ENU 307

Energy Power Systems

THREE PHASE SYSTEMS
Generating, transmitting, distributing, and using large blocks of electric power is accomplished with three-phase circuits

The basic structure of a three-phase system consists of voltage sources connected to loads by means of
transformers and transmission lines.

Transmission and Distribution of Electric Power

Circuits that are designed to handle large blocks of electric power. These are the circuits that are used to transport electric
power from the generating plants to both industrial and residential customers.
11.1 Balanced Three-Phase Voltages

A set of balanced three-phase voltages consists of three sinusoidal voltages that have identical amplitudes and frequencies but
are out of phase with each other by exactly 120.

Standard practice is to refer to the three phases as a, b, and c, and to use the a-phase as the reference phase. The three voltages
are referred to as the a-phase voltage, the b-phase voltage, and the c-phase voltage.

Only two possible phase relationships can exist between the a-phase voltage and the b- and c-phase voltages.

i) One possibility is for the b-phase voltage to lag the a-phase voltage by 120 in which case the c-phase voltage must lead the
a-phase voltage by 120 This phase relationship is known as the abc (or positive) phase sequence.
ii) The only other possibility is for the b-phase voltage to lead the a-phase voltage by 120 in which case the c-phase voltage
must lag the a-phase voltage by 120 This phase relationship is known as the acb (or negative) phase sequence. In phasor
notation, the two possible sets of balanced phase voltages are
 Another important characteristic of a set of balanced three-phase voltages is that the sum of the voltages is zero

Because the sum of the phasor voltages is zero, the sum of the instantaneous voltages also is zero; that is,

If we know the phase sequence and one voltage in the set, we know the entire set. Thus for a balanced three phase system,
we can focus on determining the voltage (or current) in one phase, because once we know one phase quantity, we know
the others
11.2 Three-Phase Voltage Sources

Three separate windings distributed around the periphery of the

stator.

Rotation of the electromagnet induces a sinusoidal voltage in

each winding

The phase windings are designed so that the sinusoidal

voltages induced in them are equal in amplitude and out of
phase with each other by 120

The phase windings are stationary with respect to the rotating

electromagnet, so the frequency of the voltage induced in each
winding is the same
There are two ways of interconnecting the separate phase windings to form a three-phase source: in either a wye (Y) or a
delta (∆) configuration.

neutral terminal
of the source
The model consists solely of ideal voltage. However, if the impedance of each phase winding is not negligible, we place the
winding impedance in series with an ideal sinusoidal voltage source. All windings on the machine are of the same
construction, so we assume the winding impedances to be identical.

The winding impedance of a three-phase generator is inductive

winding resistance

inductive reactance of the winding

Because three-phase sources and loads can be either Y connected or ∆ -connected=>
four different configurations:

We begin by analyzing the Y-Y circuit. The remaining three arrangements can be reduced to a Y-Y equivalent circuit, so
analysis of the Y-Y circuit is the key to solving all balanced three-phase arrangements.
11.3 Analysis of the Wye-Wye Circuit impedance of the lines connecting a phase of the source
to a phase of the load

internal
impedance
associated
with each impedance
phase winding of each
phase of
the load

impedance of the neutral conductor connecting

the source neutral to the load neutral
Included a fourth conductor that connects the source neutral to the load neutral.
A fourth conductor is possible only in the Y-Y arrangement

We can describe this circuit with a single node-voltage equation. Using the source neutral as the reference node and letting
Vn denote the node voltage between the nodes N and n, we find that the node-voltage equation is
This is the general equation for any circuit of the Y-Y configuration.
But we can simplify Eq. significantly if we now consider the formal definition of a balanced three-phase circuit. Such a
circuit satisfies the following criteria:
 There is no restriction on the impedance of a neutral conductor; its value has no effect on whether the system is
balanced. If the circuit in Fig. is balanced, we may rewrite

The right-hand side of Eq. is zero, because by hypothesis the numerator is a set of balanced three-phase voltages and is not
zero. The only value of VN that satisfies Eq. is zero. Therefore, for a balanced three phase circuit,

If VN is zero, there is no difference in potential between the source neutral, n, and the load neutral, N;
consequently, the current in the neutral conductor is zero. Hence we may either remove the neutral conductor
from a balanced Y-Y configuration (Io=0) or replace it with a perfect short circuit between the nodes n and N
(VN=0). Both equivalents are convenient to use when modeling balanced three-phase circuits.
We now turn to the effect that balanced conditions have on the three line currents

the current in each line is equal in amplitude and frequency and is 120 out of phase with the other two line currents

Thus, if we calculate the current IaA and we know the phase sequence, we have a shortcut for finding IbB and IcC
 single-phase equivalent circuit

