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Annu. Rev. Energy Environ. 1997. 22:263303
Copyright c 1997 by Annual Reviews Inc. All rights reserved
ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY
Alexander Eigeles Emanuel and John A. McNeill
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts 01609
KEY WORDS: power quality, power system economics, power system faults, power system
harmonics, power system transients
ABSTRACT
The quality of electric power depends on the power network topology, the amount
of harmonic pollution injected in the network by nonlinear loads, and the severity
of switching transients. Many of the loads encountered in modern power electron-
ics, such as arc and induction furnaces, welders, motor drives, and many types of
converters, cause a signicant level of harmonic pollution and/or recurrent volt-
age transients. This paper describes the major sources of disturbances that affect
electric service quality and explains the indices that help quantify the severity of
disturbances. The loads that are most sensitive to power quality are discussed,
and techniques intended to avoid or mitigate power quality problems are detailed.
Finally, a brief survey of the cost of harmonic pollution and consumer outages is
presented.
CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
1.1 Power Quality Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
1.2 The Electrical Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
2. HARMONICS AND NONINTEGER HARMONICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
2.1 Harmonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
2.2 Noninteger Harmonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
2.3 Recommended Limits for Harmonics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
2.4 Harmonic Mitigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
3. FLICKER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
3.1 Flicker Mitigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
4. MOMENTARY DISTURBANCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
4.1 Lightning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
4.2 Faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
4.3 Switching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
5. SENSITIVE LOADS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
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5.1 Computers and Computer-Based Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
5.2 Arc Discharge Lighting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
5.3 Adjustable Speed Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
6. AVOIDANCE AND MITIGATION OF DISTURBANCES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
6.1 Utility-Side Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
6.2 Customer-Side Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
7. ECONOMIC ASPECTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
8. CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
1. INTRODUCTION
Consider electric energy as a product: It is generated, transported (more cor-
rectly transmitted), distributed, and sold to customers. The end user converts the
electric energy into other forms such as mechanical, thermal, and light energy.
The users of electric energy expect a reasonable degree of reliability and
quality of service. In technical terms, the following conditions are required to
insure customer satisfaction:
1. The electric energy must be continuously available.
2. The voltage supply must alternate at a constant frequency with a sinusoidal
waveformand a constant magnitude. The voltage magnitude must be within
the range recommended by the equipment manufacturer.
3. In three-phase systems, there must be perfect symmetry: The three voltages
must be identical sinusoids shifted 120

with respect to each other.


No industrial or commercial product has played a more crucial role than
electric power in shaping the technological and industrial history of this century.
Yet a continuous electric supply is easily taken for granted by many users, and
only in the last decade has power quality become a major point of concern.
There are very few products for which customer satisfaction is a function of
such a multitude of conditions and disturbances as in the case of electric energy.
The producer of electric energy needs the cooperation of all customers in order
to maintain and improve the quality of service and the reliable delivery of this
vital product.
This paper reviews the most common sources of disturbance that affect the
quality of electric service. The remainder of this section introduces power
quality terminology and begins addressing the various sources of disturbance.
Sections 24 give a detailed treatment of three major disturbance sources: har-
monics, icker, and momentary disturbances. Within each section, disturbance-
specic mitigation methods are also described. Section 5 describes the types
of equipment that are most susceptible to problems caused by disturbances.
Section 6 describes general mitigation methods applied at both the utility and

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 265
customer sides. Section 7 describes some of the economic impacts of the cost
of disturbances.
1.1 Power Quality Terminology
In the past decade, the use of the termpower quality to dene the characteristics
of electricity supplied by electric utilities has become increasingly common in
the engineering community (1). Power quality is dened as the degree to
which both the utilization and delivery of electric power affect the performance
of electric equipment (2). A better term might be service quality, since the
term power quality suggests that power can be good or bad. Power is simply
the rate of generation (or the rate of ow) of energy. In practice, energy can
be measured in a variety of units such as the joule (J) or the Watt-second (Ws),
the killowatt-hour (kWh), the calorie (cal), or the British thermal unit (Btu).
The idea of good versus bad energy, i.e. good or bad kWh or cal, contradicts
the principles of thermodynamics. Power quality is properly conceived as the
quality of the product, which is electric energy.
1.2 The Electrical Environment
The quality of service depends on two major effects that result from the inter-
actions (3) among a particular load, other electrical loads, and the supplying
system:
1. the effect of a certain electric load or cluster of loads on the environment,
i.e. on other electrical devices or equipment; and
2. the effect the environment has on the performance and life span of the
equipment.
To understand the concept of the electric loads effect on the electrical envi-
ronment and vice versa, it is important to realize that the ow of electric energy
is sustained by the ow of electric current. As the current ows through an
electric power distribution system, there is an associated voltage drop in con-
ductors, cables, and transformer windings. (This voltage drop is analogous to
the pressure drop along a water pipe.) The magnitude of voltage supplied to a
customer depends on the voltage magnitude at the power plant as well as the
amount of energy, or more correctly the amount of current, that ows in the
feeder that supplies that customer. The feeder, however, supplies more than
one customer, and the voltage drop across the feeder is the cumulative effect
of all the individual currents. Since the total energy demand of the customers
varies in time, the supplied voltage at the customer mains will also vary and
will strongly depend on the electricity demands of other customers.
For example, some modern loads use electronic equipment characterized by
currents that alternate in time in a different way than the normal sinusoidal

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waveform. Such currents, called nonsinusoidal or distorted currents, corrupt
the voltage waveform by causing distortion. This distorted voltage may be
shared by other loads at points of common connection, such as a single pole
transformer that supplies several customers or a single substation that supplies
an industrial park. These common connections mean that many customers will
be supplied with a distorted voltage waveform even though only one particular
user is causing the distortion.
We learn from this example that the party that generates and delivers electric
energy does not fully control the consistency of electric service quality. Cus-
tomers, through their load types and demand level, affect the voltage waveform,
its magnitude, and its deviation from a perfect sinusoid. The situation is even
more complicated because the very loads that produce the nonsinusoidal cur-
rents turn out to be susceptible to nonsinusoidal voltage. For example, modern
adjustable speed drives (ASDs) are notorious for causing current or voltage
distortion, and at the same time, the electronic system that controls the ASDs
will operate improperly if the voltage distortion is excessive.
Electric service quality can also be adversely affected by unavoidable rapid
changes to the voltage waveform called transients. These momentary events
can be caused by energization of equipment or by faults such as short circuits.
For example, when lightning strikes near an electric line or directly on conduc-
tors or an electric tower, energy is transferred into the network and the voltage
waveform becomes momentarily distorted by surges (spikes). The magnitude
and energy of such surges can be large enough to cause electrical insulation
damage by puncture or ashover. Other, more long-term inuences on power
quality include atmospheric phenomena and mechanical, thermal, or chemical
stress that can accelerate the aging of the generation, transmission, and distribu-
tion equipment. Human errors or animal activity may cause equipment damage
that degrades the quality of service to the customer. A peculiarity of electrical
energy as a product is that the quality and reliability of the delivery process is
highly dependent on the type of equipment used by all the customers supplied
by the same feeder. Equipment failure at one customer may cause a disturb-
ing transient or even an outage for the entire group of customers. Very large
groups of customers supplied by the same transmission line are often similarly
affected by one another. The quality of instrumentation, switchgear, protection
equipment, grounding, and shielding at one user will affect the reliability and
service quality for many other customers.
The frequency of disturbances and the categories of associated problems
depend on many factors, including the type of customer and the equipment
involved, the topology and length of the electric lines supplying the customers,
and the geographical area. Anumber of national and local surveys (47) helped
to quantify the statistical aspects of this problem. Figure 1 shows the most

