Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063

Study of the power system harmonic response in the

presence of the Steinmetz circuit
Manuel Caro a , Luis Sainz b,∗ , Joaquı́n Pedra b
aIDOM Ingenierı́a y Arquitectura, C. Barcas, 2, 46002 Valencia, Spain
b Department of Electrical Engineering, ETSEIB-UPC, Av. Diagonal, 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
Received 22 June 2005; received in revised form 21 October 2005; accepted 17 December 2005
Available online 17 February 2006

Abstract
The Steinmetz circuit is constituted by single-phase loads, e.g. traction systems, delta-connected with reactances to load the network with
balanced currents. A parallel resonance between the capacitive reactance of the Steinmetz circuit and the power system reactances can be produced,
and therefore harmonic voltage distortion in the presence of non-linear loads increases. The paper studies this resonance analytically and presents
an expression to locate it. Experimental measurements have also been made to validate the obtained analytical results.
© 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Power quality; Frequency scan; Harmonic analysis

1. Introduction a power system to balance a single-phase load, a parallel reso-

A power system is expected to operate under balanced three-
phase conditions; however, single-phase loads such as traction
systems can be connected. These loads consume unbalanced line
currents and cause unequal voltage drops in distribution lines,
thus resulting in unbalanced load bus voltages [1]. These unbal-
anced operating conditions can produce undesirable effects in
networks [2,3]. For this reason, circuits consisting of single-
phase loads, inductors and capacitors suitably connected have
been developed in order to reduce unbalance in power systems.
These circuits, which are more commonly known as Steinmetz
circuits, allow the network to be loaded with symmetrical cur-
rents. There are different studies on the Steinmetz circuit design
under sinusoidal balanced or unbalanced conditions. Some of
these studies propose analytical expressions and optimization
techniques for its characterization [4].
Moreover, in the last few years there has been an increase
of non-linear devices in electric networks. This fact has led
to a growing presence of harmonic voltages in power systems
[5,6], and the Steinmetz circuit design must consider this cir-
cumstance [7–10]. Thus, if the Steinmetz circuit is connected to
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 93 4011759; fax: +34 93 4017433.
E-mail address: sainz@ee.upc.edu (L. Sainz).
0378-7796/$ – see front matter © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.epsr.2005.12.023
nance is produced between its capacitors and the supply system
inductors. In non-sinusoidal conditions, this resonance must be
located to prevent harmonic problems when the Steinmetz circuit
is connected. The resonance problem was pointed out in [11].
Afterwards, in [12], this problem was studied and the resonance
was characterized numerically. In [12], several curves were fit-
ted numerically from the power system harmonic impedances
to predict the resonance at the 5th, 7th and 11th harmonics only.
The present paper continues the above studies on power sys-
tem harmonic behavior in the presence of the Steinmetz circuit.
In particular, the parallel resonance between the Steinmetz cir-
cuit and the supply system reactances is analytically studied.
An expression to locate this resonance is obtained from the ana-
lytical study of the power system harmonic impedances. This
expression allows the resonance for any value of the single-phase
load of the Steinmetz circuit and any harmonic to be predicted.
Laboratory measurements have been made to validate the theo-
retical expressions obtained in the analytical study.
2. Steinmetz circuit design
Fig. 1 presents a network with the supply system, the Stein-
metz circuit and the non-linear load.
In the Steinmetz circuit of Fig. 1, the single-phase load is
−1
modeled with the impedance Z - Lk = Y- Lk = RL + jkXL , where k
1056 M. Caro et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063

is the studied harmonic, RL the load resistance and XL is the load

reactance at the fundamental frequency of the supply voltage.
This single-phase load is delta-connected to a capacitor (Z - 2k =
Y- −1
2k = −jX 2 /k) and a pure inductance (Z
- 1k = Y −1
- 1k = jkX 1 ) to
load the network with balanced currents (i.e. I- B1 = a- 2 · I- A1 ,
I- C1 = a- · I- A1 , where a- = ej2π/3 ).
The procedure to design the Steinmetz circuit, i.e. the deter-
mination of the capacitor X2 and the inductance X1 from the
single-phase load impedance, is presented below.
The three-phase harmonic currents consumed by the Stein-
metz circuit are determined from the three-phase harmonic volt-
ages (Fig. 1):
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤
I- Ak 1 0 −1 Y- 1k 0 0 V- ABk
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ Fig. 1. Studied system.
⎣ I- Bk ⎦ = ⎣ −1 1 0 ⎦⎣ 0 Y- Lk 0 ⎦ ⎣ V- BCk ⎦ .
I- Ck 0 −1 1 0 0 Y- 2k V- CAk
(1)

