Actively improving quality

The increasing use of non-linear loads in all types of industrial and commercial applications has resulted in the introduction of potentially harmful current harmonics into the power network that can lead to overheating of cables, motors and transformers, damage to sensitive equipment, tripping of circuit breakers and blowing of fuses as well as premature aging of the installation. ABB modular PQF active filters provide a reliable and cost-effective solution to this problem by continuously monitoring the current in real time to determine what harmonics are present and then injecting harmonic currents in the network with exactly the opposite phase to the components that are to be filtered. The two harmonics effectively cancel each other out so that the feeding transformer sees a clean sine wave.