7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design

Show
Home > Master Library Models > Passive > Filters > Passive Filter Design
Passive Filter Design
Harmonic Filter Design Procedure
Master Library Models
Series (Single-Tuned) Filter
High-Pass Filter
Band-Pass Filter
C-Type Filter

A passive lter component is a combina on of capacitors and inductors that are tuned to resonate at a single frequency, or through
a band of frequencies. In power systems, passive lters are used to suppress harmonic currents and decrease voltage distor on
appearing in sensi ve parts of the system.

Passive lters work by exhibi ng dierent impedance values at the resonant frequency. A lter connected in series should present
high impedance to the harmonic frequency that needs to be blocked. Although a series congura on is possible, it is more common
to connect lters in parallel. Such a shunt congura on diverts harmonic currents to ground, and simultaneously provide reac ve
power, which may be used to correct the power factor. As such, passive shunt lters are designed to be capaci ve at the fundamental
frequency.

Harmonic Filter Design Procedure

In order to design a harmonic lter, informa on about the local power system, including environmental data, is required. Power
system informa on includes characteris cs, such as the nominal line-to-line voltage, typical equipment BIL for the system voltage
level, fundamental frequency, system congura on, and impedance of system components. A clear understanding of equipment
loca on (i.e. indoor or outdoor), opera ng constraints, equipment current duty-cycle, switching opera on rates, environmental data
(such as ambient temperature and wind loading), harmonic measurements or manufacturer harmonic characteris cs, is important
to consider before star ng the lter design process.

The IEEE Guide for Applica on and Specica on of Harmonic Filters [??] species the following steps as part of the harmonic lter
design procedure:

Determine Harmonic Filter Bank kVAr Size

As described previously, the lter equipment provides the system with capaci ve, reac ve power for power factor improvement,
which helps maintain voltage during heavy loads, in addi on to ltering the harmonics. The Eec ve kVAr size of the lter depends
on the capaci ve, reac ve power requirements for power factor, as well as voltage control, where the required value is commonly
determined by power ow programs.

Select Ini al Harmonic Filter Tuning

Filter tuning is necessary to reduce harmonic voltage and current distor on, in order to meet the required harmonic performance.
The harmonic lter will typically be tuned to the lower frequency of the most signicant harmonic. However, it is recommended that
the harmonic lter be tuned between 3 to 15% below the desired frequency to provide sucient harmonic ltering, and also to allow
room for possible lter detuning. Harmonic lter performance across the whole frequency spectrum, at the lter loca on side (for
both normal and con ngency condi ons) should be considered.

The main reason for tuning the lter below the desired harmonic is due to the nature of lter interac on with the system. That is, the
lter itself can shi the parallel resonant frequency very close to the harmonic. This can occur due to a change in lter and system
congura on: Natural system varia ons, such as loss of transformers, equipment replacement or rou ne maintenance;
manufacturer tolerances in both lter reactors and capacitors, capacitor changes due to temperature varia ons; harmonic lter
capacitor unit/element failure due to fuse opera on (reduces the total capacitance and increases the lter resonant frequency).

If the level of harmonic distor on is not crucial, the customer may want to avoid overloading the harmonic lter capacitor with
harmonic currents, without crea ng resonance with the system. Then the lter has to be ungrounded to avoid 3rd harmonic
resonance with system and tuned below the 5th harmonic to avoid resonance at the characteris c harmonic.

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 1/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design

Op mize the Harmonic Filter Congura on to Meet Harmonic Guidelines

The IEEE Standard 519-1992 provides recommenda ons to sa sfy harmonic distor on limits. The lter is supposed to meet current
and voltage distor on requirements for normal system congura on, as well as abnormal condi ons. In cases wehere the distor on
levels remain high, a new parallel resonance with the system may be a possible cause. Filter re-tuning or mul ple-tuned harmonic
lter installa ons can help to solve this problem.

The number of harmonic lters, lter tuning and side loca ons, values of capacitance, inductance and reactance, allowable
tolerances for capacitance, inductance and resistance, Q (X/R ra o) of the harmonic lter reactor at the tuned frequency, as well as
steady-state energy dissipa on requirements for the harmonic lter resistors, can be the results of the harmonic study analysis.
The harmonic voltage and current spectra, with fundamental and all signicant harmonic frequencies for normal and con ngency
system condi ons, is also important outcome of the analysis.

There is a common prac ce to use a harmonic simula on programs for possible opera ng condi ons over frequency spectrum of
the harmonic loads, meanwhile for a simple system this can be manually es mated.

