Nandini Gupta

ngupta@iitk.ac.in
L3.5
•The three-phase system is by far the most common
polyphase system used for generation, transmission, and
heavy power utilization of ac electric energy because of its
economic and operating advantages.
•An ideal three-phase source generates three sinusoidal
voltages of equal amplitudes displaced from each other by
an angle of 120° in time.
• Even though voltages and currents are sinusoidal, the
power delivered to a balanced load is constant for a three-
phase system.
 Positive Sequence:
A-B-C: A leads B by
1200 and C by 2400

+ sequence - sequence
There will be three e.m.f.s
chasing each other
around the loop and these
would produce a
circulating current in that
loop.
However, we can show that
the resultant e.m.f. between
these two points is zero and
that there is therefore no
circulating current when
these points are
connected together.
What is of importance is that the ‘start’ of
one phase should be connected to the
‘finish’ of another phase, so that the arrows
representing the positive directions of
the e.m.f.s point in the same direction
round the mesh formed by the three
windings.
L4
Assume the three loads are
exactly alike, the phase
currents have the same peak
value, Im, and differ in phase by
120°.

With a balanced load,

the resultant current in
the neutral conductor is
zero at every instant;
hence this conductor can
be dispensed with, thereby
giving us the three-wire
star-connected system.
The voltage given for a three-phase system is always the line voltage unless it is
stated otherwise.
L5
P = 3V ph I ph cos ϕ

P = 3Vl I l cos ϕ

Q = 3V ph I ph sin ϕ

Q = 3Vl I l sin ϕ

S=P+jQ
Since the above proof does not assume a balanced load or sinusoidal
waveforms, it follows that the sum of the two wattmeter readings gives the
total power under all conditions.

Can you prove the same for a delta connection?

 The sum of the two wattmeter readings
gives the total active power

it should be noted that this proof assumes a balanced load and sinusoidal
voltages and currents.
METHOD 1
 The practice is to take P1 as the smaller
METHOD 2 of the two readings

METHOD 3

When the power factor of the load is 0.5 lagging, φ is

60°;

When PF is less than 0.5 lagging, φ is greater than 60°

and (30° + φ) is greater than 90°. Thereading on W1 is
negative.
It is necessary to reverse the connections to either the
current or the voltage coil, but the reading thus
obtained must be taken as negative when the total
active power and the ratio of the wattmeter readings
are being calculated.
Typical power-system structure
Typical electric power distribution system
Single-phase, three-wire residential wiring circuit
One-line (single-line) diagram of part of a typical
three-phase power system
Simple model of part ofan operating power system.