THEPOWERFACTORI

NSI
NUSOI
DALSYSTEMS(
Ele
ctr
icMo
tor
)
4.
2  
Thelinec u rrentdr awnbyi ndu ctionmo t or s,t
ransfo rme rs,ando the rindu cti
ve
devicesc onsistso ft woc omp on ents:t hemagne ti
zingc u rrentandt hep owe r-
producingc urre nt.
Themagne ti
zingc urrenti sthatc urrentr equiredt op roduc ethemagne ticflux
i
nt hemac hine .Thisc omp onento fc urre ntc reatesar eactivep owe r
requireme ntt hati sme asur edink ilovolt-amp er
e sr eactive(k i
lovar s,kvar ).
The
power-p rodu cingc u r
r e
nti st hec urr entt hatreact switht hemagne ti
cfl uxto
producet heo utp utto r
qu eo ft hemac hineandt os atis
fyt hee quat ion
T=K< PI
where
T=o utp utt orqu e
0=ne tfl u xint heai rgapasar esulto ft hemagne ti
z i
ng
current
1=p owe r-p rodu ci
ngc urrent
K=o u tputc oe fficientfo rap articu l
armac hi
ne
Thep owe r-pro du ci
ngc u rrentc reat est hel oadp owe rre quireme ntme asu redin
ki
lowat ts( kW). Themagne tiz
ingc urrentandmagne t
icfl uxar er elat i
vel
y
constantatc ons tantv oltage .Ho wev er,t hep ower-p rodu c
ingc ur renti s
proportionalt ot hel oadt orqu er equ i
red.
Thet otallinec u rrentdr awnbyani nduc t i
onmo tori sthev e ctors umo ft he
magne tizingc u rrentandt hep o wer-p rodu ci
ngc urrent .Fort hree-p hase
mo t
or s,theap pare ntpo wer ,
o rk i
lovolt-amp ere(k VA)i nputt ot hemo t
or, i
s

where
IL=t o
talli
nec urrentVL=l i
ne-to-l
inev ol
tage
Thevectorrelatio
nshipbetweenthelinecurrentILandthereacti
vecomponent
Ixandloadc o
mp onentIpcurrent
sc anbee xpress
edbyav ec
tordiagram,as
showninFig.4 .
1,wheretheli
necur r
entI Listhevect
orsumo ftwocomponents
.
Thepowe rfactoristhenthecosi
neo ft heelect
ric
alangl
e6be t
we entheli
ne
curre
ntandp hasevol
tage.
Thisv
e ctorrelati
onshi
pc anals
obee x
press edintermsoft hec omponentsof
thetotalkil
ovo l
t-ampereinput,
ass howni nFig.4.2.
Again,thep owerfactori
s
thecosineoft heangle6be tweenthet otalkilo
volt
-amp er
eandk il
owattinpu
ts
tothemo t
or.Thek i
lov
olt-amperei
np uttot hemo torconsi
stso ftwo
compone nts
:loadp ower
,i.e.
,ki
lo
watt s
,andr eacti
vepower,i.
e.
, ki
lovars
.
Thesys temp o
we rfactorcanbede termine dbyap owerfac to
rme terreadi
ng
orbyt heinputp ower(kW),l
inevol
tage ,
andl i
necurrentreadings.Thus,

FI
GURE4
.1Ve
cto
rdi
agr
amo
flo
adc
urr
entfo
ronep
has
eoft
hemo
tor
.

FI
GURE4
.2Ve
cto
rdi
agr
amo
fpo
weri
npu
twi
tho
utap
owe
rfac
torc
orr
ect
ion.

Ani
nsp
ect
iono
fthek
il
ovo
lt-amp
erei
npu
tdi
agr
ams
howst
hatt
hel
arge
rthe
re
activ
ek i
lo
var,t
helowerthep
owe
rfac
torandt
hel
arge
rthek
il
ovo
lt-amp
ere
foragive
nk i
lo
watti
np u
t.
PowerFacto
rImprov
eme nt
Thetermpowerfactorcomesintothepict
u r
ei nACc i
rcui
tsonly.
Mathemati
cal
lyitisthecos
ineo fthephasedifferencebetweenthesou
rce
vol
tageandcurr
e nt.
Itreferstothefractio
no ft o
talpower(appar
entpowe
r)
whi
chisuti
li
zedtodot heusefulworkc
alledact i
vepower.

