-3

CHAPTER
HARMONICS
Description:

 Voltage or current waveforms assume non-sinusoidal shape.

 The waveform corresponds to the sum of different sine-waves with different
magnitude and phase, having frequencies that are multiples of power-system
frequency.

1
 1.HARMONIC DISTORTION
 The deviation of the voltage and current waveforms from sinusoidal is described in
terms of the waveform distortion, often expressed as harmonic distortion.
 In nearly all cases harmonic distortion is produced by a customer’s equipment
(nonlinear loads) injecting electrical noise into the power system i.e. Variable
Frequency Drives.

 A nonlinear device is one in which the current is not proportional to the applied
voltage.

Figure : Current distortion caused by nonlinear resistance.

 This concept by the case of a sinusoidal voltage applied to a simple nonlinear
resistor in which the voltage and current vary according to the curve shown.
 While the applied voltage is perfectly sinusoidal, the resulting current is distorted.
 Increasing the voltage by a few percent may cause the current to double and take on
a different wave shape.
 This is the source of most harmonic distortion in a power system.

3
DEFINITION OF HARMONICS
A sinusoidal voltage or current function that is dependent on time t may be
represented by the following expressions:
Voltage function, v(t) = V sin(ωt)
Current function, i(t) = I sin(ωt± Ø)

 where ω= 2 × π × f is known as the angular velocity of the periodic waveform

 Ø is the difference in phase angle between the voltage and the current waveforms
referred to as a common axis.
 The sign of phase angle Ø is positive if the current leads the voltage and negative
if the current lags the voltage

4
For the periodic nonsinusoidal waveform shown in Figure

the simplified Fourier expression states:

v(t) = V0+ V1sin(ωt) + V2sin(2ωt) + V3sin(3ωt) + … + Vn sin(nωt) +Vn+1sin ((n+1)ωt)

+…

The fundamental (or first harmonic) frequency has a frequency of f, the second
harmonic has a frequency of 2 ×f, the third harmonic has a frequency of 3 ×f, and the
nth harmonic has a frequency of n×f.

5
 6

Fourier series representation of a distorted waveform.

HARMONIC NUMBER (h):

 Harmonic number(h) refers to the individual frequency elements that comprise a

composite waveform.
 For example, h= 5 refers to the fifth harmonic component with a frequency equal
to five times the fundamental frequency.
 If the fundamental frequency is 60 Hz, then the fifth harmonic frequency is 5 ×60,
or 300 Hz.
 The harmonic number 6 is a component with a frequency of 360 Hz.
 Dealing with harmonic numbers and not with harmonic frequencies is done for two
reasons.
 The fundamental frequency varies among individual countries and applications.
 The fundamental frequency in the U.S. is 60 Hz, whereas in Europe and many
Asian countries it is 50 Hz.
 Also, some applications use frequencies other than 50 or 60 Hz; for example, 400
Hz is a common frequency in the aerospace industry, while some AC systems for
electric traction use 25 Hz as the frequency.

7
 WHY HARMONIC ANALYSIS ?
When a voltage and/or current waveform is distorted, it causes abnormal
operating conditions in a power system such as:

 Voltage Harmonics can cause additional heating in induction and

synchronous motors and generators.
 Voltage Harmonics with high peak values can weaken insulation in cables,
windings, and capacitors.
 Voltage Harmonics can cause malfunction of different electronic components
and circuits that utilize the voltage waveform for synchronization or timing.
 Current Harmonics in motor windings can create Electromagnetic
Interference (EMI).

8
 Current Harmonics flowing through cables can cause higher heating over and
above the heating that is created from the fundamental component.
 Current Harmonics flowing through a transformer can cause higher heating over
and above the heating that is created by the fundamental component.
 Current Harmonics flowing through circuit breakers and switch-gear can increase
their heating losses.
 RESONANT CURRENTS which are created by current harmonics and the
different filtering topologies of the power system can cause capacitor failures
and/or fuse failures in the capacitor or other electrical equipment.
 False tripping of circuit breakers ad protective relays.