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Figure 1 Basic disturbances. (a) Causes at customer side (69%). (b) Causes at utility side (31%).
(c) Affected equipment.
common disturbances and the most commonly affected equipment. Momentary
disturbances such as sags (or dips) and surges are by far the dominant problems,
making up 55% of the problems originating on the utility side and 24% of the
disturbances caused by customers. Among the affected equipment, computer
and microprocessor systems are the most often complained about, followed by
ASDs.
Sections 24 give a more detailed treatment of the disturbances that affect
service quality.
2. HARMONICS AND NONINTEGER HARMONICS
2.1 Harmonics
Aperiodical nonsinusoidal wave consists of a number of sinusoidal waves, each
of a different frequency. As an example, consider the simple square wave v
shown in Figure 2a. This wave can be approximated by a sinusoidal wave v
1
that
has exactly the same frequency (same period T ) as the square wave. The wave
v
1
is called the fundamental and best ts the wave v, i.e. yields the minimum
shaded area in Figure 2a. It is possible to determine a sinusoidal wave that best
ts the difference v v
1
, as shown in Figure 2b. This will be the wave v
3
with a
frequency three times the frequency of the fundamental. The wave v
3
is called
the third harmonic. The best tting process can be rened further, and other
higher harmonics such as the fth, seventh, and so on can be determined. The
square wave v has only odd harmonics and is expressed as the sum of all the
harmonics
v = v
1
+v
3
+v
5
+. . . . . . v
h
+. . . .

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Figure 2 Denition of harmonics. (a) A square wave v is best t by its fundamental, v
1
. (b)
The third harmonic best ts the residual v v
1
. (c) The fth harmonic best ts the waveform
v (v
1
+v
3
).

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 269
where the h-order harmonic of a square wave has the mathematical expression
v
h
=
4V
h
sin(ht ),
with = 2 f and f = 60 Hz the fundamental frequency if T = 1/60 s.
With rare exceptions, most of the distorted waves encountered in power
networks have only odd harmonics. As an example of a common circuit that
produces odd harmonics, consider the rectier circuit shown in Figure 3. This
(EQUIVALENT
RESISTANCE)
C
t
120 V
L
i
(a)
0 T/2 T
v
i
(b)
1.30
1.00
0.70
0.60 0.59
0.41
0.20
13 11 9 7 5 3 1
R
M
S

V
A
L
U
E

(
A
)
HARMONIC ORDER
(c)
R
Figure 3 Nonlinear load. (a) Rectier circuit with capacitive load. (b) Voltage and current
waveforms. (c) Current waveform harmonics.

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circuit is meant to convert ac into dc and is used in personal computers (PCs),
single-phase ASDs, and many battery chargers. It consists of a four-diode
bridge that supplies the load R in parallel with a very large capacitance C.
The role of this capacitance is twofold: 1. It lters the ripple in the rectied
voltage and provides a smooth direct voltage for the load. 2. When the voltage
supplied by the utility sags or drops out entirely, the energy stored in C helps
the dc output ride through for a short duration. Unfortunately, this simple
and inexpensive circuit has a signicant drawback. The input current is very
distorted, as shown in Figure 3b. The current harmonics contained in the input
current i are displayed in the harmonic spectrum given in Figure 3c.
A convenient way to evaluate the distortion of a periodic current wave is by
measuring the total harmonic distortion of the current (THD
I
). For the current
wave in Figure 3b,
THD
I
=
_

h =1
I
2
h
I
1
=

1.0
2
+0.7
2
+0.60
2
+0.59
2
+0.41
2
+0.20
2
1.30
= 1.19.
This THD
I
= 119%is considered very high. Amildly distorted current wave
has THD
I
< 10%; a waveform with THD
I
= 40% would be considered very
distorted. In practice, current distortions as high as 140% can be encountered
(9).
The voltage wave distortion is quantied in the same way:
THD
V
=
_

h =1
V
2
h
V
1
.
Normally, the voltage distortion is maintained at under 5% (8); however, there
have been reports (9, 10) of exceptional situations with THD
V
at the end user
as high as 10%.
Electrical equipment that causes current distortion has a nonlinear volt-
age/current characteristic, i.e. a sinusoidal voltage produces a nonsinusoidal
current. For this reason, such electrical loads are called nonlinear loads. These
nonlinear loads fall into three basic groups:
1. Rectiers. This category includes battery chargers, electroplating systems,
ASDs, electronic ballasts, PCs, televisions, and some traction equipment.
2. Ferromagnetic equipment. This category includes transformers and induc-
tors with magnetic cores. The relation between current and the resulting
magnetic ux is characterized by a hysteresis loop, as shown in Figure 4a.
For a sinusoidal voltage that produces a sinusoidal ux, the magnetizing cur-
rent is nonsinusoidal, as shown in Figure 4b. In certain adverse situations,

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t
0 T/2 T
i
(b)
v

CURRENT, i
FLUX,
(a)
t
0 T/2 T
i
(d)

CURRENT, i
FLUX,
(c)
DC
BIAS
Figure 4 Flux-current curve and time variations. (a) Symmetrical hysteresis curve. (b) Current
and ux waveforms for a typical ferromagnetic core device. (c) Hysteresis curve for a dc biased
core. (d ) Flux and current waveforms with dc bias.
the windings of a transformer may carry direct current. This dc component
biases the magnetic core, i.e. produces a dc ux on which the main ac ux
overlaps. This means that during one half-cycle the peak ux is larger than
in the opposite half-cycle. This situation causes an asymmetric hysteresis
loop, as shown in Figure 4c. The resulting magnetizing current has a dif-
ferent waveform during the positive and negative half-cycles, as shown in
Figure 4d. In this type of situation, even (as well as odd) harmonics will be
present in the current harmonic spectrum. Direct current bias can be caused
by many sources, ranging from solar activity to stray ground current from
street cars or any grounded rectier systems. The stray dc may enter via the
grounded neutral of a transformer and exit through the grounded neutral of
another transformer or load.
3. Electric Arc Devices. Arc furnaces and arc welders are powerful injectors of
current harmonics. The arc voltage/current characteristic is very nonlinear,

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i
va
(a)
STARTER t
v
BALLAST
i
(c)
0 T/2 T
v
i
(d)
ARC
v
i
(b)
ARC
TRANSFORMER
Figure 5 Electric arc. (a) Voltage/current characteristic. (b) Arc furnace. (c) Fluorescent lamp.
(d ) Current and voltage waveforms.
as shown in Figure 5a. The arcing device per se (the electrodes) is always
connected in series with an inductance that acts as a lter and attenuates the
harmonics. This ltering inductance may not be explicit. In the case shown
in Figure 5b, for example, the transformer has a leakage inductance that
acts to lter harmonics. Fluorescent lamps with magnetic ballasts, shown in
Figure 5c, also belong to this category. In both cases, the resulting current
waveform is nonsinusoidal, as shown in Figure 5d.
Many nonlinear loads are a combination of two or more nonlinear elements that
belong to different groups. A typical example is a dc arc furnace, which has a
rectier that supplies the electric arc with dc current.
All nonlinear loads inject current harmonics in the network, which can ad-
versely affect other loads. The simplied model of Figure 6 shows a sinusoidal
source v
s
, representing a power plant generator, that supplies two loads. One
load is linear; it may consist of incandescent lights and regular induction mo-
tors. The second load, labeled NL, is nonlinear. Due to load NL, the line
current i is nonsinusoidal, causing a nonsinusoidal voltage drop across the line
resistance R and inductance L. The voltage at the load terminals is determined

