ACCURACY OF VOLTAGE SAG ANALYSIS

•Voltage Sag Definition: A Voltage sag as defined by IEEE standard 1159-

1995, IEEE recommended practice for monitoring Electric Power quality, is
a decrease in RMS voltage at the power frequency for durations from 0.5
cycles to 1 Minute, reported as the remaining voltage.
•The measurement of a voltage sag is stated as a percentage of the nominal
voltage, it is a measurement of the remaining voltage and is stated as a sag.
Thus a voltage sag of 60% is equivalent to 60% of nominal voltage or 288
volts for a nominal 480 volts system.

Fig 1: voltage Sag-a reduced voltage for a limited

peroid
• A Voltage dip of 40% equates to a voltage sag to 60%
• A Voltage sag is not a complete interruption of power it is a temporary drop
below 90% of the nominal voltage level.
• Most voltage sags do not go below 50% of the nominal voltage and they
normally last from 3 to 410 cycles – or 50 to 170 milliseconds.
• Voltage sags are probably the most significant power quality (PQ) problem
facing industrial customers today and they can be a significant problem for
large commercial today and they can be a significant problem for large
commercial customers as well.
• There are two sources of voltage sags:

1.External (on the utility’s lines up to your facility) and

2.Internal (within your facility)
• Storms are the most common cause of external sags.
• Utilities continuously strive to provide the most reliable and consistent
electric power possible.
• A voltage sag is much more of a global problem than an interruption.
Reducing no. of interruptions typically requires improvement on one feeder,
reducing the no. of voltage sag requires improvement on several feeders.
 Where do voltage sags occur?

Utility Systems:
• Voltage sag can occur on utility systems both at distribution voltages and
transmission voltages. Voltage sags that occur at higher voltages will
normally spread through a utility system and will be transmitted to lower
voltage systems via transformers.
Inside industrial plants:
• Voltage sags can be created with in an industrial complex without any
influence from the utility system. These sags are typically caused by starting
large motors or by electrical faults inside the facility
 CAUSES OF VOLTAGE SAGS

• Voltage sags are mainly caused by short circuits, overloads and starting of large
motors.

1.UTILITY SYSTEMS:-
Operation of reclosers and circuit breakers:
• If for any reason a sub-station circuit breakers or a recloser is tripped, then the
line which it is feeding will be temporarily disconnected. All other feeder lines
from the same substation system will see this disconnection event as a voltage
sag which will system spread to consumers on these other lines. The depth of the
voltage sags at the consumers site will vary depending on the supply line voltage
and distance from the fault typically a higher supply voltage will have larger sag
affected zone.
Equipment failure:
• If electrical equipment fails due to overloading cable faults etc., protective
equipment will operate at the sub-station and voltage sags will be seen on
other feeder lines across the utility system.
 CAUSES OF VOLTAGE SAGS (cont…)

Bad weather:
• Thunder storms and lighting strikes cause a significant number of voltage
sags. If lightning strikes a power line and continues to ground, this creates a
line to ground fault. The line to ground fault in turn creates a voltage sag
and this reduced voltage can be seen over a wide area. Circuit breakers and
reclosers operate more frequently in poor weather conditions.

• High winds can blow tree branches into power lines. As the tree branch
strikes the line, a line to ground fault occurs which creates a voltage sag. If
the line protection system does not operate immediately a series of sags will
occur if the branch repeatedly touches the power line. Broken branches
landing on power lines cause phase to phase and phase to ground faults.

• Snow and ice build up on power line insulators can cause flash-over, either
phase to ground or phase to phase. Similarly snow or ice falling form one
line can cause it to rebound and strike another line. These events cause
voltage sags to spread through other feeders on the system.
 CAUSES OF VOLTAGE SAGS (cont…)

Pollution:
• salt, spray build up on power line insulators over time in coastal areas, even
many miles inland, can cause similar problems as circuit protector devices
operate, voltage sags appear on other feeder.
Animals and birds:
• Animals particularly squirrels, raccoons and snakes occasionally find there
way onto power lines or transformers and can cause a short circuit either
phase to phase to ground. Large birds, geese and swans fly into power lines
and cause similar faults. While the creature rarely survives the protective
circuit breaker operator and a voltage sag is created on other feeders.
Vehicle problem:
• Utility power lines frequently run alongside public roads vehicles
occasionally collide with utility poles causing line to touch, protective
devices trip and voltage sags occur.
Construction Activity:
• When all power lines are underground, digging foundations for new building
construction can result in damage to underground power lines and create
voltage sags.
 CAUSES OF VOLTAGE SAGS (cont…)

