Harmonicmeasurementinelectricalnetworks

FromElectricalInstallationGuide

Warning!Thispageiscurrentlybeingupdated(aswellasotherpagesinthesamechapter),soyoumayencountertemporaryinconsistenciesinthecontent,ornonworking
linksinnavigationbar...Wedoourbesttofinalizetheseupdatesasfastaspossibleandminimizetheimpactforvisitors.

Contents
1Proceduresforharmonicmeasurement
1.1Harmonicmeasurementsarecarriedoutonindustrialorcommercialsites:
1.2Theharmonicindicatorscanbemeasured:
1.3Oneshotorcorrectiveactions
1.4Longtermorpreventiveactions
2Harmonicmeasurementdevices
2.1Portableinstruments
2.1.1Oscilloscope
2.1.2Digitalanalyser
2.2Functionsofdigitalanalysers
2.3Fixedinstruments
3Whichharmonicordersmustbemonitoredandmitigated?

Proceduresforharmonicmeasurement
Harmonicmeasurementsarecarriedoutonindustrialorcommercialsites:

Preventively,toobtainanoverallideaondistributionnetworkstatus(networkmapping),
Inviewofcorrectiveaction,todeterminetheoriginofadisturbanceanddeterminethesolutionsrequiredtoeliminateit,
Tocheckthevalidityofasolution(followingmodificationsinthedistributionnetworktocheckthereductionofharmonicdisturbances)

Theharmonicindicatorscanbemeasured:

Byanexpertpresentonthesiteforalimitedperiodoftime(oneday),givingprecise,butlimitedperception,
Byinstrumentationdevicesinstalledandoperatingforasignificantperiodoftime(atleastoneweek)givingareliableoverviewofthe
situation,
Orbydevicespermanentlyinstalledinthedistributionnetwork,allowingafollowupofPowerQuality.

Oneshotorcorrectiveactions

Thiskindofactioniscarriedoutincaseofobserveddisturbances,forwhichharmonicsaresuspected.Inordertodeterminethe
originofthedisturbances,measurementsofcurrentandvoltageareperformed:

Atthesupplysourcelevel,
Onthebusbarsofthemaindistributionswitchboard(orontheMVbusbars),
Oneachoutgoingcircuitinthemaindistributionswitchboard(orontheMVbusbars).

Foraccurateresults,itisnecessarytoknowthepreciseoperatingconditionsoftheinstallationandparticularlythestatusofthe
capacitorbanks(operatingornot,numberofconnectedsteps).

Theresultsofmeasurementwillhelptheanalysisinorderto:

Determineanynecessaryderatingofequipmentintheinstallation,or
Quantifyanynecessaryharmonicprotectionandfilteringsystemstobeinstalledinthedistributionnetwork,or
CheckthecomplianceoftheelectricalinstallationwiththeapplicablestandardsorUtilityregulations(maximumpermissibleharmonic
emission).

Longtermorpreventiveactions
Foranumberofreasons,theinstallationofpermanentmeasurementdevicesinthedistributionnetworkisveryvaluable.

Thepresenceofanexpertonsiteislimitedintimeanditisnotalwayspossibletoobserveallthepossiblesituations.Onlyanumberof
measurementsatdifferentpointsintheinstallationandoverasufficientlylongperiod(oneweektoamonth)provideanoverallviewof
operationandtakeintoaccountallthesituationsthatcanoccurfollowing:
Fluctuationsinthesupplysource,
Variationsintheoperationoftheinstallation,
Theadditionofnewequipmentintheinstallation.
Measurementdevicesinstalledinthedistributionnetworkprepareandfacilitatethediagnosisoftheexperts,thusreducingthenumberand
durationoftheirvisits.
Permanentmeasurementdevicesdetectanynewdisturbancesarisingfollowingtheinstallationofnewequipment,theimplementationof
newoperatingmodesorfluctuationsinthesupplynetwork.
Foranoverallevaluationofnetworkstatus(preventiveanalysis),thisavoids:
Rentingofmeasurementequipment,
Callinginexperts,
Havingtoconnectanddisconnectthemeasurementequipment.Fortheoverallevaluationofnetworkstatus,theanalysisonthe
mainlowvoltagedistributionswitchboards(MLVS)canoftenbecarriedoutbytheincomingdeviceand/orthemeasurement
devicesequippingeachoutgoingcircuit,
Forcorrectiveactions,itispossibleto:
Determinetheoperatingconditionsatthetimeoftheincident,
Drawupamapofthedistributionnetworkandevaluatetheimplementedsolution.

Thediagnosismaybeimprovedbytheuseofadditionaldedicatedequipmentincaseofspecificproblem.

Harmonicmeasurementdevices
Measurementdevicesprovideinstantaneousandaverageinformationconcerningharmonics.Instantaneousvaluesareusedfor
analysisofdisturbanceslinkedtoharmonics.AveragevaluesareusedforPowerQualityassessment.

