Measurement of network harmonic impedance in

presence of electronic equipment

R. Stiegler, J. Meyer, P. Schegner D. Chakravorty

Institute of Electrical Power Systems and High Voltage Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department
Engineering, Technische Universitaet Dresden Imperial College London
Dresden, Germany London, U.K.
robert.stiegler@tu-dresden.de d.chakravorty12@imperial.ac.uk

Abstract—Harmonic levels and their propagation in the power As the rectifier bridge opens and closes every half cycle, the
system are mainly determined by the network harmonic impedance. impedance changes twice per half cycle, which is not reflected
It is also an essential parameter for the calculation of harmonic by most of the available measurement methods. Fig. 1
current emission limits. Different methods for measuring the illustrates this characteristic by the current waveform of a
network harmonic impedance have been developed in the last simple compact fluorescent lamp (CFL). When the DC-link
decades, but all of them assume that the impedance is constant capacitor is not recharging (state 1) the simplified equivalent
within a cycle at fundamental frequency, which is true in case of circuit is open. During recharging (state 2), the capacitor is
passive elements only. As nowadays most of the equipment in low connected directly to the grid impacting the network harmonic
voltage grids contains power electronics including rectifier circuits,
impedance.
network harmonic impedance will vary within a half cycle of power
frequency. As more and more equipment operates with switching State 1
frequencies of several ten kHz, knowledge about the network State 1 State 2 State 1
V, I
harmonic impedance in the frequency range up to 150 kHz is also
of significant importance. Based on a review of existing
measurement methods, the paper presents an extended
State 2
measurement method, which is able to address both, above C
mentioned issues. The application of the method is illustrated by t
two example measurements in different low voltage grids.
Fig. 1. Current waveform of a CFL and simplified equivalent circuit
Keywords—impedance measurement; network harmonic The already significant and still increasing share of
impedance; nonlinear loads; harmonics; low voltage network electronic devices in low voltage grids raises the question, how
network harmonic impedance shall be interpreted and how it
I. INTRODUCTION
can be obtained. The issue of “momentary” impedance
Nonlinear devices emit harmonic currents, which cause variation is also addressed in [1], but with focus on input
harmonic voltages that are determined by the network impedance characteristic of different loads and their impact on
harmonic impedance. If these harmonic voltages exceed certain power line communication.
levels (e.g. the compatibility levels), other connected devices
might be disturbed. Therefore knowledge of network harmonic II. GENERAL MEASUREMENT PRINCIPLE
impedance is crucial for determining the level and spread of The network impedance (Zhn) at a node in a grid can be
harmonic emission in low voltage grids. calculated for a particular harmonic order (h) by injecting a
Virtually all common methods for calculating harmonic current Ih at the respective node and solving Ohm’s law
current emissions limits require accurate knowledge of network assuming Thevenin’s equivalent of the remaining network.
harmonic impedance. As it is often not known, only a Direct use of this method in measurement devices leads to
simplified representation by impedance line (short circuit
h
impedance multiplied by harmonic order) is applied. h I
V
h Z pre h
Strictly the network harmonic impedance is only defined in
n
V
h Z L
pre
presence of passive loads. Most of the simple electronic mass-
market devices have a rectifier circuit with a capacitor for Fig. 2. Pre-excitation state of the network
energy storage as DC link. During the recharging state the
rectifier bridge is open and the capacitor is directly connected h
to the network thus having significant impact on the effective
h Z
h I post h
network harmonic impedance at the connection point. The V n
V
h Z L I
h

