Controlling Harmonics

While Improving
Power Factor
Interactions between electrical systems, power factor capacitors, and non-linear convertors are examined.
By using traps, power factor can be improved, while problems with harmonic distortion are avoided.

By Michael Z. Lowenstein, Manager, Research & Development, Jim Holley, National Sales Manager
and Myron Zucker, P.E., Chairman of the Board, Myron Zucker, Inc.

Fifteen years ago we investigated a wire

drawing plant with an unusual power factor
problem. A 200-kVA transformer, operated
at 70% pf, was slightly overloaded. The
plant engineers had added a substation
capacitor bank sized to release about
200kVA of a system capacity. But instead
of dropping to 1800 kVA, the transformer
load was increased to 2300 kVA.
Fortunately, the problem was recognized as
a harmonic phenomenon. At the time,
harmonic distortion had been studied on
transmission systems, but had been
considered a major in-plant problem. The
incidence of in-plant distortion was quite
low since only a few non-linear loads (arc
furnaces, thyristor controls, resistance
welders, etc.) were in place. Over the last
few years the rapid acceptance of adjustable
speed drives and static converters, which use
silicon controlled rectifiers (SCRs) or other
switching devices, has resulted in growing
concern for electrical system problems
caused by waveform distortion been visible
for a number of years.

Dirty Power
Waveform distortion, often referred to as
The use of capacitors to improve power Capacitors at the load, by providing “dirty power”, becomes serious when the
factor in electrical systems is well known. reactive power where it is needed, power deviates significantly from a pure
A number of different strategies have been reduce the current which must be carried sine wave. Such distortion can take many
well tested in the field. If, for instance, a out by wires all the way back to the forms. High voltage spikes, high frequency
plant load is reasonably constant, power substation. Because I2R losses are ringing, voltage “sag”, and, as in the case of
factor correction capacitors can be reduced, smaller wires can be used, and the wire drawing plant mentioned above,
connected to medium voltage feeders. If a circuit capacity formerly used to system harmonic resonance, can all be found
switched to follow the load. Alternatively, provide reactive power is released for a in situation where dirty power is a problem.
correction can be carried out using low- more beneficial use. Unfortunately, The problem, readily visible on an
voltage capacitor banks installed at the what has historically been a simple oscilloscope as shown in Fig. 1, manifest
main switching centers. Automatic solution to low power factor has been itself within the plant in a number of ways.
controllers can switch capacitance on and made more complicated by the increase
off line to compensate for the varying of in-plant harmonic distortion. The
loads. Investigations have shown that a symptoms have been visible for a
favorable location for power factor number of years.
capacitors is as close to the load as
possible.
Premature motor or capacitor failures have been
traceable to dirty power. Motor symptoms
include overheating, arcing of starting contacts,
and in some cases bearing failure brought about
by rapid pulsing of the rotor. Capacitors have
been observed to overheat, leak, and even burst.
Overheating is also the prime symptom of
conductors and transformers subjected to
harmonic distortion. In the modern computer-
controlled plant effect of dirty controls can
include out-of-sequence operation, faculty of
lost data, can complete failure with destruction
of circuit boards.

Often the first noticed symptoms of dirty power

is nuisance fuse blowing. A fuse blows because
excessive currents produce enough heat to melt The harmonic current is a continuous overload and causes the fuse to run
the fuse link. Fuses are designed to withstand hotter than normal. The high-current spikes, although of short duration, cause
small over-currents for a long time or large the I2t rating of the fuse to be exceeded and it blows. Although the fuse is
current in-rush for a short time. (I2t effect). performing exactly as it should, some users view the dirty power problem as a
Dirty Power, containing both harmonics and fuse problem. The tendency to replace the blown fuse with a higher rating
spikes, subjects the fuse to two excessive (never a good practice) without addressing the basic problem. Under standing
heating conditions. the basic problem requires a examination of harmonic-system interactions.

