POWER QUALITY

Overvoltage Transients

OverVoltage Transients
Transient : Change of State
Switching from one state to
another
Short lived or momentary
Overvoltage transient :
Causes : Lightning strikes & switching
Effects : Damages the equipment ,
Heavy economical loss

Types
Impulsive due to lightning
Oscillatory due to switching
Types based on frequency :
Low frequency transient :
Freq range Causes
few 100 Hz Capacitor switching
High frequency transient :
few 100 kHz
Lightning and
inductive loads

Low frequency Transient

Causes : - switching of discharged
power
factor correction capacitor
Effects : - results in capacitor resonating
with
inductance
- Produces damped decaying
waveform at 400-600Hz
- Magnitude twice that of sine wave

High frequency Transient :

Causes - Lightning & turning off of
inductive
loads
Effects - produces exponential
damped
ringing waveform at 100
kHz
- Max Voltage : few hundreds
to few
thousands

Extremely Fast Transient

( EFT)
Rise and fall time in nanosec
Caused by arcing faults ( worn out of
brushes)

2 mk qtns
Transient Overvoltages:
2
mk
- response of electrical network
to sudden
change in network conditions
Transient :
2 mk
- power system movement from
one steady
state to another microsec to
nanosec

Transient Overvoltages
Impulsive Transients
Oscillatory Transients

Impulsive Transients
- sudden , non-power freq change in
the steady state condition of
voltage / current waveform
- change essentially in one direction
either positive or negative
- Causes : Lightning
- Mag
: Greater than normal
waveform
- Charac : Rise time, decay time &
peak values

Oscillatory Transients
- sudden , non-power freq change in
the steady state condition of
voltage / current waveform
- Waveforms swings both Positively
and negatively
- Charac : magnitude, predominant
freq and
delay time

S. Types
No

Oscillatory Transients
( Types)
Freq
Duration
Causes

Low

< 5 Hz

0.3ms 50 Capacitor bank energisation ,

ms
Ferroresonance , Transformer
energisation

Mediu
m

5 500
kHz

Tens of s

Cable switching , back to back

capacitor energisation

High

> 500
kHz

In s

When impulsive transients

excites the natural freq of
power system

CBEMA curve
( Two regions)
i. Low freq decaying transient ring curve:
- due to connection of power factor correction
capacitors to AC dist systems
-. Freq range : 200 Hz 5 kHz
-. Mag of transient exp in % nominal volt
-. 140% for 200 Hz ring to 200 % for 5 kHz
-. Transient assumed to decay completely at end
of half cycle
ii. High freq impulse &ring curve: Lightning

Sources of Overvoltage
Lightning direct strokes or by
induction from nearby strokes
Switching Surges opening & closing
of circuits to lines , cables ,
transformers
Phase to ground arcing of
underground power system
Resonance & Ferroresonance
condition

Overvoltage due to Network

switching:
Switching causes oscillatory transient
overvoltages
Operation due to :
Switching of utility capacitor banks
Switching of dist feeders for
maintenance
Switching of circuit breakers fro
clearing faults

Utility capacitor Switching:

- This transient propagates into the utility's local

power system, pass through its distribution
transformers, and enter into the end-user's load
facilities.
- The extent of the transient's energy is a function
of the turns ratio of the transformer feeding the

Oscillatory Transient
Waveform

Results in oscillatory transients

- Mainly due to electric utilities frequently
switch their capacitors by time clock.
-Leads to VSD tripping as well as
disoperation of other electronically controlled
equipment
Side effect :
magnification of the utility capacitorswitching transients.
Due to addition of power factor correction
capacitors at its facility
In turn magnifies the transient over
voltages
Remedy :
use synchronous closing breakers or
switches with preinsertion resistors
use high-energy surge arresters to limit
-

-Remedy ( Contd.,)
-Convert end-user power factor capacitor banks
to harmonic filters.
- Appearing as an inductance in series with
capacitors, these filters decrease transient
voltages at the end-user bus to acceptable
levels.
-This solution has multiple benefits:
Correction for displacement power factor,
Control of harmonic distortion levels, and
Limitation of magnified capacitor-switching
transients.