6. PARALLEL A.C.

CIRCUITS
Main things to learn • Analysis of parallel a.c. circuits
• Active and reactive current
• Admittance and susceptance
• Power factor
Common way of connecting loads to the power supply is in parallel

e e C
~ R L ~ R

CR or LR circuits in parallel. How to analyse them using phasor diagrams?

For series circuits, it was reasonable to take current as a reference quantity
However, in parallel circuits the voltage is the same across each element
Therefore, voltage is the most reasonable choice for reference
It is common to use the voltage from the power supply as reference
 PHASOR DIAGRAM FOR A CR CIRCUIT IN PARALLEL
IR = U : i R in - phase with u
iR iC R
e i
IC = U : i C leads u by π , X C = 1
~ R C XC 2 ωC
Phase:
The total current i leads voltage u
(like for a series CR circuit)
i = iR + iC − 1 IC −1 R −1 resistance 
ϕ = tan = tan = tan  
Voltage u - reference IR XC  reactance 
Amplitude:
iC
i 2 2 1 1 U
I = IC + I R = U 2
+ =
XC R2 Z
Impedance:

ϕ 1 1 1 1
= + = (ω C )2 +
u iR Z XC 2 R2 R2
 PHASOR DIAGRAM FOR AN LR CIRCUIT IN PARALLEL
IR = U : i R in - phase with u
R
e i
IC = U : i L lags u by π , X L = ω L
~ R iR L iL XL 2
Phase:
The total current i lags voltage u
(like for a series LR circuit)
i = iR + iL −1 I L R  resistance 
ϕ = − tan = − tan −1 = − tan −1
Voltage u - reference IR XL  reactance 
Amplitude:
u iR 2 2 1 1 U
I = IL + IR = U 2
+ =
ϕ XL R2 Z
Impedance:
2
1 1 1  1  1
i = + =   + 2
iL
Z XL 2
R2 ω L  R
 SUMMARY OF FORMULAE

D.C. A.C.

In series R = R1 + R 2 Z = R2 + X 2

1 1 1 1 1 1
In parallel = + = +
R R1 R 2 Z X2 R2

EXAMPLE

D.C. A.C.
R1 = 30 Ω R2 = 60 Ω R = 30 Ω X = 60 Ω
in parallel in parallel
R = 20 Ω Z = 26.8 Ω
(33% less than R1) (10% less than R)
 EXAMPLE: LCR CIRCUIT IN PARALLEL
I R = U , IC = U , IL = U
iR iC R XC XL
e i iL
i R in - phase with u ,
~ R C L
i L lags u by π , i C leads u by π
2 2
Phase
− 1 IC − IL −1 
 1 1 
i = i R + i C+ i L ϕ = tan = tan R  − 
IR   X C X L 
Voltage u - reference Amplitude:
iC 2
 1 1  1 U
u
I= (IC − I L )
2
+ IR 2
= U  −  +
2
=
X
 C X L  R Z
iR IL and IC may be much larger than the total current I
i Impedance:
2 2
1  1 1  1  1  1
=  −  + =  ω C −  +
iL Z X
 C X L  R 2
 ω L  R 2
 ACTIVE AND REACTIVE CURRENTS
i REACTIVE Current in any circuit can be represented
as a sum of two components:
i
1) in-phase; 2) at phase difference of 900 to voltage
In-phase - active, or power component
I active = I cos ϕ
ϕ
At 900 to voltage - reactive, or quadrature component
u i ACTIVE I reactive = I sin ϕ
I 2 = (I active )2 + (I reactive )2

RELATION TO ACTIVE POWER: Pactive = IU cos ϕ = I activeU

I active
POWER FACTOR = cos ϕ =
(I active )2 + (I reactive )2
Resistors are active, while capacitors and coils are reactive circuit elements
For purely reactive (capacitive or inductive) circuits, power factor = 0
 ADMITTANCE, CONDUCTANCE AND SUSCEPTANCE
For D.C. circuits: R - resistance, G=1/R - D.C. conductance
1 1 1
For two resistors in parallel: = + ∴ G = G1 + G2
R R1 R 2

For A.C. circuits, an equivalent quantity is called admittance Y

1 1 I
Admittance = : Y= = Units - siemens [S]
Impedance Z U

A.C. conductance G is an active component of admittance

A reactive component of admittance is called susceptance (notation - B)

I active I reactive
G= B= ∴ Y = G2 + B2
U U
NOTE
G, B and Y may be conductance, susceptance and admittance, respectively,
of circuit elements or of the whole circuit
 ADMITTANCE, CONDUCTANCE AND SUSCEPTANCE
IMPEDANCE, RESISTANCE AND REACTANCE:
THEIR RELATION
I active I active I R 1 R
G= = = ⋅ = 2
U I U Z Z Z
I reactive I reactive I X 1 X
B= = = ⋅ = 2
U I U Z Z Z
Note that G=1/R only for purely resistive circuits

EXAMPLES
If a resistor R0 is connected in series with a reactive element X,
resistance of the circuit R is equal to R0 : R = R0
However, if a resistor R0 is connected in parallel with a reactive element X,
resistance of the circuit R is not equal to R0 : R ≠ R0
In this case, conductance of the circuit G is equal to
conductance of the resistor G0 : G = G0 = 1/R0
 EXAMPLE: MORE COMPLICATED CIRCUIT
Known parameters: e, frequency, R1, R2, L, C.
Determine: current, phase angle

i STEP 1
R1 R2
e Analysis of the R1C segment

~ i1
C
i2
R1 C
L
Reference - current i1
i1 u R1

ϕ1

uC u1
 STEP 2 STEP 3

Analysis of the R2L segment Analysis of the whole circuit

Reference - voltage u1 = u2 = e
L
R2
Reference - current i2 i1

uL i
u2 ϕ1
ϕ2 ϕ
ϕ2 e
uR2
i2
i2
For more or less complicated circuits, the method of phasor diagrams
becomes rather cumbersome
Anything more efficient?
Method of complex notations (next lecture)