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DOI 10.1007/s00202-003-0201-7
O R I GI N A L P A P E R
Received: 5 June 2003 / Accepted: 11 September 2003 / Published online: 14 November 2003
Springer-Verlag 2003
Abstract The impact of the design parameters of electric to conduct simulations instead of measurements. How-
power distribution systems on the propagation of har- ever, the parameters and design strategies may be very
monic distortion is investigated. This conceptual study is different from one network to another [7], making a
based on simulations on a generalized distribution sys- large number of simulations necessary. Moreover, many
tem model, and leads to an increased insight in the parameters are unknown and are therefore estimated or
mechanisms of the generation and propagation of volt- even neglected, rendering results that may differ largely
age distortion. Moreover, analytical expressions are from measured data [8]. Finally, as harmonic propaga-
presented that predict the impact of changing design tion studies are mostly limited to rather specific cases
parameters on voltage distortion. (e.g., [5]), fundamental insight in the mechanisms of
harmonic propagation and the influence of the distri-
Keywords Distribution systems Æ Voltage distortion Æ bution system design is not obtained.
Harmonics Æ Power quality Æ Power system impedance In this paper, the impact of different distribution
system design parameters on harmonic propagation is
investigated. The study is based on the analysis of a
1 Introduction generalized distribution feeder model of which the
parameters are varied. Some preliminary and qualitative
Because of the increasing penetration of non-linear loads results, based on simulations of a specific case study, are
in electric power distribution systems, utilities and reported in [9]. In the present paper, however, a more
equipment manufacturers are increasingly concerned fundamental approach is adopted. Analytical expres-
with harmonic pollution of the voltage waveform. sions and quantitative results are presented that
Voltage distortion is known to exhibit many adverse approximately predict the impact of changing design
effects [1], and especially in areas where the electricity parameters on the distortion levels. The validity of the
trade is being liberalized, it is feared that voltage dis- analytical predictions is confirmed by simulations. Sub-
tortion will increase in the near future [2]. In many parts sequently, the analysis is extended to include the effects
of the world, the actual voltage distortion levels are of shunt capacitance, which are strongly related with
maintained within planning levels by imposing appro- power system resonances.
priate emission limits to the harmonic line currents of
equipment [3].
To determine appropriate equipment emission limits, 2 Basic power system setup
both measurement campaigns [4] and simulations [5, 6]
are required to study the harmonic propagation in an 2.1 Network topology
actual network. At first sight, it seems easier and cheaper
In order to investigate the influence of different distri-
bution system parameters on harmonic propagation, a
J. A. Ghijselen (&) Æ W. A. Ryckaert Æ J. A. Melkebeek simplified model of a typical medium voltage (MV)
Faculty of Engineering, distribution system is adopted (Fig. 1). The high-to-
Electrical Energy Laboratory (EELAB), medium voltage (HV/MV) transformer, which is feeding
Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, the point of common coupling (PCC), is represented by
9000 Gent, Belgium
E-mail: jozef.ghijselen@ugent.be
its short-circuit impedance Zm. Several parallel and
Tel.: +32-9-2643442 identical radial feeders, having five nodes each, connect
Fax: +32-9-2643582 to the loads. The conductor segments interconnecting
182
Zc ¼ jZc jejhZc
¼ 0:04 pu \45 ðsmall MV=LV transformerÞ
approximated when the zero-sequence current compo- for higher harmonics only, for which the injected current
nents are eliminated before entering the feeder conduc- is usually small. The effects of capacitance are discussed
tors (e.g., by means of an intermediate MV/LV in Sect. 6.
transformer connected in DY): The total (fundamental) load of a single feeder equals
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1 pu at cos/=1, and is balanced and equally divided
u P P
u h2 jIðhÞj2 þ ks2 h2 jIðhÞj2 among the feeder nodes. The voltage in the first feeder
u
DVh;neutral uh6¼3=h>1 h¼3=h>1 node (closest to the PCC) is controlled to |VFl|=1.06 pu
u P for all simulations. The source voltage from the HV bus
DVh;no neutral t h jIðhÞj2
2
h6¼3=h>1 is considered to be purely sinusoidal. The total amount
of distorting loads (with a line current spectrum as in
ð6Þ Table 1) represents 10% of the total fundamental load,
while the remaining (linear) load only draws funda-
For the line current spectrum of Table 1, the reduc- mental current.
