POWER QUALITY AND

CUSTOM POWER DEVICES

By Prof R K Jena

SCHOOL OF ELECTRICAL SCIENCES

ODISHA UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH, ODISHA
Course Outcomes
Understand the characteristics of AC transmission and the effect of shunt
and series reactive compensation. (Awareness of Power Quality)
Understand the basic concepts of power quality. (Causes and Effects of
PQ Issues)
Understand the working principles of devices to improve power quality.
(Requirement of Power Quality Improvements and Mitigation
Aspects)

Text Books:
1. R. C. Duggan , Mark F McGranaghan, H.Wayne Beaty and S. Santoso, Electrical
Power System Quality, McGraw Hill(2000).
2. Bollen, M.H.J., Power Quality Problems: Voltage Sag and Interruptions, IEEE Press
(2007).
3. Mohan, N., Power Electronics, New Age International (P) Limited, Publishers (2007).
4. Arindam Ghosh, Gerard Ledwich, ‘Power Quality Enhancement using Custom Power
Devices’, Springer Science.
POWER QUALITY
• Power quality is ultimately a consumer-driven issue.

• Accordingly the definition power quality may be given as

Any power problem manifested in voltage, current, or frequency

deviations that results in failure or misoperation of customer equipment.

• Power Quality =Voltage Quality

• The power supply system can only control the quality of the voltage; it has no
control over the currents that particular loads might draw.

• Therefore, the standards in the power quality area are devoted to maintaining
the supply voltage within certain limits.
POWER QUALITY

• The pollution of electric power quality systems is much severe at utilization

level.
• There are number of reasons for pollution of the AC supply system such as
natural ones like lightening, flashover, equipment failure, faults, etc. which
are around 60 percent. And the fourth one such as voltage distortion,
notches, etc. are about 40 percent.
• A number of customer equipment also pollute the supply systems as they
draw non sinusoidal currents and behave as non-linear loads.
• The power quality problems in supply system may result in failure or mal-
operation of customer equipment
These Power Quality Problems Causes:
• Failure of capacitor bank
• Increased losses in the distribution system and electrical
machines
• Noise
• Vibration
• Over Voltage
• Excessive current due to resonance
• Negative Sequence Currents in Generators and Motors
Rotor Heating, Dielectric Breakdown, Interference with the
Communication Line, Interference with Protection devices,
Motor controllers
Terms and Definitions
• We will discuss consistent terminology that can be used to describe
power quality variations.
General Classes of Power Quality Problems:
Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE):
IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 22 (IEEE SCC22)
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)
Congress Internationale des Grand Réseaux Électriques a
Haute Tension
(CIGRE; in English, International Conference on Large
High-Voltage Electric Systems)
State of art power quality problems
• The costumer’s equipments have become much more sensitive to power
quality problems due to the use of digital control and power electronic
converters
Solid State Controllers has resulted in:
Increased harmonic levels
Distortion, notches, noise
• Deregulation of the power system has increased the importance of power
quality as consumers are using power quality and performance indicators
• The another major reason behind the power quality problems is the
distributed generation using renewable energy sources and other local
energy sources
Classification of Power Quality Problems
• Classification on the Basis of the Event
Transient and Steady state
The Quantity such as Current, Voltage and Frequency
Supply System etc.
• Transient type of power quality problem
Impulse in nature or oscillatory in nature
Sag(Dip)
Swell
Short Duration Voltage variations
Power Frequency variation
Voltage Fluctuations
Classification of Power Quality Problems

• The Steady State types of Power Quality Problems

Long Duration Voltage Variation
Waveform Distortion
Voltage Unbalance
Notches
DC Offset
Flicker
Poor Power Factor
Load Currents Unbalance
Load Harmonic Currents
Excessive Neutral Current etc
Classification of Power Quality Problems

• On the Basis of Quantity

Voltage
Current
Frequency
• Due to nature of Load
Fluctuation load as Furnaces
Non-linear Loads
Unbalance Loads
Loads having Neutral Current
Phenomena Causing Electromagnetic
Disturbances

Electromagnetic Disturbances as Classified by the IEC

1. Conducted low-frequency phenomena
Harmonics, interharmonics
Signal systems (power line carrier)
Voltage fluctuations (flicker)
Voltage dips and interruptions
Voltage imbalance (unbalance)
Power frequency variations
Induced low-frequency voltages
DC in ac networks
Electromagnetic Disturbances as Classified by the IEC

2. Radiated low-frequency phenomena

Magnetic fields
Electric fields
3.Conducted high-frequency phenomena
Induced continuous-wave (CW) voltages or currents
Unidirectional transients
Oscillatory transients
4. Radiated high-frequency phenomena
Magnetic fields
Electric fields
Electromagnetic fields
Continuous waves
Transients
Categorization of Electromagnetic Phenomena

Attributes used for steady-state phenomena

• Amplitude
• Frequency
• Spectrum
• Modulation
• Source impedance
• Notch depth
• Notch area
Categorization of Electromagnetic Phenomena

