Maximizing equipment service life by mitigating harmonics in a printing house

Challenges at the customer’s printing house

A major printing house in Northern Ireland operated under a number of non-linear loads. One of the loads was a large UPS feeding printing presses and the IT- and newsroom offices. A power quality audit revealed voltage harmonic distortion as high as 8%. Distortions this high cannot be tolerated as they can harm electrical equipment in a number of ways.

As the printing house was risking a UPS failure, the customer decided to purchase a new UPS. The supplier, however, could not guarantee the future operation of the UPS with such elevated levels of voltage distortion. Nuisance tripping was a permanent threat to vital data in the IT- and newsroom offices unprotected against harmonic distortions.

Our Merus^® Solution

To make the high voltage harmonic distortion comply with the limits specified in the G5/4 power quality standard, Merus Power supplied the customer with a low-voltage Merus^® Active Harmonic Filter through its distribution partner in Northern Ireland, Philip J Alcorn & Co. Fast response time and selective harmonic cancellation were also key product features and criteria for the preferred solution.

Merus^® Active Harmonic Filter was installed parallel to the loads. Merus^® Active Harmonic Filters are configurable to meet various customer requirements. Thanks to their modern touchscreen human-machine interface (HMI), the configuration is simple and just a few clicks away.

Results after installation

The effective and fast-responding Merus^® Active Harmonic Filter ensures that the printing house is now running smoothly. Harmonic distortions were brought down significantly and are now well below the requirements of G5/4.
Threat to important data is deterred. Harmonic mitigation maximizes the UPS’ service life and results in the trouble-free operation of the printing house.