The symmetrical components of the Steinmetz circuit three-

phase fundamental currents (I- A1 , I- B1 , I- C1 ) are then obtained
with the Fortescue transformation:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤
I- 01 1 1 1 I- A1
⎢ ⎥ 1⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥
I
⎣ - p1 ⎦ = ⎣ 1 a- a- 2 ⎦ ⎣ I- B1 ⎦ (a- = ej(2π/3) ). (2)
3
I- n1 1 a- 2 a- I- C1

After that, the unbalance factor is determined analytically Fig. 2. Harmonic behavior of the supply system and the Steinmetz circuit.
from the sequence currents I- 01 , I- p1 and I- n1 :
i.e. the negative sequence current to be zero:
I- n1 I- A1 - - B1 + a- I- C1
+ a2 I
 ⎫
m √ 1 1 2λ2
- i1 = I = I + aI + a2 I 3 + − = 0⎪⎪
⎬ √
- p1 - A1 - - B1 - - C1 X2 X1 RL 3RL
⇒ X 1 = √ ;
V Y 11 (1−a- 2 )+V- BC1 Y- L1 (a- 2 −a- ) + V- CA1 Y- 21 (a- − 1) 1 1 2λm λ 2 ⎪
⎪ λ 2 (1 + 3λ )
= - AB1 - − + =0 ⎭ m
V- AB1 Y- 11 (1−a- )+V- BC1 Y- L1 (a- − a- 2 ) + V- CA1 Y- 21 (a- 2 − 1) X2 X1 RL
√
V Y 11 + a- 2 V- BC1 Y- L1 + a- V- CA1 Y- 21 1 − a- 2 3RL
= - AB1 - . (3) X2 = √ . (5)
V- AB1 Y- 11 + a- V- BC1 Y- L1 + a- 2 V- CA1 Y- 21 1 − a- λ2 (1 − 3λm )

From (5), the circuit under discussion (with capacitors and

Thereby, the final expression of this factor depends on the
inductors) turns out to be feasible (X2 > 0) only when the fun-
consideration of the balanced or unbalanced voltages at the point
of common coupling [4]. In this paper, the balanced voltages √ power factor of the loads satisfies the condition 1 ≥
damental
λ > 3/2. In the paper, the studied values of the power fac-
are considered (V- BC1 = a- 2 V- AB1 and V- CA1 = a- V- AB1 ) in order
tor are λ = (1, . . ., 0.9) as they are the usual values in power
to simplify the study of the circuit design under non-sinusoidal
systems.
conditions. The obtained unbalance factor is

 √
|I- n1 | 
2 2
{ 3(1/X2 + 1/X1 ) − 2λ /RL } + {1/X2 − 1/X1 + 2λm λ /RL } ,(4)
2 2
|m
- i1 | = =
|I- p1 | 2 2
4{(λ2 /RL ) + (1/X2 − 1/X1 − λm λ2 /RL ) }

where λ = RL /ZL1 is the fundamental power factor of the single-

phase load, ZL1 the magnitude of the load impedance at the 3. Power system harmonic response
fundamental frequency and λm = ((1/λ)2 − 1)1/2 .
Finally, the symmetrizing reactive elements are obtained by According to Fig. 1, the harmonic response of the system
forcing the fundamental current unbalance factor (4) to be zero, “seen” from the non-linear load must be studied to determine
 M. Caro et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063 1057

