Exploring Frequency and Phase

Miles Rusch

This tutorial describes how to use phasor data to compute the frequency of the grid. Phasors are a compressed representation of a sinusoidal waveform. Frequency deviations are evidenced by changes in the phase angle over time. Miles describes a common data processing technique which uses the change in phase angle over time to derive the frequency. The talk also points to some fundamental limitations with using phasors to represent waveforms when they aren’t perfectly sinusoidal. The limitations of phasor data discussed are a key motivator behind the industry’s growing interest in point on wave data.