Introduction to Power
Quality
1
Contents
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Definition of Power Quality
⚫ Standard of Power Quality
⚫ Terms and Definitions
2
Why are we concerned about power
quality
⚫ Ultimate reason: economic value
⚫ Impacts on utilities, customers, suppliers of load equipment
⚫ Customers:
⚫ Electronically controlled, energy-efficient equipment is more
sensitive to deviations in the supply voltage than its
electromechanical predecessors.
⚫ Not uncommon for a single PQ disturbance result in $10,000 or
more
⚫ Utility: Meeting customers expectations in the
deregulation power markets.
⚫ Load equipment suppliers: provide equipment satisfy
ride-through standard, such as ITIC curve, etc…
3
The reasons for interest in PQ
Poor PQ
⚫ Affect the accuracy of utility metering
⚫ Cause protective relays to malfunction
⚫ Result in equipment downtime and/or damage,
resulting in a loss of productivity
⚫ Result in increased costs due to the preceding effects
⚫ Result in problems with electromagnetic
compatibility and noise
4
Huge money loss per fluctuation
The motivation of finding solution to Power Quality issues
M = Million US$ 5
Contents
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Definition of Power Quality
⚫ Standard of Power Quality
⚫ Terms and Definitions
6
Power Quality
⚫ The quality of power delivered to factories,
commercial establishments, and residences.
⚫ Power quality affects the efficiency and operation
of electric devices and other equipments.
⚫ Definition
Any power problem manifested in voltage, current or
frequency deviations that results in failure or misoperation
of customer equipment.
⚫ Utility and customer may have different understandings.
⚫ Different customers may have different PQ requirements.
7
Definition of Power Quality
⚫ IEEE Standard 1159
⚫ The concept of powering and grounding sensitive
equipment in a manner that is suitable for the
operation of that equipment.
⚫ IEEE 100 Authoritative Dictionary
⚫ The concept of powering and grounding sensitive
equipment in a manner that is suitable to the operation
of that equipment and compatible with the premise
wiring system and other connected equipment.
8
Typical PQ Disturbances
Each of these phenomena may have a variety of different causes
and different solutions.
9
Power Quality
Customers
Utility
Loads
Voltage interruption, sag,
Harmonics, reactive power, ..
flicker…
Dirty Loads:
⚫ ASD
Disturbance from source:
⚫ Switching power supply
• Utility switching ⚫ Arc furnace
• Fault clearing ⚫ Electronic fluorescent
lamp
• Lightning ⚫ Etc…
10
Sensitive Loads
11
Nonlinear Load - Rectifier
⚫ Rectifier: 100 W – personal computers
10,000 kW – adjustable speed drivers
12
http://terel2000.com/Power%20Quality.htm
Survey- what causes PQ problems
⚫ The utility’s and customer’s perspectives are often much different.
⚫ Both tend to blame about two-thirds on natural phenomena
⚫ Customers more frequently think utility is at fault.
Customer Perception Utility Perception
13
PQ problem evaluations
⚫ Measurements are important for identify the problem and find the causes.
⚫ Both the economics and technical limitations of the solutions must be
considered.
14
Contents
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Definition of Power Quality
⚫ Standard of Power Quality
⚫ Terms and Definitions
15
PQ Standard
16
https://www.st.gov.my/ms/contents/presentations/PQ_2015/05Understanding%20Power%20Quality%
20Standards_Dr%20Fuad.pdf
PQ Standard
Standards are needed so all end users, and transmission and
distribution suppliers speak the same language.
⚫ IEEE P1366 Guide for Electric Distribution Reliability Indices.
⚫ IEEE 1100 Recommended Practice for Powering and Grounding
Sensitive Electronic Equipment,
⚫ IEEE 1159 Recommended Practice For Monitoring Electric Power
Quality
⚫ IEEE 519 Harmonic mitigation
⚫ IEC 60364 Electrical Installations of Buildings
⚫ IEC 61000-2-X EMC IEC 61000-3-X EMC IEC 61000-4-X EMC
⚫ SEMI STD SEMI F42/47/49/50 ENGR Engineering
Recommendation
⚫ EN 50160 Electromagnetic Environment
17
https://www.powerstandards.com/tutorials/ieee-power-quality-standards/
IEC and IEEE Standards
⚫ Similarities
⚫ Cover power quality
⚫ Used by engineers with sensitive loads
⚫ Agree on the basic concepts and terminology
⚫ Differences
⚫ Volunteer vs appointed experts
⚫ Consensus vs national voting
⚫ Informative vs enforced
⚫ IEEE is to be used (Open sources).
