What is unbalance?

Any deviation in voltage and current waveform from perfect sinusoidal,

in terms of magnitude or phase shift is termed as unbalance. In ideal
conditions i.e. with only linear loads connected to the system, the phases
of power supply are 120 degree apart in terms of phase angle and
magnitude of their peaks should be same. On distribution level, the load
imperfections cause current unbalance which travel to transformer and
cause unbalance in the three phase voltage. Even minor unbalance in the
voltage at transformer level disturbs the current waveform significantly
on all the loads connected to it. Not only in the distribution side but
through the transformer, voltage unbalances disturbs the high voltage
power system as well.
Causes of unbalance
Practical imperfections which can result in unbalances are:-
1. A three phase equipment such as induction motor with unbalance in its
windings. If the reactance of three phases is not same, it will result in
varying current flowing in three phases and give out system unbalance.
With continuous operation, motors physical environment cause
degradation of rotor and stator windings. This degradation is usually
different in different phases, affecting both, the magnitude and phase
angel of current waveform.
A current leakage from any phase through bearings or motor body
provides floating earth at times, causing fluctuating current.
2. Any large single phase load, or a number of small loads connected to
only one phase cause more current to flow from that particular phase
causing voltage drop on line.
3. Switching of three phase heavy loads results in current and voltage
surges which cause unbalance in the system.
4. Unequal impedances in the power transmission or distribution system
cause differentiating current in three phases.
How to calculate unbalance
Unbalance is calculated in terms of maximum deviation of current in a
phase from the mean of three phases. To calculate the percentage
deviation-[1]

Where- Im is mean of currents in three phases (i.e. Im= (Ir+Iy+Ib)/3

Ir, Iy, Ib are phase currents.
Besides, an unbalance can also be quantified by comparing the intensity
of negative sequence currents in comparison to the positive sequence
currents. The permissible limit in terms of percentage of negative phase
sequence current over positive sequence current is 1.3% ideally but
acceptable upto 2%. [2]

Effects of unbalance:
1. The unbalance decreases the motor efficiency by causing extra heating
in the motor. Heat generated also effect the equipment life by increasing
the operating temperature, which decompose the grease or oil in the
bearing and de-rate the motor windings.
2. In induction motors connected to unbalanced supply, the negative
sequence currents flow along with positive sequence current resulting in
decreased percentage of productive current and poor motor efficiency.
Any unbalance above 3% hampers the motor efficiency.
3. Torque (and thus the speed) produced by the motor becomes
fluctuating. These sudden changes in torque cause more vibration in the
gear box or the equipment connected to it. The vibration and noise
produced damages the equipment and also reduces the efficiency of
equipment.
4. The variable frequency or speed drives connected to an unbalanced
system can trip off. VFD treats high level unbalances as phase fault and
can trip on earth fault or missing phase fault.
5. Unbalances cause de-rating of power cables and thus increase I2R
losses in the cable. For distribution cables de-rating factor represents the
part of total current giving fruitful outcomes.
6. UPS or inverter supplies also perform with poor efficiency and inject
more harmonic currents in case of unbalances in the system.
7. Negative phase sequence current flowing due to unbalance can cause
faults in the motor, resulting in, tripping or permanent damage of the
electrical equipment.
Quantifying the losses-
An unbalance of 1% is acceptable as it doesnt affect the cable. But above
1% it increases linearly and at 4% the de-rating is 20%. This implies
[3]

that- 20% of the current flowing in the cable will be unproductive and
thus the copper losses in the cable will increase by 25% at 4% unbalance.
1. For motors, an unbalance of 5% will result in capacity reduction by
25%. That means, the motor current will increase to match the
[4]

equipments torque needs which will result in proportional copper losses

in motor. The voltage unbalance of 3% increase the heating by 20% for
an induction motor. [4]
2. The resistance for negative sequence current is 1/6th of the positive
sequence current which means a small unbalance in voltage waveform
will give more current and thus losses.[4]

Effects on the distribution Transformer-

Transformer offers high reactance to negative phase sequence currents
and thus reduces the level of unbalance on the other side of the system.
Ideally any distribution transformer gives best performance at 50%
loading and every electrical distribution system is designed for it. But in
case of unbalance the loading goes over 50% as the equipments draw more
current.
Following data represents the efficiency of transformer under different
loading conditions-[5]

1. Full Load- 98.1%

2. Half Load- 98.64%
3. Unbalanced loads- 96.5%
For a distribution transformer of 200KVA rating, the eddy currents
accounts for 200W but in case of 5% voltage unbalance they can rise upto
720W. [5]

