Principles for Controlling Harmonics

Figure 1 - Variation of the voltage THD over a 1-week period Harmonic distortion is caused by nonlinear devices in the power system. A nonlinear device is one in which the current is not proportional to the applied voltage. Harmonic distortion is present to some degree on all power systems. Fundamentally, one needs to control harmonics only when they become a problem. Harmonic distortion is not a new phenomenon on power systems. Concern over distortion has ebbed and flowed a number of times during the history of ac electric power systems There are three common causes of harmonic problems: 1. The source of harmonic currents is too great. 2. The path in which the currents flow is too long (electrically), resulting in either high voltage distortion or telephone interference. 3. The response of the system magnifies one or more harmonics to a greater degree than can be tolerated. When a problem occurs, the basic options for controlling harmonics are: 1. Reduce the harmonic currents produced by the load. 2. Add filters to either siphon the harmonic currents off the system, block the currents from entering the system, or supply the harmonic currents locally. 3. Modify the frequency response of the system by filters, inductors, or capacitors.

Reducing harmonic currents in loads

There is often little that can be done with existing load equipment to significantly reduce the amount of harmonic current it is producing unless it is being misoperated. While an overexcited transformer can be brought back into normal operation by lowering the applied voltage to the correct range, arcing devices and most electronic power converters are locked into their designed characteristics. PWM drives that charge the dc bus capacitor directly from the line without any intentional impedance are one exception to this. Adding a line reactor or transformer in series will significantly reduce harmonics, as well as provide transient protection benefits. Transformer connections can be employed to reduce harmonic currents in three-phase systems. Phase-shifting half of the 6-pulse power converters in a plant load by 30 can approximate the benefits of 12- pulse loads by dramatically reducing the fifth and seventh harmonics. Deltaconnected transformers can block the flow of zero-sequence harmonics (typically triplens) from the line. Zigzag and grounding transformers can shunt the triplens off the line. Purchasing specifications can go a long way toward preventing harmonic problems by penalizing bids from vendors with high harmonic content. This is particularly important for such loads as high-efficiency lighting.

Filtering
The shunt filter works by short-circuiting harmonic currents as close to the source of distortion as practical. This keeps the currents out of the supply system. This is the most common type of filtering applied because of economics and because it also tends to correct the load power factor as well as remove the harmonic current. Another approach is to apply a series filter that blocks the harmonic currents. This is a paralleltuned circuit that offers a high impedance to the harmonic current. It is not often used because it is difficult to insulate and the load voltage is very distorted. One common application is in the neutral of a grounded-wye capacitor to block the flow of triplen harmonics while still retaining a good ground at fundamental frequency. Active filters work by electronically supplying the harmonic component of the current into a nonlinear load.

Modifying the system frequency response

There are a number of methods to modify adverse system responses to harmonics: 1. Add a shunt filter. Not only does this shunt a troublesome harmonic current off the system, but it completely changes the system response, most often, but not always, for the better.

1. Add a reactor to detune the system. Harmful resonances generally occur between the system inductance and shunt power factor correction capacitors. The reactor must be added between the capacitor and the supply system source. One method is to simply put a reactor in series with the capacitor to move the system resonance without actually tuning the capacitor to create a filter. Another is to add reactance in the line.

1. Change the capacitor size. This is often one of the least expensive options for both utilities and industrial customers.

1. Move a capacitor to a point on the system with a different short-circuit impedance or higher losses. This is also an option for utilities when a new bank causes telephone interferencemoving the bank to another branch of the feeder may very well resolve the problem. This is frequently not an option for industrial users because the capacitor cannot be moved far enough to make a difference.

1. Remove the capacitor and simply accept the higher losses, lower voltage, and power factor penalty. If technically feasible, this is occasionally the best economic choice. SOURCE: Electrical Power Systems Roger Dugan

Harmonic Distortion

Harmonic distortion is caused by nonlinear devices in the power system. A nonlinear device is one in which the current is not proportional to the applied voltage. Figure 1 illustrates this concept by the case of a sinusoidal voltage applied to a simple nonlinear resistor in which the voltage and current vary according to the curve shown. While the applied voltage is perfectly sinusoidal, the resulting current is distorted. Increasing the voltage by a few percent may cause the current to double and take on a different waveshape. This is the source of most harmonic distortion in a power system.

Figure 1 Current distortion caused by nonlinear resistance.

Figure 2 illustrates that any periodic, distorted waveform can be expressed as a sum of sinusoids. When a waveform is identical from one cycle to the next, it can be represented as a sum of pure sine waves in which the frequency of each sinusoid is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency of the distorted wave. This multiple is called a harmonic of the fundamental, hence the name of this subject matter. The sum of sinusoids is referred to as a Fourier series, named after the great mathematician who discovered the concept. Because of the above property, the Fourier series concept is universally applied in analyzing harmonic problems. The system can now be analyzed separately at each harmonic. In addition, finding the system response of a sinusoid of each harmonic individually is much more straightforward compared to that with the entire distorted waveforms. The outputs at each frequency are then combined to form a new Fourier series, from which the output waveform may be computed, if desired. Often, only the magnitudes of the harmonics are of interest. When both the positive and negative half cycles of a waveform have identical shapes, the Fourier series contains only odd harmonics. This offers a further simplification for most power system studies because most common harmonic-producing devices look the same to both polarities. In fact, the presence of even harmonics is often a clue that there is something wrong either with the load equipment or with the transducer used to make the measurement. There are notable exceptions to this such as half-wave rectifiers and arc furnaces when the arc is random.

