University of Sharjah

College of Engineering
Department of electrical and computer Engineering

Fall Semester 2020/2021

Circuit Analysis 2 Laboratory

Experiment 1
“Power Factor Correction”

Date: 8/9/2020
Day / Time: [Tuesday] 2:00pm -4:45 pm
Section: 12

Instructors: Dr. Eqab Al Majali

Lab Engineer: SOL.ANDREW DOMINGO

Name: Halimah Hamid Al Refai Id: U18102559

Name: Abrar Mohammad Serhan Id: U18101230

Name: Ruqya Alhammadi Id: U18101605

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 University of Sharjah
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Departmentl;
0402206 Circuit Analysis 2 Laboratory Experiment # 1

Power Factor Correction

Objective:
1. To analyze powers dissipated by various passive elements in AC circuit.
2. To calculate the apparent power, real power, reactive power and power factor.
3. To practice power factor correction and verify experimentally.

Pre-Lab Assignment:
1. Consider the circuit shown in Figure 5, find Ig, VR, VL and VC in the following circuit,
vg(t) = 5 cos( 2ft), f = 2kHz
2. Find the complex power of the resistor, the capacitor, the inductor, and the source. Find
the power factor of the source.
3. Find the value of the capacitor (parallel to the source as shown in Figure 6) that would
improve the power factor to 0.9892.
4. After adding the capacitor, find Ig, IC, , IL, VR, VL and VC in the following circuit.
5. After adding the capacitor, find the complex power of the source and find its power
factor.
6. From these results, fill the calculations parts in Tables 1,2,3 and 4.

Apparatus:
 Tektronix Oscilloscope.
 Function Generator.
 1 10 Resistor
 1 100mH Inductor
 1 220nF Capacitor
 1 33nF Capacitor
 1 1K Resistor

Theory:

Average power is defined as the integral over a full period of the instantaneous power divided by the period.
T
1
Pavg   p(t ).t ( it is not a function of time)
T 0
Where T: is the period of p(t), which is half of the period for v(t) or i(t).
Using the above equation, the average power for sinusoidal forcing function will be
1
Pavg  Vm I m cos(   ) (for sinusoidal)
2
Where θ-φ : is the phase angle difference between v(t) and i(t)
The average power for the three passive elements will be:
1 Vm2 1 2
For R: The phase shift is 0  Pavg  Vm I m   I m .R
2 2R 2
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For L & C: The phase shift is 900  Pavg = 0

This means that L and C do not dissipate power. They just store it for later use. The average power is zero
for reactive elements but the instantaneous power is not zero all the time.

The capacitor and inductor actually store energy during one- quarter of the sinusoidal cycle and deliver the
stored energy to the circuit during the next quarter of the cycle. This type of power is called reactive power
and it measured in VAR. to find this type of power:
V 2C
QC  VC I C  I 2 C X C 
XC
V 2L
QL  VL I L  I L X L 
2

XL
The value of QC is negative for a capacitor and is positive for an inductor. In general the reactive power can
be calculated in any network has a combination of three passive sources. As follows.

1
Q  Vm I m Sin(   )  Vrms I rms Sin(   )
2

The total power generated by a forcing function is called the apparent power and it is measured in volt-
ampere (VA) unit. This power equals:

Papp  S  Vrms I rms

This apparent power consumed in the circuit either as dissipated power (real power) in a resistor or as stored
energy (reactive power) in inductors and capacitor. The complex power is

Q
S  P  jQ  P 2 Q 2  tan 1
P

The power factor (PF) is defined as angle between voltage and current
P
P.F .   cos
S
The factor value is between 0 and 90 . For purely resistive load  = 0o and P.F = 1, for purely inductive or
o o

capacitive load  = 90o and P.F = 0. If the load is inductive, it has lagging power factor, and the current lags
the voltage. If the load is capacitive, it has leading power factor.
The power triangle is a vectorial representation of the real power, reactive power, and apparent power. The
power triangle in figure (3-2) illustrates these relationships.

