Active Harmonic Filter
Active Harmonic Filter
1.1.1 This specification defines the requirements for active harmonic filter systems in order to fulfill the
requirements of IEEE-519-1992 or IEEE-519-2014 for the harmonic current limits.
1.1.2 By reducing harmonic current in the network, the active harmonic filter will increase the lifetime of the
electrical equipment and increase the customer’s electrical energy efficiency.
1.2 General
1.2.1 The active harmonic filter shall be provided by reputable supplier who can demonstrate adequate
experience in the power quality and active harmonic filtering sector. The supplier’s manufacturing
process shall be audited in accordance with ISO 9001 quality standard. The supplier shall have their
own R&D capabilities for the design, development and technical support of active harmonic filter
hardware and control algorithms.
1.2.2 The active harmonic filter shall be connected in parallel with the load to be compensated.
1.3.2 The active harmonic filter unit shall be compatible with both 50Hz and 60Hz networks.
1.3.3 The nominal output current of the active harmonic filter modules shall be 50A, 100A, 150A and
200A. The total current capacity shall be any combination of these module currents.
1.3.4 The configuration of the active harmonic filter shall be selectable to either 3- wire or 4-wire
connection in order to filter harmonics from phase conductors and optionally the neutral conductor.
1.3.5 The active harmonic filter shall not need any external power supplies or controller other than those
built into the unit.
1.3.6 The active harmonic filter shall measure all three phases of line current in real time and generate the
measured harmonics currents in opposite phase by means of a Digital Signal Processor (DSP)
based system.
1.3.7 The active harmonic filter power inverter module shall be neutral point clamped 3-level topology
based IGBT technology to provide good and accurate output current. The PWM modulation
technology using fixed switching frequency shall be used. The switching frequency shall not be less
than 20kHz to minimize audible noise.
1.3.8 The active harmonic filter shall be capable of measuring the network currents from either the supply
side or the load side allowing closed loop or open loop current control. The current signal provided
by standard current transformers of Class 0.5 accuracy shall be sufficient for proper filter operation
and performance.
1.3.9 There shall be galvanic isolation between the current measuring transformer signals and active
harmonic filter control electronics input.
1.3.10 The active harmonic filter main circuit shall have galvanic isolation from the power network when
active harmonic filter is switched off.
1.3.11 The active harmonic filter shall be capable of filtering simultaneously from the 2nd to the 50th
harmonic including even harmonics and interharmonics.
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1.3.12 The active harmonic filter shall have an operation mode enabling the user to set a target percentage
of wanted mitigation of harmonic components from 2nd to the 25th harmonics
1.3.13 The active harmonic filter shall be capable of providing fundamental frequency reactive power
compensation up to full nominal output. This reactive power can be either capacitive or inductive.
1.3.14 The active harmonic filter shall be capable of load balancing up to full nominal output current.
1.3.15 The active harmonic filter shall have an automatic re-start feature enabling recovery of normal
operation after a black out of the supply system or after being subjected to a non-severe condition.
1.3.16 The active filter shall recognize the main voltage rotation and give indication if this is not correct.
1.3.17 The active filter shall have the capability to change CT-polarity from the user interface without
changing the actual CT-wires.
1.3.18 The active harmonic filter shall have speed-controlled fans which are controlled via temperature in
order to increase component lifetime and decrease heat losses.
1.3.19 The active filter shall be constructed in a way that component changes are possible for service
activity.
1.3.20 The active filter shall operate correctly when operated at up to the full rated current without any trips
in correct environment.
1.3.21 The active filter shall be constructed in a way that module protects itself from overheating by derating
the output in case of high temperatures.
1.4.2 The active harmonic filter shall have heat losses less than 2.3% of nominal power.
1.4.3 The installation network shall not include capacitors without detuning reactors.
1.4.4 The active filter shall automatically sense the network angles and operate without any manual tuning
parameters.
1.4.5 The parallel operation of multiple active harmonic filters shall be possible in both open-loop and
closed-loop configuration. The possible amount of parallel connected active harmonic filters shall be
more than 8 modules.
1.4.6 Each of the active harmonic filter modules shall have their own control system and the operation of
the system shall continue if one of the parallel active harmonic filter modules is not operational.
1.4.7 Each of active harmonic filter modules shall have balanced outputs with respect to each other when
operated in parallel active harmonic filter connections.
1.4.8 The active harmonic filter performance on reactive power mitigation shall increase the power factor
to at least 0.99
1.4.9 The active filter shall provide up to the full nominal current at frequencies up to the 17th harmonic
without derating.
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1.5.2 The active harmonic filter shall have ‘all harmonics’ operation mode. This operation mode shall offer
real time compensation of all harmonics and fundamental reactive power. The response time of the
active harmonic filter in this mode shall be less than 100µs.
1.5.3 The active harmonic filter shall have ‘all harmonics but not fundamental frequency’ operation mode.
This operation mode shall offer real time compensation of all harmonics. Fundamental frequency
reactive power compensation shall be excluded in this mode. The response time of Active harmonic
filter in this mode shall be less than 100µs.
1.5.4 The active harmonic filter shall have ‘selectable’ operation mode. This operation mode shall offer the
possibility to select which harmonic order is to be compensated. It shall be possible to set the
percentage of compensation degree for harmonic orders 1 to 25. Odd and even harmonics shall be
possible to select. The response time of the active harmonic filter in this mode shall be equal to
fundamental frequency cycle time.
