IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 53, NO.
1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017
Analysis of Voltage Sag Severity Case Study in an
Industrial Circuit
Santiago Arias-Guzmán, Student Member, IEEE, Oscar Andrés Ruiz-Guzmán, Student Member, IEEE,
Luı́s Felipe Garcia-Arı́as, Marı́a Jaramillo-Gonzáles, Pablo Daniel Cardona-Orozco, Student Member, IEEE,
Armando J. Ustariz-Farfán, Member, IEEE, Eduardo A. Cano-Plata, Senior Member, IEEE,
and Andrés Felipe Salazar-Jiménez
Abstract—This paper presents the results of a power quality
study carried out in an industrial distribution system. The main
objective of this study was to quantify the negative impact caused
by voltage sags in industrial processes and its relationship to gen-
erated interruptions. A series of measurements of power quality
variations were taken at the substation that feeds the circuit and
at the point-of-common coupling of each industrial user. The new
standard IEEE Std 1564-2014 “Guide for Voltage Sag Indices” was
used to determine the indicators to assess the severity of voltage
sags and also the calculation method. Sag severity was selected as
it allows the calculation of the probability of voltage sags to gen-
erate interruptions in industrial processes or electrical equipment.
Thus, an analysis of the quality of the supply voltage can be done.
Severity was initially calculated at the substation that feeds the in-
dustrial circuit and later, at the point-of-common coupling of each
user. Subsequently, the relationship between user interruptions
and severity values was determined. Finally, recommendations of
good engineering practices in industrial processes were done.
Index Terms—Distortion measurement, IEEE Std 1564, power
distribution, power quality, voltage fluctuations.
I. INTRODUCTION
HE need to prevent and reduce the effects of disturbances
T on electrical systems has acquired great importance in re-
cent years [1]. Among all possible disturbances, voltage sags
have the highest occurrence frequency [2]. Additionally, it has
been estimated that voltage sags generate between 92% and
98% of interruptions attributed to disturbances in power supply
Manuscript received August 1, 2015; revised November 19, 2015; accepted
January 16, 2016. Date of publication August 26, 2016; date of current version
January 18, 2017. Paper 2015-PSEC-0602.R1, presented at the 2015 Industry
Applications Society Annual Meeting, Addison, TX, USA, Oct. 18–22, and ap-
proved for publication in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS
by the Power System Engineering Committee of the IEEE Industry Applica-
tions Society. This work was supported in part by the Universidad Nacional
de Colombia (Research Found Office of Manizales—DIMA) (Distribution and
Power Network Research Group—GREDyP; Power Quality and Power Elec-
tronics Research Group—GICEP; and Laboratory in Quality of Energy and
Power Electronics—LACEP).
S. Arias-Guzmán, O. A. Ruiz-Guzmán, L. F. Garcia-Arı́as, M. Jaramillo-
Gonzáles, P. D. Cardona-Orozco, and E. A. Cano-Plata are with the Universidad
Nacional de Colombia, Manizales 111321, Colombia (e-mail: saariasgu@unal.
edu.co; oaruizg@unal.edu.co; lufgarciaar@unal.edu.co; marjaramillogon@
unal.edu.co; pdcardonao@unal.edu.co; eacanopl@unal.edu.co).
A. J. Ustariz-Farfán is with the Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engi-
neering Department, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Manizales 111321,
Colombia (e-mail: ajustarizf@unal.edu.co).
A. F. Salazar-Jiménez is with the Central Hidroeléctrica de Caldas—CHEC,
Manizales 111321, Colombia (e-mail: andres.salazar@chec.com.co).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2016.2603470
0093-9994 © 2016 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
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15
[3]. This is due to the widespread use of equipment sensitive
to this disturbance [4], even if they are of very short duration
(1–6 cycles) [3]. Consequently, voltage sags have become an im-
portant problem for network operators and end users. Multiple
studies are needed to analyze the relationship between voltage
sags and the generation of interruptions in industrial processes
and also the destruction of equipment [3]–[6]. This problem was
detected in an industrial distribution system when the network
operator (OR) of the city of Manizales (Colombia) conducted a
study of power quality in an industrial circuit. First, research car-
ried out in 25 industrial users revealed that 60% of these compa-
nies reported the occurrence of voltage variations. Also, around
80% of these companies reported using equipment sensitive to
such disturbances. Therefore, the need to quantify the quality
of voltage supply arose. A series of measurements was taken at
the substation that feeds the industrial distribution system and
at the point-of-common coupling (PCC) of each industrial user.
First, the duration and retained voltage of each voltage sag
was recorded. These two parameters were selected given the
possibility of combining them into a single indicator known as
voltage sag severity. Voltage sag severity allows the measure-
ment of the probability of generating an interruption in a process
or in a device. Recently, the IEEE Guide for Voltage Sag Indices
IEEE Std. 1564-2014 introduced methods for further calculat-
ing the severity of voltage sags [7]. This study shows the need
to use this standard in the analysis of the impact of voltage sags
in industrial distribution systems, and additionally, the need to
considered the actual conditions of the connections of end-user
loads. Additionally, the fastest way to calculate the average
severity value is presented. This paper is organized as follows.
Section II presents the results of a research carried out to identify
the main power quality problems for industrial users. Section III
introduces the theoretical framework used as base to calculate
the severity of voltage sags. Section IV describes the avail-
able measurement system of the network operator. Section V
presents severity of voltage sags and measurement records in
the substation and a fastest way to calculate the average severity
value. Section VI shows measurement records of each industrial
user and voltage sag severity. Section VII presents a compar-
ison between severity and the impact of voltage sags. Finally,
Section VIII presents the conclusions of this study.
II. MAJOR PROBLEMS OF POWER QUALITY: CASE STUDY
A study was carried out to identify the main problems
