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HARMONICS - Understanding the Facts - Part 1

Richard P. Bingham

Abstract
Understanding what is important to know about harmonics can be challenging for those without
extensive electrical engineering backgrounds. In this three part series, this first article will review
what a harmonic is, the second will help to clarify what those important facts are, and the third
will provide details on what causes harmonic problems and suggested solutions.

Why a Sine Wave

Before defining what a harmonic is, it is useful to review why electrical power is generated in the
form of a sine wave, as shown in Figure 1. In much of the world, an AC generator is used to
produce power. AC, or alternating current, was chosen back in the 1800s over DC, or direct
current, due to its ease of generation and the ability to change amplitude using transformers. [1]
The key to understanding a sine wave is in understanding what it is that is “alternating.”

Figure 1. Sine Wave

The principle in 1.1 most AC generators

is that by rotating a 0.9

0.7
magnetic field over
coils or windings, an 0.5 alternating electric
current will be 0.3

0.1
induced into the
windings. The -0.1 current (or electrical
force) is -0.3

-0.5
proportional to the
magnetic flux -0.7 (magnetic force), and
the voltage -0.9

-1.1
(electrical potential)
is proportional to the rate of change of
the current. If there was no change or
alternating of the magnetic flux and hence no change in the current, then there would be no
voltage produced.

A mechanical force, such as water, steam or wind, is used to provide the rotation to produce this
changing flux. Figure 2 is a cross-section of a three phase, 2 pole generator. Half of the
windings for each phase are located on opposite sides of the stator, or stationary part of the
generator. When these coil pairs (A+/A-, B+/B-, C+/C-) are joined together, the current can flow
through the circuit of the windings. In the center is the magnet, which has a north and south
pole. The magnetic flux gets stronger as the rotating pole gets closer to the coil, and then
reduces in intensity as it goes past. The north pole makes the current flow into one coil and the
south makes it flow out of the other. In some generators, the magnets are actually
electromagnets, not permanent magnets.
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Figure 2. Cross section of three phase, two pole generator.

Why the voltage is a sine wave is best

illustrated by looking at the phasor
diagrams in Figure 3. As the phasor
rotates around the circle (like the
magnets rotating inside the generator),
the position of the end of the phasor in
the y axis is shown in Table 1. This is
done in 15 degree steps in this example
to save space.

Figure 3. Phasors

Position Phase Angle Y axis value

A 0 degrees 0

B 15 degrees 0.259

C 30 degrees 0.5

D 45 degrees 0.707

E 60 degrees 0.866

F 75 degrees 0.966
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G 90 degrees 1

Table 1. Phase Angle and Magnitude values.

The rotational position (in degrees) is related to an incremental step in time. Plotting the y axis
values corresponding to the position steps over a complete 360 degree circle results in an
approximation of a sine wave that was shown in Figure 1. This sine wave function occurs in
many natural phenomena, such as the speed of a pendulum as it swings back and forth, or the
way a string on a guitar vibrates when plucked.

The frequency of the sine wave is proportional to the number of poles (or magnets) and the
speed of the rotation, usually expressed in ‘rpm’ (revolutions per minute). The equation is f = ( p
/ 2 ) * rpm. This frequency is referred to as the fundamental frequency. In the North America,
this frequency is 60 Hz, or cycles per second. In European countries and other parts of the
world, this frequency is usually 50 Hz. Aircraft often use 400 Hz as the fundamental frequency.
At 60 Hz, this means that sixty times a second, the voltage waveform increases to a maximum
positive value, then decreases to zero, further decreasing to a maximum negative value, and
then back to zero.

What is a Harmonic
The knowledge of harmonics has been around for a long time. In fact, musicians have been
aware of such since the invention of the first string or woodwind instrument. Harmonics (called
“overtones” in music) are responsible for what makes a trumpet sound like a trumpet, and a
clarinet like a clarinet. It can be shown that any complex waveform, whether it is produced by a
musical instrument or a power system, can be broken up into harmonic components.

The typical definition for a harmonic is “a sinusoidal component of a periodic wave or quantity
having a frequency that is an integral multiple of the fundamental frequency.” [2]. Some
references refer to “clean” or “pure” power as those waveforms without any harmonics. Today,
such clean waveforms typically only exist in a laboratory.

The harmonic frequencies are integer multiples [2, 3, 4, ...] of the fundamental frequency. For
example, the 2nd harmonic on a 60 Hz system is 2*60 or 120 Hz. At 50Hz, the second harmonic
is 2* 50 or 100Hz. 300Hz is the 5th harmonic in a 60 Hz system, or the 6th harmonic in a 50 Hz
system. Figure 5 shows how a signal with dominant 5th and 7th harmonics would appear on an
oscilloscope-type display, which some power quality analyzers provide.
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Figure 5. Fundamental with 5th and 7th harmonics

Frequencies that are not integer multiples of the fundamental frequency are called
“interharmonics
”. There is also
a special
category of
interharmonics,
which are
frequency
values less than
the fundamental
frequency,
called sub-
harmonics. The
presence of
sub-harmonics
is often
observed by the
lighting flicker.

One other parameter to be aware of is the phase angle of the harmonic relative to the
fundamental. In Figure 6, a third harmonic with an amplitude of 33% of the fundamental is
combined with the fundamental. In the left hand picture, the fundamental and the third harmonic
are in phase. In the right hand picture, they are 180 degrees out-of-phase with each other.
Obviously, the resulting waveform looks quite different.
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Figure 6. Effect of Harmonic Phase . [4]

References
[1] Fitzgerald, A.E. et al, Electric Machinery, McGraw-Hill Company, 1971.

[2] IEEE 519 Recommended Practices and Requirements for Harmonic Control in Electric Power
Systems

[3] Kerchner, Russel M. And George F. Corcoran, Alternating-Current Circuits, John Wiley &
Sons, NY, 1 943.

[4] Powerline Harmonic Problems - Causes and Cures, Dranetz Technologies, December 1994.

About the Author

Richard P. Bingham is currently the Chief Technologist for Dranetz Technologies, Inc., having
previously been the Vice-President of Engineering and Strategic Planning. He has been with the
company since 1977, following completion of his BSEE at the University of Dayton. Richard also
has an MSEE in Computer Architecture and Programming from Rutgers University. He is a
member of IEEE Power Engineering Society and Tau Beta Pi, the Engineering Honor Society.
Richard is currently working with the NFPA 70B committee on Power Quality and several IEEE
committees related to IEEE 1159, and has written and presented numerous papers and seminars
in the electric utility and power quality instrumentation fields.