„Industrial EMC – a practical approach” by Reidar Gustavsson

Posted by Neo Messtechnik
On 30. October 2025
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Industrial EMC - Practical guide for industry, Inspection, testing

It’s not every day that a comprehensive work on industrial electromagnetic compatibility is published, one that bridges decades of practical field experience with rigorous technical analysis. “Industrial EMC – a practical approach” by Reidar Gustavsson addresses a critical gap in industrial EMC literature, particularly for the largely unregulated 2.5-150 kHz frequency range where modern power electronics create significant interference.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

We’re proud to have contributed to this work – not just by providing measurement technology, but by sharing the expertise we’ve developed over decades of working with engineers in industrial environments. The book is substantially based on measurements with the PQA8000H and GIA1 Grid Impedance Analyzer, demonstrating how these instruments are applied to identify and solve real-world EMC challenges.

In this article, you’ll find more information about the author, contributing experts, and how the book came together. Use the table of contents to navigate, and please review the book’s TOC provided below.

Do you already know you want to order the book and hold it in your own hands?
Or are you interested in the NEO Messtechnik instruments used throughout the book that can support you with your EMC challenges? Then jump directly to the Ordering section!

2. About the book

2.1 The Focus

The book focuses particularly on the 2.5-150 kHz frequency range – a zone that remains largely unregulated despite being a primary source of interference from modern power electronics. Frequency converters, solar inverters, EV chargers, and battery storage systems all generate switching noise / Supraharmonics in this range, yet existing standards provide limited guidance for this critical frequency band.

Throughout the book, you’ll see how the PQA8000H is used to:

Measure switching noise up to 500 kHz with high signal-to-noise ratio
Perform both power quality analysis and EMC measurements in one instrument
Capture transient events and time-varying disturbances
Verify compliance with EMC planning levels

Combined with the GIA1 Grid Impedance Analyzer, you’ll see how to detect critical system resonances in the power grid and define effective mitigation methods before problems occur during commissioning.

Further Information: See how PQA8000H and GIA1 helps to detect critical System resonances in the power grid and how it helps to define Mitigation Methods: The effects of active power electronics on the higher frequency grid impedance up to 150 kHz - NEO Messtechnik

2.2 The Origin Story: A Collaboration Spanning Decades

The story of this book begins back in the 1980s, when Reidar Gustavsson and Martin Lundmark worked in the same industrial environment – both confronted with the same problems, but in different constellations.

Martin Lundmark chose the path of academic research and became one of the first to publish scientific papers describing various problems with switching noise / Supraharmonics, Reidar Gustavsson chose a different route: for over 30 years, he worked in his own consulting company, dealing daily with their practical consequences in industrial installations.

As the main focus of the book is a practical review of switching noise / Supraharmonics using simplified theoretical descriptions, Martin Lundmark’s role became ensuring that these simplified technical descriptions remained scientifically rigorous while staying accessible to practicing engineers.

690V industrial grid with frequency converter interference

Upper half of supply voltage showing switching noise from a large 4-quadrant frequency converter affecting the supply grid.

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The Collaboration with NEO Messtechnik

In parallel, Reidar Gustavsson built up the collaboration with NEO Messtechnik – a company he identified as the most competent instrument manufacturer that could provide both technical solutions for measurement problems and measurement experience in the field of Supraharmonics.

A critical factor was NEO Messtechnik’s willingness to maintain ongoing dialogue with field engineers, short response times and willingness to respond and adapt to arising problems through new measurement solutions or software analysis capabilities – something often lacking with instrument manufacturers.

This responsiveness to emerging field requirements, rather than focusing solely on laboratory standards, made the collaboration effective for developing practical EMC methodologies.

About Reidar Gustavsson

Reidar Gustafsson worked with military aviation radio in the late 70s and then started working with electrical maintenance and projects in the heavy process industry. Since 1994, he has worked in his own consulting company, specializing in heavy-duty AC and DC motor drives for the process industry. Since the start, approximately 50% of the business has also consisted of training aimed at industry personnel. These were initially training courses on motor drives, but subsequently, there was increasing training on Electrical Quality and EMC.

Today, the business primarily consists of interference investigations regarding EMC at industrial facilities, training on EMC for the process industry, and support regarding EMC in the procurement of industrial installations. As a pensioner, he currently works approximately 25%.