of power quality for each industrial user. This process was
16
conducted to analyze the perception of the power quality service
of each user. The different industrial users included: 1) Tool
manufacturing; 2) coffee processing; 3) timber industry;
4) chemical production; 5) data processing centers; 6) plastic
manufacturing; 7) alcohol production; 8) food and candy
production; and 9) metal production. A series of surveys was
conducted in 25 companies in order to get measurable results.
The results showed that only two of these companies had voltage
stabilization systems. Some of the remaining companies re-
ported problems such as: 1) damage to PLCs due in some cases to
internal programming, and 2) damage to automation equipment,
screens, and automata caused by voltage variations. A total of
80% of users reported using equipment sensitive to voltage sags.
This problem was described by operators as very short interrup-
tions. The problems caused by this situation include: 1) inter-
ruption of data processing; 2) resumption of lighting systems;
3) interruption of production processes (PLCs damage, poor
operation of contactors, relays, variable speed drives); 4) loss
of property; 5) loss of materials; and 6) equipment malfunction.
Twelve companies reported this problem during the period of
data collection. Some of the effects were: 1) interruption of
centrifuges in food factories; 2) equipment damage in closed
circuit television in plastic producers; 3) loss of production
time in timber; 4) voltage sags that generated loss of material
in tool factories; 5) failure in variable speed drives in candy
factories; 6) alteration in the manufacturing processes in users
producing household appliances such as refrigerators; 7) and
finally, the loss of raw materials due to heating and cooling
processes in food factories. The interruption of the production
process represents 90% of the problems reported by users. After
analyzing all the information collected, it was then decided
that it was necessary to calculate the impact caused by voltage
sags. At first place, a review of existing national regulations
on how to assess the severity of this disturbance was done.
It was concluded that the assessment needed to be broadened
to international levels. The reason for choosing the IEEE
Std 1564-2014 standard and the differences with Colombian
regulations are presented as follows.
III. VOLTAGE SAG SEVERITY: IEEE 1564-2014 AND
CREG 017-2005
In the Colombian regulatory framework, the Commission of
Energy and Gas Regulation (CREG) defines the quality stan-
dards that network operators must meet to ensure conditions of
quality and continuity. The document CREG-017 of March 8,
2005 “Power Quality” [8] includes a parameter that relates the
different types of voltage disturbances including voltage sags.
The CREG-017 seeks to combine all voltage disturbances (sags,
peaks, elevations, flicker, etc.) into a single indicator.
This approach aims to measure the severity of voltage fluc-
tuations in a shorter time interval without storing vast amounts
of information needed for further analysis [8]. The parameter of
the Colombian regulation calculates an indicator of statistical
physics that assigns a severity level to all disturbances occurring
over a period of time known as PST [9].
The indicator proposed by the Colombian regulation is based
on the proposal presented in the IEC 61000-4-15 of 2003 [9].
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 53, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017
Fig. 1. SEMI-F47 fitting curve for calculating severity of voltage sags [6].
The Colombian regulation integrates voltage sags and elevations
in the calculation of the PST . Moreover, in this study, the network
operator needed to quantify the individual impact of voltage
sags in order to improve service delivery to the industrial users
mentioned in Section II.
On the other hand, the Standard [7] provides the method to
calculate the severity index in each voltage sag, substation, and
power system. This method is also suitable for calculating the
voltage sag severity at different sites such the PCC of a single
user. The method presented in [7] focuses solely on voltage sags.
The IEEE 1564 of 2014 determines that sag severity calculation
must be performed in records captured in monitoring periods
of at least one month. The method used to calculate severity
according to [7] is as follows.
1) Obtain the records of waveforms for a period of measure-
ment (minimum one month).
2) Calculate the retained voltage and duration of voltage
sags.
3) Calculate the voltage sag severity of voltage sags.
4) Calculate the voltage sag severity on the studied substation
as the sum of individual contributions of voltage sags.
For this, the IEEE 1564-2014 proposes the calculation as
follows.
Each sag severity is obtained using the following equation:
1 − V
Se = (1)
1 − Vcurve (d)
where V is the retained voltage per unit (p.u.), d is the duration
of the sag, and Vcurve is the voltage of a reference curve in
a device. The standard IEEE Std 1564-2014 [7] recommends
using the F47 curve of the International group of Semiconductor
Equipment and Materials (SEMI) [10] as a benchmark. Fig. 1
shows the SEMI-F47 which is used as a fitting curve.
Voltage sags with a severity value of less than 1 are considered
within the operation area of the equipment but it is not implied
that the equipment or the process will not be affected [7]. Voltage
sag severity with values greater than 1 produces interruptions.
Table I provides an algorithm when the SEMI-F47 curve is
used as reference for each value of retained voltage V and a
duration d.
It is possible to evaluate severity in a substation or PCC from
each voltage sag severity as the sum of individual contributions
ARIAS-GUZMÁN et al.: ANALYSIS OF VOLTAGE SAG SEVERITY CASE STUDY IN AN INDUSTRIAL CIRCUIT
TABLE I
ALGORITHM FOR CALCULATING VOLTAGE SAG SEVERITY—SEMI-F47 [7]
Duration range Calculation of voltage sag severity
d ࣘ 20 ms Se = 1 − V
20 ms ࣘ d ࣘ 200 ms Se = 2 (1 − V )
200 ms ࣘ d ࣘ 500 ms Se = 3.3 (1 − V )
500 ms ࣘ d ࣘ 10 s Se = 5 (1 − V )
d > 10 s Se = 10 (1 − V )
of voltage sags. Total severity (Ssite ) and average severity
(Saverage ) are calculated as shown in (2), where N is the to-
tal number of voltage sags in a period of time, and Sn _th is
the severity of the sag nth. The amount of voltage sags taking
place every 30 days (N30 ) in the total period of measurement
(Tm easurem ent ) is calculated using (3):

