2.

47

POWER QUALITY :MONITORING AND INNOVATION IN PFC AND HARMONIC FILTERING

Jean-Marc Lupin Philippe Ferracci

Rectiphase Schneider Electric

399 rue de la gare Avenue des Jeux Olympiques
74370 Pringy - France 38050 Grenoble cedex 9 - France
jean-marc-lupin@mail .schneider.fr [email protected]. fr

ABSTRACT MAIN POWER QUALITY DISTURBANCES

Power quality has become a great concem for both Power quality usually involves characterising low
energy suppliers and their customers because the frequency conducted electromagnetic disturbances
increasing use of sensitive devices and the significant which can be ranked in different categories.
consequences of a poor power quality for the
competitiveness of the companies. This paper shows the Voltages dips and interruptions
different aspects of the power quality and the interest of A voltage dip is a sudden decrease of the voltage
the installation of fixed monitoring system in the followed by voltage recovery after a short period of
consumer facilities time from a few cycles to a few seconds
A methodology for improving power quality is Interruptions are a special type of voltage dip to
described. typically within 1-10% of the reference voltage.
Innovative solutions for power factor correction and Voltage dips and short interruptions are mainly caused
harmonic filtering are presented. by faults on the transmission or distribution networks or
The development of hybrid filter is a high performance on the installation itself and switching of large loads.
solution to reduce the disturbances and respect the Long interruptions are the result of the definitive
contractual current distortion limits. isolation of a permanent fault.
The real time compensation system is a new solution to
reduce the voltage fluctuations caused by large loads Harmonics
with rapid, cyclical or random variations and to reduce Harmonics measure the distortion of a signal. A
the switching transients. distorted periodic waveform can be broken down into a
fundamental plus harmonics.
Harmonics are mainly produced by non-linear loads.
INTRODUCTION Main sources of harmonics are :
- Industrial loads such as power electronic equipment
Power quality has become a strategic issue for the (drives, rectifiers, inverters) or loads using electric arcs:
following reasons : (arc fumaces, welding machines, lighting ).
- The economic necessity for businesses to increase - Domestic loads with switching mode power supplies
their competitiveness. (television sets, computers, fluorescent lamps.. .).
- The widespread use of equipment which is sensitive to
voltage disturbance andor generates disturbances itself. Overvoltages
- The deregulation of the electricity market. Refers to a voltage having a peak value which exceeds
In this context, it is essential for the utility and the the limits defined in a standard or specification.
customers to prevent and detect power quality problems Overvoltages are of three types:
and to have solutions available to fix them. - Power frequency overvoltages generated by an
The installation of monitoring system is an essential insulation fault, ferroresonance, faults on alternator
measure to prevent disturbances. The last evolutions of regulator, tap changer transformer or overcompensation.
power factor correction and harmonic filtering systems - Switching overvoltages produced by rapid
give solution to solve the problems of harmonic modifications in the network structure such as opening
disturbances and voltage fluctuations. of protective devices or switching on capacitive circuits.
- Lightning overvoltages.

Fig. 1 Characteristic waveforms of disturbances

CIRED2001, 18-27 June 2007, Conference Publication No. 482 0 IEE 2001
 2.47

Voltage variations and fluctuations For example, an analysis at the main low-voltage
Voltage variations are variations in the r m s value or the switchboard level can commonly be carried out by the
peak value with an amplitude of less than 10% of the incoming device andor the measurement devices built
nominal voltage. into each outgoing device.
Voltage fluctuations are a series of voltage changes
which are characterised by the frequency of variation
and the magnitude.
Voltage variations are caused by the slow variation of
loads connected to the network. Voltage fluctuations are
mainly due to rapidly varying industrial loads such as 1 , I
welding machines, arc hmace!; or rolling mills.