9
Some Effects of Harmonics

10
Voltage versus Current Distortion
 An adjustable-speed drive or an induction furnace can’t operate properly because
of harmonics.
 Generally, it could mean one of the following three things:
1. The harmonic voltages are too great for the control to properly determine firing
angles.

2. The harmonic currents are too great for the power supply system such as a
transformer, and the machine must be operated at a lower than rated power.

3. The harmonic voltages are too great because the harmonic currents produced by
the device are too great for the given system condition.

As suggested by this list, there are separate causes and effects for voltages and
currents as well as some relationship between them.

11
 Figure : Harmonic currents flowing through the system impedance result in
harmonic voltages at the load.
 As Fig. shows, voltage distortion is the result of distorted currents passing through the linear,
series impedance of the power delivery system, although, assuming that the source bus is
ultimately a pure sinusoid, there is a nonlinear load that draws a distorted current.
 The harmonic currents passing through the impedance of the system cause a voltage drop for
each harmonic.
 This results in voltage harmonics appearing at the load bus.
 The amount of voltage distortion depends on the impedance and the current.
 Assuming the load bus distortion stays within reasonable limits (e.g., less than 5 percent), the
amount of harmonic current produced by the load is generally constant.

 One must be careful when describing harmonic phenomena to understand that there 12 are
separate differences between the causes and effects of harmonic voltages and currents
 Harmonics versus Transients
 A measurement of the event may show a distorted waveform with obvious high-frequency
components.
 Although transient disturbances contain high-frequency components,
 Transients and harmonics are clearly different phenomena and are analyzed differently.

 Transient waveforms exhibit the high frequencies only briefly after there has been an
sudden change in the power system.
 The frequencies are not necessarily harmonics; they are the natural frequencies of the
system at the time of the switching operation.
 These frequencies have no relation to the system fundamental frequency.

 Harmonics, by definition, occur in the steady state and are integer multiples of the
fundamental frequency.
 The waveform distortion that produces the harmonics is present continually, or at least for
several seconds.
 Transients are usually dissipated within a few cycles. Transients are associated with
changes in the system such as switching of a capacitor bank.

 Harmonics are associated with the continuing operation of a load.

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Harmonic Indices

 The two most commonly used indices for measuring the harmonic content
of a waveform are
1. Total harmonic distortion
2. Total demand distortion.
 Both are measures of the effective value of a waveform and may be applied
to either voltage or current.

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THD υ %  Percentage of the Total Harmonic Distortion of
a nonsinusoidal voltage waveform

 Vh
2
h 2 (5)
  100
V1
THDi %  Percentage of the Total Harmonic Distortion of
a nonsinusoidal current waveform

 Ih
2

 h 2
100 (6)
I1
Vh  hth harmonic component of the voltage

I h  hth harmonic component of the current

~
 h
~2
VH  RMS value of the voltage distortion  V 15
h 2
 ~
 Ih
~2
IH  RMS value of the current distortion 
h 2
~
I RMS value of a nonsinusoidal current =
~2 (7)
  Ih
h 1
~
V RMS value of a nonsinusoidal voltage =

 ~2
  Vh
h 1
Drive kVA
THD υ %  HF   100
SC kVA

 h 2 I 2h / I1
HF  Harmonic Factor = h 5 16
 INDIVIDUAL AND TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION
Individual harmonic distortion (IHD) is the ratio between the root mean square (RMS) value
of the individual harmonic and the RMS value of the fundamental

Example: Assume that the RMS value of the third harmonic current in a nonlinear
load is 20 A, the RMS value of the fifth harmonic current is 15 A, and the RMS
value of the fundamental is 60 A.

Individual third harmonic distortion is:

IHD3= 20/60 = 0.333, or 33.3%
and the individual fifth harmonic distortion is:
IHD 5= 15/60 = 0.25, or 25.0%

 Under this definition, the value of IHD1 is always 100%. This method of quantifying the
harmonics is known as harmonic distortion based on the fundamental.
 This is the convention used by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
in the U.S.
 The European International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) quantifies harmonics
based on the total RMS value of the waveform.
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 Using the same example shown above, the RMS value of the waveform is:
Total harmonic distortion (THD) is a term used to describe the net deviation of a
nonlinear waveform from ideal sine waveform characteristics.
Total harmonic distortion is the ratio between the RMS value of the harmonics and the
RMS value of the fundamental. For example, if a nonlinear current has a fundamental
component of I1 and harmonic components of I2, I3, I4, I5, I6, I7, …, then the RMS value
of the harmonics is:

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Example: Find the total harmonic distortion of a voltage waveform with the following
harmonic frequency make up:

This problem can be solved in two ways:

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20
A C Side Harmonics

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Potential Sources of Harmonics
 Switched mode power supplies
 Dimmer‘s
 Current Regulators
 Frequency Converters
 Voltage source inverters with pulse width modulated converters
 Low power consumption lamps
 Electrical arc-furnaces
 Arc welding machines
 Induction motors with irregular magnetizing current associated with saturation
of the iron
 All equipment with built-in switching devices or with internal loads with non-
linear voltage/current characteristics

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 Harmonic Sources from Commercial Loads
Commercial facilities such as
 Office complexes,
 Department stores,
 Hospitals, and
 Internet data centers are dominated with high-efficiency fluorescent lighting with
electronic ballasts, adjustable-speed drives for the heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning loads, elevator drives, and sensitive electronic equipment supplied by
single-phase switch-mode power supplies.
 Commercial loads are characterized by a large number of small harmonic-producing
loads.
 Depending on the diversity of the different load types, these small harmonic currents
may add in phase or cancel each other.
 The voltage distortion levels depend on both the circuit impedances and the overall
harmonic current distortion.
 Since power factor correction capacitors are not typically used in commercial
facilities, the circuit impedance is dominated by the service entrance transformers
and conductor impedances.
 Therefore, the voltage distortion can be estimated simply by multiplying the 23
current
by the impedance adjusted for frequency. Characteristics of typical nonlinear
commercial loads are detailed in the following sections.
1. Single-phase power supplies
 Electronic power converter loads with their capacity for producing harmonic
currents now constitute the most important class of nonlinear loads in the power
system.

 Equipment includes adjustable-speed motor drives, electronic power supplies, dc

motor drives, battery chargers, electronic ballasts, and many other rectifier and
inverter applications.

 A major concern in commercial buildings is that power supplies for single-phase

electronic equipment will produce too much harmonic current for the wiring.
 DC power for modern electronic and microprocessor-based office equipment is
commonly derived from single-phase full-wave diode bridge rectifiers.
 The percentage of load that contains electronic power supplies is increasing at a
dramatic pace, with the increased utilization of personal computers in every
commercial sector.

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 There are two common types of single-phase power supplies.

 Older technologies use ac-side voltage control methods, such as transformers, to

reduce voltages to the level required for the dc bus.
 The inductance of the transformer provides a beneficial side effect by smoothing
the input current waveform, reducing harmonic content.

 Newer-technology switch-mode power supplies (see Fig.) use dc-to-dc conversion

techniques to achieve a smooth dc output with small, lightweight components.

Figure : Switch-mode power supply.

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 The input diode bridge is directly connected to the ac line, eliminating the
transformer.
 This results in a indelicately regulated dc voltage on the capacitor.
 This direct current is then converted back to alternating current at a very high
frequency by the switcher and subsequently rectified again.

 Personal computers, printers, copiers, and most other single-phase electronic

equipment now almost universally employ switch-mode power supplies.
 The key advantages are the light weight, compact size, efficient operation, and lack
of need for a transformer.
 Switch-mode power supplies can usually tolerate large variations in input voltage.

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2 Fluorescent lighting
 Lighting typically accounts for 40 to 60 percent of a commercial building load.
 Energy Information Administration, fluorescent lighting was used on 77 percent of
commercial floor spaces, while only 14 percent of the spaces used incandescent lighting.
 Fluorescent lights are a popular choice for energy savings.

3 Adjustable-speed drives for HVAC and elevators

 Common applications of adjustable-speed drives (ASDs) in commercial loads can be found

in elevator motors and in pumps and fans in HVAC systems.
 An ASD consists of an electronic power converter that converts ac voltage and frequency
into variable voltage and frequency.
 The variable voltage and frequency allows the ASD to control motor speed to match the
application requirement such as slowing a pump or fan.
 ASDs also find many applications in industrial loads.

