COURSE DESCRIPTION

El Eng 304 – Introduction to Power Quality

(Offered Spring Semesters)

Required or Elective Course: Elective

Catalog Description:

[Lec. 3.0] Definitions and standards of power quality, kinds of power quality problems, sources of sags and transient overvoltages, distribution system analysis and protection, protection devices, harmonic distortion, principles for controlling harmonics, devices for filtering harmonics, time and frequency domain methods of analysis, Fourier, Walsh, and Hartley transforms, monitoring power quality, and power quality improvement.Prerequisites: El Eng 153.

Prerequisites by topic: Steady-state ac circuits, polyphase circuits, frequency response, phasor algebra, resonance, passive filters.

Textbooks and other required material:

R. Dugan, M. McGranahan, S. Santoso, W. Beaty, Electric Power Systems Quality, 2ndEdition (McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 2002).

Course learning outcomes/expected performance criteria:

  1. Learn to distinguish between the various categories of power quality problems.
  2. Understand the root of the power quality problems in industry and their impact on performance and economics.
  3. Learn to apply appropriate solution techniques for power quality mitigation based on the type of problem.
  4. Introduce the importance of grounding on power quality.
  5. Introduce power distribution protection techniques and its impact on voltage quality.

Topics covered:

  1. Introduction and definitions 1 week
  2. Voltage sag analysis and mitigation2 weeks
  3. Distribution system analysis and protection 3 weeks
  4. Voltage surge analysis and mitigation2 weeks
  5. Harmonic distortion3 weeks
  6. Principles for controlling harmonics 1 weeks
  7. Long duration voltage variations 1 week
  8. Grounding 0.5 week
  9. Monitoring power quality 0.5 week
  10. Reviews, Examinations, and Final Examination 2 weeks

Class/laboratory schedule:

Three 50-minute lectures per week are typical.

Contribution of course to meeting the professional component:

  • Students are exposed to current technical problems faced by industry from the ever-increasing percentage of non-linear loads arising from the need for higher energy efficiency and from the use of power electronics in our daily lives.
  • Students are exposed to industry standards on power quality.

Relationship of course learning outcomes to ECE program outcomes:

ECE
Outcome /

Course Outcomes

/

Comments

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5
a / S / S / S / S / S / Students apply newly learnt techniques in the course
b / S / W / Monitored PQ data is used for homework assignments.
c / S / M / S / Filter design is an example
d / M / Students are asked to team up to present specific findings
e / S / S / S / S / S / Students learn to identify PQ problems and provide solutions.
f / M / M / Power system protection must include public safety
g / M / Some assignments require essay type answers
h / W / W / M / Power quality issues pervades society
i / W / M / PQ problems and their solutions are always evolving
j / W / M / M / Energy efficiency and power quality are somehow related
k / M / S / S / S / One assignment requires use of LTI techniques and Matlab
l / M / M / Plant-wide PQ solutions can be complex
S – strong connection; M – medium connection; W – weak connection

Prepared by: Badrul H. ChowdhuryDate:June 10, 2008