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 273
LINEAR
LOAD (LL)
L
i
R
NONLINEAR
LOAD (NL)
A
B
i
+
v
-
B
v
B
v
S
v
S
i
NL
Figure 6 Nonlinear load causes voltage distortion: The nonsinusoidal current i
NL
causes the
voltage v
B
to become nonsinusoidal.
by the equation
v
B
= v
s
Ri L
di
dt
.
This voltage is nonsinusoidal, and the linear load, in spite of its nondisturbing
nature, will see a nonsinusoidal voltage.
Amore realistic model of an electric distribution network, shown in Figure 7,
is quite complex. The network contains a wide variety of linear and nonlinear
loads. Each nonlinear load injects harmonic currents that will ow following
paths of minimum impedance. Usually most of the harmonic current ows
toward the 60-Hz source, i.e. the substation, but part of it will enter other linear
loads and even nonlinear loads of lesser power. In addition, different harmonics
may follow different paths: As the harmonic order increases, capacitances may
provide a lower impedance than inductances. The equivalent impedance of a
substation is mostly inductive, and above a certain harmonic, shunt capacitances
or even resistances may provide paths of lower impedance for the injected
harmonics. This is often the case for harmonics injected at the far end of the
feeder.
This ow of harmonic current in the power network is a major source of
difculties. Following is a brief description of the most common problems
(11, 12).

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274 EMANUEL & McNEILL
(a)
(b)
Figure 7 Harmonic ow. (a) Feeder supplying an array of linear and nonlinear loads (only one
phase represented). (b) Flow of harmonic current.
RESONANCES When a capacitance is connected in parallel with an inductance,
as shown in Figure 8a, the equivalent impedance of the circuit (when the resis-
tance R = 0) has the expression
Z =

(2 f )L
1 (2 f )
2
LC

.
The current i, with a root-mean square (rms) value I, injected into the
impedance Z will cause an rms voltage V = Z I . The value of Z depends on
the frequency f. For a critical frequency value of f
0
= 1/(2

LC), Z .
Figure 8b shows the voltage V versus f while the injected current I is kept con-
stant. Plots are shown for various values of normalized resistance R, because
in a real inductor the inductance coil has a resistance R that reduces the peak
voltage at the resonance f = f
0
. At resonance, the currents owing through C
and L are much larger than the injected current I. If the resistance Ris negligible,
then the currents through L and C are given by the expressions
I
L
=

I
1 (2 f )
2
LC

and
I
C
=

(2 f )
2
LCI
1 (2 f )
2
LC

.
At resonance, both I
L
and I
C
. The dependences of the ratios I
L
/I and
I
C
/I are given in Figure 8c, which shows the greatly increased magnitude of
current near the resonance f = f
0
.

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 275
F
i
g
u
r
e
8
P
a
r
a
l
l
e
l
r
e
s
o
n
a
n
c
e
.
(
a
)
B
a
s
i
c
c
i
r
c
u
i
t
.
(
b
)
I
n
p
u
t
v
o
l
t
a
g
e
.
(
c
)
N
o
r
m
a
l
i
z
e
d
c
a
p
a
c
i
t
a
n
c
e
a
n
d
i
n
d
u
c
t
a
n
c
e
c
u
r
r
e
n
t
s
.

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276 EMANUEL & McNEILL
C
(b)
in
C
T
(NL) (LL)
B
TRANSFORMER T
AND FEEDER
INDUCTANCE
(NL)
(LL)
L
(a)
B
Figure 9 Industrial plant with nonlinear and linear loads and capacitor bank. (a) Single-line
diagram. (b) Parallel resonance loop.
Power networks are prone to resonate at frequencies in the range of 140
800 Hz. Resonances near the fth or seventh harmonic are very common.
A typical situation is shown in Figure 9. An industrial plant supplied by a
transformer T has linear and nonlinear loads and a capacitor bank meant to
improve the power factor. The nonlinear load injects harmonic currents, and if
the capacitance C and the transformer inductance L have a parallel resonance
near one of the harmonic frequencies produced by NL, then the voltage at bus
B (supplying all the loads in the plant) becomes very distorted. Moreover,
the capacitor current and the harmonic current owing via the transformer and
entering the feeder may become excessively large. This situation can produce
disturbances that affect the operation of both the equipment owned by the
customer and the devices owned by the electric utility.
Another type of resonance known to occur in the presence of harmonics
is series resonance, shown in Figure 10a. The current owing through the
series connected components R, L, and C is a function of the voltage source
frequency, as shown in Figure 10b. Again, one sees that at the critical frequency,
f
0
= 1/2

LC, the current reaches a maximumvalue, I = V/R. In practice,


such situations are observed when a transformer supplies a capacitor bank, as
shown in Figure 10c. When a neighboring customer injects a harmonic current
with a frequency nearly equal to the resonance frequency f
0
, a signicant part
of this particular harmonic current will see a low impedance path through
the capacitor and will cause all the problems mentioned above. Resonance
is also possible even in the absence of a capacitor bank. Electrical cables of
sufcient length may provide enough capacitance to resonate with inductances
(13).

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C
v
(
a
)
R
L
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.

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278 EMANUEL & McNEILL
NUISANCE FUSE BLOWING AT CAPACITOR BANKS Since the resonating capa-
citor current is excessive, the fuses that protect the capacitor may be blown
after a few hours or days of seemingly normal operation.
INTERFERENCE WITH TELEPHONE COMMUNICATION Telephone lines that
share the same right-of-way with the feeder may be disturbed by electromag-
netic interference (EMI) caused by the magnetic eld created by the harmonic
currents.
OVERHEATING OF TRANSFORMERS The distribution of the current density in
a conductor is a function of the current frequency. As the frequency increases,
the current density increases at the surface of the conductor and decreases at
the center. This phenomenon is known as the skin effect. This effect is more
pronounced for large conductors. Due to the incomplete utilization of the inner
part of the conductor at higher frequencies, the effective electrical resistance at
harmonic frequencies becomes larger. This means that, in the conductors of the
transformer winding, the harmonic currents encounter larger resistances than
the fundamental 60-Hz currents. This may cause signicant additional (I
2
R)
losses, leading to overheating.
INCREASED POWER LOSS IN MOTOR LOADS The distorted voltage at the main
bus has a negative effect on the motor performance caused by additional power
losses and overheating of the motors. The harmonic voltages that now will
supply the motor are producing harmonic currents and magnetic elds in the
motor. These elds interact with the rotor currents and produce additional
torques that may oppose the main, 60-Hz, torque. Due to the skin effect, the
harmonic currents that ow in the motors winding, especially in the rotor bars,
cause signicant losses of power and increased heating of the motor. This
situation may reduce the motor life span. Mechanical vibrations and acoustical
noise may also accompany the operation of motors exposed to harmonics.
MISOPERATION OF DIGITAL TIMERS Many digital circuits use the 60-Hz volt-
age signal to generate clock pulses, as shown in Figure 11a. These pulses are
used for time measurement in general or for resetting certain logic gates. If
the distorted voltage has more than two zero-crossings per cycle, as shown in
Figure 11b, then the timer operation is severely degraded.
EXCESSIVE NEUTRAL CURRENT The neutral current for a perfectly balanced
60-Hz systemis zero when the currents are sinusoidal. If the load is unbalanced,
as shown in Figure 12b, a current will owin the neutral. This current is usually
smaller than the line (phase) current. When the loads are nonlinear, however,
even when they are balanced the neutral current may reach values larger than
the line currents. In the 1980s, when PCs started to proliferate, a number of