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Harmonic Sources from Industrial Loads
 Modern industrial facilities are characterized by the general application of nonlinear loads.

 This harmonic problem is compounded by the fact that these nonlinear loads have a relatively
low power factor.
 Industrial facilities often utilize capacitor banks to improve the power factor to avoid penalty
charges.
 The application of power factor correction capacitors can, giving rise to resonance conditions
within the facility.

 The highest voltage distortion level usually occurs at the facility’s low-voltage bus where the
capacitors are applied.
 Resonance conditions cause motor and transformer overheating, and misoperation of sensitive
electronic equipment.

 Nonlinear industrial loads can generally be grouped into three categories:

1. Three-phase power converters,
2. Arcing devices,
3. Saturable devices.

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1 . Three-phase power converters
 Three-phase electronic power converters differ from single-phase converters mainly because
they do not generate third-harmonic currents.
 This is a great advantage because the third-harmonic current is the largest component of
harmonics.
 However, they can still be significant sources of harmonics at their characteristic frequencies,
as shown in Fig.
 This is a typical current source type of adjustable-speed drive. The harmonic spectrum given
in Fig. would also be typical of a dc motor drive input current.

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Figure : Current and harmonic spectrum for CSI-type ASD.

Voltage source inverter drives (such as PWM-type drives) can have much higher
distortion levels as shown in Fig.

Figure : Current and harmonic spectrum for PWM-type ASD.

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DC drives: Rectification is the only step required for dc drives.

 Most dc drives use the six-pulse rectifier shown in Fig.

 Large drives may employ a 12-pulse rectifier.
 This reduces thyristor current duties and reduces some of the larger ac current harmonics.
 The two largest harmonic currents for the six-pulse drive are the fifth and seventh.
 They are also the most troublesome in terms of system response.
 A 12-pulse rectifier in this application can be expected to eliminate about 90 percent of the
fifth and seventh harmonics, depending on system imbalances.
 The disadvantages of the 12-pulse drive are that there is more cost in electronics and another
transformer is generally required.

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AC drives:
 In ac drives, the rectifier output is inverted to produce a variable-frequency ac voltage for the
motor.
 Inverters are classified as voltage source inverters (VSIs) or current source inverters (CSIs).
 A VSI requires a constant dc (i.e., low-ripple) voltage input to the inverter stage.
 This is achieved with a capacitor or LC filter in the dc link.
 The CSI requires a constant current input; hence, a series inductor is placed in the dc link.

Figure : PWM ASD

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33
2. Arcing devices

This category includes arc furnaces, arc welders, and discharge-type lighting (fluorescent,
sodium vapor, mercury vapor) with magnetic (rather than electronic) ballasts.
As shown in Fig. , the arc is basically a voltage clamp in series with a reactance that limits
current to a reasonable value.

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3. Saturable devices
1.Transformers
2.Electromagnetic devices with a steel core, including motors.

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EFFECT OF HARMONICS ON POWER SYSTEM DEVICES

Insight into how harmonics can interact within a power system and how they can affect
power system components is important for preventing failures.

1 TRANSFORMERS
2 AC MOTORS
3 CAPACITORBANKS
4 CABLES
5 BUSWAYS
6 PROTECTIVEDEVICES

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1 TRANSFORMERS
Harmonics can affect transformers primarily in two ways.
1. Voltage harmonics produce additional losses in the transformer core as the higher
frequency harmonic voltages set up hysteresis loops, which superimpose on the
fundamental loop. Each loop represents higher magnetization power requirements and
higher core losses.

2. More serious effect of harmonics is due to harmonic frequency currents in the

transformer windings.
 the harmonic currents increase the net RMS current flowing in the transformer
windings which results in additional I2R losses.
 Winding eddy current losses are also increased.
 Winding eddy currents are circulating currents induced in the conductors by the
leakage magnetic flux.
 Eddy current concentrations are higher at the ends of the windings due to the
crowding effect of the leakage magnetic field at the coil extremities.
 The winding eddy current losses increase as the square of the harmonic current and
37
the square of the frequency of the current.
 Thus, the eddy loss (EC) is proportional to Ih2× h2,
Where Ih = RMS value of the harmonic current of order h,
H = harmonic frequency order or number.
Eddy currents due to harmonics can significantly increase the transformer winding temperature.