N months. Based on this information, it is possible to calculate
Ssite = Sn th
i=1
Ssite
Saverage =
N
N
N30 = 30 · . (3)
Tmeasurement
IV. AVAILABLE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
An evaluation of a medium-voltage industrial distribution
system was carried out using the severity indicators. In this
industrial system, a 33-kV substation feeds a shunt circuit to
some industrial consumers of Manizales (Colombia). This as-
sessment was conducted from 01/01/2008 to 12/31/2014. Fig. 2
shows the one-line diagram of the industrial circuit under study.
This figure shows the diverse elements involved in supplying
industrial users and also the position of the equipment to mea-
sure information (UAD) in the 33-kV substation. Users connect
to a distribution circuit in a topology with guard cable cover-
ing 100% of its length. This circuit provides its entire load to
industrial users. Its topology is radial. The information used
was provided by the quality management system of the electric
network operator.
The network operator has a total of 86 class “A” analyzers of
quality (as described in [11]–[13]) and each substation has its
own analyzer. The basic characteristics of these analyzers are:
1) they allow measurements applicable to Class A equipment
(according to the IEC 61000-4-30 [12]); 2) they count on eight
channels, four of current and four of voltage configurable ac-
cording to the type of measurement (single phase, three phase
in star or delta, the two wattmeter method, two elements and a
half); 3) they record harmonic components of up to 3000 Hz;
4) they are able to acquire 512 samples per cycle; and 5) they
are able to configure the reference voltage (sliding voltage Usr
or declared voltage Un ).
Additionally, the network operator has portable equipment
with touch interface that allows field parameterization. Even
though portable equipment has lower specifications than fixed
equipment, the main differences are: 1) acquisition of 256 sam-
ples per cycle and 2) configuration of the Un reference voltage.
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17
The measurement equipment, voltage (PT) and current (CT)
transformers are referenced to ground and the configuration of
the measurement equipment in the substations corresponds to
connections of three elements (three PTs and three CTs).
Table II shows the records acquired from the database in the
substation of 33 kV.
A total of 2700 records of variations of RMS including voltage
sags, elevations, and interruptions were acquired in the substa-
tion under study. From these records, the PST indicator can be
calculated but it would not represent voltage sag severity. There-
fore, records belonging only to voltage sags were extracted. A
total of 2676 of the 2700 records were voltage sags. The avail-
able information is: 1) the lower value of voltage retained during
the sag; 2) duration; and 3) the phase in which the lower value
of voltage was detected. Additionally, records obtained in each
user PCC were acquired in 2011 in a period longer than two
the severity indicators of voltage sags in the substation under
study and in the PCC of each industrial user. This paper will not
show the severity of each record but it will present the results of
(2) applying the methodology in Section III to the substation under
study and the PCC of each industrial user.
V. SEVERITY IN THE SUBSTATION UNDER STUDY
Initially, voltage sag severity was calculated using the SEMI-
F47 of the algorithm shown in Table I. Then, (2) was used to
calculate total voltage sag severity and the average voltage sag
severity in the substation. These two parameters were obtained
between 2008 and 2014 (annual comparison). The amount of
voltage sags were also obtained every 30 days by (3). Results
are shown in Table III.
Table III shows that the amount of voltage sags every 30
days during seven years has increased from an average of 20
to 34 voltage sags. Also, the total severity in the substation has
increased with the years. The total severity value appears to have
doubled between 2008 and 2014. Still, the average severity in
all the years has changed little from a value of 0.5 resulting in
an allowable value for the circuits fed by this substation.
Given the values presented in Section III, Fig. 1, the average
severity has remained remote from the interruption threshold
value. Thus, it is considered that the power quality service for
voltage sags meets SEMI F47 standards. This also shows that,
although the number of voltage sags has increased in the differ-
ent years, average severity has remained at acceptable values.
Therefore, the severity average value becomes a more important
parameter of analysis than the amount of voltage sags in a year.
The low severity average value can be explained taking into ac-
count the amount of sags with durations shorter than 500 ms and
a high retained voltage. A series of tables allows a quick com-
parison in different years. Therefore, the method proposed in
IEC 61000-2-8 Environment-Voltage Dips and Short Interrup-
tions on Public Electric Power Supply Systems With Statistical
Measurement Results [14] is used.
Applying this distinction to records in 2008 and 2014 showed
that the greatest amount of voltage sags remained within the
18 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 53, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