Ne
edfo
rPo
werFac
torI
mpr
ove
ment

 Realp owe risgivenbyP=VI cosφ.

Thee le
ctric
alc urrentisinver sel
y
proport i
onalt ocosφfort r
ans ferri
ngagi venamo unto fp o
we rata
certain vol
tage .Hencehighe rthep flowe rwil
lbet hec urrentfl owing.A
smallc urrentflowr equiresal es
sc r
o ss-secti
onalar eaofc ondu cto
r s,
andt hu sitsav e
sc onductorsandmo ne y.
 Fromt heabo ver el
ation,
wes eehavi
ngp oorpowerfac t
orinc r
e asesthe
currentfl owinginac o
nduc torandt husc opperlos
si ncreases.A
large volt
agedr op 
occursint he 
alternator, 
el
e ct
ricaltransfor me r
 and
transmi ss
ion and di
s t
ributi
o nli
nes–whi c
hgi v
e sveryp oorvoltage
regulat i
on.
 TheKVAr atingo fmac hi
ne sisals
or edu cedbyhav inghighe rpo wer
fac t
or, aspe rthefo rmula:

He
nce
,thes
izeandc
osto
fthemac
hinei
sal
sor
edu
ced.

Thi
siswhye l
ect
ric
alpowe
rfac
tors
hou
ldbemai
ntai
nedc
los
etou
nit
y–i
tis
si
gni
ficant
lycheaper
.

Me
tho
dso
fPo
werFac
torI
mpr
ove
ment
The
rear
ethr
eemai
nwayst
oimp
rov
epo
werfac
tor
:

 Capaci
torBank
s
 Synchr
onousConde
nse
rs
  Phas
eAdvanc
ers
Cap
aci
torBank
s
Impro
vingp owe
rfactormeansreduc
ingthephasediffere
ncebet
weenv
o l
tage
andcurrent.Si
ncethemajor
ityoflo
adsareofinductiv
enatur
e,the
yrequir
e
someamou ntofreact
ivep
owe rfort
hemt ofunc
t i
on.

Ac ap ac
itororbanko fcapac
itor
sinst
all
edp ar
all
eltothelo
adp ro
videsthi
s
reac ti
vep ower.Theyactasasourc
eoflocalreac
tiv
ep ower
,andthu sl
ess
reac ti
vep owerflowsthro
ughtheli
ne.
Cap acit
o rbanksreducethephasedi
fferencebetweenthevol
tageandc u
rrent
.
Sync hronousConde ns
ers
Syn
chro
nou
sco
nde
nse
rsar
e3p
has
esync
hro
nou
smo
torwi
thnol
oadat
tac
hed
toi
tss
haft
.

Thesynchr o
no usmo t
orhast hechar acte
risti
cso fo perati
ngu nderanypower
factorleading,laggi
ngo runit
yde pe ndi
ngu pont hee xci
tati
on.Forinducti
ve
l
oads, asynchronouscondenserisconne ct
edt owar dsloads i
deandi s
ove
re xci
ted.
Synchronousc o
nde nser
smak eitbe havelikeac apac i
tor.Itdrawsthelaggi
ng
cur
re ntfromt hes uppl
yo rsuppl
iest hereacti
vep ower.

Phas
eAdv
anc
ers
Thi
si sanACe x
citermainl
yusedtoimpro
v ethePFo faninducti
onmo tor
.
Theyar emountedontheshaftofthemoto randareconnectedtotherotor
ci
rcuitofthemo to
r.Itimpro
vesthepowerfact o
rbyprovidi
ngthee xc
iti
ng
ampe retur
nstop r
oducetherequi
redflu
xatt hegi
vensli
pfrequency.
Further,i
famp e
r e
-turnsi
ncreas
e,itc
anbemadet ooperateatleadi
ngp owe
r
factor.

