Power Quality Issues: EE4161

UNIT : 4

Long-Duration Voltage Variations

UNIT IV
•Long Voltage Duration Principle of regulating the Voltage,
•Principles of Regulating the Voltage Devices for Voltage Regulation,
• Utility Voltage Regulator Application,
• Capacitors for Voltage Regulation,
•End-User Capacitor Application. 
 Principles of Regulating the Voltage
- Too much impedance in the power system to properly supply the load
Common options for improving power system voltage regulation:

Figure 1 Voltage drop across the system impedance is the root cause
of voltage regulation problems.

1. Add shunt capacitors to reduce the current I and shift it to be more in

phase with the voltage.
2. Add voltage regulators, which boost the apparent V1.
3. Reconductor lines to a larger size to reduce the impedance Z.
4. Change substation or service transformers to larger sizes to reduce
impedance Z.
5. Add some kind of dynamic reactive power (var) compensation, which
serves the same purpose as capacitors for rapidly changing loads.
6. Add series capacitors to cancel the inductive impedance drop IX.
 Devices for Voltage Regulation

Variety of voltage regulation devices in use on utility and industrial power

systems.
1. Tap-changing transformers
- There are both mechanical and electronic tap-changing transformers.
- Tap-changing transformers are often autotransformer designs
- The mechanical devices are for the slower-changing loads, while the electronic
ones can respond very quickly to voltage changes.
2. Isolation devices with separate voltage regulators
- UPS systems, ferroresonant (constant-voltage) transformers, and
motor-generator sets.
-isolate the load from the power source by performing some sort of energy
conversion
-the load side of the device can be separately regulated and can maintain constant
voltage regardless of variations at the supply side.
-The drawback of using such devices is that they are costly, introduce more losses,
and can cause harmonic distortion in power supply system.
3. Impedance compensation devices, such as capacitors
- Shunt capacitors : Shunt capacitors help maintain the voltage by reducing
the current in the lines.
- To maintain a more constant voltage, the capacitors can be switched in
conjunction with the load, sometimes in small incremental steps
- Series capacitors:
Series capacitors are relatively rare in utility distribution systems
-they are very effective in certain system conditions, like rapidly changing
large loads causing excessive flicker (voltage fluctuations).
-The series capacitors compensate for most of the inductance in the
system leading up to the load.
4. Static var compensators.
- Another approach to compensate flicker-causing loads
- These can react within a few cycles to maintain a nearly constant voltage by rapidly
controlling the reactive power production
-Such devices are commonly used on arc furnaces, stone crushers, and
other randomly varying loads where the system is weak and the resulting
voltage fluctuations are affecting nearby customers.
 1. Utility step-voltage regulators

The typical utility tap-changing regulator can regulate from 10 to 10

percent of the incoming line voltage in 32 steps of 5/8 percent.
• Utility line voltage regulators and substation
LTCs are relatively slow.

• The time delay when the voltage goes out of

band is at least 15 s and is commonly 30 or 45 s.

• Their main application is boosting voltage on long

feeders where the load changes slowly over
• several minutes.

2 Schematic diagram of one type of utility voltage regulator commonly

applied on distribution lines.
2. Ferroresonant transformers

•They are not only useful in protecting equipment from voltage sags but they
can also be used to attain very good voltage regulation (±1 percent output)

•Figure shows the steady-state input/output characteristics of a 120-VA

ferroresonant transformer with a 15-VA load.

•As the input voltage is reduced down to 30 V, the output voltage stays constant

•If the input voltage is reduced further, the output voltage begins to collapse.

•In addition, as the input voltage is reduced, the current drawn by the
ferroresonant transformer increases substantially from 0.4 to 2 A.

•Thus, ferroresonant transformers tend to be lossy and inefficient.

3. Electronic tap-switching regulators
• Electronic tap-switching regulators are used to regulate voltage.

• They are more efficient than ferroresonant transformers and use SCRs or triacs to
quickly change taps, and hence voltage.

• Tapswitching regulators have a very fast response time of a half cycle and are popular
for medium-power applications.
4. Magnetic synthesizers
•Magnetic synthesizers, although intended for short-duration voltage sags , can also be used
for steady-state voltage regulation.

