Lecture 3:

Balanced Delta-Load
Systems
THE LEARNING GOALS FOR THIS LESSON ARE:

• Know the basic delta three-phase connections

• Know how to calculate voltage and currents in balanced,
three-phase circuits with delta-connected loads.
• Know how to calculate complex power in balanced, three-
phase circuits with delta-connected loads.
Balanced Wye-Delta Connection

• Three phase sources are usually Wye connected and three

phase loads are Delta connected.
• There is no neutral connection for the Y-∆ system.
Balanced Delta-delta Connection

• Both the source and load are delta-connected and balanced.

THREE-PHASE DELTA-CONNECTED BALANCED LOADS
For delta connection, voltages across elements equal line voltages.
For phase currents

V AB
I AB 
Z AB

V BC
I BC 
Z BC

V CA
I CA 
Z CA

These phase currents also form a balanced set of phasors as they

did in the star connection. They have equal magnitudes and are out
of phase with each other by 120o.
THREE-PHASE DELTA-CONNECTED BALANCED LOADS
The line currents are obtained by using Kirchhoff’s current laws at
each node of the delta.

At node A
I A  I AB  I CA
 3I AB   30 o

At node B

I B  I BC  I AB

At node C

I C  I CA  I BC
THREE-PHASE DELTA-CONNECTED BALANCED LOADS
For a balanced delta load,
IA + IB + IC = 0
Then
IA + IB + IC = (IAB – ICA) + (IBC – IAB) + (ICA – IBC) = 0

To find the relationship between IA and IAB, that is the relationship

between the line current and the phase current in a delta load,
consider the following.
If we let
IAB = I amperes
then in ABC sequence
IBC = I - 120 amperes and ICA = I +120 amperes
These are phase current in the load.
THREE-PHASE DELTA-CONNECTED BALANCED LOADS
Phasor diagram:

Since I A  I AB  I CA
 3I AB   30 o

Then I A  3I AB and lags IAB by 30o.

Then in general the expression is

I L  3I ph
THREE-PHASE DELTA-CONNECTED BALANCED LOADS

Total complex power

120o VAB
VCA
*
S T  3V ph I ph 30o
VAN
120o 120o

VBC

ICA

120o VAB
o
120o IAB

120o

IBC
Example

A three-phase three-wire 415 V ABC system supplies a delta-

connected load whose phase impedance is 6045o .
Find the phase currents and the line currents in this system and draw
the phasor diagrams.

Solution
Firstly, let us draw the connection diagram.
Solution (continued)

For ABC sequence with line-to-line voltage of 415 V, we can write

VAB  41530 V

VBC  415  90 V

VCA  415150 V

To calculate the phase currents IAB, IBC, and ICA.

V AB 41530
I AB    6.9  15 A
Z 6045
Solution (continued)

V BC 415  90
I BC    6.9  135 A
Z 6045

V CA 415150
I CA    6.9105 A
Z 6045
Solution (continued)

To find the line currents IA, IB, and IC.

I A  I AB  I CA
 6.9  15  6.9105
 6.66  j1.78  1.78  j 6.66
 8.44  j8.44
 11 .94  45 A

I B  I BC  I AB
 6.9  135  6.9  15
 4.88  j 4.88  6.66  j1.78
 11 .54  j 3.1
 11 .95  165 A
Solution (continued)

To find the line currents IA, IB, and IC.

I C  I CA  I BC
 6.9105  6.9  15
 1.78  j 6.66  4.88  j 4.88
 3.1  j11.54
 11.9475 A

Notes: The currents IA, IB, and IC are of equal magnitude and are
spaced at 120o. They also lag their respective phase currents by
30o.
Solution (continued)

The phasor diagram for all currents is shown in the figure.

Solution (continued)

In this example it would be possible, after calculating IAB to find IBC

and ICA by following the phase sequence and separating them from
IAB by 120o.

I AB  6.9  15 A

I BC  6.9  15  120 A

 6.9-135 A

I CA  6.9  15  120 A

 6.9105 A
Solution (continued)

Consequently once finding IA you could follow the same sequence,

giving:

I A  11 .95  45 A

I B  11 .95  45  120 A

 11 .95-165 A

I C  11 .95  45  120 A

 11.9575 A
Power Factor
For the same reasons as when we calculated power factor in the
star-connected load, we must consider the voltage which causes the
current in the load. With a delta load there is only one voltage, the
phase-to-phase voltage, but there are two currents.
If we consider the impedance in A phase then we have VAB as the
voltage which causes IAB to flow and you will recall the formula:

V AB
I AB 
Z

So the angle of the power factor is the angle between VAB and
IAB. Thus the power factor for a delta circuit can be determined by
considering the impedance angle and applying the power factor
formula
PF = cos z
Exercise

A three-phase three-wire 300 V ABC sequence system supplies a

balanced delta load. Each phase impedance is made up of a
resistance of 35  and an inductance of 0.25 henries is series. The
system frequency is 50 Hz.
Draw the diagram of the load connections.
Determine the phase currents, line currents and draw the complete
phasor diagram.
Exercise

A three-phase star-connected generator having phase sequence

ABC and a phase-to-neutral voltage VAN of 200 volts supplies a
balanced delta load. The phase impedance of the delta load is 35-
29.
Determine the phase currents, line currents and power factor and
draw the complete phasor diagram.
Effect of Phase Reversal on Delta Load Currents
To determine the effect of phase reversal on the currents we must
consider the effect of the angular change of the voltage.
If the reversed phase sequence is CBA and VAN is taken as
reference, then the phase-to-phase voltages are now

VAB  V  30 volts

VAC  V90 volts

VCA  V  150 volts

Effect of Phase Reversal on Delta Load Currents
Here we want to find the relationship between IA and IAB with the
reverse phase sequence in the delta load.

