WHITE PAPER:

FERRORESONANCE AND POWER QUALITY

Contributed by Caleb Payne, February 2020

ABSTRACT

Most in the world of power quality are familiar with the

concept of resonance in an electrical network as well as
the methods for dealing with the issues and byproducts of
resonances. Ferroresonance, on the other hand, is less well-
known, the results of which can lead to significant issues
including distribution equipment failure.

This whitepaper aims to give a high-level overview of Figure 1. Ferroresonance on Phases A and B
ferroresonance, and how to potentially identify this anomaly
when it presents itself in a power quality recording. If there is no (or a very small) resistive load connected to the
network and one phase is interrupted, ferroresonance may
OVERVIEW ensue. It should be noted that if the remaining phases are not
brought off line quickly thereafter, equipment failure may occur
Linear resonance is an electrical phenomenon that occurs at as a result of over-voltage.
the frequency where the inductive and capacitive reactances are
equal in magnitude. See equation 1. This is a phenomenon of A good rule of thumb for determining whether or not
linear circuits: ferroresonance is possible is to look for: (1) the presence of
a capacitance in series with the transformer’s magnetizing
inductance (cap banks or capacitive coupling) and (2) an
unloaded (or low load) transformer (<20% of the rated load).
Ferroresonance, however, has a more complex set of
dependencies. As the name implies, ferroresonance has as a Symptoms can run the gambit with ferroresonance, however
significant factor the initial magnetic f lux of a transformer’s in this particular instance (the recording that is analyzed
iron (ferro-) core. Note, too, that ferroresonance is being in this white paper) the customer noted that breakers were
contrasted with linear resonance, indicating that ferroresonance continuously tripping.
exhibits nonlinear behavior. In some instances, non-linear
behavior can be modeled with linear approximations. This is ANALYSIS
not the case with ferroresonance.
When ferroresonance is suspected a PQ recording should be
In general, ferroresonance happens when circuit capacitance undertaken. The recording should be configured to record, at
from shunt capacitor banks, series line compensation capacitors, a very minimum, triggered waveform capture (>= 5% THD
cable capacitance (especially from underground runs), or other will be sufficient, as instances of ferroresonance will yield
sources, interacts with a transformer inductance. The nonlinear THD in the hundreds of percent), 1 second RMS stripcharts,
aspect arises due to the nonlinearities in a transformer core. voltage THD stripcharts and phase angle stripcharts.
A transformer under light load conditions exhibits a nonlinear
inductance, where the core losses and magnetization current An example from a commercial customer is presented in the
are a significant fraction of the total load. A transient or other following figures. This customer is served by a 1.5 MVA pad
normally minor disturbance can excite the resonance formed mount transformer. For this recording, the transformer was
by the system capacitance and instantaneous transformer unloaded, and a single phase event was created to test for the
inductance. The effects of the resonance itself can change the possibility of ferroresonance. The primary was 34 kV, and
instantaneous transformer inductance, providing a mechanism the connection wye-wye. Ferroresonance was triggered on
for nonlinear feedback and a sustained problem. The result phases A and B, as can be seen in Figure 2. Phase C is normal,
can be severe voltage issues, including overvoltage (over 3 while phases A and B are closer to square waves, with wildly
times nominal voltage) and very high voltage distortion, where f luctuating levels. The data in this file has been exported for
the nonlinear “ringing” is closer to an oscillation at a non- further analysis in Python below.
powerline frequency.

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WHITE PAPER:
FERRORESONANCE AND POWER QUALITY
After taking a look at the stripchart records and noting
these wild voltage swings, the next logical step is to look
at the waveform capture records. Waveform captures are
an indispensable part of ferroresonance analysis. (Both the
Revolution and Guardian product lines at PMI provide high
frequency sampling for resolution up to the 127th harmonic
(7.6 kHz) for detailed waveform analysis.)

