MITIGATION EQUIPMENT FOR VOLTAGE SAGS POWER QUALITY PROBLEM

The most commonly applied method of mitigation is the installation of additional equipment at the system-equipment interface. Also recent developments point toward a continued interest in this way of mitigation.

The popularity of mitigation equipment is explained by it being the only place where the customer has control over the situation. Both changes in the supply as well as improvement of the equipment are often completely outside of the control of the end user. Some examples of mitigation equipment are:

. Uninterruptable power supply (UPS). This is the most commonly used device to protect lowpower equipment (computers, etc.) against voltage sags and interruptions. During the sag or interruption, the power supply is taken over by an internal battery.

The battery can supply the load for, typically, between 15 and 30 minutes.

. Static transfer switch. A static transfer switch switches the load from the supply with the sag to another supply within a few milliseconds. This limits the duration of a sag to less than one halfcycle, assuming that a suitable alternate supply is available.

. Dynamic voltage restorer (DVR). This device uses modern power electronic components to insert a series voltage source between the supply and the load. The voltage source compensates for the voltage drop due to the sag.

Some devices use internal energy storage to make up for the drop in active power supplied by the system. They can only mitigate sags up to a maximum duration.

Other devices take the same amount of active power from the supply by increasing the current. These can only mitigate sags down to a minimum magnitude. The same holds for devices boosting the voltage through a transformer with static tap changer.

. Motor-generator sets. Motor-generator sets are the classical solution for sag and interruption mitigation with large equipment. They are obviously not suitable for an office environment but the noise and the maintenance requirements are often no problem in an industrial environment.

Some manufacturers combine the motor-generator set with a backup generator; others combine it with power-electronic converters to obtain a longer ride-through time.