Electrical Power Measurement

Real/ Reactive & Apparent Power

We know that reactive loads such as inductors and capacitors

dissipate zero power, yet the fact that they drop voltage and
draw current gives the deceptive impression that they
actually do dissipate power.

This “phantom power” is called reactive power, and it is

measured in a unit called Volt-Amps-Reactive (VAR), rather
than watts.

The mathematical symbol for reactive power is (unfortunately)

the capital letter Q.

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The actual amount of power being used, or dissipated,
in a circuit is called true power, and it is measured in
watts (symbolized by the capital letter P, as always).

The combination of reactive power and true power is

called apparent power, and it is the product of a
circuit's voltage and current, without reference to
phase angle.

Apparent power is measured in the unit of Volt-

Amps (VA) and is symbolized by the capital letter S.

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As a rule,

true power is a function of a circuit's dissipative elements, usually

resistances (R).

Reactive power is a function of a circuit's reactance (X).

Apparent power is a function of a circuit's total impedance (Z).

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 Resistive Load only

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 Reactive Load Only

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 Resistive/reactive load

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 These three types of power -- true, reactive, and apparent --
relate to one another in trigonometric form. We call this
the power triangle:

Using the laws of trigonometry, we can solve for the length of any side (amount of any type
of power), given the lengths of the other two sides, or the length of one side and an angle.
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 Power measurements in AC circuits present more
difficult measurement problems, even more so in
poly phase circuits. Since the flow of current in an AC
circuit constantly changes direction (alternating
current) due to the alternating polarity of the
voltage, the power in an AC circuit is not as easy to
measure as in a DC circuit.

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 Measuring Power in AC Circuits

In a purely resistive circuit, the voltage and current

relationship would be as shown in Figure and power
measurements could simply be made by measuring the RMS
current and voltage and applying the formula P=EI.

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 AC circuits are seldom purely resistive since there is usually
some reactance (impedance) present (inductive or capacitive).

When reactance is present, it influences the relationship of the

voltage to the current in the circuit so that true power is no
longer represented by P=EI.

Figure shows voltage and current in a circuit whose load is both

resistive and inductive.
The formula P=EI can no longer be applied since E and I are
“out of phase” with each other and this phase difference
must be accounted for. This phase difference is called
Phase Angle (Ø).
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 Phase Angle
Phase Angle is defined as the difference in degrees by which current leads
voltage in a capacitive circuit or lags voltage in an inductive circuit. In series
circuits, it is equal to the angle whose tangent is given by the ratio X ÷ R and is
expressed by the arc tan X ÷ R, where
X = the inductive or capacitive reactance in ohms and
R = the non-reactive resistance in ohms of the combined resistive and reactive
components of the circuit under consideration.
Therefore,
in a purely resistive circuit Ø = 0°
in a purely reactive circuit Ø = 90°
also when
Ø = 0°, Cos Ø =1, and P = EI
Ø = 90°, Cos Ø = 0, and P = 0.
When there is a phase angle difference between voltage and current, the
formula for true power becomes
P = EI Cos Ø
Cos Ø is called the “Power Factor” which is created by this phase difference.

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 Power Factor

The power factor of any AC circuit is equal to the power in watts divided by the apparent power in
volt-amperes which is equal to the cosine of the phase angle and is expressed by
EI Cos Ø
PF = = Cos Ø
EI

Where,

P F = the circuit load power factor

EI Cos Ø = the true power in watts
EI = the apparent power in volt-amperes
E = the applied potential in volts
I = the load current in amperes

Therefore,

in a purely resistive circuit Ø = 0° and P F = 1

and in a reactive circuit, Ø = 90° and P F = 0

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 Standard Formulas for Power Measurement

DC Circuits AC Circuits
P = EI P = EI Cos Ø
P = E2÷R P = E2 Cos Ø÷Z
P = I2R P = IZ Cos Ø
P = EI p.f.
Z = absolute value of impedance in ohms

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 Meters
The three most common types of meters
used in the power Industry are

DC Voltmeters and Ammeters,

AC Voltmeters and Ammeters, and

Watt meters.

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 DC Meters
PMMC - Permanent-Magnet, Moving-Coil Meter
Many direct-current ammeters and
voltmeters are designed to measure current
and voltage by making use of the well-
known fact that
when a current-carrying conductor is placed
in a magnetic field,
a force is exerted on the conductor.
Furthermore, the force is directly
proportional to the current.
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 Principle of Operation

The current to be measured is passed through the

movable coil, where it reacts with the magnetic field of
the permanent magnet, thus creating a torque on the
coil.

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 The coil rotates until the torque on it is balanced
by the restoring spring. This spring is designed so
that its torque is directly proportional to the angle
through which the coil rotates, and the uniform
magnetic field is oriented so that the force on the
coil is always perpendicular to its axis.

Thus, the deflection of the pointer is directly

proportional to the current in the movable coil.

The numerical value of the current is read from a

calibrated scale placed at the end of the pointer.
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 One of the most important characteristics of
the permanent-magnet moving-coil
instrument is that
a given coil, or meter movement, can be
used to measure a wide range of currents
and voltages.
The range of the meter is controlled by the
choice of resistors, which are electrically
connected to the moveable coil.

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 PMMC as Ammeter

The basic direct-current ammeter circuit consists

of a PMMC meter movement in parallel with a
resistor, as shown.

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 The purpose of the shunting resistor R is to
control the amount of S current passing
through the meter movement.
Thus the shunting resistor R and the meter
movement S can be thought of as forming a
current-dividing circuit.
For example, one commercially available
meter movement is rated at 50 mV and 1
mA.

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 PMMC as a Volt Meter

When the PMMC meter movement is used to

measure direct-current voltages, the movement
is connected in series with a resistor as shown .