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 279
(a) (b)
Figure 11 Digital pulses derived from the supply voltage. (a) Normal operation. (b) Abnormal
operation in the presence of harmonics.
electric res in ofce buildings were traced to overloaded neutral conductors.
Unlike sinusoidal line current waveforms, nonsinusoidal waveforms (as shown
in Figure 3b) do not cancel each other but add up as shown in Figure 12c. Thus,
the effective value of the neutral current can approach or even exceed the line
current value.
Since the neutral conductors are connected to ground, there are conditions
when a part of the neutral current strays through metallic structures and water
pipes, causing the potential rise of objects that are expected to have a zero
potential. The voltage drop across a simple R/L impedance caused by a current
at a harmonic frequency is greater than the drop caused by the same current at
the fundamental frequency of 60 Hz. Consequently, stray harmonic currents
can produce a signicant rise in the neutral voltage, well above the threshold of
perception for humans. Such situations are a major concern for farmers. Dairy
activity is often disrupted by the generation of electric potential between the
metallic parts of milking equipment and a wet oor.
MEASUREMENT ERRORS Energy meters are known to speed up and slowdown
in the presence of nonsinusoidal voltages and currents (13). Disk-type induc-
tion meters are designed to operate with sinusoidal waveforms. The rotation of
the disk in an induction kWh meter is affected in the same way as an induction
motor that develops parasitic torques in the presence of harmonics. The conse-
quence in this case is a registration error of 0.55%. For other types of meters,
operation may be based on denitions that apply to sinusoidal situations only,

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280 EMANUEL & McNEILL
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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 281
and systematical errors may be produced when the voltage and/or the current
is distorted. Kilovolt-ampere-reactive (kvar) and kilovolt-ampere (kVA) me-
ters are well known to produce signicant errors in the presence of harmonics
(14).
MISOPERATION OF ELECTRONIC CONTROLS Many control circuits use solid-
state switches that operate (are triggered to close or open) every half-cycle, at
a precise predetermined time. One prevalent method is counting time from the
instant at which the voltage waveform crosses through zero. This approach,
however, assumes equal half-cycles. When an even harmonic is present in the
voltage spectrum, as shown in Figure 13, the half-cycles may measure different
times. This may degrade performance of the control system due to jitter in
the triggering of the solid-state switches.
POWER FACTOR REDUCTION The owof electrical energy can be characterized
by a gure of merit called the power factor (PF), which has the mathematical
0 T/2 T
T1/2 T2/2
v
1
v
2
v=v +v
2 1
Figure 13 Effect of the second harmonic on positive and negative half-cycles.

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282 EMANUEL & McNEILL
denition
PF =
P
S
where Pis the actual power and S is the apparent power. In a three-phase system
with undistorted sinusoidal waveforms, we have
P =

3V I cos (kW)
S =

3V I (kVA),
where is the phase angle between the voltage and current phasors. From the
denition of power factor, it can be seen in this case that the power factor is
given by
PF = cos .
The signicance of this result becomes clear when we consider the loss of
power P in the equivalent resistance r of the line and transformer windings
supplying a load:
P = 3r I
2
= r
_
S
V
_
2
= r
_
P
V
_
2
_
1
PF
_
2
.
For a given amount of effective power P absorbed by a customer, the mini-
mum power loss in the transmission and distribution system is obtained when
PF = 1. Utilities prefer that end users operate with near-unity power factors in
order to minimize power lost in distribution and maximize usage of generation
capacity. The gure of merit PFis valuable because it tells at a glance howwell
a distribution cable or feeder is being utilized. Some utilities have instituted
special tariffs to encourage consumers to maintain PF 0.9.
When the voltage and current waveforms are nonsinusoidal, the denition
and the effect of the power factor remain unchanged. The apparent power and
actual power are now given by
S =

3V I =

3V
1
I
1
_
1 +(THD
V
)
2
_
1 +(THD
I
)
2
and
P =

3V
1
I
1
cos
1
+ P
H
,
where V
1
, I
1
, and
1
are the fundamental (60-Hz) voltage, current, and phase
angle. The actual harmonic power is represented by the term P
H
, which is
given by
P
H
=

h=1

3V
h
I
h
cos
h
.

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 283
Measurements in the eld have shown that P
H
P. Even for networks that
are severely polluted by harmonics, such as dedicated feeders for ASDs, it has
been observed that P
H
< 0.01P. Therefore, even in the presence of harmonics
we can make the approximation
P P
1
=

3V
1
I
1
cos
1
.
In practice, it is also the case that THD
V
0.05, and for typical nonlinear loads
THD
I
> 0.1. With these assumptions, we can approximate the power factor in
nonsinusoidal cases to be
PF =
P
S

cos
1
_
1 +(THD
I
)
2
.
This result shows that the current waveform distortion has a signicant effect
on power factor PF, owing to the additional power loss caused by harmonics.
2.2 Noninteger Harmonics
A special category of harmonics is the noninteger harmonics, which have a
frequency that is a noninteger multiple of the 60-Hz fundamental. These can
be further classied as interharmonics or subharmonics. An example of an
interharmonic is 186 Hz, which is a harmonic of order 3.1 found between
the third and the fourth harmonics. A harmonic with a 20-Hz frequency is a
subharmonic of order 0.333. Noninteger harmonics are produced by recurrent
operations that take place at frequencies different than 60 Hz. Spot welders,
integral-cycle controlled equipment (ICC), and cycloconverters are well-known
generators of noninteger harmonics. Figure 14a shows a typical ICC current
waveform. The current is modulated by a signal with a frequency lower than
60 Hz. To explain the basic process of modulation, let us assume a 60-Hz
voltage
v = V sin(t ); = 2 f ; f = 60 Hz
v
i
(a)
(b)
Figure 14 Integral-cycle control. (a) Current waveform. (b) Modulated voltage waveform.

