Analysis of Harmonic Propagation in Power Systems Using Standing Waves

In many countries, the proportion of high-voltage cables is increasing to address the issue of public resistance to transmission system extensions. A major technical challenge in this is the propagation and amplification of existing background harmonics caused by system resonances at lower frequencies.This paper presents a method to explain harmonic propagation in transmission systems using theory of standing waves. By analyzing the characteristics of standing waves, one can find useful information on the nature and extent of harmonic propagation. It is shown that the presented method describes the standing harmonic voltage on power system lines with different topology and therefore, how a simple change in grid configuration affects the harmonic propagation. The results are verified with good agreement against simulations with commercial power system software. Guides to advance this study to meshed systems is given.