Electrical Systems Design March 1988

 The inductance and capacitance in a The higher order harmonics (17th, 19th,
power distribution system form a etc.) do not generally have enough
resonance circuit. The resonant frequency energy content to cause circuit damage,
is usually well above the 60 Hz the lower frequencies (picture the bass
fundamental frequency. However, the string of a violin with large vibrations)
addition of capacitors to the sys tem contain a considerable amount of energy.
lowers the resonant point. So long as the If the resonance point of the electrical
system is not excited at the resonant distribution system is turned to one of
frequency, oscillation will not occur. these harmonic frequencies, large
However, if the power in the system harmonic currents can flow.
contains distortion at the resonance
frequency, the entire system can oscillate, The six-pulse converter, which is the
resulting in large harmonic currents. type most commonly used, generates
significant amounts of 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th,
Electrical harmonic resonance has an and 11th harmonics with decreasing
acoustic analog, a violin. The sys tem can amounts of higher harmonics. Although
be tuned to a specific frequency (just as theory predicts that the “Triplen”
each violin string is tuned to a frequency.) harmonics (3rd, 9th,…) will be absorbed
If the system is excited at its resonant by nearly delta-connected equipment,
frequency (akin to bowing a violin field measurements show this to be
string) a high energy resonance (tone) untrue, and the triplen amounts have
results. The larger the exciting energy (the been found in plant distribution systems.
heavier the bowing) the larger the
harmonic current flowing in the system A second damaging features of SCRs is
(the louder the tone.) A large enough revealed upon closer examination of Fig.
current can damage the system (the string 2. As the 3-phase converter transfers
breaks). Or, as in the wire drawing plant current from phase to phase
mentioned previously, power load levels (commutation) momentary short circuits
become excessive. occur. This results in a series of line
notches in the voltage input that “shock”
SCRs And Dirty Power the system six times per cycle. The
shock can be manifested as large voltage
Adjustable frequency and dc motor drives or current spikes applied to the line.
as well as static power converters (such as These spikes often contain enough
in UPS systems) contain SCRs or other energy to cause a fuse blowing and can
switching devices. While these drives are damage or even destroy, computers,
valued for their ability to provide precisely controls, or circuit components.
con trolled outputs, they have detrimental
effects on the sine wave power in the The designer of a new power distribution
distribution system. A close look at how system should be aware of potential
SCRs function reveals two problems. problems with SCR equipment to be
When an SCR is used to control current installed in the plant. Careful
flow in a circuit, the current lags the distribution of harmonic-generating
voltage contributing to a low power factor. equipment loads may reduce some
For a typical SCR circuit, the input problems, interactions between SCR
current, as shown in Fig. 2., instead of drives and power factor capacitors must
starting at the same time as the voltage, still be considered. The designer must
remains zero until the SCR is switched on. be as aware of the special design
Then the current rises almost demands for power factor correction in
instantaneously to the value of the the presence of SCRs as is the plant
fundamental current. Were the device to engineer faced with problems in an
remain on, the in put current would follow existing plant.
the fundamental current. However, the
SCR turns off, and the input current goes
rapidly to zero. The input current
resembles a "square wave." But this
current is supplied by a voltage wave
which is nearly sinusoidal The distribution
system must produce the square wave
current pulse by providing a combination
of sine waves of sine-wave of appropriate
frequencies.
Observing Harmonics

For existing electrical systems it is possible

to detect the presence of potentially
dangerous dirty power before damage
occurs. This is an important first step to
eliminating damaging harmonics from the
power distribution system. There are two
methods of looking at harmonics in
distributed power system. One can be
observe the voltage wave and the harmonics
superimposed on that wave, or one can carry
out the same observations on the current
wave (deviations from a sine wave will
show up in either wave form).

While voltage measurements can be made

in-plant, most of the in-plant dirty power is
caused by utilization equipment, and it is
important to be able to locate specific
harmonic sources. This task is best
accomplished by measuring current
harmonics. The techniques and
instrumentation for measuring voltage or
current differ somewhat. The voltage wave
is most easily observed using an
oscilloscope. If harmonic voltages are to be
measured there are a number of
sophisticated wave analyzers available
which can isolate each frequency, calculate
its magnitude relative to the fundamental,
and determine total harmonic distortion.
The point of measurement will usually be a
main distribution bus, a1though the voltage
can be measured at any point in the system.
In observing voltage harmonics it is often
noted that similar distortion appears on all
substations within the system. The
propagation of harmonics through
transformers whether isolation, step-up, or
step-down is a well-observed phenomenon.
Therefore it is a difficult to determine the
exact source of distortion. Figure 3 contains
data obtained at a typical industrial plant
which utilizes a number of adjustable speed However, this relationship may not be needed, since measurement of current
drives. Note that the voltage harmonics are harmonics can often identify distortion-causing equipment.
widely distributed throughout the plant and
that there is no way for the engineer to Selection of the measurement location is important. Current harmonic waves
determine whether the harmonics are have been observed by clipping an oscilloscope across a circuit breaker. The
generated in a particular substation or are small impedance of the breaker provides a measurable voltage drop. While
feeding through from another source. feasible at high currents, at low loads the voltage to be measured is only
slightly above the ambient electrical noise level. A better way to measure
Another difficulty in measuring voltage current harmonics is to use a clamp-on current transformer shunted by a low-
harmonics involves their relative magnitude. value (10 to 50 ohms) precision resistor. This transformer can be connected
While current harmonics may show large for measurements anywhere in the distribution system, or even at low currents
values relative to the fundamental, the low the observed voltage drop across the precision resistor is well above the
characteristic impedance of the system ambient noise. By using a current transformer in this manner, one can observe
results in voltage harmonics of smaller current waveforms on an oscilloscope. The voltage generated can be used as
amplitude. Analyzing the exact relationship the input to a harmonic analyzer of the type previously discussed and complete
between voltage and current harmonics analysis of the harmonic distortion is easily made. Since the current being
requires a knowledge of system impedances, measured is unique to the measuring point, the harmonic content of a single
which is not often available variable speed motor drive, motor, capacitor, or branch circuit can be isolated.
 These recommendations were based on field experience
with capacitor fuse blowing, capacitor failure (some-
times explosive) and even destruction of SCRs. Before
discussing the solution to this problem, which is now
available, it is beneficial to examine in more detail the
interactions between SCRs and capacitors.

