Resonance Elimination

An AccuSine® Solution

Summary
Many electrical systems encounter resonance due to the installation, and
then interaction of independent, but inter-related electrical components.
Resonance leads to equipment failure, shortened lifetime and other costs.
technical paper
Resonance problems are becoming much more frequent due to the
massive installation of semiconductor products (nonlinear loads), such as
variable frequency drives, UPSs, welders and battery chargers.

Resonance is a form of system instability. Typically, components of the

overall system interact with each other to cause results that are not
intended. Interaction usually involves passive components, such as
inductors and capacitors, or control systems with crude control
algorithms. Resonance involving passive components is relatively
common when systems are modified or expanded incrementally when
loads grow. The addition of capacitors to improve power factor or the
addition of a bus-applied passive harmonic filter may spawn resonance.
There is also a potential for resonance when the supplying utility adds or
changes capacitors or transformers near the customer's facility.

The unintended result is voltage and current resonance. Resonance

causes voltage or current to exceed design limits for system components
and causes components to be overworked. For example, capacitors will
experience excessive voltage and will be charged and discharged with
excessive currents. This leads to capacitor failure through voltage
breakdown and heating. Depending upon the magnitude of resonance,
failures can occur immediately or over many months. Sometimes system
operators can not correlate failures to their real
cause due to the time lag until failure.

The probability of system resonance is

increased dramatically in the presence of
semiconductor (nonlinear) loads which produce
harmonics that excite the natural frequencies 420 Hz resonance at a 15kVar
inherent in the electrical system. A variable capacitor on the same system
as an 850 HP drive.
frequency drive produces harmonics at many
frequencies, including, for example, the 29th
order. The addition of the drive (which contains capacitors) or a bank of
power factor capacitors might create a 29th order natural frequency.
Note: capacitors would have been designed to be charged and discharged
at a rate of 60 times per second, not a rate that is 29 times faster. In this
case, they may overheat and fail.
Resonance Elimination has big benefits:
Resonance Elimination reduces component failures due to heating and
voltage breakdown and maximizes component lifetime. The system will
operate the way intended - proper correction of power factor, attenuation
of harmonics, and so on. It is not uncommon to find electrical systems in
industrial applications where power factor correction capacitors and
tuned filters have been disconnected on account of overheating or
frequent failure, all caused by resonance.
Key Benefits of Resonance Elimination with AccuSine®
• Stabilization can be realized with little or no costly engineering.
• Since AccuSine® is installed in parallel to the load, it is easy and
inexpensive to install.
• AccuSine® is scalable. Additional units can be added later and operated
in parallel with each other if the load increases.
• AccuSine® is flexible; it can be installed at the main distribution bus, a
sub-distribution panel, local distribution panel or a single load, thus
stabilizing the system at its optimal point.
A Complete Solution
AccuSine® is a Power Correction System, that eliminates the potential for
resonance. AccuSine® attenuates current harmonics. It identifies the
current oscillation from system resonance as a harmonic to be cancelled.
AccuSine® responds by injecting opposite current, thus dampening the
resonance. Since most voltage resonance is simply the result of current
resonance, both the current and voltage resonance end up being
corrected.
How AccuSine® Works
AccuSine® is a power electronic product utilizing analog and digital logic
to sense current on a bus. AccuSine® resounds to non-sinusoidal current
by injecting opposing current, providing reactive power. If sized properly,
AccuSine® stabilizes a system, while lowering harmonics and providing
power factor correction.
®
AccuSine is installed directly on the AC lines in parallel. For 3-phase,
3-wire power systems, current transducers are placed on two of the three
phases to provide the control logic with the shape of the current
waveform just upstream of the load. The AccuSine® logic then deducts
the fundamental frequency (50 or 60 Hertz) from this waveform. The
logic then inverts the remaining waveform and directs the firing of the
IGBTs to duplicate the inverted waveform. The result is a cancellation of
the current harmonics in the upstream electrical system, stabilizing it.
And, as an added benefit, voltage harmonics - directly related to current
harmonics - are also dramatically reduced.
AccuSine® is designed using components similar to those found in
variable frequency drives, namely, IGBTs, heat sinks, carrier frequency
filter, DC link capacitors, buses and fuses. The IGBTs provide pulse-
width modulation switched at near 20 kHertz. An internal filter blocks
this frequency from entering the AC lines and decouples AccuSine® from
the rest of the system so no interaction occurs.
Comparing Alternatives
You have few choices when it comes to
resonance elimination of course, when
resonance occurs, it is the worst case result of
the installation of independent but inter-related
equipment. Your best option is to prevent
against it. Consider these alternatives:
Eliminate, Add or Adjust System
Components
Unfortunately most resonance situations are
resolved by simply “turning off ” system
components, usually capacitors. Of course, the
purpose of this equipment is lost for the
remedial benefits of resonance elimination. A
better choice would be to gain total power
factor correction and not have a resonance
condition.
Customized Power Factor Control Systems
A customized capacitor bank is often designed
with protection against resonance in mind.
However, since such systems are site specific
and are not scalable, customers have shied
away from them.
The AccuSine® Power Correction System
If sized correctly, a Power Conditioning System
like AccuSine® delivers complete resonance
elimination in low voltage (to 600V) electrical
systems. Sizing is simple, installation is
inexpensive performance is assured, and the
system is scalable. AccuSine® is often the low
total cost solution.
Remember, Resonance Elimination is just
one of the benefits of a Power Correction
System.
For more information, contact the Schneider
Electric Power Quality Correction Group at
(905) 459-8805 or pqc@squared.com or visit
www.reactivar.com.
 Understanding the
Resonance Phenomena