Fig. 2. Simple one line diagram of the industrial distribution system under study.

TABLE II TABLE IV
RECORDS ACQUIRED DURING THE PERIOD 2008–2014 VOLTAGE SAG QUANTIFICATION IN SUBSTATION 1 IN THE YEAR 2008

Site Name Time Phase Magnitude Magnitude Duration Duration Duration (s)
Stamp (kV) (p.u.) (s) (cycles)
Magnitude (p.u.) < 0.1 0.1–0.25 0.25–0.5 1–3 3–20 20–60 60–300
SUB_1 25/01/08 C 14 724.084 0.631 0.491 29.5
20:47:15.831 0.8–0.9 p.u. 74 54 27 7 0 0 0
SUB_1 27/01/08 B 14 374.066 0.616 0.133 8 0.7–0.8 p.u. 22 12 9 0 0 0 0
09:27:24.321 0.6–0.7 p.u. 13 8 2 0 0 0 0
SUB_1 06/02/08 C 16 194.159 0.694 0.083 5 0.5–0.6 p.u. 5 5 0 0 0 0 0
15:01:16.939
0.4–0.5 p.u. 5 1 1 0 0 0 0
... ... ... ... ... ... ...
0.3–0.4 p.u. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SUB_1 31/12/14 C 19 390.989 0.831 0.316 19
0.2–0.3 p.u. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13:29:03.561
0.1–0.2 p.u. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
ࣘ0.1 p.u. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TABLE III
VOLTAGE SAG SEVERITY VALUES FOR THE SUBSTATION UNDER STUDY TABLE V
BETWEEN 2008 AND 2014 VOLTAGE SAG QUANTIFICATION IN SUBSTATION 1 IN THE YEAR 2014