2.INDUSTRIAL PLANTS:

• Voltage sags can be caused within an industrial facility or a group of

facilities by the starting of large electric motors either individually or in
groups. The large current inrush on starting can cause voltage sags in the
local or adjacent areas even if the utility line voltage remains at a constant
nominal value.
• Most of voltage sags are caused mainly due to increase in current and
increase in system impedance.
• Faults resulting in voltage sags can occur within the plant or on the utility
system. The voltage sag condition lasts until the fault is cleared by a
protective device.
• On the utility system, the fault could be cleared by a branch fuse or a
substation breaker. If reclosing is used by the utility the voltage sag
condition can occur multiple times, with varying durations.
• The large majority of faults on a utility system are single line to ground
faults (SLGF) which are caused due to weather conditions. The three phase
faults are more severe but much less common.
 VOLTAGE SAG ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY

• The voltage sag analysis methodology basically consists of the following four
steps.
Load – flow:
• A load flow representing the existing or modified system is required with an
accurate zero –sequence representation. The machine reactance Xd” or Xd’ is
also required. The reactance used is dependent upon the post fault time frame of
interest. The machine and zero- sequence are not required to calculate the
voltage sag magnitude.
Voltage-sag calculation:
• Sliding faults which include line-line, line to ground line to ground and three
phase are applied to all the lines in the load flow. Each line is divided into equal
sections and each section is faulted.
Voltage sag occurrence calculation:
• Based upon the utility reliability data and the results of load flow and voltage
sags calculation, the number of voltage sag calculations, the number of voltage
sags to the customer site due to remote faults can be calculated.
• Depending upon the equipment connection, the voltage sag occurrence rate may
be calculated in terms of either phase of line voltages dependent upon the load
connection.
 VOLTAGE SAG ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY(cont..)

• The data thus obtained from load flow, voltage sag calculation and voltage
sag occurrence calculations can be sorted and calculated by sag magnitude,
fault type, location of fault and nominal system voltage at the fault location.
Study of result of sag analysis:
• The results can be calculated and displayed in many different ways to
recognize difficult aspects. Area of vulnerability can be plotted on a
geographical map or one-line diagram.
• These plots can be used to target transmission and distribution line for
enhancement in reliability.
• In additional to examining the existing system, system modification aimed at
mitigating or reducing voltage sags can also be identified thus enabling cost
benefits analysis.
• Possible such system structural changes that can be identified include:
• Reconnection of a customer from one voltage level to another.
 VOLTAGE SAG ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY(cont..)

• Installation of ferro-resonant transformers or time delayed under voltage,

drop out relay to facilitate easy ride through the sag.
• Application of static transfer switch and energy storage system.
• Application of fast acting synchronous condensers.
• Increase service voltage addition through transformers tap changing.
• By enhancement of system reliability.

VOLTAGE SAG ANALYSIS FLOW CHART

 SOLUTIONS TO VOLTAGE SAG PROBLEMS:

• Once the characteristics of a typical voltage sag have been determined by

examining recorded data from the wave form capture meter over a period of
time, it is possible to calculate the type of voltage sag correction required to
cover the depth and duration of expect future voltage to sag analysis.

• If it is possible to correct the problem by changing some sensitive components,

this may be the least expensive solutions this approach has been widely
adopted in the semi-conductor industry and it is notable that this industry has
invested heavily in high quality meters to identify the problems if component
substitutions is not practical, it is necessary to identify the size of the load to be
protected in KVA and its supply voltage.
Utility solution:
• Utilities can take two main steps to reduce the detrimental effects of sags
1 .Prevent Fault 2 .Improve fault clearing methods

• Fault prevention method includes like tree trimming, adding line arresters,
washing insulators and installing animal guards Improved fault clearing
include activities like adding line recloses eliminating fast tripping, adding
loop schemes and modify feeder design .
 Voltage Sag Correction Devices