the power system harmonic response. This implies analyzing j0.0493 pu, which feeds a Steinmetz circuit, RL = 1.368 pu and
the passive set formed by the supply system and the Steinmetz λ = 1.0 (according to (5), X1 = X2 = 2.372 pu).
circuit, which is shown in Fig. 2. The magnitudes of the Z- Bk impedances (Z - AAk to Z - CCk ) and
The equivalent harmonic impedance matrix of the studied set the positive- and negative-sequence driving impedances (|Z - Apk |
allows its harmonic behavior to be characterized. According to to |Z- Cnk |) ((7) and (8)) are plotted in Fig. 3 (broken and contin-
Fig. 2, this matrix relates the kth harmonic three-phase voltages uous lines, respectively).
and currents at the non-linear node as follows:
⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤⎡ ⎤ ⎡ ⎤−1 ⎡ ⎤
V- Ak I- A Z- AA Z - AB Z- AC I- Ak Y- S + Y- 1 + Y- 2 −Y- 1 −Y- 2 I- Ak
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥
⎣ V- Bk ⎦ = Z- Bk ⎣ I- B ⎦ = ⎣ Z- BA Z - BB Z- BC ⎦ ⎣ I- Bk ⎦ = ⎣ −Y- 1 Y- S + Y- 1 + Y- L −Y- L ⎦ ⎣ I- Bk ⎦ ,(6)
V- Ck I- C Z- CA Z - CB Z- CC I- Ck −Y- 2 −Y- L Y- S + Y- 2 + Y- L k I- Ck

−1 −1
where Y- Sk = Z - Sk = (RS + jkXS ) corresponds to the admit-
tance of the power supply system and Y- Lk , Y- 1k and Y- 2k corre- From Fig. 3, it can be noticed that:
spond to the admittances of the Steinmetz circuit components
(Section 2). The voltage node method, which considers point • The connection of the Steinmetz circuit causes a parallel res-
N in Fig. 2 as the reference bus, has been applied to obtain onance in the Z- Bk impedances and the driving impedances.
(6). In the example, this resonance is close to the fifth harmonic
Finally, it can be observed that the harmonic behavior for all the impedances (kp ≈ 251/50 = 5.02, where 251 Hz is
depends not only on the harmonic impedance matrix (i.e. the the frequency of the measured parallel resonance and 50 Hz
power system impedances) but also on the non-linear load cur- is the fundamental frequency.)
rent injections. • The asymmetrical resonant behavior of the circuit leads to an
The presence of single- and three-phase non-linear loads is asymmetrical effect on the harmonic voltages, and the most
studied in the paper considering that the supply voltages are critical resonance takes place in phases A and C, between
balanced and the Steinmetz circuit designed with (5) consumes which the capacitor is connected. Both phases have the high-
symmetrical currents. est harmonic impedance, and will therefore have the highest
The harmonic currents injected by single-phase non-linear harmonic voltages.
loads in balanced conditions have all the odd harmonics and they
may not be in any sequence (I- Ak , I- Bk and I- Ck , where k = 1, 3, In the following sections, this power system harmonic behav-
5, 7, . . .). Therefore, the diagonal and the non-diagonal ior is analytically studied and the above-presented parallel res-
impedances of the matrix Z - Bk (Z- Bk impedances, i.e. Z - AAk to onance is analytically located.
Z- CCk ) must be studied to characterize the power system har-
monic behavior. The calculation of both sets of impedances is
necessary because a resonance in any of these impedances could 4. Analytical study of the power system harmonic
cause a high level of distortion in the corresponding voltages. response
The harmonic currents injected by three-phase non-linear
loads in balanced conditions have only the first and the fifth 4.1. Power system harmonic impedances
order harmonics (k = 1, 7, . . . and k = 5, 11, . . ., respectively).
The first order harmonic currents are a set of positive sequence In the study, the magnitudes of the Z - Bk impedances (Z - AAk to
(I- Bk = a- 2 I- Ak and I- Ck = a- I- Ak , where k = 1, 7, . . .) and the Z- CCk ) are obtained from (6) and the magnitudes of the driving
fifth order harmonic currents are a set of negative sequence impedances (|Z - Apk | to |Z
- Cnk |) are obtained from (7) and (8).
(I- Bk = a- I- Ak and I- Ck = a- 2 I- Ak , where k = 5, 11, . . .). Therefore, The magnitudes of the Z- Bk impedances are
the matrix Z - Bk can be reduced to three driving impedances since |Y- 2S +Y- S (Y- 1 +Y- 2 + 2Y- L ) + Y- 1 (Y- 2 + Y- L ) + Y- 2 Y- L |k
|Z
- AAk | =
V- Gk = (Z Y- Sk |D - k|
- GGk + a- Z- GHk + a- Z
- GFk )I- Gk = Z
- Gpk I- Gk
2
(7)
|Y- 2S +Y- S (Y- 1 +2Y- 2 + Y- L ) + Y- 1 (Y- 2 + Y- L ) + Y- 2 Y- L |k
|Z
- BBk | =
for the first order harmonic currents and Y- Sk |D - k|
|Y- 2S + Y- S (2Y- 1 +Y- 2 +Y- L ) + Y- 1 (Y- 2 + Y- L ) + Y- 2 Y- L |k
V- Gk = (Z
- GGk + a- Z
- GHk + a- Z
2
- GFk )I- Gk = Z
- Gnk I- Gk (8) |Z
- CCk | = Y- Sk |D - k|
for the fifth order harmonic currents. In (7) and (8), GHF are the |Y- 1k (Y- S + Y- 2 + Y- L )k + Y- 2k Y- Lk |
|Z
- ABk | = |Z- BAk | =
phases corresponding to the sequence ABCABC. . . (e.g. with Y- Sk |D- k|
G = B, HF = CA). |Y- 2k (Y- S + Y- 1 + Y- L )k + Y- 1k Y- Lk |
|Z
- ACk | = |Z- CAk | =
As an example, the harmonic response of the network of Fig. 2 Y- Sk |D- k|
has been measured in the laboratory and is presented in Fig. 3. |Y- Lk (Y- S + Y- 1 + Y- 2 )k + Y- 1k Y- 2k |
Considering the base values UB = 230 V and SB = 2.7 kVA, |Z
- BCk | = |Z- CBk | = ,
Y- Sk |D - k|
this network comprises the supply system, Z - S = 0.0219 + (9)
1058 M. Caro et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063