Year
Duration (s)
Parameter Analyzed 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Magnitude (p.u.) < 0.1 0.1–0.25 0.25–0.5 1–3 3–20 20–60 60–300
Nannual 245 306 292 369 480 452 420
0.8–0.9 p.u. 66 115 56 24 8 0 0
N30 20.13 25.15 24 30.32 39.5 37.15 34.52
0.7–0.8 p.u. 56 18 9 3 0 0 0
Ssite 113.811 151.668 146.824 175.014 239.588 244.765 216.248
0.6–0.7 p.u. 23 9 7 1 0 0 0
Saverage 0.464 0.495 0.502 0.474 0.499 0.541 0.514
0.5–0.6 p.u. 4 3 1 1 0 0 0
0.4–0.5 p.u. 8 1 1 0 0 0 0
0.3–0.4 p.u. 4 0 0 0 0 0 0
0.2–0.3 p.u. 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
threshold of higher retained voltage and short duration. Results 0.1–0.2 p.u. 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
ࣘ0.1 p.u. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
obtained are shown in Tables IV and V, respectively.
Specifically, instantaneous sags (0–30 cycles) accounted for
81% and 73% of voltage sags in 2008 and 2014, respectively.
Moreover, more than 80% of voltage sags had a retained voltage be assumed that 80% of voltage sags will be representative of
superior to 0.7 p.u. in both years. the behavior of the point of interest. This way, the calculation of
Now, from Tables IV and V, it can be identified the percentage voltage sag severity can be based on the worst scenario (Wss );
of voltage sags between the intervals of interest (magnitude and that is, assuming that in each interval of frequency, all voltage
duration) with the highest frequency of occurrence (Fo ). It can sags have the lower magnitude and longer duration possible.

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ARIAS-GUZMÁN et al.: ANALYSIS OF VOLTAGE SAG SEVERITY CASE STUDY IN AN INDUSTRIAL CIRCUIT 19

TABLE VI
VOLTAGE SAG DISTRIBUTION IN 2008

Magnitude Duration Frequency of Worst-Severity Representative

(p.u.) (ms) occurrence Scenario Ws s severity
Fo (%) value (Ws s .Fo )

0.8–0.9 < 100 30.20 0.400 0.120

100–250 22.04 0.666 0.146
250–500 11.02 0.666 0.073
0.7–0.8 < 100 8.97 0.600 0.053
100–250 4.89 1.00 0.048
250–500 3.67 1.00 0.036

TABLE VII
VOLTAGE SAG DISTRIBUTION IN 2014 Fig. 3. Electrical equipment room with high moisture.