One method by which transformers may be rated for suitability to handle harmonic loads is by
k factor ratings.
The k factor is equal to the sum of the square of the harmonic frequency currents (expressed
as a ratio of the total RMS current) multiplied by the square of the harmonic frequency
numbers:

where
I1 is the ratio between the fundamental current and the total RMS current.
I2 is the ratio between the second harmonic current and the total RMS current.
I3 is the ratio between the third harmonic current and the total RMS current
Equation can be rewritten as:

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Example: Determine the k rating of a transformer required to carry a load consisting of 500 A of
fundamental, 200 A of third harmonics, 120 A of fifth harmonics, and 90 A of seventh harmonics:

 The transformer specified should be capable of handling 559 A of total RMS current with a
k factor of not less than 4.378.
 Typically, transformers are marked with k ratings of 4, 9, 13, 20, 30, 40, and 50, so a
transformer with a k rating of 9 should be chosen.
 Such a transformer would have the capability to carry the full RMS load current and
handle winding eddy current losses equal to k times the normal rated eddy current losses
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2 AC MOTORS
 Application of distorted voltage to a motor results in additional losses in the magnetic core of
the motor.
 Hysteresis and eddy current losses
 Hysteresis losses increase with frequency
 Eddy current losses increase as the square of the frequency.
 Also, harmonic currents produce additional I2R losses in the motor windings which must be
accounted for.

 The net effect is a magnetic field that revolves at a relative speed of six times the speed of the
rotor.
 This induces currents in the rotor bars at a frequency of six times the fundamental frequency.
 The resulting interaction between the magnetic fields and the rotor-induced currents produces
torsional oscillations of the motor shaft.
 Excessive vibration and noise in a motor operating in a harmonic environment should be
investigated to prevent failures.
 Motors intended for operation in a severe harmonic environment must be specially designed
for the application.
 Motor manufacturers provide motors for operation with Adjustable Speed Drives (ASD)
units.
 If the harmonic levels become excessive, filters may be applied at the motor terminals to
40
keep the harmonic currents from the motor windings.
 Large motors supplied from ASDs are usually provided with harmonic filters to prevent
motor damage due to harmonics.
 3 CAPACITORBANKS

 Capacitor banks are commonly found in commercial and industrial power systems to correct
for low power factor conditions.
 Capacitor banks are designed to operate at a maximum voltage of 110% of their rated
voltages and at 135% of their rated kVARS.

 When large levels of voltage and current harmonics are present, the ratings are quite often
exceeded, resulting in failures.

 Because the reactance of a capacitor bank is inversely proportional to frequency, harmonic

currents can find their way into a capacitor bank.
 The capacitor bank acts as a drop, absorbing stray harmonic currents and causing overloads
and subsequent failure of the bank.

 A more serious condition with potential for substantial damage occurs due to a phenomenon
called harmonic resonance.
 Resonance conditions are created when the inductive and capacitive reactances become
equal at one of the harmonic frequencies.
 The two types of resonances are series and parallel.
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 In general, series resonance produces voltage amplification and parallel resonance results in
current multiplication.
 In a harmonic-rich environment, both series and parallel resonance may be present.
 If a high level of harmonic voltage or current corresponding to the resonance frequency
exists in a power system, considerable damage to the capacitor bank as well as other power
system devices can result.

Example: Figure shows a 2000-kVA, 13.8-kV to 480/277-V transformer with a leakage

reactance of 6.0% feeding a bus containing two 500-hp adjustable speed drives. A 750-kVAR
Y-connected capacitor bank is installed on the 480-V bus for power factor correction. Perform
an analysis to determine the conditions for resonance .

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 V=I Xl

For the capacitor bank

 The resonance frequency is 401 Hz or the 6.7th (401/60) harmonic frequency.

