International Islamic University, Islamabad

Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Department of Electrical Engineering

CIRCUIT ANALYSIS-II LAB (EE101L)

Experiment No. 4: Single-phase Circuits Power Analysis

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Registration No.: ……………………………………….

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Date of Experiment: ………………………………….

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Experiment No. 4: Single-phase Circuits Power Analysis Page 26

 Single-phase Circuits Power Analysis

Objective
To Measure AC Power of Single-phase power system’s and Power Factor Correction
Equipment Required
1. Power Trainer
2. Patch Cords
Theory
Single-phase Power Systems:
Single phase power systems are defined by having an AC source with only one voltage
waveform. Depicted below fig-1 is a very simple Single-phase AC circuit. If the load resistor’s
power dissipation were substantial, we might call this a “power circuit” or “power system”
instead of regarding it as just a regular circuit.

Fig-1

Split-phase Power System:
A split-phase power system is one with multiple (in-phase) AC voltage sources connected in
series, delivering power to loads at more than one voltage, with more than two wires. They are
used primarily to achieve balance between system efficiency (low conductor currents) and safety
(low load voltages).

Experiment No. 4: Single-phase Circuits Power Analysis Page 27

 Fig-2
Addition of neutral conductor allows loads to be individually driven. Instead of a single 240 volt
power supply, we use two 120 volt supplies (in phase with each other!) in series to produce 240
volts, then run a third wire to the connection point between the loads to handle the eventuality of
one load opening. This is called a split-phase power system. Three smaller wires are still cheaper
than the two wires needed with the simple parallel design, so we’re still ahead on efficiency.
Power Analysis:
Power in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In
alternating current circuits, immediate power transferred through any phase varies periodically.
Energy storage elements such as inductors and capacitors may result in periodic reversals of the
direction of energy flow. The portion of power that, averaged over a complete cycle of the AC
waveform, results in net transfer of energy in one direction is known as active power (sometimes
also called real power). The portion of power due to stored energy, which returns to the source in
each cycle, is known as reactive power.
In a simple alternating current (AC) circuit consisting of a source and a linear load, both the
current and voltage are sinusoidal. If the load is purely resistive, the two quantities reverse their
polarity at the same time. At every instant the product of voltage and current is positive,
indicating that the direction of energy flow does not reverse. In this case, only active power is
transferred.
If the loads are purely reactive, then the voltage and current are 90 degrees out of phase. For half
of each cycle, the product of voltage and current is positive, but on the other half of the cycle, the
product is negative, indicating that on average, exactly as much energy flows toward the load as
flows back. There is no net energy flow over one cycle. In this case, only reactive power flows—
there is no net transfer of energy to the load.
Practical loads have resistance, inductance, and capacitance, so both active and reactive power
will flow to real loads. Power engineers measure apparent power as the magnitude of the vector
sum of active and reactive power. Apparent power is the product of the root-mean-square of
voltage and current.

Experiment No. 4: Single-phase Circuits Power Analysis Page 28

Engineers care about apparent power, because even though the current associated with reactive
power does no work at the load, it heats the wires and wastes energy. Conductors, transformers
and generators must be sized to carry the total current, not just the current that does useful work.
Another consequence is that adding the apparent power for two loads will not accurately give
the total apparent power unless they have the same displacement between current and voltage
(the same power factor).
Conventionally, capacitors are considered to generate reactive power and inductors to consume
it. If a capacitor and an inductor are placed in parallel, then the currents flowing through the
inductor and the capacitor tend to cancel rather than add. This is the fundamental mechanism for
controlling the power factor in electric power transmission; capacitors (or inductors) are inserted
in a circuit to partially compensate reactive power 'consumed' by the load.

Power triangle:
 Active power, P, or real power: watt (W)
 Reactive power, Q: volt-ampere reactive (var)
 Complex power, S: volt-ampere (VA)
 Apparent power, |S|: the magnitude of complex power S: volt-ampere (VA)

Experiment No. 4: Single-phase Circuits Power Analysis Page 29

Power Factor:
The ratio between active power and apparent power in a circuit is called the power factor. For
two systems transmitting the same amount of active power, the system with the lower power
factor will have higher circulating currents due to energy that returns to the source from energy
storage in the load. These higher currents produce higher losses and reduce overall transmission
efficiency. A lower power factor circuit will have a higher apparent power and higher losses for
the same amount of active power.
The power factor is one when the voltage and current are in phase. It is zero when the current
leads or lags the voltage by 90 degrees. Power factors are usually stated as "leading" or "lagging"
to show the sign of the phase angle of current with respect to voltage.
Purely capacitive circuits supply reactive power with the current waveform leading the voltage
waveform by 90 degrees, while purely inductive circuits absorb reactive power with the current
waveform lagging the voltage waveform by 90 degrees. The result of this is that capacitive and
inductive circuit elements tend to cancel each other out.
Where the waveforms are purely sinusoidal, the power factor is the cosine of the phase angle (φ)
between the current and voltage sinusoid waveforms. Equipment data sheets and nameplates
often will abbreviate power factor as "\cos \phi" for this reason.

Procedure:
1. Make the connections as shown in figure.
2. Keep SW2 on EMT16 at OFF position.
3. Connect the resistive load (EMT14B) and note down the real, reactive and apparent
power. Also note down the power factor.
4. Connect the inductive load (EMT15A) and note down the real, reactive and apparent
power. Also note down the power factor.
5. Connect the capacitive load (EMT15B) and note down real, reactive and apparent power.
Also note down the power factor.

Experiment No. 4: Single-phase Circuits Power Analysis Page 30

 Fig-3

Sr Resistive Load Inductive Capacitive

.
1 Real Power
2 Reactive Power
3 Apparent Power
4 Power Factor

Power Factor Correction

1. Connect some inductive load and note down its power factor. Let it be cos1 .
2. Let cos  2 be the desired power factor.
3. Now to achieve the desired power factor we must connect a capacitor in parallel with the
inductive load.
4. The value of capacitance is determined as
P  tan 1  tan  2 
C
2 f Vrms 2

Sr. cos 1 cos  2 1 2 P f Vrms C

No.

Experiment No. 4: Single-phase Circuits Power Analysis Page 31