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Understanding the CBEMA Curve

"Determining Susceptibility"

Throughout the sphere of Power Quality you'll hear the terms "spike", "transient", and "dip/sag/surge/swell". These three categories are very real and refer to loosely defined boundaries based on time or duration of the event. However, there is one thing that timing does not take into account and that is the energy released during such an event, energy usually being measured in Joules. Although watt-seconds (Ws) is relative to Joules (J), watts require that you know both the voltage and the current, the latter not always being available. To simplify matters the Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association came up with a curve wherein the voltage deviation from the norm is the only factor taken into account. It is felt that equipment fitted with a filter should be able to withstand greater deviations the shorter the timing of the deviation. And so the CBEMA curve was born. It effectively encompasses all the factors involved with voltage deviations, from long term through to high-speed distortions of the waveform. By doing this it would appear as if these guys sure know how to make things complicated! Actually, the opposite is true. If we approach this from an electronics angle we'll also notice that the filters consist of inductors and/or capacitors and are arranged as low-pass filters. Low pass filters attenuate frequencies above their cut-off. The sharper the deviation, the higher the frequency. The higher the frequency, the higher the attenuation. Simple! Told you, Power Quality is an electronics field, not a power engineering one!

Above is shown the CBEMA curve (red) indicating the expected attenuation of a mains filter i.e. what the filter should be able to absorb. One of the things that needs to be mentioned here is the

rectifiers and storage capacitor is also a filter whose primary purpose is to take the AC input and present it as DC to the rest of the circuit (and if that is not regarded as a filter, then further learning is prescribed!). Ahead of the rectifiers and storage capacitor is the EMC filter whose primary purpose is to stop the muck generated by the switching circuit from being radiated onto the mains, and not as protection for the power supply. Because the filter attenuates high frequencies in one direction, it will do so the opposite way. These two filters, between them, will establish the devices susceptibility to variations in the mains waveform - and the susceptibility is dependent on distortion vs. time. It can be clearly seen how the shorter the time, the more distorion can be tolerated before disturbance is likely. Also shown is the ITIC curve (blue) which has superceded the CBEMA, but as filters do not work in straight lines my personal preference is the CBEMA as it more closely resembles a filter's characteristics. Furthermore, it must not be forgotten that the older mains transformer is also a rather large inductor (followed by rectifiers and storage cap) and such a curve is therefore also applicable to older power supplies. Working right to left we'll cover Type III category first. These are the long term or sustained voltage variations, and starts typically where the variation is under 15% on the curve. Note that these are long term changes i.e. the speed at which the total change occurs is slower than about 2 seconds. As can be seen this is mainly a flat line as anything out of this range can affect equipment function through under-voltage causing it not to run and overvoltage causing failures. Changes occurring faster than this e.g. a 20% change over a few cycles, is well into the next category. Our next category down is Type II. This loosely represents swells/surges and sags/dips. The time period is from one half-cycle up to where Type III begins. The primary part of this area is the effects of supply variations on the smoothing capacitor. The longer the deviation, the more it can affect the capacitor. Very short disturbances tend to leave the running voltage unchanged. The final category, Type I, is simply known as "impulses" and ranges from transients (at the slower timing) down to simple "spikes" (at the sub-s end of the scale). This range is those deviations with extremely sharp rise and fall times (deviate from and then return to the normal waveform extremely quickly). As their frequency component is so high, wiring alone tends to provide huge attenuation let alone the filters found in most modern power supplies (or transformers). Although it would be of immense help, it must be remembered the borders between Types I, II, & III are not precise e.g. 10ms does not represent the exact point at which a transient becomes a surge. They are very much 'grey areas' where one needs to consider the effect of the disturbance and define it accordingly.

