AC Power Analysis

For any system, the power delivered to a load at any instant is defined by the product of the
applied voltage and the resulting current; that is,

In this case, since v and i are sinusoidal quantities, let us establish a general case where

Substituting the above equations for v and i into the power equation will result in

If we now apply a number of trigonometric identities, the following form for the power
equation will result:

Where V and I are the rms values.

The average power still appears as an isolated term that is time independent.

POWER IN RESISTIVE CIRCUIT

For a purely resistive circuit, v and i are in phase, and 𝜃 = 0°. Substituting 𝜃 = 0° into

The total power delivered to a resistor will be dissipated in the form of heat.
The magnitude of apparent power is determined by

1
POWER IN INDUCTIVE CIRCUIT

For a purely inductive circuit, v leads i by 90°, Therefore, 𝜃 = 90°. Substituting 𝜃 = 90° into

The net flow of power to the pure (ideal) inductor is zero over a full cycle, and no energy is
lost in the transaction.
The peak value of the curve VI is defined as the reactive power associated with a pure
inductor.
In general, the reactive power associated with any circuit is defined to be VI sin 𝜃.

POWER IN CAPACITIVE CIRCUIT

For a purely capacitive circuit, i leads v by 90°, Therefore, 𝜃 = 90°. Substituting 𝜃 = 90° into

2
The power delivered by the source to the capacitor is exactly equal to that returned to the
source by the capacitor over one full cycle.
The net flow of power to the pure (ideal) capacitor is zero over a full cycle, and no energy is
lost in the transaction.

The reactive power associated with the capacitor is equal to the peak value of the pC curve, as
follows:

THE POWER TRIANGLE

The three quantities average power, apparent power, and reactive power can be related in
the vector domain by

3
If a network has both capacitive and inductive elements, the reactive component of the power
triangle will be determined by the difference between the reactive powers delivered to each.

Since the reactive power and average power are always angled 90° to each other, the three
powers are related by the Pythagorean theorem; that is,

EXAMPLE 1
Find the total number of watts, volt-amperes reactive, and volt-amperes, and the power factor
FP for the network of

4
 POWER FACTOR CORRECTION

Power factor correction (PFC) aims to improve power factor, and therefore power
quality. It reduces the load on the electrical distribution system, increases energy efficiency
and reduces electricity costs. It also decreases the likelihood of instability and failure of
equipment.

Power factor is the ratio between the useful (true) power (kw) to the total (apparent)
power (kva) consumed by an item of a.c. electrical equipment or a complete electrical
installation.

When the power factor is less than one the ‘missing’ power is known as reactive power which
unfortunately is necessary to provide a magnetising field required by motors and other
inductive loads to perform their desired functions. Reactive power can also be interpreted as
wattles, magnetising or wasted power and it represents an extra burden on the
electricity supply system and on the consumer’s bill.

Reasons for poor power factors

 A significant phase difference between the voltage and current at the load
terminals,
A poor power factor is generally the result of an inductive load such as an induction
motor, a power transformer, a ballast in a luminaire, a welding set or an induction
furnace.
 It can be due to a high harmonic content or a distorted current waveform.
A distorted current waveform can be the result of a rectifier, an inverter, a variable
speed drive, a switched mode power supply, discharge lighting or other
electronic loads.

5
Solutions
A poor power factor due to inductive loads can be improved by the addition of power factor
correction equipment

Power factor correction is the process of compensating for the lagging current by creating
a leading current by connecting capacitors to the supply. A sufficient capacitance is
connected so that the power factor is adjusted to be as close to unity as possible.

Consider a motor with a current draw of 10 Amps and a power factor of 0.75. The useful
current is 7.5 A. The useful power from the motor is 230 × 7.5 = 1.725kW but the total power
that has to be supplied is 230 × 10 =2.3 kVA. Without power factor correction, to achieve the
required output of 1.725 kW (7.5 A) a power of 2.3 kVA (10 A) has to be supplied. A current
of 10 A is flowing but only 7.5 A of that current is producing useful output.

Why improve power factor?

The benefits that can be achieved by applying the correct power factor correction are:

 Environmental benefit. Reduction of power consumption due to improved energy

efficiency. Reduced power consumption means less greenhouse gas emissions and
fossil fuel depletion by power stations.
 Reduction of electricity bills
 Extra kVA available from the existing supply
 Reduction of I2R losses in transformers and distribution equipment
 Reduction of voltage drop in long cables. Extended equipment life
 Reduced electrical burden on cables and electrical components.