Po
werFac
torCal
cul
ati
on
Inpowe
rfac t
orcal
cul
ati
on,
wemeasur
et heso
urcevol
tageandcur
rentdrawn
usi
ngavo l
tmete
randammeterr
esp
ectiv
e l
y.Awatt
me teri
suse
dt ogett
he
act
ivepower.
Now,weknowP=VI c
osφwat
t
He
nce
,wec
ange
tthee
lec
tri
cal
powe
rfac
tor
.

No
wwec
anc
alc
ulat
ether
eac
tiv
epo
werQ=VI
sinφVAR

Thi
sreacti
vepo
wercannowbesupp
li
e dfr
omt
hec apaci
tori
nst
all
edinpar
all
el
wit
htheloadi
nlocal
.Ther
eac
tiv
ep owero
facap
ac i
torcanbecal
cul
ate
du s
ing
thefo
llo
wingfor
mu l
a:

THEPOWERFACTORWI THNONLI NEARLOADS( El ectr icMo to r)

4.5 
Thegr owingu seo fp owe rs emi c
o nduct orshasi nc reas edt heco mp lexityo f
sys temp o we rfac torandi tscorre cti
on. Thesep owe rs emi condu ct o
rsar eu sed
ine qu ipme nts uchas
Re ct i
fie rs( converte rs)DCmo t
o rdr i
ves ystemsAdj u stabl e-fr equenc yAC
dr i
v es yst emsSo li
d-s tat emo to
rs t
art ersEle ctric
he at i
ng
Uni nte rrup tiblepowe rs u pp l
iesCo mp uterp owe rs upp li
e s
Int hee arlierdi scussionabo utt hep owe rfac tori ns inu soidalsys tems , onl
yt wo
comp one nt so fp o
we rc ont ributedt ot het otalk il
o v
o lt-amp ere sandt he
re sultantp owe rfac tor:t heac t
iv eorr ealcomp onent ,exp ressedi nk il
o watt s
,
andt her eac tivecomp o ne nt,expr essedink i
lov ars.Whe nno nli
ne arl oadsu sing
po we rs emi condu ctorsar eu sedint hep o wers yst em, t het otalp owe rfac t
o ris
madeu po ft hreec omp one nts:
1. Ac tive,o rr eal,comp one nt ,ex
p ressedi nkilowat ts.
2. Disp l
ac eme ntcomp one nt, o
ft hefu ndame nt alr eac tivee leme nt s
,e xpr e
ss ed
ink ilovarso rk i
lovolt-amp eres.
3. Har mo nicc ompone nt. Ther es
u ltoft heha rmo nicsandt hedi sto rt
e d
sinu soidalc ur rentandv o ltagewav eformsge ne rate dwhe nanyt ypeo fp ower
semi c
o ndu cto risuse dint hep owe rc i
rcuit,thehar mo nicc omp one ntc anbe
exp res sedi nk il
o v
ar sork il
o vol
t-amp e
r es.Thee ffe cto ft heseno nl
ine arloads
ont hedi st ri
bu tio
ns ys temde pendso n( 1)themagni t udeo ft hehar mo nics
ge ne rate dbyt he seloads ,(2)thep e r
c entoft het ot alp lantlo adt hati s
ge ne ratinghar mo nies,and( 3
)t her atioo fthes hort -c i
rc uitcu rrentav ai
lable
tot heno mi nalfu ndame nt alloadc urrent.Ge ne rall
ys p eak i
ng, thehi ghe rt he
rat i
oo fs ho rt-circuitc urr enttono mi nalfundame nt allo adc urre nt,thehi ghe r
theacceptablelevelofhar mo nicdistort
ion.
Therefore,mo r
ep recisede finitionsofp o
we rfac t
orsar er equi
r edforsyste ms
withnonli
nearloadsasfo llow:
Displ
aceme ntpowe rfac tor.Ther at i
ooft heac t
ivep owe rofthefu ndame ntal
i
nk il
owattst otheap pare ntp owero fthefu ndame ntalink i
lovo
lt-ampe r
es .
Totalpowerfac tor.
 Ther atioo ftheac tiv
ep owero ft hefu ndame nt
alin
kil
owattstot het o
tal kil
ov o
lt-amp e
res.
Distor
tionfac t
o r,
orh armo nicfac t
or. 
Therat i
oo fther o ot
-me an-square(rms)
valueofallthehar mo nicstot her oot-mean-squ arevalu eofthefu ndame ntal.
Thisfactorcanbec al
c ul
at edfo rbo ththevo l
tageandc u rr
ent.
Figure4.9ill
ustratest hec onditio
ni nwhichthet otalp o
we rfact ori
slowert han
thedispl
ace mentp owe rfac torasar es
ultoft hehar mo niccurrents
.