Magnitude Duration Frequency of Worst Severity Representative was detected. Table VIII shows typical records obtained in a
(p.u.) (ms) occurrence Fo Scenario Ws s severity
(%) value (Ws s .Fo ) measurement period of two months.
Eighty-three voltage sags occurred during the measurement
0.8–0.9 < 100 15.71 0.400 0.062
100–250 27.38 0.666 0.182
period. Additionally, the total severity index was 34 189 or an
250–500 13.33 0.666 0.088 average severity of 0.411. According to (3), 41.5 voltage sags
0.7–0.8 < 100 13.33 0.600 0.079 would have occurred over a period of 30 days. These values
100–250 4.28 1.00 0.042
250–500 2.14 1.00 0.021
are consistent with the rates of voltage sags calculated in the
substation feeding the industrial circuit presented in Table III.
The amount of voltage sags in the substation under study has
TABLE VIII increased between 2012 and 2014 but the average severity has
RECORDS OF VOLTAGE SAGS DETECTED IN INDUSTRIAL PCC FOR A PERIOD OF remained within tolerable values. Therefore, end users should
TWO MONTHS IN THE YEAR 2011
maintain this severity trend in their facilities. When discrimi-
nating the amount of voltage sags recorded by each user, only
Site Time Phase Magnitude Magnitude Duration Duration a total average of 3.6 voltage sags were measured. The highest
Name Stamp (kV) (p.u.) (s) (cycles)
amount of voltage sags recorded by a single user was 22.
PCC_User_1 16/09/11 A 18 795.533 0.792 0.116 7
12:31:22.583
PCC_User_2 16/09/11 A 18 536.455 0.803 0.108 6.5 VII. COMPARISON BETWEEN SEVERITY AND THE IMPACT OF
12:31:22.583
PCC_User_16 20/10/11 B 20 641.702 0.884 0.108 6.5 VOLTAGE SAGS
14:18:22.150
Based on the calculated voltage sag severity values in the
substation under study, it can be concluded that there is a good
supply of voltage waveform in relation to voltage sags for each
Subsequently, the representative severity value will be equal industrial user. This result contradicts the statement of users
to the worst severity by the frequency of occurrence of each who said that interruption of operations was caused by deficient
interval. For last, the average severity value will be the sum of supply voltage. It was, therefore, necessary to check the protec-
each representative severity value. By applying this method in tion system of users who reported problems of short duration
2008 and 2014, the results are listed in Tables VI and VII. interruptions. This conclusion is based on the values of retained
Applying this method, the average severity value calculated voltage and duration recorded in Tables IV and V which do not
for the year 2008 is 0.476 and 0.478 for 2014. Comparing the justify the interruption of an industrial process. These interrup-
average severity values obtained in Tables VI and VII with the tions can be explained by poor engineering practices. Sugges-
values of Table III, it shows that only a percentage of error tions of good engineering practice should be made to users to
of 2.58 for the year 2008 and of 7.00 for 2014 is obtained. increase the sensitivity of equipment when facing short dura-
Thus, in this way, the average severity value can be obtained tion sags. Two particular cases of poor engineering practices are
in a reasonable approximation without the need of calculate the described below.
severity of each registered voltage sag. Case 1 shows deterioration caused by excessive moisture in
contact with electrical equipment found in a facility inspection
of an industrial user who had many records of voltage sags (see
VI. VOLTAGE SAG SEVERITY IN PCC OF INDUSTRIAL USERS
Fig. 3).
Measurements using portable analyzers were done for a pe- Case 2 shows a picture taken in a low-voltage cell of another
riod of two months in 2011 to some users of Fig. 2. The available facility (see Fig. 3). Fig. 4 shows that the post of 13, 2 kV of
information is: 1) the lower retained voltage during sags; 2) du- the interval network has the required protection in transmission
ration; and 3) the phase in which the lower retained voltage lines. Additionally, isolators and DPS are installed. However, the