Figure 2. RMS Average Stripchart from Recording with Documented Instance

of Ferroresonance

A quick glance at the RMS Voltage stripchart usually provides

evidence of a problem. Figure 2 shows a stripchart trace pulled
from a recording with a known instance of ferroresonance. Note
that for the bulk of the recording (the first ~40 minutes) the
RMS voltage is hovering around a nominal of 280V. Things
take a drastic turn for the worse approximately 15 minutes from
the end of the recording.

Figure 4. Snapshot of a Waveform Capture from a Confirmed Instance of

Ferroresonance

The first plot in Figure 4 is the instantaneous voltage in the

time domain. The second plot is a running series of point-by-
point RMS for the sample width through all cycles. The third
plot is a cycle-by-cycle comparison of phase angle. There were
41 cycles recorded in this particular waveform capture. The
final plot contains the frequency analysis from the FFT of the
full 41-cycle capture.
Figure 3. Wild Voltage Fluctuations Ref lected in the Steady-State Voltage in
RMS Voltage Stripchart A quick glance at Figure 4 shows some startling graphs. (Note
the description in the figure for a plot-by-plot breakdown of
Note in Figure 3 the wide disparity between minimum and what’s being displayed in each plot.) All four plots should really
maximum RMS values in the graph. These large swings (in this stand out as anomalous. The “boxy” shape with nearly f lat
instance ~350V over the course of three minutes) are good first waveform crests is a great visual indicator of ferroresonance.
indicators. When looking at the FFT results (plot 4) the reader will note
that there’s a high DC component present in the frequency
domain – this will help account for the f lattening seen in the
time-domain.

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WHITE PAPER:
FERRORESONANCE AND POWER QUALITY
Note also that there are significant magnitudes for all PREVENTION
frequencies up to about the 13th harmonic (780Hz). This will
yield THD values of over 100%. Ensuring that a transformer is at least 20% loaded (ideally with
resistive loads) can help avoid ferroresonance. This is especially
The second plot in the graph is a return to the RMS Voltage important during transformer energization. Loss of a phase, or
stripchart that was studied earlier. The recording interval from single pole switching (which could brief ly energize only one or
the strip chart was 1 second, so what’s being viewed in this two inputs) can also trigger a ferroresonant condition. Avoiding
plot is a little more detailed. (It’s a sliding window of sampling single pole switches, and favoring 3 phase breakers vs. single
width through the full 41 cycles in the waveform capture. The phase fuses can help prevent this.
full duration right at about 700ms, so the full graph in this
plot is less than the “width” of a single point from the RMS V NOTE: Devices that are not active in the system are disabled.
stripchart graph from above.) Wild voltage f luctuations can Disabled devices cannot be selected for “bursting”, even using
be seen here and in much greater detail. Again, this is a 280V the “Select All” checkbox feature. Disabled devices will appear
nominal and the RMS Voltage varies from a minimum of about grayed out in the Device List.
48VRMS to a maximum of about 365VRMS. While the under-
voltages are worrying, the over-voltages are far more significant CONCLUSION
(equipment failure, cable insulation failure, etc.).
Ferroresonance is a somewhat unusual phenomenon
For comparison, a “sane” capture from the field is provided resulting from the interaction of circuit capacitance with the
in Figure 5. Take special note of the steady RMS Voltage and nonlinearities of a transformer’s “inductance”. While instances
phase angles (and lack of significant harmonic distortion in the are uncommon, engineers should be aware of the symptoms,
frequency domain). causes and effects of these types of events. This white paper
has provided some recommendations for capturing instances of
ferroresonance with power quality recorders and has provided
some good first steps in analytically identifying instances of
these potentially hard-to-diagnose events.

NOTES

The graphics in this image were the product of a Python library

that PMI supplies free-of-charge (upon request) from power
users who wish to dive a little deeper into PMI’s power quality
recording files. Fully commented and documented copies of
the scripts and libraries used to generate these images can be
obtained by contacting PMI Technical Support at support@
powermonitors.com and requesting our PMI Python analysis
library. For a detailed description of what’s available in these
libraries, see the following whitepapers: Advanced Waveform
Analysis Using Python and Analyzing Power Quality Data with
Python.

Figure 5. A ‘sane’ Capture from the Field Showing a Clean Capture for
Comparison

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