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Int. J. Instrumentation Technology, Vol. 1, No.

1, 2011 1

Metrological characterisation of power quality


measurement stations: a case study

Edoardo Fiorucci*, Giovanni Bucci and


Fabrizio Ciancetta
Department of Electrical and Information Engineering,
University of L’Aquila, Via G. Gronchi 18,
67100 L’Aquila AQ, Italy
Fax: +39-0862701979
E-mail: edoardo.fiorucci@univaq.it
E-mail: bucci@ieee.org
E-mail: fabrizio.ciancetta@univaq.it
*Corresponding author

Abstract: In recent years, the rapid growth in the importance of electrical


power quality (PQ) has created a demand for highly effective monitoring
instruments, able to evaluate different PQ parameters. Instrument suppliers
propose for the PQ measuring systems a variety of sizes and configurations,
owing to the growing application fields. The metrological characterisation of
these instruments is a problem because they must satisfy different
requirements. In this paper, we discuss about the characterisation of PQ
analysers, starting from an overview of current main international standards. As
a case study in the paper a testing procedure is proposed, reporting also the
characterisation results obtained with a multifunction PQ analyser prototype.

Keywords: power quality; PQ; power system transient; distortion; voltage


measurement; signal analysis; characterisation; IEEE standards; IEC standards.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Fiorucci, E., Bucci, G.


and Ciancetta, F. (2011) ‘Metrological characterisation of power quality
measurement stations: a case study’, Int. J. Instrumentation Technology,
Vol. 1, No. 1, pp.1–17.

Biographical notes: Edoardo Fiorucci received his PhD in Electrical and


Information Engineering from the University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy, in
2004. He is currently an Aggregate Professor of Electrical Measurement with
the University of L’Aquila. He is the author of more than 80 scientific papers.
His research interests include power measurements, testing of electrical
machines and power systems, PC-based instrumentation, measurement
systems for power quality evaluation, and smart web sensors for distributed
measurement applications.

Giovanni Bucci received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University


of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy, in 1985. Until 1989, he was a Designer of
automatic test equipment with Selenia Spazio. He is currently a Full Professor
of Electrical Measurement with the University of L’Aquila. He is the author of
more than 120 scientific papers. His current research interests include ADC and
wireless device testing, multiprocessor-based measuring systems, digital
algorithms for real-time measuring instruments, and power measurements.

Copyright © 2011 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.


2 E. Fiorucci et al.

Fabrizio Ciancetta received his PhD in Electrical and Information Engineering


in 2008 from the University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy. He is currently a
Postdoctoral Fellow with the Department of Electrical Engineering, University
of L’Aquila, working on a research projects aimed at the development of digital
and distributed measurement systems and measurement software optimisation.
He is the author of more than 50 scientific papers.