•One manufacturer, for example, states that for input voltages of ±40 percent, the output
voltage will remain within ±5 percent at full load.
5. On-line UPS systems
• On-line UPS systems intended for protection against sags and brief interruptions
• They are also be used for voltage regulation provided the source voltage stays
sufficiently high to keep the batteries charged.
• This is a common solution for small, critical computer or electronic control loads
in an industrial environment that has large, fluctuating loads causing the voltage
to vary.
6. Motor-generator sets
• Used for voltage regulation.
• They completely decouple the load
from the electric power system,
shielding the load from electrical
transients.

• Voltage regulation is provided by the generator control.

• The major drawback of motor-generator sets is their response time to large
load changes.
• Motor-generator sets can take several seconds to bring the voltage back up to
the required level, making it too slow for voltage regulation of rapidly varying
loads.
• Motor-generator sets can also be used to provide “ride through” from input
voltage variations, especially voltage sags, by storing energy in a flywheel.
7. Static var compensators (TCR and TSC)

• Static var compensators can be applied to either utility systems or industrial systems.
They help regulate the voltage by responding very quickly to supply or consume
reactive power.
• This acts with the system impedance to either raise or lower the voltage on a cycle-
by-cycle basis.
• There are two main types of static var compensators in common usage, The
thyristor-controlled reactor (TCR) scheme is probably the most common.
• It employs a fixed capacitor bank to provide leading reactive power and a thyristor-
controlled inductance that is gated on in various amounts to cancel all or part of the
capacitance.
• The capacitors are frequently configured as filters to clean up the harmonic distortion
caused by the thyristors.
• The thyristor-switched capacitor operates by switching multiple steps of
capacitors quickly to match the load requirements as closely as possible.
• This is a more coarse regulation than a TCR but is often adequate.
• The capacitors are generally gated fully on so there are no harmonics in the
currents.
• The switching point is controlled so that there are no switching transients.
Utility Voltage Regulator Application
 1. Line drop compensator
- For leveling voltage profiles and load rejection with respect to the
application of regulators in series

Regulators are very effective in alleviating low-voltage conditions on

distribution feeders when the load has outgrown the capability of the
feeder at peak load conditions.
The purpose of the line drop compensator is to level out the voltage profile so that it
provides the necessary voltage boost at peak load yet keeps the voltage closer to
nominal at lower loads.
• The line drop compensator settings are called R and X for the resistive
and reactive components of the compensator.
• To convert from actual line impedance in ohms to the R and X settings,
the basic formula is

• where the CT is specified by the line current rating and the PT ratio is
the nominal line-to-neutral voltage divided by 120 V.
• These R and X values are used directly for wye-connected regulators.
• For delta-connected regulators, these values must be modified to
account for the 30° phase shift in the voltage with respect to the line
current
2. Regulators in series
• extremely long lines feeding remote loads
• irrigation and mining loads where lines extend for miles with
only an occasional load.

Special considerations to avoid power quality problems

• proper setting the initial time delay (typically 15 or 30 s).
• This minimizes tap changing on the downline regulators, keeping
the voltage variations to a minimum and extending contact life.
 Greatest power quality problem –load rejection

To minimize damage to loads, regulators employ a “rapid runback” control

scheme that bypasses the normal time delay and runs the regulators back
down as quickly as possible. This is typically 2 to 4 s per tap change.
Capacitors for Voltage Regulation
Shunt capacitor
• a shunt capacitor at the end of a
feeder results in a gradual change
in voltage along the feeder.
• percent voltage rise at the
capacitor would be zero at no
load and rise to maximum at full
load.
Feeder voltage rise due to shunt (a) capacitors
 Series capacitors • with the feeder results in a voltage
rise at the end of the feeder that
varies directly with load current.
• Voltage rise is zero at no load and
maximum at full load.
• Advantageous where feeder
reactance must be minimized, e.g.,
to reduce flicker.
Feeder voltage rise due to series (b) capacitors

