HARMONIC GENERATION

Generation of harmonics Effects of harmonics Harmonic modeling, and analysis Mitigation of harmonics by passive filter Measurements of harmonics

TYPES OF LOADS
1.

Linear time-invariant loads

2.

Non-linear loads

These loads display constant steady state impedance during the applied Sinusoidal voltage. Incandescent lighting Rotating machines Harmonics due to non-uniform air gap and tooth ripples. Transformers Saturation in a transformer and its Inrush current contains odd and even Harmonics, including a dc component.

They draw a current that is discontinuous for a part of the sinusoidal voltage cycle. Adjustable drive systems Cycloconverters Arc furnaces Switching mode power supplies Static VAR compensators (SVCs) HVDC transmission Electric traction Wind and solar power generation Slip recovery schemes of induction motors Fluorescent lighting and electronic ballasts

INTEGRAL AND NON-INTEGRAL HARMONICS

INTEGRAL HARMONICS A distorted waveform having a Fourier series with fundamental frequency equal to power system frequency, and its periodic steady state exist. NON-INTEGRAL HARMONICS A distorted waveform having sub multiples of power system frequency. For them a trigonometric Fourier series expansion is used. Such Non-Integral harmonic generators include: Arcing devices Arc furnaces Fluorescent, mercury, and sodium vapor lighting They cause phase unbalance, flicker, impact loading, harmonics, and resonance, and may give rise to torsion vibrations in rotating equipment.

LINEAR TIMEINVARIANT LOADS

Rotating machines
Variable

flux path Tooth Ripple

Transformers Shunt Capacitors

VARIABLE FLUX PATH IN ELECTRICAL MACHINES

Reluctance of the air gap to carry a certain flux across, is not applicable and the flux density in the air gap is not sinusoidal The harmonic flux components are affected by: 1. Phase spread 2. Fractional slotting 3. Coil span. Figure: Armature reaction of a threephase winding spanning a pole pitch.

TOOTH RIPPLES IN ELECTRICAL MACHINES

Tooth ripples in electrical machinery are produced by slotting as these affect air-gap permeance.

The frequency of flux pulsations is given by 2gf, g is the number of slots per pole f is the system frequency
This pulsation may be regarded as two waves rotating at angular velocity 2g in forward and backward directions. The component fields will generate harmonic emf of frequencies 2g cycles per second.

TRANSFORMERS
Harmonics in transformers originate due to: 1. Magnetic saturation 2. Continuous high speed switching 3. High-magnetic flux densities 4. Winding connections Transformers are operated close to the knee point of its saturation characteristics. A sinusoidal flux wave demands a magnetizing current with a harmonic content. The third harmonic flux produce a third harmonic emf and current, which when summed give a total peaky current.

Continued..

In wye-wye connected transformers all the third harmonics cancel between the lines, no third harmonic currents flow, and the flux wave in the transformer is flat topped. Tertiary delta-connected windings are included in wye-wye connected transformers for neutral stabilization or else as shown in the figure the neutral shifts if flux is flat topped. The spectrum of magnetizing inrush current resembles a rectified current. Its peak value may reach 8-15 times the transformer full-load current. However the inrush current lasts for a very short duration (0.1 sec). Over excitation of transformers in steady-state operation can also produce harmonics. The V/f factor measures the over excitation.

SHUNT CAPACITORS

High inrush frequencies on switching of shunt capacitors are given by F inrush = 1 / 2 pi sqrt (Leq * Ceq)

Series filter reactors and switching inrush current limiting reactors reduce these frequencies
The power capacitors do not generate harmonics by themselves, but are the main cause of amplification of the harmonics due to resonance . They can also reduce harmonic distortion, when applied as filters.

NON-LINEAR TIMEINVARIANT LOADS

STATIC POWER CONVERTERS ADJUSTABLE SPEED DRIVES INVERTERS AND ELECTRIC TRACTION ARC FURNACES CYCLOCONVERTERS THYRISTOR-CONTROLLED REACTOR THYRISTOR-SWITCHED CAPACITORS PULSE WIDTH MODULATION CHOPPER CIRCUITS SLIP FREQUENCY RECOVERY SCHEMES LIGHTING BALLASTS

STATIC POWER CONVERTERS

The primary source of harmonics are:

1. 2. 3.

4.

Power converters Rectifiers Inverters ( VFDs ) Adjustable speed drives

Non-characteristic harmonics are produced by sources other than power electronic. These are at frequencies other than the integer multiple of the fundamental power frequency. They are caused by:
1. 2.