Traditional solutions:
• Traditional methods of voltage control include transformer tap changers
both mechanical and SCR switched units, servo-Variac technology and
ferro-resonant transformers (Constant Voltage transformers)
UPS solutions:
• Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) technology has been available for
over 20 Years and is ideally suited for those a[applications such as high
speed data processing where continuous protection against any power
variation and power interruption.
• Industrial ups units are widely used to protect electronic process control
equipment and to allow for an orderly shutdown of the process.
Electronic voltage regulations:
• These devices use a combination of an inverter plus short term electrical
storage or an inverter with a specially designed injection transformer to
provide voltage correction against voltage sags as they arize.
• These devices provide excellent protection against both 3-phase and
single phase voltage sags.
 Duration and frequency of voltage sags:

• The voltage drop during a sag is due to short circuit in the system. The
moment short circuit fault is cleared by the protection the voltage can
return to its original value.
• The duration of sag is mainly determined by the fault clearing time,
but it may be longer than the fault clearing time.

FAULT CLEARING TIME:

• In transmission systems the critical fault-clearing time is small and
cleared faster than faults in distribution systems.
• Transmission and sub transmission system are normally operated as a
grid, required distance protection or differential protection, both of
which are rather fast.
 FAULT CLEARING TIME(cont…)

• The fault clearing time of various protective devices are given below:
1.Current limiting fuses : less than one cycle.
2.Expulsion fuses : 10 – 1000 Ms
3.Distance relay in Zone 1: 100 – 200 Ms
4.Distance relay in Zone 2 : 200 – 500 Ms
5.Differential relay : 100 300 Ms
6.Over current relay : 200 – 2000 Ms

• The typical fault-clearing time at various voltage levels for a U.S utility are
given below:
 FAULT CLEARING TIME(cont…)

• Voltage Level Best case Typical worse case

525 KV 33 ms 50 ms 83 ms
345 KV 50 ms 67 ms 100 ms
230 KV 50 ms 83 ms 133 ms
115 KV 83 ms 83 ms 167 ms
69 KV 50 ms 83 ms 167 ms
34.5 KV 100 ms2 sec 3 sec
12.47 KV 100 ms2 sec 3 sec
 MAGNITUDE – DURATION PLOTS

• Knowing the magnitude and duration of a voltage sag it can be presented by

a point in a magnitude-duration plane.
• This way of sag characterization used to describe both equipment and
system performance.
• The magnitude –duration plot will also be used to present the results of
power quality surveys.
• When the fault occur in a remote distribution network, the sag will be much
more shallow due to the transformer impedance between the fault and the
pcc.
• For a fault in any distribution network, the sag duration may be upto a few
seconds.
• Transmission system faults are typically cleared within 50 to 100 ms, thus
leading to short-duration sags.
• Current limiting fuses lead to sag duration of one cycle or less and rather
deep says if the fault is in the local distribution or low-voltage network.
• Faults in remote networks, cleared by current-limiting fuses lead to short
and shallow sags.
 MEASUREMENTS OF SAG DURATION

• A commonly used definition of sag duration is the number of cycles during

which the rms voltage is below a given threshold. This threshold will be
some what different for each monitor but typical values are around 90%
• A power quality monitor will typically calculate the rms value once every
cycle. This gives an overestimation of the sag duration.
• The rms calculation is performed at regular instants intime and the voltage
sag starts somewhere in between two of those instants.
• The rms value is low for three samples in a row. The sag duration according
the monitor will be three cycles.
• It is assumed that the sag is deep enough for the intermediate rms value to
be below the threshold for shallow sags both intermediate values might be
above the threshold and the monitor will record a one-cycle sag.
• The bottom curve of shows the rare situation where the sag commencement
almost coincides with one of the instants on which the rms voltage is
calculated. In that case the monitor gives the correct sag duration.
• Calculating the rms voltage once a cycle, it is obvious that the resulting
dag duration will be an integer number of cycles.
 MEASUREMENTS OF SAG DURATION(cont…)