Attributes used for non-steady-state phenomena:

• Rate of rise
• Amplitude
• Duration
• Spectrum
• Frequency
• Rate of occurrence
• Energy potential
• Source impedance
Categories and Characteristics of Power System Electromagnetic
Phenomena
• Transients
• Short-duration variations
• Long-duration variations
• Voltage unbalance
• Waveform distortion
• Voltage fluctuations
• Power frequency variations
Power Quality Standards
• A number of standards have been developed by various
organizations and institutes, which are to be enforced on the
customers, manufacturers and utility to maintain an acceptable
level of power quality.
• Apart from these factors, various techniques and instruments are
also developed to study and monitor the level of power quality
pollution and their causes.
• And many industries are developing a number of instruments,
recorders, analyzers to measure and record, and analyze the data
at the site or in the research laboratory to quantify the kind of
problems at different places.
Power Quality Standards

A number of standards and benchmarks are developed by

various organizations such as:
• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
• IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)
• There have been several standards such as IEEE- 519, IEC-
61000 etc. on the permissible limits in the levels of deviations,
distortions in various electrical quantities such as voltages,
currents, power factor etc.
Transients

• Transients are short-duration events, the characteristics of which

are predominantly determined by the resistance, inductance, and
capacitance of the power system network at the point of interest.
It is an event that is undesirable and momentary in nature
OR
That part of the change in a variable that disappears during
transition from one steady state operating condition to another.
Transients

Impulsive Oscillatory
Impulsive transient
• An impulsive transient is a sudden, non–power frequency change in the
steady-state condition of voltage, current, or both that is unidirectional in
polarity (primarily either positive or negative).

• Example: A 1.2 × 50-µs 2000-volt (V) impulsive transient

• The most common cause of impulsive transients is lightning

 Oscillatory transient
• An oscillatory transient is a sudden, non–power frequency
change in the steady-state condition of voltage, current, or both,
that includes both positive and negative polarity values.
• In other words, the instantaneous voltage or current value of an
oscillatory transient varies its polarity quickly. It is described by
its spectral content or predominant frequency, magnitude and
duration.
• Frequency of the oscillation gives a trace to the origin of the
disturbance.
Oscillatory transient

Voltage

Time in ms
Oscillatory Transient Due to Back-to-Back Capacitor Switching
Oscillatory transient

Capacitor Switching Transients

 Long-Duration Voltage Variations
• Long-duration variations encompass root-mean-square (rms)
deviations at power frequencies for longer than 1 min.
• A voltage variation is considered to be long duration when the
ANSI limits are exceeded for greater than 1 min.
• ANSI C84.1 specifies the steady-state voltage tolerances expected
on a power system
• Long-duration variations can be either over-voltages or under-
voltages.
• Over-voltages and under-voltages generally are not the result of
system faults, but are caused by load variations on the system and
system switching operations.
 Overvoltage

• An overvoltage is an increase in the rms ac voltage greater than 110

percent at the power frequency for a duration longer than 1 min.
Cause of Over Voltage
• Switching off a large load
• Energizing a capacitor bank
• Incorrect tap settings on transformers
 Undervoltage
• An undervoltage is a decrease in the rms ac voltage to less
than 90 percent at the power frequency for a duration longer
than 1 min.
• Under voltages are the result of:
• Switching events that are the opposite of the events that cause
over voltages.
• Switching of Large Loads
• Switching off a capacitor bank
Sustained interruptions
• 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.
• The term sustained interruption refers to specific power system
phenomena.
• This term has been defined to be more specific regarding the
absence of voltage for long periods.
Short-Duration Voltage Variations

• This category belongs to the IEC category of voltage dips and

short interruptions. Each type of variation can be designated as
instantaneous, momentary, or temporary, depending on its
duration.
Caused By
• fault conditions
• energization of large loads, which require high starting currents
• intermittent loose connections in power wiring
Short-Duration Voltage Variations

Depending on the fault location and the system conditions

• voltage drops (sags)
• voltage rises (swells) or
• a complete loss of voltage (interruptions).

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
Interruption

Three-phase rms
voltages for a
momentary
interruption due to
a fault and
subsequent
recloser operation
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.
• The IEC definition for this phenomenon is dip.