Non uniform ignition delay angles Un-balance supply voltages.

RECTIFIERS

Rectified output comprises of a number integral multiples of fundamental frequency of input. The efficiency of rectification is Efficiency = Pdc/Pac The form factor is a measure of the shape of the output voltage or current and is defined as; FF = Irms / Idc The ripple factor, which is a measure of the ripple content of the output current or voltage RF = Sqrt (FF2- 1)

INVERTERS (VARIABLE SPEED DRIVES)

In VFD systems, the inverter frequency increases from 0Hz to 120 Hz with the motor acceleration. Up to the motor base speed the inverter switches many times per cycle.
1.

2.

3.

PWM switching has odd and even harmonics, with positive and negative sequence components mitigating; leaving only zero & triple harmonics. Torque band control switching, higher 6h & 3h harmonics are produced, with some sub harmonics In chopper inverter drive, the harmonics due to chopper and inverter combine.

ADJUSTABLE SPEED DRIVES

Adjustable speed drives account for the largest percentage of nonlinear loads in the industry. Most systems require that the incoming ac power supply to be rectified into dc. The dc power is then inverted back to ac. Either the inverted back AC supply is provided to the variable-frequency drive at a regulated frequency. Or the dc power is fed directly to dc drive systems through power converters.

Adjustable-Speed Drive Systems

Drive Motor DC Motor Squirrel-cage induction Squirrel-cage induction Wound rotor Synchronous (brushless excitation) Synchronous/squirr el cage Horse power 110,000 100 4000 Speed range 50:1 10:1 Converter type Phase controlled, line commutated Current link, force commutated Voltage link, force commutated Current link, line commutated Current link, load commutated Phase controlled, line commutated

11500 500 20000 1000 60000 1000 60000

10:1 3:1

50:1 50:1

ARC FURNACES

The harmonics produced by electric arc furnaces are not predictable due to variation of the arc feed material. The arc current is highly nonlinear, and reveals a continuous spectrum of harmonic frequencies of both integer and non-integer order. Large erratic reactive current swings generate voltage drops across the ac system, resulting in irregular variation of the terminal voltage. Voltage variations cause the incandescent lamps to flicker.

h Harmonic 2 3 4 5 7

Percent Of Fundamental Melting 7.7 5.8 2.5 4.2 3.1 Refining 0 2 0 2.1 2.5 Magnitude 0.54 0.81 0.60 0.37 0.157

CYCLOCONVERTERS

If the delay angles of the cycloconverter segments are varied so that the average is closely to the desired sinusoidal output voltage, the harmonics at the output are minimized. Because of load unbalance and asymmetry between phase voltages and firing angles, non characteristic harmonics are also generated.

PULSE WIDTH MODULATION

The techniques of pulse width modulation (PWM) are:

1. 2. 3.

1.

4.

Single-pulse width modulation Multiple-pulse width modulation Sinusoidal pulse-width modulation Modified sinusoidal pulse-width modulation

In a single-PWM, there is one pulse per half-cycle and the width of the pulse is varied to control the inverter output voltage.

2.

They reduce the rise time

The harmonic content can be reduced by using several pulses in each halfcycle of the output voltage.
Sinusoidal PWM has pulse width varied in proportion to the sine wave. The DF and the lower order harmonic magnitudes are reduced. Modified sinusoidal PWM eliminates harmonics and generates a nearly sinusoidal voltage wave

Over the years the pulse switching time of the power devices have been drastically reduced by:

3.

SCR (fast thyristor) 4sec GTO (gate turn off thyristor) 1sec GTR (giant transistor) 0.8sec IGBT (insulated gate bipolar) 0.2sec IGBT (power plate type) 0.1sec

4.

CHOPPER CIRCUITS

The dc traction supply from rectifier substations have harmonics injected into the supply system as switching transients from commutation occur. Thyristor choppers are operated at fixed frequency and the chopping frequency is superimposed as the line harmonics. An input low-pass filter is normally connected to filter out the choppergenerated harmonics.

SLIP FREQUENCY RECOVERY SCHEMES

The slip frequency recovery systems the rotor slip frequency voltage is rectified, and the power taken by the rotor is fed into the supply system through a line commutated inverter. Such a system causes sub harmonics in the ac system.

The ac harmonics for this type of load cannot be reduced as dc current ripple is independent of the rectifier ripple.

LIGHTING BALLASTS

Lighting ballasts produce large harmonic distortions and zero sequence third harmonic currents in the neutral. The current harmonic limits for lighting ballasts show that the limits for the newer ballasts are much lower as compared to earlier ballasts.