The impedance of a capacitor is inversely proportional

to the frequency of the applied voltage. If the applied
voltage contains harmonics, the higher frequencies tend
to be "concentrated" in the capacitor. While this serves
to remove harmonics from the line, it also increases the
current through the capacitor. Figure 6 is an example of
this harmonic "concentrating" effect. The load was a 30
hp induction motor with a 7.5 kVAr capacitor mounted
nearby. The line feeding the motor contained significant
amounts of 5th and 7th harmonics.

Note the high harmonic content of the capacitor current.

In this case the source of the harmonics was at a great
enough distance from the capacitor that line impedance
limited the capacitor harmonic current, and the only
effect on the capacitor was an increase in operating
temperature. However, when the capacitor is electrically
near the SCR drive, the harmonic currents can become
quite large.

Experiments were conducted to measure the interaction

between an SCR converter and an electrically adjacent
capacitor. The converter was a 6-pulse drive powering
an 850-hp motor. A 15kVAr capacitor was connected at
the disconnect for an auxiliary 40-hp induction motor,
only a few bus bar feet from the SCR converter.
Capacitor currents were measured as power to the large
motor was varied. The results of this experiment, shown
in Fig.7, illustrate the ease with which detailed
information regarding the generation of harmonics
To realize the benefit of this type of information, one need only can be obtained using current measurements.
examine Fig.4.
Figure 8 illustrates the capacitor current wave-form at
Circuit voltage is the same at points A, B, and C, but measured currents full power. The underlying 60 Hz sine wave is almost
differ significantly. At A, the measured current and capacitor current buried in the harmonic distortion. Capacitors of 15
(current measured includes fundamental, reactive, and harmonic
kVAr rating are usually fused for 40 A. During this
components). At B, current drawn by the load is measured. Current
measured at C is the capacitor fundamental current plus the reactive
analysis, the rms current in the capacitor was 58 A. It
and harmonic components flowing between the capacitor and load. In is plain to see why capacitor fuse blowing occurs in
Fig.5, the effect of a capacitor in providing reactive current to a load this type of installation.
can be clearly seen as a reduction of current drawn from the line.
Another interaction between SCR converters and
If the load is non-linear, such as an SCR adjustable speed drive, the capacitors has been observed. This phenomenon,
currents will include various harmonics. By measuring harmonic known as “ringing”, is triggered by the SCR
currents, the path of the harmonic distortion can be easily traced. For communication notches. The ringing occurs when
example, if power factor capacitor fuses are blowing because of the notch, appearing to the system as a high
suspected excessive harmonic currents, the capacitor current can be amplitude square wave, transmits a pulse of energy.
monitored at point C as the drive is brought on line and power levels This pulse starts the system ringing at its natural
are changed. The exact power level or setting that causes excessive frequency, whether or not that frequency is a
capacitor current can be determined and steps can be taken to correct or characteristic harmonic frequency of the convertor.
avoid the problem.

Capacitor SCR Interactions

The problem of capacitor interaction with SCR drives has been a seri-
ous one. Manufacturers of variable speed drives have traditionally re-
commended against locating power factor correction capacitors in close
electrical proximity to the drives.
While such filters work quite well for individual pieces of electronic equipment, they are not cost effective for filtering of an entire
distribution line carrying hundreds of amperes, since the entire current of the line must be carried by the filter. For industrial power
distribution systems almost all harmonic removal is carried out using tuned shunt filters.

