TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL

Building Services IMPLICATIONS OF LEADING POWER FACTORS TO GENERATORS AND UPS EQUIPMENT CONTENTS Introduction The cause of leading power factors The issue for generators The issue for ups systems Designing installations for leading power factors Summary INTRODUCTION

TRM 1099 Rev 2 Date 02/10 Page 1 of 4

The purpose of this TRM is to raise the profile of the implications of leading power factors and to cover the cause, effect and the precautions required in design distribution networks as a result. THE CAUSE OF LEADING POWER FACTORS

Prior to 2001 the switched mode power supplies installed in IT equipment (pcs, servers etc) and similar types of equipment utilised relatively simple and consequently easily manufactured and cheap, switched mode power supplies. The consequence of utilising such devices to the electrical network that they were connected to was the high harmonic distortion caused by the switching pattern adopted by the devices within the equipment. On an individual basis the impact of these units is insignificant however there is a significant problem when large numbers of such devices are concentrated within one distribution network. Obvious locations are data centres large, office blocks etc. As a consequence it is necessary, when designing systems, to take measures to deal with the highly distorted waveforms created within the distribution network. Such measures being over sizing distribution plant (generators, transformers etc), increasing the size of neutral conductors, isolating the harmonics to more manageable small parts of the distribution network, using isolation transformers, installing active filters to sink significant proportions of harmonic currents and over sizing the neutral conductors. In 2001 the EU Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive was formally adopted and it became a requirement to comply with Euro Norm 61000. As a result all electrical equipment manufacturers had to comply with limits on equipment power factors and harmonics generated by their equipment. The equipment suppliers responded to the directives and standard requirements by installing simple (and of course cheap) filters on the front end of their power supplies. Is this an instant solution? Not quite, the filters are designed to correct the power supply characteristics at full load. Typically they aim for 0.99 lagging at 100% rated load. It is well known that equipment seldom operates at full load but as the filters are not dynamic they still apply the same level of correction at all loadings and as a result the equipment presents a leading power factor to the supply network. Concentrating a large number of equipment of this type in one location can result in the distribution network having an overall leading power factor. As IT equipment is constantly being replaced the older poor quality switch mode power supply units are rapidly disappearing. Within the data centre environment typical power factors have been

TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL

Building Services IMPLICATIONS OF LEADING POWER FACTORS TO GENERATORS AND UPS EQUIPMENT

TRM 1099 Rev 2 Date 02/10 Page 2 of 4

presenting at 0.9 leading. To date we have not seen anything beyond 0.9 leading but there have been instances of individual circuits being recorded at below 0.4 leading. For the data centre designer the advent of triple and quad chorded equipment, with the load being spread across all of the input supplies, has result in the net operating load for a server per power chord dropping and as a consequence a leading power factor resulting (typically a quad chorded server can operate a full load on two out of the four power supplies). High concentrations of these devices only add to the problem. THE ISSUE FOR GENERATORS

Leading power factor loads in general produce an armature reaction that has a magnetizing effect on the main field winding which in turn requires less excitation to maintain its output voltage as the machine begins to "self excite". This reduction in inputted excitation voltage creates a danger in that the AVR controlling the generator could well reach a critical point where by it loses control of the output voltage and allows it to rise rapidly up to a possible 180% of the nominal voltage. Another danger is that if the generator was to run in parallel with other generators or, even the mains utility, then under this excited condition the generator could suffer pole slipping in which case the main rotating field winding can move out of synchronization with the rotating armature flux. The net result of such a pole slip is that high transient voltages are induced into the rotor winding and hence across the rotating diodes causing damage to both the rotor winding insulation and the diodes. A lot of research has been and is being done into the issue. The following chart is relevant to generators installed in a recent data centre.

The chart demonstrates what the alternator can produce under leading (and lagging) power factors.

TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL

Building Services IMPLICATIONS OF LEADING POWER FACTORS TO GENERATORS AND UPS EQUIPMENT

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Basically across the top you have the power factor, select the line (running at an angle) at for example 0.9 leading power factor position, follow it until it crosses the thick black line, then follow the circular line until it crosses the Per Unit kVAR line at the bottom of the chart. This leads to somewhere between 0.6 and 0.7 (approx 67%). This figure is then a de-rate factor for the alternator operating under these conditions, therefore this alternator can operate stably at 0.9 leading power factor at an output of 1608kva (2400kva * 0.67). In the same way it can be determined that the machine can deliver no more than 60% of its power at 0.9 leading power factor. Therefore if you wanted the full generator output of 2200kVA operating at 0.9 leading power factor then you need a much larger machine to counteract the de-rating effect of the leading power factor. THE ISSUE FOR UPS SYSTEMS

Discussions with the various static and rotary UPS manufacturers have resulted in the following: Manufacturer Piller Hitec Eurodiesl Chloride Socomec MGE AVK/SEG Type of System Uni-block rotary In line diesel rotary In line diesel rotary Static Static Static Static Capability No duration of unit kW performance over power factor range 0.8 lagging to 0.8 leading No duration of unit kW performance over power factor range 0.8 lagging to 0.8 leading Little information available but have advise system instability with pf less than 0.9 leading No duration of unit kW performance over power factor range 0.8 lagging to 0.8 leading No duration of unit kW performance over power factor range 0.8 lagging to 0.8 leading Deration dependant upon range selected. Will advocate active correction equipment in down stream distribution. No duration power factors in range 0.8 lag to 1.0, duration required for leading power factors

Note that the situation is changing on a regular basis and it is wise to consult the proposed system suppliers when designing for specific applications. DESIGNING INSTALLATIONS FOR LEADING POWER FACTORS

There is no ultimate solution for the leading power factor issue. Each design will depend upon the systems installed and the quantity of expected leading power factor equipment. As most UPS systems can be selected to deal with the leading power factor issue the real concern in the system is the back-up generating plant. It is inevitable that at some point the installed UPS systems will be by-passed presenting the leading power factor load to the incoming grid supply or back-up generation plant. The have been recorded instances of sites losing their generation when the site load has been swung from the UPS path to the by-pass path.

TECHNICAL REFERENCE MANUAL

Building Services IMPLICATIONS OF LEADING POWER FACTORS TO GENERATORS AND UPS EQUIPMENT

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In considering the leading power factor load it is necessary to consider the influences of other system components and their power factors. An in depth analysis of all system loads can ally fears of an overall site leading power factor at the generating plant. For example significant motor loads can assist with brining the leading power factor toward unity or indeed resulting in a lagging power factor. The use of static switches in the down stream distribution is a method that we have employed successfully in recent designs. The installation consisted of multiple independent power trains with the loads switched between systems on failure or switching of the UPS units in one power train to by-pass. However, in the selection of the static switch it is important to make sure that they are also capable of dealing with leading power factors. The provision of harmonic conditioning equipment or sine wave correction equipment within the power distribution network may be suitable for some designs but always consider the implications of unit failures. The WSP power systems team has the capability of dynamically modelling distribution networks and assessing the overall performance of a distribution network. SUMMARY

In the long term there will be a response to the leading power factor issue (similar as there was to the harmonic issue) but in the meantime be careful in system designs and consider all failure scenarios. In the short term existing installations will have to be carefully monitored and we should be prepared to advise our Client that they will have to de-rate installed equipment to ensure continued support to their critical loads. Always consider every failure mode when designing the distribution system. Clients will not be happy if there expected generator back up collapses when called upon. KEYWORDS

Power factor; generator; UPS; Author: Sponsor: Karl R Luck, Head of Power Systems, Holborn Group Technical Centre

Revision record: 05/06 First issue 02/10 Second issue REVIEW INFORMATION

February 2010 Document reviewed for validity S Robinson