BEF 44803

POWER QUALITY

WITH WISDOM WE EXPLORE

Chapter 1: Introduction to Power Quality

1.1 Review about sources of power
quality issues
1.2 Significance of studying power
quality
1.3 Power quality terminology

WITH WISDOM WE EXPLORE

1.1 Review about sources of PQ issues

1

What is Power Quality (PQ)?

PQ Theory

Need for PQ

Background/Theory

Concerns: Both Electric Utilities and End

user of Electric Power
- Since 1980s PQ is the buzz word in the power industry.
- PQ is the multitude of individual types of power system
(PS) disturbances.
- Engineers are now attempting to deal with these issues
using a system approach rather than handling them as
individual problems.

Background/Theory
Four major reasons for the increased concern:
1. Newer-generation load equipment, with microprocessorbased controls and power electronic devices, is more
sensitive to PQ variations than was equipment used in
the past.
2. The increasing emphasis on overall PS efficiency has
resulted in continued growth in the application of devices
such as high-efficiency, adjustable-speed motor drives
(ASDs) and shunt capacitors for power factor (pf)
correction to reduce losses. This is resulting in
increasing harmonic levels on PSs and has many people
concerned about the future impact on system
capabilities.

Background/Theory
Four major reasons for the increased concern (contd.):
3. End users have an increased awareness of PQ issues.
Utility customers are becoming better informed about
such issues as interruptions, sags, and switching
transients and are challenging the utilities to improve the
quality of power delivered.
4. Many things are now interconnected in a network.
Integrated processes mean that the failure of any
component has much more important consequences.

Background/Theory
- Manufacturers want faster, more productive, more
efficient machinery. Utilities encourage this effort
because it helps their customers become more profitable
and also helps defer large investments in substations
and generation by using more efficient load equipment.
- Such equipment suffers most from common power
interruptions.

Background/Theory
1. Many governments have revised their laws
regulating electric utilities with the intent of achieving
more cost-competitive sources of electric energy.
Deregulation of utilities has complicated the PQ problem.
In many geographic areas there is no longer tightly
coordinated control of the power from generation through
end-use load. While regulatory agencies can change the
laws regarding the flow of money, the physical laws of
power flow cannot be altered. In order to avoid
deterioration of the quality of power supplied to
customers, regulators are going to have to expand their
thinking beyond traditional reliability indices and address
the need for PQ reporting and incentives for the
transmission and distribution companies.

Background/Theory
2. There has been a substantial increase of interest in
distributed generation (DG), that is, generation of
power dispersed throughout the PS. There are a number
of important PQ issues that must be addressed as part
of the overall interconnection evaluation for DG.
3. The globalization of industry has heightened
awareness of deficiencies in PQ around the world.
Companies building factories in new areas are suddenly
faced with unanticipated problems with the electricity
supply due to weaker systems or a different climate.
There have been several efforts to benchmark PQ in one
part of the world against other areas.

Background/Theory
4. Indices have been developed to help benchmark the
various aspects of PQ. Regulatory agencies have
become involved in performance-based rate-making
(PBR), which addresses a particular aspect, reliability,
which is associated with interruptions. Some customers
have established contracts with utilities for meeting a
certain quality of power delivery.

What is PQ?
Utility perspective:
Reliability and statistics demonstrating that its system is
99.98 percent reliable. Criteria established by regulatory
agencies are usually in this vein.
Manufacturer of load perspective:
Those characteristics of the power supply that enable
the equipment to work properly. These characteristics
can be very different for different criteria
PQ is ultimately a consumer driven issue:
Any power problem manifested in V, I, or f deviations that
results in failure or mis-operation of customer equipment.

What is PQ?
Other definitions:
Study of powering and grounding electronic systems so as to maintain the
integrity of the power supplied to the system. IEEE Standard 11598 defines
power quality as [1.23]:
The concept of powering and grounding sensitive equipment in a manner that
is suitable for the operation of that equipment
Power quality is defined in the IEEE 100 Authoritative Dictionary of IEEE
Standard Terms as ([1.42], p. 855):
The concept of powering and grounding electronic equipment in a manner that
is suitable to the operation of that equipment and compatible with the premise
wiring system and other connected equipment
Equally authoritative, the qualification is made in the Standard Handbook of
Electrical Engineers, 14th edition, (2000) ([1.43] pp. 18117):
Good power quality, however, is not easy to define because what is good PQ
to a refrigerator motor may not be good enough for todays personal computers
and other sensitive loads. For example, a short (momentary) outage would not
noticeably affect motors, lights, etc. but could cause a major nuisance to digital
clocks, videocassette recorders (VCRs) etc

Need for PQ

Survey conducted by the Georgia Power Company for What causes PQ Problem?