FIGURE4 .9Powe rfactor,nonsinusoi

dalsyst
em.
Unfortu
nat el
y,conventio
nal var-hourme ter
sdono tregis
terthetot
alreacti
ve
energyconsume dbyno nl
inearl oads.I
fthev ol
tageisnonsi
nusoi
dal
,thevar-
hourmeterme asuresonlyt hedi spl
acementvol
t-amp er
e-hoursandi
gno r
esthe
dis
torti
onv o
lt-amp er
e-ho urs.Therefore
, fo
rno nl
ine
arloads,
thecalcu
lated
powe rfa ctorbas edo nk i
lowat t-ho urandv ar-hourme terr eadingswi llbe
highe rt hant hec orrectto talp owe rfac tor.Theamo u nto ft hee rrorint he
powe rfa ctorc alculationde pendso nt hema gnitu
deo ft het otalharmo nic
distort i
o n.
Thehar mo ni
csr e s
u l
tfr omdi s torte dACl inec urrentsc au s
e dbyt hep owe r
semic ondu ctorde vices.Typ i
calc urrentwav eshapesc aus edbyACadj u stabl
e-
frequ e nc ydr i
ve sar eshowni nFi gs.4.10and4 .11.Fi
gu re4 .10ill
ust rate sthe
wav es ha peo ft heACl inec urre ntp roduce dbyanadj us table-frequ enc ydrive
syste mwi tht hec onve rtersec tionc ontainings i
li
conc ont rolrecti
fie rs( SCRs)
oro the rc ontrollablep owers witc hingde vices,suchast ho seu sedinc ur rent
sourcei nve r
te r
sandDCdr ives ys tems .Thehar mo ni
cp r oblemfo rt hist ypeof
conve rte risc omp li
cat edbyt hev o
ltageno tchandv oltages pi
kest hato ccur
du r
ingt hes witchingo fthec o nv erterso l
id-statede vices .
Thedi splac eme nt
powe rfa ctorfo rt histyp eo fc onv erterisl i
nearwi t
hl oad. Thet otalp owe r
facto rand

FI
GURE4
.10Typ
icalACl
inewav
eshap
es,
SCRc
onv
ert
er.

