CAPACITOR SIZE

AND LOCATION PROGRAM

EDSA MICRO CORPORATION

16870 West Bernardo Drive, Suite 330
San Diego, CA 92127
U.S.A.

© Copyright 2008
All Rights Reserved

Version 4.10.00 September 2008

 EDSA MICRO CORPORATION

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Since the meaning of QA/QC and the verification and validation of a program methodology are
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© Copyright 1989 - 2008 by EDSA Micro Corporation.

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Table of Contents

I. FOREWORD ............................................................................................................... Page 1

II. PURPOSES ................................................................................................................ Page 1
III. BASIC PRINCIPLE ..................................................................................................... Page 2
V. INPUT DATA............................................................................................................... Page 2
VI. OUTPUT DESCRIPTIONS ......................................................................................... Page 3
VII. HOW TO RUN THE PROGRAM................................................................................. Page 4

List of Figures

Figure 1: Opening the Sample Jobfile for the Capacitor “Size and Location” Program ....... Page 4
Figure 2: Single Line Diagram of the Sample Network......................................................... Page 5
Figure 3: Capacitor Size Parameters Dialog ........................................................................ Page 6
Figure 4: Specifying the Solution Options for the “Capacitor Size” Program ....................... Page 7
Figure 5: Selecting the Reports for the “Capacitor Size” Program ....................................... Page 8

Note: You can view this

manual on your CD as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. The file name is:

‰ Capacitor Size and Location Program

CapSize.pdf

You will find the Test/Job files used in this tutorial in the following location:

‰ C:\DesignBase\Samples\CapSize = Capacitor Sizing

Test Files: Capsz, Capsz2

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

COPYRIGHT 2008

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I. Foreword

EDSA Capacitor Size and Location program has been designed to help the design engineer select
capacitors that satisfy the load requirements of the system under study. In writing this program, it
has been assumed that the user is a Professional Engineer familiar with the subject of selecting
capacitors to meet system needs.

Determination of validity of the results, and whether the program is applicable to a system, is
uniquely and exclusively the responsibility of the user.

This program is undergoing continuous development and refinement. As with all our products,
EDSA is committed in making the Capacitor Size and Location program as current, comprehensive
and easy to use as possible. Any comments, suggestions or errors encountered in either the results
or documentation should be immediately brought to EDSA's attention.

The present version of the program automatically determines the required capacitor size to achieve
minimum cost and desired level of power factor correction measured at user-defined location in the
network. The power system engineer normally intuitively knows the optimum location of capacitor in
the power system under study. Also, since this program can determine the required capacitor size
extremely fast and efficient, a large of number of candidate capacitor locations can be evaluated in
a short period of time thereby eliminating the need for optimising the location. For the convenience
of the users and for the cases where the optimum capacitor location is not known, the next release
of the program will include an optimisation technique to arrive not only at the optimum size
but also the best location of the required capacitor.

II. Purposes

Application of shunt capacitors in power systems is an economically beneficial measure to utilities.

The advantages include:

(1) Releasing a certain KVA that can be used to feed additional loads in the system. Electricity
suppliers charge their customers in terms of both KWh (energy consumptions) and KVA
(power demand). Decreasing of KVA at the substation leads to cost saving

(2) Improving power factor at the substation

(3) Boosting the load level of the system, so that for the same maximum voltage drop additional
loads could be supplied

(4) In most cases, reducing power and energy losses in the power system

On the other hand, the installation of a capacitor requires an investment cost. Therefore, a
compromise should be made in order to determine the size and the location of a capacitor in the
power system. The objective is to minimize the total cost of the substation KVA charge, of energy
loss cost and of capacitor investment.

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The EDSA capacitor size and location program conducts calculations with the objective to achieve a
desired power factor, hence, minimize the total cost. This program also performs calculations for a
distribution/transmission system load flow.

III. Basic Principle

Assuming Qc is the KVAR rating of the capacitor, Sr is the corrected substation KVA after capacitor
installation and E is the energy loss reduction in one year due to capacitor installation, the net
annual cost saving due to addition of the capacitor is then given by:

F = a * Sr + c * E - b * Q c (1)
where:

a - per KVA annual charge cost;

b - per KVAR annual capacitor investment cost;
c - per KWh energy loss cost.

The size, Qc, of the capacitor is obtained by maximizing the net annual cost saving F.

The capacitor size Qc is a continuous variable. But the capacitors provided by manufacturers have
only standard sizes. The program rounds Qc in an integer value in terms of the capacitor standard
sizes specified by users, and gives the number of the standard size capacitor.

