Harmonics

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Harmonics : Definition
• A harmonic is a signal or wave whose frequency is an integral (whole-
number) multiple of the frequency of some reference signal or wave
• A component of a waveform that occurs at an integer multiple of the
fundamental frequency

Where,
• f(t) is the time domain function
•𝑨n 𝒏is the harmonic number (only odd values of n are required)
• is the amplitude of the nth harmonic component
• T is the length of one cycle in seconds

• Harmonics are a steady state phenomenon and repeat with every 50 Hz

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Harmonic Distortion
• Caused by nonlinear devices in the power system

Figure 4: Current distortion caused by

nonlinear resistance

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Figure 5: Fourier series
representation of a
distorted waveform

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• When a waveform is identical from one cycle to the next, it can be
represented as a sum of pure sine waves in which the frequency of each
sinusoid is an integer multiple of the fundamental frequency of the
distorted wave. This multiple is called a harmonic of the fundamental.

• Odd Harmonic

• Even Harmonic

• Higher-order harmonics (above the range of the 25th to 50th, depending

on the system) are negligible for power system analysis
• Interference with low-power electronic devices
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• System resonances in the range of frequencies

• Sources of harmonic distortion will ultimately be end-user loads

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 Voltage vs Current Distortion
1. The harmonic voltages are too great (the voltage too distorted) for the
control to properly determine firing angles.

2. The harmonic currents are too great for the capacity of some device in
the power supply system such as a transformer, and the machine must be
operated at a lower than rated power.

3. The harmonic voltages are too great because the harmonic currents
produced by the device are too great for the given system condition

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Figure 6: Harmonic currents flowing through the system impedance result in
harmonic voltages at the load

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IEEE Standard 519-1992:
Recommended Practices and Requirements for Harmonic Control in
Electrical Power Systems:
1. The control over the amount of harmonic current injected into the
system takes place at the end-use application.

2. Assuming the harmonic current injection is within reasonable limits,

the control over the voltage distortion is exercised by the
entity
having control over the system impedance, which is often the utility.

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 Effects
Effects of voltage distortion
• Harmonic currents can't flow into equipment other than the nonlinear
loads that caused them
• 1,000kVA, 480V transformer is rated to deliver 1,200A RMS
• Harmonic currents also increase I2Z heat losses
Effects of voltage distortion
• Extreme voltage distortion can cause multiple zero crossings for the
voltage wave
• 5th harmonic voltage distortion can cause serious problems for 3-phase
motors

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 Transients Harmonics
Exhibit high frequencies only briefly after Occur in the steady state
there has been an abrupt change in the
power system

Natural frequencies of the system at the Integer multiples of the fundamental

time of the switching operation frequency

Transients are usually dissipated within a The waveform distortion that produces
few cycles the harmonics is present continually, or
at least for several seconds

Transients are associated with changes Associated with the continuous

in the system such as switching of a operation of a load
capacitor bank

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Active, Reactive, and Apparent power
 Apparent power S [voltampere (VA)]. The product of the rms voltage
and current.
■ Active power P [watt (W)]. The average rate of delivery of energy.
■ Reactive power Q [voltampere-reactive] (var)]. The portion of the
apparent power that is out of phase, or in quadrature, with the active
power.

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(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

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 (5)

(6)

The reactive power is a type of power that does no real work and is generally
associated with reactive elements

(7)

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 (7)

(8)

Relationship between P, Q, and S in sinusoidal condition Non-sinusoidal condition

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Power Factor in Sinusoidal Situations

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 Power Factor in Non-sinusoidal Situations

When steady-state harmonics are present,

voltages and currents may be represented by
Fourier series of the form

whose rms values can be shown to be

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The average power is given by

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Harmonic phase sequences

■ Harmonics of order h =1, 7, 13,… are generally positive sequence

■ Harmonics of order h = 5, 11, 17,… are generally negative sequence

■ Triplens (h = 3, 9, 15,…) are generally zero sequence

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Harmonics of order h =1, 7, 13,… are generally positive sequence

■ Harmonics of order h = 5, 11, 17,… are generally negative sequence

■ Triplens (h = 3, 9, 15,…) are generally zero sequence

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• The expressions for the fifth harmonic currents are:

• The expressions for the fifth harmonic currents are:

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Figure 3: (a) Fundamental phasors. (b) Third harmonic phasors
(c) Fifth harmonic phasors (d) Seventh harmonic phasors 27
 Triplen harmonics
• Odd multiples of the third harmonic (h = 3, 9, 15, 21,…)

