ENERGY AUDITING & DEMAND SIDE MANAGEMENT (9A02808)

UNIT – IV
POWER FACTOR IMPROVEMENT
Power factor – methods of improvement, location of capacitors, Pf with non linear
loads, effect of harmonics on power factor, power factor motor controllers.
Definition
The power factor of an AC electric power system is defined as the ratio of the
active (true or real) power to the apparent power
Where
 Active (Real or True) Power is measured in watts (W) and is the power
drawn by the electrical resistance of a system doing useful work.
 Apparent Power is measured in volt-amperes (VA) and is the voltage on an
AC system multiplied by all the current that flows in it. It is the vector sum
of the active and the reactive power.
 Reactive Power is measured in volt-amperes reactive (VAR). Reactive
Power is power stored in and discharged by inductive motors, transformers
and solenoids
Reactive power is required for the magnetization of a motor but doesn't perform
any action. The reactive power required by inductive loads increases the amounts
of apparent power - measured in kilovolt amps (kVA) - in the distribution system.
Increasing of the reactive and apparent power will cause the power factor - PF - to
decrease.
It is common to define the Power Factor - PF - as the cosine of the phase angle
between voltage and current - or the "cosφ".

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Power factor is an important measurement in electrical AC systems because

 an overall power factor less than 1 indicates that the electricity supplier need
to provide more generating capacity than actually required
 the current waveform distortion that contributes to reduced power factor is
caused by voltage waveform distortion and overheating in the neutral cables
of three-phase systems
Example - Power Factor
An industrial plant draws 200 A at 400 V and the supply transformer and backup
UPS is rated
200 A × 400 V = 80 kVA.
If the power factor - PF - of the loads is only 0.7 - only
80 kVA × 0.7 = 56 kW
of real power is consumed by the system. If the power factor is close to 1 (purely
resistive circuit) the supply system with transformers, cables, switchgear and UPS
could be made considerably smaller.
Any power factor less than 1 means that the circuit's wiring has to carry more
current than what would be necessary with zero reactance in the circuit to deliver
the same amount of (true) power to the resistive load.
A low power factor is expensive and inefficient and some utility companies may
charge additional fees when the power factor is less than 0.95. A low power factor
will reduce the electrical system's distribution capacity by increasing the current
flow and causing voltage drops.
"Leading" or "Lagging" Power Factors
Power factors are usually stated as "leading" or "lagging" to show the sign of the
phase angle.
 With a purely resistive load current and voltage changes polarity in step and
the power factor will be 1. Electrical energy flows in a single direction
across the network in each cycle.
 Inductive loads - transformers, motors and wound coils - consumes reactive
power with current waveform lagging the voltage.
 Capacitive loads - capacitor banks or buried cables - generates reactive
power with current phase leading the voltage.

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Inductive and capacitive loads stores energy in magnetic or electric fields in the
devices during parts of the AC cycles. The energy is returned back to the power
source during the rest of the cycles.
Typical Motor Power Factors
Power (hp) Speed (rpm) Power Factor
½ load ¾ load full load
0-5 1800 0.72 0.82 0.84
5 - 20 1800 0.74 0.84 0.86
20 – 100 1800 0.79 0.86 0.89
100 - 300 1800 0.81 0.88 0.91
1 hp = 745.7 W
Methods of improvement
Power factor with Non-linear loads
A non-linear load on a power system is typically a rectifier (such as used in a
power supply), or some kind of arc discharge device such as a fluorescent lamp,
electric welding machine, or arc furnace. Because current in these systems is
interrupted by a switching action, the current contains frequency components that
are multiples of the power system frequency. Distortion power factor is a measure
of how much the harmonic distortion of a load current decreases the average power
transferred to the load.
Non-sinusoidal components
Non-linear loads change the shape of the current waveform from a sine wave to
some other form. Non-linear loads create harmonic currents in addition to the
original (fundamental frequency) AC current. Filters consisting of linear capacitors
and inductors can prevent harmonic currents from entering the supplying system.
In linear circuits having only sinusoidal currents and voltages of one frequency, the
power factor arises only from the difference in phase between the current and
voltage. This is "displacement power factor". The concept can be generalized to a
total, distortion, or true power factor where the apparent power includes all
harmonic components. This is of importance in practical power systems that
contain non-linear loads such as rectifiers, some forms of electric lighting, electric
arc furnaces, welding equipment, switched-mode power supplies and other
devices.