tion factor (6) equals 1.28 for ks=1 (six-wire arrange- In accordance with IEC regulations [14], only the first
ment) and becomes 3.36 for ks=4 (symmetrical four-wire 40 harmonics are considered when calculating THD
arrangement). In practice, the removal of the zero- values. By analogy with (4), the total harmonic voltage
sequence currents from six-wire arrangements is not drop DVFh of the feeder is defined as:
practical and is therefore never encountered; the associ- vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ated reduction factor is therefore of purely academic u 40
uX
value. DVFh ¼ t jVF1 ðhÞ VF5 ðhÞj2 ð8Þ
h¼2
3.2 Transformer arrangements
This measure allows to explain the difference between
The neutral conductor may be interrupted by the MV/ the voltage distortion in the PCC and at the end of the
LV transformer, e.g., by connecting it in DY arrange- feeder. Indeed, except when the neutral conductor is
ment, thereby reducing the harmonic voltage drop of the interrupted, the operating conditions encountered in this
HV/MV transformer located upstream (in the PCC). paper allow for the following approximation if DVFh is
Using (1), and assuming balanced loads, the reduction expressed in ‘‘per units’’:
factor of the voltage distortion in the PCC can be cal- THDðV5 Þ THDðVPCC Þ þ DVFh ð9Þ
culated:
THDðVPCC Þneutral This is confirmed by the simulation results, which are
summarized in Table 2 and are discussed in the follow-
THDðVPCC Þno neutral
vffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi ing subsections. Simulation no. 1 is considered to be the
u P P base case, to which the effects of all parameter variations
u h2 jIðhÞj2 þ km 2 h2 jIðhÞj2 ð7Þ
u are compared.
uh6¼3=h>1 h¼3=h>1
u P
t h jIðhÞj2
2
h6¼3=h>1
4.1 Transformer choice
where km denotes the ratio of the zero-sequence to the
positive-sequence impedances of the HV/MV trans- The impact of the transformer parameters on voltage
former. For the load current spectrum of Table 1 and distortion is explained by comparison of simulation nos.
km=1, the reduction of the voltage distortion in the 1–3 from Table 2. The results are graphically repre-
PCC equals 1.28. sented in Fig. 2a. From Sect. 2.2, it follows that for
simulation nos. 2 and 3 the magnitude of the harmonic
transformer impedance is 3.48 and 1.39 times smaller,
4 Basic factors governing power system harmonic respectively, than the harmonic impedance for simula-
propagation tion no. 1 (base case). As expected, this causes the
voltage THD in the PCC to decrease with about the
To assess the influence of the power system parameters same factor.
presented in the previous sections, simulations have been At the end of the feeder, the voltage THD is several
performed on the network of Fig. 1. In this section, the times greater than in the PCC because of the harmonic
impedance of the MV/LV transformers is neglected (i.e., voltage drop of the feeder conductors. This result is in
|Zc|=|Zl|=0). Non-zero MV/LV transformer imped- accordance with recent measurements in the French LV
ances will be assumed in Sect. 5, where a case study is system [13]. Because the total harmonic voltage drop of
presented. In this section, also the effects of shunt the feeder conductor DVFh remains constant between
capacitance are neglected; for moderate feeder conduc- simulation nos. 1, 2, and 3, the reduction of the voltage
tor lengths (up to several kilometers for cable conduc- THD at the end of the feeder is rather small and is
tors, and up to a few tens of kilometers for overhead approximately equal to the reduction of the voltage
conductors) the shunt capacitance becomes important THD in the PCC.
185
Sim. no. |Zm| (% pu) hZm (deg) |Zs,l| (% pu) hZs;1 (deg) Ml Voltage THD DVFh (% pu) Comments
Concluding, the impact of the transformer impedance conductor impedance is decreased from 55 to 30, as
on voltage distortion is quite important in the PCC, but compared with simulation no. 1. According to Sect. 2.3,
less important at the end of the distribution feeder, this causes the harmonic impedance of the feeder to re-
where the total harmonic voltage drop of the feeder duce with a factor 1.71. As expected, the total harmonic
conductors becomes dominant. It turns out that the voltage drop of the feeder DVFh is reduced by about the
voltage distortion in the PCC increases when the (fun- same factor as well. In turn, this causes a significant
damental) transformer impedance increases or becomes reduction of the voltage THD at the end of the feeder.
