Energy Efficiency & Power Quality Series

Power Quality Basics: Fixing High Voltage & Overvoltage Problems

October, 2009

Utility Systems Technologies, Inc.

Phone: 888 403-9084 Fax: 518 377-2207 Email: CustomersFirst@ustpower.com Website: www.ustpower.com P.O. Box 110 Latham, NY 12110

Fixing High Voltage & Overvoltage Problems

verly high voltage levels can be detrimental to electrical devices, particularly electronics. However, voltages that are slightly above nominal may improve the efficiency of some devices like motors and power supplies. Problems with high voltage levels usually occur when they are unexpected or uncontrolled. This paper looks at causes, symptoms and solutions for chronic high voltage problems.

Chronic high voltage or overvoltage

Chronic high voltage or overvoltage which is defined by the IEEE as is a voltage level of 110% or more of the nominal voltage that exists for one minute or more. The duration of one minute or more distinguishes overvoltage from shorter duration problems such as voltage swells. Overvoltage is essentially the mirror-image of undervoltage which was covered in the paper, Fixing Low Voltage & Undervoltage Problems.

Overvoltage chronic high voltage

Causes of chronic high voltage overvoltage

Chronic high voltage is most often attributable to excessive correction for voltage drop on the utility transmission and distribution system. Voltage drop on electrical conductors is a common situation anywhere. But, in locations with low electrical load density, such as suburban and rural areas, long conductor runs magnifies the problem. Impedance causes the voltage to decrease along the length of a conductor as Voltage drop in utility lines the current flow increases to meet the demand. To correct a voltage drops, the utility employs on-load tap changing voltage regulators (OLTCs) and line drop compensating voltage regulators (LDCs) to boost (raise) or buck (lower) the voltage. Customers nearest to an OLTC or LDC can experience overvoltage as the utility tries to overcome conductor voltage drop for those customers at the far end of the line. As simply shown in the graphic above, location relative to utility voltage regulating equipment can play a significant role in the voltage levels seen by a customer. In many locations the impact of load-driven voltage drop is seen as daily fluctuations that result in voltage levels being the highest at the time of lowest load demand. This typically occurs Monday through Friday from the late evening through early morning. A less typical cause of high voltage problems is caused by local transformers that have been set to boost voltage to offset reduced voltage levels. This most often occurs at facilities with heavy loads at the end of distribution lines. When the heavy loads are operating, a normal voltage level is maintained but when the loads are shut off, the voltage levels shoot up.
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Daily voltage fluctuation

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In rare cases, very high voltage levels can be caused by a phenomenon known as Ferranti rise. Named for the English engineer Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti, this phenomenon can occur when long transmission or distribution lines have no or extremely low current flow. With no current flow, resistance becomes negligible and capacitance and inductance of the line combine to increase the voltage along the conductor: somewhat analogous to charging a capacitor.

The problem with high voltage - overvoltage

Electrical device are designed to operate at a certain standard voltage in order for the product to achieve specified levels of performance, efficiency, safety and reliability. Operating an electrical device above the specified voltage level range can lead to problems such as malfunction, shut down, overheating, premature failure, etc. For example, a printed circuit board can be expected have a shorter life when operated above its rated voltage for long periods of time. Some of the more common symptoms of overvoltage include: Electronics run hotter than normal and fail prematurely Equipment shut down due to overvoltage protection Unexplained malfunctions On the other hand, some devices such as motors, power supplies and transformers may benefit from voltage levels slightly above the Substation transformer with on-load tap nameplate voltage but within the voltage limits for the device. For changing voltage regulator example, an induction motor operating near its rated output at 110% of nameplate voltage can have its efficiency increased 1 to 3%, have its operating temperature reduced 10 to 15% and have its running torque increased by nearly 20%. The reason for this is that the increased voltage decreases current flow in the device which decreases the I 2R or copper losses. The reduction of losses improves electrical efficiency and decreases operating temperatures. The challenge becomes one of determining and maintaining a voltage level that maximizes efficiency for certain devices without adversely impacting the operation or life of other devices.

Utility and utilization voltage levels

No discussion of overvoltage would be complete without an examination of the regulations and definitions concerning voltage levels. The first point to be noted is that there is no national (U.S.) standard for the voltage levels. Individual states usually reference ANSI standard C84 or some variation of the standard to define the voltage levels must supply. ANSI C84 suggests that the voltage level supplied at a customers meter (the service voltage) should be within 5% of the nominal voltage. However, the standard goes on to recognize that the voltage level may infrequently be -10% to +6% of nominal. No specific definition of infrequently is provided however the standard does say the utility-supplied voltage level may be worse than -10 to +6% for brief periods due to unexpected operational issues. Fortunately, most electricity utilities are pretty good at keeping voltage levels with the 5% range most of the time. However, even though
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Line drop compensating (LDC) voltage regulators (one per phase)

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electric utilities strive to do their best for everyone, reality dictates that not everyone can receive optimal voltage levels all of the time or even most of the time. Experience shows that complaints to the electric utility about high voltage levels most often result in a voltage level measurement by the utility and notification that the voltage level is within specifications. This is the point when utility customers start to look for solutions for their overvoltage problems.

Solutions for Overvoltage

The most common types of products used for correction of chronic high voltage and overvoltage are: Servomotor-controlled variable transformers Servo-mechanical tap switching voltage regulators Servo-mechanical induction voltage regulators Electronic tap switching voltage regulators Ferroresonant transformers Electronic double conversion voltage regulators

These are the same devices used to address chronic low voltage or undervoltage problems.

The paper, Fixing Low Voltage &Undervoltage Problems, includes a description and discussion on these power quality voltage regulators. The following papers provide more information on automatic voltage regulation for utility and power quality applications:

Comparison of Automatic Voltage Regulators for Industrial Power Quality Applications Comparison of Automatic Voltage Regulators for Utility versus Power Quality Applications
These papers and more are available for free download at USTs Download Library.

Utility Systems Technologies, Inc. is the leading manufactures of industrial-grade power conditioning products for voltage regulation, power conditioning and voltage sag protection. As a leader in the field of green power quality, all UST products have the highest performance and efficiencies available.
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