Construct an equivalent circuit for the a-phase of the balanced Y-Y circuit. From this equation, the current in the a-phase
conductor line is simply the voltage generated in the a phase winding of the generator divided by the total impedance in
the a phase of the circuit

Neutral conductor has been replaced by a perfect short circuit

Because of the established relationships between phases, once we solve this circuit, we can easily write down the voltages
and currents in the other two phases. Thus, drawing a single phase equivalent circuit is an important first step in analyzing
a three phase circuit.
The current in the neutral conductor in Fig. is IaA which is not the same as the current in the neutral conductor of the
balanced three-phase circuit, which is

Thus the circuit shown in Fig. gives the correct value of the line current but only the a-phase component of the neutral current.
Whenever this single-phase equivalent circuit is applicable, the line currents form a balanced three-phase set, and the right-
hand side of Eq. sums to zero.

Once we know the line current in Fig, calculating any voltages of interest
is relatively simple.

Of particular interest is the relationship between the line-to-line voltages

and the line-to-neutral voltages. We establish this relationship at the load
terminals, but our observations also apply at the source terminals. The
line-to-line voltages at the load terminals: VAB, VBC, VCA
We can now describe the line-to-line voltages in terms of the line-to neutral voltages, using Kirchhoff’s voltage law:

To show the relationship between the line-to-line voltages and the line-to-neutral voltages, we assume a positive, or abc,
sequence. Using the line-to-neutral voltage of the a-phase as the reference

represents the magnitude

of the line-to-neutral
voltage
Equations reveal that

The only change is that the set of line-to-line voltages lags the set of line-to-neutral voltages by 30

If you know the line-to-neutral voltage at some point in the circuit, you can easily determine the line-to-line voltage at the
same point and vice versa.

Line voltage refers to the voltage across any pair of lines;

phase voltage refers to the voltage across a single phase.
Line current refers to the current in a single line;
phase current refers to current in a single phase
11.4 Analysis of the Wye-Delta Circuit

If the load in a three-phase circuit is connected in a delta, it can be transformed into a wye by using the delta-to-wye
transformation. When the load is balanced, the impedance of each leg of the wye is one third the impedance of each
leg of the delta, or

After the load has been replaced by its Y equivalent,

the a-phase can be modeled by the single phase
equivalent circuit shown in
We use this circuit to calculate the line currents, and we then use the line currents to find the currents in each leg of the
original Δ load. The relationship between the line currents and the currents in each leg of the delta can be derived using the
circuit shown in

When a load (or source) is connected in a delta, the current in

each leg of the delta is the phase current, and the voltage across
each leg is the phase voltage. Figure shows that, in the Δ
configuration, the phase voltage is identical to the line voltage.
To demonstrate the relationship between the phase currents and line currents, we assume a positive phase sequence and let
represent the magnitude of the phase current. Then

In writing these equations, we arbitrarily selected IAB as the reference phasor. We

can write the line currents in terms of the phase currents by direct application of
Kirchhoff’s current law:

Magnitude of the line currents is sqrt(3) times the magnitude of the phase currents
and that the set of line currents lags the set of phase currents by 30
11.5 Power Calculations in Balanced Three-Phase Circuits

Average Power in a Balanced Wye Load

we express the average power associated with the a phase as

we can find the power associated with the b- and c-phases:

All phasor currents and voltages are written in terms of the rms value of the sinusoidal function they represent.
In a balanced three-phase system, the magnitude of each line-to-neutral voltage is the same, as is the magnitude of each phase
current. The argument of the cosine functions is also the same for all three phases. We emphasize these observations by
introducing the following notation:

Moreover, for a balanced system, the power delivered to each

phase of the load is the same, so

The total average power delivered to the balanced Y connected load is simply three times the power per phase, or
Expressing the total power in terms of the rms magnitudes of
the line voltage and current is also desirable. If we let VL and
IL represent the rms magnitudes of the line voltage and
current, respectively, we can modify Eq. as follows:

For a balanced Y-connected load, the magnitude of the phase voltage is the magnitude of the line voltage divided by and
that the magnitude of the line current is equal to the magnitude of the phase current.

Calculate the total power delivered to the load, remember that is the phase angle between the phase voltage and
current.
Complex Power in a Balanced Wye Load

For a balanced load, the expressions for the reactive power are

For a balanced load

Power Calculations in a Balanced Delta Load

If the load is Δ-connected, the calculation of power—reactive or

complex—is basically the same as that for a Y-connected load.

The power associated with each phase is

Thus, in a balanced load, regardless of whether it

is Y- or -connected, the average power per phase
is equal to the product of the rms magnitude of
the phase voltage, the rms magnitude of the phase
current, and the cosine of the angle between the
phase voltage and current.
The expressions for reactive power and
complex power also have the same form
as those developed for the Y load:
Instantaneous Power in Three-Phase Circuits