Voltage THD Analysis Using Knowledge Discovery in Databases With a Decision Tree Classifier

Industrial production has evolved significantly over the last decade. For this reason, it is necessary to obtain mathematical and computational tools that enable power systems engineers to make decisions that reduce harmonic distortions in accordance with international standards. This paper presents a total harmonic distortion (THD) assessment based on full knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) using power quality (PQ) standards and computational intelligence tools. The materials and methods of THD assessment consist of load and layout analysis; choice and installation of PQ analyzers; and the application of the full KDD process, including collection, selection, cleaning, integration, transformation and reduction, mining, interpretation, and evaluation of the data. This research methodology was used in an electrical and electronic industry; the results obtained have characteristics that can be used as a reference for other types of analyses. The results indicate that these methods can be applied to several industrial applications such as: 1) the description of the complete KDD process for THD assessment of the point of common coupling; 2) simultaneous collection using five PQ analyzers at several points in the electrical network; and (3) the use of a decision tree classifier.