1 Introduction

Due to the rapid development of the technology, many commercial and industrial
companies have a significant interest in the power quality (PQ) problems, which mainly
concern the interruptions and deviations of the actual voltage from the nominal
characteristic. In spite of a short period of time of power outage, it can lead to a large
amount of loss, so the requirement of the PQ is more rigorous than ever. Nowadays,
different electronic devices are very sensitive to electrical power disturbances that can
cover a large interval of frequencies. The supply frequency harmonics are in the range of
up to some kilohertz, but high frequency disturbances and transients can be present in the
power line (Arrillaga et al., 1985; Melhorn and McGranaghan, 1995). Moreover, in some
cases the frequency and width of voltage variations can produce annoying fluctuations of
lighting (flicker). In the past, monitoring facilities of the PQ were generally installed only
to investigate about a problem and help identify possible solutions. At the present time,
permanent systems are widely applied to continuously characterise the system PQ
performance, in many applications. For these reasons, PQ monitoring instruments are
worldwide required.
Today, the commercially available PQ measuring instruments present a variety of
sizes and configurations, because of the different application area and customer
requirements (McGranaghan, 2001; Khan, 2001). They can be utilised not only in the
utility power system, but also within customer facilities. Generally, the monitoring is
achieved by performing the measurements with a digital instrument that processes the
raw data of acquired voltage and current waveforms in confined or distributed
environments (Chen, 2004; Leou et al., 2001; Bucci et al., 2003; Won et al., 2002;
Bingham, 2001). Because of the improved technology and software today available, this
monitoring is highly effective and the same instrument can perform the measurement of
different disturbances, such as flicker, harmonics and transients.
The metrological characterisation of these instruments is not easy, because they must
satisfy different requirements. As an example, high-resolution is required to measure
stationary harmonics, while a continuous long time monitoring is required to measure
fluctuating harmonics (Melhorn and McGranaghan, 1995; Khan, 2001; Budovsky and
Hammond, 2005). In some cases, inexpensive devices that measure voltages and currents
a few times a second may face up to the needs, while some applications require very
high-speed measurements, i.e., when high frequency transients must be revealed. In these
cases, a broad range of power system variations should be detected, i.e., voltage swells,
sags, transients, distortion and electrical noise (Iuzzolino, and Ihlenfeld, 2007;
Delle Femine et al., 2009).
In this paper, an overview of current international standards concerning the PQ is
presented, in order to analyse the requirements for a PQ measuring system. As a case
Metrological characterisation of power quality measurement stations 3

study, the proposed testing procedure has been applied to a prototype of a multifunction
PQ monitoring system, and the main results presented.

2 The requirements for PQ instrumentation

Different standards have been published by the main international organisations working
in the PQ issue, the IEC and IEEE. They refer to both the main voltage characteristics to
be measured (EN 50160, 2008; IEEE Std 1159, 2009) and to the voltage and current
limits (EN 61000-3-3, 2009; IEEE Std 141, 1995; IEEE Std 1100, 2005). Moreover, they
refer to the measurement equipment requirements (EN 61000-3-2, 2007; EN 61000-4-7,
2010; EN 61000-4-11, 2006; EN 61000-4-15, 2003; EN 61000-4-30, 2010; IEEE
Std 519, 1992). There are several factors related to either limitations or capabilities of a
PQ analyser that must be taken into consideration. They include some parameters
typically adopted to describe the performance of a wide range of instruments, such as the
bandwidth, sampling rate, refresh rate and resolution. But other factors can influence the
measurement results, e.g., the way the instrument capture and report short duration
events.

2.1 IEC (EN) standards for voltage and current harmonics


The standard EN 61000-3-2 specifies the requirements for the equipment used to measure
the current harmonics injected into the public low-voltage distribution systems. Several
types of instruments can be used even if the tendency is to consider a discrete Fourier
transform (DFT)-based instrument that uses rectangular ten cycles at 50 Hz (12 cycles at
60 Hz) windows. Some requirements common to all instrumentation are: the total
measurement error shall not exceed 5% of the limit or 0.2% of the rated current of the test
equipment, whichever is greater; the instrument shall have the capability for smoothing
equivalent to a first-order low-pass filter with a time constant of 1.5 seconds (±10%).
The frequency domain device must attenuate both the fundamental (60 dB) and
harmonics greater than n = 2 (15 dB to 30 dB) for steady-state harmonics and must use a
bandwidth of 3 Hz to 10 Hz, with 3 ± 0.5 Hz. The time-domain instruments require a
measuring window of four to 30 cycles and specific synchronisation and overlap with at
least 50 dB anti-aliasing filter attenuation. Besides, for all the other cases including
fluctuating harmonics, there should be no gap and no overlapping between successive
acquisition for rectangular windows, and a 50% overlap and no gap for the Hanning
window.
The standard EN 61000-4-7 specifies the requirements for the instrumentation used to
measure voltage or current harmonic and interharmonic components. Specifically, it
concerns the measurement of:
1 quasi stationary (slowly varying) harmonics
2 fluctuating harmonics
3 rapidly changing harmonics (or very short burst of harmonics)
4 interharmonics and other spurious components.
4 E. Fiorucci et al.