INDICATING DISTURBANCES A lightning strike, even when reasonably nearby, will often not damage equipment. Investigating where the typical 5/20s pulse would reside on the graph, we can see that such a pulse would need to be 400+% before any damage should occur. In the world of 230VAC that's a whole 1kV (approx), and that's kind of large! To the right-hand side of this sits transients, and a description of these would be they are the blighters that can cause major damage. Their timing falls anywhere between extended lightning strikes through to switching glitches (transformer tap changes etc). In this category the voltage

deviation does not have to be that large, as long as the frequency is low enough for it to make it's way through the wiring and filtering and damage what it finds in its path. To the right of this is longer term disturbances, and it can be seen that the more we progress to longer term disturbances, the less the deviation from the norm they may be. What is not realized is there are many disturbances that require multiple plots on the curve. As an example, take a temporary short occurring between two phases on the output of a 3-phase transformer. When the short initially occurs, there are likely to be transients. This is followed by a low voltage occurring on the said phases, and this then followed by another set of transients as well as the sudden return to normal operating voltage. Indicating the above as a single point on the CBEMA curve will cause mass confusion! I can see about five separate points on the curve appearing to indicate the full extent of the incident. The first indicates the amplitude and duration of the initial transient. The second the amplitude and duration of the reduced voltage. The third the amplitude and duration of the transient that occurs as the short lets go. But there are two more required to fully indicate the extent of the disturbance, and they are the speed at which the voltage fell at the start of the short, and the speed of recovery when the short let go. The importance of these (especially the second) are used to determine the extent of possible current export and inrush during the disturbance. Many will try to use one point to indicate a complicated disturbance. Simple disturbances, such as a lightning strike, is easily indicated using a single point. Complicated disturbances need to be broken down in to various stages of the disturbance and indicated as separate points on the curve. Those that exceed the limits then indicating that possible, as well as what type of damage has occurred.

OTHER TOLERANCE CURVES The CBEMA curve is only one of many 'tolerance curves' within industry (it specifically designed as a measure of compatibility for IT equipment). Although I am a fan of the CBEMA, it is not the only one around. The Information Technology Industry Council (ITIC) decided to create their own version of this curve (shown in blue in the above graph) as their belief was equipment was still prone to being damaged under the then present curve limits. With electronics becoming more and more sensitive this could be believable especially as designers are shaving off far too much in the designs (to make them more economical) at the expense of robustness. ANSI too did not want to be left out of the arena, and came up with their own. It is a bit more realistic than the ITIC and one that the Information Technology crowd may find prudent to adopt! However, whatever is adopted, the same principles apply to all curves. You decide which you would rather have.

CUSTOM TOLERANCE CURVES One cannot adopt the CBEMA to all walks of life. If our hypothetical Mr. Williams had a recording done of the mains for his proposed welding works and was then handed a plot of the site's mains on a CBEMA curve, the 'engineer' doing this should be "drug out into the street and shot!" (yes, Garfield is my favourite cartoon character). If one applies a little bit of thought to this, it will be seen that a transient of, say, 150% at 10ms may affect a computer installation, however, this is not going to affect an induction welder in the slightest (in fact, it could prove prudent to invite the 'engineer' who was on site earlier back for another recording while the welding works is in full swing!). What is therefore called for are tolerance curves for each device that requires mains. An aircon unit needs far less stringent mains purity as opposed to a super-computer - the latter wanting a very tight curve and in one installation the tolerance curve was 4% from the nominal from 1 second on. Such 'tightness' is only achievable with a UPS right there next to the device! So we have presented two needs for a tolerance curve, both as the means to test a supply with the difference being before and after installation. Before installation would prove handy to, say, ensure a UPS manufacturer can supply a suitable device for an installation. After installation is applicable to testing the supply of the data processing company after Williams' Welding Works opened shop just down the road. Most modern power supplies now come with a "Universal Voltage Input" covering about 100260VAC. To this end I have developed a curve based on the CBEMA curve. Although it has been superseded by the ITIC curve, the CBEMA was chosen as a start point as, as said above, it more realistic represents the characteristics of the filters found on the inputs of SMPSs.

Setting the 100% mark as 230VAC (our new norm based on EN50160), the upper limit (at 1-day) represents the upper limit of EN50160 i.e. 253V. The lower limit on the right side of the curve is uncharacteristically lower than that found on the typically published CBEMA curves (see above) and is set at 100V. These two limits, therefore, represent the wide input voltage range most SMPSs now

comfortably operate on. As long as the sustained voltage stays within the specified range, things work well. The 'blip' on the lower trace between the 10ms and 2second mark on the lower limit indicates where sudden shifts in voltage may put the input rectifiers under strain and/or upset the regulation of the output voltage. And to close.. I do find it a little disturbing when people present their desired curve (such as the super-computer manufacturers above) as a 'modified CBEMA/ITIC/whatever' curve. The moment it is modified it is no longer that curve. Please help stop this bad engineering practice. Call it by the device's name if there is no name for it, but stop calling it 'modified'. It sounds arrogant as it calls into question the group who designed the curve.