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284 EMANUEL & McNEILL
modulated by a low-frequency sinusoidal signal
s = m sin(t ); = 2 f
s
; f
s
< 60 Hz.
The resulting voltage is
v
s
= vs = mV sin(t ) sin(t ) =
mV
2
{cos[( )t ] cos[( +)t ]},
which contains two noninteger harmonics with the frequencies (60 f
s
) Hz.
In the case of integral-cycle control, the resulting modulated voltage is shown
in Figure 14b. A motor supplied with such a voltage will develop a pulsating
torque. If the frequency of the pulsating torque is near the natural mechanical
frequency of the shaft-couplings-load system, torsional mechanical resonance
can be excited and damage may occur.
2.3 Recommended Limits for Harmonics
Harmonic pollution must be kept belowcertain values. Every industrial country
has some recommendations or standards. The American recommendations in
IEEEStandard 519-1992 address two criteria, voltage distortion and current dis-
tortion (15). The values recommended are intended to provide an environment
in which the electrical equipment and the customer loads will operate correctly.
In low- and medium-voltage systems, the total limit is THD
V
0.05, while the
limit on an individual harmonic is V
h
0.03. Table 1 shows the recommended
limits on harmonic currents. These limits address the amount of harmonic pol-
lution that can be produced by the customer. The equipment manufacturer and
the consumer bear the responsibility of using electric energy while remaining
within the limits shown in Table 1. The prescribed harmonic current limits are
inuenced by both the demand of the customer and the size of the supply. The
customer demand is characterized by the maximum current, I
load
, at the cus-
tomer location. The size of the supply is reected in the short-circuit current,
I
sc
. The ratio I
sc
/I
load
, as well as the harmonic order, determines the limit for
Table 1 Current distortion limits
a
Individual harmonic order
Total demand distortion
I
sc
/I
load
<11 1116 1722 2324 35 (TDD)
<20 4.0 2.0 1.5 0.6 0.3 5.0
2050 7.0 3.5 2.5 1.0 0.5 8.0
50100 10.0 4.5 4.0 1.5 0.7 12.0
1001000 12.0 5.5 5.0 2.0 1.0 15.0
>1000 15.0 7.0 6.0 2.5 1.4 20.0
a
Values show maximum harmonic current distortion in percent of I
load
.

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 285
a certain harmonic current. The power system is less susceptible to the lower
harmonics than to the higher ones, and as the I
load
decreases with respect to
the I
sc
, the customer is allowed to inject a more distorted current. The limit for
total current distortion, TDD, is expressed in terms of the maximum demand
current, I
dem
, for 15- or 30-minute intervals. The mathematical expression for
TDD is similar to that for THD:
TDD =
_

h=1
I
2
h
I
dem
.
The European recommendation considers the probabilistic nature of the har-
monics, i.e. the fact that the injection of current harmonics does vary randomly
in time (16). The European Standard EN 50160 states that under normal oper-
ating conditions, during a period of one week, 95% of the 10-minute mean rms
values of each individual harmonic shall be less than or equal to the value given
in Table 2. The total harmonic distortion of the voltage must be no more than
8%, i.e. THD
V
0.08. The European standard is more detailed, addressing the
odd and even harmonics separately. The European standard is also much more
lenient than the American standard. Although surveys taken in the late 1980s
indicate that the voltage distortion in the United States (8) was well below the
limits required by the IEEE Standard 519, harmonic pollution is nevertheless
gradually increasing (17). At this time, it is difcult to say which standard is
more practical. It will take at least another decade of observations and mea-
surements to determine more precisely the economic impact of harmonics on
the consumer, the electric utility, and the equipment manufacturer.
Table 2 Values of individual harmonic voltages (European Stand.
EN 50160)
Odd harmonics
Not multiples of 3 Multiples of 3 Even harmonics
Order Relative Order Relative Order Relative
h voltage (%) h voltage (%) h voltage (%)
5 6 3 5 2 2
7 5 9 1.5 4 1
11 3.5 15 0.5 624 0.5
13 3 21 0.5
17 2
19 1.5
23 1.5
25 1.5

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286 EMANUEL & McNEILL
2.4 Harmonic Mitigation
When unacceptable levels of harmonic current are injected into a power net-
work by a large nonlinear load or cluster of nonlinear loads, it is necessary
to conne or to clean up the harmonic pollution. Two basic tools are used
to prevent harmonic currents from entering the feeders or neighboring cus-
tomers networks: (a) harmonic blockage by means of series inductances or
more complex impedances (series lters); (b) providing a low impedance shunt
path (shunt lters).
The use of shunt passive lters (18, 19) is the most widely accepted mitigation
method against harmonic pollution. Shunt lters use capacitances connected
in series with inductances. Their values are chosen to series resonate at a
frequency near the dominant harmonic that must be attenuated. As mentioned
above, a series resonating impedance has a very low value, but only for the
currents with a frequency near the resonance. Figure 15 shows how the current
harmonic I
h
injected by the nonlinear load NL is shunted by the lter tuned to
the harmonic frequency. The shunt lters also have the capability to provide
the reactive power needed for power factor improvement. Larger loads require
multiple lters, usually one for each major odd harmonic (i.e fth, seventh,
eleventh, and eventually the thirteenth). The third harmonic is less common in
large three-phase loads, but it is dominant in small single-phase loads. Large
numbers of relatively small single-phase loads may produce excessive total
amounts of the third harmonic. Third harmonic tuned lters tend to be bulky;
as an alternative, some engineering groups recommend the use of wye-delta or
zig-zag connected transformers to trap the third harmonic currents (17, 20).
Cf
Lf
Ih
Figure 15 Tuned LC lter that helps conne the harmonic current I
h
.

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 287
Passive lters, in spite of their simplicity and robustness, have three major
drawbacks:
1. Apassive lter cannot be adjustedtoproduce the optimumamount of reactive
power for unity power factor.
2. Harmonics generated by neighboring loads will sink into the lter, which
is sized to serve only a certain load. The unpredictable amount of harmonic
current that ows through the lter may cause its overloading.
3. The Thevenin impedance of the network together with the lter impedance
may produce unwanted parallel resonances or may produce an equivalent
impedance that has resonances at unwanted frequencies.
The future of ltering technology belongs to active and hybrid lters. Active
lters use solid-state switching devices (power transistors) that help modulate
the current absorbed or delivered (usually by a dc battery or a large capacitance)
to follow a desired waveform template. The template is calculated to contain
useful harmonics, i.e. harmonics that cancel the unwanted harmonics by
being of equal amplitude and 180

out of phase. A computer-based control


system updates the required waveform template every cycle.
An associated benet when lters are used in harmonic mitigation is an
improvement in the power factor at the end user. Filters by nature help to correct
the power factor, since a near-unity power factor corresponds to very lowTHD
I
.
While lters offer an effective tool for suppressing, attenuating, or conning
harmonics, engineers and economists should note that the best approach may be
the installation and use of equipment that is inherently less polluting. For exam-
ple, 12-pulse rectiers inject much less distortion than 6-pulse recitiers. Also,
modern power electronics technology offers many options for ac/dc conversion
that operate with a nearly sinusoidal current.
3. FLICKER
Flicker is the perceptible change in the output of a source of light when there
is a sudden change in the supply voltage (a sag or swell) (21). The voltage
uctuations cause light pulsations. If such disturbances are recurrent and the
incremental change in the luminous ux is large enough, the icker becomes an-
noying. Figure 16 shows the human response to a standard 60-W incandescent
lament lamp (22). The eye-brain perception system has maximum sensitivity
at about nine uctuations per second (9 Hz). At this critical frequency, a voltage
dip or swell V as small as 0.5% (or only 0.6 V at 120 V) is sufcient to cause
end-user objections. Table 3 lists the most common sources of icker.

