Power quality

Electrical Apparatus, Feb 2005 by Nailen, Richard L

Power quality Power Quality Measurement and Troubleshooting. By G. A. Mazur. American Technical Publishers, Inc., 1155 W. 175th St., Homewood, 111. 60430-4600; (800) 323-3471. $40.00 (softbound). 192 pages.

A companion to Digital Multimeter Principles and in the same spiral-bound format, this book concentrates on a single type of measurement rather than on a single instrument. Like that book, this one is based on extensive information supplied by the Fluke Corp.

Power quality "problems" include many that can be detected by a DMM alone (such as over- or under-voltage). Others, such as harmonics or electrical "noise," require more specialized instrumentation, such as the power quality meter, using techniques described in this book. Such an instrument is equipped to display waveforms and bar graphs of harmonic content as well as numerical measurements.

Following three opening chapters on basic electrical system behavior and voltage/current measurements, the author devotes Chapter 4 to basic power quality problems-their effects and troubleshooting procedures. Chapter 5 covers power and power factor (both "total" and "displacement" values), and the influence of unbalance in polyphase circuits. What poor power quality can do, from overheated wiring or apparatus to nuisance tripping, is the subject of Chapter 6.

The rest of the book describes the how and why of measuring harmonic distortion, the nature of electrical distribution systems in buildings, and power conditioning and protection. An appendix contains lists of units and metric conversions, basic electrical formulae, meter symbols, and a power quality troubleshooting checklist.-RLN