A Study of Harmonic Impacts on High Voltage,

Medium Voltage and Low Voltage Networks in PT.

PLN Distribution System

Agus Purwadi1, Nana Heryana, Dadan Nurafiat Anang Mawardi2, Pranyoto, Muhammad Firmansyah
School of Electrical Engineering and Informatics Center of Research and Development
Institut Teknologi Bandung PT. PLN (Persero)
Bandung 40132 Indonesia Jakarta 12760, Indonesia
1
[email protected] 2
[email protected]

Abstract— This paper presents the characteristics and levels of Harmonic distortion phenomenon is not new and it
harmonics on PT. PLN's ( Indonesia state owned electric utility constitutes one of the main concerns for engineers in the
company) 150 kV/70 kV high voltage, 20 kV/380 medium and low several stages of energy utilization within the power industry.
voltage networks in West Java and Banten Area. Within this In the beginning, harmonic distortions was mainly caused by
paper a study and measurements for various types of loads in saturation of power transformer, industrial arc furnaces and
some types of industries connected to high voltage, medium other arc devices like large electric welders. The major
voltage and low voltage network are conducted and verified. This concerns was the effect that harmonic distortion could have on
paper also discuss the phenomenon of harmonics, the effects on electric machines, telephone interference, and increased risk of
the high voltage, medium voltage and low voltage networks, faults from over voltage condition developed on power factor
harmonic-producing sources, standards and recommended correction capacitors.
practice limits according to the IEEE 519 and IEC 61000
standard. The increasing use of nonlinear loads in industry is
Harmonic measurements method on high voltage network keeping harmonic distortion in distribution networks on the
was done by continuous logging for one week on two samples of rise. The most used nonlinear device perhaps the static power
150 kV big customers and one sample of 70 kV big customer to converter so widely used in industrial and residential
know the harmonics levels and their probability occurrence The applications. A situation that has raised waveform distortion
harmonic current measurements results indicated that Total levels in distribution networks even further is the application
Demand Distortion-TDD conditions for two big customers were of capacitor banks used in industrial plants for power factor
above 4% of standard limits as suggested in IEEE 519-1992. One correction and by power utilities for increasing voltage profile
customer using arc furnace load has contributed the highest
along distribution lines. The resulting reactive impedance
current harmonic pollution to the network.
Harmonic measurements methods on medium and low
forms a tank circuit with the system inductive reactance at
voltage networks were done on two types. The first method was certain frequency likely to coincide with one of the
done by continuous logging for a week duration on 8 samples of characteristic harmonics of the load. This condition will
medium voltage customer to know the harmonics levels and their trigger large oscillatory currents and voltages that may stress
probability occurrence. The second method was done by the insulation. This situation imposes a serious challenge to
instantaneous measurements for 5 minutes during peak load on industry and utility engineers to pinpoint and to correct
20 samples of low voltage distribution loads. From the excessive harmonic waveform distortion levels on the
measurement results show that harmonic current conditions- waveform because its steady increase happen to take place
THDi on the measured distribution substations are all above 5%, right at the time when the use of sensitive electronic
and 70% of customers measured have THDi more than 10%. equipment is also on the rise.
Keywords-harmonic characteristic, high voltage, medium
voltage, low voltage, networks, total demand distortion, total No doubt that the harmonic studies from the planning, the
harmonic distortion design to the operational stages of power utility and industrial
installations will prove to be effective way to keep networks
I. INTRODUCTION and equipment under acceptable operating conditions and to
Ideally, an electricity supply should have a perfectly anticipate potential problems with the installation or addition of
sinusoidal voltage signal at every customer location. However, non linear loads.[1]
for a number of reasons, utilities often find it hard to preserve
such desirable conditions. The deviation of the voltage and
current waveforms from sinusoidal is described in terms of the II. BASIC OF HARMONICS PHENOMENON
waveform distortion, which often expressed as harmonic Waveforms in a non-sinusoidal having frequencies other
distortion. than fundamental frequency are called harmonics. The

978-1-4673-0378-1/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE

frequency of each harmonics component is known as Fig. 2. shows illustration of harmonics flow on the
harmonic frequency. In most cases of periodic and well distribution networks. Accumulated harmonic currents flow
defined waves, where waveform can be expressed by Fourier from a low voltage networks to medium voltage networks via
series, harmonic frequencies are integer multiple of distribution transformer. On the medium voltage side,
fundamental frequency (however it may be fractional). Integer accumulated harmonic currents could flow to high voltage side
harmonics are divided into two categories: odd harmonics and depending on the impedance characteristic of the line and the
even harmonics. Other than integer harmonics there sub configuration connection of distribution transformer. [4]
(having frequencies which are smaller than fundamental
frequency) and inter (having frequencies which are greater Conventional electromagnetic devices as well as
than fundamental but not integer multiple of fundamental semiconductor applications act as sources of harmonics.
frequency) harmonics where n is fractional [2-5]. Conventional electromagnetic devices include stationary
transformer as well as rotating machines. Harmonic generation
Fig. 1 shows example of decomposition of a certain in these machine depends on properties of the material used to
harmonic waveform into their fundamental, third harmonic construct them, different design constraints and
and fifth harmonic components and their frequency spectrum. considerations, operating principle and load environment.
Other than conventional devices, semiconductor based power
supplies, phase controllers, reactors, etc are used enormously
in modern power system network and they are contributing
huge amount of harmonics to the power system. In electric
power system, main sources of harmonics may be classified as
follows [2, 6-12] :
1. Magnetization non linearities of transformer
2. Rotating machines
3. Arching devices
4. Semiconductor based power supply system
5. Inverter fed AC drives
Decomposition
6. Thyristor controlled reactors
7. Phase controllers
(a)
8. AC regulators
1
In electrical power system, harmonics are not desirable in
0,8 most of the applications and operations. Harmonics can create
resonance in power system network. Damping property may
0,6 change due to the presence of harmonics. Also it has some
0,4 adverse effects on performance of rotating machines,
transformers and distribution and or transmission networks.
0,2 Moreover presence of harmonics has some adverse effects on
different consumer equipment. Effects of harmonics are
0 classified in the following way [9-14]:
1 2 3 4 5 1. Resonance
(b) 2. Poor damping
Figure 1. (a) Distorted waveform and its harmonic content
3. Effects of harmonics on rotating machines
(b) Frequency Spectrum 4. Effects of harmonics on distribution transformer
5. Effects of harmonics on transmission lines
6. Effects of harmonics measuring instruments
Iha 7. Harmonics interference with power system protection
Arc Furnace Rectifier
8. Effects of harmonics on capacitor banks
Voltage 9. Effects of harmonics on consumer equipment
Distortion and ΣIh Ihb
Variable Speed Drive III. POWER QUALITY INDICES UNDER HARMONICS
Harmonic problem to
distribution system MV/LV
DISTORTIONS
or other load
Ihc
Electronic Equipment Different standards have been prepared from time to time
(Computer)
by IEEE, ANSI, IEC, CBEMA which provide guidelines for
power quality usages and practices. Harmonics standards
Linear Load mainly include the following issues [2,8-9, 15] :
1. Description and characterization of the phenomenon
Figure 2. Harmonic dispersion in distribution system 2. Major sources of harmonics problems
 3. Impact on other equipment and on the power system C. K factor
4. Indices and statistical analysis to provide a This is useful index intended to follow the requirements of
quantitative assessment and its significance the National Electric Code (NEC) and UL, regarding the
5. Measurement techniques and guidelines capability of distribution and special application transformers
6. Emission limits of quality degradation for different in industry to operate within specific thermal limits in
types and classes of equipment harmonic environment. The formula used to calculate the K
factor (as presented in the IEEE Tutorial Modelling and
7. Immunity or tolerance level of different types of Simulations) is as follows [16] :
equipment 2
f
§I ·
8. Testing methods and procedures for compliance with
¦ h2 ¨ h ¸
© I1 ¹
f
the limits
¦ ª¬ I  p.u º¼  h 
h 1 2 2
K (3)
9. Mitigation guidelines. f
§ Ih ·
2 h