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288 EMANUEL & McNEILL
Table 3 Flicker producing equipment
Equipment Type Frequency
House pump <40 uctuations h
1
Air conditioner
Heat pump
Refrigerators
Burners
Single elevators 0.510 uctuations min
1
Hoists and cranes
X-ray machines
Motors/generators
Arc furnace 0.12 uctuations s
1
Arc and spot welders
Group elevators
Drop hammers
Compressors 230 uctuations s
1
Fast acting welders
Cycloconverters
Eccentric saws
Figure 16 Human response to icker [120-V, 60-W incandescent lament (21)].

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 289
Fluorescent lamps have different icker response curves than incandescent
lament lamps. The type of ballast or dimmer used for uorescent lamps has
a critical effect on the response of the lamp to voltage icker. Due to the wide
range of ballasts (electronic, magnetic, and capacitive), it is difcult to produce
a universal icker curve. Research on this topic is ongoing.
3.1 Flicker Mitigation
Flicker can be successfully mitigated by means of static var compensators
(SVCs). SVCs help maintain the voltage constant by connecting the right
amount of capacitance or inductance in parallel with the disturbing load, for
example an arc furnace or a welding system. When a capacitance is connected
at a bus, the steady state voltage will increase. The right amount of capacitance
helps compensate for the voltage drop caused by the large current supplied to
the load. The SVCs use solid-state switches that automatically respond within
a half-cycle (8.3 ms) to a sudden change in the voltage.
4. MOMENTARY DISTURBANCES
In power systems, there are unexpected momentary variations in the supplied
voltage. Atmospheric phenomena (lightning), wind, precipitation, atmospheric
pollution (ocean spray, dust), old or inadequate equipment, or human error may
cause momentary interruptions (outages) or only a momentary corruption of
the voltage waveform. Some disturbances originate within the utility system,
others in the users own backyard, i.e. they are generated by the equipment
owned by the user.
4.1 Lightning
When lightning strikes on or near a power line, a voltage surge will occur with
a peak value that can greatly exceed the amplitude of the normal sinusoidal
voltage. Atypical waveformis shown in Figure 17. The voltage surge is usually
followed by a momentary reduction of the voltage (23) or even an interruption,
since the lightning surges may cause insulation breakdown. Lightning arresters
are installed on the utility side to limit (clamp) the surge peak value and to
protect transformers, cables, and insulation, as well as the customer. These
arresters are devices that act like safety valves: When the peak voltage of the
surge exceeds a critical level, the arresters resistance decreases to a very low
value. This decrease effectively short-circuits the line to ground, enabling the
additional electrical charge carried or induced by the lightning to be injected into
the ground. However, experimental measurements (24) have shown that, even
in the presence of lighting arresters on the primary side (13.8 kV and 4.4 kV),
peak voltages as high as 5600 Vmay occur on the secondary side of 120/240-V

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290 EMANUEL & McNEILL
Figure 17 Effects of lightning. (a) End-user voltage during and after lightning. (b) Rates of surge
occurrence (23).
and 208-V systems. The frequency of voltage surges of various magnitudes is
shown in Figure 17b. It is imperative to protect all electronic appliances and
industrial or commercial electronic equipment with dedicated surge arresters
connected at the input terminals of the respective devices. The size of the
arresters should be carefully chosen to dissipate the expected surge energy.
4.2 Faults
This category of disturbances may be caused by (a) lightning that triggered a
short circuit, (b) a broken tree limb falling across the feeder conductors, (c)
an animal that touches an energized terminal while also making contact with
another terminal or ground, and (d ) human error or aged equipment.
Figure 18ashows a substationsupplyingthree feeders, eachof whichsupplies
a few customers. If a fault occurs at the point marked FC, then the circuit
breaker K will interrupt the ow of current to the fault. This interruption
occurs automatically, but it takes anywhere from a few milliseconds to a few
seconds to clear the fault. When the fault is supplied with current, the voltage
distribution along the feeders A, B, and C drops rapidly. The customers at the
end of feeder A will experience a signicant voltage sag for the duration of
the fault. If the fault occurs on the feeder, at the point FL for example, then
the interruption takes place at the sending end of the feeder. Often utilities
use reclosing circuit breakers to protect distribution lines. Such breakers will
automatically reclose, i.e. reenergize the feeder after the rst disconnection.

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 291
A
B
C
SUBSTATION
FL FAULT ON LINE
FC FAULT AT
CUSTOMER
(a)
LENGTH (mi)
V
O
L
T
A
G
E
NORMAL (A, B, C)
DURING FAULT
at FL or FC
(A)
(B, C)
E
K
(b)
0.5 s 5 s LOCKOUT
(c)
(d)
Figure 18 Mechanism of voltage sag during a fault. (a) Substation supplying three feeders;
fault develops on feeder A at FC or FL. (b) Voltage distribution along the feeders during normal
operation and during fault. (c) Fault current. (d ) Voltage at point E during the fault.
In many cases, 0.5 s is more than enough time for a lightning arrester to return
to its initial state (a very large resistance that acts like an insulator) after the
lightning stroke. If the fault persists, the breaker will deenergize again for an
interval of 35 s, after which the energization is attempted again, as shown in
Figure 18c. If the fault is still present, the feeder remains deenergized until it
is repaired.
The reclosing circuit breakers help reduce the outage times, but every unsuc-
cessful reclosure produces voltage sags, as shown in Figure 18d. For sensitive

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292 EMANUEL & McNEILL
Va=V
Vb=V
Vc=V
Za
Zb
Zc
X
Y
FAULT
Vb
Vc
Zb
X
Y
(a) (b)
Figure 19 Mechanism of a swell. (a) Three-phase network during a fault. (b) Impedance Z
b
is
supplied with V
b
+ V
c
1.73V.
SUBSTATION
(a)
Vb
Vc
Vc
Vb
Figure 20 Switching transients caused by the energizing of a capacitor.
loads, operation may be hindered by voltage sags. In many installations, a volt-
age sag on one phase may cause a voltage swell on other phases, as shown in
Figure 19. For example, consider a fault that shorts the points x, y in Figure 19a.
Impedances Z
a
and Z
b
see an increase in voltage of up to 73%, since the fault
removes impedance Z
c
from the circuit, as shown in Figure 19b.
4.3 Switching
When a large motor is energized, its large starting current may cause a signif-
icant voltage drop in the supply line, and a voltage sag is produced. When a
capacitor is energized, a voltage surge is created, as shown in Figure 20. Ini-
tially, the capacitance acts like a short circuit, and the voltage drops to zero.
The capacitance then begins charging, and owing to the energy stored in the