All electrical circuits with capacitance (C) and inductance (L) can
resonate at one or more natural frequencies given by the following
equation:

The capacitance and inductance can exist by virtue of the physical

construction of the conductive and nonconductive materials in the
wires, connectors and other basic hardware ("stray" capacitance and
inductance) or the addition of capacitors and inductors to implement
a design with a specific purpose. Because resonance represents an
interaction between components, it is always a system phenomenon.
Resonance can occur between components situated in parallel or in
series with each other, so all circuits are at risk.

The resonance phenomenon can be analogized to a mechanical

resonance in which a mass is connected by a spring to a reference
point. When displaced, the mass will oscillate back and forth until
dampening effects bring the mass to a stop. The mass, spring and
dampener are the mechanical equivalent of capacitance, inductance
and resistance, respectively. The tension of the spring is equivalent to
voltage. The natural frequency of a mechanical system is defined by
an equation similar to that for an electrical system.

A resonance needs an exciting force. The mass must be pushed or

displaced in the mechanical system. Similarly the voltage must be
"pushed" or "displaced" from its normal level in the electrical system.
The severity of the resonance is dependent upon the closeness of the
match between the frequency of the exciting force and the natural
frequency and the strength of the dampening effects. Most nonlinear
loads, such as adjustable speed drives, produce a wide spectrum of
harmonics from the 2nd order through the 50th order. A harmonic
represents a displacement from the normal voltage level. Therefore,
there is great potential that one of the harmonics will be tuned to the
natural frequency and act as the exciting force for a system resonance.
Note that it is also possible for a system to be tuned to the
fundamental itself (50 or 60 Hertz) also giving rise to certain
problems.

A resonance will be seen as a voltage oscillation of some degree. If

severe, the voltage swings will exceed the ratings of key components,
causing them to fail. It is difficult to generalize the resonance
phenomenon with rules of thumb. Identifying systems which are at
risk and preventing resonance usually requires system modeling or at
least the calculation of safe areas of operation or "envelopes" for
important parameters.

More information on system resonance can be found in IEEE Red

Book (Std. 141-1993).

Schneider Electric
D5820HO0104EP R0 © 2001 Schneider Canada Inc, All RIghts Reserved November, 2001