RESISTIVE CIRCUITS When DC was applied to a resistor, the current in the resistor went from zero to its E/R value in~ stantly. switch [,/etos TIME —> AMPERES Figure 1, DC Response in @ Resistive Cireuit ‘This illustrates that there is no delay between the application of voltage and the ultimate value of the resistor current. Consider the behavior of a resistor when connected to AC voltage, The resistor current will flucluate at the same rate as the supply voltage, ‘The DC experiment showed that the resistor cur rent reached ultimate value as soon as DC voltage ‘was applied, and the same situation occurs whether the supply voltage is DC or AC, ‘This means that the current will be at zero and at peak value at the same time as the supply voltage or the current and voltage are in phase. The cir- cuit is said to have unity power factor. INDUCTIVE CIRCUITS ‘The current in an inductance was found to rise slowly when DC voltage was applied. 44 L cE fe R DC Response In an Inductive Cireutt. AMPERES, TIME = Figure 2, © 1972 General Electric Co. B-50 ‘The final value of the inductor current is not in- stantaneous with the application of DC but is de- layed, ‘The situation is the same when AC voltage is applied. ‘The delay also is known as lag, or the induetive current lags behind the AC supply voltage, Figure J illustrates the relationship between voltage and current, VOLTAGE Ey, k Foo 7 ey 30° cunt O CURRENT 1, 1 Figure 3. Voltage and Current In an Inductive Circuit. CAPACITIVE CIRCUITS Putting DC across a capacitor gives high initial current which drops almost to zero a while later. It is the capacitor terminal voltage that builds slowly as in Figure 4, af car vours — ‘CAP, AMPERES TIME > Pigure 4. DC Response In a Capacitive Circuit. When the DC is replaced with AC voltage there is the same inrush of capacitor eurrent and decay so a resistor R is employed to limit the maximum Inrush to; z ier aed Inasmuch as the voltage buildup on the capacitor is ‘oliowing the capacitor current we may say that the capacitor current leads the voltage. This is illus- trated in Figure 5.VOLTAGE AND CURRENT IN A C SYSTEMS Te E ee Rave 3 oY & 90° Figure 5. Voltage and Current Relationship In a Capacitive Circuit. It was found that the current could be either lead- ing, lagging or in phase with the voltage. When the current is in phase the power factor is unity so the power equation: P =/3 EL(PF) becomes P =/3 EI, since PF 0, If PF is not unity, we say we have a leading or lagging power factor. PHASE ROTATION Let's use some simple sketches to visualize the leading and lagging relationship. Care is used to determine the phase rotation of a generator so it can be connected properly to a system. We say phase rotation is 1-2-3 in Figure 6. : 1 =D eve ras ‘The eye is watching the armature voltage. As shown the voltage in coil #1 is at a maximum. Since this is a 3 phase generator the phases are 120° apart and the voltage in coil 2 will be at a ‘maximum 120° later than the voltage in coil #1. In like manner, we see that coll #3 voltage will crest 240° after #1 coil voltage. Sometimes it 1s convenient to twist things around a bit such as saying coil #9 voltage is 120° ahead of #1 coil voltage. 2 \YECTOR REPRESENTATIONS The weneraior coli voltages often are drawn with arrows also called vectors, s 3 5, OF _ a 2 2 Figure 7. > ‘The Vector Representation of Coil Voltages, POWER FACTOR Now that we agree that the #2 coil voltage lags #1 wwe can take up power factor, We have also seen that current can be leading or lagging. Let's con- sider a balanced load with a lagging power factor. If load is balanced it is simpler to drop two of the phase vectors and refer everything to just the one horizontal vector for coil #1. ‘Thus, for a lagging power factor we may use the ‘two illustrations of Figure 8, Ipt s00a Lee 2920, Figure 8, Load Current Lagging Voltage. ‘The waveforms are similar to the patterns seen earlier for an inductive cirewit, ‘The current lags the voltage. Instead of the current being 120° he- hind the voitage as in the case of the coil voltages, just discussed the lag is much less. From the waveforms a careful measurement of the distance O to A can be made and the angle is ob~ tained from this relationship, 0, _ oA Ts0° ~ OB . oa unity or 9 = 180 x08 a 50VOLTAGE AND CURRENT IN AC SYSTEMS From this we know the current lags the voltage by 36°, ‘The preceding shows the relationship between the sine waves and vector diagrams. Vertical and horizontal projections of the line current yield vectors at right angles marked 1, (the active cur- rent) and Ip (the reactive current). The values may be scaled off the diagram as Ia = 403 amperes and Ip = 292 amperes. If the voltage is 6900, the power factor is KW PF where KW = 4800 bs va 8 BI/A00 = 1.73 x 6900 x 500/1000 5075 4800 PFO 3075 It also is evident that -80 PF PF = Cos® for PF = .80 and Cos@= 80 GENERAL @ ELECTRIC E-50 @