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 293
line inductances, the capacitor voltage will overshoot the supply voltage and
continue to oscillate. Under certain resonant conditions such oscillations can
be magnied at the input terminals of customers with capacitors.
5. SENSITIVE LOADS
A listing of the equipment most sensitive to voltage disturbances follows.
5.1 Computers and Computer-Based Equipment
Modern electronic equipment, especially digital circuits such as those found in
computers and computer-based equipment, can be quite sensitive to the distur-
bances presented above. The types of equipment that belong to this group of
loads can be divided into the following 11 categories: computers, micropro-
cessors and microprocessor-based systems, computer peripherals, numerical
control systems, process control systems, communication systems, security
systems, life support systems, digital clocks, electronic instrumentation, and
point-of-sale terminals.
Since the voltage transients caused by lightning, faults, and switching are
unavoidable, it is necessary to build the above equipment with a degree of
immunity to such disturbances. The Computer Business Equipment Manufac-
turers Association (CBEMA) developed the computer voltage-tolerance curves
(25) presented in Figure 21. These curves represent the range of voltage that
can be tolerated by the above digital equipment. As long as the voltage is
maintained within the limits of 87106%, the steady-state operation will not be
adversely affected. For short-duration sags of 0.5 cycles (8.3 ms) or less, the
equipment can ride through the event without misoperation even if the voltage
becomes zero. If the sag lasts one cycle, the voltage shall not drop to less than
30%. The upper curve gives the limit for which breakdown may occur. This
curve is meant to help the equipment user and the utility engineer determine
if the existing voltage disturbances are compatible with the computer-based
equipment.
The CBEMA curve is considered outdated, and many practicing engineers
recommend new tolerance curves that require less susceptible equipment (26).
Recent surveys of consumer electronics products (27) indicate that the new
generations of clocks, microwave ovens, and video cassette recorders are more
immune to voltage sags than required by CBEMA.
5.2 Arc Discharge Lighting
When metal halide and high-pressure sodiumlamps experience a brief interrup-
tion or even a voltage sag, the lamps will extinguish and will need a warm-up
time that may last several minutes.

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294 EMANUEL & McNEILL
Figure 21 CBEMA curves for computer voltage tolerance.
5.3 Adjustable Speed Drives
Adjustable speed drives (ASDs) are widespread in industry applications where
speed, acceleration, and direction of rotation are controlled. They are more
efcient than conventional drives and can easily interface with computers and
microprocessors. ASDs contain control circuits meant to adjust or maintain
velocity or certain torque-speed characteristics. Switching transients are no-
torious for causing the tripping (disconnection) of ASDs, since the electronic
control circuits are protected against overvoltages. Usually a 20% voltage in-
crease above the rated value will cause the near-instantaneous deenergization
of an ASD. Switching transients, mainly the ones caused by energization of
capacitor banks, have sufcient energy to force the voltage above safe limits.
6. AVOIDANCE AND MITIGATION OF DISTURBANCES
6.1 Utility-Side Solutions
Electric utilities can reduce the number of interruptions by determining their
exact causes and implementing improvement programs. An example of such a
strategy is to do more tree trimming if the interruptions are determined to be

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 295
causedbytree limbs. Inregions withhighlevels of lightningactivity, the number
of lightning arresters should be increased, and old units should be replaced with
modern reliable units. The coordination of line protection must be reviewed
and designed in such a way that a fault will affect a minimum of customers.
An effective method for improving reliability is to supply customers with two
or more feeders and/or to supply dedicated feeders for customers known to
cause frequent disturbances. Dedicated feeders, if economically justied, can
be used to supply customers with critical loads (such as hospitals) or industrial
customers with large disturbing loads.
When a multitude of dispersed but small disturbing loads has a cumulative
effect that threatens the future quality of service, the utility must curb the trend
by the timely installation at strategic locations of harmonic lters or power
conditioners that will reduce the disturbances or limit their effects.
6.2 Customer-Side Solutions
In many situations, it is more economical to protect against voltage disturbances
by installing mitigation equipment on the customer side. Depending on the
type of disturbance and where it is generated, customer-side protection may
offer a complete solution or may be part of a system that incorporates a large
group of devices meant to supplement one another. For example, low-voltage
surge arresters protect equipment against voltage impulses caused by switching
and lightning, but without the high-energy arresters installed by the utility on
the primary lines, the low-voltage arresters will be useless. The high-voltage
arresters dissipate and divert the bulk of the lightning energy, while the low-
voltage units protect against residual energy left undiverted by the imperfect
arresters. The surge-protective devices must be properly coordinated; the units
installed at the main panel must divert more energy than the devices installed
at the secondary panels (28).
Noise is an unwanted electrical signal that produces undesirable effects in
communication circuits such as telephone lines (voice communication), com-
puter buses (digital communication), control systems, and electronic equip-
ment. Improper grounding and shielding of equipment (29) are the main sources
of such disturbances. Noise lters help to block or to conne the high-frequency
signals produced by some modern electronic equipment. Isolation transformers
eliminate the noise problem caused by the use of common current path in the
ground circuit by offering a single ground reference point for all the sensitive
equipment (in a computer room, for example) supplied from the transformers
secondary. Isolation transformers are constructed with electrostatic shields
between the primary and the secondary windings. The shield practically elim-
inates noise-coupling from the secondary to the primary winding.
ASDs may be equipped with line reactances. These are inductances con-
nected in series with the ASD terminals. Their purpose is to slow down the

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296 EMANUEL & McNEILL
Table 4 Power conditioner comparison
UPS and
Surge Isolation Voltage Motor- Dual Engine-
Disturbance suppressor Filter Xformer regulator generator feeder UPS Generator
Surge V V V V
Sag/swell V V V V
Interruption V V V
Harmonics V V V V
Noise V V V V V
Relative
cost % <1 130 5 35 45 2550 60 100
Figure 22 Uninterruptible power supply. (a) Standby type. (b) Line-interactive system.

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 297
leading edge of the surge caused by capacitor switching and therefore to reduce
the peak voltage impressed on the dc terminals of the ASD.
Slow variations of voltage such as sags and swells are corrected by volt-
age regulators. These devices help return the voltage to its rated value. Fer-
roresonant regulators are a well-known type of power conditioner. These are
transformers that supply a nearly constant voltage for a wide range of primary
voltages. The ferroresonant transformers are reliable units, but their relatively
low efciency and their bulkiness limit their uses to low and medium power ap-
plications. Aspecial group of voltage conditioners is the fast-acting voltage reg-
ulators. These devices use autotransformers with tap-changers that can boost
or buck (increase or decrease) the supply voltage. The tap-changing is done
automatically by means of silicon-controlled rectiers (SCRs) or gate turn-off
thyristors (GTOs). Although both ferroresonant transformers and fast-acting
regulators provide good voltage performance, they are considered nonlinear
loads because their line currents are nonsinusoidal.
Motor-generator sets, although they are a mature technology, are still in
common use. The sensitive load is supplied by a 60-Hz or a 400-Hz generator
driven by a motor connected to the local utility. Flywheels give the ability to
ride through short interruptions or prolonged voltage sags.
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) use batteries to supply the sensi-
tive loads during sags or voltage interruptions. The concept is described in
Figure 22a. During normal operation the load is supplied from the utility
power line. At the same time, a battery is kept charged via a rectier. In the
case of a disturbance, the solid-state switch changes almost instantly (in <1
ms) from standby to on-line, connecting the load to the output of the inverter
supplied by the battery. An improved system, shown in Figure 22b, uses a
battery charger that can also perform as an inverter. It is possible that future
UPSs with high power capability will take advantage of Superconductive Mag-
netic Energy Storage (SMES) to store the reserve energy in superconductive
inductors. Flywheel-based systems are also predicted to be strong candidates
for energy storage systems.
Loads that can tolerate brief interruptions are usually connected to a standby
engine-generator. The engine-generator requires 1560 s to start. In special ap-
plications, an engine-generator can be combined with a static UPSfor protection
from outages over very short and very long time scales. A comparison among
different customer-side disturbance mitigation techniques is given in Table 4.
7. ECONOMIC ASPECTS
Very little is known about the cost of harmonic pollution. Preliminary studies
(30) have concentrated on partitioning the total apparent power into 60-Hz