The instrumentation may be differentiated according to:


1 the signal characteristics
2 the accuracy classes
3 the type of measurements (voltage, current, etc.).

The input circuit must be designed for 115, 230, 400 V nominal voltages and a power
absorption lower than 3 VA; for high sensitivity instruments, the input resistance should
be lower than 10 kΩ/V. The nominal input current ranges between 0.1 A to 16 A. Two
classes of accuracy are reported (A, B); the maximum error, that depends on both the
class and amplitude of measured quantity must be less than 5%. Quasi-stationary
harmonics can be measured point by point, while fluctuating and rapidly changing
harmonics should be measured continuously, both offline or online, with no gap during
signal observation. In case of lose of synchronisation, when the use of Hanning
window is allowed, a half-by-half overlapping is necessary; for rectangular window
no overlapping is allowed. To measure fluctuating harmonics, a rectangular window
width of 16 cycles, or a Hanning window width of 0.4–0.5 s, should be adopted.
For rapidly changing and transitory harmonics an eight-cycle width carries is used
to give a compromise between selectivity, time response and smoothing of other
transients phenomena. The standard reports the basic requirements for FFT
instrumentation in terms of window width and overlapping. Frequency-domain
instruments are not appropriate to measure rapidly changing interharmonics.
Time-domain instruments with a 16-cycle window width can be used, as a good
compromise between bandwidth and ability of track rapidly changing amplitudes or
frequencies. Optionally, the instruments may measure distortion factors and weighting
functions. The normal distortion factor is widely used to evaluate the thermal stress of
electrical equipment.

2.2 IEEE standards for voltage and current harmonics


The standard IEEE 519-1992 points out recommended practices and requirements for
current and voltage harmonics. Steady-state harmonics should be measured with an
uncertainty ≤ 5% of the limit. The selectivity is defined with specified minimum
attenuation values for injected frequencies. The attenuation for frequency domain
instruments ranges from 50 dB to 15 dB, for injected frequencies ranging from 30 Hz to
2,400 Hz. For the same conditions the time domain instruments present an attenuation of
35 dB to 60 dB. If the measured harmonics vary in time, it is necessary to smooth out the
rapidly fluctuating components over a period of time, for example using a first order
low-pass filter with a time constant of 1.5 ± 0.15 s. The bandwidth should be 3 ± 0.5 Hz
between the –3 dB points with a minimum attenuation of 40 dB at a frequency of
fn + 15 Hz.

2.3 IEC standards for voltage fluctuation and flicker


The standard EN 61000-3-3 (IEEE Std 1453, 2004) specifies the required accuracy to
measure the voltage fluctuation and flicker impressed on the public low-voltage system.
The flicker measurement is based on the voltage waveform variation at the terminal of
Metrological characterisation of power quality measurement stations 5

the EUT, by evaluating the difference between two successive values of phase-to-neutral
rms voltage (relative voltage change). The rms voltages should be measured or
calculated. An online evaluation is required for unknown voltage fluctuation, while
simulation is allowed if the voltage fluctuation law is defined. The magnitude of the
current should be measured with an accuracy of 1% or better. The relative voltage
change should be defined with a total accuracy lower than 8% with reference to
maximum value of voltage change. Reference impedance values are defined in this
standard; the stability and tolerance of the adopted one should guarantee an overall
accuracy of 8% at least.
The standard EN 61000-4-15 reports the specifications and performance testing of
flicker measurement apparatuses. The flicker meter duplicates a person’s ability to detect
flickering light, using digital filters and statistical analysis to process line voltage changes
caused by a load, producing a flicker value representing the effects of the voltage
fluctuations on a human observer. The described apparatus has been thought for an
analogue implementation.
The overall accuracy should be evaluated starting from the instantaneous flicker
sensation carried out by the lamp-eye-brain simulation block; one unit of output
corresponds to the reference human flicker perceptibility threshold. The EN 61000-4-15
specifies more than 140 input conditions for verifying flicker meter accuracy using sine
and square-wave modulations of the AC mains voltage. The prescribed accuracy is
achieved if the input values for are within ±5% of tabulated values, for one unit of
perceptibility.

