Joint MSc in Electrical Engineering (JMEE) Program

6878- Power Quality and Standards for Microgrids

Fundamentals of Harmonics

Dr. Fouad Zaro

Electric Power System Engineering

Palestine Polytechnic University
Harmonic Distortion
• Harmonics take place in steady state and are integer multiples of the
fundamental frequency.
• The waveform distortion that produces the harmonics is continuously present or
at least for several seconds.
• Usually, harmonics are associated with the continuous operation of a load.
• Harmonic distortion is caused by nonlinear devices in the distribution system.
• A nonlinear device is defined as the one in which the current is not proportional
to the applied voltage.
• In a distribution system, most nonlinearities can be found in its shunt elements,
that is, loads.
• harmonics study, it is customary to treat these harmonic-generating loads simply
as harmonic current sources, that is, harmonic current generators.
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Harmonics Cause

• Extra power losses in

– distribution transformers,
– feeders,
– motors.

• Interference in communication circuits.

• Resonance in power systems.
• Abnormal operations of protection and control equipment.

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Distribution Factors

• Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

where
• Vh is the harmonic voltage at harmonic frequency “h” in rms
• V1 is the rated fundamental voltage in rms
• h is the harmonic order (h = 1 corresponds to the fundamental)

 For balanced three-phase voltages, the line-to-neutral

voltage is used to find THDv.
 in the unbalanced case, it is necessary to calculate a
different THD for each phase.

where
• Ih is the harmonic current at harmonic frequency “h” in rms
• I1 is the rated fundamental current in rms
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The rms voltage and current

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 Total Demand Distortion (TDD)
• The current THD definition causes some confusion because there is a nonlinear
relationship between the magnitude of the harmonic components and percent THD.
• a waveform with 120% does not contain twice the harmonic components of a
waveform with 60% distortion.
• a small current may have a high THD but not be a significant threat to the system.
• This difficulty may be avoided by referring THD to the fundamental of the peak
demand current rather than the fundamental of the present sample.
• This is called total demand distortion (TDD) and serves as the basis for the guidelines
in IEEE Std. 519-1992. Therefore,
where
IL is the maximum demand
load current in rms amps. 6
 Active (Real) and Reactive Power

The real power is defined as

The average The reactive power is defined as

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Apparent Power

where S1 is the apparent power

at the fundamental frequency.
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Power Factor

• For purely sinusoidal voltage and current, the average power (or
true average active power)

cos θ is the power

factor (PF)

For the sake of simplicity

This PF is now called the displacement power factor (DF). Also,

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 Power Factor
For the nonsinusoidal case

Note that here, the Vh and Ih quantities are the peak quantities:

Therefore, because of harmonic distortion,

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Distortion Voltamperes (D)

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True Power Factor (TPF)

• D represents all cross products of voltage and current at different frequencies,

which yield no average power.
• Since the PF is a measure of the power utilization efficiency of the load,

where
 DF = P/S1 is the displacement power factor
 DPF is the distortion power factor

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 True Power Factor (TPF)
• The unity PF is attainable only with pure sinusoids. What is actually provided is the
displacement PF.
• Power quality monitoring instruments now commonly report both the displacement
factors as well as the TPFs.
• The displacement factor is typically used in determining PF adjustments on a utility
bill since it is related to the displacement of the fundamental voltage and current.
• sizing capacitors for PF correction is no longer simple. It is not possible to get unity
PF due to the distortion power presence.
• Capacitors basically compensate only for the fundamental frequency reactive power
and cannot completely correct the TPF to unity when there are harmonics present.
• In fact, capacitors can make the PF worse by creating resonance conditions that
magnify the harmonic distortion.
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Example

Based on the output of a harmonic analyzer, it has been determined that a

nonlinear load has a total rms current of 75 A. It also has 38, 21, 4.6, and 3.5 A for
the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth harmonic currents, respectively. The instrument
used in has been programmed to present the resulting data in amps rather than in
percentages. Based on the given information,
determine the following:
a. The fundamental current in amps
b. The amounts of the third, fifth, seventh, and ninth harmonic currents in percentages
c. The amount of the THD

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Example Cont’d
b.

Or
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IEEE Std. 519

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 Example
A 4.16 kV three-phase feeder is supplying a purely resistive load of 5400 kVA. It has
been determined that there are 175 V of zero-sequence third harmonic and 75 V of
negative-sequence fifth harmonic.
Determine the following:
a. The total voltage distortion.
b. Is the THD below the IEEE Std. 519-1992 for the 4.16 kV distribution system?

Solution
(a)

(b)
the THDV limit for 4.16 kV is 5%. Since the THD calculated is 4.58%, it is less than the
limit of 5% recommended by IEEE Std. 519-1992 for 4.16 kV distribution systems.

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Power in Passive Elements

A. Power in a Pure Resistance

Real (or active) power dissipated in a resistor is given by

where Rh is the resistance at the hth harmonic.