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298 EMANUEL & McNEILL
and non-60-Hz apparent power as the most practical index for quantifying the
potential for harmonic disturbance. The non-60-Hz apparent power can be
analyzed by partitioning the rms voltage and current values into two terms, the
60-Hz component and the harmonic:
V =
_
V
2
1
+ V
2
H
I =
_
I
2
1
+ I
2
H
.
Thus, the apparent power squared is
S
2
= (

3V I )
2
= 3
_
(V
1
I
1
)
2
+(V
1
I
H
)
2
+(V
H
I
1
)
2
+(V
H
I
H
)
2

S
2
= S
2
60
+ S
2
N
,
where
S
60
=

3V
1
I
1
S
N
=

3V
1
I
1

_
I
H
I
1
_
2
+
_
V
H
V
1
_
2
+
_
V
H
I
H
V
1
I
1
_
2
.
The S
60
term represents the 60-Hz apparent power or the fundamental apparent
power. This is the dominant term and contains the 60-Hz active and reactive
powers, P
60
and Q
60
. The non-60-Hz apparent power is determined from the
expression
S
N
= S
60
_
THD
2
I
+THD
2
V
+(THD
I
)
2
(THD
V
)
2
(THD
I
)S
60
.
It is a crude indicator of the harmonic pollution generated or absorbed by a load
or a group of loads. Note that power plants do not generate S
N
; rather, it is
generated by the nonlinear loads that convert 60-Hz kVA into non-60-Hz kVA.
The measurement of the ratio S
N
/S
60
helps determine how much nonlinearity
(that is, how much harmonic pollution) is contributed by a given customer. It
has been estimated that in 1990 dollars, the cumulative present worth of the
cost of harmonics is $2.00 per kVA non-60 Hz for feeders that do not need
mitigation (30). When lters must be installed by the utilities, the cost will
jump one or two orders of magnitude. For 13.8-kV, 15-mile-long feeders that
require multiple ltering centers, the cost was estimated to be $74.00$340.00
per kVA non-60 Hz (30).
The harmonics of NLs in excess of 100 kVA can be effectively ltered (con-
ned) at the terminals of each NL. Smaller NLs (less than 10 kVA) cannot be
economically ltered by individual units. Harmonics generated by heat pumps,
electric vehicle battery chargers, compact uorescent lamps, and other single-
phase NLs must be ltered with the help of ltering centers. The cost of the
lters depends on the size of the load(s) served, the systems voltage, and the

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 299
APPARENT POWER (kVA)
N
U
M
B
E
R

O
F

F
I
L
T
E
R
S
2
200
(b)
1
4
6
8
10
12
14
400 600 800 1000 0
I
THD = 33%
I
THD = 105%
Figure 23 Break-even plot showing how many 480-V or 600-V lters cost the same as one
13.8-kV lter.
ACTIVE FILTER (kVAr)
PASSIVE FILTER (kVA)
C
O
S
T

(
$
1
,
0
0
0
s
)
10
200
20
30
40
50
400 600 800 0
ACTIVE
FILTERS
PASSIVE
FILTERS
Figure 24 Cost of active and passive lters for nonlinear load with THD
I
= 0.7.

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300 EMANUEL & McNEILL
OUTAGE DURATION (h)
C
U
S
T
O
M
E
R

O
U
T
A
G
E

C
O
S
T
(
$
/
M
W
h

C
O
N
S
U
M
E
D
)
0.1
2
1
10
4 6 8 0
0.01
2.0
4.0
6.0
1.0
3.0
5.0
C
U
S
T
O
M
E
R

O
U
T
A
G
E

C
O
S
T
s
(
$
/
k
W

D
E
M
A
N
D
E
D
)
(a)
OUTAGE DURATION (min)
C
U
S
T
O
M
E
R

O
U
T
A
G
E

C
O
S
T
(
$
/
M
W
h

C
O
N
S
U
M
E
D
)
0.01
0.1
0.001
(b)
0.1
1
10
100
1 10 100 1000
INDUSTRIAL
COMMERCIAL
RESIDENTIAL
LARGE USER
Figure 25 Customer damage functions, outage cost versus duration (31). (a) Residential. (b)
Industrial and commercial versus residential.
THD
I
. Figure 23 presents results obtained in (31) comparing lter costs. For
example, if the total ltered load is 400 kVA, it is less expensive to use one
low-voltage (480-Vor 600-V) lter than a 13.8-kVlter. If the systemrequires
three lters and the THD
I
105%, it is more economical to install a 13.8-
kV lter. For THD
I
33%, the break-even point is around ve lters. The

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ELECTRIC POWER QUALITY 301
denitive separation between 13.8-kV lters and low-voltage lters is around
1000 kVA.
Some manufacturers of electric equipment have begun production of the rst
generations of active lters. As shown in Figure 24, however, their cost is
still excessive. At present they have been installed only in pilot stations or
in very special conditions in which passive lters would be compromised by
the environment harmonics (background). It is predicted that hybrid lters (a
combination of passive and active lters) will, in the near future, become a
common addition to ASDs.
Consumer outage costs (32, 33) are a key indicator of the value of service
quality. The cost of interruptions is usually normalized using either the peak
load demand (kW) or the annual energy consumed (MWh). Figure 25 shows
costs of damage for residential and commercial customers. As expected, pro-
longed interruptions are more expensive, and the cost of damage caused by
interruptions in the industrial sector is signicantly higher than in the residen-
tial or commercial sectors.
8. CONCLUSIONS
The electric environment must be protected against the corruption of the sup-
plied voltage waveform caused by such factors as harmonic pollution, unbal-
anced loads, and switching transients. This protection must be given thought
and consideration, as is given to air and water pollution. Controlling the quality
of service requires strategies that will help utilities and customers nd equi-
table and effective tools to correct the situations that lead to voltage and current
distortion. The community must address the following problems:
1. Consumers, utilities, equipment manufacturers, and equipment installers
must agree on standards that set permissible limits for disturbances.
2. Manufacturers should produce equipment with a predetermined degree of
immunity to disturbances that are compatible with the permissible limits
imposed by the standards.
3. The consumers that produce disturbances must pay their fair share for the
installation and maintenance of mitigation equipment.
4. An education campaign should be developed for the users of electrical en-
ergy to provide them with a solid understanding of the mechanisms causing
generation and propagation of disturbances, as well as the capability to an-
ticipate the events that affect the quality of service.

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September 29, 1997 11:25 Annual Reviews EMANUEL AR039-09
302 EMANUEL & McNEILL
In the future, new methods of power conditioning, more efcient energy
converters, more precise control systems, faster computers, high-speed electric
traction, the electric car, and improved wind and photovoltaic generators will
continue to challenge engineers responsible for the quality of service. At the
same time, the technology that causes the deterioration of the service and pro-
motes equipment more sensitive to disturbances will also provide the answers
that will help eliminate the undesirable effects.
Visit the Annual Reviews home page at
http://www.annurev.org.
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