Figure 1: Power triangle

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Power factor Correction:

Most domestic loads (such as washing machines, air conditioners, and refrigerators) and industrial loads
(such as induction motors) are inductive and operate at a low lagging power factor. Although the inductive
nature of the load cannot be changed, we can increase its power factor.
Since most loads are inductive, as shown in Figure 2 (a), a load's power factor is improved or corrected by
deliberately installing a capacitor in parallel with the load, as shown in Figure 2 (b). The effect of adding
the capacitor can be illustrated using either the power triangle or the phasor diagram of the currents
involved. Figure 3 shows the latter, where it is assumed that the circuit in Figure 2 (a) has a power factor of
cos 1, while the one in Figure. 2(b ) has a power factor of cos 2.

It is evident from Figure 3 that adding the capacitor has caused the phase angle between the supplied voltage
and current to reduce from 1 to 2, thereby increasing the power factor. We also notice from the magnitudes
of the vectors in Figure 3 that with the same supplied voltage, the circuit in Figure 2(a) draws larger current
IL than the current I drawn by the circuit in Figure 2(b). Power companies charge more for larger currents,
because they result in increased power losses (by a squared factor, since P = I2 R). Therefore, it is beneficial
to both the power company and the consumer that every effort is made to minimize current level or keep the
power factor as close to unity as possible. By choosing a suitable size for the capacitor, the current can be
made to be completely in phase with the voltage, implying unity power factor.

We can look at the power factor correction from another perspective. Consider the power triangle in Figure
4. If the original inductive load has apparent power S1, then

QC P (tan 1  tan  2 )
C 
Vrms
2
Vrms2

P  S1 cos 1 , Q1  S1 sin 1  P tan  1

If we desire to increase the power factor from cos 1 to cos 2. without altering the real power (i.e., P = S2
cos 2.), then the new reactive power is

Q2  P tan  2

The reduction in the reactive power is caused by the shunt capacitor, that is,

QC  Q1  Q2  P(tan  1  tan  2 )

But since, Qc = V2rms/Xc = wCV2rms The value of the required shunt capacitance C is determined as
Note that the real power P dissipated by the load is not affected by the power factor correction because the
average power due to the capacitance is zero.

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 Figure 5: Series RLC circuit Figure6: Power factor correction circuit

The capacitor = 33 nf
Procedure: The following experimental steps are done to find the complex power produced by the source
and absorbed by the load before and after P.F. correction
1. Connect the circuit shown in Figure 5. Set vg to 10Vpp and f = 2kHz.
2. Measure the magnitude of Ig, VR, VL and VC in this circuit. Fill in Table 1.
3. Measure the phase difference between the source Vg and its current Ig . Fill in Table 1.
4. Connect the circuit shown in Figure 6. Select the value of the new capacitor as
you find it in the pre-lab. Set vg to 10 Vpp and f = 2kHz.
5. Measure the magnitude of Ig, IC, , IL, VR, VL and VC in the following circuit. Fill in Table 3.
6. Measure the phase difference between the source Vg and its current Ig . Fill in Table 3.
Vg(10Vp-p) = 3.54 Vrms
Ig (mA) VR(Vrms) VL(Vrms) VC(Vrms) Φ(degre
es)
Measured VR/R = 2.42 - 2.42 -43.11 3.21 46.89 0.932 - -43.11
43.11 131.0

Calculated 2.634 -41.83 2.634 - 3.31 48.17 0.953 -

41.83 131.8 -41.83

Table 1: Series RLC circuit (Figure 1)

P.F. value
P(Watt) QC(VAR) QL(VAR) SLoad (VA) Sg (VA) (specify if lagging
or leading)

Measured

Calculated 6.939mW -2.51mVAR 8.72mVAR 9.31mVA 9.31mVA 0.745

lagging

Table 2: Series RLC circuit (Figure 1)

Ig(new) IL(new) IC(33nF) VR(new) VL(new) VC(new) Φ(degrees)

(mA)
Measured 1.71 2.43 - 1.53 - 2.33 - 3.21 0.944 -2.73
-7.6 42.9 93.4 40.8 43.96 -130.2