Fig. 3. Measured impedance/frequency matrix in the presence of the Steinmetz circuit (continuous line: driving impedances; broken line: Z
- Bk impedances).

√
where 1 λ2 (1 + 3λm )
Y- Sk ≈ −j , Y- 1k = −j √ ,
kXS k 3RL
|D √
- k | = |Y- S + 2Y- S (Y- 1 + Y- 2 + Y- L )
2
kλ2 (1 − 3λm ) 1
+ 3(Y- 1 (Y- 1 + Y- 2 ) + Y- 2 Y- L )|k . Y- 2k =j √ , Y- Lk = , (12)
(10) 3RL RL (1 + jkλm )

where the supply system resistance, RS , has been neglected and

The magnitudes of the driving impedances are (5) has been considered to obtain the admittances of the Stein-
metz circuit components.
√
|2Y- Sk + Y- 1k + Y- 2k + 4Y- Lk + jδk 3(Y- 2 − Y- 1 )k |
|Z
- Ahk | = 2|D - k| √
|Y- 1k − 2(Y- 2 + Y- L )k − Y- Sk − jδk 3(Y- S + Y- 1 + 2Y- 2 )k |
|Z
- Bhk | = (11)
2|D - k| √
|Y- 2k − 2(Y- 1 + Y- L )k − Y- Sk + jδk 3(Y- S + 2Y- 1 + Y- 2 )k |
- Chk | =
|Z (h = p, n),
2|D - k|

where δk = 1 for Z - Apk , Z

- Bpk and Z
- Cpk , i.e. for the positive- It can be noted that the magnitude of the impedances, i.e. the
sequence harmonics k = 1, 7, . . . or δk = −1 for Z - Ank , Z
- Bnk and power system harmonic response, depends on four variables: the
Z
- Cnk , i.e. for the negative-sequence harmonics k = 5, 11, . . .. harmonic order, k, the supply system fundamental reactance, XS ,
In the following analysis of (9) and (11), the supply system the single-phase load resistance, RL , and the single-phase load
admittances and the Steinmetz circuit components are fundamental power factor, λ.
 M. Caro et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063 1059

4.2. Normalization of the power system harmonic

impedances

By using the single-phase load resistance, RL , as reference,

the Z- Bk impedances and the driving impedances ((9) and (11))
can be normalized. In this way, the magnitude of the normal-
ized impedances (|Z - AAk |/RL to |Z
- CCk |/RL and |Z
- Apk |/RL to
|Z
- Cnk |/R L , respectively) depends on three variables only: the
harmonic order, k, the single-phase load fundamental power fac-
tor, λ, and the ratio of the supply system fundamental reactance
to the single-phase load resistance, XS /RL .
For example, the magnitude of the normalized impedance,
|Z
- AAk |/RL , can be expressed as