18
www.PowerStandards.com
ANSI Standard C84
⚫ American National Standards Institute
⚫ Guidelines for 120V service
⚫ Service Voltage : Electric supply systems
⚫ Utilization Voltage : Electrical systems.
19
PQ Standard in mainland China
No. Title
1 GB/T 18481-2001 电能质量 暂时过电压和瞬态过电压
2 GB/T 12325-2008 电能质量 供电电压偏差
3 GB/T 12326-2008 电能质量 电压波动和闪变
4 GB/T 15945-2008 电能质量 电力系统频率偏差
5 GB/T 30137-2013 电能质量 电压暂降与短时中断
6 GB/T 24337-2009 电能质量 公用电网谐波
20
https://www.vfe.cc/NewsDetail-1943.aspx
Contents
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Definition of Power Quality
⚫ Standard of Power Quality
⚫ Terms and Definitions
21
Contents
⚫ Terms and Definitions
⚫ Impulse transient
⚫ Oscillatory transient
⚫ Voltage Sag
⚫ Voltage Swell
⚫ Interruption
⚫ Notching
⚫ Voltage fluctuation and flicker
⚫ Unbalance
22
Classified by IEC
Conductive coupling:
a physical pathway exists
between source and equipment
Radiative coupling:
Emission reaches the affected
equipment through electric and
magnetic fields.
23
Classify by IEEE 519-2014 (I)
⚫ Classification in IEEE
⚫ Transients
⚫ Short-duration variations
⚫ Long-duration variations
⚫ Voltage imbalance, Waveform distortion, Voltage fluctuations, Power
frequency variations
⚫ Attributes to describe phenomena
⚫ Non steady-state: rate of rise, amplitude, duration , spectrum, frequency,
rate of occurrence, etc.
⚫ Steady-state: amplitude, frequency, spectrum, notch depth, notch area,
etc.
24
25
26
Contents
⚫ Introduction
⚫ Terms and Definitions
⚫ Impulse transient
⚫ Oscillatory transient
⚫ Voltage Sag
⚫ Voltage Swell
⚫ Interruption
⚫ Notching
⚫ Voltage fluctuation and flicker
⚫ Unbalance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIFghcr1ys4 27
Transient
Transient
⚫ Transient: Sudden and rapid change, less than 10
microseconds
⚫ Impulsive or Oscillatory
⚫ Carry very little energy, but can damage sensitive electronic equipment.
⚫ Natural: Lightning strokes
⚫ Planned: energization of a piece of equipment
⚫ Unplanned: short-circuit condition
28
Impulsive transient
⚫ Sudden, non-power frequency change
⚫ Brief, unidirectional variation in voltage, current, or both on a
power line.
⚫ Most common source: lightning strikes
Characterized by their
rise and decay times
29
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/eed/research/systems/epsdc/
30
Example
⚫ Current rising to -23kA in 5 us, decays to zero in 100 us
31
Oscillatory “Transient”
⚫ A brief, bidirectional variation (non-power frequency) in
voltage, current, or both on a power line.
⚫ Occur due to resonances during switching.
Describe by
spectral content,
duration and
magnitude
32
Example: capacitor bank switching
⚫ Vs=277 V, switch capacitor at t=100ms
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/electrical-engineering/ee-
circuit-analysis-topic/ee-natural-and-forced-response/v/ee-lc-
natural-response-derivation1 33
Case Study
⚫ Capacitor switch contacts close at a point near the
system voltage peak.
⚫ 1.34 pu transient
⚫ 2.0 pu transients often cause misoperation of electronic
power conversion devices.
34
Contents
⚫ Terms and Definitions
⚫ Impulse transient
⚫ Oscillatory transient
⚫ Voltage Sag
⚫ Voltage Swell
⚫ Short-duration Interruption
⚫ Notching
⚫ Voltage fluctuation and flicker
⚫ Unbalance
35
Short-duration voltage variations
⚫ Duration
⚫ Instantaneous (0.5 – 30 cycles)
⚫ Momentary (30 cycles – 3 seconds)
⚫ Temporary ( 3 seconds – 1minute)
⚫ Magnitude
⚫ Interruption (less than 0.1 pu)
⚫ Sag (dip) (0.1 pu to 0.9 pu)
⚫ Swell (1.1 to 1.4 pu)
36
Interruption
⚫ A reduction in line-voltage to less than 10 percent of nominal
⚫ Result of power system faults, equipment failures, control
malfunctions, etc.