2.4 IEEE standards for voltage fluctuation and flicker


The standard IEEE 519-1992 briefly introduces the flicker phenomenon and proposes
maximum permissible voltage fluctuations limits; methods for compensating for existing
or potential flicker are suggested. Acceptable voltage flicker limits are also indicated in
the standard IEEE 141-1993. In 2004, the EN 61000-4-15 (2003) has been adopted as
IEEE standard 1454-2004 ‘Recommended practice for measurement and limits of voltage
fluctuations and associated light flicker on AC power systems’.

2.5 IEEE standards for PQ instruments


The IEEE 1100-2005 reports some considerations about bandwidth, sampling rate,
refresh rate, resolution and true rms response capability of PQ instruments. Bandwidth is
not a problem for steady state monitoring, but for fast and high frequency transients it
should be high enough to accurately measure the faster rise time of the event to be
captured (typically is in the megahertz ranges). To obtain accuracy roughly within 3%, a
vertical resolution ≥ 8 bits is required.
Particularly interesting is the comparison between the results carried out by different
instruments: the same input waveforms can produce different rms measurements if the
adopted instrument is based on peak-method, average-responding or true rms. Another
point discussed in the standard is the potential incorrect interpretation of the same
transient disturbance, carried out by different monitoring instruments; an event can be
missed, measured with inaccurate amplitude and duration or confused with another one,
as reported in Table 1.
6 E. Fiorucci et al.

Table 1 Incorrect interpretation of transient disturbances

Capacitor switching transients


The event may be missed if The event can be reported with The event can be reported as a
threshold value is incorrect incorrect amplitude sub cycle transient
1/4 cycle interruption
The event may be missed if The event can be reported as a The event can be reported as a
threshold value is incorrect sag to 50% with duration of sag to 90% with duration of
10 ms 100 ms
One cycle interruption
The event can be reported The event can be reported as an The event can be reported as a
as one cycle interruption interruption with duration 20 ms sag to 83% with duration of
100 ms
Extraneous zero crossing
The event can be reported as multiple The event can be reported as multiple transients
transients with the same amplitude with the same amplitude and frequency variation

2.6 IEC standards for PQ instruments

The EN 61000-4-30 defines the method of measurement and interpretation of


results for PQ parameters in 50/60Hz power supply systems. For each parameter, two
classes of performance are defined: class A for precise measurements (e.g., for
contractual applications) and class B for worse uncertainty measurements (e.g., for
trouble-shooting applications). A class A instrument measures voltage and current to
0.1% accuracy. Accuracy will depend on method of measurement and must be made
across contiguous ten-cycle periods. Longer term measurements are based on aggregates
of each ten-cycle measurement for three seconds, ten minutes and two hours.
Aggregation is performed using the square root of the arithmetic mean of the squared
input value.
Any class A instrument, regardless of manufacturer, will read the same when
subjected to the same waveforms. Voltage dips and swells and interruption durations
must be based on one cycle rms measurements calculated in half cycle steps. A class B
instrument will measure voltage and current to 0.5% and 2.0% accuracy, respectively.
The EN 61000-4-30 refers to EN 61000-4-7 and EN 61000-4-15 for harmonics and
flicker measurements respectively. One of its main aims is to make possible to obtain
reliable, repeatable and comparable results, measuring the main PQ parameters. One of
the main problems of PQ measurement is that during a dip, swell or interruption,
unreliable measurements of other parameters can occur. To solve this problem the EN
61000-4-30 introduces the new concept of flagging. When during a time interval the
system detects dips, swells and interruptions at a selected level, class A instruments flag
the measures of: power frequency, voltage magnitude, voltage unbalance, voltage
harmonics and interharmonics, flicker, main signalling, underdeviation and overdeviation
parameters.
Metrological characterisation of power quality measurement stations 7