- AAk | = RL |Y- S +Y- S (Y- 1 +Y- 2 +2Y- L )+Y- 1 (Y- 2 +Y- L )+Y- 2 Y- L |k ,
|Z 2 2

RL RL Y- Sk R2L |D
- k|
(13)

where (13) has only the terms RL Y- Sk , RL Y- 1k , RL Y- 2k and RL Y- Lk ,

and these terms are
√
1 λ2 (1 + 3λm )
RL Y- Sk = −j , RL Y- 1k = −j √ ,
kXS /RL k 3
√
kλ2 (1 − 3λm ) 1
RL Y- 2k = j √ , RL Y- Lk = . (14)
3 1 + jkλm Fig. 4. (a and b) Location of the maximum value of the normalized impedance
magnitudes.
The same is true of the other impedance magnitudes.
It can be noted that the ratio XS /RL is equal to the inverse of the with respect to the harmonic k. From (15), note that the minimum
ratio (1/λ) · SS /SL , i.e. λ · SL /SS = λ · XS /ZL = XS /RL , where SS is value of the impedance magnitude denominator coincides with
the short-circuit power at the PCC bus and SL is the apparent the minimum value of the term |D - k | (10).
power of the single-phase load. Therefore, considering the usual In order to work with only three variables (k, λ and XS /RL ),
range of SS /SL ratio values [1], and the fundamental power factor the above conclusion can be extended to magnitude of the nor-
values, λ = (1, . . ., 0.9), the XS /RL values used in the study are malized impedances (|Z - AAk |/RL to |Z - CCk |/RL and |Z - Apk |/RL
XS /RL = (0, . . ., 0.2). to |Z- Cnk |/R L ) and the normalized value of the term |D - k |, i.e.
R2L · |D- k | (13).
4.3. Analytical location of the parallel resonance Therefore, for a given power factor λ and a ratio XS /RL ,
the parallel resonance is at the same harmonic kp for all the
Considering the variables λ and XS /RL , the following three- impedances (Z - Bk impedances and driving impedances) and
stage study of the magnitudes of the normalized impedances coincides with the minimum of the term |D - k | or R 2 · |D | (15).
L - k
obtained from (9) and (11) allows the harmonic kp of the par- To illustrate this, the system of Fig. 2 with XS /RL = 0.018
allel resonance to be analytically located. In the first and sec- and λ = 1.0 is studied. The results obtained for the impedances
ond stages, the parallel resonance of the normalized impedance Z- Apk /RL and Z - Ank /RL are shown in Fig. 4(a and b). The
magnitudes is numerically analyzed and an approximation is magnitude of these impedances (|Z - Apk |/RL and |Z - Ank |/RL ) is
proposed to locate this resonance. In the third stage, the parallel plotted in Fig. 4(a), and their numerator (Num{|Z - Apk |/RL } and
resonance is analytically located on the basis of the previous Num{|Z - Ank |/R L }) and the term |D- k | of their denominators are
stages. plotted in Fig. 4(b). It can be noted that the maximum value of the
normalized impedance magnitudes coincides with the minimum
value of the term |D - k |. The same is true of the other impedance
4.3.1. First stage: numerical location of the parallel magnitudes.
resonance According to the above study, Fig. 5 shows the harmonic of
The parallel resonance, i.e. the maximum value of the the parallel resonances, kp , for different values of the power fac-
impedance magnitudes (|Z - AAk | to |Z
- CCk | and |Z
- Apk | to |Z
- Cnk |) tor λ and the ratio XS /RL . The parallel resonance has been located
with respect to the harmonic k coincides with the minimum value as the minimum value of the term |D
of the impedance magnitude denominator - k | (continuous lines). It can
be noted that:
- AAk |} = · · · = Den{|Z
Den{|Z - CCk |} = |Y- Sk ||D
- k| (15) • The harmonic of the parallel resonance, kp , increases with
Den{|ZApk |} = · · · = Den{|ZCnk |} = 2|D - k| decreasing the power factor λ or the ratio XS /RL .
1060 M. Caro et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063

In order to do this and according to (12), the last six terms

of |D- k |, 2Y- Sk Y- 1k , 2Y- Sk Y- 2k , 2Y- Sk Y- Lk , 3Y- 1k Y- 2k , 3Y- 1k Y- Lk and
3Y- 2k Y- Lk , are referred to the first term, Y- 2Sk , and the following
ratios are numerically studied:


2Y- Sk Y- 1k √ 2 XS
c- 1k = = −λ 2
( 3λ m + 1) √ ,
Y- Sk
2
3 RL


2Y Sk Y 2k √ 2 XS
c- 2k = - 2 - = −λ2 ( 3λm − 1) √ k2
Y- Sk 3 RL
2Y- Sk Y- Lk 1 2 XS
c- 3k = =− (kλm + j),
Y- 2Sk 1 + k2 λ2m k RL

2
Fig. 5. Location of parallel resonances (continuous line: numerical location of 3Y- 1k Y- 2k 2 XS
the |D
c- 4k = = λ (3λm − 1)k
4 2
- k | minimum value; broken line: analytical location of the |D
- k | minimum Y- 2Sk RL
value, (18)). √

3Y 1k Y Lk λ ( 3λm + 1) √ XS 2
2
c- 5k = - 2- = − k 3 (kλm + j)
Y- Sk 1 + k2 λ2m RL
√

• If the power factor of the single-phase load is close to the 3Y- 2k Y- Lk λ2 ( 3λm − 1) 3 √ XS 2
unity value, the probability of having the parallel resonance c- 6k = = − k 3 (kλm + j).
Y- 2Sk 1 + k2 λ2m RL
at the low harmonics (kp = 3, 5 or 7) increases. (16)
• The measured parallel resonances of Fig. 3 (XS /RL = 0.036
and λ = 1.0) are labeled with point P. The numerical study
is in agreement with the measured harmonic behavior of the
To analyze the contribution of the different terms to |D - k |, the
system.
real and imaginary parts of the complex ratios, chrk = Re{c- hk }
• The simulated parallel resonances of Fig. 4 (XS /RL = 0.018
and chik = Im{c- hk } with h = 1–6, have been calculated and plot-
and λ = 1.0) are labeled with point Q.
ted in Fig. 6 for the different values of the ratio XS /RL . The
power factor equal to 1 is considered in Fig. 6. The curves have
In this section, it has been proved that the location of the par- been calculated for the corresponding harmonic of the parallel
allel resonance by means of the minimum value of the term |D - k| resonance, kp , e.g. for XS /RL = 0.036 and λ = 1 (point P in Fig. 5)
or R2L · |D-k | provides results in agreement with the maximum the harmonic kp = 5 is used.
value of the normalized impedance magnitudes. However, the From Fig. 6, it can be noted that:
analytical determination of these parallel resonances from (10)
is too complicated and it is not possible to obtain an expression
to locate this resonance. Therefore, an approximation, which is • The imaginary parts of c- 1k , c- 2k and c- 4k are zero and are not
presented below, must be used. plotted.
• For λ = 1, λm = ((1/λ)2 − 1)1/2 = 0; thus, the real parts of c- 3k ,
4.3.2. Second stage: approximation to analytically locate c- 5k and c- 6k are zero and are not plotted.
the parallel resonance • The contribution of the ratios c- 1k , c- 4k and c- 5k to |D - k|
The seven terms of |D
- k | (10) are numerically studied to ana-
is lower than that of the other ratios at the harmonic
lyze if some can be neglected. of the parallel resonance, and therefore they can be neg-
lected.

The same conclusion can be drawn for power factors different

from the unity value. In these cases, the real parts c- 3k , c- 5k and
c- 6k are not zero and must also be analyzed.
Therefore, the term |D
- k | can be approximated as

|D
- k |approx ≈ |Y- Sk + 2Y- Sk (Y- 2k + Y- Lk ) + 3Y- 2k Y- Lk |.
2
(17)

4.3.3. Third stage: analytical location of the parallel

resonance
To analytically locate the harmonic of the parallel reso-
nance, the minimum of |D - k |approx with respect to the harmonic
Fig. 6. Study of the |D
- k | terms contribution. k is analytically obtained, and the expression to locate this
 M. Caro et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063 1061