¦
1
¨ ¸
h 1 © I1 ¹
International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) is
the widely recognized organization as the curator of electric
power quality standards. IEC has introduced a series of
standards, to deal with power quality issues. Integer and inter
harmonics are included in IEC61000 series as one of D. Displacement, Distortion, and Total Power Factor
conducted low-frequency electro-magnetic phenomena. The With increasing harmonic distortion environtment, the
series also provides internationally accepted information for conventional definition of power factor as the cosine of the
the control of power system harmonic(and inter-harmonic) angle between fundamental frequency voltage and current
distortion.[2,15] has progressed to consider signal’s rms values, which make
The IEEE 519-1992 standard is a widespread up the contribution of components different frequencies.
alternative to the IEC series. It identifies the major sources of Total power factor thus becomes the product of distortion
harmonic in power systems, effects of harmonic distortion on and true power factors:
the operation of various device or loads, guidelines for
Ptotal
measurement of harmonic distortion in the power system, PFtotal DPF u TPF cos T1  G1  u
recommendation on useful suggestion for both individual Stotal
consumers and utilities for controlling the harmonic distortion § f ·
to tolerable levels.[2,8] ¨ ¦ Vh I h cos T h  G h  ¸
§ P1 · ¨ h 1 ¸
A. Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) ¨ ¸¨ ¸
© V1 I1 ¹ ¨ f f
(4)
Total harmonic distortion (THD) is an important index ¦   ¦  
2 2
¨ V h I h
¸¸
widely used to describe power quality issues in transmission © h1 h 1 ¹
and distribution systems. It considers the contribution of every
individual harmonic component on the signal. THD is defined § P1 · 1
¨ ¸ 2
for voltage and current signals, respectively, as follows: © V1 I1 ¹ § THD1 ·
1 ¨ ¸
f f © 100 ¹
¦V h
2
¦I 2
h
(1)
THDv h 2
u100% THDi h 2
u100%
V1 I1
IV. METHODS AND MEASUREMENT RESULTS
B. Total Demand Distortion (TDD) Harmonic measurements method on high voltage network
Harmonic distortion is most meaningful when monitored at was done by continuous logging for one week on two samples
the point of common coupling (PCC)- usually the customer’s of 150 kV Main Substation (MS) big customers and one
metering point- over period that can reflect maximum sample of 70 kV Main Substation (MS) big customer to know
customer demand, typically 15 to 30 minutes as suggested in the harmonics levels and their probability occurrence [17-18].
Standard IEEE-519 . Weak sources with a larger demand
current relative to their rated current will tend to show greater Harmonic measurements methods on medium and low
waveform distortion. Conversely, stiff sources characterized voltage networks were done on two types. The first method
for operating at low demand currents will show decreased was done by continuous logging for one week duration on 8
waveform distortion. The TDD is based on the demand samples of 20 kV medium voltage Distribution Substation (DS)
current, over the monitoring period: costumer to know the harmonics level and their probability
occurrence. The second method was done by instantaneous
measurements for 5 minutes during peak load on 20 samples of
f low voltage distribution loads.
¦I 2
h
(2)
TDD h 2
u100%
Il
 TABLE I. MEASUREMENT LOCATION AND INSTRUMENT USED

Location / Voltage Instrument Current measurement Voltage measurement Maximum

accuracy accuracy harmonic
order
PT. Toyo Giri / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
MS Toyogiri/ 70 KV Topas 1000
PT. Gunung Garuda / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
MS Cikarang / 150 KV Topas 1000
Asia Mall / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
DSTasikmalaya / 20 KV Topas 1000
PT Polifin / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
DS Ujung Berung / 20 KV Topas 1000
Out Going Trafo 1 / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
DSCikarang / 20 K Fluke 1760
Transf. 1 Kahatex / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
DS Rancaekek / 20 KV Fluke 1760
Feeder Sukanegara / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
DS Cianjur / 20 kV Fluke 1760
Feeder Cijedil / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
DS Cianjur / 20 KV Topas 1000
PT Asahimas / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
MS Asahimas / 150 KV Topas 1000
PT LOC / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
DS Asahimas / 20 KV Fluke 1760
Sucofindo / PQ Meter 0,5 % 0,11% 50
DS Serang / 20 KV Fluke 1760
20 Dist. Substation / low Analys P3 Q 0,5 % 0,2% 20
voltage/ 380 V

3
2,5
2
1,5
1
0,5
0
PT. Toyo PT. Asia Mall PT Polifin Out Going Transf. 1 Feeder PT PT LOC Sucofindo
Giri Gunung 20 KV Kahatex Cijedil Asahimas
Garuda

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 THD

Figure 3. Voltage harmonics spectrum for 1 week measurement

 TABLE II. RESUME OF VOLTAGE HARMONICS MEASUREMENT & PROBABILITY OF OCCURRENCE ON HIGH/MEDIUM VOLTAGE NETWORK

% THDv %Time THDv

PCC Highest Voltage
Dominant load Limit Exceeding
No Location Costumer Voltage Harmonic (THDv) (%)
type (IEEE519- Standard
(KV)
1992)
R S T R S T
1 MS Toyo Giri PT.Toyo Giri Industry / Arc 70 2,5 2,84 3,14 2,81 2 8 2
Furmace
2 MS Cikarang PT. Gunung Industry / Arc 150 2,5 1,17 1,2 1,28 0 0 0
Garuda Furmace

3 DS Tasikmalaya Asia Mall Business / 20 5 3,5 3,7 3,97 0 0 0

Shopping Center
4 DS Ujung Berung PT Polifin Industry / Textile 20 5 2,54 2,78 2,41 0 0 0
5 DS Cikarang Out Going 20 Residential 20 5 1,47 1,49 1,44 0 0 0
KV

