Power quality impacts of airport ground support equipment charging systems

The increased use of electric ground support equipment (GSE) can adversely affect the quality and the reliability of the electric power system of an airport. The penetration of large nonlinear loads in airports, (e.g., 400 Hz ground power units, preconditioned air systems, computer equipment, and the growing use of electric vehicle battery chargers) poses potential power quality, power delivery and energy consumption concerns for electric power providers and airports. This paper reports the main findings of a project that examined the power quality impacts of GSE charging systems on the airport electric distribution system. Simulations and actual field test data have been used to show that: (1) Commercial GSE chargers engineered to guidelines based upon IEC 61000-3-4 do not give rise to excessive voltage THD on the secondary of the transformer. (2) The main challenge for significant deployment of GSE chargers is the overloading of the distribution transformer and/or switchgear, assuming the chargers meet the recommended current THD limit of 32.9% such that voltage THD is not an issue.