Determine the Component Ra ngs

Harmonic lter capacitor ra ng is usually the rst ra ng to be determined, followed by the reactor, resistor and switch ra ngs. This
process requires adjustments and usually is itera ve in nature. Transient simula on studies may also be required for some
harmonic lter congura ons.

1. Harmonic Filter Capacitors: Harmonic lter capacitors are rated according to voltage and kVAr and are usually given by the
manufacturer; depending on the harmonic spectra, transient over-voltages, VAr requirements and system data. Rated kVAr of
the capacitor bank is not equal to eec ve reac ve power because of the eect of the lter reactor.

The capacitor voltage ra ng is determined from the greatest voltage value at steady-state (including harmonics), transients
associated with lter switching and some mes circuit breaker opera on (las ng less than half a cycle) and mechanical
dynamics (las ng up to several seconds). In most single-tuned applica ons, the harmonic lter capacitor voltage is based
on steady-state du es. The highest peak voltage applied to the harmonic lter capacitors should not be greater than 100% of
peak capacitor voltage ra ng, for both normal system opera on and con ngency cases.

For the specied rated kVAr and voltage, the total RMS current through the harmonic lter capacitors should be less than
135% of the capacitor unit normal current, and the current should be kept within the capability of the capacitor fuses. An
addi onal check includes the es ma on of dielectric hea ng of the harmonic lter capacitor. Moreover, it is desirable to
have a harmonic lter with more capability than required by harmonic loads and a generous margin is generally included in
lter design stage.

2. Harmonic Filter Reactors: The physical loca on of the harmonic lter reactor, with respect to the harmonic lter capacitor,
has to be iden ed, as it inuences thermal issues, magne c ux hea ng, reactor short-circuit ra ng and reactor BIL.

Excessive hea ng due to fundamental and harmonic currents leads to component degrada on , which can be a serious issue
for iron-core harmonic lter reactors installed within metal-enclosed lters. The eect of eddy current losses, induced in
metallic structures, by an air-core lter reactors magne c ux has to be analysed at the design stage.

The BIL ra ng of the phase-to-ground insula on is supposed to be the same as it is for the transformer connected at the same
voltage level. Excep ons can be made for lter coils protected by surge arresters, as well as for solidly grounded harmonic
lters with the reactor terminal connected to the ground.

Similar to the process of harmonic lter capacitance, levels of transient and dynamic over voltages should be checked.
Short-circuit current analysis must be performed for the condi on of maximum opera ng voltage, in order to check the short-
current capability for the harmonic lter reactor.

3. Filter Resistors: Physical loca on of the harmonic lter resistor, with respect to the harmonic lter capacitor must be
iden ed, as it inuences thermal issues, resistor short-circuit ra ng and BIL.

Excessive hea ng leading to component degrada on, due to fundamental and harmonic currents, can be a serious issue for
metal-enclosed lters. Animal protec on measures are also important considera ons for outdoor installa ons.

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 2/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design
Similar to the inductance case, the BIL ra ng requirements depend on the resistor posi on within the lter. The short-circuit
lter resistor capability should be designed to withstand maximum possible short-circuit current. Magnitudes and dura ons
of transient and dynamic over voltages must be iden ed and compared to resistor ra ng. Arrester protec on should be
included in case of parameter viola on.

4. Circuit Breaker or Switch: The capaci ve switching requirements should be based on the worst case scenario condi ons with
maximum system voltage, capaci ve tolerances and harmonics. Short-circuit analysis is supposed to include close-and-
latch and momentary currents check, and a capacitor switch must handle short-circuit current level, although a capacitor
switch, as opposed to circuit breaker, is not supposed to interrupt it. Moreover, it is important to remember that lter banks
develop higher recovery voltage across a switch compared to a shunt capacitor bank. So it is necessary to be aware of
choosing the switching device.

5. Switching Transients: It is desirable to provide the designer with data (oscillograms) from transient study analysis, but this is
not easy to perform due to the randomness of the events. However, it is possible to model some worst-case harmonic loading
scenarios to iden fy magnitudes and dura on of the current by the harmonic order at the worst part of the transient. Some
typical scenarios are discussed in the following paragraphs.

Because of the existence of the harmonic lter tuning reactor, back-to-back switching current magnitudes are lower
compared to shunt reactor banks and so addi onal current limi ng reactors do not need to be installed. In normal
situa ons, the switching of the single-tuned harmonic lter does not require unusual duty for capacitors or reactors, which
are expected for the shunt capacitor bank. Nevertheless, transient performance analysis for ini al energiza on can be
required for lters with several legs, to be sure that no high currents or voltages are expected.

