AC Power

Single-Phase Power, Complex Power, Power Triangle, Power

Factor, Three-Phase Power

References:
[1] “Chapter 1 Article 1.4 Power in Single-Phase AC Circuits” in Power System
Analysis By J. J. Grainger, W. D. Stevenson Jr.
[2] Textbook.
[3] “Appendix A: Three-Phase Circuits” in Electric Machinery Fundamentals By S. J.
Chapman, 5th Edition.

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  Instantaneous voltage across load given by 𝑣𝑎𝑛 = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡
 Instantaneous load current given by 𝑖𝑎𝑛 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 cos 𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃
 Instantaneous power given by
𝑝 = 𝑣𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑎𝑛 = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡 cos 𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 − −(1.8)
 ‘𝜃’ is positive for current lagging voltage and negative for current
Power in leading voltage
 ‘𝑝’ is positive for “positive 𝑣𝑎𝑛 and 𝑖𝑎𝑛 ” and negative when “either
Single-Phase 𝑣𝑎𝑛 or 𝑖𝑎𝑛 is negative”
Circuits  Power is positive when current is flowing in the direction of voltage
drop → energy flowing from supply into load
 Power is negative when current is flowing in opposite direction of
voltage drop → energy flowing from load to supply
 Using trigonometric identities [1] on eq 1.8 gives
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑝= cos 𝜃 1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔𝑡 + sin 𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝜔𝑡 − −(1.9)
2 2

1+𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔𝑡
[1] cos 𝛼 − 𝛽 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛼𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛽 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽; 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜔𝑡 = ; 𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝜔𝑡 =
2
2𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡

34
* * * * *

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  ‘𝑖𝑅 ’ in-phase with ‘𝑣𝑎𝑛 ’ while ‘𝑖𝑋 ’ lagging
‘𝑣𝑎𝑛 ’ by 90o
 Therefore, magnitude of ‘𝑖𝑎𝑛 ’ being ‘𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 ’
Power in related to 𝐼𝑅 and 𝐼𝑋 by
𝐼𝑅 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃; 𝐼𝑋 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
Single-Phase ⇒ 𝑖𝑅 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡
𝐴𝑙𝑠𝑜, 𝑖𝑋 = 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡
Circuits 𝑣𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑅 = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜔𝑡
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥
(Cont’d) ⇒ 𝑣𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑅 =
2
𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 1 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠2𝜔𝑡 [𝟏]
𝑣𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑋 = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜔𝑡𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜔𝑡
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝐼𝑚𝑎𝑥
𝑣𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑋 = 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑠𝑖𝑛2𝜔𝑡 [𝟐]
2

[1] 1st term of eq 1.9

[2] 2nd term of eq 1.9

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 Instantaneous power of purely
resistive loads is always
positive because instantaneous
current and voltage waveforms
are always either both positive
or both negative

Instantaneous power of
purely reactive [1] loads is
symmetric about time axis
because of equal
contributions of positive
and negative power

[1] inductive or capacitive.

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  Average value of 1st term of eq 1.9 termed real or active power
𝑉 𝐼
given by 𝑃 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃 = 𝑉 |𝐼|𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = |𝐼|2 𝑍 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = |𝐼|2 𝑅
2

Real Power (P)  Average value of 2nd term of eq 1.9 termed reactive power given
𝑉 𝐼
by 𝑄 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑚𝑎𝑥 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜃 = |𝑉||𝐼|𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = |𝐼|2 𝑍 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = |𝐼|2 𝑋
and Reactive 2
 Inductive circuit draws positive reactive power from supply while
Power (Q) capacitive circuit draws negative reactive power from supply
 Capacitive circuit said to supply reactive power than draw negative
reactive power

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  Voltage and current across load expressed as 𝑉 = |𝑉|∠𝛼 and 𝐼 =
|𝐼|∠𝛽, then complex power given by
𝑆 = 𝑉𝐼 ∗ = 𝑉 𝐼 ∠ 𝛼 − 𝛽 = 𝑉 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝛼 − 𝛽 + 𝑗 𝑉 𝐼 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝛼 − 𝛽
⇒ 𝑆 = 𝑉 𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 + 𝑗 𝑉 𝐼 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 = 𝑃 + 𝑗𝑄
 ‘Q’ positive for positive ‘𝛼 − 𝛽’ or for 𝛼 > 𝛽
Complex  When ‘I’ lags ‘V’

