Chapter 7

Poly Phase Circuits

 After the completion of this chapter, the students will be able to
 Introduction to Poly phase circuits
 Star-delta connections (source and load)
 Voltage, current, load impedance and power in balanced
system
 Voltage, current, load impedance and power in
unbalanced system
 SINGLE PHASE TWO WIRE

V p 

 A generator connected through a pair of wire to a load – Single Phase Two

Wire.
 Vp is the magnitude of the source voltage, and  is the phase.
 POLYPHASE SYSTEM
Circuit or system in which AC sources operate at the same frequency but
having different phases and more than one phase are known as polyphase.

 A generator consists of two coils

V p 
placed perpendicular to each other
 The voltage generated by one lags
the other by 90. V p   90

Two phase system three wire

 Three Phase System
• A generator consists of three coils placed 120 apart.
• The voltage generated are equal in magnitude but, out of phase by 120.
• Three phase is the most economical polyphase system.

Three-phase four-wire
system.
 IMPORTANCE OF THREE PHASE SYSTEM
• All electric power is generated and distributed in three phase.
• One phase, two phase, or more than three phase input can be taken from three
phase system rather than generated independently.

• Uniform power transmission and less vibration of three phase machines.

The instantaneous power in a 3 system can be constant (not pulsating).

• Three phase system is more economical than the single phase.

The amount of wire required for a three phase system is less than required for an
equivalent single phase system: Conductor: Copper, Aluminum, etc
 BALANCED THREE-PHASE VOLTAGES
• Three-phase voltages are often produced with a three-phase ac generator (or alternator)

The generated voltages are 120◦

apart from each other.

A three-phase generator.
• Balanced phase voltages are equal in magnitude and are out of phase
with each other by 120◦. They have the same amplitude and frequency ω.
This implies that

• A balanced three-phase voltage or current is one in which the size of each phase is
the same, and the phase angles of the three phases differ from each other by 120
degrees. A balanced three-phase network is one in which the impedances in the three
phases are identical.
 Instantaneous phase
voltages
=
=
=

Rms voltage phasor

where Vp is the effective or rms

value.Vm=
Balanced voltage
 The phase sequence is the time order in which the voltages pass through their
respective maximum values.

Phase sequences:
(a) abc or positive sequence,
(b) acb or negative sequence.
 Three-phase voltage sources connection:
(a) Y-connected source,
(b) Δ-connected source.

• consider the wye-connected voltages in Fig. (a) for now.

• The voltages Van, Vbn, and Vcn are respectively called phase voltages.
 Y-connected generator • Phase current: (Ip) is the current in
each phase of the source or load
• Line current: (IL) is the current in
each line of the source or load.

• Phase voltage (Vp) is measured between the neutral and any line: line to neutral voltage
• Line voltage (VL)is measured between any two of the three lines: line to line voltage.
 Δ-connected generator • Phase current: (Ip) is the current in
each phase of the source or load
• Line current: (IL) is the current in
each line of the source or load.

• Phase voltage (Vp) is measured between the neutral and any line: line to neutral voltage
• Line voltage (VL) is measured between any two of the three lines: line to line voltage.
 THREE PHASE QUANTITIES

QUANTITY SYMBOL

Phase current Ip

Line current IL

Phase voltage Vp

Line voltage VL
• A three-phase load can be either wye-connected or delta-connected,
Two possible three phase load configurations:
depending on the end application.
(a) Y-connected load,
(b) Δ-connected load

• The neutral line in Fig. (a) may or may not be there, depending on whether the
system is four- or three-wire.
• But, a neutral connection is topologically impossible for a delta connection.
 A wye- or delta-connected load is said to be unbalanced if the phase
impedances are not equal in magnitude or phase

 A balanced load is one in which the phase impedances are equal in magnitude
and in phase.

 Balanced wye-connected load,

 where ZY is the load impedance per phase.