more inductive. Similar results are obtained when comparing simulation
nos. 1 and 5, where the conductor impedance angle is
4.2 Feeder conductor type increased from 55 to 80 (causing the harmonic imped-
ance of the feeder to increase by about 1.52), and for
The impact of the feeder conductor type on voltage dis- simulation no. 6, where the expected displacement factor
tortion is explained by comparing simulation nos. 4–6 is increased from 0.8 (inductive) to 1.0 (causing the har-
from Table 2. The results are graphically represented in monic impedance of the feeder to increase by about 1.93).
Fig. 2b. For simulation no. 4, the phase angle of the It is to be noted that the increase of the expected fun-
damental displacement factor (simulation nos. 1 and 6)
has more impact than the increase of the phase angle of
Fig. 2 Influence of different parameters: a transformer parameters, the conductor impedance (simulation nos. 1 and 5).
b feeder conductor parameters, c tapering
186
The impact on the voltage THD in the PCC is rather nos. 1, 9, and 10 from Table 2. The results are graphi-
small. However, it is noticed that the voltage THD in the cally represented in Fig. 3a. In simulation no. 9, the
PCC is slightly reduced, when the conductor impedance neutral conductor is interrupted between the feeder and
angle is increased. This is caused by phase angle diversity load nodes by DY transformers with negligible imped-
between the nodes [11], and becomes more important for ance Zc=0. It follows that the expected decrease of the
increasing harmonic orders and increasingly inductive voltage THD in the PCC by about 1.28 (Sect. 3.2)
conductors. The stronger the higher harmonics of the matches the simulations quite well. Also, the reduction
load current, the more this effect becomes noticeable; an of the harmonic voltage drop of the feeder (about the
example is given in [9]. factor 3.36 as predicted in Sect. 3.1) causes a consider-
Concluding, the impact of the feeder conductor able reduction of the voltage THD at the end of the
impedance on voltage distortion is quite important at feeder.
the end of the feeder, but very small in the PCC. Similar The same harmonic voltage reduction in the PCC as
as with the transformer impedance, it turns out that the above is found when comparing simulation nos. 1 and 10,
harmonic voltage drop of the feeder increases when the where, in the latter, the neutral conductor is interrupted in
(fundamental) conductor impedance increases or the PCC by a DY transformer with negligible impedance
becomes more inductive. Zl=0. However, the harmonic voltage drop of the feeder
conductor is not influenced leading to only a small
reduction of voltage THD at the end of the feeder.
4.3 Feeder conductor tapering
The impact of feeder conductor tapering on the voltage 4.4.2 Six-wire conductor arrangement
distortion is explained by comparing simulation nos. 1,
In simulation nos. 11 and 12, a six-wire conductor
7, and 8 from Table 2. The results are graphically rep-
arrangement is applied instead of the four-wire con-
resented in Fig. 2c. For simulation nos. 7 and 8, the
ductor arrangement of simulation no. 1. The results are
tapering factor Mt is increased from 1 to 3 and 5,
graphically represented in Fig. 3b. The simulation
respectively, as compared with simulation no. 1. The
results match well the predicted reduction of the total
impact on the voltage THD in the PCC and at the end of
harmonic voltage drop of the conductor (with a factor
the feeder is negligible. This is mainly due to the equal
2.62, Sect. 3.1), again causing a considerable reduction
fundamental voltage drop criterion for calculating the
of the voltage THD at the end of the feeder.
conductor segment impedances Zs,k (Sect. 2.3). There-
Finally, in simulation no. 12, the neutral conductor is
fore, feeder conductor tapering will not be explored any
interrupted in the PCC by a DY transformer with neg-
further in this paper.
ligible impedance Zl=0. As with the four-wire conduc-
tor arrangement, this reduces the voltage THD in the
PCC (and equals the value of simulation nos. 9 and 10),
4.4 Neutral conductor practice
but not the harmonic voltage drop of the conductor
DVFh (which equals the value of simulation no. 11),
4.4.1 Four-wire conductor arrangement
yielding only a small reduction of the voltage THD at
The impact of interrupting the neutral conductor on the end of the feeder.