3 A case study: characterisation of a multifunction PQ analyser

The PQ measuring systems can be classified into different groups, according to their
characteristics:
• the meters, portable simple instruments that measure the instantaneous values of
electric parameters such as V, I, P
• the analysers, portable instruments that measure periodically changing values and
mainly perform the harmonic analysis, waveform capture and event detection
• the monitors, fixed instruments that capture not only steady-state parameters but also
PQ events; they calculate PQ parameters continuously so that they provide the
long-term trends as well as short-term events.
The architecture of the measuring system under characterisation has been developed
according to both hardware requirements and recommended measurements practice
reported in the previously examined standards. It is a transportable system classifiable as
a monitor instrument.
The requirements for input voltage and current circuits have been satisfied by using
Hall-effect-based transducers. They offer galvanic insulation between the power input
circuits and the measurement circuits, good linearity and bandwidth. In detail, for the
input voltage transduction the Hall-effect closed loop LEM LV 400 device has been
adopted. It guarantees:
1 a nominal voltage of 400 V
2 an overall accuracy of ±0.7%
3 a linearity lower than 0.1%
4 a bandwidth from dc to 100 kHz
5 typical thermal drift of the offset current ±0.2 mA in the range 0°C to 70°C.
The input current transducer is the Hall-effect closed loop LEM IT 150-S. Its basic
features are:
1 maximum primary current of 150 A, bipolar
2 overload capacity from 100% to 500%
3 linearity lower than 1 ppm
4 bandwidth from dc to 100 kHz
5 di/dt greater than 100 A/μs
6 temperature coefficient of the overall offset current lower than 0.8 ppm/K in the
range 0°C to 50°C.
We supplied the measurement instrument with a constant-voltage backup supply system,
to provide adequate voltage during short duration voltage reductions. Moreover the
backup system embodies surge protective devices. The requirements for data acquisition
8 E. Fiorucci et al.

(DAQ) and processing have been guaranteed using a PC-based measurement station,
which embodies a NI PCI 60523E DAQ board. Its main features are:
1 eight differential channels
2 resolution of 16 bits
3 sampling rate of 333 Hz
4 absolute accuracy lower than 0.03% of reading in the ±10 V nominal range
5 stream-to-disk rate of 333 kSamples/s.
During DAQ of line voltage and current, the sampling frequency can be changed
according to the quantity under analysis. In our implementation:
1 the sampling rate is set at 20,480 Hz
2 the acquired window is set at 200 ms, with a width of ten cycles of the fundamental
3 the window shape is rectangular
4 there is no gap and no overlapping between successive windows
5 the frequency resolution is set at 5 Hz.
Using this configuration we can measure up to the 200th harmonic components (at
50 Hz) and transients with a duration greater than 73 μs (millisecond impulsive transients
range) (IEEE STD 1159, 2009). The instrument can perform an extended transient
analysis by increasing the sampling frequency up to 333 kHz, capturing transients with a
duration greater than 3 μs.

Figure 1 Architecture of the measuring algorithm (see online version for colours)
Metrological characterisation of power quality measurement stations 9

