Department of Electrical Engineering

Faculty Member: Mr Habeel Ahmed

Lab Engineer: Mr Ali Khalid Dated: 13-03-23

Semester: 2nd Section: BEE-14 A

EE-211-Electrical Network Analysis

Experiment No. _6__

Experiment Title: _Power in AC Circuits

PLO4/ PLO5/ PLO8/ CLO6 PLO9/ CLO7

CLO5
CLO4

Analysis of
data in Lab Modern Ethics and Individual
Report Tool Usage Safety and
Viva / Quiz / Lab Teamwork
Performance
Name Reg. No

5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks 5 Marks

Agha Mushaf Raza 423074

Hizbullah Khan 415375

Ibraheem Hasnain 412444

Muhammad Hashir 407209

Aslam
 Department of Electrical Engineering

EE-211 Electrical Network Analysis

Lab 6: Power in AC Circuits

EXERCISE OBJECTIVE

When you have completed this exercise, you will be able to determine the active, reactive,
and apparent power supplied to an inductive load by using measurements of circuit currents
and voltages. You will also learn how to improve the power factor.

DISCUSSION

As stated previously, the apparent power supplied to a load equals the product of the loads
voltage and current. In ac circuits, apparent power is always greater than active power when
the load contains reactance, because reactive power must be supplied by the source. The
reactive power may be inductive or capacitive, but in most electromechanical deceives it will
be inductive because of the inductance of the coils in transformers and motors.

The formula for determining reactive power in an ac circuit is

Q= √ S −P
2 2

Where Q = reactive power in VAR,

S = apparent power in VA,
P = active power in W.

When the phase angle φ between the voltage and current is known, active power can be
determined from the following formula:

P = E X I cos φ = S cos φ

In ac circuits where the voltage and current are sine wave, the term con φ is called the power
factor and it equals the ratio of active power to apparent power, P/S. The actual value of the
power factor depends on how much the current and voltage are out-of-phase. If E and I are in
phase (purely resistive circuit), meaning phase angle φ is 0˚, then cos φ = 1 and the active
power equals the product EI (apparent power). When the phase angle between current and
voltage is 90˚ (purely reactive circuit), cos φ = 0, therefore the active power is zero. When a
circuit contains both resistance and reactance, the phase angle φ lies between 0˚ and ±90˚,
 depending on whether circuit reactance is inductive or capacitive, cos φ has a value between
0 and 1, and the active power equals a fraction of the apparent power.

Power distribution analysis of ac circuit can be simplified using the power triangle technique
and Figure 5 – 4 shows how P, Q, and S are related. The angle between the active power axis
(x-axis) and the hypotenuse of the triangle corresponds to the phase angle φ. Inductive
reactive power is drawn in a +y direction and capacitive reactive power is drawn in a –y
direction.

Certain texts use a convention for inductive and capacitive reactive power opposite to the one
used here. Inductive power is shown as a negative vector quantity because inductive current
lags the voltage across the inductor, and capacitive power is drawn as a positive vector
quantity since capacitive current leaves the voltage.

S
Q (INDUCTIVE)
S = APPARENT POWER =
φ P= APPARENT POWER = S COS φ
Q = REACTIVE POWER = S SIN φ
COS φ = P/S POWER FACTOR

Q (CAPACITIVE)

-Y
Figure 5-4. The Power Triangle

AC motors draw inductive reactive power from the AC Power Supply to create the magnetic
field which they require. In addition, AC Motors absorb active power, most of which is
converted to mechanical power, and dissipate the reminder as heat. The reactive power
travels back and forth between the motor and the AC power supply and it does no useful work
other than creating the magnetic field from the motor. If a capacitor is placed in parallel with
the motor, and its value adjusted so that capacitive reactive power exactly equals conductive
reactive power, the negative reactive power of the capacitor will cancel out the positive
reactive power of the motor. Infect the reactive power will travel back and forth between the
motor and the capacitor instead of travelling back and forth between the motor and the AC
Power Supply. The AC Power Supply will no longer have to supply reactive power, which will
result in a large reduction in the current the motor draws from the power supply. Adding
capacitive reactance in this way to lower the current (the current drawn from an AC Power
Source) is called power factor correction and leads to improved line regulation. Also, this
allows similar diameter wire to be used for the transmission lines. The power factor of an AC
motor by itself is usually quite low, often below 0.7, but once the capacitor / motor
combination is in place, the power factor is substantially improved. With the power choice of
capacitance, the power factor will be closed to unity.

EQUIPMENT REQUIRED:

Refer to the Equipment Utilization Chart in Appendix C to obtain the list of equipment
required for this exercise.

PROCEDURE

CAUTION!

High voltages are present in this laboratory exercise! Do not

make or modify any banana jack connections with the power
on unless otherwise specified!