impact of these devices increases with increasing frequencies post

and dominates the network impedance already at a few kHz.
Fig. 3. Post-excitation state of the network
errors in case of existing background harmonics. To overcome
this, the concept of difference method is applied. In the first
step voltage and current measurements are taken at the
measurement site immediately before the injection (Fig. 2).
The second step takes measurements of harmonic voltages and
currents while harmonic current of order h is injected (Fig. 3).
In the third step differential voltage and current are calculated
from both measurements, which removes constant background
harmonics present in the system voltage and current. In case of
quickly time-varying background harmonics even the
difference method has its limits and is therefore usually
combined with injection frequencies, which are usually not
present in the grid (e.g. interharmonics). Finally the network
harmonic impedance at order h can be calculated using (1).
h h
h V post V pre
Z  h h
I post I pre
If the above steps are repeated over a range of frequencies,
the network harmonic impedance is obtained. This is
commonly known as frequency sweep analysis. The difference
method can be applied in time domain and frequency domain
analysis. Experiences by the authors have shown that the
analysis in frequency domain is more robust and accurate than
in time domain. For frequency domain analysis a Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT) tool is used to find the frequency components
of order h for voltage and current and applies (1) to calculate
the impedance.
III. OVERVIEW OF EXISTING MEASUREMENT
METHODS
Based on an extensive literature survey the most important
existing methods can be broadly classified based on the origin
of harmonic current used for system excitation. Fig. 4 gives an
overview of the different methods, which are briefly discussed
in the next sections.
A. Non-invasive measurement methods
This method makes use of the existing network components
to generate excitation harmonics [2] [3]. It is one of the oldest
and easiest methods involving no additional setup. This is the
Non-invasive
Origin of
harmonic current for
harmonic impedance
assessment
Invasive
Fig. 4. Broad classification of existing impedance measurement methods
biggest advantage because it keeps the total cost of the
experiment low. Disadvantage of this method is the limited
injected frequency range (only existing harmonics with
significant level can be used) and the injected frequency cannot
be influenced.
B. Invasive measurement methods
In this method an external setup is used to generate
excitation current, which is injected into the network with
controlled magnitude. This method is more expensive than the
non-invasive type. However, it has more general application as
it is independent of the availability of disturbing sources at the
point of measurement and provides better control of the
generated disturbances. E.g. it can be used to adjust the
injection magnitudes to improve measurement accuracy for
(1)
different system conditions and locations.
In the single switching method a RC or LC combination is
switched once per half cycle [4] [5]. This produces a broad
band transient which can be controlled by adjusting the firing-
angle. Due to high measuring noise, this method delivers good
quality result only till 1 kHz.
The multiple switching method makes use of semiconductor
switches in conjunction with a combination of passive elements
to serve as a source of excitation current [6] [7]. To generate a
wide band signal having a rich spectrum till 20 kHz, random
switching with high frequencies (multiple times per half cycle)
is implemented. Since the energy of the injected signal is
distributed over many frequencies, the level of individual
frequency component remains low. Improvement of accuracy
can be achieved by oversampling techniques, but interferences
with other equipment are likely due to the high signal energy.
The single frequency sweep method injects in each step a
single frequency harmonic current of uniform magnitude at the
point of measurement [8]-[10]. Single frequency current is
particularly used to keep the energy of the signal low compared
to the multiple switching method. Following the above
procedure multiple measurements at different frequencies have
to be executed to obtain the network harmonic impedance over
a frequency range. This method has an increased measuring
duration but a higher accuracy compared to the multiple
Existing non linear
installations
Capacitor bank
Switching of network
elements
Transformer
Single frequency sweep
Sweep based
Multiple frequency sweep
Single switching
Switching based
Multiple switching
switching methods. Due to the lower signal energy,
interferences with other equipment are less likely.
The multiple frequency sweep method improves the
measurement time compared to the single frequency method. A
multispectral signal, optimized for a minimum crest factor, is
used [11]. The accuracy is comparable to the single frequency
method, but with more complex calculations.
IV. MEASUREMENT SYSTEM
Most of the methods described in chapter III have a limited
frequency range of few kHz and determine the network
harmonic impedance by analyzing one or more cycles of the
voltage fundamental. Any impedance change within the cycle
cannot be identified. Therefore a new measurement system
based on the single sweep method is developed, which is able
to analyze the influence of nonlinear loads on the network
harmonic impedance within the voltage fundamental cycle
(momentary harmonic impedance). The system can measure
frequencies between 130 Hz and 150 kHz in order to cover the
classical harmonic range up to 2 kHz as well as the frequency
range above, which is nowadays of increasing importance.
A. Hardware
The layout of the measurement system is shown in Fig. 5. It
consists of the following components:
 D/A converter for signal generation
 Power amplifier operated as current source
 Coupling device for save connection of the amplifier to
the network
 Signal conditioning modules for isolation and adaption
of measurement signal to the input range of the A/D-
converter
 A/D converter for data acquisition
 PC with MATLAB controlling the whole measurement
process and calculating the network harmonic
impedance
The injected current is generated using a linear amplifier
with a maximum output current of 10 A up to 150 kHz and a
maximum output power of 2.25 kVA. The output current
magnitude is automatically adapted to the situation at the
measurement site. For most measurements an injected current
between 0.5 A and 5 A provides sufficient accurate
measurement results. The amplifier is connected directly to the
low voltage grid. The coupling device consists of relays with a
Low voltage grid Coupling
h
Z
h n
V Vm
Im
Shunt
Fig. 5. Scheme of measurement system
Computer
Amplifier
D/A, A/D
converter
Signal
conditioning
Coupling
device
Fig. 6. Measurement system mounted in a car
simple logic to prevent that the current source is in open circuit
conditions or the grid is short circuited. The output current is
measured with a calibrated shunt. Voltage and current are
sampled with 800 kS/s. The input range of each signal
conditioning module is automatically set by the control
software to ensure the best utilization of the A/D converter. In
order to avoid an influence of the power supply of the
measurement system on the network harmonic impedance, it is
always supplied by a mobile generator or by a different low
voltage network. Fig. 6 shows the measurement system during
a grid measurement.
B. Measurement algorithm
Number and interval of frequency steps can be individually
set by the user. For each measurement point voltage and
current are sampled for 440 ms. In the first half of the
measurement duration no current is injected (pre-excitation
state) and in the second half a sinusoidal current with the
respective frequency is injected (post-excitation state). This
ensures that for each state a minimum of 10 full voltage
fundamental periods is available for further processing.
The measured data is analyzed by two different methods.
The first method calculates the network harmonic impedance
by using an integer number of voltage fundamental cycles and
is referred to as VC method in this paper. The second method
calculates the network harmonic impedance using an integer
number of cycles of the injected current, which enables the
calculation of the “momentary” impedance in relation to the
fundamental cycle. This method is referred to as CC method.
Amplifier D/A converter
(control and calculation)
A/D converter
Computer
I
h
Signal
conditioning
 channel for current measurement is always utilized with 50%
Window
Vm(t) DFT or more due to the automatic adaption of the input range to the
selection V m  f 
Z f  measured current. Based on the datasheet specifications for
Window I m  f  both input channels, a worst-case uncertainty can be calculated:
Im(t) DFT
selection
VC  400V 
CC Zero-crossing  Z N    0,1%  Z N  0, 025%  h  (2)
detection  I 
Fig. 7. Scheme of the impedance calculation method where Ih is the current injected in the network.
(VC: Voltage cycle based, CC: Current cycle based)
V. GRID MEASUREMENTS
CC windows In order to test the measurement system, several
400 2
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 measurements were carried out in two different grids.
200 1 A. Office building
Vm in V 

