Ward Jewell

Power Quality
Laboratory Testing
P

ower quality laboratory testing usually serves

one of three purposes: to test electrical devices
for their performance in the presence of power quality disturbances, to test power quality mitigation devices for their ability to mitigate disturbances, or to
determine the magnitude and types of power quality
disturbances produced by a device connected to the
power system. The power quality lab must, therefore,
be able to recreate operating conditions, both disturbed and undisturbed, that a device will experience
in the field.
Several types of equipment are needed to reproduce the various disturbances. Measuring instruments must then capture disturbances and monitor
the performance of the device under test. To test
large devices, it is sometimes more practical to take
the test and monitoring equipment to the device to
be tested rather than moving and reconnecting the
device in the lab.
The IEEE Emerald Book categorizes power quality disturbances. The power quality lab should be
able to reproduce and measure these disturbances.
For lab testing purposes, it is useful to categorize the
disturbances as voltage or current disturbances and as
high- or low-frequency disturbances. The category
determines what equipment will generate and measure the disturbance in the lab.

Low-Frequency Testing
A typical system used to generate low frequency disturbances is shown in Figure 1. The disturbance is
created at low voltage by an arbitrary waveform generator. The generator may be a commercial device or
it may be a PC with waveform generation software
driving digital-to-analog converters. Typical outputs
are 10 V.
Disturbance characteristics are fed to the waveform generator. The characteristics may be of a standard waveform, or they may be taken from disturbance data
collected in the field. The second option is particularly useful
when a device is malfunctioning only in one location. Disturbances measured at that location are recreated in the lab, allowing the device to be analyzed and mitigation options to be tested
for those specific disturbances.
This article is part of a series of articles on power quality appearing in this issue
and the the August, September, and November 2001 issues of IEEE Power Engineering Review. W. Jewell is with Wichita State University, Wichita, Kansas, USA.
IEEE Power Engineering Review, February 2002

DIGITAL VISION LTD

The disturbance is then converted to appropriate levels by an

amplifier. The frequency limits of the test system are set by the
bandwidth of the amplifier. The limits on the Wichita State University (WSU) low-frequency system, for example, are around
22 kHz. This limit allows harmonic testing to over the 300th harmonic of 60 Hz and momentary outages or sags of down to
around 50 s or less than 1/300th of a 60 Hz cycle.
The amplifier used depends on the type of disturbance to be
created. Some disturbances require a voltage source amplifier,
while others require a current source. The voltage amplifier pro-

0272-1724/02/$17.002002 IEEE

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Table 1. Amplifiers for low-frequency disturbances

Disturbance
Characteristics

Arbitrary
Waveform
Generator

Amplifier
(Voltage or
Current)

Device
Under
Test

Monitors

Voltage Source

Current Source

Outage

Swell

Harmonic current distortion

Current probes
Current transformers
Current-sensing relays
Current-measuring instruments

Harmonic
distortion

Radiated electromagnetic interference (EMI)

Sag

Figure 1. Low-frequency disturbance generator

duces a voltage that has the same shape as the output of the
waveform generator and a magnitude appropriate for the device
under test, e.g., 120 V rms for a 120 V device. The current amplifier similarly produces a current with the shape of the waveform generator output. Table 1 lists various disturbances and the
type of amplifier used to create them. A three-phase device will
require three amplifiers, one per phase.

Voltage Source Testing

Outages, sags, and swells are all voltage disturbances and, thus,
require a voltage source amplifier. The output of the amplifier is
connected directly to the device under test, as shown in Figure 1.
The disturbances are applied to the device and its performance is
measured.
Harmonic distortion, except for devices used to detect or
measure current, is also a voltage disturbance, and the voltage
source amplifier is again used. The distorted voltage waveform
from the amplifier is applied directly to the device under test.
While harmonic current production of a device under test may
be an issue, devices designed to be connected to the electric
power grid are voltage source devices and, thus, see harmonic
voltages. A pure sinusoidal voltage is usually used to determine
the harmonic current production of a device.

Current Source Testing

A current source amplifier is needed in two power quality testing situations. The first of these is to test devices used to sense or
measure current. Current relays, watt-hour meters, and current
transformers are some examples. These all present a very low
impedance to current and require a current amplifier that generates a current waveform into a low impedance. A common application is determining the response of current transformers to
harmonic current distortion.
The second application for a current source amplifier is to
produce radiated electromagnetic interference (EMI). The magnetic field that creates EMI is produced by current, so a specific
current waveform is needed to generate the magnetic field. The
current may be passed through a Helmholtz coil to create a uniform field or through one or more conductors in a bundle to create interference in nearby conductors.
Some devices will require both voltage source and current
source amplifiers. A watt-hour meter is one example, with both
voltage and current sensing coils. A three-phase distance relay
requires three voltage and three current sources. The arbitrary
waveform generator, in this case, must generate six waveforms.

ning and switching transients, capacitor switching, arcing, and

electrostatic discharge.
Standard tests for lightning and switching transients and capacitor switching are described in IEEE Standard C62.45. The
test waveforms used in these tests have frequencies in the MHz
range. Specialized surge generators are used to generate these
disturbances. The generators allow the equipment to be powered
during the tests while preventing the applied surge from being
coupled to the external power system. Surge magnitude, shape,
and phase angle are all controllable.
Arcing and other high-frequency noise are generated by an
electrical fast transients generator. This device also allows the
equipment under test to be powered, and the fast transients are
applied to the voltage waveform. Magnitude, frequency, phase
angle, and duration of the transient pulses are all controllable.
Electrostatic discharge, such as that produced by walking on a
carpet and then touching a grounded device, producing a small
spark, can cause failures in chip-level electronic devices. To test
devices for this, a controlled spark is produced by a device that
generates a high static voltage and then discharges through the
equipment under test. The static voltage produced is controllable.
Many devices are in use today that emit high-frequency radiation, and such devices may cause problems for some types of
equipment. In particular, low-voltage control and communication lines may be affected by radiated EMI. High-frequency radiated EMI testing requires specialized field generators,
measuring equipment, and shielded rooms for reliable results.
Such testing is usually done by a commercial lab that specializes
in high-frequency EMI testing.