• Overloading the neutral

• Telephone interference

• Line-to-neutral voltage is badly distorted

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Figure 4: High neutral currents in circuits serving single-phase nonlinear loads
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Figure 5: Flow of third-harmonic current in three-phase transformers
(a) Delta (b) Star

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EFFECT OF HARMONICS ON POWER SYSTEM
DEVICES

• Transformers

• AC Motors

• Capacitor Banks

• Cables

• Busways

• Protective Devices

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 Transformers
• Voltage harmonics set up hysteresis loops
• Additional core losses

• Current harmonics increase the net RMS current

• Additional losses
• Winding eddy current losses
• Eddy loss
• is the RMS value of the harmonic current of order
• Eddy currents due to harmonics increase the transformer winding temperature

• Transformers that supply large third harmonic generating loads should

have the neutrals oversized
• k factor
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• k factor is equal to the sum of the square of the harmonic frequency
currents (expressed as a ratio of the total RMS current) multiplied by the
square of the harmonic frequency numbers

• is the ratio between the fundamental current and the total RMS current.

• is the ratio between the second harmonic current and the total RMS current.

• is the ratio between the third harmonic current and the total RMS current

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• Determine the k rating of a transformer required to carry a load consisting of
500 A of fundamental, 200 A of third harmonics, 120 A of fifth harmonics, and
90 A of seventh harmonics:

Total RMS current () = 559 A The transformer specified

should be capable of
= 500/559 = 0.894 handling 559 A of total
= 200/559 = 0.358 RMS current with a k
factor of not less than
= 120/559 = 0.215 4.378
= 90/559 = 0.161
k = (0.894)2 12 + (0.358)2 32 + (0.215)2 52 + (0.161)2 72 = 4.378

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 AC Motors
• Hysteresis and eddy current losses in the core increase

• Harmonic currents produce additional losses in the motor windings

• Torsional oscillations due to harmonics

• The net effect is a magnetic field that revolves at a relative speed of six times the
speed of the rotor
• Interaction between the magnetic fields and the rotor-induced currents produces
torsional oscillations of the motor shaft

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CAPACITOR BANKS
• Capacitor banks are designed to operate at a maximum voltage of
110% of their rated voltages and at 135% of their rated kVARs

• Harmonic resonance

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Example: A 2000-kVA, 13.8-kV to 480/277-V transformer with a leakage reactance
of 6.0% feeding a bus containing two 500-hp adjustable speed drives. A 750-kVAR
Y-connected capacitor bank is installed on the 480-V bus for power factor
correction. Perform an analysis to determine the conditions for resonance

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CABLES
• Effective resistance of the cable increases with frequency because of
the phenomenon known as skin effect

• Determine the current rating factor for a 300-kcmil copper conductor

required to carry a nonlinear load with the following harmonic
frequency content: 1 kcmil = 0.5067 square milimeters

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• The DC resistance of 300-kcmil cable = 0.17 Ω per mile
• AC resistance at frequency f,

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 =

Current rating factor (q)

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Skin effect ratios are:

The individual harmonic distortion factors are:

The current rating factor

The cable should be capable of handling a 60-Hz equivalent current of

1.135 250=284 A.

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Bus Ways & Protective Devices
• Neutral bus bars and connecting lugs are sized to carry the full value
of the rated phase current
• They can become overloaded when the neutral conductors are
overloaded with the additional sum of the triplen harmonics

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Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) IEEE
Definition

= magnitude of the n’th harmonic

= magnitude of fundamental

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Distortion Index (DIN) IEC Definition

= magnitude of the n’th harmonic

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 Telephone Influence Factor/
Telephone Interference Factor (TIF)
• Method of measuring signal distortion and is used to estimate the
effect that power line harmonics will have on nearby analog
telephone conductors
• The magnitude of each of the harmonics is weighted based on the
physiological and audiological characteristics of the human ear
• The harmonics are additionally weighted to reflect the relationship
of harmonic frequency and degree of coupling to the phone lines
• These weights are called the single frequency TIF weights

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= single frequency RMS current or voltage at harmonic i

= single frequency TIF weighting factor at harmonic i

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 K-FACTOR
• Takes into account the additional heating in a power transformer
that results from the presence of harmonics in the system
• The additional harmonic heating may cause a transformer to
exceed designed temperature limits even though the RMS current
is less than the transformer rating
• The K-Factor can be used as justification to oversize a power
transformer to provide extra margin for harmonic losses or to
select an appropriate K-Factor rated transformer

= magnitude of the n’th harmonic

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