0 0
-200
-400
0 90 180 270
V in ° 
Fig. 8. Selected windows for the CC method, injected current with 500 Hz
The principle processing scheme for both calculation
methods is shown in Fig. 7. The VC method uses a window of
10 voltage fundamental cycles. For the CC method each
individual cycle of the injected current is used in order to
obtain “momentary” impedance values within a single voltage
fundamental. Fig. 8 shows an example of the windows for the
CC method and a frequency of the injected current of 500 Hz.
In this case 10 windows and subsequently 10 impedance values
can be calculated for each cycle of the voltage fundamental.
The resolution of the method increases with frequency. For
I m in V 
The first measurement has been performed in an office
building at a sub-distribution box, where the lighting (24
CFL’s) is connected. A current of 1 A was injected for
-1 measurement. Fig. 9 shows magnitude of the network harmonic
impedance measured with the VC method at frequencies up to
-2 50 kHz. The impedance has a distinct first resonance at approx.
360
17 kHz and a second one at 45 kHz. Due to their simple
rectifier circuits (cf. Fig. 1) the CFLs have significant impact
on the “momentary” network harmonic impedance measured
with the CC method. Fig. 10 and Fig. 11 show different ways
of presentation. Both figures show the magnitude of the
network harmonic impedance for one voltage fundamental
cycle (0°.. 360°). Both resonances can be clearly seen as well,
but the “momentary” impedance characteristic further reveals
around the resonances a significant impedance drop at approx.
97°, where all rectifier bridges of the CFLs conducting and
6
5
Z N in  

