Author’s note: AC Drive Systems as used on port crane equipment demand the application of harmonic filtering to reduce or eliminate the impact of harmonic ‘noise’ as it affects the balance of equipment on the crane. This article addresses the design needs of industry standard IEEE 519 for quay crane electrical systems, with a focus on how customized harmonic filters provide a superior end result for the crane drive and control system, as opposed to the application of ‘standardized’ harmonic filters. With customized filtering providing complete control of harmonics induced by the AC Drives on a crane, one can achieve better use of e-room space, save on power consumption, and reduce harmful effects of harmonics as realized in other equipment on the crane.
With growing sophistication, complexity and demanding efficiency to operate the port terminals, there is a tremendous emphasis on the technology used in electromechanical machinery design for cranes. Due to variation in the required power based on motion, weight, height, speed, torque and wind, the power requirements vary drastically and dynamically. As a result, magnitude and phase angle of the currents may change, affecting power factor, overshoot, harmonics and related phenomena. As the volume of machines goes up to meet the requirements of the business, degradation of power quality becomes a considerable concern for the grid operators…