6
Three common loads are

 heating elements,
 lighting devices and
 Motors or compressors.

The first two are fairly obvious, but the latter are also quite common, although often hidden
from view inside devices such as refrigerators, air conditioners and heat pumps.

We can classify loads in terms of their typical impedance.

 Devices such as baseboard electrical heating units, toasters, coffee

makers and electric ovens are classified as resistive heating devices. The load they
present is easily approximated as a simple resistance. The same is true for
incandescent lights, however, there can be a very large change in resistance between
the on and off states of incandescent lights.
 Motors, and other devices integrating motors such as compressors, present an
inductive impedance. This is due to the large coils of wire, or windings, inside the
motor. Any motorized electrical device falls into this category, such as a washing
machine, drill press or fan.

Efficiency
Efficiency is defined as usable power output divided by applied power input and is denoted by the
Greek letter eta, η. Normally it is expressed as a percentage and it can never be over 100%.

Efficiency = Pout/Pinput

Motors lose power in the form of mechanical losses (e.g., friction) and electrical losses (e.g.,
resistance of windings). Motors are rated in terms of their output power, not the power they
draw from the source. For example, a motor with a 1 HP rating might be said to generate 1
HP (approximately 745.7 W) at the shaft. If the motor is 90% efficient, the electrical draw
would be 745.7 W/0.9 or 829 W. This situation is further complicated by the phase angle
(i.e., power factor) of the motor due to reactive elements, as noted in the previous sections.

Example:

A certain 120 VAC RMS 60 Hz 1.2 HP motor has an efficiency of 90% and a lagging power
factor of 0.85. Determine the apparent power and the current drawn from the system. Also
draw the power triangle. 1 HP ≈ 745.7 watts.

Sol:

The motor output is 1.2 horsepower which is equivalent to:

Pwatts ≈1.2 HP×745.7 W/HP

Pwatts ≈895 W

7
The input power required to achieve this is computed

Pinput = Pout/efficiency = 895/0.9 = 994W

S = P/pf = 994/0.85 = 1170VA

The reactive power (Q) can be computed as

Q = √𝑆 2 − 𝑃2 = 614VAR

The current is found

S =Vrms*Irms

Irms = S/Vrms = 1170VA/120V = 9.75A

Example

For the motor described in the example above, determine an appropriate component that
when placed in parallel will produce unity power factor. Draw the complete power triangle
for the system and determine the new current draw.

Sol:

In the above Example, the reactive power was determined to be 617 VAR and was inductive,
so we'll need 617 VAR capacitive to compensate. The new power triangle is shown in Figure.
The source voltage was stated to be 120 V. We can use a variation on power law to determine
the required reactance.

8
 Fig: Power triangle for the corrected system

Now use the capacitive reactance formula to determine the capacitance value. The line
frequency was specified as 60 Hz.

After correction, the apparent power and real power are the same. Thus,

The current draw has been reduced by nearly 1.5 amps, a considerable savings. The new
current is 85% of what it used to be.

Example:

The system shown in Figure is supplied by a 240 VAC RMS 60 Hz source. Load 1 is 1000
watts of resistive heating elements. Load 2 is a 3 HP motor with an efficiency of 92% and a
lagging power factor of 0.75. Load 3 is a capacitor bank equivalent to 75 μF. Draw the
system power triangle and determine whether or not load 3 is appropriate to bring the system
power factor to unity.

9
First, determine the power triangle for the motor. Then we can add the other loads to it to
create a system power triangle. The motor output is 3 HP which is equivalent to:

The computations for apparent and reactive power follow.

Fig: Power triangle for the motor

10
Now for the capacitor. First, we need to determine the reactance, then we can use the v2/Z
form of power law to determine Q.

There are no other reactive elements in the system to consider. We have 515 fewer capacitive
VAR than inductive VAR, so the correction will not be ideal. We would need to increase the
total capacitance by about 24 μF to achieve a power factor of unity. The system power
diagram with all of the individual parts is shown in Figure. This is then simplified to the final
system power triangle as shown in Figure. The system PF is 0.989 lagging.

Fig: Power components for the system

Fig: Final power triangle for the system

11