both methods the measured voltage is filtered with a high pass

4
filter to avoid leakage effects by the fundamental. In order to
compensate possible phase shifts resulting from filtering of one 3
signal only, the measured current is filtered as well. Voltage 2
and current at the frequency of the injected current are
calculated by DFT. The harmonic impedance at order h is 1
finally obtained by applying equation (1). 0
0 10 20 30 40 50
C. Measurement accuracy f in kHz 
The accuracy of the measurement system can be Fig. 9. Measurement result with VC method including uncertainty range
determined in different ways and with different levels of
precision. In a first step the reference impedance according to
6
the appendix of IEC 61000-4-7 has been measured in the
laboratory and results were better than 5 %. As this impedance
is only passive and VC and CC method provide similar results, 5
a simple rectifier bridge with known element parameters has 6
Z N in  

Z N in  

been connected to the reference impedance. The CC method 4

provided results, which qualitative compare with the calculated 4
ones. 3
2
The authors still work on the detailed quantification of the 2
measurement accuracy, but have finished a first worst case 0
assessment. The accuracy of the measurement system is mainly 0 50
90 40 1
determined by the uncertainty of the input channel for voltage  180 30 
measurement. Due to the always existing fundamental voltage V in
270 10
20 kHz
°  n
(about 230V), its range in terms of the higher frequency 360 0 f i
components has a very small utilization. Contrary the input
Fig. 10. Measurement result with CC method (3D-plot)
 50 with the result of the VC method as reference. The VC method
6 fairly matches the results of the CC method at zero crossing,
because the duration of recharging of DC-link capacitors and
40 5 subsequently the impedance drop are relatively short. At the
time where most of the rectifiers conducting (97°), the network

Z N in  
4
f in kHz 

30 harmonic impedance behaves completely different, because

significantly more capacitance is connected to the grid
3 compared to the time around zero-crossing of the voltage
20 fundamental. While both distinctive resonances at 17 kHz and
2 45 kHz disappear, the magnitude of network harmonic
impedance between 21 kHz and 38 kHz is up to two times
10 higher.
1
B. Residential low voltage grid
0
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360 Further measurements have been carried out at different
 V in °  sites in a public low voltage grid in order to get an idea of the
Fig. 11. Measurement result with the CC method (color-map) impact of domestic customers to the network harmonic
impedance as they commonly operate a mix of nonlinear
7 equipment, which is different to offices. The network is
6 meshed and has about 400 domestic customers. Measurements
were carried out at the busbar of the MV/LV transformer and
Z N in  