A shunt filter is designed to have a low impedance at high frequencies and to short circuit or "trap" frequencies above those of interest,
thus keeping them from circulating throughout the system. "High pass" filters, are installed as shown in Fig.11. Shunt filters need carry
only a fraction of the current that a series filter would carry and are thus suitable for use in high current systems. The simplest filter is
single tuned and consists of an inductor (or coil) in series with a capacitor. The filter has a low impedance at the frequency to which it is
tuned and the impedance rises slowly at higher frequencies.

In practice filters are designed with fairly broad tuning so that they provide effective removal of several frequencies. For example, a
filter, or "trap," tuned to remove the fifth harmonic (300 Hz) will have some effect in removing the seventh harmonic (420 Hz) as well.

The harmonic current requirements of the SCR drive are not reduced when a trap is installed. The trap, in the same manner that a power
factor capacitor provides reactive power, provides both reactive power and the required harmonic power. The harmonic currents now
circulate between the trap and the load, reducing harmonics in the system. Maximum benefit of a trap will be obtained when it is located
as close to the harmonic source as possible.

An example of the application of a fifth harmonic trap to the line supplying a typical SCR convertor is shown in Fig.12.
Typical ringing in an electrical system containing an SCR convertor and a capacitor is shown in Fig.9. Note the ringing current decays are
retriggered six times per cycle, corresponding to commutation notches of the six-pulse convertor. The ringing frequency in this case is about
2000 Hz. Ringing current adds to the rms current through the capacitor and can contribute to capacitor fuse blowing. In addition to the
ringing phenomenon, the commutation notches can result in excessive currents through the SC. At the moment when the SCR appears as a
short circuit between two phases, a nearby fully charged capacitor can discharge through the SCR. The resulting current peaks rapidly
(large di/dt) and tic instantaneous currents can reach several thousand amperes. Cases have been reported where a large current d spike
has destroyed an SCR before a fuse protecting it could blow.

The problems posed by interactions between SCRs and capacitors so far discussed are not going to go away, in fact they will increase
as more and more SCR power convertors are brought into use. Nor will the need for correcting low power factor disappear. More and
more utilities are recognizing their need to charge for poor power factor, while the increased use of convertors is resulting in overall
lowered power factors and higher customer charges. Since the problem cannot be ignored, what can be done?

Harmonics

A tried and true way to reduce harmonic distortion in a power distribution system is through the use of tuned filters. In many
low-power installations or in specific sensitive systems such as computers, series filters are used. Passing only frequencies below their
tuning point, these are known as "low pass" filters. Such a filter, installed as shown in Fig. 10., can, because of its high impedance at
frequencies above a certain point, effectively block the entrance of such frequencies into a load. The desired 60 Hz fundamental is
passed through the filter with little attenuation.

Note the reduction of harmonic distortion in the line as evidenced by the improved wave shape. Harmonic currents required by the
drive are now being provided locally by the trap. Figure 13 shows the current waveform to an induction motor with power factor
correction, following installation of an SCR convertor on the same line. When the power capacitor was replaced with a 5th harmonic
trap, the harmonic distortion in the line was dramatically reduced, while power factor correction was maintained.

Conclusion

It is clear that traps can dramatically reduce the harmonic currents circulating in a power distribution system by providing these
currents locally. At the same time the capacitors in the filter provide power factor improvement. The engineer who wishes to improve
power factor at the load, but who has been kept from doing so because of SCR convertors in the plant, now has a solution to his
problem. The inductors in a trap limit instantaneous current through any nearby SCR during commutation, and block the square-wave
pulses that trigger ringing.

Traps can be installed anywhere in the electrical system with no danger of damage to SCR convertors. Harmonic traps can be sized
to almost any system and they will allow use of both the output control capabilities of SCR convertors and the advantages of power
factor improvement provided by capacitors at the load.

The Authors

Michael Z. Lowenstein is manager of research and development and marketing director for Myron Zucker, Inc. He received an AB
degree from Oberlin College and MS and PhD degrees in physical chemistry, physics, and instrumentation from Arizona State
University.

Jim Holley is national sales manager for the same firm. He received a BSME degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Myron Zucker is founder and Chairman of the Board of Myron Zucker, Inc. He obtained a BSEE degree from Cornell University and
a MSEE degree from Union College. |