General Comment Triplen current or better known as third harmonics in the ANSI marketplaces are the odd harmonic current multiples of the 3rd harmonic (ex. 3rd, 9th, 15th, 21st etc.). Tunned filters may be used to mitigate the impact of large harmonic distorsion to maintain a desired power quality performance in term of total voltage and current distorsion or individual harmonics that may exceed the recommended limit.
How much important tacking in considration triplen current? This harmonic is related with the zero sequence and therefore impact the size of the neutral conductor, overheating transformers, motors, cables, etc. There are documented cases that this current could cause mis-operations of relays, protective devices or control units.
How could i calculate triplen current flows in neutral,to chose the neutral cable size? Perfoming a harmonic analysis using guidelines from standard such as IEEE-519, IEEE-1547, EN 61000, AS2279, BS G5/4, etc. There are several commercial software in the market that could facilitate this analysis.
What kind of loads create it ? None linear load including flurescent lighting ballasts,dimmers, computers, UPS, rectifiers, variable freq drives,battery chargers, etc.