1

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
The technological advancements in almost all the areas are
rapidly moving forward. The power scenario has also transformed to a
great extent. The power systems have become highly complex on
account of the sheer increase in size and capacity, thereby reducing
the reliability. The progress of electronics, electrical device and
appliances has resulted in raising the standards and now they
demand continuous and conditioned power. This resulted in pushing
the current complex electricity network and market into a piquant
position and thereby bringing the idea of deregulation [1]. The
constantly altering power situation has affected even the quality of
electric power. This has prompted a through extensive research on the
topic Electric Power Quality.
Nowadays, the rapid growth of power electronics in industry,
and the presence of products based on electronic components in
enterprises, institutions, shops, small businesses, residences, etc. and
transport systems has been welcomed by the people who already use
it due to its increased productivity within all areas. The sudden
increase of electronic processors in a wide range of equipment from
TVs, LCDs, LEDs, DVDs, UPSs, driers and washing machines to
critical office equipment such as PCs, ACs and faxes machines has
increased

the

problems[2].

weakness

of

such

apparatus

to

power

quality

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1.1 The Definition of Power Quality
Power quality, is the study of powering and grounding electronic
systems so as to maintain the integrity of the power supplied to the
system. IEEE Standard 11598 describes power quality as [2]: The
concept of powering and grounding sensitive equipment in a manner
that is suitable for the operation of that equipment.
The IEEE 100 Authoritative Dictionary of IEEE Standard Terms
describes power quality as [2]: The concept of powering and
grounding electronic equipment in a manner that is suitable to the
operation of that equipment and compatible with the premise wiring
system and other connected equipment.
The Standard Handbook of Electrical Engineers, 14th edition,
(2000) gave an authoritative statement on PQ[2]: Good power quality,
however, is not easy to define because what is good power quality to a
refrigerator motor may not be good enough for todays personal
computers and other sensitive loads.
The problem of this increasing use of power electronics
equipment is the most important distortions originator. The perfect AC
power systems are a pure sinusoidal wave (both voltage and current),
but the ever-increasing existence of non-linear loads modify the
characteristics of voltage and current from the ideal sinusoidal wave
[2]. This deviation from the ideal wave is reflected by the harmonics
and, although its effects vary depending on the type of load, it affects
the efficiency of an electrical system and can cause considerable
damage to the systems and infrastructures. Considering that a minor

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variation in power is usually overlooked in the operation of
conventional equipment, this may now bring the whole manufacturing
industry to a standstill. The cost of such interference can be generous
[3], [4].
The sources of poor power quality can be categorized in two
groups [5]: (1) actual loads, equipment and components and (2)
subsystems of transmission and distribution systems. The Poor power
quality is usually caused by power line disturbances such as
impulses, notches, voltage sag and swell, voltage and current
unbalances, momentary interruption and harmonic distortions. The
International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) [5] classification of
power quality includes loss-of-balance as a source of disturbance.
IEEE standard also includes this feature as a source of quality
deterioration of electric power. The harmonics and reactive power are
the two important contributors of poor power quality. Solid state
control of AC power using high speed switches are the main source of
harmonics, whereas different non-linear loads contribute to excessive
drawl of reactive power from supply. It leads to catastrophic
consequences such as long production downtimes, malfunction of
devices and shortened equipment life [4], [5].
The latest development in signal analysis has led to the
upgrading of newer process to distinguish and categorize various
Power Quality (PQ) issues. In wavelet transforms (WT), signal
decomposition can be applied to detect and localize different PQ
problems. By the properties of the wavelet transforms and the features

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in the disintegrating waveform, one will have the ability to extract
important information from the distorted signal [6]-[9].
1.2 MOTIVATION FOR THE PROJECT
Until the 1960s the prime apprehension of consumers of
electricity was the continuity of the supply, in other words the
reliability of the supply. These days consumers are looking for
consistency and power quality. For example, a consumer may face
unexpected voltage reductions (voltage sags) every time there is a fault
at some part of the system, affecting its sensitive loads [10]-[12].
Though the power supply is not disconnected, the consumer still
experiences an interruption that causes an outage of the plant.
Examples of very susceptible end users are hospitals, manufacturing
industries, air traffic control towers, and financial institutions; all of
them requiring reliable and high quality electrical supply. The location
of the source of the disturbance plays a fundamental role to decide
about responsibilities and financial penalties. This information is
extremely important considering the new power system management
in

deregulated

environments,

where

many

transmission

and

distribution companies exchange electric energy and also power

quality disturbances.
Depending on the susceptibility of the consumers loads, these
power quality problems may cause power failure or disconnection or
damage of the consumer loads [13]-[15]. This problem inspired to
know the technical reason and to predict the failure of sensitive
electronic equipment.

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1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE PRESENT RESEARCH:

The objectives can be categorised as following:

1. To investigate and develop a novel technique based on Fourier
Transform, Wavelets and Fuzzy Logic to categorise PQ events.
2. To estimate the impact of PQ problem on susceptible electronic
equipments (computers, CFL, UPS, ceiling Fan, television set
and etc) with help of Power Quality Analyzer 3196.
3. To estimate the impact of power quality problem on dynamic
load i.e. Vector Controlled Variable Frequency induction motor
using MATLAB/ Simulink.

1.4 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

Chapter 2 gives the literature survey on the research area.
Chapter 3 a complete investigation on power quality (PQ) related
issues, as experienced by the consumers in different countries.
Chapter 4 presents a method for power quality (PQ) disturbance
(event) scrutiny u n d e r noisy environment , using wavelet feature
(WF) based o n fuzzy classification method. By extracting features in
power-quality disturbance, energy distribution of wavelet at every
disintegration phase is calculated for different PQ events i.e. voltage
sag, swell, momentary interruption and notch. These events are
taken

into

consideration, while testing the performance

projected approach.

of

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Chapter 5 presents personal computers generate non-sinusoidal
current with odd harmonics more significantly. SMPS usually draws
non-linear current and therefore, is a significant source of harmonics.
The validation of the load models is done through a case study for an
industrial supply system and by comparing the THDs (obtained from
simulation using MATLAB) with the THD values obtained by
measurement.
Chapter 6 discusses the results of experimental study of harmonic
distortion caused by linear and non linear home appliances and
presents the estimation of power quality problem on sensitive
electronic equipment with help of Power Quality Analyzer 3196.
Chapter 7 presents the power quality is a matter of concern for
almost all the sections of consumers. Application of asymmetrical
voltages to the induction motor driven systems sternly affects the
operational performance. Simulation of an Induction Motor under
various voltage sag conditions using MATLAB/Simulink is presented
in this chapter.
Chapter 8 summarizes the research finding on Power Quality
categorisation and simulating its impact on sensitive electronic
equipment by presenting the results obtained by conducting the
experiment on non linear loads and analyzed the dynamic load with
help of MATLAB.