On power quality indices and real time measurement

Power quality (PQ) indices are used to quantify the quality of the power supply and serve as the basis for comparing the negative impacts of different disturbances on power networks. To overcome the limitations and deficiencies of the practical applications of some power quality indices in common use, a set of three new indices, namely the fundamental frequency deviation ratio (FDR), waveform distortion ratio (WDR), and symmetrical components deviation ratio (SDR) are proposed in this paper to summarize different types of power disturbances in a comprehensive manner. As instantaneous quantities, these novel indices can reveal the time varying characteristics of power disturbances in real time. Hence, the new PQ indices can well accommodate practical waveform distortions in power networks, which may be caused by multiple types of time varying power disturbances. They can therefore be further used to evaluate both the effectiveness and dynamic responses of PQ mitigation equipment in practical applications. To fully realize the advantages of the new PQ indices, a novel Atom (transform kernel) based time frequency transform and its recursive algorithm are also proposed as the supporting measurement technique. The new Atom approach can continuously measure the instantaneous frequencies and amplitudes of signal components in a nonstationary disturbance waveform with high accuracy, and then update the new PQ indices at each sample. The effectiveness of the new PQ indices and the supporting measurement technique were ascertained using various PQ events, both simulated events and those recorded at an industrial site.