Harmonics

Nishant Negi(ME18206015)

Introduction:

Today in modern age fashion of electronics load increased rapidly. These electronics component are very much responsible for
change in the electrical characteristics which are if when analyzed with analyzer become the evident of change of line voltage &
line current waveform from pure sinusoidal to some other signal form, this distortion in waveform is given as Harmonic
Distortion. The harmonic distortion is a very old problem but previously it was not so severe as today. in the past harmonic
distortion represented the less no of problem due conservative design of power system & equipment & too common use of delta
grounded & wye connection in distribution transformers. Previously it was arose by the saturation of transformers, by industrial
arc furnaces, some other electrical devices which are a kind of product of arc such as large welding machine, telephone
interference.

Basically Harmonics in power distribution system is defined as harmonic current or harmonic voltage which is multiple integer of
system frequency or fundamental frequency. Harmonic component must have sinusoidal waveform same as of fundamental power
component say the waveform of voltage & current. In harmonic there is change arises in total voltage or current waveform & also
frequency distortion come in picture, this total distortion disturb whole the system & give failure of system.

Harmonic Order

In the electrical system various type of harmonics are present which are given by their order. Harmonic order or Harmonic
number is a reference to the frequency of the harmonic component.

The order of harmonics are decided by formula as shown below

Fh = (h)*fundamental frequency or line frequency

Where h = Integer value

rd
So if we talk about first harmonics of system will be same as the line frequency. Now for the 3 harmonics the harmonic
component is given by above formula for the system having frequency of 50 Hz

F3 = 3*50=150HZ

Fifth harmonic is similary given by

F5 = 5*50=250HZ

& seventh harmonic can be given as

F7 = 7*50=350HZ

So now if we had considered ideal condition that system has frequency of 50 Hz is with a peak value of 100 Amp current along
the system. This 100 Amp value is also consider as one per unit. Likewise this per unit the harmonics would have same waveform
of order of (1/3) (1/5) (1/7) of fundamental waveform or amplitude. This behavior of harmonic shown an inverse law with
harmonic component, the system have these harmonics are shown In fig 2 where the whole system frequency is also affected
shown in the waveform.
In figure the systems current how get impacted by harmonics is shown. The resultant current of the system first of all going to
reduced & second one there is fluctuation problem also arise in system which further may give rise problem such as overheating,
insulation failure etc.

Causes of Harmonics:

Harmonics are basically arising due to type of load we are using in the system. There are in system two type of load are present
one is linear load which is characterized by have same waveform identical with the line waveform.

Linear load:

[3]
A load is said to be linear if the waveform of voltage & current signals follow each other identifiably or very close to each other
A very easy way to understand the linear load can be given by the Ohm’s law which stated that the current (I) through resistance
fed by voltage source (V) is equal to the relation (R) between voltage & resistance which are described by

I (t) = V (t) / R

This relation proves that current & voltage waveform in electrical circuit with linear load look alike. Therefore if the source is
clean or say that there is no distortion in the system then the current waveform will look identical having no distortion as shown in
the figure

Non linear load:

Non linear load are type of load in which the voltage waveform & current waveform does not have same waveform & not
identical with the applied source [figure 3] due to number of reason present in the system. The much known problem of this is the
use of electronic devices & switches. The electronic switches do not conduct load current during the whole power frequency
period but only the fraction of that period. This is the main reason that the load voltage & current are not having identical
waveform. The other thing which we also can say that the system which does not fulfill the Ohm’s law can be said Non-linear
load. Among the all the types of nonlinear load which affects the system most are power converter. Uninterrupted power system
(UPS), various type of electric furnaces & etc.

The causes of harmonics which are come in picture broadly are industrial electronics devices. The current drawn by these
industries from the distribution system are not remaining longer sinusoidal & the resultant of this waveform causes the occurrence
of harmonics in the system. Basically whatever the harmonics present in the system is due to non-linear load which are the major
source of distortion in power system component. The other normally possible causes of presence of harmonics in the system are as
follows:
1: In modern technology use of nonlinear loads have increased rapidly resulting from new technologies such as silicon-controlled
rectifiers (SCRs), power transistors, and microprocessor controls by which a load-generated harmonics produces in the system.
2:due to presence of non linear component present in the system such as rectifier, inverter, dc- to - dc converter, Welding
machine, & arc furnaces & converters.
3: when there is a sudden change occur in load arise there is some distortion come in flux distribution of synchronous machine
4: speed control device of AC machine which are designed based on semi conductor devices.
Effects of Harmonics:

