When to Evaluate System Harmonics?

The application of capacitor banks in systems where 20% or more of the load
includes other harmonic generating equipment.
The facility has a history of harmonic related problems, including excessive
capacitor fuse operation.
During the design stage of a facility composed of capacitor banks and
harmonic generating equipment.
In facilities where restrictive power company requirements limit the
harmonic injection back into their system to very small magnitudes.
Plant expansions that add significant harmonic generating equipment
operating in conjunction with capacitor banks.
When coordinating and planning to add an emergency standby generator as
an alternate power source in an industrial facility
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Effects on transformers and induction motors
Note that all other harmonics do propagate back onto the supply and can be widely
distributed as a result. As would be expected, the lower harmonics are the most
troublesome because they are larger, less attenuated by the system impedance and more
difficult to remove at source.

All harmonics, whether propagated or not, cause increased losses in the transformer
winding and core. Circulating currents do no useful work, but cause excess loss and
increased temperature in the winding. Magnetic and eddy losses are increased at the
higher harmonic frequencies; the transformer eddy current loss increase can be calculated
by:



and the stray losses by:




The factor is also as the K-Factor; transformer rating plates frequently
state the maximum K-Factor. Where no rating is stated, it must be assumed
to be one.

These equations give accurate results for low order harmonics up to the ninth but tend to over
estimate losses for higher harmonics. They also assume that the source impedance is constant for
all harmonics which is not so in practice.

Induction Motors
Harmonic distortion causes increased losses in motors in the same way as in transformers.
However, additional losses arise due to the production of harmonic generated fields. Each
harmonic has a sequence, positive, negative or zero, which indicates the direction of rotation that
would result if it were to be applied to an induction motor relative to the positive rotation of the
fundamental.


Zero sequence harmonics, the third and multiples of third (the so-called triple-N
harmonics), produce a stationary field, but since the harmonic field frequencies are
higher, the magnetic losses are greatly increased and the harmonic energy is dissipated as
heat. Negative sequence harmonics result in a counter-rotating field (with respect to the
fundamental) which results in reduced torque and, as for zero sequence harmonics, higher
losses. Positive sequence harmonics produce a forward rotating field that adds to the
torque; this, together with the negative sequence torque components can result in
vibration and reduced service life of the motor.
Where harmonics are present motors should be de-rated according to the curve in Figure
24.




The Harmonic Voltage Factor (HVF) is defined as: