Symmetrical Components

In 1918, Dr. Charles LeGeyt Fortescue wrote a paper entitled “Method of Symmetrical Coordinates
Applied to the Solution of Polyphase Networks.” In the paper Dr. Fortescue described how arbitrary
unbalanced 3-phase voltages (or currents) could be transformed into 3 sets of balanced vector
components,

Unbalanced Positive Negative Zero

System Sequence Sequence Sequence

• a balanced system of 3-phase currents having positive (or normal) phase sequence. These are
called positive phase sequence components.
• a balanced system of 3-phase currents having the opposite or negative phase sequence. These
are called negative phase sequence components.
• a system of three currents equal in magnitude and having zero phase displacement. These are
called zero phase sequence components.

The positive, negative and zero phase sequence components are called the symmetrical components
of the original unbalanced system. The term ‘symmetrical’ is appropriate because the unbalanced 3-
phase system has been resolved into three sets of balanced (or symmetrical) components. The
subscripts 1, 2 and 0 are generally used to indicate positive, negative and zero phase sequence
components respectively.

In the paper it is shown that unbalanced problems can be solved by the resolution of the currents and
voltages into certain symmetrical relations.

The current in any phase is equal to the vector sum of positive, negative and zero phase sequence
currents in that phase

IA = IA1 + IA2 + IA0

IB = IB1 + IB2 + IB0

IC = IC1 + IC2 + IC0

Pointers

• The symmetrical component theory applies equally to 3-phase currents and voltages both phase
and line values.
• The symmetrical components do not have separate existence. They are only mathematical
components of unbalanced currents (or voltages) which actually flow in the system.
• In a balanced 3-phase system, negative and zero phase sequence currents are zero.

Operator ‘a’
As the symmetrical component theory involves the concept of 120º displacement in the positive
sequence set and negative sequence set, therefore, it is desirable to evolve some operator which
should cause 120º rotation. For this purpose, operator ‘a’ (symbols h or λ are sometimes used instead
of ‘a’) is used. It is defined as under:

The operator ‘a’ is one, which when multiplied to a vector rotates the vector through 120º in the
anticlockwise direction.

a = 1Ð120°; a2 = 1Ð-120° or 1Ð240°

we can define IB and IC w/respect to IA using the a and a2 operators

Positive Sequence Negative Sequence Zero Sequence

Va1 Va2 Va0 = Vb0 = Vc0

Vb1 = Va1Ð-120° = a2Va1 Vb2 = Va2Ð120° = aVa2
Vc1 = Va1Ð120° = aVa1 Vc2 = Va2Ð-120° = a2Va2

IA = IA1 + IA2 + IA0 = IA1 + IA2 + IA0

2
IB = IB1 + IB2 + IB0 = a IA1 + aIA2 + IA0
IC = IC1 + IC2 + IC0 = aIA1 + a2IA2 + IA0

𝐼! 1 1 1 𝐼!%
!𝐼" # = !𝑎$ 𝑎 1# !𝐼!$ #
𝐼# 𝑎 𝑎$ 1 𝐼!&

𝐼!
𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝐼' 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑏𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥; 𝐼' = !𝐼" #
𝐼#
 1 1 1
𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝐴 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑥; 𝐴 = !𝑎$ 𝑎 1#
𝑎 𝑎$ 1

𝐼!%
𝐿𝑒𝑡 𝐼! 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡; 𝐼! = !𝐼!$ #
𝐼!&

Ip = A x IA

For us to know the components of reference symmetrical component IA (IA1, IA2, and IA0)

𝐼'
𝐼! = = 𝐴(% 𝑥𝐼'
𝐴
𝐼!% 1 1 𝑎 𝑎$ 𝐼!
!𝐼!$ # = !1 𝑎$ 𝑎 # !𝐼" #
𝐼!& 3
1 1 1 𝐼#

IA1 = 1/3 (IA + aIB + a2IC)

IA2 = 1/3 (IA + a2IB + aIC)
IA0 = 1/3 (IA + IB + IC)

Some Facts about Sequence Currents

It is now desirable to get the readers acquainted with the following facts about positive, negative and
zero phase sequence currents:
• A balanced 3-phase system consists of positive sequence components only; the negative and
zero sequence components being zero.
• The presence of negative or zero sequence currents in a 3-phase system introduces
unsymmetry and is indicative of an abnormal condition of the circuit in which these components
are found.
• The vector sum of the positive and negative sequence currents of an unbalanced 3-phase
system is zero. The resultant solely consists of three zero sequence currents i.e.

Vector sum of all sequence currents in 3-phase unbalanced system

= IA + IB + IC

• In a 3-phase, 4 wire unbalanced system, the magnitude of zero sequence components is one-
third of the current in the neutral wire i.e.

Zero sequence current = 1/3 [Current in neutral wire]

In the absence of path through the neutral of a 3-phase system, the neutral current is zero and the line
currents contain no zero-sequence components. A delta-connected load provides no path to the neutral
and the line currents flowing to delta-connected load can contain no zero-sequence components.

• In a 3-phase unbalanced system, the magnitude of negative sequence components cannot

exceed that of the positive sequence components. If the negative sequence components were
the greater, the phase sequence of the resultant system would be reversed.
 • The current of a single-phase load drawn from a 3-phase system comprises equal positive,
negative and zero sequence components.

Sample Problems

1. In a 3-phase, 4-wire system, the currents in A, C and C lines under abnormal conditions of loading
are as under:
IA = 100Ð30°A; IB = 50Ð300°A; IC = 30Ð180°A

Calculate the positive, negative and zero sequence currents in the A-line and return current in the
neutral wire.

2. The sequence voltages in the red phase are as under:

VA0 = 100 V; VA1 = (200 - j100) V; VA2 = -100 V

Find the phase voltages VA, VB, and VC

Supplementary Problems

1. The currents in a 3-phase unbalanced system are:

IA = (12 + j6) A; IB = (12 - j12) A; IC = (-15 + j10) A

The phase sequence in ABC. Calculate the zero, positive and negative sequence components of the
currents.

2. The zero and positive sequence components of red phase are as under:

VA0 = (0.5 - j0.866) V; VA1 = 2Ð0° V

If the phase voltage VA = 3Ð0° V, find the negative sequence of the phase A and the phase voltages
of B and C