resonance is resonance at the fifth harmonic when the Steinmetz circuit is

 √ connected, can be calculated as XS = 0.0397 · 1.368 = 0.0543 pu.
G1 λm + 4λG2 + G3 λm + G4 It must be noted that this reactance is close to the reactance of
kp =
3xr λG5 the example, XS = 0.0493 pu.
√ 2
G1 = 36λ xr + 14 3λ xr + 12(λ2 + 1)
2 2
√ √
G2 = 3 3λ2 xr2 − (4λ4 + 7.5λ2 − 10.5)xr − 3(λ2 − 1) 5. Resistance influence on the power system harmonic
√
G3 = 216 3λ5 xr4 + λ3 (144λ4 − 612λ2 + 756)xr3 response
√ √ √
+ λ3 (128 3λ4 − 534 3λ2 + 438 3)xr2
The resistances of the supply system and the Steinmetz cir-
− λ(192λ6 − 505λ5 + 564λ2 − 252)xr cuit inductance have not been considered in the previous study.
√ √ √
+ λ(24 3λ4 − 48 3λ2 + 24 3) In general, these resistances could damp the power system har-
√ monic response and shift the system resonance frequencies.
G4 = λ4 (−216λ2 + 324)xr4 + 3λ4 (48λ4 − 540λ2 + 504)xr3
In this section, this influence is numerically analyzed from
+ λ2 (256λ8 − 768λ6 + 1254λ4 − 1383λ2 + 657)xr2 (9) and (11) by considering the above-mentioned resistances,
√ −1 −1
− 3λ2 (64λ6 − 280λ4 + 384λ2 − 168)xr i.e. Y- Sk = Z
- Sk = 1/(RS + jkXS ) and Y- 1k = Z - 1k = 1/(R1 +
− 24λ6 + 84λ4 − 96λ2 + 36 jkX1 ).
It has been numerically verified that the supply system
G5 = (4λ2 − 3)(9λ2 xr2 + 12λλm xr − 4(λ2 − 1)), resistance, RS , damps the Z- Bk impedances and the driving
(18) impedances but does not modify the resonance frequencies of
where λm = ((1/λ)2 − 1)1/2 and xr = XS /RL . these impedances.
This expression is plotted in Fig. 5 (broken lines). It can As an example, the network of Fig. 2, which comprises a sup-
be observed that the analytical expressions allow the parallel ply system (XS = 0.144 pu and RS /XS = 0, 0.1 and 0.5) feeding
resonance to be located with an acceptable error. a Steinmetz circuit (RL = 4 pu, λ = 1.0 and X1 = X2 = 6.928 pu),
For λ = 1, (18) can be rewritten as is analyzed. The driving impedances of phase A are obtained
 √ from (11) and are plotted in Fig. 7. It can be observed that
 6(6 3(X /R ) − 2 the supply system resistances influence the value of the driv-
 S L
 √ ing impedances but not the resonance frequency. This resonance
+ 27(XS /RL )2 + 3 3(XS /RL ) + 4) frequency can be determined by means of (18) or (19), i.e. from
kp,λ=1 = . (19)
9(XS /RL ) XS /RL = 0.144/4 = 0.036, the harmonic of the parallel resonance
is kp = 4.95. This resonance frequency can also be determined
As an example, the harmonic resonance shown in Fig. 3 by means of Fig. 5 (point P).
(XS = 0.0493 pu, RL = 1.368 pu and λ = 1), which was measured
in the laboratory, can be predicted with the obtained analytical
expressions ((18) or (19)), and the result is kp = 4.95.
It is observed that (18) allows the harmonic kp of the parallel
resonance for any value of the ratio xr = XS /RL and the power
factor λ to be predicted within the studied ranges, i.e. xr = (0,
. . ., 0.2) and λ = (1, . . ., 0.9). This expression has been calculated
from the analytical study of (9) and (11).
In the previous study of [12], the expression of the ratio xr ,
which provokes the parallel resonance only at the 5th, 7th and
11th harmonics, was numerically obtained for any power factor
within the studied range:
−1
xrk = (E1k + E2k λ + E3k λ2 ) , 0.88 ≤ λ ≤ 0.965
−1
(20)
xrk = (F2k λ e λF2k ) , 0.965 < λ ≤ 1,
where k = 5, 7 and 11 and the parameters E1k , E2k , E3k , F1k and
F2k were calculated from close fitting of the curves obtained
numerically from (11). Their values were shown in Table II of
[12].
With (20), the harmonic resonance shown in Fig. 3 can be
approximately predicted since this resonance is close to the fifth
harmonic. First, the value of the ratio xrk , which provokes a
resonance at the fifth harmonic, is calculated from (20) with the
data of Table II in [12], xr5 = 25.17−1 = 0.0397. Once this ratio
is determined, the supply system reactance, which provokes the Fig. 7. Influence of the supply system resistance on the driving impedances.
1062 M. Caro et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063
Fig. 8. Location of the parallel resonances (continuous line: analytical results;
broken line: measured results).
It has also been numerically verified that the resistance of
the Steinmetz circuit inductance does not modify the obtained
