Electric Power Quality

(EEPE38)

by

Dr. Karthik Thirumala

Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering

NIT Tiruchirappalli
 UNIT – I
Electric Power Quality
Phenomenon
– IEC and IEEE definitions
– power quality disturbances

1) Dugan R. C., Mc Granaghan M. F. Surya Santoso, and Beaty H. W., ‘Electrical Power System Quality’, McGraw-Hill 2003.
2) Math H. Bollen, ‘Understanding Power Quality Problems: Voltage sags and interruptions’, IEEE Press, New York, 2000.
3) Ghosh, Arindam, and Gerard Ledwich, ‘Power quality enhancement using custom power devices’ Springer Science &
Business Media, 2012.
4) Math H. Bollen, Irene Gu, ‘Signal Processing of Power Quality Disturbances’ Wiley-IEEE Press, 2006.
EPQ by T. Karthik, NITT 1/22/2025
 Power Quality
• In 1970s, the “high power quality” is used together with
‘safety’, ‘reliable service’ and ‘low cost’.
o The term "voltage quality" was used mainly with reference to slow variations in the voltage
magnitude.

• The term “power quality” has become one of the most prolific
buzzwords in the power industry since the late 1980s.
o Distributed generations
o Non-linear loads
o Lightening

[1] R. H. McFadden, Power system analysis-what it can do to industrial plants, Conference Record of the 5th Annual Meeting of the
IEEE Industry and General Applications Group, October 1970, Chicago, IL, pp. 189-199. This paper also appeared in IEEE
Transactions on Industry and General Applications, vol. 7, no. 2, March 1971, pp. 181-188.
[2] P. M. Knoller and L. Lonnstam, Voltage quality and voltage tendency recorders, Siemens Review, vol. 36, no. 8, 1969, pp. 302-303.
[3] A. Lidholm, Measuring techniques applicable to the determination of voltage quality in low-voltage networks, in Swedish, ERA, vol.
42, no. 5, 1969, pp. 99-101.
[4] B. A. Konstantinov and G. L. Bagiev, Financial losses due to deterioration of voltage quality, Electric-Technology-USSR, vol. 1,
1970, pp. 119-123.
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 Definitions of Power Quality
• The term “Power Quality” is used synonymously with supply reliability,
service quality, voltage quality, quality of supply, and quality of
consumption.

• Electric utility may define “Power Quality” as reliability and

manufacturer of load equipment may define PQ as those characteristics of
the power supply that enable the equipment to work properly.

• IEC 61000-1-1: Electromagnetic compatibility is the ability of a system

or an equipment to function satisfactorily in its electromagnetic
environment without introducing intolerable electromagnetic disturbances
to anything in that environment.

• IEC 61000-4-30: Power Quality is “Characteristics of the electricity at a

given point on an electrical system, evaluated against a set of reference
technical parameters.”

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 Definitions of Power Quality
• IEEE 1159-2009: The term “power quality” refers to a wide variety of
electromagnetic phenomena that characterize the voltage and current at
a given time and at a given location on the power system.

• IEEE 1100 Dictionary: PQ is the concept of powering and grounding

electronic equipment in a manner that is suitable to the operation of
that equipment.

• Gerald T. Heydt: The term generally applies to the goodness of the

electric power supply, its voltage regulation, its frequency, voltage wave
shape, current wave shape, level of impulses and noise, and the absence
of momentary outages.

• R. C. Dugan et al: Power Quality is voltage quality.

• Power quality is a combination of voltage quality and current quality.

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 Definitions of Power Quality
• Voltage quality ?

• Current Quality?

• In general, power quality is concerned with disturbances/deviations in

voltage, current, frequency, and power factor at a given time and a given
location.

Note:
1. Since the pollution of electric power supply systems is much severe at the utilization level, it
is important to study at the terminals of end users in distribution systems.
2. The utility can only control the quality of voltage; it is difficult to control the currents as it is
load dependent.

