An appropriate index to assess the global cancellation level of the harmonic currents consumed by a set of single-phase uncontrolled rectifiers and a set of fluorescent lamps

Abstract

An in-depth study of harmonic current reduction in European commercial buildings due to the harmonic cancellation effect when a set of single-phase uncontrolled rectifiers and a set of fluorescent lamps are connected at the same voltage level is essential, since both types of non-linear loads are very present in commercial and residential sectors. This paper provides an appropriate index to assess the global cancellation level of the harmonic currents for this study. The equivalent circuit per phase of the typical three-phase power system of European commercial installations is presented and simplified for the cancellation analysis of the harmonic currents consumed by a set of multiple identical single-phase uncontrolled rectifiers and a set of multiple identical fluorescent lamps connected at the same voltage level. The suitability and usefulness of the proposed index are shown by applying it to that analysis, which leads to some results of practical interest. This index can be generalized to any number of sets of multiple identical non-linear loads and can be applied in graphical and optimization studies that will allow a greater benefit from the harmonic cancellation effect to be obtained given the global nature of the index.