Lab Report Power Quality 1
Lab Report Power Quality 1
1.0 ABSTRACT
Single phase machine normally is not very sensitive as three phase machine since the load
for single phase usually consume low voltage demand compared to load in the industrial
area which demand high voltage in its load system. Moreover, the load for single phase
are not seem to be affected if power quality problem such as voltage sag, voltage swell or
flicker occurs. But it may affected if the high power load was connected in the electrical
system such as air conditioning, refrigerator and microwave was used at the same time
using inappropriate electrical connection. In other cases, circuit breaker in industrial
factories may tripped if the voltage supply not enough for load consumption in three
phase machine because it is very sensitive to any power quality problem in the electrical
system. Fluke 434 Power Quality Analyzer is an electrical equipment which is used in
this experiment to locate, predict, prevent and troubleshoot problems in three- and
single-phase power distribution systems. Troubleshooting is faster with on-screen display
of trends and captured events, even while background recording continues. The new IEC
(International Electrotechnical Commission) standards for transient, flicker, harmonics
and power quality are built right in to take the guess work out of power quality. In this
experiment, we have used NE9102 Distribution Trainer and Induction Motor as load to
test the Fluke 434 Power Quality Analyzer to view the effect on dips & swells, transients,
flicker and harmonics.
2.0 INTRODUCTION
A utility may define power quality as reliability and show statistics demonstrating that its
system is 99.98 percent reliable. Criteria established by regulatory agencies are usually in
this vein. A manufacturer of load equipment may define power quality as those
characteristics of the power supply that enable the equipment to work properly. These
characteristics can be very different for different criteria. Power quality is ultimately a
consumer-driven issue, and the end users point of reference takes precedence. In general,
power quality problem can be defined as any occurrence manifested in voltage, current or
frequency deviations which results in failure or frequency deviations which results in
failure or misoperation of end-use equipment.
There are many misunderstandings regarding the causes of power quality problems.
Figure 1 below show the result of the survey conducted by Courtesy of Georgia Power
Company. Power quality sources can cause from inside and outside of the electrical
system. For examples single phase to ground shorts on the distribution system, lightning,
weather, utility switching, equipment failure, human error, common mode transients from
load switching, grounding problem, load interactions, harmonic generating loads and total
harmonic distortions.
In a single phase electrical system, there are many types of power quality problem may
occurs. Voltage sag, voltage swell, transient, harmonic distortion, electrical noise,
flickering, notching and spikes are example of power quality problem in electrical system.
There are a few method which can be used to overcome this power quality problem. For
example, voltage sag problem can be solve by using mitigating devices such as
ferroresonant transformer, magnetic synthesizers, active series compensator, UPS systems,
motor generator set, dynamic voltage restorer, static transfer switch, flywheel energy
storage systems and superconductor magnetic energy storage (SMES) device.
3.0 METHODOLOGY
1. Phase A(L1) conductor in main switchboard panel was clamped with current clamp of
Fluke 434.
2. Banana-inputs was connected to ground, phase A(L1) and neutral conductor for voltage
connection. Phase 2(L2) was connected to investigate the line-to-line voltage.
3. Choose single phase split phase configuration on the analyzer.
4. Configure the nominal voltage and frequency of the single phase power system for the
analyzer.
5. Press the Menu button to enter measurement menu of the analyzer.
6. Select Volts/Amps/Hertz option to measure the voltage, current, frequency and crest
factor for phase L1, L2 and Neutral of single phase power system before introducing any
disturbance in the system. Observe the numerical values of the Volts/Amps/Hertz table.
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Then, observe the waveforms trends of the voltage and current of the single phase power
system.
7. Repeat step 5 and select Dips & Swells option to measure and record the numerical
values and waveform trends of voltage and current for phase L1, L2 and Neutral of single
phase power system before and after the disturbance injected into the power system.
8. Switch on the distribution trainer, induction motor set and DC compound wound motor
set consecutively for a few seconds to create a power quality disturbance in the system.
Observe the waveform trends of the phases and neutral voltages and current.
9. Record and compare the minimum and nominal values of each set of measurement.
10. Repeat step 7 to select Harmonics option to measure and record the numerical values
and waveform trends of the voltage and current harmonics and Total Harmonics
Disturbance (THD) value for phase L1, L2 and Neutral of single phase power system
before and after the disturbance is injected into the power system. Repeat step 8. Observe
the bar graphs of the phase and neutral current and voltage and record the THD value.