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 Power Quality Standards
Why Standards?
ANSI - American National Standards Institute

IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers

IEC - International Electrotechnical Commission

Organizations that
create power standards NEMA - National Electrical Manufacturers
Association

NFPA - National Fire Protection Association

NEC - National Electric Code

US Military

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 Power Quality Standards
• IEEE 100: Standard dictionary of electrical and electronic engineering
• IEEE 446: Emergency and Standby Power Systems for Industrial and Commercial Applications
• IEEE 519: Recommended practices for controlling harmonics in electrical systems
• IEEE 1159: Recommended Practice for Monitoring Electric Power Quality
• IEEE P1453: Flicker
• IEEE 1459: Measurement of Electric Power Quantities
• IEEE 1531: Application and Specification of Harmonic Filters
• IEEE 1564: Voltage Sag Indices
• IEC 38: Standard Voltages
• IEC 1000-3-2: Limits for harmonic current emission
• IEC 1000-3-6: Emission limits evaluation for perturbing loads connected to MV and HV
networks
• IEC 61000-3-1: Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) limits – overview of emission standards
and guides
• IEC 61000-4-7 and IEC 61000-4-30: Testing and measurement techniques
• ANSI C62.45: Guides and Standards on surge protection in low-voltage AC protection
• ANSI C84: Equipment voltage ratings & power systems (60 Hz, 120 V)
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 Power Quality Phenomenon
• Any deviations in voltage waveform or current waveform or both
is called as “power quality phenomenon” or a “power quality
disturbance.”

• IEC uses the term “electromagnetic compatibility”.

o a piece of equipment should be able to operate normally in its environment
o it should not pollute the environment too much.

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 Electromagnetic phenomenon
IEC 61000-2-5 (1995)

Electrostatic discharge phenomena

Nuclear electromagnetic pulse
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 Electromagnetic phenomenon
IEEE
IEEE Standards 1159
coordinating
committee in
association with
PES, IAS
standardize the
definitions of
power quality.

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 Electromagnetic phenomenon
IEEE 1159
(IEEE Recommended Practice for Monitoring Electric Power Quality)
1. Dip (IEC) = Sag (IEEE)
2. Voltage dips and interruptions (IEC) = Short duration variations (IEEE)
3. DC in AC network (IEC) = DC offset (IEEE)
4. Unidirectional transient (IEC) = Impulsive transient (IEEE)
5. Categories are different in IEC (2) and IEEE (7)

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 Power Quality Awareness
• Main reasons
o Distributed Generation

o Integrated network, Devices in Power System

o Electronic equipment, adjustable speed drives

o New-generation sensitive equipment

o Increased awareness in end-users

Challenges:
Utilities must supply consumers with good quality power for operating their equipment
satisfactorily
Manufacturers must develop their electric equipment either to be immune to such
disturbances or to override them.

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Transients: undesirable momentary deviation of the supply voltage
or load current for very short duration.

Also known as surges or spikes.

• Impulsive transient: a sudden, non-power frequency change in
the steady-state condition of voltage, current or both, that is
unidirectional in polarity.
o Causes: Lightning
o Generally not conducted far from the source
o Characterized by rise time, fall time and spectral content.

Impulsive transient

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 Power Quality Disturbances
• Oscillatory transients: A sudden, non–power frequency change
in the steady-state condition of voltage, current, or both, that
includes both positive and negative polarity values.
• High-frequency oscillatory transient – greater than 500kHz (us)
• Medium-frequency oscillatory transient – between 5kHz to 500kHz (us)
• Low-frequency oscillatory transient – less than 5kHz (0.3 to 50 ms).

o Causes: impulsive transient, capacitor & cable switching, arcing contacts

o Characterized by magnitude, duration and spectral content.

Oscillatory
transient

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Identify the disturbance?

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Short-duration rms variations: undesirable deviation of the
supply voltage from the nominal value for a duration of 0.5 cycles to 1
min.
o Instantaneous, momentary, or temporary depending on its duration.

• Interruption: Complete disappearance of the voltage (<0.1 p.u.) on

one or more phases.
o Causes: system faults, control malfunction, operation of protective devices.
o Characterized by magnitude and duration.
o Duration is determined by the operating time of utility protective device.