If the lter is connected to the system and is supposed to be energized a er a system outage, harmonics due to transformer
satura on can cause short- me overloading of the harmonic lter. The similar eect on lter can be a result of nearby faults
causing transformer satura on and lter overloading. Transient studies to determine harmonic lter performance can be
highly desirable.

Master Library Models

The master library contains four lter blocks: A series lter, a high-pass lter, a band-pass lter and a c-type lter. All four lter
congura ons are illustrated in Figure F-1.

Series lters are also known as single-tuned or notch lters, and it is the type most used in industry. High-pass lters are used to
suppress a wider range of frequencies than the single tuned lter, reducing the size of the components and avoiding capaci ve
power factor when the system is not loaded. Band-pass lters are not common in the industry, but the component can be used to
model high-order lters or double-tuned lters. The c-type lter is a second-order lter, which is designed to have an impedance
characteris c similar to the single-tuned lter, with the advantage of having lower power losses.

Figure F-1: Filter Congura ons. a) Series, b) High-Pass, c) Band-Pass, d) C-Type

Series (Single-Tuned) Filter

Figure F-2 shows the circuit schema c and a typical impedance characteris c for the series or single-tuned lter.

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 3/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design

Figure F-2: Series (Single-Tuned) Filter

This lter is tuned to suppress a single frequency and is designed based on three quan es: The harmonic current order that
requires blocking, the capaci ve reac ve power that it is going to provide, and its quality factor. The voltage level and the
fundamental frequency, which are given by the system, must also be considered during the design process. In summary, the values
used to dene the input parameters are:

h Tuning point of the lter (harmonic order)

Qc Reac ve power of the lter [MVAr]

Q Quality factor
f System frequency [Hz]
V System voltage [kV]

The quality factor is a quan ty that denes the bandwidth of the lter and, in this case, is expressed as the ra o between the
reactance and the resistance of the lter. A typical range for Q is between 30 and 60.
The following equa ons can be applied for designing the lter:

(F-1)

(F-2)

(F-3)

(F-4)

(F-5)

Where, X is the reactance of the inductor or the capacitor at the tuned frequency.

Examples
The following example illustrates the use of the series lter. The circuit in Figure F-3 represents a system that has X/R = 10 (Q) and a
load that injects typical harmonic currents generated by a twelve-pulse converter. This type of converter injects high currents for the
11th and 13th harmonics into the AC side. Thus, lters are designed to suppress those currents.

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 4/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design

Figure F-3: System Congura on without Filters

In this case, the 11th and 13th harmonic series lters are installed with the parameters described previously. Figure F-6 illustrates
the circuit with the lters installed in the point of common coupling. The Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is used to measure the current
magnitudes for the 11th and 13th harmonic in both circuits.

Using Equa ons F-1 to F-5, the lter tuned to the 11th harmonic can be represented by the following quan es:

The impedance characteris c of this series lter is designed to resonate at the 11th harmonic and is displayed in Figure F-4.

Figure F-4: Impedance Characteris cs of Series Filters

Figure F-5 shows the impedance characteris c for a combina on of 11th and 13th harmonic series lters. Values for these two
lters are:

C11 =13,26 F , L11 = 4.38 mH, R11 = 0.366

C13 =13,26 F, L13 = 3.14 mH, R13 = 0.308

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 5/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design

Figure F-5: Impedance Characteris c for a Combina on of 11th and 13th Harmonic Series Filters

The impedance characteris cs are obtained using the Interface to Harmonic Impedance Solu on from the master library. The results
show a reduc on of 96% in the magnitude of the currents.

Figure F-6: System Congura on with Series Filters

Figure F-7 shows the improvement in the current waveform injected into the network.

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 6/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design

Figure F-7: Current Waveform Comparisons

High-Pass Filter
Figure F-8 shows the circuit schema c and a typical impedance characteris c for a high-pass lter.

Figure F-8: High-Pass Filter

This lter is designed to have an impedance characteris c that is at for high frequencies. Looking at the equa on that represents
the varia on of the impedance with the frequency,

(F-6)

It can be shown that low resistance values will increase the losses, due to that parallel connec on with the inductor, and having
higher inductance is easier to achieve when designing the lter to work at high frequencies. Thus, this type of lter is applied to
suppress 5th harmonic order currents or higher. The resistance also establishes an asympto c behaviour in the impedance,
limi ng the maximum value at high frequencies. This means wide bandwidth that can be measured by the quality factor, which is
the inverse of that for the series lter, and it is designed to have values between 0.5 and 2.