⚫ Measured by duration (magnitude always less than 10%)
37
Interruption Index
⚫ System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI)
⚫ The average time each customer is interrupted (minutes/year)
⚫ System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI)
⚫ Represents the average number of interruptions per customer.
(interruptions/year)
⚫ Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI)
⚫ The average time to restore service per interrupted customer
(minutes/interruption)
38
Data from U.S.
39
https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=35652
SAIDI and SAIFI in OECD economies
40
https://www.meti.go.jp/shingikai/enecho/denryoku_gas/denryoku_gas/pdf/014_03_02.pdf
Voltage Sag - Introduction
⚫ Voltage sag: line rms voltage decreases from the nominal line-
voltage for a short period of time.
⚫ Typically 0.5 to 30 cycles
⚫ 0.1-0.9pu in rms
⚫ Caused by faults on the power system and the starting of large
loads.
41
Sags caused by fault - Sources
⚫ Fault on the same feeder
⚫ Sag (5~6cycles) – Interruption (12 cy ~ 5s)
⚫ Fault on the other feeders from the substation
⚫ Sag
Events that cause
equipment misoperation for
one industry customer
42
Example – unfaulted part
- Sources
43
Voltage Swell
⚫ A swell is the converse of the sag.
⚫ A brief increase in the rms line voltage
44
Overvoltage caused by PV
45
Long-Duration voltage variations
⚫ Overvoltage: > 1.1 pu, more than 1 minute
⚫ Undervoltage: < 0.9 pu, more than 1 minute
⚫ Due to load switching, capacitor bank switching
⚫ Sustained Interruption
⚫ Voltage: zero, more than 1 minute
⚫ Permanent fault, maintenance
46
Contents
⚫ Terms and Definitions
⚫ Impulse transient
⚫ Oscillatory transient
⚫ Voltage Sag
⚫ Voltage Swell
⚫ Short-duration Interruption
⚫ Notching
⚫ Voltage fluctuation and flicker
⚫ Unbalance
47
Notching
⚫ Periodic voltage disturbance caused by normal operation of
power electronic devices.
⚫ Occur during current “commutation” from one phase to
another.
⚫ Momentary short-circuit pulling the voltage toward zero.
48
Notching
49
Notch standard
50
http://www.ab.com/drives/techpapers/notch.htm
Voltage unbalance (imbalance)
⚫ A variation in the amplitudes of three-phase voltages,
relative to one another.
51
Unbalance
⚫ Causes:
⚫ unequal impedances of three-phase transmission and distribution
system lines
⚫ unequal distribution of single-phase loads, phase to phase loads
⚫ unbalanced three-phase loads
⚫ The level of current unbalance is several times the level
of voltage unbalance.
⚫ unbalance has series impact on inductive motors
⚫ lead to excessive losses in the stator and rotor
⚫ may cause protection systems to operate causing loss of
production.
52
http://www.elec.uow.edu.au/iepqrc/files/technote6.pdf
Three phase system
⚫ Positive sequence currents produces a normal rotating field
⚫ Negative sequence produces a field with the opposite rotation
⚫ Zero sequence produces a field that oscillates but does not
rotate.
⚫ Protection relays use negative-sequence voltages and currents
as a reliable indicator of fault conditions.
⚫ Such relays may be used to trip circuit breakers or take
other steps to protect electrical systems.
53
Unbalance affect motor performance
54
http://www.pump-zone.com/motors/motors/unbalanced-voltages-and-electric-motors.html
Case Study of Unbalance
Voltage unbalance generate excessive heat to the
polyphase system loads and the motors.
A utility in Hawaii extracts water from deep wells to provide drinking water to
customers. They use 3-phase electric motors. The voltage is with significant
fluctuations and unbalanced phases. The poor power quality and unbalanced
phases was causing pump motors to burn out often within one year of installation,
significantly short of the 15-20 useful lives of the motors.
How to detect & solve the three Phase motor current
http://www.irinfo.org/02-01-2007-handlin/ unbalance Problem? - YouTube
Voltage fluctuations and flicker
⚫ Voltage fluctuations are systematic variation of the voltage
envelope or a series of random voltage changes.
⚫ Due to continuous, rapid variation in the load current
magnitude.
56
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iV3RaKmBeI
Flicker
⚫ Lamp Flicker is the human perception of light intensity
variation.
⚫ Human eye is most sensitive to voltage waveform
modulation around a frequency of 6-8Hz.
57
The End!
58