Unbalance
A 3-phase system is unbalanced if the rms value of the
phase voltages or the phase angles between consecutive
phases are not equal.
The unbalanced voltage is produced by LV loads
connected between phase and neutral, or single-phase
loads such as welding machines and induction fhmaces.
Fig. 2: Some measurement communicating products
(Merlin Gerin brand).
OBJECTIVES OF POWER QUALITY
MEASUREMENT . The products of the Power Logic System range and the
latest generation of Masterpact circuit breakers fitted
Contractual application with Micrologic P trip release (see fig. 2) can be used
Within the context of a deregulated market, the for continuous monitoring of the insthllation. They will
parameters of power quality must be defined and the carry out prevention and detection by recording each
values compared with contractual limits. occurrence of disturbance. The data can be displayed
Corrective maintenance locally or remotely via an Internet connection.
Even where best practice is observed right from the
design phase, malfunctions may occur during operation
because disturbances may have been ignored or under- PROBLEM ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY
estimated or the installation may have changed.
Optimising the operation of electrical installations Corrective maintenance is generally the consequence of
To achieve productivity gains, correct operation of incidents or malfunctions during operation requiring
processes and sound energy management are required, troubleshooting in order to apply corrective measures.
both of which are factors dependent on Power Quality. Selection of the best solution, from both the technical
and economic point of view, requires an in-depth study
of the installation carried out by experts in the field of
ADVANTAGES OF PERMANENTLY disturbances in electrical distribution systems and
INSTALLED MEASUREMENT DEVICES equipped with powerful analysis and simulation
equipment.
When using portable apparatus, the duration of the
measurements must be representative of the operating The usual steps are:
cycle of the factory. It must always be assumed that the - Data collection (type of load, single-line diagram.. .)
disturbance will recur. - Search for symptoms
It is also preferable to use devices installed permanently - Examination of the installation
in the distribution system. - On-site measurement to detect and record the event
-A visit by an expert is necessarily limited in time, where the problem originated.
whereas permanent measurements at different points in - Identification of origin :
the installation provide an overall view of system Simulation with a computer model of the measured
operation and cover all the situations. phenomena, can provide a precise explanation of their
- Measurement devices installed in the distribution causes.
system prepare and facilitate troubleshooting by experts. - Definition and choice of mitigation solutions
- Permanently installed measurement devices detect any The choice of solution is often made by comparing the
occurrence of disturbances and they indicate the cost with the potential lost earnings in case of
operating conditions when the incident occurred. disturbance.
Measurement and detection devices that are built into - Implementation of the final solution .
the electrical distribution equiprnent offer very - Verification of the performances via measurement.
optimised solution.
 2.47

SOLUTIONS FOR HARMONIC MITIGATION - Broadband filtering of all other harmonics via the
active element.
There are three different types of solutions that may be - 3'' harmonic filtration via the active element. '

used to attenuate the effects of harmonics : - Low cost power factor correction via the passive
- Reducing generated harmonics currents. element.
- Modifying the installation.
- Installing filters in case of the preventive measures are
not sufficient.

Passive filter
This involves connecting a low impedance by-pass
to the frequencies to be attenuated using passive
components (inductor, capacitor, resistor). Several
passive filters connected in parallel may be necessary to
eliminate several components. Passive filters are Fig. 5 : Hybrid filter principle
generally configured to remove one or two specific
harmonics (generally 5" and 7"). An inherent benefit is Hybrid filtering combines the best attributes of both
power factor correction. active and passive filters. This solution allows a high
level of performances, since a large number of harmonic
orders are covered. The use of a passive filter dedicated
to the predominant harmonic order allows for
applications over a wider power range.
With the reduction in size of the active section and the
natural supply of reactive energy, the hybrid technology
offers an optimum economical solution for the most
Fig. 3 :passive filter principle demanding high power installations.