CURVES DEFINING RESPONSIBILITY Tolerance curves as a means to test the quality of supply versus equipment susceptibility are perfect. It would, however, be erroneous to use them in defining areas of responsibility either for the power supplier or device using the power. CBEMA etc. are not standards, merely recommendations and a reflection of real life (although a lot would argue these points!). Unless the curve was stipulated in the planning phase of a project or contract it will hold no ground apart from guidance as to a possible compatibility issue between the quality of the supply and the device running on that supply.

UnderstandingN-E voltaje and Ground Current


It was earlier clearly stated that the Neutral-Earth voltage is not common mode noise (see here), however, in the defence of the computer industry this is a relatively important voltage to measure. Although N-E is not in itself a definitive value, it can point to possible Earth problems - but only if it is taken with the pinch of salt that is usually required. As said, there is this misconception that such a voltage should not exist. It was proven that such a voltage will always exist purely because wiring has impedance. As the physics cannot be negated, 'acceptable levels' are set. Unfortunately those who think they know what they are doing have set this at some ridiculous level of about 1V (those who know they know have this at about 5 volts!). In unbalanced systems the common-mode voltage is half the Neutral-Live voltage making both the differential and common mode noise relevant (this makes differential mode noise half the concern of common mode noise). In the computer industry there are claims that 10V differential mode noise is the accepted limit. Using the half-voltage rule, this would make the common mode noise equivalent of 5V. Whatever the level is, the reason this is of concern is to determine whether the whole network is 'moving' or if there is sufficient voltage to cause current to flow from the mains to other parts of the circuitry, usually through the mains filters to then dissipate through signal cables etc. Having no N-E voltage does not mean there is not a problem. This is why really good power quality instruments have both N-G voltage and ground current measurement channels.

Before we can go any further, we need to define what is 'E' in the term 'N-E'. If E is actually Earth, as derived from the point of supply where Neutral and Earth are coupled, then E is really just a second Neutral. This will make N-E nothing more than the voltage that has developed across the two legs (N and E) at the point of measure (probably through the difference in current flowing in Neutral and Earth). If 'G' is good ol' terra firma, then N-G is going to be the voltage as found between Neutral and the last place Neutral was taken to real ground - this is usually at the point of supply. In this case both the N-G and E-G (protective earth to ground) are significant. If about the same value then it can be assumed the N-G voltage is derived from current flowing in Neutral and/or leakage currents flowing through the real ground. So how do we tackle the uninformed... If I were presented with a reading where N-E were of some significant value (somewhere in the order of 3-5V and beyond), then I would immediately find out whether is was 'E' or 'G' that was being referred to. If real ground (water pipe, etc.) then it would prove useful to know what the N-G voltage is. If this is low then chances are this is going to be of little concenquence. This is said with a little reservation as if the voltage is considered high (maybe a limit of 10V) then this could well indicate a bad grounding at the supply point. Things such as cable length and load need to be considered in this statement. Unless.... There is one thing that must be considered and that is if there is any way currents can flow from the Protective Earth to Ground. If they can, then, regardless of the voltage difference between Earth and Ground, these currents could lead to damage of equipment if the currents flow though the devices. Even structural damage can occur e.g. should the currents flow through a gas pipe! So, to help you make your mind up as to whether N-E is a worthwhile measurement or not (seeing as we keep darting back and forth between voltage and current!) - 'G' must be established and thus N-G should be Neutral-Ground (as opposed to Earth) and this voltage measured. We revist the rule we've established. Throughout this book there is one golden rule we keep referring back to; Voltage does not damage, Current does! With N-G this rule is no different. However, there is one factor regarding N-G where voltage can become relevant. If there is voltage then there is a high possibilty of current i.e. that which can destroy. What we're saying is; N-G is a value that should be measured. It must also be taken in context, and the context is ground current. >>

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