Analyzing and Minimizing Distribution System Harmonic and Transient Disturbances

What are Harmonic and Transient Disturbances?

Voltage disturbances can occur on electric power distribution systems that feed industrial plants, large commercial facilities, and residential neighborhoods. These disturbances can be transient impulses (lasting less than a few milliseconds), short-duration sags or swells (lasting between a few milliseconds and 1 minute), or they can be long term, repeating waveform distortion (harmonics). Even if they don’t cause immediate outages, over time these disturbances can lead to mis-operation of sensitive facility loads or reduce the operating life of equipment.

Who should attend?

• Electric utility engineers involved in distribution engineering, operations, or planning
• Electric utility customer service engineers
• Engineering technicians
• Electrical contractors for C&I customers
• Distributed renewable generation engineers
• Drive manufacturers and vendors
• Power distribution manufacturers and vendors
• Industrial plant and electrical system specifying engineers
• Electrical testing and commissioning engineers

This course will be beneficial if you are involved with maintaining power quality on electrical distribution systems.

What You Will Learn

You will learn how to categorize, identify, and mitigate both steady state and event disturbances from:

• Load Start-Up and Switching
• Capacitor Switching
• Lightning
• Dynamic Overvoltages
• Commercial and Industrial (C&I) Facilities
• Variable Speed Drives
• Wind and Solar Systems

Introduction to Power Quality

• Review of harmonic and transient power quality problems
• Introduction to Industry Standards
• EEE 519, IEEE 1250, IEEE 1159, and IEC 61000
• Harmonic and transient disturbance categories
• Common symptoms of and solutions for harmonic and transient problems
• Common solutions for harmonic and transient problems

Monitoring

• Defining objectives
• Equipment requirements
• Developing monitoring procedures
• Collecting Data and Analyzing results

Source Impedance

• Basics of distribution system Impedance
• Typical components impacting source impedance
• How source impedance affects system susceptibility to disturbances

Transient Disturbances

• Characterizing transient disturbances
• High frequency load switching
• Vacuum circuit breaker pre-strikes
• Vacuum circuit breaker current chopping
• Lightning
• Insulation coordination
• Transformer energizing and dynamic overvoltages
• Ferroresonance
• Utility capacitor bank switching
• Power factor correction capacitors
• Normal energizing transients during switching
• Voltage magnification
• Nuisance tripping of power-electronic equipment
• Restrike transients during switch opening
• Wind plant harmonic filter bank energizing
• Voltage notching
• Temporary overvoltages (TOVs)
• Single line-to-ground faults
• Wind plant TOVs during single-phase faults
• Summary of utility system transient mitigation
• Summary of facility transient mitigation

Transient Studies

• Common reasons for performing transient studies
• Study methodology and procedures
• Data collection and study set-up
• Overview of computer simulations
• Review of software options

Harmonics, Interharmonics, and Flicker

• IEEE 519 and IEC Standards
• Harmonics in commercial buildings
• Neutral current harmonics
• K-Factor transformer ratings
• Harmonics in industrial facilities
• Six-pulse and twelve-pulse drives
• Power factor correction and resonance
• Harmonic filters
• Harmonic filter class exercise
• Harmonics in renewable energy systems
• Interconnection requirements
• Resonance considerations
• Interharmonics and flicker
• Steel plants
• Induction furnaces
• Cycloconverters
• Inverter and converter based generation sources
• VFD and PV Inverter class exercises

Summary and Review

• Waveform recognition examples
• Case studies
• Student problems
• Q&A Session

David Mueller
Director, Energy System Studies PE

Dave Mueller, PE, is director of Energy System Studies for EnerNex in Knoxville, Tennessee. For more than 30 years he has worked on a wide variety of power system projects to study and solve power quality problems for industrial, commercial, and utility clients. Mueller received a BSEE from the University of Cincinnati, and a Master of Engineering from the Electric Power Engineering Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has been an active working member in recent IEEE power quality guides and standards, including IEEE 519 (Harmonic Control Requirements), IEEE 1159 (Power Quality Monitoring), and IEEE 1250.

Teaching in courses starting: 03/19/2019

Kevin Rogers
Program Director

Kevin Rogers joined the Department of Engineering Professional Development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after 15 years in industry.  His experience includes managing and performing power quality investigations, electrical distribution system design and operations, and power systems studies. Rogers spent his last five years as the engineering manager of an electrical engineering firm, where he and his colleagues provided a diverse range of design and study services to industrial, commercial, and distributed generation customers.

Teaching in courses starting: 03/19/2019

Thomas Grebe
Principal Engineer

Tom Grebe, PE, is a principal consultant with EnerNex in Knoxville, Tennessee. His primary responsibilities include consulting for electric utilities and their customers in the areas of power systems and power quality analysis. Grebe has over 30 years of application experience using the EMTP and PSCAD transient simulation programs. Grebe received his BS in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University. He is a senior member of IEEE, Past-chairman of the Capacitor Subcommittee, and Chairman of the Harmonic Filter Working Group.

Teaching in courses starting: 03/19/2019

By participating in this course you will earn:

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