Harmonics
BSRIA Power quality guide (AG 2/2000) was written by C C Pearson and V Uthayanan and published by BSRIA in July 2000. It states:
Waveform distortion is defined as a steady state deviation from an ideal sine wave of power frequency, principally characterised by the spectral content of the deviation.
There are five primary types of waveform distortion:
- dc offset
- harmonics
- interharmonics
- notching
- noise
Harmonics are sinusoidal voltages or currents having frequencies that are integer multiples of the frequency at which the supply system is designed to operate (termed the fundamental frequency; usually 50 Hz or 60 Hz). Distorted waveforms can be decomposed into a sum of the fundamental frequency and the harmonics. Harmonic distortion originates in the nonlinear characteristics of devices and loads on the power system.
Harmonic distortion levels are described by the complete harmonic spectrum with magnitudes and phase angles of each individual harmonic component. It is also common to use a single quantity, the total harmonic distortion (THD), as a measure of the effective value of harmonic distortion.
--BSRIA
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
Featured articles
Check out some of the best features and news from Designing Buildings as well as key stories from around the web.
Sir Edwin Lutyens: Britain's greatest architect? Book review.
CIOB publishes free template to help assess and manage risks.
ECA's reflections on Party Conference season
Burnham wants to be confident of winning before asking for a fresh mandate.
New Chief Construction and Scientific Adviser
Sergio Cavalaro, Professor of Infrastructure Systems at Loughborough University.
Building safety levy for England
CIAT publish estimator tool for members.
Water sector faces a growing crisis that could slow the delivery of vital infrastructure.
Undervaluing our industrial past
Heritage value changes as taste for building styles changes.
Changing expectations around competence and compliance
New information sheet from CIAT.
Grenfell investigation files passed to CPS
Angela Rayner apologises on behalf of the British state.
Electrical contractors need to understand the practical implications.
The real barrier to getting more value from digital technology.
Your guide to The Construction Reset at UKCW Birmingham.