11. Repeat step 7 and select Flicker option. Leave the analyzer for measurement without
any disturbance for one minutes to obtain the short-term flicker value Pst (1 min). Turn
on and off the lighting switch of the fluorescent lamps on the table in the laboratory
repeatedly and continuously for 1 minutes. Then, record the short-term flicker value Pst
(1 min) and observe the flicker waveform trend. Then, wait another 1 minute for whole
system settling down and record the short-term flicker value Pst (1 min) and observe
flicker waveform trend again.
12. Repeat step 7 and select Transients option. Repeat step 8 and observe the current and
voltage waveforms for phase L1, L2 and Neutral of the single phase power system.
Record the numerical values appear on the screen.
4.0 RESULTS
4.2 Volts/Amps/Hertz
Figure 4 and 5 shows the differences between numerical value of star and delta
connection. In figure 5, the phase L1 and L2 share the same value of their own rms
voltage, peak voltage, crest factor and frequency. Moreover, rms current, peak current and
crest factor for L2 was not displayed in the analyzer screen. Earlier, the nominal
frequency was 50 Hz was decreases to 49.96 Hz. A change in system frequency will
cause change in speed of motors, change in magnetizing current will be there for
transformers and induction motors will be affected with change in inductances. A huge
increase will cause increase in harmonic currents and will cause heating of the system
with insulation failure. Frequency of a system also decides the real power balance in a
power system as line parameters will change with change in frequency. Figure 15 shows
the nominal frequency of the single phase power system.
Figure 17 until 22 shows the Irms and Vrms of the phase L1, L2 and Neutral before the
power system experienced the load disturbance. From all those figures, we can see the
waveform trends of all the phases are most likely to be smooth without any power quality
problem either voltage dips or swells in this case. But it still occurs in small scale as can
be seen in figure 18 and 20. This problems are causes by the switching on or off the load
from other room at the old faculty building.
Figure 23 until 28 shows the Irms and Vrms of the phase L1, L2 and Neutral during the
power system experienced the load disturbance. Figures in this range had shown a lot of
problem compared to the previous waveform trends before injecting the load disturbance.
All the phases for rms currents and voltages for phase L1, L2 and Neutral during load
disturbance shows a dips and swells in their trends since the load was switch on at the
same room as the fluke meter was measured.
Figure 29 until 34 shows the Irms and Vrms of the phase L1, L2 and Neutral after the power
system experienced the load disturbance. In this situation, the load was switch off but it
seem to have few dips and swells before it was stabilize into its steady state voltage and
current after switching off the load. The correct waveform trends should be taken few
minutes later after switching the load to observe a correct waveform trends.
The 90% level provides an indication of performance for the most sensitive equipment.
The 80% level corresponds to an important break point on the ITI curve and some
sensitive equipment may be susceptible to even short sags at this level. The 70% level
corresponds to the sensitivity level of a wide group of industrial and commercial
equipment and is probably the most important performance level to specify. The 50%
level is important, especially for the semiconductor industry, since they have adopted a
standard that specifies ride through at this level.
Interruptions affect all customers so it is important to specify this level separately. These
will usually have longer durations than the voltage sags. The first range of durations is up
to 0.2 seconds (12 cycles at 60 Hz). This is the range specified by the semiconductor
industry that equipment should be able to ride through sags as long as the minimum
voltage is above 50%. The second range is up to 0.5 seconds. This corresponds to the
specification in the ITIC standard for equipment ride through as long as the minimum
voltage is above 70%. It is also an important break point in the definition of sag durations
in IEEE 1159 (instantaneous vs. momentary). The third duration range is up to 3 seconds.
This is an important break point in IEEE 1159 and in IEC standards (momentary to
temporary).
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4.4 Harmonics
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Harmonic distortion originates in the nonlinear characteristics of devices and loads on the
power system. Harmonic distortion levels are described by the complete harmonic
spectrum with magnitudes and phase angles of each individual harmonic component. It is
also common to use a single quantity, the total harmonic distortion (THD), as a measure
of the effective value of harmonic distortion.Figure 35 shows the THD voltage with value
1.6% drop to 1.5% after injecting load disturbance as shown in figure 36. In figure 37 and
38 the THD current was drop drastically from 187.9% to 43.2%. In a while, figure 39 and
40 shows a drop from 1.0% to 1.1% after injecting the load disturbance into the power
system.