Figure 2 Fourier series representation of a distorted waveform

Usually, the higher-order harmonics (above the range of the 25th to 50th, depending on the system) are negligible for power system analysis. While they may cause interference with low-power electronic devices, they are usually not damaging to the power system. It is also difficult to collect sufficiently accurate data to model power systems at these frequencies. Acommon exception to this occurs when there are system resonances in the range of frequencies. These resonances can be excited by notching or switching transients in electronic power converters. This causes voltage waveforms with multiple zero crossings which disrupt timing circuits. These resonances generally occur on systems with underground cable but no power factor correction capacitors. If the power system is depicted as series and shunt elements, as is the conventional practice, the vast majority of the nonlinearities in the system are found in shunt elements (i.e., lods). The series impedance of the power delivery system (i.e., the short-circuit impedance between the source and the load) is remarkably linear. In transformers, also, the source of harmonics is the shunt branch (magnetizing impedance) of the common T model; the leakage impedance is linear. Thus, the main sources of harmonic distortion will ultimately be end-user loads. This is not to say that all end users who experience harmonic distortion will themselves have significant sources of harmonics, but that the har-monic distortion generally originates with some end-users load or combination of loads.

Definition of Harmonics and Their Origin

Distortion of a sinusoidal signal

The Fourier theorem states that all non-sinusoidal periodic functions can be represented as the sum of terms (i.e. a series) made up of: 1. A sinusoidal term at the fundamental frequency, 2. Sinusoidal terms (harmonics) whose frequencies are whole multiples of the fundamental frequency, 3. A DC component, where applicable. The nth order harmonic (commonly referred to as simply the nth harmonic) in a signal is the sinusoidal component with a frequency that is n times the fundamental frequency. The equation for the harmonic expansion of a periodic function is presented below:

where: Yo - value of the DC component, generally zero and considered as such hereinafter, Yn - rms value of the nth harmonic, angular frequency of the fundamental frequency, n displacement of the harmonic component at t = 0. Example of signals (current and voltage waves) on the French electrical distribution system:

The value of the fundamental frequency (or first order harmonic) is 50 Hertz (Hz), The second (order) harmonic has a frequency of 100 Hz, The third harmonic has a frequency of 150 Hz, The fourth harmonic has a frequency of 200 Hz, etc.

A distorted signal is the sum of a number of superimposed harmonics. Figure 1 shows an example of a current wave affected by harmonic distortion.

Figure 1 - example of a current containing harmonics and expansion of the overall current into its harmonic orders 1 (fundamental), 3, 5, 7 and 9

Representation of harmonics: the frequency spectrum

The frequency spectrum is a practical graphical means of representing the harmonics contained in a periodic signal. The graph indicates the amplitude of each harmonic order. This type of representation is also referred to as spectral analysis. The frequency spectrum indicates which harmonics are present and their relative importance. Figure 2 shows the frequency spectrum of the signal presented in figure 1.

Figure 2 - spectrum of a signal comprising a 50 Hz fundamental and harmonic orders 3 (150 Hz), 5 (250 Hz), 7 (350 Hz) and 9 (450 Hz)

Origin of harmonics
Devices causing harmonics are present in all industrial, commercial and residential installations. Harmonics are caused by non-linear loads.

Definition of non-linear loads

A load is said to be non-linear when the current it draws does not have the same wave form as the supply voltage.

Examples of non-linear loads

Devices comprising power electronics circuits are typical non-linear loads. Such loads are increasingly frequent and their percentage in overall electrical consumption is growing steadily. Examples include:

Industrial equipment (welding machines, arc furnaces, induction furnaces, rectifiers), Variable-speed drives for asynchronous and DC motors, Office equipment (PCs, photocopy machines, fax machines, etc.), Household appliances (television sets, microwave ovens, fluorescent lighting, etc.), UPSs.

Saturation of equipment (essentially transformers) may also cause non-linear currents.

Disturbances caused by non-linear loads, i.e. current and voltage harmonics

The supply of power to non-linear loads causes the flow of harmonic currents in the distribution system. Voltage harmonics are caused by the flow of harmonic currents through the impedances of the supply circuits (e.g. transformer and distribution system a whole in figure 3).

Figure 3 - single-line diagram showing the impedance of the supply circuit for h-order harmonic

Note that the impedance of a conductor increases as a function of the frequency of the current flowing through it. For each h-order harmonic current, there is therefore an impedance Zh in the supply circuit. The h-order harmonic current creates via impedance Zh a harmonic voltage Uh, where Uh = Zh x Ih, i.e. a simple application of Ohms law. The voltage at B is therefore distorted and all devices supplied downstream of point B will receive a distorted voltage. Distortion increases in step with the level of the impedances in the distribution system, for a given harmonic current.

Flow of harmonics in distribution systems

To better understand harmonic currents, it may be useful to imagine that the non-linear loads reinject harmonic currents upstream into the distribution system, in the direction of the source. Figures 4a and 4b show an installation confronted with harmonic disturbances. Figure 4a shows the flow of the fundamental 50 Hz current, whereas in 4b, the h-order harmonic current is presented.

Figure 4a - diagram of an installation supplying a non-linear load, showing only the fundamental 50 Hz current

Figure 4b - diagram of the same installation, showing only the phenomena related to the h-order harmonic

Supply of this non-linear load causes the flow in the distribution system of current I50Hz (shown in figure 4a) to which is added each of the harmonic currents Ih (shown in figure 4b) corresponding to each harmonic (order h). Resource: Harmonic Detection and Filtering Schneider Electric