6 DS Rancaekek Transf. 1 Industry / Textile 20 5 2,55 2,41 2,4 0 0 0

Kahatex

7 DS Cianjur Feeder Residential 20 5 3,16 3,07 3,14 0 0 0

Sukanegara
8 DS Cianjur Feeder Cijedil Residential 20 5 3,37 3,45 3,36 0 0 0

9 MS Asahimas PT Asahimas Industry / 150 2,5 2,2 2,2 1,9 0 0 0

Chemical
electrolysis
10 DS Asahimas PT LOC Industry / 20 5 0,63 0,59 0,59 0 0 0
Chemical
electrolysis
11 DS Serang Sucofindo Office 20 5 1,23 1,22 1,16 0 0 0

14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
PT. Toyo PT. Asia Mall PT Polifin Out Going Transf. 1 Feeder PT PT LOC Sucofindo
Giri Gunung 20 KV Kahatex Cijedil Asahimas
Garuda

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41
42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 THD

Figure 4. Current harmonics spectrum for 1 week measurement

 TABLE III. RESUME OF CURRENT HARMONICS MEASUREMENT AND PROBABILITY OF OCCURRENCE ON HIGH/MEDIUM VOLTAGE NETWORK

%Current Highest %Time

Highest Current
Harmonic Current TDD
PCC Isc at Harmonic
IL Limit Distorion Exceeding
No Costumer Voltage PCC Isc/IL (THDi) (%)
(A) (TDD) (TDD) (%) Standard
(KV) (KA)
(IEEE519-
R S T R S T R S T
1992)
1 PT. Toyo Giri 70 5 241 22 29 23 22 4 9 8 8 33 32 31
2 PT. Gunung 150 14 386 36 34 38 41 4 5 5 4 4 5 2
Garuda
3 Asia Mall 20 4 49 81 25 30 28 12 9 9 11 0 0 0
4 PT Polifin 20 4 180 24 9 9 9 8 7 7 7 0 0 0
5 Out Going 20 13 1171 11 5 6 5 5 3 3 3 0 0 0
20 KV
6 Transf. 1 20 12 1636 7 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 0 0 0
Kahatex
7 Feeder 20 4 273 14 9 10 9 5 2 2 2 0 0 0
Sukanegara
8 Feeder Cijedil 20 4 214 18 13 10 12 5 4 3 3 0 0 0
9 PT Asahimas 150 22 361 61 2 2 2 6 2 2 2 0 0 0
10 PT LOC 20 20 152 131 2 2 2 15 1 1 1 0 0 0
11 Sucofindo 20 12 8 1575 4 3 4 20 2 2 3 0 0 0

TABLE IV. RESUME OF CURRENT HARMONICS MEASUREMENT ON LOW VOLTAGE NETWORK

No Name Dominant load Phase current (A) Calculated Neutral THDi (%)
type Neutral Current
R S T N Current Deviation R S T
(%)
1 UNS University 284 392 337 167 94 79 14,9 15,8 14,9
2 DKN Residential 474 484 434 168 46 267 11,6 12,9 13,1
3 SL Residential 458 415 454 106 41 158 10,5 9,0 9,8
4 PSIT Residential 338 340 280 141 59 139 15,6 14,3 13,1
5 PBKN Residential 117 110 148 68 35 94 14,4 18,1 17,4
6 PPT Residential 270 184 258 148 81 83 13,4 19,4 14,2
7 PSK Residential 252 305 280 135 46 194 17,1 17,8 17,5
8 KBG Residential 358 225 254 180 121 49 16,0 15,3 16,9
9 PGT Residential 222 227 198 106 27 295 16,5 19,1 16,1
10 SKT Residential 297 353 246 168 93 81 14,0 15,2 14,4
11 KPBATR1 Office 290 395 312 95 96 -1 5,3 4,9 4,6
12 KPBATR2 Office 90 70 60 45 26 70 21,4 8,4 10,1
13 KPBCTR1 Office 99 126 137 43 34 27 10,4 6,3 7,4
14 KPBCTR2 Office 286 331 318 65 40 62 5,9 7,9 4,8
15 KPBD Office 302 270 200 90 90 0 5,4 7,2 5,3
16 DP Office 450 360 398 95 78 21 7,0 3,6 6,4
17 BNI Office 136 94 117 60 36 65 5,5 11,8 2,6
18 KWL Office 59 43 56 15,5 15 5 9,1 3,2 7,2
19 RBA Hospital 228 205 154 64 66 -2 5,8 7,3 5,4
20 APJ Office 155 150 135 60 18 233 14,4 16,3 15,8
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