In some cases, such as in the situation of very light loads, adding a capacitor does not necessarily
lead to:

¾ Reduction of power; or

¾ Energy losses of the entire distribution system; or

¾ Small amount of energy losses

From the point of view of a total economic benefit, it is still worth adding a capacitor, because it
minimizes the total cost, such as the substation KVA charge, plus the energy loss cost, in addition to
the investment in the added capacitor.

V. Input Data

The required input data for the capacitor size and location calculations are:

(1) Per KVA charge cost at the substation

(2) Per KWh energy loss cost

(3) Per KVAR capacitor investment cost

(4) Demand factor (load factor);

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(5) Capacitor candidate location ID and branch ID where the power factor is calculated

(6) Capacitor standard size

If a user does not input a demand factor, the program will utilize its defaulted value that is 1.0. The
smallest standard size should be smaller than, or at least equal to, 100 KVAR (e.g. of standard
sizes are: 150, 300, 600 and 1200 KVAR)

The program uses actual units in KVA, KW, KWh, KVAR, V, A.

VI. Output Descriptions

The program output information includes:

(1) Total shunt capacitor size (in KVAR), the number of standard

(2) Substation apparent, active and reactive power outputs (KVA, KW, and KVAR), power
factors (in %), active and reactive losses of system before and after addition of the
capacitor.

(3) Bus voltage magnitudes (in V) before and after addition of the capacitor (only buses with
0.5% change or higher)

(4) Annual KVA charge cost, annual energy loss cost (corresponding to the given demand
factor), annual capacitor investment cost and the total cost before and after addition of the
capacitor. These results show the economic benefits of adding the capacitor.

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VII. How to Run the Program

The program operation is illustrated with the help of an example. This example is named
“Capsiz” and its jobfile reside in the \DesignBase\CAPSIZE directory. Select “Open” from
the main screen of DesignBase as shown below:

Figure 1: Opening the Sample Jobfile for the Capacitor “Size and Location” Program

The single line diagram of the sample jobfile is shown in Figure 2. In this example, we will request the
program to determine the capacitor size assuming it is located at bus “0003”.

From the main screen of DesignBase select the “Capacitor Size” Program. The main dialog for the
program is shown in

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Figure 2: Single Line Diagram of the Sample Network

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Figure 3 shows the required parameters for the capacitor size program. Note that, the user can limit the
capacitor size in two simultaneous methods. First, explicitly by specifying the maximum size of the
capacitor and second, implicitly, by specifying the maximum allowed voltage at the capacitor bank
location.

Figure 3: Capacitor Size Parameters Dialog

Note: Location “From Bus” is 0001 → 0003

Capacitor is placed at Bus “0003”

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Since the program uses powerflow program as its engine, the load flow solution parameters and options
should be specified. Figure 4 shows the required parameters.

Figure 4: Specifying the Solution Options for the “Capacitor Size” Program

Once the capacitor size and solution parameters are specified, click the “OK” button. The program output
can be examined by selecting the desired report as shown in Figure 5.

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Figure 5: Selecting the Reports for the “Capacitor Size” Program

The program sample output is shown in the following pages.

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EDSA Advanced Capacitor Sizing Program v4.10.00

===============================================

Project No. : Page : 1

Project Name: Date :
Title : Time :
Drawing No. : Company :
Revision No.: Engineer :
Jobfile Name: CAPSZ Check by :
Scenario : Date :

Input Data
==========

Cost of Substation KVA = 25.00 $/KVA/Year

Cost of Energy Loss
Cost of Capacitor Investment
Capacitor Can Size
Maximum Allowed Capacitor Size
Load Demand Factor
Desired Power Factor
Maximum Allowed Voltage
Capacitor Bank Bus Name
Branch Name where PF is measured from
= 0.05 $/KW Hour
= 2.00 $/KVAR/Year
= 100.000 KVAR
= 3000.000 KVAR
= 1.000
= 0.985
= 1.100 Per unit
= 0003
= 0001 ->0003

Output Result
=============

Capacitor size: 2800. KVAR

Number of required capacitor cans (each rated 100. KVAR ) = 28

Substation power output, power factor and network losses

========================================================
Before addition After addition
of capacitor of capacitor
========================================================

P (KW 4893.904 4893.802

Q (KVAR) 3573.171 773.097
S (KVA) 6059.525 4954.491
PF (%) 80.764 98.775
PLOSS (KW) 73.142 73.116
QLOSS (KVAR) 697.562 697.397

Economic Benefits
=============================================================
Before addition After addition Savings
of capacitor of capacitor
=============================================================

KVA Charge cost($/Year) 151488. 123862. 27626.

Energy loss cost($/Year) 32036. 32025. 12.
Capacitor cost($/Year) 5600.
Total cost($/Year) 183524. 161487. 22037.