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 The purpose of the series resistor Rv is to
limit the voltage applied to the meter
movement.
Thus, the series resistor R and the meter v
movement can be thought of as forming a
voltage-divider circuit, which divides the
voltage at the terminals of the voltmeter to a
value within the voltage rating of the meter
movement.

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 OHM Meter

It consists of a PMMC movement in series

with a battery and a regulating resistance.

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 The ohmmeter terminals are short circuited, and
the regulating resistor R is adjusted to give full-
scale deflection of the meter.

This corresponds to zero resistance on the scale.

When the unknown resistance R is connected to

the ohmmeter terminals, the x deflection is less
than full-scale, and hence a calibrated scale can be
constructed reading from right to left.

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 AC Meters
We look at two kinds of ac meter design –

the moving-coil (electrodynamometer) and

moving-iron.

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The Electrodynamometer

The electrodynamometer is often considered the basic

indicating meter for low-frequency sinusoidal
measurements.

It differs from the permanent-magnet, moving-coil

meter previously described in that the permanent-
magnet is replaced by a fixed coil, that carries the same
current as the moving coil.
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 The torque exerted on the moving-coil of the
electrodynamometer is proportional to the meter
current squared. This follows directly from the fact
that the current in the moving-coil is reacting with a
magnetic field established by the same current in the
fixed coil.

Since the torque is proportional to the current

squared, it is unidirectional. It should also be evident
that if the meter current is varying with time, the
torque exerted on the moving-coil must also vary with
time.

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 However, the inertia of the moving parts, along
with the damping of the meter movement, keeps
the moving-coil from responding to the
instantaneous torque, and consequently the
deflection is proportional to the average torque
exerted on the coil.
It follows, therefore, that the deflection of the
meter is proportional to the average of the current
squared. Since the RMS value is simply the square
root of the average of the current squared, the
meter scale is easily calibrated to read the RMS
value of the metered current.

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 The electrodynamometer can be used as
either an ammeter or a voltmeter. The
technique is the same as described for the
PMMC movement.
That is, a resistance is added in series with
the coils to form a voltmeter and in parallel
with the moving-coil to form an ammeter.
The amplitude range of currents and
voltages that can be measured with the
electrodynamometer can be extended by
means of instrument transformers.

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 Moving-iron Meters
In the moving-iron meter movement, the
moving element consists of a piece of easily
magnetized metal.
The movable piece of iron is located in the
magnetic field of a fixed electrical coil.
When the coil is energized, the iron moves
toward a position that will maximize the
magnetic flux linking the electrical coil.

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 Three moving-iron configurations that are used in
commercial meters are shown in a, b, and c.
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 In the plunger arrangement, the plunger
attempts to center itself in the coil
whenever the coil is energized.
In the rotating-vane arrangement, the vane
twists so that its plane is perpendicular to
the plane of the energized coil. The coil and
vane are tilted at approximately 100o.
In the concentric-vane arrangement, the outside
vane is stationary and tapered. As the coil
establishes a magnetic field upward through the
concentric vanes, the movable vane rotates toward
the tapered end of the fixed vane to maximize the
magnetic flux linking the coil.
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 Wattmeter

Power is measured by means of the

electrodynamometer wattmeter.

The electrodynamometer movement in the

wattmeter is very similar to the
electrodynamometer.

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 The basic difference between the
movements is that in the wattmeter the
fixed and moving coils are not connected in
series.
The fixed coils are designed to carry the
load current, and
the moving coil is designed to carry a small
current that is directly proportional to the
load voltage.

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 The instrument transformer can be thought
of as a device that reduces sinusoidal
currents and voltages to levels that can be
safely handled by the electrodynamometer.

Current Transformer

Potential Transformer

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 Potential Transformer

Potential Transformer or Voltage Transformer are used

in electrical power system for stepping down the system
voltage to a safe value which can be fed to low ratings meters
and relays.

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 Current Transformer
A current transformer is a type of "instrument transformer" that is designed to
provide a current in its secondary which is accurately proportional to the current
flowing in its primary.

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 In the typical current transformer
application, the primary winding consists of
one to a few turns of wire.
The primary wire size is much larger than the
secondary wire size.
The number of secondary winding turns is a
selected multiple of the primary turns.

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 The output voltage is exactly proportional to
the primary voltage times the turns' ratio.
There is no regulation drop.

There are no losses. Since there are no

parasitic components the ideal current
transformer is 100% accurate.

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 The conservation of energy requires that the
output power equals the input power,
hence
Vp x Ip must equal Vs x Is.
Since Vs = Vp x Ns / Np,
it can be shown that
Is = Ip x Np / Ns.
Is = Vs / RL,
hence Ip = Ns x Vs / ( RL x Np ).

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 There are two basic types of current transformers
wound and toroidal.

Wound current transformers consist of an integral

primary winding that is inserted in series with the
conductor that carries the measured current.

Toroidal or donut-shaped current transformers do

not contain a primary winding. Instead, the wire
that carries the current is threaded through a
window in the toroidal transformer.

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 Current transformers have many performance
specifications
primary current,
secondary current,
insulation voltage,
accuracy, and
burden.
Insulation voltage represents the maximum insulation that
current transformers provide when connected to a power
source.
Burden is the maximum load that devices can support
while operating within their accuracy ratings. Typically,
burden is expressed in volt-amperes (VA), the product of
the voltage applied to a circuit and the current.
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 Testing of CT

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 Dangers of CT

CT Circuits can easily provide enough

voltage and associated current to inflict
lethal wounds
if open-circuited

while primary current is flowing.

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 CT Open Circuit Voltage

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 Thank you

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