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20
Fig. 4. Grounding conductor of the DPS cut in half the stretch.
DPS are connected in common mode to a grounding conductor
that is cut and disconnected from the grounding system.
These types of users require a more detailed study to identify
faults in connections. Based on the findings, it is accurate to say
that the sensitivity of the equipment might increase in the face
of voltage sags. Thus, corrective actions should be carried out
taking into account the pertinent regulations. In case 1, it is nec-
essary to revise the regulations on degrees of protection given
to electrical equipment enclosures [15], taking special care of
the boards or enclosures that protect sensitive equipment. In
case 2, proper connections in accordance with Colombian es-
tablished regulations (regulations of electric installation RETIE)
must be ensured [16]. It should be noted that there is still ongo-
ing research on the relationship between equipment failure and
voltage sags [3]–[6]. After the inspection of the users’ facilities,
it was concluded that it is necessary to determine the minimum
standards of protection when conducting future studies on the
severity of voltage sags. Considering that short duration sags
(0–30 cycles) accounted for over 80% of the recorded voltage
sags, further efforts should be made to accurately analyze these
disturbances. According to [17], there are still delays in the de-
tection of short-duration voltage sags by the existing network
analyzers. Therefore, other detection tools such as [18]–[20],
might be used to calculate the duration of these voltage sags.
VIII. CONCLUSION
Voltage sag severity can be used as an additional tool to
traditional classification processes in studies that seek to char-
acterize and determine the quality of power quality at certain
points; for this reason and as an example, voltage sag severity
in a medium-voltage industrial distribution network was calcu-
lated. As a result, a tendency lower to 50 voltage sags every
30 days was detected and average severity at this point was 0.5
per sag. The severity in this industrial system meets the limits
of the SEMI-F47 reference curve avoiding entering the area of
interruption of the connected equipment. Moreover, the value
of the severity obtained in the substation feeding this circuit
is consistent with the calculated severity in the PCC of the in-
dustrial users under study. Similarly, the voltage sag severity
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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 53, NO. 1, JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017
index allows to assign responsibilities and in this case, it can
be concluded that interruption problems do not arise from the
quality of voltage supply by the network operator. Additionally,
it was observed that it is not necessary to calculate the severity of
each voltage sag registered to estimate an approximate average
severity value.
Moreover, poor engineering practices affecting the sensitivity
of the equipment were identified. The capacity of immunity of
the equipment affected by the breakdown or by poor protection
systems, as in the cases presented in Section VII, should be
taken into account in future studies of voltage sag severity.
In addition, it is necessary for a more in-depth study of the
methods of voltage sag analysis and its relationship to the inter-
ruption of industrial processes. The results might be included
in the existing Colombian regulation of power quality. This is
important considering that voltage sags were 99% of the varia-
tions of RMS voltage values recorded during the seven years of
measurement.
A feasible alternative in Colombia is to review the records
of voltage sags in the substation that feeds a circuit of interest.
In the case of this particular study, mitigation schemes must be
considered against voltage sags of short duration (more than
80% of voltage sags have a duration shorter than 30 cycles) and
high retained voltage (upper to 0.7 p.u.).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to thank the Central Hidroeléctrica
de Caldas—CHEC for providing the equipment and sufficient
information of power quality records to carry out this study.
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Santiago Arias-Guzmán (S’14) was born in Man-
izales, Caldas, Colombia, in 1990. He received the
B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the Na-
tional University of Colombia, Manizales, in 2013,
where he is currently working toward the Ph.D. de-
gree in electrical engineering.
His research interests include segmentation, power
quality, and Kalman filtering.
of Colombia. His research interests include power definitions under nonsinu-
soidal conditions, power quality, and power electronics.
Oscar Andrés Ruiz-Guzmán (S’14) was born in
Manizales, Caldas, Colombia, in 1991. He received
the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the
National University of Colombia, Manizales, in 2014,
where he is currently working toward the M.Sc. de-
gree in engineering, electrical engineering.
His research interests include power quality, elec-
trical vehicles, and smart grids.
work Group—GREDyP. His research interests include power quality, power
electronics, power systems grounding, and smart grids.
Luı́s Felipe Garcı́a-Arias was born in Manizales,
Caldas, Colombia, in 1995. He is currently working
toward the B.Sc. degree in electronic engineering at
the National University of Colombia, Manizales, and
the B.Sc. degree in mechatronics engineering at the
University of Caldas, Manizales.
His research interests include Kalman filtering,
biomechanics, and assistive technologies.
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21
Marı́a Jaramillo-Gonzáles was born in Manizales,
Caldas, Colombia, in 1994. She is currently working
toward the B.Sc. degree in electronic engineering at
the National University of Colombia, Manizales.
Her research interests include biomedical sensitiv-
ity in measurement equipment’s from power quality.
Pablo Daniel Cardona-Orozco (S’15) was born in
Manizales, Caldas, Colombia, in 1994. He is cur-
rently working toward the B.Sc. degree in electrical
engineering at the National University of Colombia,
Manizales.
His research interests include power quality anal-
ysis and smart grids.
Armando J. Ustariz-Farfán (S’08–M’12) was born
in Urumita, Colombia, in 1973. He received the Bach-
elor’s degree in electrical engineer and the Master’s
degree in electric power from the Industrial Univer-
sity of Santander, Santander, in 1997 and 2000, re-
spectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engi-
neering from the National University of Colombia,
Manizales, Colombia, in 2011.
He is currently a Researcher and Associated
Professor in the Electrical, Electronic and Com-
puter Engineering Department, National University
Eduardo A. Cano-Plata (S’96–M’98–SM’15) was
born in Neiva, Colombia, in 1967. He received the
B.Sc. and Specialist Engineering degree in electrical
engineering from the National University of Colom-
bia, Manizales, Colombia, in 1990 and 1994, respec-
tively, and the Doctorate degree in Engineering from
the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Ar-
gentina, in 2006.
Since 1994, he has been a Full Professor at the
National University of Colombia. He is currently the
Director of the Transmission and Distribution Net-
Andrés Felipe Salazar-Jiménez was born in Santa
Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda, Colombia, in 1974. He re-
ceived the B.Sc. Engineering degree in industrial en-
gineering from Universidad Autónoma de Manizales,
Manizales, Colombia, in 2012. He is currently work-
ing toward the M.Sc. degree in engineering, electrical
engineering at the National University of Colombia,
Manizales.
He is with the Central Hidroeléctrica de Caldas—
CHEC, Manizales, in the area of projects. His re-
search interests include power quality.