Y-connected
load
 Delta-connected load

 For a balanced delta-connected load,

 where Z is the load impedance per phase

 we know that a wye-connected load can be transformed into a delta connected
load, or vice versa,
 The -Y and Y-  Transformation
Z1Z3
ZA 
Z1  Z 2  Z3
ZA ZB Z2 Z3
ZB 
Z1  Z 2  Z3
ZC
Z1Z 2
ZC 
Z1  Z 2  Z3

Z AZ B  Z B Z C  Z AZ C
Z3
Z1 
ZB
Z AZ B  Z B Z C  Z AZ C
Z1 Z2 Z2 
ZA
Z AZ B  Z B Z C  Z AZ C
Z3 
ZC
 There are four possible source-load connection :

SOURCE LOAD CONNECTION

Wye Wye Y-Y

Wye Delta Y-

Delta Delta - 

Delta Wye -Y

 Notice the values of Vp, VL, Ip, IL for different load connections.

VL  3 V p I L I p VL V p IL  3 I p

Ip
Vp Vp
Ip Vp
VL
VL VL
VL
Ip
V Vp Ip

Ip Ip VL Vp

VL

Y connected load. Δ connected load.

 BALANCED Y-Y CONNECTION

 is a three-phase system with a balanced Y-connected source and a balanced Y-

connected load.

(A) A balanced Y-Y system, showing the source, line, and load(B) Balanced Y-Y connection.
impedances.
• We assume a balanced load so that load impedances are equal.
• ZY is the total load impedance per phase, Zs source impedance per phase,
• Zl line impedance per phase, and
• ZL load impedance for per phase,
• Zn is the impedance of the neutral line since these impedances Zs, Zl, and ZL are in
series. Thue ZY is the sum

• Zs and ZL are often very small compared with ZL, so one can assume that ZY = ZL if
no source or line impedance is given.
 Assuming the positive sequence, the phase voltages (or line-to neutral voltages) are

• Line voltages Vab, Vbc, and Vca are related to the phase voltages Van, Vbn, and Vcn.

• Thus, the magnitude of the line voltages VL is √3 times the magnitude of the phase
voltages Vp, or line voltages lead their corresponding phase voltages by 30◦.
 Vab Van  Vbn
| V p | 0 | V p |   120
| V p | 1  (cos120  j sin 120) 
1 3
| V | p  | V p |   j 
2 2 
 3 | V p | 30

Vbc  3 | V p |   90
Vca  3 | V p |   210

VL  3 | V p | Line Voltage
Phasor diagrams illustrating the relationship between line voltages and phase voltages.
LINE CURRENTS, IL
I a I AB  I CA
I b I BC  I AB
I c I CA  I BC I a  3 I AB  30
I b I a   120
I c I a   120
PHASE DIAGRAM OF IL AND I
Applying KVL to each phase , we obtain the line currents as
• That is, the voltage across the neutral wire is zero.
• The neutral line can thus be removed without affecting the system.
• While the line current is the current in each line, the phase current is the current in
each phase of the source or load.
• In the Y-Y system, the line current is the same as the phase current.
• Analyzing a balanced Y-Y system is to do so on a “per phase” basis.
• For instance phase a, and analyze the single-phase equivalent circuit in Fig below.
• The single-phase analysis yields the line current Ia as

• From Ia, we use the phase sequence to obtain other line currents.
• Thus, as long as the system is balanced, we need only analyze one phase.

A single-phase equivalent circuit.

UNBALANCED THREE-PHASE SYSTEMS
• An unbalanced system is caused by two possible situations:
(1) the source voltages are not equal in magnitude and/or differ in phase by angles that
are unequal, or
(2) load impedances are unequal.
Thus, An unbalanced system is due to unbalanced voltage sources or an unbalanced load.
 • This set of unbalanced line currents produces current
in the neutral line, which is not zero as in a balanced
system.
• Applying KCL at node N gives the neutral line

