Experiment #8

Title: Power Factor Correction

I. Introduction
This experiment demonstrates the characteristics of an Alternating Current (AC) circuit mainly it
revolves about the RLC circuit especially on power factor corrections whereas The electrical loads
in electrical systems, particularly in commercial and industrial establishments, are predominantly
inductive in nature. This is primarily because these establishments use machines and devices such
as motors and transformers. Owing to the presence of inductance in the windings of the machines,
the load of a large establishment when combined will result to a very low overall power factor
(Cimatu, n.d).

Mainly the National Instrument Multisim was used to conduct the different types of trials and the
data gathered was also from this software, NI Multisim is a software that allows you to create,
design, and simulate circuits for educational/research purposes. This experiment tackles about the
resonance, it’s basic function, on how does it work, and what is the reason behind it.

II. Wiring Circuit

Figure 1.1 – Schematic for RUN 1

III. Data and Computation

Table 1.1 ; Measured values for RUN 1

Computation :

P LOAD=V L I T cos θT

P LOSS=I T 2 ( R1 + RL 1 )

P . F=cos θT

Substitute the measured values unto the formula then repeat until all data required is gathered.
IV. Answers to Questions and Solution to Problems
Exercises :
Exercise 1: From the data of Table 8.1, calculate for the Power Factor (P.F.), power delivered to
the load (PLoad) and power loss (PLoss) in the line using the formulas below:

Table 1.1 ; Calculated values for PLOAD, PLOSS, and P.F.

Exercise 2: Plot the graph of the Power Factor (P.F.) against the following quantities:

a.) Capacitance using the axes suggested in Figure 8.5;

Power Factor Vs. Capacitance

0.7

0.6

0.5
Power Factor

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Capacitance (nF)

Figure 2.1; Graph for Power Factor Vs. Capacitance

b.) Total current using the axes suggested in Figure 8.6;

Power Factor Vs. Total Current

0.7

0.6

0.5
Power Factor

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Axis Title

Figure 2.2; Graph for Power Factor Vs. Total Current (mA)
c.) Load voltage using the axes suggested in Figure 8.7;

Power Factor Vs. Load Voltage

0.7

0.6

0.5
Power Factor

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Load Voltage (volts)

Figure 2.3; Graph for Power Factor Vs. Load Voltage (volts)

d.) Line losses using the axes suggested in Figure 8.8.

Power Factor Vs. Lines Losses

0.7

0.6

0.5
Power Factor

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Line Losses, PLOSS (mW)

Figure 2.4; Graph for Power Factor Vs. Line Losses, PLOSS (mW)
Questions and Problems ;
1. What generalization can be drawn from the plot of Power Factor (P.F.) against:
a. Capacitance in Figure 8.5?
- It can be seen that the power factor rises as it reach the capacitance value of 150
nF then it peaks at the said value, which then it can be seen that the power factor
decreases as it strays farther from 150 nF.
b. Total current in Figure 8.6?
- It can be seen that the power factor peaks when the total current is at the least
value then the power factor starts to decrease again when the current increases.
c. Load voltage in Figure 8.7?
- From the graph it can be said that the power factor peaks when the load voltage is
equal to 46.543 V then the power factor shall decrease again when the value of
voltage strays farther from the said value.
d. Line losses in Figure 8.8?
- From the graph it can be said that the power factor peaks when the PLOSS is at its
minimum value then the power factor decreases again when the value of PLOSS strays
from the said value whether it be greater or less than.

2. In the industrial application of power factor correction, why are capacitors connected in parallel
with the load and not in series?
- The reason why it is not connected in series is that when the circuit shorts there is a chance that
the whole nominal transmission voltage will be applied upon those capacitors, and another reason
is that when capacitors are connected in series that the capacitor would cause a voltage drop at the
load. One more thing is that the capacitor would have to carry all the load current rather than just
the reactive part.
3. Two loads in an industrial plant are connected in parallel across a 460 volts, 60 hertz single
phase source. Load 1 draws 20 KVA at 0.6 power factor lagging, while Load 2 takes 50 KW at
0.707 lagging power factor. If it is desired to improve the overall power factor to 98% lagging, find
the capacitance of the capacitor to be connected in parallel with the load.

θ1=cos−1 0.6=53.13°

θ2=cos−1 0.707=45 °

θnew =cos−1 0.98=11.48 °

PT =P1+ P 2

P1=20 kVA cos 53.13° =12kW

P2=50 kW

PT =12 kW +50 kW =62 kW

QT =Q1+ Q2

Q1=20 kVA sin 53.13 °=16 kVAR

QW =50 kW tan 45° =50 kVAR

QT =16 kVAR +50 kVAR=66 kVAR

66 k
θold =cos−1 =46.79 °
62 k

Q C =62kW (tan 46.79° −tan 11.48 ° )

QC =53.41 kVAR

4602
XC = =3.96 Ω
53.41 k

1
C= =669.84 µF
2 π (60)(3.96)
V. Data analysis and interpretation
For this experiment it was conducted by creating a circuit base on the schematic diagram that
was given on this experiment an ammeter was placed to measure the current and voltmeter was
placed to measure the voltage, the following data that was measured was then recorded on the
table.