If the resistance is assumed to be constant, that is, ignoring the skin
effect, then

, where

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 A. Power in a Pure Resistance Cont’d

• Alternatively, expressed in terms of current,

, where

• Note that the aforementioned equations can be re-expressed in pu as

where
P is the total power loss in the resistance
P1 is the power loss in the resistance at the fundamental frequency
• For a purely resistive element, it can be observed from
𝑝 = 𝑝1 1 + 𝑇𝐻𝐷𝐼2 = 𝑝1 1 + 𝑇𝐻𝐷𝑉2
That
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B. Power in a Pure Inductance

• Power in a pure inductance can be expressed as

• Where
𝑓1 is the fundamental frequency

𝑉ℎ = 𝑗2𝜋 ℎ𝑓1 𝐿 𝐼ℎ
• Thus

• So that

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C. Power in a Pure Capacitance

• Power in a pure capacitance can be expressed as

• The negative sign indicates that the reactive power is delivered to the load

• Thus

• Hence

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 Harmonic Distortion Limits
• IEEE Std. 519-1992 is entitled Recommended Practices and Requirements
for Harmonic Control in Electric Power Systems.
– gives the recommended practice for electric power system designers to control the
harmonic distortion that might otherwise determine electric power quality.
– a guideline in the design of power system with nonlinear loads.
– The limits set are for steady-state operation and are recommended for “worse-
case” conditions.
– The underlying philosophy is that the customer should limit harmonic currents and
the electric utility should limit harmonic voltages.
– It does not specify the highest-order harmonics to be limited.
– it does not differentiate between single-phase and three-phase systems. Thus, the
recommended harmonic limits equally apply to both.
– It does also address direct current that is not a harmonic. 22
 Voltage Distortion Limits

• The PCC is the location where

another customer can be served from
the system.
• It can be located at either the primary
or the secondary of a supply
transformer depending on whether
or not multiple customers are
supplied from the transformer.
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Current Distortion Limits

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Current Distortion Limits

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Current Distortion Limits

• The harmonic currents from an individual customer are evaluated at the PCC
where the utility can supply other customers.
• The limits are dependent on the customer load in relation to the system short-
circuit capacity at the PCC.
• Note that all current limits are expressed as a percentage of the customer’s
average maximum demand load current.
• The current distortion limits vary by the size of the user relative to the utility
system capacity.

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A procedure to determine the short-circuit ratio: Isc/IL

Determine the three-phase short-circuit duty ISC at the PCC.

• Find the load average kilowatt demand PD over the most recent 12
months. This can be found from billing information.
• Convert the average kilowatt demand to the average demand current in
amperes using the following expression:

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Harmonics Evaluation at PCC

• The harmonic characteristics of the utility circuit seen from the PCC are often
not known accurately.
• Therefore, good engineering judgment often dictated to review a case-by-case
basis.
• However, through a judicious application of the recommended practice, the
interferences between different loads and the system can be minimized.

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 According to IEEE 519-1992, the evaluation procedure for newly installed
nonlinear loads includes the following:

1. Definition of the PCC

2. Determination of the Isc, IL, and Isc/IL at the PCC
3. Finding the harmonic current and current distortion of the nonlinear load
4. Determination of whether or not the harmonic current and current distortions
in step 3 satisfy IEEE 519-1992 recommendation limits
5. Taking necessary remedies to meet the guidelines

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Harmonic controls

• Harmonic controls can be exercised at the utility and end-user sides.

• IEEE Std.519 attempts to establish reasonable harmonic goals for electric
systems that contain nonlinear loads.
• The objectives are the following:
1) Customers should limit harmonic currents, since they have control over their loads;

2) Electric utilities should limit harmonic voltages, since they have control over the
system impedances;

3) Both parties share the responsibility for holding harmonic levels in check.

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Representation of a nonlinear load
• In power systems, the nonlinear load can be modeled as a load for the
fundamental current and as a current source for the harmonic currents.
• The harmonic currents flow from the nonlinear load toward the power source,
following the paths of least impedance

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General flow of harmonic currents in a radial power system

with power capacitors

without power capacitors

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Derating Transformers

• Transformers serving nonlinear loads exhibit increased eddy current losses due
to harmonic currents generated by those loads.
• Because of this, the transformer rating is derated using a K-factor.

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K-Factor
• K-factor is an indication to transformer’s suitability for nonsinusoidal load
currents.
• K-factor relates transformer capability to serve varying degrees of nonlinear load
without exceeding the rated temperature rise limits.
• It is based on the predicted losses of a transformer.
• In per unit, the K-factor is

where Ih is the rms current at harmonic h, in per unit of rated rms load current

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K-Factor

• Manufacturers build special K-factor transformers. Standard K-factor ratings are

4, 9, 13, 20, 30, 40, and 50.
• For linear loads, the K-factor is always one.
• For nonlinear loads, if harmonic currents are known, the K-factor is calculated
and compared against the transformer’s nameplate K-factor.
• As long as the load K-factor is equal to, or less than, the transformer K-factor, the
transformer does not need to be derated.

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Transformer Derating

• For transformers, ANSI/IEEE Std. C75.110 provides a method to derate the

transformer capacity when supplying nonlinear loads.
• The transformer derating is based on additional eddy current losses due to the
harmonic current and that these losses are proportional to the square of the
frequency. Thus,

where
• Pec-r is the maximum transformer per unit
eddy current loss factor (typically, between
0.05 and 0.10 per units for dry-type
transformers).
• Ih is the harmonic current, normalized by
dividing it by the fundamental current.
• h is the harmonic order.
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Typical Values Of Eddy Current Loss Factor (Pec-r )

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Example
Assume that the per unit harmonic currents are 1.000, 0.016, 0.261, 0.050, 0.003,
0.089, 0.031, 0.002, 0.048, 0.026, 0.001, 0.033, and 0.021 pu A for the harmonic
order of 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, and 25, respectively. Also assume
that the eddy current loss factor is 8%. Based on ANSI/IEEE Std. C75.110,
determine the following:
a. The K-factor of the transformer
b. The transformer derating based on the standard

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