Unbalanced three-phase Y-connected load.current as

 Power in a Balanced System
 The total instantaneous power in a balanced three phase system is constant.
v AN  2V p cos(t ) vBN  2V p cos(t  120 )
vCN  2V p cos(t  120 )
ia  2 I p cos(t   ) ib  2 I p cos(t    120 )
ic  2 I p cos(t    120 )

p  pa  pb  pc v AN ia  vBN ib  vCN ic
 cos(t ) cos(t   )  cos(t  120 ) cos(t    120 )  
p 2V p I p  
 cos( t  120  ) co s( t    120  ) 
1
cos A cos B  [cos( A  B)  cos( A  B)]
2
Using the above identity and simplifying,  =2 t-  we obtain that:

 1 
p V p I p  3cos  cos   2    cos   3V p I p cos
  2 
 Power in a Balanced System
 The important consequences of the instantenous power equation of a balanced three
phase system are:
p 3V p I p cos

The instantenous power is not function of time.

The total power behaves similar to DC power.
This result is true whether the load is Y or  connected.
The AVERAGE POWER per phase is obtained as Pp  p .
3

Pp  p V p I p cos 
3
 Power in a Balanced System
 The complex power per phase is Sp. The total complex power for all phases is S.
p 3V p I p cos  (Total Instantenous Power)
1
Pp = p V p I p cos  (Average Power per phase)
3
1
Qp = p V p I p sin  (Reactive Power per phase)
3
S p V p I p (Apparent Power per phase)

Sp Pp  jQp Vp I p Complex power for each phase

V p and I p refer to magnitude values whereas

Vp and I p refer to phasor values (Both magnitude and phase)
 Power in a Balanced System
 The complex power per phase is Sp. The total complex power for all phases is S.
Sp Pp  jQp Vp Ip  Complex power for each phase
S=P  jQ 3Sp 3Vp I p Total Complex power for three phase
P Pa  Pb  Pc 3Pp 3V p I p cos   3VL I L cos 
Q Qa  Qb  Qc 3Q p 3Vp I p sin   3VL I L sin 
3Vp 2
S=3Sp 3Vp I p 3I p 2 Z p  
Total complex power
Zp
S P  jQ  3VL I L  Total complex power using line values
Vp , I p , VL and I L are all rms values,  is the load impedance angle
 Power in a Balanced System

 2
3Vp 2
S=3Sp 3Vp I p 3I p Z p  
Toal complex power
Zp
S P  jQ  3VL I L 
Vp , I p , VL and I L are all rms values,  is the load impedance angle
Example 1: Positive sequence
A) Calculate the phase and line voltage in the three-wire Y-Y system of Fig. below.
B) Calculate the phase and line currents in the three-wire Y-Y system of Fig. below.
Example 2. using example 1: Determine the total average power, reactive power, and
complex power at the source and at the load.

Solution: It is sufficient to consider one phase, as the system is balanced. For phase a,

Thus, at the source, the complex power supplied is

The real or average power supplied is -2087 W and the reactive power is -834.6 VAR.
 At the load, the complex power absorbed is

The real power absorbed is 1391.7 W and the reactive power absorbed is 1113.3 VAR.
The difference between the two complex powers is absorbed by the line impedance
(5 - j2) Ω. To show that this is the case, we find the complex power absorbed by the line as

which is the difference between Ss and SL, that is, Ss + Sline + SL = 0, as expected.
Example 1: Determine the phase sequence of the set of voltages

van = 200 cos(ωt + 10◦) vbn = 200 cos(ωt − 230◦), vcn = 200 cos(ωt − 110◦)

Practice problem: Given that Vbn = 110<30◦, find Van and Vcn, assuming a
positive (abc) sequence. Answer: 110<150◦, 110 - 90◦.
Practice problem : A Y-connected balanced three-phase generator with an impedance of
0.4+j0.3 Ω per phase is connected to a Y-connected balanced load with an impedance of
24 + j19 Ω per phase. The line joining the generator and the load has an impedance of 0.6
+ j0.7 Ω per phase. Assuming a positive sequence for the source voltages and that Van =
120 < 30◦ V, find: (a) the line voltages, (b) the line currents.
Thank you for
your attention