power system harmonic response (this has been verified with
resistance values up to 10X1 ). Actually, the fact that the terms
2Y- Sk Y- 1k , 3Y- 1k Y- 2k and 3Y- 1k Y- Lk can be neglected to locate
the parallel resonance with |D - k |approx instead of |D
- k | has been
studied. If a resistance is added to the Steinmetz circuit induc-
tance (i.e. Y- 1k = 1/(R1 + jkX1 )), its harmonic admittance, and
therefore the terms 2Y- Sk Y- 1k , 3Y- 1k Y- 2k and 3Y- 1k Y- Lk , i.e. its
influence on the power system harmonic response, will be even
smaller.
Thus, although the power system resistances are not con-
sidered, the analytical characterization of the power system
resonance frequencies presented in Section 4 is valid.
6. Experimental measurements of the power system
harmonic response
As an example, the harmonic response of the network in Fig. 2
has been measured in the laboratory and the parallel resonance
has been located to validate the study. Considering the base
values UB = 230 V and SB = 2.7 kVA, this network comprises
the supply system, Z - S = 0.0219 + j0.0493 pu, which feeds a
Steinmetz circuit, RL = 1.368 pu and λ = 1.0 (according to (5),
X1 = X2 = 2.372 pu).
The frequency response measurements have been made with
a 4.5 kVA AC ELGAR Smartwave Switching Amplifier as the
power source, which can generate sinusoidal waveforms of arbi-
trary frequencies, and a YOKOGAWA DL 708 E digital scope
as the measurement device.
The measures of the power system harmonic behavior are
presented in Fig. 3. The resonance shown in Fig. 3 can be pre-
dicted with the analytical results of Section 4, Fig. 5 or (18).
Measurements of the parallel resonance have also been made
for five different power factors, λ = 1.0, 0.975, 0.95, 0.925 and
0.9. They have been plotted in Fig. 8 (broken line). The ratio
XS /RL = 0.0493/1.368 = 0.036 must be used to obtain this plot.
In this figure, the results obtained with (18) are also plotted
as a continuous line. The adequacy of the obtained analytical
results can be verified.
It can be noted that, although the resistances are neglected in
the study, the analytical results of the resonance frequency are
quite in agreement with the experimental measurements.
7. Conclusion
The paper has studied the power system harmonic response
in the presence of the Steinmetz circuit. A parallel resonance
is produced between the capacitive reactance of the Steinmetz
circuit and the supply system reactances. This resonance is more
critical in those phases between which the capacitor is con-
nected. An expression to locate the harmonic of the parallel
resonance has been obtained analytically from the power sys-
tem harmonic impedances. This theoretical expression allows
the parallel resonance to be predicted if the Steinmetz circuit
is connected to a power system in order to balance a single-
phase load. Experimental measurements have been made in the
laboratory to validate the proposed expression.
Acknowledgment
This work was supported by grant DPI2005-03785.
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Manuel Caro was born in Manzanares, Spain, in 1979. He obtained his B.S.
degree in industrial engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya,
Barcelona, Spain, in 2002. He works for IDOM Ingenierı́a y Arquitectura.
His main field of research is power system quality.
 M. Caro et al. / Electric Power Systems Research 76 (2006) 1055–1063 1063

Luis Sainz was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1965. He received the B.S.
degree in industrial engineering and the Ph.D. degree in engineering from
the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain, in 1990
and 1995, respectively. Since 1991, he has been a professor with the Electrical
Engineering Department, UPC. His main field of research is power system
harmonics.
Joaquı́n Pedra was born in Barcelona, Spain, in 1957. He received the B.S.
degree in industrial engineering and the Ph.D. degree in engineering from the
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), Barcelona, Spain, in 1979 and
1986, respectively. Since 1985, he has been a professor with the Electrical
Engineering Department, UPC. His research interests are in the areas of
power system quality and electric machines.