Harmonics are a major cause of power supply pollution lowering the power factor and increasing electrical losses. The effect of
harmonic results in premature equipment failure and also cause of requirement of equipment of high rating The voltage distortion
produced in the system is the major issue with the harmonics distribution. The electronics equipment used in the system usually
generate harmonics more than one. In all type of harmonics the tripled harmonics are more severe example of triplet harmonics
th [5]
are 3rd 9th 15 . These harmonics produced bigger problem to engineers because they poses more distortion in voltage. The
effect of triplex harmonics come with overheating in wires, overheating in transformer units & also may become the cause of end
user equipment failure. Triplex harmonics overheat the neutral conductor of 4 wire system. the neutral have generally no
fundamental frequency or even harmonics but there may be existence of odd harmonics in system neutral conductor & when there
is system consist of triplex harmonics it is become additive. these triplex frequency impact on the system can be understand by
this way that even under balanced load condition on the account of triplex frequency neutral current magnitude reaches up to 1.75
times of average phase current. Under above discussed case if the load of system increase may become cause of failure of
insulation of neutral conductor which further result in the breakdown of transformers winding.

The important & major effect of Harmonics is further discussed as:

Thermal effect on transformers:

Transformer is a key device to supply all types of load either for commercial or industrial or residential purpose. As these service
transformers are connected with the large end consumer side so they are attached directly or indirectly with the various kind of
load say linear & non linear both. In modern age industrial & commercial network are very rapidly influenced by a large or huge
amount of harmonic current which produced by variety of nonlinear type loads likes Variable speed drives, electric furnaces
different type of converters etc. in addition of that if we take the case of residential user there is a lot of type of personnel &
entertaining equipment are which are also a source of harmonic current & harmonic voltage.

Neutral conductor overloading:

In single phase power system neutral play a very important role as they carry the return current & complete the circuit. But in case
of harmonics it also becomes the return path for the harmonic current to transformer through neutral connection. for an
unbalanced system the unbalanced current are passed through the neutral & for this purpose we need to balance the system the
size of neutral cable is almost taken equal to its phase cable. Under environment of harmonics the unbalanced current which is
passed through the neutral produces a heat loss in the system which again affects the power quality of distribution system.

Effect on lines & cables:

Harmonic distortion in a distribution system affect the system current & significantly these increased rms current produces
additional heat losses in the system lines & cables
Harmonic distortion in cables affect by increasing the dielectric stress in the cables. This dielectric stress is proportional to the
voltage crest factor which represents the crest value of voltage waveform to rms value of waveform. The effect of this increased
dielectric stress is such that on the cable is shortens the useful life of cable, causes of increased faults, which ultimately increased
[7]
the system capital cost & maintenance cost .

Thermal effect on rotating machine:

Rotating machine are also affected by harmonics same as transformer. Resistance of rotating machine will goes high if the
frequency of system is high. For this if there is harmonic present in the system have a very rich current value which tends to
[8]
produce a heat loss in the rotating machine . This overall heat loss will again affect the life of transformer & maintenance
problems.

Undesired operation of Fuse:

In the environment of harmonic the RMS value of voltage & current may increase. This tendency of increased value of RMS
voltage & current will lead the problem of unexpected operation of fuse in capacitor banks or other arrangement which are used in
the system to make operation of nonlinear load. When if the fuse of one connected phase become fuse then the other remaining
fuse is in operation due to this a stress come on the panel capacitor bank. In this type of condition the system other point become
unbalanced & this will tends to produce the overvoltage on the system & detune the Passive filter in the system if they are not
ready for such type of situation So if we further summarize our above discussion the effect of harmonic affect by the following
given means:

 Equipment overheating
 Equipment failure
 Communications interference
  Fuse and breaker operation failure
 Process problems

Methods for Harmonic Mitigation:

Majority of large power (typically three-phase) electrical nonlinear equipments often requires mitigation equipment in order to
attenuate the harmonic currents and associated voltage distortion to within necessary limits. Depending on the type of solution
desired, the mitigation may be supplied as an integral part of nonlinear equipment (e.g., an AC line reactor or a line harmonic
filter for AC PWM drive) or as a discrete item of mitigation equipment (e.g., an active or passive filter connected to a
switchboard). There are many ways to reduce harmonics, ranging from variable frequency drive designs to the addition of
auxiliary equipment. Few of the most prevailing methods used today to reduce harmonics are explained below.

a) Delta-Delta and Delta-Wye Transformers

This configuration uses two separate utility feed transformers with equal non-linear loads. This shifts the phase
relationship to various six-pulse converters through cancellation techniques. Similar technique is also used in 12-pulse
front end of the drive, which is explained in the subsequent section of this document

b) Isolation Transformers
An isolation transformer provides a good solution in many cases to mitigate harmonics generated by nonlinear loads. The
advantage is the potential to “voltage match” by stepping up or stepping down the system voltage, and by providing a
neutral ground reference for nuisance ground faults. This is the best solution when utilizing AC or DC drives that use
SCRs as bridge rectifiers.

