Motor Power Factor and Energy Conservation

Energy conservation is a hot topic these days and everybody "knows" that low power factor can mean
waste of electrical energy. Many questions are asked about the power factor of induction motors. Some
competitors stress the high power factor of their motors. Why don't we?
Induction motors are only one of the kinds of electrical equipment that tend to reduce a plant's power
factor. And it's the overall plant system's power factor that counts. There are ways of correcting
corr
a low
system power factor, so maximum motor power factor isn't vital. System power factor correction is often
the better way.
A Quick Review of the Theory
True Power,, measured in watts (W), is the power, drawn by the electrical resistance of a system,
syste that
does useful work.
Reactive Power, measured in volt-amperes,
amperes, reactive, (VAR) is the power stored in and discharged by the
inductive motors, transformers and solenoids all draw reactive power.
Apparent Power, measured in volt--amperes (VA) is the voltage
age on an AC system multiplied by all the
current that flows in it. It is the vector sum of the true and the reactive power.
Power Factor,, is the ratio of the true power used in a system to the apparent power drawn from the
source. It's usually expressed in
n percent: W/VA x 100. The cosine of the angle between VA and W in this
vector diagram is a measure of power factor. The larger the VAR current the lower the power factor.

Only the true power (W) in a system does useful work. But the utility has to gen
generate
erate and distribute what
really flows: The apparent power (VA). Utilities usually only meter watts, but a utility can measure a
plant's overall power factor and it's common to charge a rate penalty if that power factor is low. Within the
plant, the power distribution system also has to be sized to distribute and switch the apparent power, not
just useful watts. In short, the difference between useful power and apparent power, as indicated by
power factor, represents power that does no work but costs the us
user MONEY .
Why Not High Motor Power Factor?
As the diagram indicates, if the VAR vector is short, the power factor will be high. So it might seem that
motors with high power factor will help, because they will contribute less to the overall system VAR
vector. But... First:: Motor load may not have much effect on system power factor. This is true when:
1. Motor load is relatively small in comparison to resistance load (W) on the plant system, drawn by
such equipment as plant lighting and resistance heating.
2. Most of the induction motor load is represented by large, high
high-speed
speed motors. Their power factor is
inherently high, and the power
wer factor of the fewer small motors won't mean much.
3. The plant uses some synchronous motors. These don't increase the VAR vector shown in the
diagram, they tend to decrease it.
4. Motors are only part of the inductive load responsible for the length of the d
diagram's
iagram's VAR vector.
Almost any plant has some power transformers probably welding transformers, possible solenoidsolenoid
operated mechanisms, and induction heating equipment. Also there is "stray inductance", in the
plant's wiring and in theory these wiring syst
systems are pure resistance loads.
5. High motor power factor is wasted if the motor is oversized for the driven load, or runs much of
the time at reduced load.
In the above situations a high motor power factor won't affect overall system power factor much. Probably
Proba
not enough to justify the cost and other disadvantages of motors designed for maximum power factor.
Second: You don't get as good a motor design by concentrating on high power factor. The motor
designer has to consider a number of parameters such as te
temperature
mperature rise, torque characteristics and
efficiency, as well as power factor, and he can't optimize them all. It's costly to try to design both high
power factor and high efficiency into a motor, and some of the design changes that improve power factor,
such as a reduced air gap, actually have the opposite effect on efficiency.

The Better Way

No matter what motors do to a plant system power factor, it can be corrected, and that's the better way.
The VAR vector in the diagram above represents inductive rea
reactance.
ctance. But there's also capacitive
reactance, which produces an opposite VAR vector. If a system is being affected by both kinds of
reactance, they tend to cancel each other. In the system vector diagram below, capacitive VAR's are
almost as great as inductive
ctive VAR's so W more nearly equals VA, and W/VA x 100 -- the system power
factor -- is high.

How:
Sometimes rotating capacitors are used to put capacitive reactance into a plant system, but static
capacitors are more common. Maybe one central bank to correct the entire plant system, or a bank at
each several plant load centers. Or, an individual capaci
capacitor
tor installation at each motor. Which of these
approaches is best for a given plant requires analysis of many variables, and we are not in a position to
make general recommendations. A customer in doubt should contact the major capacitor manufacturers
for detailed information and expert advice.
To Sum Up
Now you see why we don't go the highest
highest-power-factor
factor routed in motor design. Efficiency and other
desirable characteristics have to be designed into the motor, because there's no good way -- external to
the motor -- to get their effect. But the effect of motor power factor on plant system power factor, to
whatever extent it has an effect, can be compensated for by external means and capacitors can improve
power factor to 95-98%,
98%, a greater improvement than ca
can
n be designed into a motor. External correction
has the big advantage of correcting for the transformers and other equipment on the plant system that
also tend to lower the power factor. With capacitors, a facility's system power factor can be "tailored" to
t
match a utility's billing structure, so that the facility pays only for the degree power factor corrections that
will really save MONEY .