Power (S)  ‘Q’ negative for negative ‘𝛼 − 𝛽’ or for 𝛼 < 𝛽

 When ‘I’ leads ‘V’
 Complex power in polar coordinates is written as:
𝑺 = 𝑺 ∠𝜃 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑆 = 𝑃2 + 𝑄 2
 Magnitude of complex power is also referred to as apparent power

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  Ratio of real power to apparent power
𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑃 = 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
𝑃
⇒ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 =
𝑆
 ‘𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃’ termed as power factor (pf)
Power Factor  Measure of how much power transferred
and Power to load [1]does useful work
 ‘P’ being cosine component and ‘Q’ being
Triangle sine component of ‘S’ we can represent
them in phasor diagram as shown in figure
 This figure called power triangle
 If current lags voltage, then pf said to be
lagging pf otherwise said to be leading pf

[1] ‘S’ transferred to load has both ‘P’ and ‘Q‘ components.

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 1. Possible to get more power per kg of material from three-phase
Why Use 3- machine
2. 3-phase power constant at all times but 1-phase power pulsates
Phase Instead  More vibrations, sound and associated problems in large machines
of 1-Phase?  Use of Induction Motors made easier by allowing to start them
without special auxiliary windings

41
Figure A-1: (a) A three-phase generator, consisting of three single-phase sources
equal in magnitude and 120o apart in phase. (b) The voltages in each phase of the
generator. (c) The three phases of the generator connected to three identical loads.

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Figure A-1 (concluded): (d) Phasor diagram showing the voltages in each phase.

43
Balanced Three-Phase
System

44
Circuit
Configuration
“Common return line” also called
“neutral” connects –ve ends of
supply and load with each other

Each of the impedances ‘Z’ in

load are similar (Z=|Z|∠𝜃)

45
Currents in
Three Phases

46
  Sum of currents flowing into individual phases of load
 Proven to be zero for given circuit with identical impedances in all
Neutral or three phases of three-phase load (next slide)
Return Current  Balanced three-phase system – three generators have voltages
equal in magnitude but displaced by 120o in phase w.r.t each other
and in which all three loads are identical

47
Proof that neutral current in balanced three-phase system is zero.

48
Phase Sequence
Order in which voltages in individual phases peak in a three-
phase power system

49
  Objective: Establish phase sequence
‘abc’
Vc
Method
1. Draw three vectors 120o apart but *
do not label them yet
Establishing 2. Place a star on plane as shown in
Phase figure
3. Now rotate the vectors in anti- Va
Sequence clockwise direction but keep the
star fixed in space
4. The vector which crosses the star Vb
first labeled phase ‘a’, 2nd one
labeled phase ‘b’ and the last one
to cross the star labeled phase ‘c’

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Exercise 2
Establish phase sequences ‘acb’, ‘cab’ and ‘bca’. Comment on
your answers.

51
Voltage and Currents in
Three-Phase Circuits
Star/Wye (Y) and Delta (∆) Connections

52
 Three-Phase,
Y-Connected
System

Note: Resistive loads only make mathematical analysis easier. Same results are
applicable to all other load types as well.

53
  Voltages are given by:
𝑉𝑎𝑛 = 𝑉𝜙 ∠0𝑜
Voltages and 𝑉𝑏𝑛 = 𝑉𝜙 ∠ −120𝑜
Currents in Y- 𝑉𝑐𝑛 = 𝑉𝜙 ∠ −240𝑜

Connected  Since load is resistive so currents given as:

𝐼𝑎 = 𝐼𝜙 ∠0𝑜
System 𝐼𝑏 = 𝐼𝜙 ∠ − 120𝑜
𝐼𝑐 = 𝐼𝜙 ∠ −240𝑜

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  Obvious from figure that ‘𝐼𝐿 = 𝐼𝜙 ’ in any line
 From given circuit by using Kirchhoff’s voltage law, we get:

Relationship 𝑽𝑳𝑳 =
Between Line &
Phase Voltages/
Currents

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Observations from 𝑉𝐿𝐿 = 3𝑉𝜙 ∠30𝑜
• Line voltage is 3 or 1.732 times corresponding phase
voltage in Y-connection
• Line voltage is displaced by 30𝑜 w.r.t corresponding
phase voltage
• Line voltage leads corresponding phase voltage by
30𝑜 in ‘abc’ supply

56
Exercise 3A
Show that line voltage lags corresponding phase voltage by
30𝑜 in Y-connected ‘acb’ supply.

57
 Three-Phase,
Δ-Connected
System

Note: Resistive loads only make mathematical analysis easier. Same results are
applicable to all other load types as well.