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A typical multimeter will give incorrect results when attempting to measure the
AC current drawn by a non-sinusoidal load; the instruments sense the average
value of a rectified waveform. The average response is then calibrated to the
effective, RMS value. An RMS sensing multimeter must be used to measure the
actual RMS currents and voltages (and therefore apparent power). To measure the
real power or reactive power, a watt meter designed to work properly with non-
sinusoidal currents must be used.
LOCATION OF CAPACTIORS
Compensation can be carried out by a fixed value of capacitance in favorable
circumstances. Sometimes compensation is more-commonly effected by means of
an automatically controlled stepped bank of capacitors.
Note: when the installed reactive powers of compensation exceed 800kVAr and the
load is continuous and stable, it is often found to be economically advantageous to
install capacitor banks at high voltage.
Compensation at L.V:
At low voltage, compensation is provided by:
 Fixed-valued capacitor;
 Equipment providing automatic regulation or banks which allow continuous
adjustment according to requirements, as loading of the installation changes.
 Fixed Capacitors
This arrangement employs one or more capacitor (s) to form a constant level of
compensation. Control may be:
 Manual: by circuit breaker or load-break switch;
 Semi-automatic: by contactor;
 Direct connection to an appliance and switched with it.
These capacitors are applied:
 At the terminals of inductive devices(motor and transformers)
 At bus bars supplying numerous small motors and inductive appliance for
which individual compensation would be too expensive;
 In cases where the level of load is reasonable constant.
 Automatic Capacitor Banks
This kind of equipment provides automatic control of compensation, maintain
within close limits, a selected level of power factor. Such equipment is applied at
points in an installation where the active power and/ or reactive-power variations
are relatively large, for example:
 At the bus bars of a general power distribution board;

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Power factor correction in non-linear loads

Passive PFC
The simplest way to control the harmonic current is to use a filter: it is possible to
design a filter that passes current only at line frequency (50 or 60 Hz). This filter
reduces the harmonic current, which means that the non-linear device now looks
like a linear load. At this point the power factor can be brought to near unity, using
capacitors or inductors as required. This filter requires large-value high-current
inductors, however, which are bulky and expensive.
A passive PFC requires an inductor larger than the inductor in an active PFC, but
costs less.
This is a simple way of correcting the nonlinearity of a load by using capacitor
banks. It is not as effective as active PFC. One example of this is a valley-fill
circuit.
Passive PFCs are typically more power efficient than active PFCs. Efficiency is not
to be confused with the PFC, though many computer hardware reviews conflate
them. A passive PFC on a switching computer PSU has a typical power efficiency
of around 96%, while an active PFC has a typical efficiency of about 94%.
Active PFC
An "active power factor corrector" (active PFC) is a power electronic system that
changes the wave shape of current drawn by a load to improve the power factor.
The purpose is to make the load circuitry that is power factor corrected appear
purely resistive (apparent power equal to real power). In this case, the voltage and
current are in phase and the reactive power consumption is zero. This enables the
most efficient delivery of electrical power from the power company to the
consumer.
Some types of active PFC are:
 Boost
 Buck
 Buck-boost
Active power factor correctors can be single-stage or multi-stage.
In the case of a switched-mode power supply, a boost converter is inserted between
the bridge rectifier and the main input capacitors. The boost converter attempts to
maintain a constant DC bus voltage on its output while drawing a current that is
always in phase with and at the same frequency as the line voltage. Another switch

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mode converter inside the power supply produces the desired output voltage from
the DC bus. This approach requires additional semiconductor switches and control
electronics, but permits cheaper and smaller passive components. It is frequently
used in practice.
For example, SMPS with passive PFC can achieve power factor of about 0.7–0.75,
SMPS with active PFC, up to 0.99 power factor, while a SMPS without any power
factor correction has a power factor of only about 0.55–0.65.
Due to their very wide input voltage range, many power supplies with active PFC
can automatically adjust to operate on AC power from about 100 V (Japan) to 230
V (Europe). That feature is particularly welcome in power supplies for laptops.
EFFECT OF HARMONICS
Harmonics distortion disrupts plants. Of greatest importance is the loss of
productivity. These occur because of process shutdowns due to the unexpected
failure of motors, drives, power supplies or just the spurious tripping of breakers.
In addition, maintenances and repair budgets can be severely stretched.
Table Effect of harmonics on various electrical equipment
EQUIPMENT CONSEQUENCES
capacitors blown fuses, Reduced capacitor life
Motors Inability of fully load, mechanical
fatigue reduced motor life
Fuses/ breakers False/ spurious operation and damaged
components
transformers Increases copper and iron losses,
reduced capacity, increased noise and
possible insulation failure
Unility meters Measurement errors/ higher billings
telephones interference (low frequency hum, noise)
Drives/ power supplies Miss-operation due to multiple zero
crossing
Cables Increased copper loss

PF MOTOR CONTROLLERS
Power factor can also be improved by using synchronous motors which can be
operated at leading power factor to compensate for loads with lagging power.
These synchronous motors are normally operated at no mechanical load and over-

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excitation. Synchronous motors re very expensive and are used only in few
industries. Following problems (from JNTU previous years question papers)
describe these applications.
In recent years, solid-state control devices have been developed that, when
connected between a power source and an electric motor,

FIGURE Graphic and harmonic analysis of current of a DC motor drive.

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FIGURE System line current before harmonic suppression.

FIGURE System line current after harmonic suppression.

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FIGURE System harmonic current comparison before and aft harmonic

suppression.

FIGURE Single-phase power factor controller block diagram.