Active filter Application example

This consists in a power electronic device neutralising Description of the installation
the harmonics emitted by the load through analysis of Ski-lifts are powered by an MVLV transformer (800
the harmonics consumed by the load, and subsequently kVA).
restoring the same harmonic current with the The connected loads are the chair lifts together with
appropriate phase. other loads such as payment booths, ski-pass validation
systems, the official timing system for competitions and
a telephone network.
Problems encountered
When the chair lifts are running, the sensitive
equipments (payment booths, timing system, etc.)
connected to the low voltage network powered by the
MVLV transformer are subject to disturbances.
The measurements taken at the site showed a high
harmonic voltage distortion (THDU = 9%) from the
MV power system as well as harmonic pollution from
Fig. 4 : active filter principle the chair-lift feeder. The resulting distortion of the
supply voltage (THDU = 12%) disturbed sensitive
A new solution :Hybrid filter loads.
This consists of an active filter and a passive filter
which is tuned to the predominant harmonic frequency Solution
(e.g. 5 ) and supplies the requested reactive energy. The The objective is to ensure the simultaneous reactive
active compensator is dedicated to the other harmonic compensation and neutralisation of harmonics likely to
orders. As a consequence, the active filter is rated only disturb the installation.
for a fraction of the total harmonic current. The solution chosen was to install a hybrid filter
The control is specifically designed to prevent consisting of a passive filter tuned to the order of the
interaction between passive and active components. dominant harmonic (H5) which provides the required
By combining those two elements within one enclosure, reactive power (188 kvar), and an active filter rated at
they provide benefits over either element alone : 20 A is dedicated to the elimination of all other
- Cost-effective high power filtering of one specific harmonics.
harmonic via the passive elements means a smaller, thus
lower cost active element.
a - Use a real time reactive compensator.
This device which provides ultra-rapid reactive
14 compensation is the best solution for industrial networks
12 containing unstable loads.
10

8 Dynamat Real time reactive compensation

6 Dynamat systems represent a step forward in power
4
factor correction and harmonic filtering technology.
2
Solid State switching elements replace standard
0
THDU(%) H5(%) H7(%) Hll(%) H17(%) H23(%)
electromechanical contactors to provide high speed
response to load fluctuations with transient-free
b capacitor switching.

Reactive power compensation is typically performed by

a dedicated controller which measures the system power
factor, compares it to a set target and energises
capacitors via electromechanical contactors.
Standard system response to a load fluctuation will be
5-10 seconds because the operation of capacitor steps is
deliberately time delayed to reduce the number of
THDl H5(%) H7i%) H11 (%) H17(%) H23(%)
(% ) operations as well as to enable the capacitors to
discharge.
Fig. 6 :'Spectrum showing the effectiveness of a hybrid The new Dynamat system utilises electronic switching
filter:[a] in voltage [b] in current elements and a special controller capable of reacting
within one cycle (20 milliseconds) to load fluctuations.
After commissioning, measurements show that the Capacitor switching is transient-free and electronic
device reduces the magnitude of the harmonics over a switches have a virtually unlimited life. Due to absence
wide frequency spectrum in both current and voltage of moving parts and transient overvoltages, the service
(see fig. 6 ) and reduced the voltage distortion factor life of the equipment is improved.
from 12.6% to 4.4%. It also increased the power factor The extremely rapid response of the Dynamat system
of the installation fiom 0.67 to 0.87. This solution makes it ideal for reactive compensation of highly
solved all of the problems as no malfunction was cyclical loads and particularly welders. The system can
subsequently detected. minimise the negative effects of these loads providing
near instantaneous reactive compensation, reducing
t-
flicker and providing voltage sag support.

a b
I .
. i
I
4-9
.
L2 L3

Fig. 7 Merlin Gerin hybrid filter

SOLUTION FOR VOLTAGE FLUCTUATION

MITIGATION

Fluctuations produced by industrial loads may affect a

large number of consumers supplied from the same
source. The fluctuation magnitude depends on the ratio Fig. 8: Dynamat Real time reactive compensator
between the impedance of the device generating the [a] principle,[b] practical implementation
disturbance and the impedance of the power supply. The
solutions are: Application of real time reactive compensation
- Changing the type of lighting. Dynamat system is ideally suited for industrial facilities
- Installing an unintermptible power supply. with power quality or production problems resulting
- Modify the device generating the disturbance. from loads such as welders, inductive heat treating
- Modify the network. equipment, injection moulding machines, rock crushers,
- Connect a reactance in series with the load. mining conveyors, heavy stamping machines, elevators
 2.47