1. Install the Power Supply, Data Acquisition Interface, Resistive Load, Inductive Load,
and Capacitive Load Modules in the EMS work stations.

2. Make sure that the main switch of the power supply is set to O (Off), position, and the
voltage control knob is turned fully ccw. Set the voltmeter select switch to the 4-N
position, and the ensure the power supply is connected to a 3 Phase wall receptacle.

3. Setup the current shown in Figure 5-5. The RL section of the circuit simulates the load
of a single phase AC motor. Connect all 3 sections of the resistive and inductive load
modules in parallel and set R and X L to the values given. Connect I1 and E1 is shown to
measure the circuit current and voltage.

4. Ensure that the DAI LOW POWER INPUT is connected to the main power supply and
the USB Port cable from the computer is connected to the DAI.

5. Display the metering application and select setup configuration file ES15-1.dai.

6. Turn on the power supply and set the 24 V-AC power switches to the I (ON) position.
Adjust the voltage control to obtain the value of E S given in figure 5-5.
7. Measure the load voltage and current, and the active power consumed by the circuit.
Note the results, and then turn off the power.

E = 220 v I= 0.808 A P = 142W

IS R – L LOAD
+ I1

+
ES
~ E1 R xL

LINE VOLTAGE ES R XL
(V) (V) (Ω) (Ω)
120 120 100 100
220 220 367 367
240 240 400 400

Figure 5-5. RL Load to Simulate an AC Motor

8. Use the measured values of E and I to determine the apparent power supplied to the
load.

S=ExI= 177.76 VA

9. Determine the power factor cos φ, and the reactive power Q.

P
Q= √ S −P = 106.83 vars
2 2
cos φ = = 0.79
S

10. Do the values calculated in step 9 demonstrate a low power factor and a notable
amount of reactive power for the simulated motor load?
Yes No
 11. Modify the RL circuit by adding capacitive reactance in parallel with the load as shown
in Figure 5-6. Ensure that all sections of the Capacitive Load module are connected in
parallel, and that all the switch on the module are open.

12. Turn on the power and add capacitance to the circuit by closing the first switch in each
section one after the other, then the middle switches, and finally the third switch in
each section, until all switches have been closed.

At each new value of capacitance, click the record data button to record the line current
measurement in the data table.

IS R – L LOAD
+ I1

+
ES R
~ E1 XC xL

LINE VOLTAGE ES R XL
(V) (V) (Ω) (Ω)
120 120 100 100
220 220 367 367
240 240 400 400

Figure 5-6. Power Factor Correction by Adding Capacitive Reactance

13. After all data values have been recorded, display the graph window, select l1 as the Y-
axis parameter, and make sure the line graph format and the linear scale are selected.
Observe the line current variation curve. Does the line current increase, decrease, or
stay the same as more and more capacitance is added to the circuit?
The line current decreases as the capacitance is added to the circuit.

14. Is there a point at which the line current stops decreasing, and then starts to increase
again when more capacitance is added?
 Yes No

15. Carefully adjust the switches on the capacitive load module to obtain minimum line
current, while readjusting the voltage control as necessary to maintain the exact value
of Es given in the table. Use the settings on the module to determine the value of
capacitive reactance that produces minimum line current.
1
XC= = 0.62 Ω
2 πfC

Note: You will have notice that the line current is minimum when
the capacitive reactance equals the inductive reactance. The
negative reactive power then cancels the positive reactive power,
and line current is minimized.

16. With XC adjusted for minimum line current, record the value of E, I MIN and the active
power on PQS1.

E= 220 V IMIN = 0.694 A P1 = 149 W

17. Determine the apparent power S.

S = E x IMIN = 152.68 VA

18. Calculate the power factor cos φ, and the reactive power Ω.

P1
Q= √ S −P 1 =
2 2
cos φ = = 0.97 33.3 vars
S

19. Has the reactive power consumed by the circuit decreased between step 9 and step
18?
Yes No

20. Has the line current been reduced by a significant amount with the addition of
capacitance?
Yes No

21. Is the active power consumed by the RL load approximately the same with and
without capacitance?
Yes No
 22. Ensure that the Power Supply is turned off, the voltage control is full ccw, and remove
all leads and cables.

CONCLUSION

You determined the active, relative and apparent power for an inductive, load, and were able
to observe the effect produced by adding capacitance in parallel with the load. You saw how
the power factor can be improved with the addition of capacitance, and you were able to
demonstrate that line current can be reduced without affecting the amount of active power
consumed by the load.

Capacitor add in parallel:

Figure: Before adding capacitance(RL)
Figure: Phase diagram of RLC Circuit
Figure: Graph of current in RLC
Figure: RLC circuit