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 Power Quality Disturbances
• Sag: A sag is a decrease in rms voltage at the power frequency to
between 0.1 and 0.9 pu for duration < 1 min.
o Sag refers to resulting voltage
o Dip is contrary to it
o Causes: energizing heavy load, ground fault, etc.
o Characterized by magnitude and duration.

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 Power Quality Disturbances
• Swell: A swell is an increase in rms voltage at the power frequency
to between 1.1 and 1.8 pu for duration < 1 min.
o Causes: sudden load reduction, fault, energizing a large capacitor bank, etc.
o Can be characterized by magnitude and duration.

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Long-duration rms variations: undesirable rms deviation of the
supply voltage at power frequency for longer than 1 min.
o Sustained interruptions (mostly permanent)
o Under voltage
o Over voltage

Causes:
o Component outage
o Overloaded circuits Jumper

o incorrect tap setting of T/F,

o capacitor banks

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Identify the disturbance?

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 Power Quality Disturbances

Attributes for steady-state Attributes for non-steady state

disturbances (periodic and long disturbances (amplitude variation and
duration) short duration)
o Amplitude, Frequency, Spectrum, o Amplitude, Frequency, Spectrum,
Modulation, Notch depth, Notch duration, Rate of occurrence, Rate of
area rise, rate of fall, Energy potential,
Derivative, standard deviation

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Voltage imbalance (or unbalance): Deviation in the three
phase voltages or currents

o Typically, the voltage imbalance < 3%.

o Source: single phase loads, blown fuses in capacitor bank
o In the residential feeder, the current imbalance is relatively higher

Waveform Distortion: Steady-state deviation from an ideal power

frequency sinusoid principally characterized by the spectral content of
the deviation.
o Categories of waveform distortion:
• DC offset, Harmonics, Interharmonics, Notching, Noise

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 Power Quality Disturbances
DC offset: presence of a dc voltage or current in an ac power system
o Causes : asymmetry of power electronics converters, half wave rectifiers

Harmonics: Harmonics are sinusoidal components having frequency

that are integer multiples of the operating or fundamental frequency.
o Causes: ?
o Characterization: THD, TDD, Harmonic Power
o ASD will exhibit high THD values for the input current when they are operating
at very light loads.

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Interharmonics: Voltages or currents having frequency components
that are not integer multiples of the fundamental frequency.
o E.g.: 32, 65, 72, 84, 412, etc
o Causes: static frequency converters, induction furnaces
o It is often not constant
o Characterization: THD, TDD, Distortion Power

Notching: Notching is a periodic voltage disturbance caused by the

normal operation of power electronic devices when current is
commutated from one phase to another.
o Characterization: Harmonic spectrum

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Noise: Unwanted electrical signals with broadband spectral content <
200 kHz superimposed upon the power system voltage or current in
phase or neutral conductors or signal lines.
o Causes: PE devices, control circuits, arcing equipment, switching power
supplies and sensors, etc.
o Affects: Sensitive loads, microcontrollers, controllers
o Solution: Filters, isolation transformers, line conditioners

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 Power Quality Disturbances
Voltage Fluctuations: Systematic variations of the voltage envelope or a
series of random voltage changes, the magnitude of which does not normally
exceed the nominal voltage range.
o Eg: 32, 65, 72, 84, 412, etc
o Causes: Arc furnace, pulsating loads
o Characterization: Short-term flicker sensation (Pst), Long-term flicker sensation (Plt)

Power frequency variations: The deviation of the power system

fundamental frequency from its specified nominal value (50 or 60 Hz).
o Causes: Generation load unbalances, poorly regulated utility equipment

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 Electric Power Quality
• Causes
o Utility Side: lightning, power factor correction, system faults, switching, etc.
o Lode Side: Lighting loads, ARC welders, variable loads, etc.
o Power Electronic Devices: AC & DC Drives, Battery Chargers, Control loads,
Microgrid

• Effects
o Increased losses in the distribution system and electrical machines
o Overheating of motor and transformer windings
o Process or equipment shutdown
o Failure of electronic devices and controllers
o Premature operation of protective devices
o Metering inaccuracies
o Light flicker
o Noise

Power Quality problems will cause long-term issues and economic losses
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 PQ Analysis and mitigation flow diagram

Identify the Characterize the Identify and

problem problem evaluate the
solution

• Mitigation
Monitoring and • Network reconfiguration
classification • Protection

Filters
Limit the load variations
Capacitors
Ring main distribution network
Custom Power Devices
Make equipment less sensitive to
Multi-level Converters voltage disturbances

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 Electric Power Quality Monitoring
What is PQM?