If we let IAB = I  amperes

Then in CBA sequence
IBC = I+120 amperes
and
ICA = I -120
These are the phase currents in the load.
To find the line current IA, consider the figure shown.
I A  I AB  I CA
then
I A  3I AB and leads IAB by 30o.
Worked Example

A three-phase three wire 415 volt CBA system supplies a delta-

connected load whose phase impedance is 6045.
Find the phase currents and line currents in the system and draw the
phasor diagram.
 Solution
The voltage phase diagram is as shown in the figure.

The phase-to-phase voltages are

V AB  415  30 V

V BC  41590 V

V CA  415  150 V

Now the phase currents are

V AB 415  30
I AB    6.9-75 A
Z 6045
Solution (continued)

V BC 415  75  120

I BC    6.945 A
Z 6045

V CA 415  75  120

I CA    6.9  195 A
Z 6045

To calculate the line current IA, IB and IC.

I A  I AB  I CA
 6.9  75  6.9  195
 1.78  j 6.66  6.66  j1.78
 8.44  j8.44
 11 .95  45
Solution C(ontinued)
and

I B  11 .95  45  120

 11 .9575

I C  11 .95  45  120

 11 .95  165

Note that the line current IA is now leading the phase current IAB by
30. All other magnitudes are the same as the ABC case.
Calculation of power in delta-connected balanced loads
With delta-connected load, as it was with star-connected loads, the
average power dissipated in each phase is the same and is called
Pph.
The total power dissipated by the three-phase balanced load is
PT =3 Pph

The wattmeter is connected as shown in Figure x to measure the

single-phase power.
If z is the impedance angle of the load, then

IL
Pph  I phVph cos  z  VL cos  z watts
3
Then the power in the three-phase load is
IL
PT  3  VL cos  z  3I LVL cos  z watts
3

This formula is identical to the formula used to calculate the three-

phase balanced star total load power.
So, providing we know the line current and phase-to-phase (line)
voltage and the impedance angle, we can calculate the power of the
load without having to know how it is connected.
Worked Example
Three identical coils, each having a resistance of 20 and an
inductance of 0.5 H connected in delta to a three phase supply of 400
V; 50 Hz. Calculate the line current and the total power absorbed by
the load.

Solution
Firstly, let us draw the connection diagram.

Phase voltage
400V 0.5H
20  20 
V ph  400 V

0.5H
400V 400V 20  0.5H
Solution (continued)

Calculate the impedance of the coils.

Given: Rcoil  20 
Lcoil  0.5 H
Impedance of coil,
2 2
Z coil  Rcoil  jX coil  Rcoil  X coil 
where
X coil  2fL  2  50  0.5  157 
and
 X coil  157 
  tan 
1
  tan 1    83
 Rcoil   20 
Solution (continued)

Therefore,
 157 
Z coil  20 2  157 2  tan 1    15883


 20 
and

cos   cos 83  0.1264

Since it is a balanced load

V ph 400
I ph  I L    4.38 A
Z ph 158

Total power absorbed by load

PT  3VL I L cos   3  400  4.38  0.1264  383 W

The Y-  Transformation

Z3
ZA ZB

Z1 Z2
ZC

Z AZ B  Z B ZC  Z AZC
Z1 
ZB
Z AZ B  Z B ZC  Z AZC
Z2 
ZA
Z AZ B  Z B ZC  Z AZC
Z3 
ZC
The  - Y Transformation

Z3 ZA ZB

Z1 Z2 ZC

Z1Z 3
ZA  For balanced delta-connected
Z1  Z 2  Z3 load,

Z2Z3 Z1 = Z2 = Z 3 = Z 
ZB 
Z1  Z 2  Z 3
Z A = ZB = ZC = Z Y
Z1Z 2
ZC  Z
Z1  Z 2  Z 3 ZY 
3
BALANCED Y-SOURCE DELTA-LOAD CIRCUIT

• Presence of line impedance ZL in each line makes it difficult to

solve the circuit directly.
• Need to transform delta-connected load into a star-connected
load.
BALANCED Y-SOURCE DELTA-LOAD CIRCUIT

Circuit after delta-star transformation:

Worked Example

Given the following circuit find the phase currents flowing in the
delta-connected load.
Va  1100 Vrms
Vb  110  120 Vrms
Vc  110120 Vrms

Z L  10  j5 
Z   75  j 225 
Solution

Z
ZY   25  j 75 
3
Solution

Va
I aA   1.26  66 A rms
Z L  ZY
IbB  1.26  186 A rms and I cC  1.26  54 A rms

The voltages in the per-phase equivalent circuit are

VAN  I aAZY  99.65 Vrms

VBN  99.6  115 Vrms
VCN  99.6125 Vrms
Solution

The line-to-line voltages are

VAB  VAN  VBN  17235 Vrms

VBC  VBN  VCN  172  85 Vrms
VCA  VCN  VAN  172155 Vrms
VAB
I AB   0.727  36 A rms
Z
VBC
I BC   0.727  156 A rms
Z
VCA
ICA   0.72784 A rms
Z
Exercise
Given the following circuit. Compute the total power dissipated in the
load.

Va  1100 Vrms
Vb  110  120 Vrms
Vc  110120 Vrms
Z L  10  j5 
Z   75  j 225 

[Answer: 122.6 W]
END