Disadvantages :
•Cannot provide reactive compensation for feeder loads and do not
significantly reduce system losses
•series capacitors cannot tolerate fault current
•Resonance and/or hunting with synchronous and induction motors, and
ferroresonance with transformers.
 End-User Capacitor Application

power factor correction capacitors

•Reduce electric utility bill

•Reduce I2R losses and, therefore, heating in lines and transformers
•Increase the voltage at the load, increasing production and/or the
efficiency of the operation
• Reduce current in the lines and transformers, allowing additional load to
be served without building new circuits
Location for power factor correction capacitors
• At the primary voltage bus (C1) when
utility billing encourages power
factor correction.
• Location of larger harmonic filters on
the main distribution bus (C2)
provides the required compensation
and a low-impedance path for
harmonic currents to flow, keeping
the harmonic currents off the utility
system.
• With large induction motors (C3)
allows the capacitor and motor to be
switched as a unit.
• Loss and current reduction are
achieved when the capacitors (C4)
are distributed throughout the
system.
 Voltage rise
• If the voltage is low, then the capacitors provide an increase to bring
the voltage back into tolerable limits. However, if the capacitors are
left energized when the load is turned off, the voltage can rise too
high, resulting in a sustained overvoltage.

• The voltage rise by the end user from the installation of capacitors is
approximated from

• Formula assumes that transformer is the bulk of the total impedance of

the power system up to the point at which the capacitor is applied.
• formula should be applied to investigate whether it is feasible to leave
the capacitors energized. If not, some control strategy must be devised
to switch the capacitors off at light loads.
 Reduction in power system losses
The reduction in power system losses is estimated from

• This formula basically applies to a single capacitor on a radial feed.

• This formula gives the percent reduction possible over the present
losses upline from the capacitors.
• There is no reduction in losses in the lines and transformers between
the capacitor and the load.
Reduction in line current

The percent line current reduction can be approximated from

Displacement power factor versus true power factor
• The traditional concepts of selecting power factor correction are based
on the assumption that loads on the system have linear voltage-current
characteristics and that harmonic distortion can be ignored.
• The power factor is equal to the displacement power factor (DPF).

where kW and kVA are the fundamental frequency quantities only.

The true power factor (TPF) is defined as the ratio of real power to the
total volt amperes in the circuit:

• The kVA includes harmonic distortion volt amperes.

• The total kVA (apparent power) is determined by multiplying the true
rms voltage by the true rms current.
• Assuming the voltage THD is zero, the maximum to which you can
correct the TPF can be approximated by

• The DPF is still very important to most industrial customers because

utility billing for power factor penalties is generally based on it.
• Most revenue metering schemes currently account only for the DPF.
 Selecting the amount of capacitance
To apply capacitors to correct the power factor, the kvar of capacitance
required to correct a load to a desired power factor is given by
After selecting estimated capacitor sizes, two power quality checks should
be done:
1.Determine the no-load voltage rise to make sure that the voltage will not
rise above 110 percent when the load is minimum. If it does, you will have
to switch some of the capacitors off or apply fewer capacitors.
2.Determine the impact of the capacitors on harmonics

If harmonics prove to be a problem, typical options are

1.Change the amount of capacitors, if possible. Avoid certain switching
combinations. This is generally the least-cost solution.
2.Convert some of the capacitors to one or more filters, usually placed
at the main bus.
3.Employ an adaptive control to monitor the harmonic distortion and
switch the capacitors to avoid resonance. This might be appropriate
for large industrial loads where there are numerous switched
capacitors coming on and off line randomly.
The formula which is being used by MSEDCL is was approved by the
Commission in earlier order dated 17 August, 2009 as mentioned below.

Wherever, the average Power Factor measurement is not possible through the
installed meter, the following method for calculating the average PF during the
billing period shall be adopted-
Now as per MTR order dated 12 September 2018 lead component of
reactive energy i.e. KVARh lead is also considered in the said
formula and PF is calculated accordingly as below.

In above formula both the RKVAh Lag and Lead parameters need their addition
for billing as,

Both cannot occur simultaneously and for every time instance the resultant of both
RKVAh lag and lead energies is computed and get registered in either register
(RKVAh lag or RKVAh lead ) according to the predominance at respective
instances.
•As they are recorded at different time spans/slots and both (lead & lag) are
responsible to deviate the system from Unity PF (UPF) and hence, both are liable
for penalty.

For example, during an hour,

KWh = 4, RKVAh *Lag* = 3, then KVAh = 5.

During next hour,

KWh = 4, RKVAh *Lead* = 3, then KVAh = 5.

•This does not mean that both Reactive energies should cancel each other and
resultant reactive energy should be consider for billing purpose is equal to Zero

• As they are recorded at different time instances both are equally responsible for
loading the system ( either lead or lag) with 5 KVAh apparent power.