About Martin Lundmark
Martin Lundmark holds a PhD and Master of Science in Engineering. He began his career at ABB Corporate Research in 1982. There, he worked on measurement techniques and troubleshooting high-frequency interference in power grids, such as switching noise. After moving to Luleå University of Technology, he started a research group in power electronics.

His work led to a notable conference presentation at EPE-97 and later a research collaboration with Elforsk. Martin Lundmark began his doctoral studies, the research team grew and produced several theses.

After handing over leadership of the group, Martin retired at age 62. He left behind a successful research environment but regrets that the society has not yet succeeded in influencing product norms to limit switching noise in the power grid from energy-efficient appliances.

Connect with Martin on LinkedIn.

2.3 Take a look inside

Industrial EMC – a practical approach by Reidar Gustavsson Download

2.4 Read the Back Cover exclusively here

“Today’s technology with switched power electronics gives us the opportunity to easily control voltage and current for different types of rectifiers and inverters. One example is frequency converters where the technology offers great possibilities for quickly controlling speed, torque and power direction. Inverters for solar cells, car chargers, battery storage are other examples.

The disadvantage of this technique is that the pulse technique gives rise to high-frequency switching noise that can interfere with other equipment over large frequency ranges. In industry, it is common to have various types of diffuse operational disturbances due to switching noise that are spread via internal power networks and potential equalization systems. The book primarily deals with the frequency range 2.5-150 kHz.

One reason for the growing EMC problems is the lack of relevant comprehensive modern electrical standards that should control the levels of switching noise that mains-connected devices spread in the electricity grid.
Another problem has been the lack of instruments intended for EMC measurements in civil and industrial electricity grids.
The third problem is the great lack of knowledge about EMC issues among the various actors in the electricity industry.

The aim of the book is to describe EMC issues from a practical point of view with examples from both reality and theory. It is primarily aimed at industry but also touches on many examples from civil electricity networks.

The book is divided into two parts:

The first part concerns how working with EMC plans can create a structured working method that helps us work actively to minimize EMC interference from the start of a project.
The second part of the book provides a basic understanding of how different industrial network types are structured and how different EMC problems can arise in them.

The book is aimed at industrial electrical personnel who are affected by EMC issues,as well as various consultants and designers working in this area.”

2.5 Measurement Insight: Waterfall Analysis Resonance Problem

NEOSOFT Recording 3-D video Resonance problem, © NORBO KraftTeknik AB 2025

3. The Neo Messtechnik contribution

We’ve worked alongside engineers investigating equipment malfunctions, production interruptions, and interference problems in complex industrial installations – the same kinds of challenges documented throughout the book.

This field expertise informed the book’s practical measurement approaches:

Measurement methodologies for the critical 2.5-150 kHz range where traditional power quality tools often fall short
Waveform analysis capabilities to understand interference patterns beyond simple pass/fail indicators
Event capture functionality to document intermittent disturbances that affect sensitive equipment
Grid impedance measurements to predict actual EMC levels rather than relying solely on simplified models

Knowledge Exchange

This collaboration also challenged our thinking about measurement instrument development. Working with comprehensive EMC methodologies for industrial applications revealed insights about what engineers actually need in the field versus what laboratory standards might suggest. These conversations continue to influence how we approach power quality and EMC measurement solutions.

Grounding in Real Industrial Installations

The book’s examples come from actual industrial installations: frequency converters affecting hospital equipment, solar installations creating interference in feeding networks, poorly filtered inverters disrupting power quality. These represent the types of challenges we’ve helped engineers investigate and resolve through proper measurement methodology.

The goal is simple: identify and prevent problems during planning and design rather than during expensive commissioning phases.

4. Why This Book Matters

As industry continues adopting more power electronics and complex power networks, the challenges addressed in this book become increasingly critical. Frequency converters, inverters, and switched-mode power supplies generating electromagnetic interference are becoming more prevalent, not less.

“The PQA8000H and GIA1 demonstrate throughout how proper measurement devices enable systematic EMC approaches. We have the instruments and field expertise to support engineers implementing these methods, and will continue working on solutions for industrial EMC challenges.”

Dipl.-Ing. Bernhard Grasel Dr., CEO NEO Messtechnik