Need for PQ

Need for PQ

Both tend to blame about 2/3rd of the

events on natural phenomena (e.g.
Lightning).
Customers much more frequently than
utility personnel, think that the utility is at
fault.

Need for PQ
There are many events resulting in end-user
problems such as; capacitor switching (quite
common)
which
can
cause
transient
overvoltages
that
disrupt
manufacturing
machinery, momentary fault elsewhere in the
system that causes the voltage to sag briefly at
the location of the customer. This might cause
an adjustable-speed drive (ASD) or a distributed
generator to trip off, but the utility will have no
indication that anything was amiss on the feeder
unless it has a PQ monitor installed.

Need for PQ
In addition other PQ problems related to
hardware,
software
or
control
system
malfunction.
Electronic components can degrade over time
due to repeated transient voltages and fail.
It is becoming more common that designers of
control software for microprocessor-based
equipment have an incomplete knowledge of
how PSs operate and do not anticipate all types
of malfunction events. Thus, a device can
misbehave because of a deficiency in the
embedded software.

Need for PQ
In response to this growing concern for PQ,
electric utilities have programs that help them
respond to customer concerns. The philosophy
of these programs ranges from reactive, where
the utility responds to customer complaints, to
proactive, where the utility is involved in
educating the customer and promoting services
that can help develop solutions to PQ problems.

Need for PQ
The economics involved in solving a PQ problem
must also be included in the analysis i.e. to
include PQ variations on the supply side. In
many cases, the optimal solution to a problem
may involve making a particular piece of
sensitive equipment less sensitive to PQ
variations.
There are standards for voltage and other
technical criteria that may be measured, but the
ultimate measure of PQ is determined by the
performance and productivity of end-user
equipment.

PQ = Voltage (V) Quality

It is actually quality of the V that is being
addresses in most cases.
P=V.I
The power supply system can only control the
quality of the V; it has no control over the
currents (I) that particular loads might draw.
Therefore, the standards in the PQ area are
devoted to maintaining the supply V within
certain limits.

PQ = Voltage (V) Quality

Although the generators may provide a nearperfect sine-wave V, the I passing through the
impedance (Z) of the system can cause a variety
of disturbances to the V. For example,
1. The I resulting from a short circuit causes the
V to sag or disappear completely, as the
case may be.
2. Is from lightning strokes passing through the
PS cause high-impulse Vs that frequently
flash over insulation and lead to other
phenomena, such as short circuits.

PQ = Voltage (V) Quality

3. Distorted Is from harmonic-producing loads
also distort the V as they pass through the
system Z. Thus a distorted V is presented to
other end users.

Why we concern about PQ?

Economic value
Automation and more modern equipments use
(means electronically controlled, energy-efficient
equipment that is often much more sensitive to
deviations in the supply V than were its
electromechanical predecessors).
Industrial customers are now more acutely
aware of minor disturbances in the PS.
Momentary utility breaker operation can result in
USD thousands by shutting down the production
line which requires hours time to restart.

Why we concern about PQ?

In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, the
economic impacts associated with equipment
sensitivity to momentary V sags resulted in the
development of a whole new standard for
equipment ride-through (SEMI Standard F-47,
Specification
for
Semiconductor
Process
Equipment V Sag Immunity).
Residential customers typically do not suffer
direct financial loss or the inability to earn
income as a result of most PQ problems, but
they can be a potent force when they perceive
that the utility is providing poor service.

Why we concern about PQ?

Home
computer
usage
has
increased
considerably in the last few years and more
transactions are being done over the Internet.
Users become more sensitive to interruptions
when they are reliant on this technology.

Examples of PQ
Examples of poor PQ

1.2 Significance of studying PQ

To know about:
PQ problems and their respective effects
Financial losses due to maintenance cost, reduced life of
equipments, and mis operation of protective devices
Additional cost for compensation devices to mitigate the
causes (PQ is Electrical Systems by A. Kusko pp.10)
Impacts of advanced technology (just to save cost and
improve efficiency) at the risk of system malfunctioning
Use of advanced technology with compensation devices
Monitoring/observation/evaluation & analysis/economical
solution of PQ problems
To take care about the reliability, consistency, and quality
of power supply
more sophisticated electronic controls which are sensitive
to voltage variations

1.3 PQ Terminology
PQ problems and mitigation techniques by Bhim
Singh pp.12
PQ by C Sankaran pp. 13-20
Electrical PS Quality by Roger C Dugan pp. 31