I Before \Alter
or other highly cyclical loads. These facilities benefit
from improved power factor, increased system capacity,
lower power losses and reduced voltage sag and flicker.
A real time reactive compensator is suitable in any
application where standard control is too slow to track
Cur r e r i t
rapid load fluctuations. In addition, transient-free kvwayc 1000
switching allows for use in sensitive environments with
loads which cannot withstand transient overvoltages
(PLCs, computer systems, etc.). ~

Power factor 0.15 5 0 32

THDl :?:,I 5 - 12 4 - 12

Fig. 10: Improvements due to the real time reactive

Compensator

The results of implementing the solution are :

- A reduction in current peaks to 1250 A and the
addition of loads-without modification of the
installation, with improved installation efficiency
UJ 811 I* C 14 9, I1 la 111 i l .'. ,I ;li .? JI *2
through reduction of joule losses.
T i m iwonds) - A reduction in reactive power peaks to 300 kvar and
Figure 9 : Voltage, current and reactive power before an increase in the power factor to over 0.92, thus
and after application of Dynamat compensator avoiding power factor penalties.
- An increase in the nominal voltage to 599 V and a
Application example reduction in voltage dips to 3.2% (see fig. 10).
Description of the installation - Visual and nervous fatigue in personnel due to the
A car equipment manufacturer's plant is supplied by a flicker was also eliminated.
2000 kVA transformer. - Welding quality improved, as did productivity.
It manufactures exhaust assemblies from steel plate
using spot welders and seam welders.
Problems encountered CONCLUSION
- Visual and nervous fatigue in personnel, due to the
fluctuation in brightness of lamps (flicker) when Power Quality has become a strategic issue for
welding equipment was in operation. consumers. In the present economic context, the
- Noise pollution and premature mechanical ageing of consequences of electrical disturbances become more
equipment caused by vibrations mainly in the and more serious.
transformer and the main switchgear. However, problems of disturbance should not be
- Inability to add equipment for fear that the installation regarded as insurmountable, as solutions do exist.
would be overloaded. Monitoring of the installations and innovative power
- Annual penalties of 5k Euro for exceeding the reactive electronic devices such as hybrid filter or real time
power consumption limit (0.75 power factor). reactive compensator can contribute to power quality
- Defective parts caused by welding faults appeared at improvement.
the end of the manufacturing process. Employing specialists to define, implement these
All these factors reduced company productivity. solutions while observing best practice will provide
users with the right quality of power supply for their
Solution requirements.
The measurements taken during the operation of the
welding equipment showed a nominal voltage of 584 V,
voltage dips of 5.8%, current peaks of 2000 A, and BIBLIOGRAPHY
reactive power.peaks of 1200 kvar (see fig. 10).
The problems clearly stemmed from voltage - Low voltage hybrid harmonic filters technical &
fluctuations caused by the operation of welders which economic analysis. PQ 1999, R. WODRICH, L.
vary rapidly and frequently and which consume APRILE, J. SCHONEK.
significant reactive power. - Real time reactive compensation systems for welding
A voltage dip of 6% produces a reduction of 12% in the applications -PQ 1998, R. WODRICH.
power available for welding. This was the reason for the - Harmonic disturbances in networks and their
large number of defective welds. treatment. C.COLLOMBET, J. M. LUPIN,J.
The solution chosen was to connect a real time reactive SCHONEK, Cahier Technique Schneider Electric no.
compensator of 800 kvar ( this power was deemed 152.
sufficient to maintain the voltage at an acceptable level - Power Quality. Ph. FERRACCI Cahier Technique,
for all processes in the plant under all load conditions). Schneider Electric no. 199.