The article presents an application of Prony’s method with some known components in the analysis of electric power quality. Modifications of the Prony algorithm broaden the scope of method application. Modification of the filter of known components enables more accurate analysis of the parameters of unknown components and components with known or assumed frequencies. This article presents a comparison of the results of analyses conducted with the proposed algorithm for simulated and real signals and the results obtained by means of a commercial electric power quality testing device, operating in class A and using the Fourier transform. The proposed method enables to estimate the levels of the harmonic components, the frequency of the fundamental signal and real parameters of the interharmonic components, which are grouped and averaged in the contemporary monitoring equipment. Knowledge of the individual parameters of the interharmonics has considerable diagnostic importance while removing causes of incorrect operation affecting sensitive equipment in some electric power systems. Additionally, the algorithm is capable of analyzing exponentially damped components and finds its application in analysis of disturbances, for example, transient oscillations.

The paper presents a method of adaptation of the original second order Prony’s method for applications in lowcost digital measurement systems with low computing performance. The presented method can be used in measuring systems where it is important to obtain in real time the values of amplitude, frequency, initial phase and damping coefficient of a single sinusoidal component of an analysed signal. The paper presents optimized, in terms of the number of mathematical operations, implementation of the method in selected embedded devices as well as the calculation times of the method for each platform.

This paper presents an example of practical use of Prony's method for monitoring of power waveform fundamental harmonic fluctuations, which is required for the analysis of window synchronizations in frequency analyses in power monitoring systems. The example presented offers verification of the authors' theoretical considerations published earlier in articles about Prony's method and its opportunities for practical use for real life signals. The investigations shown are based on the least squares Prony's method, which, in connection with digital filtrations, enables estimations of fundamental frequency at the rate of even tens of times per one fundamental harmonic period.

The initial transient of an organ pipe is known to be of great influence to the perceived sound quality. At the same time, the unsteady process of the tone onset is essentially nonlinear and lacks exact repeatability, so the search for a robust descriptor is in place. Initial transients were recorded using an adjustable flue organ pipe. The blowing pressure and cut-up height were varied. Prony’s method was employed to analyze the results. Utilizing the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the standardized exponential model coefficients, it was shown that the transients are well described by just one scalar parameter. Its value is predominantly dependent on the number of important Prony’s components taking part in the transient process (i.e., the overall complexity of the transient signal). A strong correlation was found between the PCA component and the Strouhal number inverse.