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IEEE 1584 · Engineering

Harmonic Study & Analysis - Carelabz Slovakia

Carelabs delivers harmonic study and analysis for industrial and commercial facilities across Slovakia, measuring total harmonic distortion with a harmonics analyser and modelling system impedance versus frequency to identify resonance risk. Where levels exceed the limits set in STN EN 50160, we recommend mitigation — harmonic filters, relocated power-factor correction capacitance, or higher-pulse-number rectifiers — and verify compliance with STN 33 2000.

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Why the capacitors keep failing

Power factor correction capacitors installed on a distorted network do not simply wear out. They are destroyed by current they were never rated to carry, and replacing them identically schedules the next failure.

What We Deliver

The resonant point located

A frequency scan of the modelled network shows where the capacitor bank and the supply transformer resonate, and how close that frequency sits to an order your plant actually produces.

WHY IT MATTERS

Replacing the symptom, repeatedly

The usual sequence is a failed bank, an identical replacement, another failure, then an assumption that the units are poor quality. Each replacement is a capital decision taken without the measurement that would explain it.

  • Frequency scan performed before any capacitive equipment is specified, since adding capacitance to a resonant network amplifies distortion rather than correcting it.
  • Each switching stage assessed separately, because the resonant frequency moves with the connected capacitance and a partial stage can be the dangerous one.
  • Capacitor current measured with its harmonic content, establishing the actual duty rather than assuming the nameplate describes it.
  • Supply impedance taken from the network operator's fault level, as resonance depends on it and it changes when the network is reinforced.
  • Fuse and switchgear duty in the bank reviewed, since harmonic current affects them as well as the capacitors themselves.
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DELIVERABLES

What you receive

Issued against STN 33 2000 and the applicable distortion limits, with the measurement and modelling basis stated.

  1. 1Frequency scan showing impedance against frequency, with resonant points identified per switching stage
  2. 2Measured capacitor current including harmonic content, compared against rating
  3. 3Measured network distortion with the full spectrum
  4. 4A detuning or filtering specification sized against the measured spectrum and network impedance
  5. 5An explanation of the failure history in terms of the measured conditions
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How the study runs

01

Collect the failure history

What failed, when, and in which switching configuration. The pattern frequently points at the resonant stage before any instrument is connected.

02

Measure the bank and the network

Distortion at the point of supply and current into the capacitor bank are recorded together across a representative period.

03

Establish supply impedance

The network operator's fault level is obtained, since resonance depends directly on source impedance and cannot be modelled without it.

04

Scan every stage

A frequency scan is run for each switching configuration, because the resonant point moves with connected capacitance.

05

Size the remedy

Detuning or filtering is specified against the measured spectrum and the actual impedance rather than from a standard selection table.

06

Report and explain

Findings link the measured conditions to the failure history, so the recommendation is understood rather than simply followed.

Frequently asked questions

Because resonance amplifies current into the bank specifically rather than raising distortion everywhere. The capacitors present low impedance at harmonic frequencies and, at resonance with the supply transformer, draw current far beyond their rating. Network distortion can look moderate while the bank is being destroyed.
Usually, provided it is sized correctly. The reactor shifts the resonant frequency below the lowest troublesome order, which requires knowing both the network impedance and the harmonic spectrum. Fitting a standard reactor without that information sometimes moves resonance onto a different order rather than clear of all of them.
Because a multi-stage bank has a different resonant frequency in every configuration. At partial capacitance the resonant point may land directly on an order the plant produces, while at full output it does not. Failures correlating with light-load periods are a strong indicator of exactly this.
It can, and it catches people out. Resonance depends on source impedance, so strengthening the supply moves the resonant frequency. A bank that operated for years without trouble can begin failing after a network reinforcement, with nothing inside the installation having changed at all.

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