Maintain an approximately constant power factor on the motor side of the
controller. These devices are generally called power factor controllers. Most of the
units are made under a license of U.S. Patent 4,052,648 issued to F. J. Nola and
assigned to NASA.
The controller varies the average voltage applied to the motor as a function of the
motor load and thus decreases the motor losses at light-load requirements.
Single-Phase Motors
For application to single-phase motors, the power factor controller consists of a
triac, sensing and control circuits, and a firing circuit for the triac, as shown in Fig.
The power factor controller sensing circuit monitors the phase angle between the
voltage and current and produces a signal proportional to the phase angle. This
signal is compared to a reference signal that indicates the desired phase angle. This
comparison produces an error signal that provides the timing for firing the triac or
SCR and causes the phase angle to remain constant when the load changes. Typical
motor voltage and current waveforms are shown in Figs. If the phase angle
increases, the control circuit adjusts the triac firing angle to decrease the average
voltage applied to the motor. Conversely, if the phase angle decreases, the control
circuit adjusts the firing angle of the triac to increase the average voltage applied to

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the motor.
FIGURE Single-phase power factor controller with no load on the motor.

FIGURE Single-phase power factor controller with a full load on the motor.
The power factor of the motor is the cosine of the phase angle between the motor
voltage and current. Therefore, with this control system, by maintaining the phase
angle constant, the motor operates at an approximately constant power factor over
the load range. The maximum power factor is the power factor of the motor at the
rated load with the triac full on. The minimum power factor will be determined by
the minimum voltage setting for no-load operation. This voltage setting must be
high enough to provide stable operation and prevent the motor from stalling on the
sudden application of load. However, the lower the no-load voltage, the higher the
power savings at no load.How are power savings achieved by decreasing the motor
voltage at light loads? The motor losses can be grouped into three categories:
1. Constant losses, such as friction and windage
2. Magnetic core losses, which are some function of the applied voltage
3. I2R losses, which are a function of the square of the motor current, including
rotor losses
For a given load condition, the net losses, and hence the motor power input,
decrease with a decrease in voltage as long as the magnetic core losses decrease
more than the I2R losses increase. In addition, there is some increase in losses due
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to harmonics added to the motor input voltage by the triac switching and the losses
in the controller.
In some instances, the increased harmonic content of the input voltage will result
in increased motor noise.
The amount of power saved with a power factor controller depends on the duty
cycle of the application. Typical power savings under various loads and duty
cycles are shown in Fig. 4.24. The power savings are shown as a percent of the full
voltage input and as a function of the percent running times at full load versus
running at a light load. To result in significant power savings, at least 50%

FIGURE 4.24 Single-phase power factor motor controller power savings.

of the running time should be at one-fourth load or less. Typical applications of
this type may be drill presses and cutoff saws used in production processes.
Figure 4.22 shows an oscilloscope picture of the motor voltage and current at no
load for a single motor controlled by a power factor controller.
Figure 4.23 shows an oscilloscope picture of the motor voltage and current of the
same motor with load applied to the motor. Note the constant angle between the
zero crossing of the voltage and current in both cases.

Three-Phase Motors
More recently, the application of power factor motor controllers has been extended
to three-phase motors. In some cases, this has been accomplished by adding a
power-saver module to existing
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FIGURE Three-phase power factor motor controller block diagram.

solid-state three-phase motor controllers. These solid-state controllers generally
include other features such as current limit, timed acceleration, phase unbalance,
undervoltage, and overload protection.
The power factor control function is accomplished by sensing the phase angle
between the motor voltage and current. This signal is fed back and compared with
a reference, and the difference is used to feed the input signal voltage to the six

SCRs in the power module.

FIGURE Three-phase power factor motor controller power savings.

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The feedback voltage from the power factor sensing circuit will change the average
voltage applied to the motor in accordance with the load on the motor. This
reduces both the motor current and voltage under light-load conditions. The circuit
is designed to react to load changes to prevent stalling of the motor on
instantaneous load changes. Most of the controllers have provisions for setting the
minimum no-load voltage; this voltage is generally 65% of rated full voltage.
Figure 4.25 is a typical block diagram for the three-phase controller.
The three-phase power factor controllers have potential applications in which the
duty cycle for the motor is varying from light or no load to full load as a step
function. Examples of potential applications are ripsaws, conveyors, rock crushers,
and centrifuges.
The potential power saving when a power factor controller is an applied to a three-
phase motor is substantially lower than whe such a controller is applied to a single-
phase motor. Figure 4.26 illustrates the power saving when the controller is applied
to a three-phase motor for various duty cycles and loads. These curves depend on
the ratio of the no-load losses of the motor. However, it appears that the power
factor controller shows significant power savings only on those three-phase motor
applications in which the motor operates at no load or light loads over 75% of the
operating time.
To apply a power factor controller properly, the load characteristics, motor
characteristics, and load cycle must be known. In addition, one must determine
how the controller-motor combination will respond to the load cycle. Only then
can the potential power saving and economic payback analysis be made.

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