voltage distortion is explained by comparing simulation
4.4.3 Conclusion
factor of capacitors
6 Influence of shunt capacitance
interrupted in PCC
(regular overhead
Neutral conductor
shunt admittance
0.05 pu resistive
The possible presence of shunt capacitance in the
Cable feeder
Base case—
feeders causes resonances. Resonance conditions are
Comments
3-ph, 6-w
introduced in the power system of Fig. 1 by adding
feeder)
capacitors to the feeder nodes. The capacitance is
represented by its total admittance jYC, which is
equally divided among the feeder nodes, and repre-
M5(Q5)
sents both conductor capacitance and other capaci-
(20.59)
(20.59)
(20.59)
(15.47)
(9.67)
(6.31)
2.75
4.23
2.76
1.80
tances (e.g., power factor correction capacitors).
)
Moreover, the feeder nodes are shunted with equally
Yc=0.067
Yc=0.067
Yc=0.067
Yc=0.079
Yc=0.067
Yc=0.067
divided parasitic resistances, the total admittance of
MPCC (QPCC)
which equals 0.01 pu. The remaining power system
parameters are chosen as in Sect. 4. To assess the
(19.89)
(19.89)
(19.89)
(15.20)
impact of resonance on voltage distortion, a harmonic
h=11
(9.34)
(6.04)
4.03
4.09
5.06
3.37
2.22
1.76
voltage amplification factor M is introduced by com-
paring the actual voltage distortion (under resonance)
to the distortion present if the capacitance were
M5(Q5)
(11.33)
(18.53)
(10.22)
removed:
(6.96)
(5.40)
(5.63)
5.23
6.15
4.57
3.19
2.65
2.75
THDðV ÞjYC 6¼0
Yc=0.045
Yc=0.099
Yc=0.059
Yc=0.064
Yc=0.045
Yc=0.045
M¼ ð10Þ
THDðV ÞjYC ¼0
MPCC (QPCC)
The M values calculated in this section are obtained
(17.90)
using the load current spectrum of Table 1. The quality
(9.87)
(6.29)
(4.69)
(4.86)
h=9
3.43
5.94
2.55
1.95
1.98
factor Q of a certain resonance condition is assessed by
)
)
calculating (10) using a load current spectrum con-
taining only the fundamental and a single harmonic of
M5(Q5)
Table 4 Quality factors and amplification of voltage distortion at different resonant conditions
(15.62)
(15.62)
(15.62)
(10.96)
(10.07)
(7.41)
the same harmonic order as the resonance frequency of
4.67
7.60
5.55
3.72
3.21
2.54
the power system. The simulation results are presented
Yc=0.164
Yc=0.164
Yc=0.164
Yc=0.194
Yc=0.164
Yc=0.164
in Table 4 and are explained in the following subsec-
MPCC (QPCC)
(15.12)
(15.12)
(10.81)
(9.74)
(7.15)
h=7
7.38
7.37
9.41
5.37
4.88
3.70
M5(Q5)
(11.78)
(11.78)
(8.08)
(9.05)
(7.33)
4.96
6.91
5.20
3.54
4.08
3.69
The required total capacitive admittance jYC to obtain
Yc=0.321
Yc=0.321
Yc=0.321
Yc=0.377
Yc=0.321
Yc=0.321
resonance at a given harmonic order is of course
MPCC (QPCC)
(11.50)
(11.50)
(8.83)
(7.14)
h=5
6.94
6.75
8.61
4.82
5.43
4.50
(7.01)
(4.00)
(2.66)
(4.22)
(4.27)
3.80
2.94
)
Yc=0.389
Yc=0.882
Yc=0.506
Yc=0.506
Yc=0.389
Yc=0.389
(7.09)
(2.48)
(3.75)
(3.80)
3.83
)
)
R2
R3
R4
R5
R6
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Acknowledgements The research of Jozef Ghijselen is partially State of play of the harmonic levels on the French low-voltage
supported by the Fund for Scientific Research of Flanders (FWO- networks. In: Proceedings of the 17th International Conference
Vlaanderen). The research of Wouter Ryckaert is supported by the on Electricity distribution (CIRED2003), Barcelona, Spain, 12–
Institute for the Promotion of Innovation by Science and Tech- 15 May 2003
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magnetic compatibility (EMC). Part 3: Limits—Section 6:
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