IEEE Standard 519-2014 is a standard developed for utility companies and their
customers in order to limit harmonic content and provide all users with better power
quality. Some of the key areas of the standard are detailed in the following tables. Bear in
mind that dealing with harmonics may still be required, whether or not the goal is to meet
IEEE 519 standards. In low-voltage systems (600 V or less), capacitors are typically the
lowest impedance at harmonic frequencies, and experience very high RMS currents and
increased heat which causes them to fail.
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4.5 Flicker
From figure 41 until 43, the short-term flicker (Pst) for phase L1 increases from 0.08 to
0.14 while decreases from 0.14 to 0.07 for phase L2. The flicker signal is defined by its
rms magnitude expressed as a percent of the fundamental. Voltage flicker is measured
with respect to the sensitivity of the human eye. Typically, magnitudes as low as 0.5
percent can result in perceptible lamp flicker if the frequencies are in the range of 6 to 8
Hz. In this case, the frequency is not affected by the load disturbance then producing the
normal flicker waveform trend without any critical power quality problem as shown in
figure 44.
standard devises a simple means of describing the potential for visible light flicker
through voltage measurements. The measurement method simulates the lamp/eye/brain
transfer function and produces a fundamental metric called short-term flicker sensation
(Pst). This value is normalized to 1.0 to represent the level of voltage fluctuations
sufficient to cause noticeable flicker to 50 percent of a sample observing group. Another
measure called long-term flicker sensation (Plt) is often used for the purpose of verifying
compliance with compatibility levels established by standards bodies and used in utility
power contracts. This value is a longer-term average of Pst samples.
4.6 Transients
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Figure 45 until 54, shows the differences of waveform trends between the condition
before injecting the load disturbance and during injected load disturbance. It seem to have
some problem in power quality during the load disturbance as shown in figure 48, 50, 52
and 54. However, the waveform trends of the transient return to be same as before
injecting the load when the load disturbance was turned off.
Transients are power quality disturbances that involve destructive high magnitudes of
current and voltage or even both. It may reach thousands of volts and amps even in low
voltage systems. However, such phenomena only exist in a very short duration from less
than 50 nanoseconds to as long as 50 milliseconds. This is the shortest among power
quality problems, hence, its name. Transients usually include abnormal frequencies,
which could reach to as high as 5 MHz. Transients are also known as surge. According to
IEEE 100, surge is a transient wave of voltage, current or power in an electric circuit.
Other IEEE definitions suggest that it is the part of the change in a variable that
disappears during transition from one steady-state operating condition to another. Such
description is too vague, which could be used to describe just about any unusual events
occurring in the electrical system. Moreover, most electrical engineers would refer to the
damped oscillatory transient phenomena in a RLC circuit when hearing such term.
Sources of transients may come from switching activities such as opening and closing of
disconnects on energized lines, capacitor bank switching, reclosing operations, tap
changing on transformers, accidents, human error, animals and bad weather conditions
and neighboring facilities. Damages due to such power quality problems are uncommon
as compared to voltage sags(dips) and interruptions, but when it does occur it is more
destructive. To protect against transients, end-users may use Transient Voltage Surge
Suppressors (TVSS), while utilities install surge arresters.
5.0 DISCUSSION
5.1 Dips & Swell
A voltage sag also known as voltage dips is a decrease to between 0.1 and 0.9 p.u. in rms
voltage or current at the power frequency for durations from 0.5 cycle to 1 min. The
power quality community has used the term sag for many years to describe a
short-duration voltage decrease. Although the term has not been formally defined, it has
been increasingly accepted and used by utilities, manufacturers, and end users. The IEC
definition for this phenomenon is dip. The two terms are considered interchangeable, with
sag being the preferred synonym in the U.S. power quality community. Terminology used
to describe the magnitude of a voltage sag is often confusing. A20 percent sag can refer
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to a sag which results in a voltage of 0.8 or 0.2 p.u.. The preferred terminology would be
one that leaves no doubt as to the resulting voltage level: a sag to 0.8 p.u. or a sag
whose magnitude was 20 percent. When not specified otherwise, a 20 percent sag will
be considered an event during which the rms voltage decreased by 20 percent to 0.8 p.u..
The nominal, or base, voltage level should also be specified.
