IEEE to Develop Standards Limiting Insertion of Harmonics into Power Grid

IEEE announced that the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board approved two new projects to develop standards that will limit the injection of harmonic frequencies into the public electric transmission system.

Harmonic pollution is a growing problem caused by the widespread use of power supplies and other non-linear loads. It can result in power loss and equipment damage and it may also be related to environmental safety issues.

Both standards will address harmonic injection in 60Hz and 120V/240V systems such as those in use in the United States, Canada and other regions of the world. Both standards will also use the IEC SC77A and IEC 61000-3-12 standards as seed documents.

Proposed standard IEEE P1836™ – Standard for Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) – Limits for Harmonic Current Emissions Produced by Equipment Connected to Public Low-Voltage Systems with Input Current ≤= 16A Per Phase – will establish limits for equipment and create methodologies for testing and simulation.

Proposed standard IEEE P1837™ – Standard for Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) – Limits for Harmonic Current Emissions Produced by Equipment Connected to Public Low-Voltage Systems with Input Current ≤16 and ≤= 75A Per Phase – has the same general thrust. Both standards will take the cost of corrective action into consideration and apply the principals of lowest cost solutions.

In addition, the IEEE has initiated a project to revise the standard covering procedures and equipment used to measure electromagnetic emissions. The present standard, IEEE P1309™ – Standard for Calibration of Electromagnetic Field Sensors and Probes, Excluding Antennas, from 9kHz to 40GHz – will be revised because it has been learned that in some situations RF probes may return values that are significantly different from the calibrated response. This project will provide instructions on probe use, characteristics and related measurement uncertainties. Use factors that may affect the accuracy of the reading will also be reviewed.