
Most manufacturing factories rely on inverters and automated machines. These nonlinear loads generate large amounts of harmonics and damage the whole power system. Poor power quality lowers power factor, overheats cables and causes unexpected equipment shutdowns. Many factory owners choose the active power filter APF to order harmonic pollution and mitigate harmonic-related failures effectively.
Harmonic problems are very common in industrial production workshops. Without effective filtering equipment, the entire power distribution line will face multiple hidden dangers.
This case focuses on a medium-sized metal processing factory located in East China. The factory covers 8,000 square meters and mainly uses punching machines, welding machines and variable-frequency drives. All production devices work under a 400V low-voltage power system.
In the early stage, the factory suffered from severe harmonic pollution. The average power factor dropped to 0.82, far below the national standard value. The factory also received extra electricity penalty fees every month. The management finally decided to install an APF active power filter to solve all power quality problems.
The factory’s technical team tested the internal grid and summarized three core problems. These issues directly restricted daily production and increased operating costs.
A large number of 3rd, 5th and 7th-order harmonics appeared in the power system. The total harmonic distortion rate exceeded 18%. Passive filter devices the factory used before could not mitigate harmonic fluctuations.
Disordered reactive power and harmonics dragged down the power factor. The unstable data forced the factory to pay additional fines to the power supply bureau every month.
Harmonic heat accumulation burned internal components of servo motors. The maintenance team spent extra time and money on repairing broken devices every week.
According to on-site load data and harmonic distribution, the supplier customized a targeted APF solution for this metal processing plant.
After one month of continuous operation, the factory collected complete power data. The APF active power filter helped the factory gain obvious improvements in all aspects.
The factory’s electrical supervisor gave positive feedback on the APF device. He stated that traditional passive filters could only solve single-type harmonic problems. The intelligent APF is more flexible for fluctuating industrial loads.
In addition, the APF requires almost no daily manual debugging. It lowers the working pressure of electrical staff and brings long-term stable benefits to the entire production line.
Subscribe to us to enjoy event prices and get some of the best prices.
IPv6 network supported