FI
GURE4
.11Typ
icalACl
inewav
eshap
es,
dio
dec
onv
ert
er.
thehar mo nicc o mp one ntde pendo nthes ystemr eactanc eands ho rt-c ir
c ui
t
capacity. Figu re4 .
11i l
lust ratest hewav es hap eo ftheACl inec urre nt
produce dbyanadj ustable -fre que ncydr ives ys temwi ththec onve rt ers e
c ti
on
operatingasav o l
tages our cewi that yp icaldio debr i
dger ec tifierc o nverte r
,
suchast hoseu se dinv o l
tages ourc eandp ulsewi dt hmo du lat i
o n( PWM)
inverters.Agai n, thet otal powe rfac t orandt hec urrentwav es hap ev ary
de p
endi ngo nt hes yst emi mp e
danc e,t hec apacit anceo nt heo u tputo ft he
converte r,andt hep owe rs emic ondu cto rc harac t eris
t i
cs.Thel o wert heline
inductanc e,t hehi ghe rt hehar mo nicsandt hehi ghe rthev al ueo ft hep eak
current. Thedi sp l
ac eme ntp owe rfac torfo rt hist yp eofc o nve rte risc o
ns tant
overthes pee dr ange .Ho we ver, t
het ot al powe rfac torde pe ndso nt he
harmo nicdi stor tionfac tor.
Figure4 .12c o mp ar est hedi splace me ntp owe rfac torfo rtheSCRbr idge
converte randt hedi odebr idgec onve rte r.Fo rbo t htyp eso fc onve rte rs,there
isadiffe renc ebe twee nt hedi splac e
me ntp owe rfac torandt het ot alp owe r
factor.Aga in,t het ota lpo werfac tor

FI
GURE4 .12Compari
sondis
p l
acementpowerfact
ordi
odebri
dgever
s u
sSCR
br
idge.
dependso
nt hehar
monicsgenerat
ed,theharmoni
cdi
sto
rti
onfact
or,andt
he
p
owe
rsys
temc
har
act
eri
sti
cs.

Ho
wdoyo
ukno
wifyo
uhav
eahar
moni
cdi
sto
rti
onp
robl
em?
Asingleadjustabl
e-fr equ
encydri
veo rDCdr i
vei
susuall
yno
tapro
blem.Howe
ve r
,ifo
ver20
%oft
hep
lantl
oadc
ont
ains
po
we rsemicondu c
tors,therei
sagoodp os
sibi
li
tyofpr
o bl
ems
.So
meo fthe
seprobl
emsare
Tr
ans formerov er
heatingandnois
y
El
e ct
r i
cmo to
rso verheati
ngandnois
y
Powerfac t
orc orrec
t i
oncapac
ito
rsoverheati
ngorfai
li
ng
Une x
p l
ainedtri
ppingofc i
rcuitdev i
ces
Comp utermalfuncti
ons
Lows ystempowe rfactor
Theap pli
cati
onofp owerfacto rcorrect
ioncapac
itorswitho
u tananalysi
softhes ystemcanaggravateratherthanc o
rrect
thep roble
m,particul
arl
yi fthefift handsevent
hhar monicsar epr
esent.
Sinceitisnoteconomicaltoeliminatetheharmonic
sfr omindi v
idu
aldrive
sorde vic
e s
,ananal
ysi
ss hou
ldbemadeo fthe
totalsystemtode terminethema jorharmonic
sp re
se ntandt hemethodsforreducingtheharmo
nic stoacce
p t
ablelevel
s.
Onlyt hencanthep ro
p e
rhar mo ni
cfilter
sortrapsandp owerfac t
orc o
rrect
ioncapacito
rsbeappli
edatt hebestlocati
onin
thes ystem.
•Har
moni
met
er,
Theunitisbat
teryope
rate dandisqu i
tep o
rt abl
e.Itisequi
ppe
dwi thac l
amp-oncurrenttransfor
me r,
anditmeasure
s
curr
enthar mo
nic
sfromt hese condtonineteenthharmonicasapercento ft
otalc
urrent.Dat ainthi
sharmoni
crangear e
adequateinmanycases
.Thei nstr
u mentiseas ytousetoloc
atethes o
u r
ceofthehigh-harmo ni
cloadssi
ncemeas
u r
eme nts
canbemadewhe rev
erac lamp -o
nc ur
r e
ntt ransfor
me rcanbeinst
alled.

HARMONI
CS

Har
mo ni
csareanyfrequenc
yt hatexi
stsint
hes ys
temexc
eptthefundamentalfr
equency(
50Hzi
ncaseo
fIndi
a,6
0Hzi
n
US)
. 
Inotherwords
,harmoni
csappearasthedis
tort
iono
nthede
s i
rabl
esin
usoi
dalwavefor
monpowe
rli
ne.