 The resonance frequency is close to the seventh harmonic frequency, which is one of the
more common harmonic frequency components found in power systems. 43
 This condition can have very serious effects.
 The following expression presents a different way to find the harmonic resonance
frequency

Where,
MVASC is the available symmetrical fault MVA at the point of connection of the capacitor in the
power system,
MVARC is the rating of the capacitor bank in MVAR.
In the above example, neglecting the source impedance, the available fault current = 2406 ÷0.06
≅40,100 A.

and the harmonic frequency = 6.67 ×60 = 400.2.

This proves that similar results are obtained

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4 CABLES

 Current flowing in a cable produces I2R losses.

 When the load current contains harmonic content, additional losses are introduced.
 To compound the problem, the effective resistance of the cable increases with frequency
because of the phenomenon known as skin effect.
 Skin effect is due to unequal flux linkage across the cross section of the conductor which
causes AC currents to flow only on the outer edge of the conductor.
 This has the effect of increasing the resistance of the conductor for AC currents.
 The higher the frequency of the current, the greater the tendency of the current to crowd at
the outer edge of the conductor and the greater the effective resistance for that frequency.

 The capacity of a cable to carry nonlinear loads may be determined as follows.

 The skin effect factor is calculated first.
 The skin effect factor depends on the skin depth, which is an indicator of the penetration of
the current in a conductor.
 Skin depth (δ) is inversely proportional to the square root of the frequency:

where S is a proportionality constant based on the physical characteristics of the cable45and its
magnetic permeability and f is the frequency of the current
 5 BUSWAYS

6 PROTECTIVEDEVICES
 Harmonic currents influence the operation of protective devices.
 Fuses and motor thermal overload devices are prone to nuisance operation when subjected
to nonlinear currents.
 This factor should be given due consideration when sizing protective devices for use in a
harmonic environment.
 Electromechanical relays are also affected by harmonics.
 Depending on the design, an electromechanical relay may operate faster or slower than the
expected times for operation at the fundamental frequency alone.
 Such factors should be carefully considered prior to placing the relays in service.

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HARMONIC CURRENT MITIGATION

1 EQUIPMENT DESIGN
2 HARMONIC CURRENT CANCELLATION
3 HARMONIC FILTERS

1 EQUIPMENT DESIGN

 The use of electronic power devices is gradually increasing.

 It is estimated that more than 70% of the loading of a facility by year 2010 will be due to
nonlinear loads, thus demand is increasing for product manufacturers to produce devices that
generate lower distortion.
 The importance of equipment design in minimizing harmonic current production has taken on
greater importance, as reflected by technological improvements in fluorescent lamp ballasts,
adjustable speed drives, battery chargers, and uninterruptible power source (UPS) units.
 Computers and similar data-processing devices contain switching mode power supplies that
generate a substantial amount of harmonic currents, as seen earlier.
 Designing power supplies for electronic equipment adds considerably to the cost of the units
and can also make the equipment heavier.
 At this time, when computer prices are extremely competitive, attempts to engineer power
47
supplies that draw low harmonic currents are not a priority.
 Adjustable speed drive (ASD) technology is evolving steadily, with greater emphasis being
placed on a reduction in harmonic currents.
 Older generation ASDs using current source inverter (CSI) and voltage source inverter (VSI)
technologies produced considerable harmonic frequency currents.
 The significant harmonic frequency currents generated in power conversion equipment can be
stated as:

here n is the significant harmonic frequency, k is any positive integer (1, 2, 3, etc.),
and q is the pulse number of the power conversion equipment which is the number of power
pulses that are in one complete sequence of power conversion.

With six-pulse-power conversion equipment, harmonics below the 5th harmonic are
insignificant. Also, as the harmonic number increases, the individual harmonic distortions
become lower due to increasing impedance presented to higher frequency components by the
power system inductive reactance. So, typically, for six-pulse power conversion equipment,
the 5th harmonic current would be the highest, the 7th would be lower than the 5th, the 11th
would be lower than the 7th, and so on, as shown below:

48
 when using 12-pulse-power conversion equipment, harmonics below the 11th harmonic can be
made insignificant. The total harmonic distortion is also considerably reduced. Twelve-pulse-
power conversion equipment costs more than six-pulse-power equipment. Where harmonic
currents are the primary concern, 24-pulse-power conversion equipment may be considered.

