SONA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

SALEM-5

DEPARTMENT

OF

ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

″ POWER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT USING POWER ELETRONIC DEVICES

″

Submitted by

R.Sindhumathi
M.Sharmila

Third year

sindhupet2k5@gmail.com sharmila.june@gmail.com
 “ POWER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT USING POWER ELECTRONIC DEVICES ”

ABSTRACT:

Nowadays, there is an absolute need to supply electric energy, with no

faults, to a large number of critical customers. In this context, the concept and the
measurement of the power quality is the important issue. Control of most of the
industrial loads is mainly based on semiconductor devices, which causes such loads to
be more sensitive against power system disturbances. Thus, the power quality
problems have gained more interest recently.

This paper presents a review of some the disturbances, on the source side
that may cause problems on the load side. Focus is given on problems associated with
voltage dips as voltage dips have been reported to be the most severe problems to
industrial loads. Solutions towards such problems using power electronics equipment
are explored.

Key terms:
Term-Power Quality, Static Series Compensator, Voltage dips, active filters, static
switch, uninterruptible power supply.
INTRODUCTION:

POWER QUALITY DEFINITION:

♦ Power quality can be defined from two different perspectives, depending on whether you
supply or consume electricity. Power quality at the generator usually refers to the
generator’s ability to generate power at 50 Hz with little variation, while power quality at
the transmission and distribution level refers to the voltage staying within plus or minus 5
percent.

♦ It is the measure, analysis, and improvement of bus voltage, usually a load bus voltage,
to maintain that voltage to be a sinusoid at rated voltage and frequency.
♦ It is the concept of powering and grounding sensitive equipment in a matter that is
suitable to the operation of that equipment.

POWER QUALITY THEORY:

The quality of power has often been characterized as “clean” or “dirty.”

♦ Clean power refers to power that has sinusoidal voltage and current without any distortion
and operates at the designed magnitude and frequency.
♦ Dirty power describes power that has a distorted sinusoidal voltage and current or
operates outside the design limits of voltage, current, and/or frequency. This is popularly
referred as power quality problems.

POWER QUALITY PROBLEMS:

Power quality problems encompass a wide range of disturbances that can disrupt the operation of
sensitive industrial loads and cause a loss of production. Some of them are:
♦ Voltage dips.
♦ Voltage swells.
♦ Voltage and current transients.
♦ Voltage flicker.
♦ Voltage unbalance.
 ♦ Over voltage.
♦ Under voltage.
♦ Noise.

♦ Power frequency.
VOLTAGE DIPS:

♦ A voltage dip or voltage sag is decrease in RMS voltage 0.1 to 0.5 pu at the power
frequency for duration from 0.5 cycles to 1 minute.(i.e.) reduction in voltage for a short
time.

♦ Voltage dips have the potential to disrupt the sensitive load operation and cause a loss of
production.
♦ The duration of a voltage sag is less than 1 minute but more than 8 milliseconds (0.5
cycles).
♦ The magnitude of the reduction is between 10 percent and 90 percent of the normal root
mean square (rms) voltage at 50Hz.

CAUSES AND CHARACTERIZATION OF VOLTAGE DIPS:

Compared to other power quality problems affecting industrial and commercial end users,
voltage sags occur most frequently. The mean causes of voltage dips are:
♦ Large induction motors when starting and transformers when being energized can also
cause voltage dips.
♦ In some networks, switching large loads may result in voltage dips.

♦ Short-circuit faults in transmission and distribution systems.

VOLTAGE DIP DUE TO SHORT-CIRCUIT

EFFECT OF VOLTAGE DIPS ON EQUIPMENT BEHAVIOR:

♦ Utilities and end users can cause voltage sags on transmission and distribution systems.
♦ Voltage dips may cause problems to low-power rating as well as high-power rating
equipment that is based on power electronics devices.

