Harmonic and noise propagation on cascaded sections of a power distribution feeder

The propagation of harmonics and noise generated at distributed generation sources on cascaded sections of three phase power distribution feeders is considered. It is shown that harmonics from different sources being correlated with the power waveform are subject to interference. Noise from different sources, being uncorrelated, cumulates as it propagates. Accumulating and propagating noise through cascaded sections results in error in the computation of accumulated noise in multi-conductor distribution systems. The paper presents an efficient model that can be used to study propagation and accumulation of noise and harmonics on cascaded sections of power distribution feeders. The model takes advantage of computations made during the front-to-back and back-to-front analysis of the cascaded network. The paper then describes a computer model, CASCADE [1] that implements this procedure and can run on personal computers. The model uses minimal active core for its processing of even a large number of sections and minimizes the computations. Application of the model to signal-to-noise ratio scenario studies over cascaded sections is considered.