Harmonics
• Harmonics are a mathematical way of describing distortion to a
voltage or current waveform. The term harmonic refers to a
component of a waveform that occurs at an integer multiple of the
fundamental frequency.
Harmonics expressed by Fourier
Fourier theory tells us that any repetitive
waveform, can be defined in terms of
summing sinusoidal waveforms which are
integer multiples (or harmonics) of the
fundamental frequency.
Voltage and Current Harmonics
Both Voltage and Current Harmonics are present in the system
Voltage Harmonics are generated because of Current Harmonics
Voltage harmonics are more prominent near load end
Voltage and Current Harmonics
Usually, grid impedances are very low and hence, the
harmonic voltage distortions are also low there. However,
they may be unacceptably higher on the load side as they are
subjected to full system impedance there.
An industry, say industry A, that has large non-linear loads
will generate huge current harmonics in its system. A nearby
industry, say industry B, connected to the same grid may not
have non-linear loads, yet, it may be subjected to high
voltage harmonics. These voltage harmonics are the result of
high current harmonics of industry A and impedance of grid
& transformer. Thus, industry B despite small current
harmonics, has high voltage harmonics.
Causes of Harmonics
• AC-DC converters
• Variable frequency Drives
• Arc welders, furnaces
• SMPS
• UPS
• Transformer Magnetisation non-linearities
Effect of Harmonics
• Losses increase in motors
• Overheating of transformers
• Malfunction of sensitive equipment
Apparent power and True power in context of
harmonics
Both True Power and Apparent Power increases under effect of harmonics
More Power Losses in Conductors
Total Harmonic Distortion
• It is defined as a ratio between the r.m.s. value of all the harmonics
and the r.m.s. of the fundamental frequency.
The Guidelines IEEE 519-2014 at PCC Level
Heat Losses under effect of Harmonics
Example of Fig.5 of
THDi=21.18%: we will get
increased 2% current
demand Irms, and an extra
4% losses in conductors
More skin effect will lead to
more resistive losses
Resonance due to capacitor bank
For certain harmonics resonance
can happen, increasing the load
current
Motors and Generators under effect of
Harmonics
Crawling effect in Induction Motor
Core losses (iron) increase with harmonics, caused by
Eddy currents (loss increase with square of the frequency)
and hysteresis
More core losses
Vibration
Transformers under effect of Harmonics
More Core and Copper Losses
Triplen Harmonics will cause dangerous overheating
Resonance
Vibration
Proximity effect
Other effects
• Maloperation of Circuit Breakers
• Fast heating of Fuses
• Fluctuations in lighting
• Electronic equipment may be sensitive to the voltage distortion supplying it, due
to higher voltage peaks, unexpected zero-crossing, affectation to protection
circuits, etc.
• Affectation to IT equipment such as memory losses, turn offs.
• UPS may need to handle with high distorting loads, i.e., high current peaks may
be over the range of the crest factor capacity of this UPS. In such case, the
voltage distortion can even increase, if the inverter of the UPS is not capable
enough.
Factors responsible for generation of
Harmonics
• Single phase power supplies
• SMPS
• Electronic Ballasts
• Transformers
• Arc Furnaces
• Adjustable Speed Drives
• Converters
Zero Sequence Current
•
Switched Mode Power Supplies
Harmonic Spectrum with Electronic Ballast
Fluorescent Lamp
Harmonic content with magnetic ballast
With Electronic Ballast , harmonic distortion
is much higher
Transformer magnetization as source of
harmonics
During the switching of a transformer, a high peaky transient current flows
This is around 10 times of normal excitation current
Inrush Magnetizing Current
Adjustable Speed Drives
Three phase Converter and harmonics
Harmonic distortion and effect of Inductance
Harmonics in three phase converters
Another Solution is to use 12 pulse or 24
pulse rectifier
Non Characteristic Harmonics
• Interharmonics: Sinosoidal Oscillations whose frequency is not a
whole number multiple of the fundamental frequency
• Subharmonics: Sinosoidal harmonics whose frequency is lower than
the fundamental frequency , but the fundamental frequency divided
by the subharmonic frequency is a whole number
Harmonic Distortion Evaluation
• Evaluation Study should be performed by both utility side and end
user side
• IEEE Standard 519-1992 provides guidelines for both evaluations
Utility end Evaluation
• Harmonic currents injected from individual end users on the system
must be limited.
• The overall voltage distortion levels can be excessively high even if the
harmonic current injections are within limits. This should be avoided
Procedure for voltage harmonics evaluation
• Characterization of Harmonic Sources
• System Modelling
• System Frequency Response
• Evaluate Expected Distortion Response
Modelling
Calculate the resonant Frequency of the
Circuit
If the resonant frequency is close to the
characteristic harmonics, then further
study is needed
Estimation of Voltage Distortion
From the equivalent circuit, at different harmonic frequencies
Flowchart of Harmonics Evaluation
Total Demand Distortion
Total demand distortion (TDD) is the per-phase harmonic current distortion against the full load demand
of the electrical system.
TDD indicates the impact of harmonic distortion in the system. For example, if your system is
showing high THD values but a low demand, the impact of harmonic distortion on your system
might be insignificant. However at full load, the THD value for the current harmonics is equal to
TDD, so this could negatively impact your system.
Harmonics Evaluation at End user facility
ISC is the short-circuit current at
the PCC.
IL is the fundamental
component of the maximum
demand load current at the PCC.
It can be calculated as the
average of the maximum
monthly demand currents for
the previous 12 months or it
may have
to be estimated.
Procedure for evaluating average load current
• Find the load average kilowatt demand PD over the most recent 12
months. This can be found from billing information.
• Convert the average kilowatt demand to the average demand current
in amperes using the following expression
Reducing Harmonic component in Loads
• Use of choke or reactor drives
• Transformer Connection
• Filtering
Reducing Harmonic Distortion from Utility
Side
• Add Shunt Reactance
• Reduce Capacitor Size
• Harmonic Filter