Control Measures-
1. All the single phase loads should be distributed on the three phase
system such that they put equal load on three phases.
2. Replacing the disturbing equipments i.e. with unbalanced three phase
reactance.
3. Reducing the harmonics also reduces the unbalance, which can be done
by installing reactive or active filters. These filters reduce the negative
phase sequence currents by injecting a compensating current wave.
4. In case the disturbing loads cannot be replaced or repaired, connect
them with high voltage side this reduces the effects in terms of percentage
and even controlled disturbance in low voltage side.
5. Motors with unbalanced phase reactance should be replaced and re -
winded.
To identify the exact reasons for unbalance, Zenatix recommends
metering at different loads in the distribution. Zenatix can collect high
resolution data from these metering locations and analyze it to identify
the exact causes and control measures that can result in improvement in
the unbalance. Further, such detailed metering will provide data that can
be used to identify other wastages that happen in the day to day operations
of a facility thus providing further benefits of the installed solution.
Case Study-
For further clarification on the voltage and current unbalance, three phase
currents of two of the zenatixs customers were analyzed. For the purpose
of case study, we can name the two clients as client1 & client2.
First, the readings of three phase currents were taken at the frequency of
15 minutes for a month. Then we need to remove the readings during non-
working hours too, as during such times load current will be quite low
and thus a current unbalance of only 2-3 amps can shown very high
percentage unbalance. After refining the data, percentage of unbalance
was calculated by running simulation on R-software. As all the readings
mentioned are taken at the duration of 15 minutes, we got percentage
unbalance readings for the whole month with the frequency of 15 minutes.
These continuous readings were then plotted.

It is clear by only looking at the plot that for client1s system is more
balanced as compared to client2s. Further analysis was done for getting
consolidated data on what is maximum unbalance, what is the average
unbalance and which phase is causing it.
Following data was tabulated based on the results obtained after analysis.

Fig.1 Shows the plot of percentage unbalance with time for zenatixs
client with balanced system.
Fig.2 Shows the plot of percentage unbalance with time for zenatixs
client with balanced system.
Fig.3 -Shows the comparison between the system of two clients.
References-
[1] De-rating of Induction Motors Operating with a Combination of
Unbalanced Voltages and Over- or Under-voltages- P.Pillay, Jean
Newell Distinguished Professor in Engineering, Clarkson University
AND P.Hofmann, Manager of Power Quality , Manhattan, NY. [2]-
Limits for Voltage Unbalance in the Electricity Supply System, Version
1.0, 30th November 2005, Prepared by- Abu Dhabi Distribution
Company, Al Ain Distribution Company and RASCO. [3]- CHK
GridSense PTY Ltd. Suite 102, 25 Angas Street, Meadowbank, NSW
2114, Australia-
GridSense.com [4]- http://www.larsentoubro.com/lntcorporate/ebg/html/
negative_sequence.html[5]- http://www.iaeng.org/publication/IMECS20
11/IMECS2011_pp948-952.pdf

Unbalanced Voltage On Polyphase Induction Motors

Three phase induction motors are designed and manufactured such that all three phases of the winding are
carefully balanced with respect to the number of turns, placement of the winding, and winding resistance. When
line voltages applied to a polyphase induction motor are not exactly the same, unbalanced currents will flow in
the stator winding, the magnitude depending upon the amount of unbalance. A small amount of voltage
unbalance may increase the current an excessive amount. The effect on the motor can be severe and the motor
may overheat to the point of burnout.
The voltages should be evenly balanced as closely as can be read on the usually available commercial voltmeter.
Effect on performance - General
The effect of unbalanced voltages on polyphase induction motors is equivalent to the introduction of a "negative
sequence voltage" having a rotation opposite to that occurring with balanced voltages. This negative sequence
voltage produces in the air gap a flux rotating against the rotation of the rotor, tending to produce high currents. A
small negative sequence voltage may produce in the windings currents considerably in excess of those present
under balanced voltage conditions.
Unbalance Defined
The voltage unbalance (or negative sequence voltage) in percent may be defined as follows:
Percent Maximum Voltage Deviation
 Voltage = 100 *From Average Voltage

Unbalance Average Voltage

Example:
With voltages of 220, 215 and 210, the average is 215, the maximum deviation from the average is 5, and the
percent unbalance = 100 X 5/215 = 2.3 percent.
Temperature rise and load carrying capacity
A relatively small unbalance in voltage will cause a considerable increase in temperature rise. In the phase with
the highest current, the percentage increase in temperature rise will be approximately two times the square of the
percentage voltage unbalance. The increase in losses and consequently, the increase in average heating of the
whole winding will be slightly lower than the winding with the highest current.
To illustrate the severity of this condition, an approximate 3.5 percent voltage unbalance will cause an
approximate 25 percent increase in temperature rise.
Torques
The locked-rotor torque and breakdown torque are decreased when the voltage is unbalanced. If the voltage
unbalance should be extremely severe, the torque might not be adequate for the application.
Full-load speed
The full-load speed is reduced slightly when the motor operates at unbalanced voltages.
Currents
The locked-rotor current will be unbalanced to the same degree that the voltages are unbalanced but the locked-
rotor KVA will increase only slightly.
The currents at normal operating speed with unbalanced voltages will be greatly unbalanced in the order of
approximately 6 to 10 times the voltage unbalance. This introduces a complex problem in selecting the proper
overload protective devices, particularly since devices selected for one set of unbalanced conditions may be
inadequate for a different set of unbalanced voltages. Increasing the size of the overload protective device is not
the solution in as much as protection against heating from overload and from single phase operation is lost.
This information is based on NEMA standard MG1-14.35.