c) Use of Reactors
Use of reactor is a simple and cost effective method to reduce the harmonics produced by nonlinear loads and is a better
solution for harmonic reduction than an isolation transformer. Reactors or inductors are usually applied to individual
loads such as variable speed drives and available in a standard impedance ranges such as 2%, 3%, 5% and 7.5%. When
the current through a reactor changes, a voltage is induced across its terminals in the opposite direction of the applied
voltage which consequently opposes the rate of change of current. This induced voltage across the reactor terminals is
represented by equation below.

e = Ldi/dt

where: e = Induced voltage across the reactor terminals

L = Inductance of the reactor, in Henrys

di/dt = Rate of change of current through reactor in Ampere/Second

This characteristic of a reactor is useful in limiting the harmonic currents produced by electrical variable speed drives and other
nonlinear loads. In addition, the AC line reactor reduces the total harmonic voltage distortion (THDv) on its line side as compared
to that at the terminals of the drive or other nonlinear load. In electrical variable speed drives, the reactors are frequently used in
addition to the other harmonic mitigation methods. On AC drives, reactor can be used either on the AC line side (called AC line
reactors) or in the DC link circuit (called DC link or DC bus reactor) or both, depending on the type of the drive design and/or
necessary performance of the supply. AC line reactor is used more commonly in the drive than the DC bus reactor, and in addition
to reducing harmonic currents, it also provides surge suppression for the drive input rectifier. The disadvantage of use of reactor is
a voltage drop at the terminals of the drive, approximately in proportion to the percentage reactance at the terminals of the drive.
In large drives, both AC line and DC bus reactors may be used especially when the short circuit capacity of a dedicated supply is
relatively low compared to the drive kVA or if the supply susceptible to disturbances. Typical values of individual frequency and
total harmonic distortion of the current waveform of a 6-pulse front end without & with integral line reactor are given in Table
5.1.

d) Passive Harmonic Filters (or Line Harmonic Filters)

Passive or Line harmonic filters (LHF) are also known as harmonic trap filters and are used to eliminate or control more
dominant lower order harmonics specifically 5th, 7th, 11th and 13th. It can be either used as a standalone part integral to
a large nonlinear load (such as a 6-pulse drive) or can be used for a multiple small singlephase nonlinear loads by
connecting it to a switch board. LHF is comprised of a passive L-C circuit (and also frequently resistor R for damping)
which is tuned to a specific harmonic frequency which needs to be mitigated (for example, 5th, 7th, 11th, 13th etc). Their
operation relies on the “resonance phenomenon” which occurs due to variations in frequency in inductors and capacitors.

g) Active filters
Active filters are now relatively common in industrial applications for both harmonic mitigation and reactive power
compensation (i.e., electronic power factor correction). Unlike passive L-C filters, active filters do not present potential resonance
to the network and are unaffected to changes in source impedance. Shunt-connected active filters (i.e. parallel with the nonlinear
load) as shown in Figure 5.4 below are the common configuration of the active filter. The active filter is comprised of the IGBT
bridge and DC bus architecture similar to that seen in AC PWM drives. The DC bus is used as an energy storage unit. The active
filter measures the “distortion current” wave shape by filtering out the fundamental current from the nonlinear load current
waveform, which then fed to the controller to generate the corresponding IGBT firing patterns to replicate and amplify the
“distortion current” and generate the “compensation current”, which is injected into the load in anti-phase (i.e. 180° displayed) to
compensate for the harmonic current. When rated correctly in terms of “harmonic compensation current”, the active filter provides
the nonlinear load with the harmonic current it needs to function while the source provides only the fundamental current.

Conclusion:
The presence of harmonics in distribution lines is increasing, causing a set of problems related to deteriorating voltage wave
quality. This forces oversize installations, causing significant additional losses. Despite existing standards that limit the
consumption of these harmonics, it is useful to filter them as it lets you optimise cable sections and powers to MV substations,
reduce losses in installations and avoid production losses.

Reference:
[1] Kuldeep Kumar Srivastava, Saquib Shakil, Anand Vardhan Pandey, “Harmonics & Its Mitigation Technique by Passive shunt
Filter”, in International Journal of Soft Computing and Engineering ISSN: 2231-2307, Volume-3, Issue-2, May 2013
[2] D. Rivas, L. Morán, J. Dixon, and J. Espinoza, “A simple control scheme for hybrid active power filter,” in IEEE
Trans., pp. 991–996, June 2000.
[3] Dugan, E.C., McGranagham, M.F., Santoso, S., Beaty,H.W.,.Elecirical power systems quality., McGraw-Hill, 2002
[4] IEEE Guide for Application and Specification of HarmonicFilters.,IEEE Std. 1531-2003
[5] K. V. Kumar, G.Surendar, M. P. Selvan, “Performance comparison of shunt active filter and hybrid active filter,” NSC, pp. 71-
76,Dec.2008