♦ Not only power electronic based equipment is sensitive to voltage dips, also
electromechanical relays and motor contractors are reported to open their contacts when
the voltage drops below 0.5 to 0.7 pu .
♦ They reduce the energy being delivered to the end user and cause computers to fail,
adjustable-speed drives to shut down, and motors to stall and overheat.

AN EXAMPLE:

A transformer failure can be the initiating event that causes a fault on the utility power
system that result in voltage sag. These faults draw energy from the power system. A voltage sag
occurs while the fault is on the utility’s power system. As soon as a breaker or recloser clears the
fault, the voltage returns to normal. Transmission faults cause voltage sags that last about 6
cycles, or 0.10 second. Distribution faults last longer than transmission faults, while large motor
loads can cause voltage sag on utility’s and end user’s power systems.

VOLTAGE DIP DUE TO MOTOR START

COMPENSATION OF VOLTAGE DIPS:

The problems due to voltage dips can be overcome by using

♦ STATIC TRANSFER SWITCH.
♦ SERIES ACTIVE FILTERS.
♦ UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY.
♦ STATIC SERIES COMPENSATOR.

STATIC TRANSFER SWITCH:

The static transfer switch (STS) is composed of two thyristor blocks. Each thyristor block is
composed of three thyristor modules corresponding to the three phases of the system. The
common configuration of the STS in industrial distribution systems is shown . In normal operating
conditions, the primary supply feeds the load through switch 1. In case of a fault or a voltage dip
affecting the primary supply, the load is fed from the alternative source switch 2. The transfer time
of the STS ranges from 1/4 to 1/2 cycle of the fundamental frequency. Thus, the duration of the
voltage dip is reduced to this transfer time, which most of the loads can survive.
UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLY:
The traditional response to avoid production interruption and outage costs has been the
uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The load power is taken from the main power supply through
a two-stage operation: conversion (AC/DC) and inversion (DC/AC). During a voltage dip or an
interruption, the energy released by the battery maintains the load voltage constant.

A SINGLE-LINE DIAGRAM FOR THE UPS:

SERIES ACTIVE FILTERS :

Series active power filters were introduced to operate mainly as a voltage

regulator and as a harmonic isolator between the nonlinear load and the utility system. The
series-connected filter protects the consumer from an inadequate supply-voltage quality. This
type of approach is especially recommended for compensation of voltage sags and voltage
unbalances from the ac supply and for low-power applications.
The series active filter injects a voltage component in series with the supply
voltage and therefore can be regarded as a controlled voltage source, compensating voltage sags
and swells on the load side. Series filters can also be useful to overcome the fundamental voltage
disturbances.

STATIC SERIES COMPENSATOR:

The SSC is a series connected custom power device and it is designed to inject the missing
voltage into the distribution line. Its basic idea is to dynamically inject a voltage uc(t)
shows a simplified single-phase equivalent circuit of a distribution feeder with a SSC, where the
supply voltage uS(t) ,the SSC-injection voltage uc(t) and the load voltage uL(t) are in series. So,
the SSC is considered to be an external voltage source where the amplitude, the frequency
and the phase shift of uc(t) can be controlled. The purpose is to maintain the amplitude of the
load voltage fixed and prevent phase jumps.
uL(t) = uc(t) + uS(t)
If the supply voltage uS(t) has dropped due to a voltage dip or increased due to a voltage swell,
the SSC compensating voltage uc(t) should be chosen so that to the load voltage remains the
same as during no-disturbance conditions.
CONCLUSION:

A literature review was carried out in order to explore some of the power quality
problems and power-electronics devices that have been proposed and/or installed in industrial
distribution systems to mitigate such problems. The reliability and power quality of industrial
power systems can be significantly improved by optimal use of the above said power electronic
devices.

REFERENCES:

WEBSITES:

♦ www.digitalengineeringlibrary.com
♦ www.altavista.com

BOOKS:
♦ Fundamental of power eletronics-Robert W.Erickson.
♦ Modern power electronics & AC drives-Bimal K.Bose.