49
2 HARMONIC CURRENT CANCELLATION
 Transformer connections employing phase shift are sometimes used to effect cancellation of
harmonic currents in a power system.
 Triplen harmonic (3rd, 9th, 15th,etc.) currents are a set of currents that can be effectively
trapped using a special transformer configuration called the zigzag connection.
 In power systems, triplen harmonics add in the neutral circuit, as these currents are in phase.
Using a zigzag connection, the triplens can be effectively kept away from the source.
 Figure illustrates how this is accomplished.

50
FIGURE : Zig-zag transformer application as
third harmonic filter.
 The transformer phase-shifting principle is also used to achieve cancellation of the 5th and
the 7th harmonic currents.
 Using a ∆–∆ and a ∆–Y transformer to supply harmonic producing loads in parallel as shown
in Figure , the 5th and the 7th harmonics are canceled at the point of common connection.
 This is due to the 30˚ phase shift between the two transformer connections.
 As the result of this, the source does not see any significant amount of the 5th and 7th
harmonics.
 If the nonlinear loads supplied by the two transformers are identical, then maximum
harmonic current cancellation takes place; otherwise, some 5th and 7th harmonic currents
would still be present.
 Other phase-shifting methods may be used to cancel higher harmonics if they are found to be
a problem. Some transformer manufacturers offer multiple phase-shifting connections in a
single package which saves cost and space compared to using individual transformers.

FIGURE Cancellation of fifth and 51

seventh harmonic currents by using 30°
phase-shifted transformer connections.
 3. HARMONIC FILTERS

 Nonlinear loads produce harmonic currents that can travel to other locations in the power
system and eventually back to the source.
 Harmonic currents can produce a variety of effects that are harmful to the power system.
 Harmonic currents are a result of the characteristics of particular loads.
 As long as we choose to employ those loads, we must deal with the reality that harmonic
currents will exist to a degree dependent upon the loads.
 One means of ensuring that harmonic currents produced by a nonlinear current source will
not excessively interfere with the rest of the power system is to filter out the harmonics.
 Application of harmonic filters helps to accomplish this.

52
 Power Harmonic Filters:

 Industrial and commercial power systems usually incorporate power capacitors to improve
the power factor and provide reactive power for voltage support .
 When the system includes sources of harmonic current, such as power electronic converters
or adjustable speed drives (ASDs), the capacitors may be used in power harmonic filters to
minimize the harmonic voltage applied to the system load at the point of common coupling
(PCC).

 The current harmonics produced by power converters, usually polyphase rectifiers,

can be reduced in one of three ways:
(1) series reactors in the input line;
(2) the use of a 12-pulse, or higher, connection of the rectifier bridges, and
(3) use of pulse-width modulation of the line current.

 When these measures do not reduce the current harmonics to an acceptable level, power
harmonic filters can be introduced to obtain further reduction.

 Harmonic filters are broadly classified into passive and active filters.

 Passive filters, as the name implies, use passive components such as resistors, inductors,
and capacitors. 53
 A combination of passive components is tuned to the harmonic frequency that is to be
filtered.
 Figure is a typical series-tuned filter.
 Here the values of the inductor and the capacitor are chosen to present a low impedance to
the harmonic frequency that is to be filtered out.
 Due to the lower impedance of the filter in comparison to the impedance of the source, the
harmonic frequency current will circulate between the load and the filter.
 This keeps the harmonic current of the desired frequency away from the source and other
loads in the power system.
 If other harmonic frequencies are to be filtered out, additional tuned filters are applied in
parallel.

 Applying harmonic filters requires careful consideration.

 Series-tuned filters appear to be of low impedance to harmonic currents but they also form a
parallel resonance circuit with the source impedance.
54
 (a) Single-tuned filter
(b) First order high-pass filter
(c) Second order high-pass filter
(d) Third order high-pass filter

Nonlinear loads and their current

waveforms

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Active Filters:
As their name implies, Active Filters contain active components such as
operational amplifiers, transistors or FET's within their circuit design.

An active filter is a type of analog circuit implementing an

electronic filter using active components, typically an amplifier. Amplifiers
included in a filter design can be used to improve the cost, performance and
predictability of a filter.

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