58
  Voltages are given by:
𝑉𝑎𝑏 = 𝑉𝜙 ∠0𝑜
Voltages and 𝑉𝑏𝑐 = 𝑉𝜙 ∠ −120𝑜
Currents in Δ- 𝑉𝑐𝑎 = 𝑉𝜙 ∠ −240𝑜

Connected  Since load is resistive so currents given as:

𝐼𝑎𝑏 = 𝐼𝜙 ∠0𝑜
System 𝐼𝑏𝑐 = 𝐼𝜙 ∠ − 120𝑜
𝐼𝑐𝑎 = 𝐼𝜙 ∠ −240𝑜

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  Obvious from figure that ‘𝑉𝐿 = 𝑉𝜙 ’ in any line
 Applying KCL to node A in figure, we get:

Relationship 𝑰𝑳 =
Between Line
and Phase
Voltages

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Observations from 𝐼𝐿 = 3𝐼𝜙 ∠ −30𝑜
• Line current is 3 or 1.732 times corresponding phase
current in Δ-connection
• Line current is displaced by 30𝑜 w.r.t corresponding
phase current
• Line current lags phase current by 30𝑜 in ‘abc’ supply

61
Exercise 3B
Show that line current leads corresponding phase current by
30𝑜 in Δ-connected ‘acb’ supply.

62
  Almost all electric power generated, transmitted and distributed
in AC form
 Two types namely single-phase and three-phase most commonly
employed
Three-Phase  Single phase power – Single-phase alternator produces a single
sinusoidal voltage having some magnitude, frequency and phase
Power  Current set up when alternator loaded (typically also a sinusoid with
same fundamental frequency)

 Three-phase generator produces three sinusoidal voltages equal in

magnitude & frequency but with individual phase angles displaced
by 120o)

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Revision –
Voltages &
Currents in 3-𝜙
Systems

64
Three-Phase
Instantaneous From trigonometric identity: 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛼𝑠𝑖𝑛𝛽 =
1
2
cos 𝛼 − 𝛽 − cos(𝛼 + 𝛽)

Powers

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  Sum of single-phase powers in individual phases gives total three-phase
power supplied to the load
𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑡 𝑡 = 𝑉𝐼 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − cos 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 − 240𝑜 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 − 480𝑜

1 3 1 3
𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑡 𝑡 = 𝑉𝐼 3𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − cos 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 − − cos 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 − sin 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 − − cos 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 + sin 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃
2 2 2 2
Total Three- 1
𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑡 𝑡 = 𝑉𝐼 3𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 − cos 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 + cos 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 +
3 1
sin 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 + cos 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 −
3
sin 2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃 = 3VIcosθ
2 2 2 2
Phase Load  Hence, three-phase power supplied to load given by, 𝑷 = 𝟑𝐕𝐈𝐜𝐨𝐬𝜽
Power  Similarly,𝑄 = 3𝑉𝐼𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 and 𝑆 = 3𝑉𝐼
 Also, 𝑃 = 3𝑉𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 3𝐼2 𝑍𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 3𝐼2 𝑅
 Similarly, 𝑄 = 3𝐼2 𝑋 and 𝑆 = 3𝐼2 𝑍

66
Observations from 𝑷 = 𝟑𝐕𝐈𝐜𝐨𝐬𝜽
• Average value of single-phase power given by 𝑃 = VIcos𝜃
• Instantaneous value of single-phase power has pulsating
components (power pulsates at load)
• Instantaneous value of total three-phase power delivered to
load given by 𝑃 = 3VIcos𝜃 (constant power/no pulsations)

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  𝑃 = 3𝑉𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
Three-Phase  Where, ‘V’ and ‘I’ are RMS values of phase voltage and current resp.

Power in  For Star/Wye (Y) connection, ‘P’ represented in line quantities as:
𝑃 = 3 3𝑉𝐼𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
Star/Wye (Y)  Since, 𝑉𝐿𝐿 = 3𝑉 and 𝐼𝐿 = 𝐼 for star/wye (Y) connections, we get:
and Delta (Δ) 𝑃 = 3𝑉𝐿𝐿 𝐼𝐿 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
Connected  Similarly, 𝑃 = 3𝑉𝐿𝐿 𝐼𝐿 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 for delta (Δ) connected loads (Exercise)

Loads  Also, 𝑄 = 3𝑉𝐿𝐿 𝐼𝐿 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 and 𝑆 = 3𝑉𝐿𝐿 𝐼𝐿 for both star/wye (Y) and
delta (Δ) connected loads

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