5
4 several locations within the network including the end of a
3 current of 7 A was chosen. The measurement results differ
2 CC Method
1 VC Method
0 space therefore only the measurements for L1-N at the end of
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
 V in ° 
Fig. 12. Time characteristic of impedance at first resonance (17 kHz)
including uncertainty ranges
therefore all DC-link capacitors are connected to the grid.
Fig. 12 exemplarily compares the time characteristic of
network harmonic impedance at the first resonance frequency
(17 kHz) calculated by the VC method and the CC method.
The VC method reflects some kind of mean value of the
“momentary” impedance within the considered fundamental
cycle. At the voltage maximum/minimum (90°/270°) the
impedance drops to a minimum of about 50 % compared to the
impedance close to the zero crossing of voltage fundamental
(0°/180°). As this variation is exclusively caused by the
nonlinear equipment with line-commutating topology, it could
be e.g. used as indicator for the penetration level of a network
with this type of equipment.
Fig. 13 presents the network harmonic impedance based on
CC method for the two extreme cases at 0° and 97° together
7 CC Method, 0°
6 CC Method, 97°
Z N in  
longer feeder. Due to the very low impedance a measurement
between the sites with highest impedances and most significant
resonances at the end of the longer feeder. Due to the limited
the longer feeder are presented and discussed in detail in this
paper.
Compared to Fig. 11 the color-map in Fig. 14 shows
significantly different resonance locations. Beside a sharp
resonance at 530 Hz, a second, wider resonance is observed at
2.4 kHz. Furthermore the impedance state around the
maximum/minimum of voltage fundamental lasts longer than
in the office building. This results in a larger difference
between the “momentary” impedance around 0° and the results
of the VC method (Fig. 15 and Fig. 16). This can be explained
by the use of more diverse equipment with different circuit
topologies, which have different firing angles and conducting
times of the rectifier bridges. Detailed discussions about
different circuit topologies can be found e.g. in [12]. The
synchronicity of the CFLs in the office building is much higher
and subsequently the duration of the impedance stay is shorter.
10 0.6
0.5
8
0.4

Z N in  
f in kHz 

5 VC Method 6
4 0.3
3 4
0.2
2
1 2 0.1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 0
f in kHz  0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
 V in ° 
Fig. 13. Magnitude and phase angle of network harmonic impedance
measured according to the different methods Fig. 14. Measurement results with CC method (color-map)

0.6
0.5
Z N in  
0.4
0.3
0.2
CC Method
0.1 VC Method
0 method more measurements are systematically performed in
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
 V in ° 
Fig. 15. Time characteristic of impedance at first resonance (530 Hz)
0.6
0.5
Z N in  
0.4
0.3
0.2 CC Method, 0°
0.1 CC Method, 90°
VC Method
0 impedance measurements on loads and in the distibution grid”, 22nd
0 2 4 6 8 10
f in kHz 
Fig. 16. Magnitude and phase angle of network harmonic impedance
measured according to the different methods
Furthermore Fig. 15 shows that the impedance variation is
with about seven times significantly higher than for the office
building with two times. Both examples show that the
variability within the voltage fundamental cycle caused by
nonlinear electronic equipment can significantly vary in terms
of max/min ratio as well as duration of the change.
VI. SUMMARY
The knowledge of the network harmonic impedance is an
important base for the assessment of harmonic levels in low
voltage grids. Many measurement methods have been
developed, but always based on the analysis of one or more
cycles of voltage fundamental. These methods do not
adequately address the impact of electronic equipment, which
can change the network harmonic impedance multiple times
within the voltage fundamental cycle due to the
conduction/non-conduction of the rectifier bridges. This paper
presents a measurement system based on single sweep method,
which is able to identify variations of the “momentary”
network harmonic impedance within the cycle of voltage
fundamental and which is applicable for frequencies up to
150 kHz.
First measurements in an office building and a residential
grid have confirmed that the nonlinear equipment has a
significant impact on the “momentary” impedance, particular
within resonances. Differences of up to 80% have been
observed between the minimum of “momentary” impedance
and the impedance obtained by the classical method. This
information is useful to develop improved models for harmonic
network simulations (estimation of equivalent capacity of
connected customers for resonance studies), to quantify the
ratio of penetration of nonlinear devices in a network or to
troubleshoot e.g. problems with signal damping in mains-
signaling applications. On the other hand the significant
differences raise the question, how network harmonic
impedance has to be interpreted in presence of electronic
equipment and if the average values obtained from the classical
methods are still adequate for the assessment of harmonic
emission limit within the EMC – coordination in IEC 61000.
Beside the continuous improvement of the presented
different residential grids in order to obtain more detailed
information about the behavior of network harmonic
impedance and subsequently additional assessment indices.
Furthermore a detailed quantification of realistic measurement
uncertainty is ongoing in order to determine reliable accuracy
limits for the measurement system.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We wish to thank NRM Netzdienste Rhein-Main GmbH for
supporting parts of the project.
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