KILOVAR
BRIEFS FROM THE COOPER POWER SYSTEMS' CAPACITOR PLANT
Date Apri 1 ,
, 1985
GREENWOOD, SOUTH CAROLINA
Issue
3
HARMONICS AND CAPACITORS
SOURCES OF HARMONICS
systems
are
The
levels
of
harmonic
distortion
on u t i I i t y
increasing.
One i m p o r t a n t
reason
i s the proliferation o f
apparatus
that
produce harmonic v o l t a g e s and c u r r e n t s .
Prime
examples a r e t h y r i s t o r c o n t r o l l e d d e v i c e s which a r e used a t a
i n d u s t r i a l , commercial,
a n d home
wide range o f power l e v e l s i n
applications.
These components a r e u s e d f o r v o l t a g e c o n t r o l ,
speed
control,
frequency
changing,
and
power
conversion,
generally a t lower cost,
w i t h increased e f f i c i e n c y and l e s s
maintenance than t h e devices they replace.
Other reasons f o r t h e
increased harmonic l e v e l s i s t h e o v e r - e x c i t a t i o n o f d i s t r i b u t i o n
t r a n s f o r m e r s , a p r a c t i c e p e r m i t t e d b y more and more u t i l i t i e s and
t h e improvement i n system power f a c t o r t h r o u g h t h e a p p l i c a t i o n o f
shunt
capacitors.
C a p a c i t o r s do n o t g e n e r a t e harmonics b u t p r o v i d e n e t w o r k l o o p s
f o r l o c a l and g e n e r a l resonance o r f o r harmonic m a g n i f i c a t i o n .
C a p a c i t o r s can i n f l u e n c e t h e magnitudes o f harmonic v o l t a g e s and
c u r r e n t s w h i c h o c c u r on t h e u t i l i t y s y s t e m a s w e l l a s a t t h e
customer l o a d s . I t i s t h e r e f o r e i m p o r t a n t t o u n d e r s t a n d power
s y s t e m h a r m o n i c s when a p p l y i n g c a p a c i t o r s .
This f i r s t i n a
s e r i e s o f a r t i c l e s on harmonics d i s c u s s e s sources o f power system
harmonics.
Sources o f Harmonics
T h e r e a r e many s o u r c e s o f h a r m o n i c s o n t h e e l e c t r i c a l p o w e r
system.
In
general,
devices
with
nonlinear
operating
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s produce harmonics, i n c l u d i n g :
transformers
r o t a t i n g machinery
a r c furnaces and a r c w e l d i n g equipment
semiconductor c o n t r o l l e d power equipment, such
as voltage c o n t r o l l e r s , r e c t i f i e r s , i n v e r t e r s ,
c y c l o c o n v e r t e r s , s t a t i c v a r systems
Under b a l a n c e d system o p e r a t i o n , harmonics can be c l a s s i f i e d as
p o s i t i v e , n e g a t i v e , o r z e r o sequence:
P o s i t i v e Sequence
N e g a t i v e Sequence
Zero Sequence
D u r i n g unbalanced c o n d i t i o n s
t h e t h r e e sequences.
Copyright 1985 Cooper Power Systems
-
Harmonic o r d e r 1,4,7.. .
Harmonic o r d e r 2,5,8..
H a r m o n i c o r d e r 3,6,9..
.
each harmonic
can o c c u r i n each o f
Page 1
Transformer.
Transformer saturation, t h e d e v i a t i o n from a l i n e a r
relation
between
t h e magnetic
flux
i n the
iron
and t h e
magnetizing force, causes a non- sinusoidal transformer e x c i t i n g
c u r r e n t t o be produced by a s i n u s o i d a l l y a p p l i e d voltage.
When
t h e a p p l i e d v o l t a g e i s above t h e t r a n s f o r m e r r a t e d v o l t a g e , t h e
harmonic
components
of
the exciting
current
can
increase
s u b s t a n t i a l l y . ( F i g u r e 1)
IN rated
' current
IM magnetizing Current
I1I3I5I7, fundamental and harmonic currents.
Figure 1
Harmonic Components o f Transformer E x c i t i n g Current
R o t a t i n g Machinery.
Harmonics produced by a r o t a t i n g machine a r e
r e l a t e d p r i n c i p a l l y t o v a r i a t i o n i n magnetic r e l u c t a n c e caused by
s l o t s i n t h e m a c h i n e s s t a t o r a n d r o t o r . S y n c h r o n o u s m a c h i n e s may
produce harmonics because o f t h e f i e l d form, s a t u r a t i o n i n main
c i r c u i t s a n d l e a k a g e p a t h s , a n d u n s y m m e t r i c a l l y s p a c e d damper
windings.
Arc Equipment.
Arc f u r n a c e s and a r c w e l d i n g equipment g e n e r a t e
harmonics because
of
the
non-l i n e a r
voltage- current
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f power a r c s .
M e a s u r e m e n t s made o f a n a r c
furnace voltage i n d i c a t e a harmonic o u t p u t which i s h i g h l y
v a r i a b l e , e.g.,
f i f t h harmonic voltage o f 8 percent a t t h e
b e g i n n i n g o f m e l t d o w n , 6 p e r c e n t a t t h e e n d o f m e l t d o w n , a n d 2.5
percent o f t h e fundamental d u r i n g r e f i n i n g .
The h a r m o n i c s o f
c o n c e r n a r e u s u a l l y t h e f i f t h , w h i c h may r e a c h 20 p e r c e n t o f t h e
f u n d a m e n t a l , a n d t h e s e v e n t h , w h i c h may b e o n t h e o r d e r o f 5 - 8
p e r c e n t o f fundamental voltage.
The w o r s t c a s e h a r m o n i c m a g n i t u d e s s h o u l d b e c o n s i d e r e d i n a n y
a p p l i c a t i o n study.
The m o s t t r o u b l e s o m e h a r m o n i c s p r o d u c e d b y
a r c f u r n a c e s and t h e i r magnitudes a r e summarized as f o l l o w s i n
Table I:
Figure 2
Table I
Harmonics
Harmonic V o l t a g e
( % of Fundamental)
2
Arc Furnace Voltage and Current
5
10
2
20
8
3
3
4
5
7
9
P r o d u c t i o n o f t h e t h i r d harmonic i s due t o t h e unbalanced
o p e r a t i o n o f t h e t h r e e a r c i n g e l e c t r o d e s . A w e l l designed system
s h o u l d n o t r e a c h t h e h i g h l e v e l s i n t h e above t a b l e . F i g u r e 2
d e p i c t s measured c u r r e n t and v o l t a g e a t an a r c f u r n a c e , c l e a r l y
i n d i c a t i n g d i s t o r t i o n s i n b o t h values.
S o l i d S t a t e E n e r g y C o n v e r s i o n Systems
F o r n e a r l y t h e p a s t t w o decades, s i n c e power s e m i c o n d u c t o r s
became c o m m e r c i a l l y a v a i l a b l e t h e i r a p p l i c a t i o n h a s p r o l i f e r a t e d .
This trend i s l i k e l y t o accelerate i n the future.
S t a t i c Power C o n v e r t e r s .
The c y c l i c f i r i n g o f t h y r i s t o r s i n a n
AC s y s t e m r e s u l t s i n t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f h a r m o n i c c u r r e n t s a n d
voltages.
Examples o f t h i s t y p e o f e q u i p m e n t a r e :
Voltage c o n t r o l l e r s ( f o r i n d u s t r i a l heating,
i n d u c t i o n m e l t i n g , l i g h t i n g c o n t r o l , speed
c o n t r o l of motors, etc.)
Rectifiers
Inverters
Cycloconverters (frequency converters)
T a b l e I I s u m m a r i z e s t h e l o w e r o r d e r h a r m o n i c c u r r e n t s inn 6 a n d 1 2
pulse converters.
Table I I
Harmonic
1
5
7
11
13
CONVERTER HARMONIC CURRENTS
Theoretical
Typical
Per Unit Magnitude
Per Unit Magnitude
6 Pulse (%) 12 Pulse (%)
6 Pulse (%) 12 Pulse (%)
100
20
14
9
8
100
0
0
9
8
100
18
11
5
3
100
3
2
6
3
F i g u r e 3A a n d 3 B a r e t y p i c a l w a v e f o r m s o f c u r r e n t a n d v o l t a g e
d i s t o r t i o n r e s u l t i n g f r o m a t y p i c a l power c o n v e r t e r
circuit.
Note t h e s u b s t a n t i a l harmonic content present.
(A) Current
(B)
Voltage
I n summary, t h e r e a r e many s o u r c e s o f h a r m o n i c d i s t o r t i o n i n t h e
power
systems.
Capacitors
a r e not
a
source
of
e lectr ic
h a r m o n i c s , however, t h e i r p r e s e n c e i n t h e n e t w o r k can a m p l i f y t h e
h a r m o n i c c u r r e n t s and v o l t a g e s t h a t w i I I o c c u r on t h e u t i l i t y
power system.
U t i l i t i e s a r e concerned about t h e e f f o r t s o f t h e
Future issues
h a r m o n i c s i n system o p e r a t i o n and e q u i p m e n t l i f e .
" KVAR B R I E F S "
will
d i s c u s s t h e e f f e c t s o f h a r m o n i c s on
of
In addition, the application of capacitors i n a
capacitors.
harmonic environment w i l l be s t u d i e d .