POWER FACTOR

IMPROVEMENT

Presented by: Supervisor:

• Maqsood Ahmad Shah • Dr. Syed Basit Bukhari
• Reg# 277187
• Discipline: Electrical Engineering
(power)
 Contents

 Power Triangle
 Power factor
 Causes of low power factor
 Disadvantages of low power factor
 Significance of improvement of power factor
 Power factor improvement techniques
 Power (Basic Terminologies)

 Real Power
 Actual amount of power being used or dissipated in the circuit
 It is measured in Watts
 P = VI Cosθ
 Reactive Power
 Amount of power absorbed/ returned by reactive loads
 It is measured in KVAR
 Q = VI Sinθ
 Apparent Power
 Combination of reactive power and active power
 It is measured in KVA
 S = VI
 Power Factor

  
 Measure of electrical power into useful work by load
 Technically, it can be defined as
“ Ratio of active power (kW) to apparent power (KVA)” i.e. P.F =
OR
“Cosine of angle between voltage and current” P.F = COSθ
 Causes of low power factor

 When KW becomes small in relation to KVA which is due to large KVAR

 Main causes od large KVAR are Inductive loads
 Inductive loads
Major inductive loads in the power system are:
 Induction motor
 Transformer
 Induction generator (For Wind Power generation)
 High intensity discharge lighting like arc lamp etc.
 Causes of low power factor (Continued)

 Reactive power (KVAR) required by reactive loads increases the amount of apparent power (KVA)
 The increase in KVAR and KVA will increase the angle θ measured between KW and KVA as shown in the fig.
 As θ increases, Cosθ (power factor) decreases

KV
A2
KVAR2 KVA
1
KVAR1

KW
 Disadvantages of low power factor
  
 Power factor play an important role in A.C circuits since power consumed depends on this factor
Relation between power factor and current is given by

 According to above equation at low power factor, large current will flow through conductor. Due to large
current flowing
 Greater conductor size will be required
 Large copper losses
 Large KVA rating of equipment
 Poor voltage regulation
 Reduced handling capacity of system
 Significance of Power Factor Improvement
  

 Less power losses (R losses) in the power system

 Consumer will have to pay low utility fee by
 Reducing peak KW demand
 Eliminating the power factor penalty
 Less voltage drop in power lines due to low current flowing in conductor
 More number of units (KWH) are delivered to consumers, so profit of utility is increased
 Power Factor Improvement Techniques

Usually power factor of large generating station is in the range of 0.8 or 0.9. However sometimes it is lower due to
large reactive load on the system. So special steps should be taken to handle this. Following equipment are used in
the power system to improve the power factor.
 Static capacitors
 Synchronous condenser
 Phase Advancers
Each equipment can improve power factor. But for economically usage, each equipment is used in a different
application
 Static Capacitor

 Static Capacitor is connected in parallel with the equipment operating at lagging power factor
 Capacitor draws leading current and partially or completely neutralizes the reactive component
 For three phase loads, capacitors can be connected in delta or star
Static Capacitors (Continued)

 Advantages
 Have low losses
 Requires little maintenance as there is no rotating parts in it
 Can be easily installed as no foundation is required
 Disadvantages
 They have short service life ranging from 8 to 10 years.
 They are easily damaged if the voltage exceeds the rated value.
 Once the capacitors are damaged, their repair is uneconomical.
Synchronous Condenser

 A synchronous motor takes a leading current when over-excited and, therefore, behaves as a capacitor.
 An over-excited synchronous motor running on no load is known as synchronous condenser.
 When such a machine is connected in parallel with the supply, it takes a leading current which partly neutralizes
the lagging reactive component of the load. Thus the power factor is improved.
Synchronous condenser (Continued)

 Advantages
 By varying the field excitation, the magnitude of current drawn by the motor can be changed. Therefore power
factor can be controlled easily
 Above 500 KVA it is an economical solution
 Disadvantages
 There are considerable losses in the motor.
 The maintenance cost is high.
 It produces noise.
 Except in sizes above 500 kVA, the cost is greater than that of static capacitors of the same rating.
 As a synchronous motor has no self-starting torque, therefore, an auxiliary equipment has to be
provided for this purpose. Note.
Phase Advancers

 Exciting ampere turns for induction motors can be provided from some other a.c. source, then the stator winding
will be relieved of exciting current and the power factor of the motor can be improved.
 The exciting amperes are provided by the phase advancer which is simply an a.c. exciter.
 The phase advancer is mounted on the same shaft as the main motor and is connected in the rotor circuit of the
motor. It provides exciting ampere turns to the rotor circuit at slip frequency.
 By providing more ampere turns than required, the induction motor can be made to operate on leading power
factor like an over-excited synchronous motor
Phase Advancers (Continued)

 Advantages
 lagging kVAR drawn by the motor are considerably reduced.
 Secondly, phase advancer can be conveniently used where the use of synchronous motors is inadmissible.
Disadvantage
 However, the major disadvantage of phase advancers is that they are not economical for motors below 200 H.P.