(F-7)

Where XLN = XCN are reactances at the tuned frequency.

Examples

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 7/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design
As an example, a high-pass lter tuned for the 11th harmonic, working in a 60 Hz system, was calculated using the Equa ons F1 to
F5. The reac ve power capacity at the fundamental frequency was selected as 1.0 MVAr at 10 kV and a Q of 1. The parameters of the
lter are:

C = 26.31 F L = 2.21 mH R = 9.17 W

The frequency response of the lter is depicted in Figure F-9.

Figure F-9: Impedance Characteris c for High-Pass Filter Tuned to 11th Harmonic

The high-pass lter is designed to work in combina on with one, or several notch lters that suppress lower order harmonics, in
order to avoid the power losses that the lter creates when it is designed for low frequencies.

Band-Pass Filter
This component can be used in to model high-order lters. Probably the most popular is the double-tuned lter (depicted in Figure
F-10), which is a combina on of a band-pass lter in series with an inductor and a capacitor. This type of lter works by combining
the parallel resonance of the band-pass lter, with the series-resonance of the inductor and capacitor combina on. Two new
resonant frequencies are op oned, as shown in the graph. This congura on makes the lter less expensive to build than the
parallel combina on of two independent series lters.

Figure F-10: Impedance Characteris c of a Double-Tuned Filter

C-Type Filter

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 8/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design

Figure F-11: Equivalent Series Filter for the C-Type Filter

C-type lters are second-order lters that have the capacity of suppressing harmonic currents with lower losses than the series
lter or the band-pass lter. The reason for this capability is the L and C elements, which are parallel with the resistor, resonate at
the fundamental frequency. Thus, the fundamental current that circulates through the damping resistor is reduced to a minimum.
Another advantage is that c-type lters perform well in suppressing high frequency harmonics, due to their inherently at
impedance characteris c above the tuned frequency.

The design input parameters for the C-type lter are the same as they are for the series lter, and its impedance can be expressed on
the basis of R, L, C, C1:

(F-8)

(F-9)

According to Reference [30], the parameters of this lter can be calculated using the model of the series lter, as it is shown in
Figure F-11. Using Qc, Q, V and h as inputs, the rst step is to calculate the parameters of the series lter elements Ls and Cs .
Considering that the inductance L is equal to Ls , the second step is to calculate C to be resonant with L at the fundamental frequency.
The capacitor C1 is calculated considering that C and C1 are connected in series and equal to Cs .
The following equa ons summarized the steps:

(F-10)

(F-11)

(F-12)

(F-13)

(F-14)

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 9/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design

Examples
As for the series lter, the parameters of the C-type lter R, L, C, C1 are calculated based on nominal voltage V, tuning frequency of
the lter o and the reac ve power capacity at fundamental frequency Qc. Neglec ng the resistance in the reactor and the dielectric
power loss in the capacitors, the impedance of the lter will be as follows:

Parameters L and C are tuned up to fundamental frequency to avoid power loss at fundamental frequency on damping resistor R:

(F-15)

The impedance of the lter at fundamental frequency is determined by C1 only:

(F-16)

Reference [30] Introduces a prac cal approach in C-type lter parameters es ma on, based on a comparison with a series lter and
some simplica ons and assump ons. It is suggested that the series lter have the same nominal voltage, reac ve compensa on
power and tuned harmonic as C-type lter.

Series C and L parameters for C-type lter:

(F-17)

(F-18)

The sum of C1 and C of the C-type lter in a series connec on is equal to CS of the series lter:

(F-19)

(F-20)

The damping resistance using quality factor deni on:

(F-21)

For the Quebec-New England Transmission project, the C-type lter, tuned for the 3rd harmonic, was implemented, working in a 60
Hz system with reac ve power capacity at fundamental frequency of 49 MVAr at 315 kV and a quality factor of 2.
The C-type lter parameter calcula ons using Equa ons F-16 to F-21 give the following results:

R = 1349 W
L = 671 mH
C = 10.48 F
Cs = 1.164 F and
C1 = 1.31 F

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 10/11
7/27/2017 Passive Filter Design
The impedance characteris c for the discussed C-type lter is represented in Figure F-12. The graph has been created using the
Interface to Harmonic Impedance Solu on component from PSCAD master library.

Figure F-12: Impedance Characteris c for a C-Type Filter Tuned to 3rd Harmonic

https://hvdc.ca/webhelp/Master_Library_Models/Passive/Filters/Passive_Filter_Design.htm 11/11