Phasor Estimation of Transient Electrical Signals Composed of Harmonics and Interharmonics

Numerical relays have become essential tools for carrying out the protection and surveillance tasks of electrical power systems. These relays implement their functions from the phasors of the electrical network signals, estimated by digital processing using digital filters. Digital filters must meet certain requirements, such as providing a fast and effective response to increasingly complex transient signals made up of components that make the estimation process difficult. In addition to the decreasing exponential (decaying dc offset), harmonics, and signal noise, it must be added that the interharmonic components that in recent years have acquired great relevance, mainly because of the increase in non-linear loads and the extensive use of power electronic systems. The presence of these interharmonic components causes a poor response in most of the filters implemented today. This article presents the design of a new digital filter, C-CharmDF (Cleaned Characteristic Harmonic Digital Filter) for phasor estimation on noisy transient signals with decreasing exponential components, harmonics, and interharmonics. A detailed study was carried out for severe transient situations and stationary signals. It was found that the method can be suitable for relays that implement both fault location functions and system protection functions.