Calculated 1.98 - 2.634 - 1.46 90 2.634 - 3.310 - 0.953 -

-8.425
8.425 41.83 41.83 48.17 131.8

Table 3: Power factor correction circuit (Figure 2)

P(new P.F. value

)
QL (new) QC(new) Qc(33nf) SLoad(new) Sg(new) (specify if lagging or
leading)

Measured

Calculated 6.937 8.72m -2.51 -5.16 9.31 7.013 0.989

mW VAR mVAR mVAR mVA mVA lagging
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 Table 4: Power factor correction circuit (Figure 2)

Results and Report:

1. Complete all the Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Table 1:

The Circuit connection

The Result :

01
Table 2:

01
Table 3:

The Circuit connection

The Result :

01
The Result :

01
Table 4:

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 2. Compare the both the calculated and measured values and give reasons for high errors.

In any expremeint we could have some errors which can happen cause of many
reasons sauch as:

1- Personal errors.
2- In the phase shift from because the values that we obtained from the oscilloscope
were changing.
3- In the vrms values from oscilloscope.
4- The resistance in the wire.
5- The elemnts don’t have the exactly value of what we want.
6- The resistor that we add it to the capacitor to correct the power factor may effect
the result too.

3. Draw the power triangle for this circuit before and after adding the capacitor.

power triangle before adding the capacitor power triangle after adding the capacitor

pf = 0.745 lagging pf = 0.989 laggimg

S = 9.31mVA S = 7.013mVA
Q = 6.21mVAR Q = 1.03mVAR

P = 6.939mW P = 6.937mW

Q = sqrt(S^2 – P^2) Q = sqrt(S^2 – P^2)

Q = sqrt(9.31^2 – 6.939^2) Q = sqrt(7.013^2 – 6.937^2)
Q = 6.21mVAR Q = 1.03mVAR
Angle = cos^-1(0.745) = -41.8 Angle = cos^-1(0.989) = - 8.51

4. Find the value of the real power supplied by the source before and after adding capacitor. Is it
the same in both cases, why?

Pbefore = 6.939mW , Pafter = 6.937mW

It’s almost the same value because the as well as any other storange element the capacitor has
a real power equal zero ( Pc = 0mW ) and you can see that there’s no change on the real
power in the triangle after changing the power factor by adding the capacitor.

5. Find the value of the reactive power supplied by the source before and after adding capacitor.
Is it the same in both cases, why?

Qbefore = 6.21mVAR , Qafter = 1.03mVAR

There are different because the changing in the power factor effects on the reactive power, so
if we increase the power factor the reactive power will decrease. And as we know that the
changing in the power factor cause of the capacitor, after we added the capacitor the angle’s
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 difference between the voltage and the current increased, then the power factor increased
while the reactive power decreased.

6. Why the magnitude of Ig after adding the capacitor is less than before?

Because the capacitor is a storage element so if we add a capacitor this will reduce the effect
of inductance load that also reduce the value of the Ig, also from the triangle we can realize
that if the appearent power increase the current will deacrese while the real powe is fixed.

7. Draw the phasor diagram of the voltage and current relationship before and after adding the
capacitor.

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CONCLUSION:

In this experemint we learned how to calculate the different type of porwer

and we epressed them by a triangle with an angle between the appearent
and real power which express the difference between the voltage’s angle and
current’s angle, these powers are:
1- Real power
2- Appearnet power
3- Reactive power
Also we learned that if we add a capacitor parallel with the circuit this won’t
effect the real power and it will stay the same, but it will effect the reactive
power by decreasing it. Also, we improved the power factor of our circuit by
using a capacitor and that will give as the maximum power that we need. In
addition, if we want to avoid any power losing, we have to minimize the
current using the general formula we have which it’s:
P = VrmsIrms*cos(angV-angI)

The formulas that we need are:

P = VrmsIrms*cos(angV-angI)
PF = cov(angV – ang I)
PF = S/P
Pavg = 0.5VmIm
Qc = VcIc
QL = VLIL
S = VrmsIrms
S = P + Jq
S = sqrt(Q^2 + P^2)
Ang = tan^-1( Q/P)

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