hz.

86
The TIF weights for 60, 180, and 300 Hz respectively are 0.5, 30,
and 225. The TIF for the voltage and current are same

The C-message weight for 60, 180, 300 Hz respectively are 0.0017,
0.0333, and 0.15.The C-message weight index for the voltage and
current are same 87
• To find DIN we can use THD already computed

• The K.VT and I-T products are computed as below

88
Power Quality Problems

89
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