A Smart Power Quality Sensor for the Evaluation of Flicker Effect (original) (raw)

The Performance Evaluation of IEC Flicker Meters in Realistic Conditions

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2000

ABSTRACT The light flicker effect is one of the most complex phenomena in the power quality field. It involves voltage fluctuation shape, lamp behavior, and eye-brain activity. As a first approach, the cause of light flicker was modeled in terms of voltage amplitude modulations, with a rectangular or sinusoidal shape. This is the main reason these modulated voltage waveforms have been adopted to evaluate the performance of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) light flicker meter. Unfortunately, in realistic conditions, the observed voltage fluctuations have usually more complex shapes; therefore, it might happen that two IEC flicker meters give different measurement results for the same voltage input, depending on the different implementation. In this paper, we are mostly concerned with the synthesis of an automatic test system for the evaluation of the IEC light flicker meter performance and the measurement of the short-time severity index ( Pst ) with a standard IEC flicker meter when a wide set of complex modulating shapes is applied to the voltage. Part of them has been implemented by adopting the parameters suggested by the international organizations; starting from the obtained results, some new modulating shapes are proposed and tested.

An instrument for objective measurement of light flicker

Measurement, 2008

The aim of this paper is to propose an improved approach for the measurement of the severity of power quality phenomenon called light flicker which is the disturbance caused by luminance variations due to supply voltage fluctuations. The proposed approach is based directly on light intensity measurements, unlike usual standard approach (IEC EN 61000-4-15), which indirectly determines flicker severity from measuring voltage fluctuations and accounting the response of a standard incandescent lamp (230 V/60 W). Only adopting a direct measurement of light fluctuation is possible to asses flicker severity whatever illuminating device is present, in this way, the implemented sensor is considered to perform an objective measurement of light flicker. To compare performances and metrological characteristics with current standard requirements, a testing station has been implemented and results compared to a standard IEC flickermeter (Norma D6000). Thanks to its small dimensions and weight, the instrument can be used to measure light flicker over a wide range of environments spanning from home/office to industrial locations.

Low cost device for light flicker measurement

A new instrument for the evaluation of disturbances caused by variations in lamp voltage (light flicker) is proposed, based on light intensity measurements. Unlike current standard (IEC EN 61000-4-15), which determines flicker severity by filtering powering voltage measurements with a standard lamp model (230V/60W), the presented methodology includes the lamp itself in the measurement process, thus realizing an objective measurement of flicker. A testing station for the metrological characterization of the device has been implemented and measurements have been compared to a standard IEC flickermeter (Norma D6000). Thanks to its portability, the instrument can be used to measure light flicker over a wide range of environments spanning from home/office to rial locations.

Arduino -Matlab based flickermeter Realization and verification according to IEC 61000-4-15 standard

LICEET 2018 (Libyan International Conference on Electrical and Technologies), 2018

— The paper presents the construction, principle of operation and implementation of the flickermeter according to IEC 61000-4-15 standard. Based on these recommendations, a specific laboratory instrument was designed using Matlab software as well as Arduino hardware. Flicker is one of the most important power quality aspects caused by RMS voltage fluctuation in the electrical power system. A harmful phenomena could be occur in certain cases due to voltage fluctuation; it is annoying to human eyes, causes discomfort, and in extreme cases can even lead to an attack in epileptic patients. The verification procedure has been demonstrated as well. The main purpose of this paper is to present all the information needed to understand and design own instrument e.g. in the laboratories of the institutes by engineers, students and all interested in this subject.

A Review of Flicker Severity Assessment by the IEC Flickermeter

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2010

This paper presents an analysis of the flicker assessment by block 5 of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) flickermeter. We compare the values provided by the IEC flickermeter from field measurements and the complaints from the customers. We also analyze the behavior of the IEC flickermeter when subject to signals containing nonuniform rectangular fluctuations. Finally, as it is not easy to find a consistent relationship between the true annoyance and the flicker severity, we describe some laboratory subjective tests with a small group of people, carried out to assign a true quantitative value of annoyance to a nonuniform light fluctuation from real situations. Block 5 of the IEC flickermeter derives its estimate of the annoyance accurately only for uniform fluctuations. In realistic conditions, when the voltage fluctuations are not uniform but have varying frequencies and amplitudes, the IEC flickermeter does not assess the true flicker annoyance precisely.