• The actual sag duration obtained from the sudden drop and rise in the
voltage is 2.4 cycles for large thresholds the recorded sag duration will be
an overestimation.
• A 90% threshold gives a 2.8 cycle sag duration and 80% threshold a 2.5
cycles duration is an underestimation a 60% threshold gives a 2.1 cycle
duration and a 40% threshold a 2.0 cycle duration.
• The duration of deep sags will be over estimated and the duration of
shallow ones under estimated.
• Several methods have been suggested to measure to measure sag initiation
and voltage recovered more accurately. These methods give a more
accurate value of sag duration.
• Sag initiation and voltage recovered around the voltages zero-crossing will
give a smoother transition and a larger uncertainly in sag duration.
• Error in sag duration is only significant for short-duration sags. For longer
sags the so-called post fault sag will give a serious uncertainty in sag
duration.
 MEASUREMENTS OF SAG DURATION(cont…)

• A 90% threshold gives a 2.8 cycle sag duration and 80% threshold a 2.5
cycles duration is an underestimation a 60% threshold gives a 2.1 cycle
duration and a 40% threshold a 2.0 cycle duration.
• The duration of deep sags will be over estimated and the duration of
shallow ones under estimated.
• Several methods have been suggested to measure to measure sag initiation
and voltage recovered more accurately. These methods give a more
accurate value of sag duration.
• Sag initiation and voltage recovered around the voltages zero-crossing will
give a smoother transition and a larger uncertainly in sag duration.
• Error in sag duration is only significant for short-duration sags. For longer
sags the so-called post fault sag will give a serious uncertainty in sag
duration.
• The rms voltage after the sag is lightly lower than before the sag. The
effect can be especially severe for sags due to three-phase faults.
 MEASUREMENTS OF SAG DURATION(cont…)

• The post-fault sag can last several seconds, much longer that the actual sag.
Such a post fault sag will cause uncertainity in the sag duration as obtained
by a power quality monitor.
• Both monitors will record a sag duration much longer than the fault
clearing time. The fault clearing time can be estimated from the duration of
the deep part of the sag. The monitor 2 will be record a significantly longer
than monitor 1.
• The sag is unbalanced during the fault, the balanced after the fault. The
sag duration has been determined as the time during which the rms voltage
is below a certain threshold.
• One of the phases only drops to 88% so that any threshold setting below
88% will give zero dag duration for that phase.
• The sag duration obtained for the other two phases is about four cycles for
threshold below 90% increasing fast for higher threshold settings.
 FREQUENCY OF SAG

• The sag frequency chart is a histogram of voltage sags by their minimum

voltage. It is invaluable in determining the voltage regulation needed to
correct for a given percentage of voltage sags.
 FREQUENCY OF SAG (cont:)

• The histogram of sag cumulative frequency versus voltage magnitude is

shown in figure (2).
• The time frequency plane of a voltage sag is shown in fig (2) and
sketches out special features of voltage sags, drops and increases in
magnitude of the 50 HZ signal.
Fig. 2. (a) Example of voltage sag. (b) Time-frequency plane
of voltage sag.
 FREQUENCY OF SAG (cont:)

• The value of the continuous wave let transform at high frequencies indicate
the discontinuities of the signal (beginning and end of voltage sag).These
are major aspects of power disturbances.
• There are five classes of voltage sags according to cause.
• The first class is the voltage sag duration a phase-to-phase fault which is
shown in fig (3) below.

Fig 3. The fundamental frequency magnitude of

voltage during a phase-to-phase fault
 FREQUENCY OF SAG (cont:)

• The second class is the voltage sag duration induction motor starting
shown in fig (4) below.

Fig. 4. The fundamental frequency magnitude

during induction motor starting
 FREQUENCY OF SAG (cont:)

The third class is the multistage voltage sags duration sags during line faults
which is shown in fig (5) below.

Fig. 5. The multistage voltage sags during line

faults
 FREQUENCY OF SAG (cont:)

The fourth class is the multistage voltage sags due to the self extinguishing
faults as shown in the fig (6) below.

Fig.6: The voltage sags due to the self-extinguishing

Faults
 FREQUENCY OF SAG (cont:)

 The fifth class is the multistage voltage sags due to the inrush current
during transformer energizing as shown in fig (7).

Fig.7: The voltage sags due to the inrush current during

transformer energizing