The measurement software, developed in the NI LabWindows/CVI environment,


executes the following main tasks, shown in detail in Figure 1:
• continuous acquisition of both voltage and current signals without triggering
• simultaneous online evaluation of the main parameters, such as rms signal amplitude,
voltage instantaneous flicker level, frequency spectrum and signal filtering
• simultaneous online evaluation of harmonic distortion and transient disturbances for
both voltage and current signals, voltage flicker effect
• data storing.
Circular mode buffers have been implemented to measure the following quantities and
indexes:
1 sub-sampled input signals
2 rms values
3 THD %
4 transients disturbance durations
5 transient disturbance amplitudes
6 voltage flicker instantaneous perception function.
The short duration (< 1 cycle) transients are detected using an online selective digital
filtering of the acquired window, finalised to fundamental and low-order harmonic
components suppression. Amplitude and duration of filtered signal are evaluated with an
auto-scaled threshold technique. The other transients are detected by analysing the rms
variations.
For both voltage and current harmonics measurement a time domain FFT approach
has been chosen, in order to simultaneously satisfy the requirements for quasi-stationary
and fluctuating harmonics, interharmonics and spurious components. A statistical online
evaluation of the amplitude for the principal harmonic components and the total harmonic
distortion percent index (THD %) are calculated. The voltage flicker evaluation is based
on a digital implementation of the EN 61000-4-15 flicker meter.
The two main objectives for the metrological characterisation of a PQ analyser are to
determine whether the system complies with the standards and to quantise the actual
measurement errors. Tests are conducted to simulate steady state and transient events,
and the data recorded is compared with reference data.
Each characterisation test was divided in three steps, as shown in Table 2.
• At the first step we characterised the measurement algorithms using reference data
supplied by simulation. We generated voltage waveforms affected by special
transient disturbances, amplitude modulation or harmonic distortion. Aim of this step
was the estimation of the accuracy with which the measurement algorithms evaluate
the quantities under measurement.
• At the next step we generated reference low-voltage signals, to directly supply the
DAQ board (without the transducer) in order to determine the instrument capabilities
in terms of acquisition and transmission errors and measure the data transfer speed.
10 E. Fiorucci et al.

An arbitrary signal generator has been used to this aim. Typical voltage disturbances
have been reproduced and compared to the measured values.
• Finally we tested the overall instrument supplying it with a real line voltage
(0–260 V), generated by reference disturbance generators.

Table 2 The proposed three-step performance testing procedure

Step 1
Generation of reference voltage waveforms affected by special transient disturbances,
amplitude modulation or harmonic distortion, using simulation programmes, utilised to
test the measurement algorithms.
Results: accuracy of measurement algorithms.
Step 2
Generation of reference low-voltage signals affected by typical voltage disturbances, using an
arbitrary signal generator. They have been applied to the DAQ board (without the transducer).
Results: accuracy of DAQ board, data transfer speed.
Step 3
Field testing of the overall instrument, supplied with a real line voltage,
generated by reference disturbance generators.
Results: Overall system performance.

3.1 Measurement of dips with a duration of less than one cycle


At this level of the test we evaluated the performance of the system to acquire dips with a
duration of less than one cycle, generating disturbances with variable amplitude, position
and duration and carrying out the previously described three steps.
• Step 1 (simulation test): In our simulation the sampling frequency was set at 333 kHz
and the acquisition time to a single period of the voltage waveform at 50 Hz. During
the successive experimental tests we set the DAQ sampling frequency and
acquisition time at the same value, in order to make a comparison between the
results.
• Step 2 (test with low-voltage signals): The low voltage signal was supplied by a
sinewave generator (Stanford DS345) which output waveform was amplitude
modulated by a pulse produced by another signal generator (Analogic 2020). The test
signal parameters were measured by the LeCroy LC584AXL digital scope, using the
enhanced vertical resolution function.
• Step 3 (test with power signals): The power signal at 230 V was generated by
superimposing a disturbance (produced by the Transient 2000) to the voltage
waveform (produced by the Harcs 1000).

3.1.1 Test with dips with variable amplitude and fixed position and duration
These tests were conducted generating dips with a duration of 60 μs, a position of 89°
and a positive or negative amplitude ranging from 0% to 90%. In Figure 2, we reported
the percentage errors obtained measuring the dips. The three lines represent the errors
Metrological characterisation of power quality measurement stations 11

measured during the simulation test (SW), the low-voltage test (LV) and the line (high)
voltage test (HV). The main considerations about the results are that:
1 the contribution of the algorithm on the measurement error is negligible
2 the error is bounded to 2% in most of the conditions in the test with low-voltage
signal
3 the error reaches the 8% only at the maximum dip amplitude.
It is evident the increase in the error produced by the DAQ process (LV) and by the
voltage transducer (HV). The sudden increase in the amplitude error for 90% negative
dips is due to the adopted measurement algorithm, and it is amplified by the voltage
transducer.