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5.2 Harmonics
Harmonics are sinusoidal voltages or currents having frequencies that are integer
multiples of the frequency at which the supply system is designed to operate (termed the
fundamental frequency; usually 50 or 60 Hz). Periodically distorted waveforms can be
decomposed into a sum of the fundamental frequency and the harmonics. Harmonic
distortion originates in the nonlinear characteristics of devices and loads on the power
system. Harmonic distortion levels are described by the complete harmonic spectrum
with magnitudes and phase angles of each individual harmonic component. It is also
common to use a single quantity, the total harmonic distortion (THD), as a measure of the
effective value of harmonic distortion. Figure 63 illustrates the waveform and harmonic
spectrum for a typical adjustable-speed-drive (ASD) input current. Current distortion
levels can be characterized by a THD value, as previously described, but this can often be
misleading. For example, many adjustable-speed drives will exhibit high THD values for
the input current when they are operating at very light loads. This is not necessarily a
significant concern because the magnitude of harmonic current is low, even though its
relative distortion is high. To handle this concern for characterizing harmonic currents in
a consistent fashion, IEEE Standard 519-1992 defines another term, the total demand
distortion (TDD). This term is the same as the total harmonic distortion except that the
distortion is expressed as a percent of some rated load current rather than as a percent of
the fundamental current magnitude at the instant of measurement. IEEE Standard
519-1992 provides guidelines for harmonic current and voltage distortion levels on
distribution and transmission circuits.
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Figure 63 : Current waveform and harmonic spectrum for an ASD input current.
5.3 Flicker
Voltage fluctuations are systematic variations of the voltage envelope or a series of
random voltage changes, the magnitude of which does not normally exceed the voltage
ranges specified by American National Standard Institute (ANSI) C84.1 of 0.9 to 1.1 p.u.
IEC 61000-2-1 defines various types of voltage fluctuations. We will restrict our
discussion here to IEC 61000-2-1 Type (d) voltage fluctuations, which are characterized
as a series of random or continuous voltage fluctuations. Loads that can exhibit
continuous, rapid variations in the load current magnitude can cause voltage variations
that are often referred to as flicker. The term flicker is derived from the impact of the
voltage fluctuation on lamps such that they are perceived by the human eye to flicker. To
be technically correct, voltage fluctuation is an electromagnetic phenomenon while
flicker is an undesirable result of the voltage fluctuation in some loads. However, the two
terms are often linked together in standards. Therefore, we will also use the common term
voltage flicker to describe such voltage fluctuations. An example of a voltage waveform
which produces flicker is shown in figure 64. This is caused by an arc furnace, one of the
most common causes of voltage fluctuations on utility transmission and distribution
systems. The flicker signal is defined by its rms magnitude expressed as a percent of the
fundamental. Voltage flicker is measured with respect to the sensitivity of the human eye.
Typically, magnitudes as low as 0.5 percent can result in perceptible lamp flicker if the
frequencies are in the range of 6 to 8 Hz. IEC 61000-4-15 defines the methodology and
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Figure 64 : Flicker
5.4 Transients
The term transients has long been used in the analysis of power system variations to
denote an event that is undesirable and momentary in nature. The notion of a damped
oscillatory transient due to an RLC network is probably what most power engineers think
of when they hear the word transient. Other definitions in common use are broad in scope
and simply state that a transient is that part of the change in a variable that disappears
during transition from one steady state operating condition to another. Unfortunately,
this definition could be used to describe just about anything unusual that happens on the
power system. A utility engineer may think of a surge as the transient resulting from a
lightning stroke for which a surge arrester is used for protection. End users frequently use
the word indiscriminantly to describe anything unusual that might be observed on the
power supply ranging from sags to swells to interruptions. Because there are many
potential ambiguities with this word in the power quality field, we will generally avoid
using it unless we have specifically defined what it refers to. Transients can be classified
into two categories, impulsive and oscillatory.
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Figure 65 : Transients
6.0 CONCLUSION
Evolution of technology has create a lot of digital and graphical measuring devices in
order to obtain and observe a data/result in a detail and efficient ways. Before digital and
graphical device is used, analog device was a very important devices to be used in power
system measurement. Nowadays, analog measuring devices was replaces by the digital
and graphical measuring devices such as multimeter, oscilloscope, fluke clamp meter,
insulation meter and many other devices. In this experiment, we are using fluke clamp
meter to measure the voltage, current and frequency then observing the waveform trends
of the power quality problem. The Fluke 434 power quality analyzers can locate, predict,
prevent and troubleshoot problems in three- and single-phase power distribution systems.
Troubleshooting is faster with on-screen display of trends and captured events, even
while background recording continues. The new IEC standards for flicker, harmonics and
power quality are built right in to take the guess work out of power quality.
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7.0 REFERENCES
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