Thefo
ll
owi
ngi
mages
howst
hedi
sto
rti
oni
nfu
ndame
ntaldu
etohar
moni
cs.

Usua
llyt
hedominantharmo ni
csareoftenint
egermu l
tip
leoft
hefu
nda
ment
alfr
equ
enc
y.Ho
wev
er,
thi
sma
yno
tbeal
wayst
he
ac
tualsc
enar
io.
The r
ec an 
interhar
mo ni
cs 
or 
subhar
mo ni
cs.

I
nter
har
moni
cs:
 I
fthehar
mon
icsi
sano
n-i
nte
germu
lti
pl
eoft
hefu
ndame
ntal
fre
que
ncyt
heni
tisc
all
edi
nte
rhar
moni
cs.

Subharmo
nic
s: 
Ift
heharmonicshasafre
quenc
ylowerth
ant
hefu
ndame
ntal
the
niti
sca
lle
das
ubhar
mon
ics
.Ino
the
rwo
rds
,the
subhar
moni
csaret
hefract
ionalfrequ
encyc
omponent
.

Thesourceo
fhar monic
s: 
Non-li
neari
tyintheloadsisthes our
c eofharmonics.
WhatdoImeanbynonli
nearit
yint helo
ad?I t
meansthatevenift
h eappl
iedvolt
ageisperfe
c t
lysinusoidalthecurre
ntdr awnbythelo
adi
sdistor
ted.i
.e.i
tdrawss ome
cur
rentwhic
hh asmanyharmo ni
ccomponentotherthant hefundame ntal
.Ane xampl
eofave
ryh i
ghnon-li
nearloadisdiode
bri
dgerecti
fie
r .
Asthep o
werl i
nehassomeimpedancet hisdis
t or
tedcurrentap p
ear
sasavo
lta
gedr opi
nt heli
nei mpedanc
e.
Co
nse
que
ntl
y,t
hehar
moni
csar
eal
sor
efl
ect
edi
nthev
olt
age
.

ht
tps
://www.
res
ear
chgat
e.ne
t/fi
l.
.
.

Theadv
ers
eeffec
tofhar
moni
cs:

1. Ifnotp roperlydesi
gne dorrated,
elec
tri
calequip
me ntwil
loftenma l
func
tio
nwhe
nhar
moni
csar
epr
ese
nti
nan
e
lec
tricalsystem.
2. Harmo nic
sinc re
asesthelossesint
hesyst
em. effic
iencydrops
.
3. Thee l
ectricalequi
pme ntsubj
e c
tedtohar
mo ni
cswillhavel
owerlife
.
Effe
ctsofHar monicsonPowe rSystems

Thec ur
e: 
Therearemainl
ytwowayst oavoi
dharmonic
s.Fi
rsti
sifther
eisharmoni
csyoujus
teli
minat
eitusi
ngsomet
echni
que.
Anothermethodistomaketheloadasli
nearaspos
sibl
e(Ihavementi
onedbefor
enonl
inearl
oadsarethes
ourceo
fharmo
nics
)in
suc
hawayt ha
titresul
tsinmini
mu mharmonic
s.

1
. Mitigati
o nofhar monic
s :
 Ve ryp opul
arme tho dist heus eofthefilt
er.Aprope
r l
ydesignedfil
tercansupp
ress
harmo ni
csandc ane l
iminatet hedisto
r t
ionp artial
ly
2
. Lineariz
et heload: 
Thisme thodisp opul
arlyk nownas  p
o werfactorcor
rect
ioninrect
ifier
s.AsIh avement
ion
ed
befo r
et hatthemo stnonline arloadsarep owe re l
ectronicbase
dbr i
dgerecti
fiers
.Somet ec
hniquesareus
edt o
forcet h
e mtodr awac urre ntwi t
hmi nimumdi storti
on.Thep hi
los
ophybehi
ndt hi
sapproachisthati
ft hes
ourceof
harmo ni
csisnott he
r ethent herewillbenohar monics