DSP, Arduino
Microcontroller
FPGA, RT Simulator

Voltage/ A/D
Signal Processing and Power Quality
Current Process
Intelligent Techniques Analysis
Signal

Processing

Non-linear loads or
1. Estimation of PQ Indices
Renewable Energy Sources 2. Monitoring of amplitude &
or PCC frequency
3. Detection of PQ disturbances

To define, measure, quantify and interpret PQ disturbances occurring

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 Electric Power Quality Monitoring
• Objectives
o To diagnose incompatibilities between the electric power supply and the load
o To identify power quality events and problems
o To assess the sensitivity of equipment to PQ disturbances and ensure its
performance
o To reduce the power losses in the process and distribution system
o To reduce the loss in production and to improve equipment availability
o To find out the need for mitigation of PQ problems

✓ To develop a database of equipment tolerance and sensitivity

• Parameters to be measured
o AC current measurement
o AC voltage measurement
o Frequency, THD, Harmonic Power
o P1, Q1, S1
o PF, DPF,
o Seq. components

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 Electric Power Quality Monitoring

Regions of Monitoring ?
• At the load
• Distribution systems
• Individual feeders
• Transmission system

✓ Monitoring locations should be at actual customer service entrance

✓ A good compromise approach is to monitor at the substation and selected feeders
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 Electric Power Quality Monitoring
• Measurement Devices
o Digital Fault
Recorders
o Harmonic Analyzer
o Flicker Meter
o Energy Monitor
o Multimeter
o Oscilloscopes
✓ Power Quality Meters
or Analyzers

• Analysis methods
o Harmonic power flow
methods
o Focused study on
particular
disturbances
o Signal Processing
approach
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 Web-based Power Quality Monitoring

Offline/Online PQ Assessment?

Antila, S., et al. "Power quality monitoring of distributed generation units using a web-based
application." IEEE Papers (2003).
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 Electric Power Quality Terminology
• Electromagnetic Disturbance: Any electromagnetic phenomenon which
may degrade the performance of a device, equipment, or system, or adversely
affect living or inert matter.

• Harmonic filter:
o Active filter: Sophisticated power electronic device for eliminating harmonic distortion.
o Passive Filter: A combination of inductors, capacitors, and resistors designed to eliminate
one or more harmonics.

• Frequency Response: Variation of impedance of the system or metering

transducer as a function of frequency.

• Brownout: Used to describe a scheduled & sustained under voltage.

• Power Blackout?
• Balanced Sag: An equal drop in the RMS value of voltage in the three
phases of a three-phase system or at the terminals of three-phase equipment
for a duration up to a few minutes.

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 Electric Power Quality Terminology
• Distributed generation (DG)?

• Dropout: A loss of equipment operation due to noise, sag, or interruption.

• Emission level: The level of a given electromagnetic disturbance emitted

from a particular device, equipment, or system, measured in a specified way.

• Immunity level: The maximum level of a given electromagnetic

disturbance, incident in a specified way on a particular device, equipment, or
system, at which no degradation of operation occurs.

• Ferroresonance: An irregular, often chaotic type of resonance that involves

the nonlinear characteristic of ferrous inductors.

• Ground grid: A system of interconnected bare conductors arranged in a

pattern over a specified area and on or buried below the surface of the earth.

• Islanding: A condition in which distributed generation is isolated on a

portion of the load served by the utility power system.

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 Electric Power Quality Terminology
• Displacement power factor ?

• Total harmonic distortion (THD): The ratio of the root mean square of
the harmonic content to the rms value of the fundamental quantity,
expressed as a percent of the fundamental.

• Total demand distortion (TDD): The ratio of the root mean square of the
harmonic current to the rms value of the rated or maximum demand
fundamental current, expressed as a percent.

• Voltage regulation: The degree of control or stability of the rms voltage at

the load.

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