1.5.5 The active harmonic filter shall have an ‘automatic standby’ mode which is activated when the active
harmonic filter output current falls below a predefined set point. The active harmonic filter shall
automatically return to normal operation when the required output next exceeds the predefined set
point. In the standby mode the power electronics controls and cooling fans shall be switched off to
minimize energy consumption.
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1.6.2 The user interface shall be of the touchscreen type and the user interface shall have color display
with LED backlight with screensaver functionality
1.6.3 It shall be possible to connect up to seven active harmonic filters to one user interface.
1.6.4 The user interface shall have a lock-feature possibility in order to avoid parameter changes by
unqualified persons.
1.6.5 The active harmonic filter user interface shall have a commissioning wizard to make the time
required for commissioning as short as possible.
1.6.6 The user interface shall allow the user to control the logical operations of Active harmonic filter, such
as:
1.6.6.5 Update firmware’s for the active harmonic filter and for the user interface.
1.6.7 The graphical touchscreen user interface shall allow the user to monitor the operation status of the
active harmonic filter. The monitored statuses of the active harmonic filter shall be as a minimum
ready to run, pre-charging, running, alarm and trip. The status of the active harmonic filter shall be
shown in color indications and written format.
1.6.8 The user main screen shall have visual indication of the active harmonic filter states, the load rate of
the active harmonic filter units and network parameters such as powers and THDI, as a minimum.
1.6.9 An event log shall be provided for normal events, alarms and trips. The event list shall be recorded
into internal flash memory and up to 5000 latest events shall be available for retrieval. Every event
shall have clear written information about the events, and shall be divided into a minimum of five
categories:
1.6.9.1 Normal events which give information when operations such as start and stop
sequence have taken place.
1.6.9.2 Informative alarms which give information when operations such as ac voltage high
have been noticed but ac voltage has returned to normal operation level.
1.6.9.3 Action alarms, such as IGBT temperature high, shall limit output current in order to get
IGBT temperature back to normal operation range.
1.6.9.4 Trips, such as IGBT temperature max, shall cause system trip. In this case the
operator needs to clear out the reason for the trip and acknowledge error before re-
starting.
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1.6.10 The active harmonic filter shall be capable of analyzing and calculating power quality parameters
from the measured voltage and current signals. As a minimum, the following power quality
parameters from both the load and the system feeder shall be monitored in graphical user interface.
1.6.11 The harmonic currents and voltages shall be shown in graphical user interface as a bar-graph
spectrum.
1.6.12 Three phase current and voltage waveforms shall be shown in graphical user interface.
1.6.13 At least five power quality parameters shall be possible to select for trend recoding purposes. The
trend recordings shall be shown in the graphical user interface for one month cycling period. The
measuring interwall shall be less or equal to one second.
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1.7.2 The active harmonic filter shall have the default communication method of modbus TCP/IP.
1.7.3 The active harmonic filter shall have as minimum 3 no. programmable hardwired inputs that can be
minimum configured to start/stop and disable operation modes from the user interface. The input
signal can be either AC- or DC voltage.
1.7.4 The active harmonic filter shall have a minimum of 4 programmable hardwired outputs that can be
configured to running, trip and alarm options via the user interface. The outputs shall be potential
free relays with the possibility to connect up to 277 VAC signals.
1.7.5 The basic states and power quality parameters shall be readable from a remote terminal unit using
modbus TCP/IP protocol.
1.8 Protections
1.8.1 The active harmonic filter shall have its own protection features which ensure safe and reliable
operation in all abnormal system conditions. As a minimum, the following protection features shall be
incorporate into Active harmonic filter:
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1.9.2 The active harmonic filter shall include third-party approval for by cULus: Ul 508
1.9.3 The active filter shall comply with EMC standards IEC/EN 61000-6-2 and IEC/EN 61000-6-4.
1.9.4 The active filter shall comply with safety standard EN 50178.
1.9.5 The active harmonic filter shall follow the additional European Union directives:
1.9.6 The active harmonic filter shall be compatible with the following environmental conditions:
Operation 5...40°C (Class 3K3) 5..85% (Class 3K3) 86..106kPa (Class 3K3)
Storage -25...55°C (Class 1K4) 5..95% (Class 1K3) 86..106kPa (Class 1K4)
Transportation -25...70°C (Class 2K3) 95% (Class 2K3) 70..106kPa (Class 2K3)
Altitude Up to 1000m
1.10 Testing
1.10.1 The active harmonic filter shall be tested according to relevant part of IEC/EN50178. At least
following test shall be done for each active harmonic filter unit:
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1.11.2 The air ventilation of the switchgear shall be equipped with adequate air filtering system.
1.11.3 The active harmonic filter shall be meant for cubicle mounting by default. Floor or wall mounting shall
be possible through optional accessories. The enclosure shall be designed so that installation to
commercially available standard cubicles is possible with the standard mounting brackets available
from the cubicle manufacturer. Mounting to other cubicle types shall be easy by simply designing a
suitable mounting bracket.
1.11.4 The active harmonic filter shall have bottom cable entry, top cable entry shall be available as an
option.
1.11.5 The physical dimensions shall enable the user to install up to two 200A devices into a standard
cubicle with dimensions (WxDxH) of 24 in. x 24 in. x 79 in. and up to four 200A devices in a standard
cubicle with dimensions (WxDxH) of 48 in. x 24 in. x 79 in.
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