Field Testing
Because of size, weight, and power limitations, it can be difficult to bring large equipment into a laboratory. Voltage sags are
often the most important power quality issue with this type of
equipment, and a voltage sag generator can be taken to the
equipment under test.

Computer-Controlled Switch

Normal
Source

Variable
Autotransformer
Device
Under Test

High-Frequency Testing
Because of bandwidth limits on the arbitrary waveform generator and amplifiers, higher frequency tests require specialized
equipment. High-frequency voltage disturbances include light14

Figure 2. Voltage sag generator

IEEE Power Engineering Review, February 2002

A typical sag generator is shown in Figure 2. The sag generator consists of variable autotransformers and computer-controlled
switches that switch the transformers in and out of the circuit.
The equipment under test is powered from its normal line
source. The autotransformers are set at the desired sag voltage,
and the device is switched to the autotransformers for the desired duration of the sag. Operation of the equipment is monitored during the sag, and mitigation options may be applied
during the tests.

Laboratory Loads
Controllable mechanical and electrical loads are needed in the
lab for power quality testing. When testing motors or motor
drives, for example, the motor must be loaded to produce realistic results. The mechanical load is usually a dynamometer,
which provides variable speed and torque loading for the motor.
Power supplies and rectifiers need to drive electrical loads
when tested. Linear electrical loads include variable resistors,
inductors, and capacitors, that can be combined in series or parallel to produce a desired impedance. Nonlinear loads can often
be simulated by a rectifier bridge with variable linear loads connected to its dc side. Sometimes the actual load the device was
designed to drive, such as fluorescent lights, is used to load the
device.

Measurement and Monitoring Equipment

A variety of instruments are used to measure the disturbances
created in the lab by test equipment and by disturbing loads in
the lab. Other instruments measure the performance of a device
being tested. Many tests require measurement of numerous parameters during a test.
Multichannel data loggers with appropriate probes and transducers are very convenient for monitoring both power quality
disturbances in the lab and the performance of the equipment
under test. Commercial data loggers are available, or a computer
with data acquisition hardware and software may be used. In the
WSU lab, for example, the same digital-to-analog converter
hardware that generates waveforms for low-frequency testing
has 16 analog data acquisition channels for data logging. The
computer and data acquisition hardware and software speed
must be high enough to sample the disturbances generated.
For high-frequency transient tests, a digital storage oscilloscope capable of triggering on transients is used. The scope
bandwidth should be 250 MHz or higher to accurately catch the
high-frequency transients. Lower bandwidth scopes may miss
the peaks and ringing generated by transient voltages. At least
two differential channels are needed, one to monitor voltage and
one for current.
Power and energy meters are used for some power quality
tests. Meters must be able to withstand and properly measure the
power quality disturbances applied in the lab. Because of the
distorted waveforms used in the power quality tests, all meters
must read true rms values. Digital multimeters are used to set up
the tests and provide visual indications of parameters during the
tests.

Test Protocols
Power quality testing may be done to determine how a device responds to a particular waveform or disturbance. This is usually

IEEE Power Engineering Review, February 2002

done to troubleshoot a device that is not working properly. In

this case, a power quality monitor is used at the field site to determine what disturbances are present. These disturbance characteristics are then reproduced in the lab and applied to the
device under test.
Power quality tests are often used to characterize the response of a device to a specific set of power quality disturbances. This allows manufacturers or users to verify that the
device will operate through most common disturbances once installed. A number of test protocols have been developed for
these tests.
Examples include test protocols developed for a large number of devices by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Power Electronics Applications Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. ANSI Standard C62.45 and Underwriters Laboratories
Standard UL 1449 specify tests for low-voltage surge
suppressors. The semiconductor industry, through Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), has developed standards for sag testing equipment used in semiconductor
manufacturing.

Future Developments
While this article describes the most common power quality
tests, it is by no means an exhaustive discussion. Many disturbances and types of equipment require creative application of
existing test equipment, and others require new types of equipment to be developed. Such development is ongoing at WSU
and other power quality labs.

References
WSU Power Quality Lab. Available: http://www.engr.twsu.edu/pqlab.

Power Quality Disturbances

IEEE Recommended Practice for Powering and Grounding Sensitive
Electronic Equipment (IEEE Emerald Book), IEEE Standard 1100,
1999.

Field Voltage Sag Testing

A. McEachern, Voltage sag generators: not as simple as they seem,
Power Quality Assurance Magazine, p. 22, Jul./Aug. 2001. Available: http://industryclick.com/magazine.asp?magazineid=286&
SiteID=13.
D. Dorr, D. Nastasi, How a sag generator helped solve an elevator
problem, Power Quality Assurance Magazine, May 2001. Available: http://industryclick.com/magazine.asp?magazineid=286&
SiteID=13.

Test Protocols
EPRI PEAC Corp. Available: http://www.epri-peac.com.
IEEE Guide on Surge Testing for Equipment Connected to Low-Voltage
AC Power Circuits, IEEE Standard C62.45, 1992.
Specification for Semiconductor Processing Equipment Voltage Sag
Immunity, SEMI Standard F47-0200. Available: http://www.
semi.org.
Transient Voltage Surge Suppressors, UL Standard 1449, 1996. Available: http://www.ul.com.

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