ABOUT US
Mission & Vision THE BRANDS OF ORTEA NEXT History Why choose us Tailor made solutions Quality and Certifications
Products
VOLTAGE STABILISERS SAG COMPENSATORS Micro Interruption Compensators LOW VOLTAGE ISOLATION TRANSFORMERS AND REACTORS Medium voltage cast resin transformers
LOW VOLTAGE POWER FACTOR CORRECTION SYSTEMS MV POWER FACTOR CORRECTION SYSTEMS ACTIVE HARMONIC FILTERS
ENERGY EFFICIENCY SMART DEVICES
ENERGY SAVING VOLTAGE OPTIMIZERS
Service
ORTEA TECHNICAL SUPPORT: FAST AND QUALIFIED ASSISTANCE FOR EVERY NEED POWER QUALITY MEASUREMENT SERVICES FOR LOW VOLTAGE INSTALLATIONS Ortea XCloud Ortea Care Power factor correction calculator
APPLICATIONS
TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS FOR:
ENERGY SAVING VOLTAGE VARIATIONS SAGS / DIPS AND MICRO INTERRUPTIONS Excessive reactive power Harmonic Pollution Unprotected loads
FIELDS OF APPLICATION
INDUSTRIAL COMMERCIAL TERTIARY POWER GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION
Blog
News Voltage Stabilisers Power Factor Correction Systems Energy Efficiency Power Quality Transformer reactance SAG compensator & micro interruptions
Download
Catalogues – Voltage Stabilisers Catalogues – SAGs & micro interruptions compensators Catalogues – Energy Efficiency Smart Devices Catalogues – Power Factor Correction Systems Catalogues – Active Filters Catalogues – Transformers Manuals
Contacts
General information Sales and product information Technical support
  1. Home
  2. APPLICATIONS
  3. TECHNOLOGY APPLICATIONS
  4. Harmonic Pollution
Harmonic Pollution

HARMONIC POLLUTION: HOW TO SOLVE AN INVISIBLE BUT HARMFUL PROBLEM

Harmonic pollution compromises efficiency and stability in industrial electrical systems.
Ortea’s ACTIVEmatic FA40 active filters remove harmonic currents, improve power quality and reduce operating costs.

applicazioni_applicazioni-tecnologiche_inquinamento-armonico01

THE ISSUE: DISTORTION OF CURRENT CAUSED BY NON‑LINEAR LOADS

Modern industrial and tertiary systems increasingly use electronic equipment such as inverters, soft starters, ovens, welding machines and LED lighting. These introduce harmonic currents into the electrical network. These harmonic currents distort the current sine wave, causing damaging effects on power quality (THD).

Direct consequences include:

  • Overheating and accelerated wear of components.
  • Frequent failures in power electronics and UPS systems.
  • Unexpected shutdowns of production lines.
  • Malfunctions of sensitive devices such as PLCs and CNC machines.
  • Energy inefficiency and rising consumption.
  • Damage to power factor correction devices and capacitive parts.
Businessman in office relaxing in chair

THE SOLUTION: ACTIVE FILTERS FOR A CLEAN ELECTRICAL NETWORK

To eliminate harmonic distortion and enhance power supply quality, Ortea offers the ACTIVEmatic active harmonic filters.

These devices operate in real time, detecting harmonics and injecting currents of equal amplitude but in opposition phase, neutralising the distortions.

Main features of the active filter:

  • Dynamic compensation up to the 50th harmonic.
  • Ultra‑fast reactive power correction even on single‑phase or two‑phase loads.
  • Load balancing in three‑phase systems.
  • Flicker compensation.
  • Response time <21µs, stabilisation within 300µs.
  • Modular system from 60A to 600A.
  • Three‑level topology with low power dissipation: losses <15 W/A.
  • Simplified installation with touch screen interface.

CONCRETE ADVANTAGES FOR YOUR SYSTEM AND YOUR BUSINESS

Installing an ACTIVEmatic harmonic filtering system means investing in efficiency, reliability and long‑term performance. Your electrical network will deliver a regular sinusoidal current again, decreasing wear and reducing unplanned failures. Operational availability will increase, while costs are tied to extraordinary maintenance and billing penalties will fall substantially.

Moreover, complying with international standards (such as EN 50160 and IEEE 519) becomes a competitive advantage, especially for industries in regulated or highly automated sectors.

What does an active filter do?

Compensation of the harmonic current

Compensation of the reactive energy

Load balancing

Flicker compensation

applicazioni_applicazioni-tecnologiche_inquinamento-armonico03

BEFORE AND AFTER INSTALLATION OF THE ACTIVE HARMONIC FILTER

The following graphs show the differences in voltage with and without active filters.

applicazioni_applicazioni-tecnologiche_inquinamento-armonico04-02EN

WITHOUT ACTIVE FILTER

Example of distorted current generated by non‑linear loads. The ideal sine wave of voltage (in red) is superimposed with a heavily distorted current (in green), indicating a network polluted by harmonics.

applicazioni_applicazioni-tecnologiche_inquinamento-armonico05-02EN

WITH ACTIVEMATIC FA40 ACTIVE HARMONIC FILTER

Harmonic oscillations are completely compensated. The current (in blue) returns to follow a sine wave, aligned with the voltage, signifying restored power quality.

IDEAL APPLICATIONS: WHERE AN ACTIVE FILTER IS NEEDED

The ACTIVEmatic FA40 active filters are designed for installations with a high presence of non‑linear loads:

 

IMPROVING POWER QUALITY IS A STRATEGIC INVESTMENT

A network free from harmonic distortion means greater efficiency, operational safety and production continuity. With Ortea’s active filters, every company can successfully face the challenges of energy transition, reduce environmental impact and improving competitiveness.

 

FAQ: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ON REDUCING HARMONICS

Here are answers to the most common questions about harmonic pollution and Ortea’s solutions. You can learn more about this topic in the dedicated article on Ortea’s blog.