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Percent Impedance

The document discusses source impedance and its relationship to harmonic distortion. It defines impedance and explains how the effective impedance of a transformer or reactor changes based on load size, affecting harmonic current distortion. A transformer or reactor rated at 5% impedance may only represent 0.5% effective impedance to a smaller load, resulting in higher harmonic distortion, around 100% THD-I. Properly sizing a reactor to match a load can reduce distortion to around 35% THD-I at full load. Lower loads further reduce effective impedance and increase distortion.

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Johan Tadlas
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95 views

Percent Impedance

The document discusses source impedance and its relationship to harmonic distortion. It defines impedance and explains how the effective impedance of a transformer or reactor changes based on load size, affecting harmonic current distortion. A transformer or reactor rated at 5% impedance may only represent 0.5% effective impedance to a smaller load, resulting in higher harmonic distortion, around 100% THD-I. Properly sizing a reactor to match a load can reduce distortion to around 35% THD-I at full load. Lower loads further reduce effective impedance and increase distortion.

Uploaded by

Johan Tadlas
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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TechNotes

Document: Review: Date: Page:

TN-GENL-1 January 26, 2006


POWER QUALITY

1 of 2

The Effective Value of Source Impedance


Impedance vs. Percent Impedance Impedance is defined, in the Standard Handbook for Electrical Engineers, as the apparent resistance of an alternating current circuit or path the vector sum of the resistance and reactance of the path. Impedance may be comprised of resistance, capacitive reactance and inductive reactance, and is expressed in ohms. From the perspective of a load, the total input impedance may include the impedance of the upstream generator, transformer, line reactor and conductors. The power system impedance is useful for estimating the available short circuit current. Sample calculations for a three phase transformer rated 500kVA, 4160:480, 60Hz, 6% impedance. Transformer reactance Xt = (kV2/MVA) x %Z/100 = (0.482 / 0.5) x 0.06 = 0.027648 ohms. Approximate available short circuit current = 480/(1.732 x 0.027648) = 10,023.7 amps. Equipment Nameplate impedance Transformers and line reactors typically have nameplate ratings expressed as percent impedance. This rating indicates the internal voltage drop, based on the reactance in ohms, at full load operating conditions relative to the rated load and rated voltage. A five percent impedance line reactor will cause a five percent drop in voltage when rated current flows through the circuit. Voltage drop across impedance reduces as circuit current is reduced. Sample calculations for a three phase transformer rated 500kVA, 4160:480, 60Hz, 6% impedance. Transformer reactance Xt = (kV2/MVA) x %Z/100 = (0.482 / 0.5) x 0.06 = 0.027648 ohms. Rated secondary current = 500,000 / (480 x 1.732) = 601.4 amps. Voltage drop at full load = 601.4 x 1.732 x 0.027648 = 28.8 volts (28.8 / 480 = 0.06, or 6% of 480 volts). Effective Percent Impedance Effective impedance is the relative impedance of a reactor or transformer under actual operating conditions. Since smaller (kVA) loads have higher impedance and thus draw lower current than larger (kVA) loads, the internal ohms of a reactor or transformer represent a smaller percentage of the load impedance for a small (kVA) load than for a large load. The value in ohms will cause a lower voltage drop when less than rated reactor or transformer current is flowing. If the load is only one half the rated current, then the voltage drop across the impedance will be onehalf of the rated voltage drop. Sample calculations for a three phase transformer rated 500kVA, 4160:480, 60Hz, 6% impedance. Transformer reactance Xt = (kV2/MVA) x %Z/100 = (0.482 / 0.5) x 0.06 = 0.027648 ohms. Rated secondary current = 500,000 / (480 x 1.732) = 601.4 amps. Actual Load current = 300 amps Voltage drop at actual load = 300 x 1.732 x 0.027648 = 14.36 volts (14.36 / 480 = 0.0299, or 3% of 480 volts). Effective percent impedance = 6% x (300 / 601.4) = 2.99%. The effective percent impedance of a transformer or reactor is useful for estimating the harmonic current distortion that will be caused by the addition of non-linear loads (assume 6-pulse rectifiers here).
Source Impedance = Approximate Current Distortion 0.5% Z ~100% THD-I 1.0% Z ~75% THD-I 2% Z ~55% THD-I 3% Z ~45% THD-I 5% Z ~35% THD-I

Generally, the higher the effective impedance, upstream of a non-linear load, the lower the harmonic current distortion will be. However, the transformer or reactor nameplate ratings do not accurately define the expected harmonic distortion. Although a 1000kVA transformer may have a nameplate impedance rating of 5%, the effective impedance relative to a 100kVA load is only one-fifth of 5% or 0.5%. This transformer represents a stiff power source to this smaller load and the resultant harmonic current distortion will be approximately 100% THD-I. In contrast, if a 5% line reactor is sized correctly for this 100kVA load, then current distortion will only be about 35%

web site: www.artechepq.com

e-mail: [email protected]

Ph. 1-262-754-3883

TechNotes

Document: Review: Date:

TN-GENL-1 January 26, 2006


POWER QUALITY

Page: 2 of 2 at full load. Notice however, that at 60% load, the effective impedance of a 5% line reactor is only 3% and therefore expected harmonic current distortion at 60% load is 45% THD-I, not 35%.

web site: www.artechepq.com

e-mail: [email protected]

Ph. 1-262-754-3883

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