Digital realisation of the IEC flickermeter using root mean square of the voltage waveform

Iet Generation Transmission & Distribution, 2016

In this study, a digital realisation of the IEC (International Electrotechnical Committee) flickermeter using root mean square (RMS) of the voltage waveform as its input, instead of the voltage waveform, is presented. The aim of this research work is to compute the flicker severity according to the IEC flickermeter standard, IEC 61000-4-15, when only the RMS values of the voltage waveform are available. Hence, a new method is proposed to compute the light flicker directly from half-cycle-RMS values of the voltage, which are computed based on the IEC power quality standard, IEC 61000-4-30. Beginning from the signal model for a voltage with flicker provided in IEC 61000-4-15, the RMS of the voltage waveform is derived in terms of the flicker frequency components and the corresponding amplitudes. It has been shown on simulation data that short-term flicker severity can be computed by the proposed method with an average error rate of 0.021%. The method has also been applied on field data collected at a transformer substation supplying an electric arc furnace plant, and has been shown to successfully generate flicker severity from RMS voltage waveforms, when compared with the IEC flickermeter results.

Flicker assessment performance of an Electrical Power Standard

This paper presents a flicker compliance testing method useful for the evaluation of electrical power standards. The method uses a very precise self-developed flicker generator based on discrete power semiconductors. P st , frequency and voltage variations can be accurately compared to assess the performance of flicker generators. A digital flickermeter has also been developed and it is used to obtain the results of the most characteristic flicker parameter, P st. With this approach, it is possible to assess the performance of flicker generator standards in consistency with the latest IEC flickermeter testing standard edition.

Basic characteristics of IEC flickermeter processing

Modelling and Simulation in Engineering, 2012

Flickermeter is a common name for a system that measures the obnoxiousness of flicker caused by voltage fluctuations. The output of flickermeter is a value of short-term flicker severity indicator, P st. This paper presents the results of the numerical simulations that reconstruct the processing of flickermeter in frequency domain. With the use of standard test signals, the characteristics of flickermeter were determined for the case of amplitude modulation of input signal, frequency modulation of input signal, and for input signal with interharmonic component. For the needs of simulative research, elements of standard IEC flickermeter signal chain as well as test signal source and tools for acquisition, archiving, and presentation of the obtained results were modeled. The results were presented with a set of charts, and the specific fragments of the charts were pointed out and commented on. Some examples of the influence of input signal's bandwidth limitation on the flickermeter measurement result were presented for the case of AM and FM modulation. In addition, the diagrams that enable the evaluation of flickermeter's linearity were also presented.

Flicker Characteristics of Efficient Lighting Assessed by the IEC Flickermeter

We present an experimental study of the behavior of modern lighting technologies under supply voltage fluctuations. Some studies have reported that flicker severity measurements could exceed the compatibility levels without leading to flicker complaints when modern lighting is in use. Such conclusions have resulted in two main proposals regarding the assessment of flicker: to relax the flicker compatibility indexes and to adapt standardized procedures to assess flicker based on a new reference lamp instead of the current reference, the incandescent lamp. Our work 1 presents alternative tools for analyzing the effect of efficient lighting on the assessment of flicker. Our main findings challenge the assumption that efficient modern lighting is not sensitive to voltage fluctuations, at least over a considerable frequency range. Furthermore, the results oppose the use of the standardized functional model of the incandescent lamp for assessing the flicker severity produced by modern lamps.

Flicker Source Detection Methods Based on IEC 61000-4-15 and Signal Processing Techniques – A Review

—Flicker is one of the major power quality event. The effect of flicker disturbance has been seen in the power distribution networks nowadays. Voltage variations so called flicker mainly brings negative effects human eye, but also it brings some malfunctions and misoperations to the sensitive electrical equipments. In order to provide proper corrective measures for flicker, the first step is precisely detection of flicker source. Therefore, this paper gives a review of flicker source detection methods based on IEC 61000-4-15 flickermeter and signal processing methods like Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Wavelet Transform (WT) and Hilbert-Huang Transform. Index Terms—Flicker, flicker source detection, signal processing for power quality disturbances.