Table 1.1 ; Measured values for RUN 1

The table above shows the following data that were measured by conducting the different trials
from the experiment it can be seen that as the resistance increases/capacitors added in parallel the
following values of the different variables change one that can be seen is that the power factor it
can be seen that as the total capacitance reaches the value of 150 nF the value of power factor
peaks and as the value of capacitance strays away from 150 nF the power factor decreases. One
that can also be seen is the relationship between the capacitance and the load voltage where it
can be seen that as the capacitance increases the value of load voltage also increases thus the
relationship between the two said variable is directly proportional, but not can be said the same
for the capacitance and the total current whereas the total current decreases as the capacitance
increases thus the relationship between the two said variable is inversely proportional. Regarding
on the power on the load it can be seen that the recorded value is alternating between a higher
value then lower value starting when the capacitance is 0, as for the power loss/line loss it can be
seen that the lowest value can be obtained when the capacitance is equal to 150 nF and increase
when the capacitance strays farther away from 150 nF.

Power Factor Vs. Capacitance

0.7

0.6

0.5
Power Factor

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
Capacitance (nF)

Figure 2.1; Graph for Power Factor Vs. Capacitance

 Power Factor Vs. Load Voltage
0.7

0.6

0.5
Power Factor

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
44 45 46 47 48 49 50
Load Voltage (volts)

Figure 2.3; Graph for Power Factor Vs. Load Voltage (volts)

The graphs from above are almost identical when it comes to their curves both have the same
characteristic the only difference is that the first one is based on power factor vs. capacitance
while the latter is based on power factor vs. load voltage and upon carefully observing the said
curve it can be said that both of the graphs reach the peak value of power factor when each
respective value reaches the corresponding value for example the power factor peaks when the
capacitance is equal to 150 nF and for load voltage it is 46.543 V both reaches peak power factor
when there is four capacitors connected in parallel and upon straying farther away from the said
value the power factor also decreases but increases when nearing the said value.
 Power Factor Vs. Total Current
0.7

0.6

0.5
Power Factor

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Axis Title

Figure 2.2; Graph for Power Factor Vs. Total Current (mA)

Power Factor Vs. Lines Losses

0.7

0.6

0.5
Power Factor

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140
Line Losses, PLOSS (mW)

Figure 2.4; Graph for Power Factor Vs. Line Losses, PLOSS (mW)
Upon careful observation and analysis it can be seen from the graphs above that the line is going
back and forth when it comes to the values and as can be seen like the two previous graphs from
before, these two are also almost identical to each one another that’s why I had decided to group
them up and upon careful observation upon the collected data it can be said that the power factor
peaks when the value of total current is at the least of its value from graph 2.2 and as can be seen
from the following results of the power factor and total current, as it had reached the lowest
value of its total current it had started to increases again, which is the same to that of the P LOSS
they both have the same characteristic where when the line loss is at its lowest value the power
factor peaks as can be seen from graph 2.4.

VI. Findings and Conclusion

After conducting this experiment by conducting different trials then collecting the desired data
from the said trials and upon carefully analysing the different variables unto these experiment I
learned that power factor correction is used/allows the consumer of electricity to reduce their
electricity bill as this experiment had demonstrated where it had used capacitors to create power
factor correction and the effects of power factor can be seen unto the total current, load voltage
and line losses whereas from table 1.1 it can be observed that the higher power factor the more
efficient it is from observing the value of total current, load voltage and line loss. Where
according to Cimatu (n.d) In employing power factor correction, line current is reduced,
consequently, reduces line voltage drops thereby stabilizing the system voltage. Stable system
voltage improves the performance of the devices and equipment connected into the system,
benefitting both the distribution utility and consumer. Power factor correction can be done
manually, semi-automatically or automatically. Automatic power factor correction that uses
computers for monitoring and switching is favored due to varying load conditions to achieve the
average target power factor which is usually 100% for the whole month to maximize the benefits
that can be achieved in improving the power factor

Thus it can be said that applying power factor helps to increasing the power factor and by
increasing power factor the efficiency increases therefore the consumption of electricity is
lessened since the efficiency was improved and the current that being is used is reduced. This
experiment had also helped me to be familiarized how does electricity works especially on AC
circuits and power factor correction on what does low and high power factor means and this had
also showed me the advantages of an electrical device/system that has a high power factor.

VII. References

Cimatu, S., Jr. (n.d). Power Factor Correction Experiment No. 8. University of the East-
Caloocan

Boylestad, R. L. (2014). Electronic devices and circuit theory. Harlow, Essex: Pearson.

Floyd, T. L. (2018). Electronic devices. NY, NY: Pearson.

Submitted by: Juan, Neslee Jude R.

Subject and Section: NEE2202 – 1-EC