Figure 2 Percentage amplitude errors for the of positive and negative dips

3.1.2 Dips with variable position and fixed amplitude and duration
We tested the system with a voltage affected by dips with a duration of 60 μs, an
amplitude of 16% of peak value, and a position ranging from 20° to 340°.
The results, illustrated in Figure 3, show the duration and amplitude errors at the three
levels of test. The overall error is within 6% in both the cases. The programme shows a
little error for the duration measurement (0.17%), connected with the time resolution of
the system (the adopted sampling period).

Figure 3 Percentage dips duration and amplitude errors versus the position
12 E. Fiorucci et al.

3.1.3 Dips with variable duration and fixed amplitude and position
During this test we generated dips with an amplitude of 1.6%, a duration variable from 1°
to 10° and centred at 90°. The results, reported in Figure 4, show a neglecting
contribution of the software, an error bounded to 1% during the LV test and to 3% during
the HV test.

Figure 4 Percentage dips duration and amplitude errors versus the duration

3.2 Measurement of dips with a duration of more than one cycle


These tests have been carried out setting the sampling frequency at 20,480 Hz and
acquiring ten periods of the 50 Hz voltage waveform. The power signals were generated
using the Fluke 6100A Electrical Power Standard.

3.2.1 Test with dips with variable amplitude and fixed position and duration
We generated dips with a 20 ms duration, a 0° position and an amplitude ranging from
0% to 90%. The test results illustrated by Figure 5 show:
1 a negligible contribution of the algorithm to the error
2 an error bounded to 1% in most of the conditions in the LV test
3 an error that reaches the 3% only at the maximum dip amplitude in the HV test.

Figure 5 Percentage dip amplitude errors


Metrological characterisation of power quality measurement stations 13

3.2.2 Dips with variable position and fixed amplitude and duration
During this test we set the dips duration at 20 ms, the amplitude at 50% of peak voltage,
while the position was ranging from 0° to 315°. To better examine the obtained results,
we briefly describe how the implemented system works. The algorithm detects a dip
occurrence by the following steps:
1 measurement of the fundamental component of the acquired voltage waveform
2 subtraction of the fundamental component from the acquired signal
3 calculation of the derivative of the obtained signal to emphasise the beginning and
the end of the dip
4 analysis of the portion of the whole signal around the dip to calculate the dip
parameters.
A duration error bounded to 1.5% was obtained in all the tests with the same trend, for
the reason that the sine voltage can cover or emphasises the dip, depending on its slope.
The result is the cyclical error trend shown in Figure 6. On the contrary, the amplitude
error is generally lower than 0.25% and near to zero for the SW and LV tests.

Figure 6 Percentage dips duration and amplitude errors versus the position

Figure 7 Percentage dips duration and amplitude errors versus the duration

3.2.3 Dips with variable duration and fixed amplitude and position
During this test, the dip amplitude was 50% of peak voltage and the duration was ranging
from 20 ms to 160 ms. Both the duration and amplitude errors were at low values
(Figure 7). The graphs show a trend where the duration percentage error increases when
14 E. Fiorucci et al.

the duration decreases, even if the absolute error is constant and mainly caused by the
sampling time resolution.

3.3 Measurement of the voltage distortion


This test was carried out setting the sampling frequency at 20,480 Hz and the measuring
window at ten periods of the fundamental. We generated voltage harmonics with a
frequency up to 1,250 Hz and an amplitude variable from 1% to 10%, using the Analogic
2020 arbitrary generator (LV test) and the Fluke 6100 (HV test).
Figure 8 illustrates the VHTD errors versus the harmonic frequency for a VHTD of
1%, 2%, 5% and 10%. The algorithm error is always around zero in all the tests. The
error is bounded to 2% in most of the conditions in the test with low-voltage signal and to
3% with the line voltage.