ThemostrecentmeasurementdevicesaredesignedreferringtoIECstandard6100047:"Electromagneticcompatibility(EMC)
Part47:TestingandmeasurementtechniquesGeneralguideonharmonicsandinterharmonicsmeasurementsand
instrumentation,forpowersupplysystemsandequipmentconnectedthereto".

Thesuppliedvaluesinclude:
Theharmonicspectrumofcurrentsandvoltages(amplitudesandpercentageofthefundamental),
TheTHDforcurrentandvoltage,
Forspecificanalysis:thephaseanglebetweenharmonicvoltageandcurrentofthesameorderandthephaseoftheharmonicswithrespect
toacommonreference(e.g.thefundamentalvoltage).

AveragevaluesareindicatorsofthelongtermPowerQuality.Typicalandrelevantstatisticaldataareforexamplemeasures
averagedbyperiodsof10minutes,duringobservationperiodsof1week.

InordertomeetthePowerQualityobjectives,95%ofthemeasuredvaluesshouldbelessthanspecifiedvalues.

Fig.M10givesthemaximumharmonicvoltageinordertomeettherequirementsofstandardEN50160:"Voltagecharacteristicsof
electricitysuppliedbypublicdistributionnetworks",forLowandMediumVoltage.
 Oddharmonic Oddharmonic
Evenharmonic
nonmultiplesof3 multiplesof3

Relativeamplitude Relativeamplitude Relativeamplitude

Orderh Uh:% Orderh Uh:% Orderh Uh:%
5 6 3 5 2 2
7 5 9 1.5 4 1
11 3.5 15 0.5 6...24 0.5
13 3 21 0.5
17 2
19 1.5
23 1.5
25 1.5

Fig.M10:Valuesofindividualharmonicvoltagesatthesupplyterminalsforordersupto25giveninpercentofthefundamentalvoltageU1

Portableinstruments

Thetraditionalobservationandmeasurementmethodsinclude:

Oscilloscope

Aninitialindicationonthedistortionaffectingasignalcanbeobtainedbyviewingthecurrentorthevoltageonanoscilloscope.

Thewaveform,whenitdivergesfromasinusoidal,clearlyindicatesthepresenceofharmonics.Currentandvoltagepeakscanbe
observed.

Note,however,thatthismethoddoesnotofferprecisequantificationoftheharmoniccomponents.

Digitalanalyser

Onlyrecentdigitalanalyserscandeterminethevaluesofallthementionedindicatorswithsufficientaccuracy.

Theyareusingdigitaltechnology,specificallyahighperformancealgorithmcalledFastFourierTransform(FFT).Currentor
voltagesignalsaredigitizedandthealgorithmisappliedondatarelativetotimewindowsof10(50Hzsystems)or12periods(for
60Hzsystems)ofthepowerfrequency.

Theamplitudeandphaseofharmonicsuptothe40thor50thorderarecalculated,dependingontheclassofmeasurement.

ProcessingofthesuccessivevaluescalculatedusingtheFFT(smoothing,classification,statistics)canbecarriedoutbythe
measurementdeviceorbyexternalsoftware.

Functionsofdigitalanalysers
Calculatethevaluesoftheharmonicindicators(powerfactor,crestfactor,individualharmonicamplitude,THD)
Inmultichannelanalysers,supplyvirtuallyinrealtimethesimultaneousspectraldecompositionofthecurrentsandvoltages
Carryoutvariouscomplementaryfunctions(corrections,statisticaldetection,measurementmanagement,display,communication,etc.)
Storageofdata

Fig.M11:ImplementationofadigitalPower
Qualityrecorderinacabinet

Fixedinstruments
PanelinstrumentationprovidescontinuousinformationtotheManageroftheelectricalinstallation.Datacanbeaccessiblethrough
dedicatedpowermonitoringdevicesorthroughthedigitaltripunitsofcircuitbreakers.

Fig.M12:ExampleofPowerandEnergymeter

Fig.M13:Exampleofelectronictripunitsofcircuitbreakersprovidingharmonicrelatedinformation

Whichharmonicordersmustbemonitoredandmitigated?
Themostsignificantharmonicordersinthreephasedistributionnetworksaretheoddorders(3,5,7,9,11,13.)

Triplenharmonics(ordermultipleof3)arepresentonlyinthreephase,fourwiresystems,whensinglephaseloadsareconnected
betweenphaseandneutral.

Utilitiesaremainlyfocusingonlowharmonicorders(5,7,11,and13).

Generallyspeaking,harmonicconditioningofthelowestorders(upto13)issufficient.Morecomprehensiveconditioningtakesinto
accountharmonicordersupto25.

Harmonicamplitudesnormallydecreaseasthefrequencyincreases.Sufficientlyaccuratemeasurementsareobtainedbymeasuring
harmonicsuptoorder30.

Retrievedfrom"http://www.electricalinstallation.org/enw/index.php?
title=Harmonic_measurement_in_electrical_networks&oldid=21082"
Category: ChapterPowerharmonicsmanagement

Thispagewaslastmodifiedon7December2016,at20:00.