Three Phase Power Measurement

OBJECTIVE : To measure power in a three phase circuit under:

l) Balanced Resistive Load Condition
ll) Unbalanced Resistive Load Condition

APPARATUS REQUIRED:

Sl. Apparatus Quantity Range Type

No. Name
1 TPST Switch 1 - -
2 Wattmeter 2 150V MI
2.5/5A
3 Voltmeter 1 0-150 V MI
4 Ammeter 3 0-5 A -
5 Gang rheostat 1 0-26 Ω -
6 Rheostats 3 0-26 Ω -
7 SPST Switch 1 - -
CIRCUIT DIAGRAM :
THEORY :
For star connected load clearly the reading of wattmeter one is product of phase current
and voltage difference (V2-V3). Similarly the reading of wattmeter two is the product
of phase current and the voltage difference (V2-V3). Thus the total power of the circuit
is sum of the reading of both the wattmeters. Mathematically we can write :

but we have , hence putting the value of .

We get total power as .

When delta connected load is used ,

The reading of wattmeter one can be written as :

and reading of wattmeter two is :

but , hence expression for total power will reduce to

.
OBSERVATIONS :

Table 1 (Balanced Resistive Load)

Table 2 (Unbalaced Resistive Load)

RESULT :

We can conclude that in case of balanced load there is no potential

difference between neutral and center of star connected load.
Also, in case of unbalanced load there is a difference between neutral
and center of star connected load.
DISCUSSION :

1. What do you understand by a balanced three-phase load?

Ans : A balanced three phase load refers to a setup of three equal and identical
impedances in a ‘wye’ or ‘delta’ connection.

2. How would you measure power using, a) Three watt meters and b) One
wattmeter, for balanced/unbalanced loads?
Ans : (a) By connecting current coil in series with the transmission line and
neutral points for all three nodes, we can make use of three wattmeters to find
out the average power consumed by each phase.

(b) For balanced load, connecting one wattmeter across any phase will
give exactly one third of total average power. For unbalanced load, we can fix
one terminal to neutral point of the voltage coil and then shift connections
accordingly for each phase to read the power consumed by that phase.

3. Is it possible to measure power factor of the balanced (three –phase load

by two-wattmeter method)?
Ans : Yes, it is possible.
Let P1 and P2 be the readings of W1 and W2 then,

PT = P1 + P2
QT = (3)^(½) * (P2 - P1)
tan φ = QT / PT
 Where, φ is power angle.
p.f = cos φ = 1 / (1 + tan2 φ)^(½)

4. Comment on the neutral to start point voltage for each case.

Ans : In balanced resistive load, the neutral point was found to be near 0.1V
which ideally should be zero. The error is due to instrumental malfunctioning.
In a balanced condition, currents are equal in magnitude and exactly at phase of
120° with each other.

But in case of unbalanced load, voltages of about 50 and 60V were measured
between the neutral and start point. This happens because now the currents are
no more equal in magnitude and an excess current can be drawn from the start
point.

5. Draw the phasor diagrams for all situations in the experiment.