Figure 8 Percentage VHTD errors versus the harmonic frequency

Figure 9 Percentage Pst errors versus voltage variations per minute


Metrological characterisation of power quality measurement stations 15

3.4 Measurement of the flicker


To carry out this test we set the sampling frequency at 450 Hz and the measuring window
at 600 s. The power signals were generated by the Fluke 6100, while the LV signals by
amplitude modulating a sine wave, generated by the HP8116A, with a rectangular wave,
generated by Stanford DS345. Figure 9 shows the Pst (short-term flicker severity index)
error versus the number of voltage changes per minute. The error generally lower than
1%, reaches the 3.9% only at one change per minute, which is less than the required 5%
(EN 61000-4-15, 2003).

4 Conclusions and discussion

In the paper the problem of the metrological characterisation multifunction PQ


monitoring instruments is discussed. An overview of IEEE and IEC standards for the
characterisation of PQ monitoring instruments is presented.
One of the main results of this analysis is that the wide diffusion of both PC-based
architecture instruments and digital integrated measurement devices allows the choice of
the time-domain FFT (EN 61000-3-2, 2007)-based instrumentation to be a standard
reference for harmonics measurement, as we shown in this paper. Moreover, the adoption
of Hall-effect-based transducers seems to be the most suitable for these kinds of
applications, mainly because of their superior bandwidth, accuracy and range.
The integration of measurement capabilities for different disturbances in the same
apparatus is today required for the continuous monitoring of PQ, and probably in future
will be the normal practice.
An international standard that defines the requirements, and suggests recommended
methods and practices will be helpful. The EN 61000-4-30 represents a starting point
toward this aim, even if it defines only the methods for measurement and interpretation of
results. Unfortunately, it does not define the measurement thresholds, and does not
examine the problem related to voltage and current transducers. The specification for the
design of a digital flicker meter is also expected by people working in this field (CIGRE
36.05/CIRED WG 2/UIEPQ Joint Working Group CCU2 on Voltage Quality, 2004).
The characterisation of a multifunction PQ analyser requires the implementation of
complex and time-consuming tests. The separated analysis of the effects produced by the
algorithms, the DAQ and processing system and by the transducers can help
understanding the source of error and improve the performance. Simulation tests can be
carried out without significant difficulties at the first step of the system design. The
low-voltage signal generation can be easily obtained for most of the tests, especially
using arbitrary signal generators. The main problems are concerned with the line voltage
tests, because they can be carried out only using special and expensive generators or
calibrators. A separate specification of the transducer and the low voltage measuring
system can avoid the implementation of line voltage and current tests with special
signals, reducing so the cost of tests.
16 E. Fiorucci et al.

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IEC standards
EN 50160 (2008) ‘Voltage characteristics of electricity supplied by public distribution systems’.
EN 61000-3-2 (2007) ‘Limits for harmonic current emissions, Annex B: requirements for
measurement equipment’.
EN 61000-3-3 (2009) ‘Limitation of voltage fluctuations and flicker in low-voltage supply systems
for equipment with rated current ≤ 16 A’.
EN 61000-4-7 (2010) ‘General guide on harmonics and interharmonics measurements and
instrumentation, for power supply systems and equipment connected thereto’.
EN 61000-4-15 (2003) Flicker meter – functional and design specifications’.
EN 61000-4-11 (2006) ‘Voltage dips, short interruptions and voltage variations immunity tests’.
EN 61000-4-30 (2010) ‘Testing and measurement techniques: power quality measurement
methods’.
Metrological characterisation of power quality measurement stations 17

IEEE standards
IEEE Std 141 (1995) ‘IEEE recommended practice for electric power distribution for industrial
plants’.
IEEE Std 519 (1992) ‘IEEE recommended practices and requirements for harmonic control in
electrical power systems’.
IEEE Std 1100 (2005) ‘IEEE recommended practices for powering and grounding electronic
equipment’.
IEEE Std 1159 (2009) ‘IEEE recommended practice for monitoring electric power quality’.
IEEE Std 1453 (2004) ‘IEEE recommended practice for measurement and limits of voltage
fluctuations and associated light flicker on AC power systems’.

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