Voltage sags associated with system faults or

• energization of heavy loads or
• starting of large motors
Sag

Voltage sag caused by an SLG fault. (1) RMS waveform for voltage
sag event. (2) Voltage sag waveform
 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.
As with sags, swells are usually associated with system fault
conditions, but they are not as common as voltage sags.
• One way that a swell can occur is from the temporary voltage rise
on the un-faulted phases during an SLG fault
• Swells can also be caused by switching off a large load or
energizing a large capacitor bank
Swell
Voltage Imbalance

• Voltage imbalance (also called voltage unbalance) is sometimes

defined as the maximum deviation from the average of the three-
phase voltages or currents, divided by the average of the three-
phase voltages or currents, expressed in percent.
• The primary source of voltage unbalances of less than 2 percent is
single-phase loads on a three-phase circuit.
• Voltage unbalance can also be the result of blown fuses in one phase
of a three-phase capacitor bank.
• Severe voltage unbalance (greater than 5 percent) can result from
single-phasing conditions.
 Waveform Distortion

• Waveform distortion is defined as a steady-state deviation from

an ideal sine wave of power frequency principally characterized
by the spectral content of the deviation.
There are five primary types of waveform distortion:
• DC offset
• Harmonics
• Interharmonics
• Notching
• Noise
Waveform Distortion
Power Frequency Variations

• Power frequency variations are defined as the deviation of the

power system fundamental frequency from it specified nominal
value.

frequency variations for a 24-h period on a typical 13-kV substation bus

Voltage Spike
• Voltage spikes are the very fast variation of the voltage value for
durations from several microseconds to a few milliseconds.
Voltage Spike

Causes of Voltage Spikes:

• Lightning.
• Switching of lines or power factor correction capacitors.
• Disconnection of heavy loads.
Consequences of Voltage Spikes:
• Destruction of components and of insulation materials.
• Data processing errors or data loss.
• Electromagnetic interference.
Voltage fluctuation

• Voltage fluctuation is the oscillation of voltage value, amplitude

modulated by a signal with low frequency.
Causes of Voltage fluctuation:
➢ Arc furnaces.
➢ Frequent start/stop of electric
motors (for instance elevators).
➢ Oscillating loads.
Consequences of Voltage
fluctuation:
➢ Most consequences are common
to under voltages.
➢ Flickering of lighting and screens
Voltage Notching
• Voltage notching is nothing but a higher-order harmonic along
with the fundamental voltage.

Cause of Notching: Current Commutation in Power Electronic

Devices.
Effect: Voltage Notches introduce harmonic and non-harmonic
frequencies that are much higher than those found in higher voltage
systems. Interference with the communication systems.
Power Quality Terms
• Active filter: Any of a number of sophisticated power electronic
devices for eliminating harmonic distortion. See passive filter.
• CBEMA curve: A set of curves representing the withstand
capabilities of computers in terms of the magnitude and duration
of the voltage disturbance.
(Developed by the Computer Business Equipment Manufacturers
Association) (CBEMA)
CBEMA has been replaced by the Information Technology Industry
Council (ITI), and a new curve has been developed that is commonly
referred to as the ITI curve. See ITI curve.
Common Mode Voltage: The noise voltage that appears equally
from current carrying conductor to ground.
Power Quality Terms
• Coupling: A circuit element, or elements, or a network that
may be considered common to the input mesh and the output
mesh and through which energy may be transferred from one to
another
• Crest factor: A value reported by many power quality
monitoring instruments representing the ratio of the crest value
of the measured waveform to the root mean square of the
fundamental. For example, the crest factor of a sinusoidal wave
is 1.414.
• critical load: Devices and equipment whose failure to operate
satisfactorily jeopardizes the health or safety of personnel,
and/or results in loss of function, financial loss, or damage to
property deemed critical by the user.
Power Quality Terms
• Current distortion: Distortion in the ac line current
• Differential mode voltage: The voltage between any two of a
specified set of active conductors
• Dip: decrease in root-mean-square (rms) voltage or current for
durations of 0.5 cycles to 1 min. The typical values are 0.1 to 0.9
pu (Voltage Sag)
• Distortion: Any deviation from the normal sine wave for an ac
quantity.
• Distributed generation (DG): Generation dispersed throughout
the power system as opposed to large, central station power
plants. In the context used in this book, DG typically refers to units
less than 10 megawatts (MW) in size that are interconnected with
the distribution system rather than the transmission system.
 Power Quality Terms

• Dropout: A loss of equipment operation (discrete data signals) due to noise,

sag, or interruption.
• Dropout voltage: The voltage at which a device will release to its
deenergized position (for this document, the voltage at which a device fails to
operate).
• Electromagnetic compatibility: The ability of a device, equipment, or
system to function satisfactorily in its electromagnetic environment without
introducing intolerable electromagnetic disturbances to anything in that
environment.
Power Quality Terms
• equipment grounding conductor: The conductor used to
connect the non–current carrying parts of conduits, raceways,
and equipment enclosures to the grounded conductor (neutral)
and the grounding electrode at the service equipment (main
panel) or secondary of a separately derived system (e.g.,
isolation transformer).
• Given in National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 70-1993,
Section 100
• Failure mode: The effect by which failure is observed.
 Power Quality Terms

• Fast tripping: Refers to the common utility protective relaying

practice in which the circuit breaker or line recloser operates
faster than a fuse can blow. Also called fuse saving. Effective
for clearing transient faults without a sustained interruption, but
is somewhat controversial because industrial loads are
subjected to a momentary or temporary interruption.
• Fault: Generally refers to a short circuit on the power system.