Calculating Power Factor

Chapter 11 - Power Factor

As was mentioned before, the angle of this “power triangle” graphically indicates the
ratio between the amount of dissipated (or consumed) power and the amount of
absorbed/returned power. It also happens to be the same angle as that of the
circuit’s impedance in polar form. When expressed as a fraction, this ratio between
true power and apparent power is called the power factor for this circuit. Because true
power and apparent power form the adjacent and hypotenuse sides of a right triangle,
respectively, the power factor ratio is also equal to the cosine of that phase angle.
Using values from the last example circuit:

It should be noted that power factor, like all ratio measurements, is a unitless quantity.
For the purely resistive circuit, the power factor is 1 (perfect), because the reactive
power equals zero. Here, the power triangle would look like a horizontal line, because
the opposite (reactive power) side would have zero length.
For the purely inductive circuit, the power factor is zero, because true power equals
zero. Here, the power triangle would look like a vertical line, because the adjacent
(true power) side would have zero length.
The same could be said for a purely capacitive circuit. If there are no dissipative
(resistive) components in the circuit, then the true power must be equal to zero,
making any power in the circuit purely reactive. The power triangle for a purely
capacitive circuit would again be a vertical line (pointing down instead of up as it was
for the purely inductive circuit).
Power factor can be an important aspect to consider in an AC circuit because of any
power factor less than 1 means that the circuit’s wiring has to carry more current than

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what would be necessary with zero reactance in the circuit to deliver the same
amount of (true) power to the resistive load. If our last example circuit had been
purely resistive, we would have been able to deliver a full 169.256 watts to the load
with the same 1.410 amps of current, rather than the mere 119.365 watts that it is
presently dissipating with that same current quantity. The poor power factor makes for
an inefficient power delivery system.
Poor power factor can be corrected, paradoxically, by adding another load to the
circuit drawing an equal and opposite amount of reactive power, to cancel out the
effects of the load’s inductive reactance. Inductive reactance can only be canceled
by capacitive reactance, so we have to add a capacitor in parallel to our example
circuit as the additional load. The effect of these two opposing reactances in parallel
is to bring the circuit’s total impedance equal to its total resistance (to make the
impedance phase angle equal, or at least closer, to zero).
Since we know that the (uncorrected) reactive power is 119.998 VAR (inductive), we
need to calculate the correct capacitor size to produce the same quantity of
(capacitive) reactive power. Since this capacitor will be directly in parallel with the
source (of known voltage), we’ll use the power formula which starts from voltage and
reactance:

Let’s use a rounded capacitor value of 22 µF and see what happens to our circuit:
(Figure below)

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 Parallel capacitor corrects lagging power factor of inductive load. V2 and node
numbers: 0, 1, 2, and 3 are SPICE related, and may be ignored for the moment.

The power factor for the circuit, overall, has been substantially improved. The main
current has been decreased from 1.41 amps to 994.7 milliamps, while the power
dissipated at the load resistor remains unchanged at 119.365 watts. The power factor
is much closer to being 1:

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Since the impedance angle is still a positive number, we know that the circuit, overall,
is still more inductive than it is capacitive. If our power factor correction efforts had
been perfectly on-target, we would have arrived at an impedance angle of exactly
zero, or purely resistive. If we had added too large of a capacitor in parallel, we would
have ended up with an impedance angle that was negative, indicating that the circuit
was more capacitive than inductive.
A SPICE simulation of the circuit of (Figure above) shows total voltage and total
current are nearly in phase. The SPICE circuit file has a zero volt voltage-source (V2)
in series with the capacitor so that the capacitor current may be measured. The start
time of 200 msec ( instead of 0) in the transient analysis statement allows the DC
conditions to stabilize before collecting data. See SPICE listing “pf.cir power factor”.

pf.cir power factor V1 1 0 sin(0 170 60) C1 1 3 22uF v2 3 0 0 L1 1 2 160mH R1 2 0 60

# resolution stop start .tran 1m 200m 160m .end

The Nutmeg plot of the various currents with respect to the applied voltage V total is
shown in (Figure below). The reference is Vtotal, to which all other measurements are
compared. This is because the applied voltage, Vtotal, appears across the parallel
branches of the circuit. There is no single current common to all components. We can
compare those currents to Vtotal.

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 Zero phase angle due to in-phase Vtotal and Itotal . The lagging IL with respect to Vtotal is
corrected by a leading IC .
Note that the total current (Itotal) is in phase with the applied voltage (Vtotal), indicating a
phase angle of near zero. This is no coincidence. Note that the lagging current, I L of
the inductor would have caused the total current to have a lagging phase somewhere
between (Itotal) and IL. However, the leading capacitor current, IC, compensates for the
lagging inductor current. The result is a total current phase-angle somewhere
between the inductor and capacitor currents. Moreover, that total current (Itotal) was
forced to be in-phase with the total applied voltage (Vtotal), by the calculation of an
appropriate capacitor value.
Since the total voltage and current are in phase, the product of these two waveforms,
power, will always be positive throughout a 60 Hz cycle, real power as in
Figure above. Had the phase-angle not been corrected to zero (PF=1), the product
would have been negative where positive portions of one waveform overlapped
negative portions of the other as in Figure above. Negative power is fed back to the
generator. It cannont be sold; though, it does waste power in the resistance of electric
lines between load and generator. The parallel capacitor corrects this problem.
Note that reduction of line losses applies to the lines from the generator to the point
where the power factor correction capacitor is applied. In other words, there is still
circulating current between the capacitor and the inductive load. This is not normally a
problem because the power factor correction is applied close to the offending load,
like an induction motor.
It should be noted that too much capacitance in an AC circuit will result in a low power
factor just as well as too much inductance. You must be careful not to over-correct
when adding capacitance to an AC circuit. You must also be very careful to use the
proper capacitors for the job (rated adequately for power system voltages and the

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occasional voltage spike from lightning strikes, for continuous AC service, and
capable of handling the expected levels of current).
If a circuit is predominantly inductive, we say that its power factor is lagging (because
the current wave for the circuit lags behind the applied voltage wave). Conversely, if a
circuit is predominantly capacitive, we say that its power factor is leading. Thus, our
example circuit started out with a power factor of 0.705 lagging, and was corrected to
a power factor of 0.999 lagging.

 REVIEW:
 Poor power factor in an AC circuit may be “corrected”, or re-established at a
value close to 1, by adding a parallel reactance opposite the effect of the load’s
reactance. If the load’s reactance is inductive in nature (which is almost always
will be), parallel capacitance is what is needed to correct poor power factor.

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 Power Factor improvement Methods with Their
advantages & Disadvantages

Methods for Power Factor Improvement

The following devices and equipment are used for Power Factor Improvement.
1. Static Capacitor
2. Synchronous Condenser
3. Phase Advancer
1. Static Capacitor
We know that most of the industries and power system loads are inductive that take
lagging current which decrease the system power factor (See Disadvantages of Low
Power factor) . For Power factor improvement purpose, Static capacitors are connected
in parallel with those devices which work on low power factor.
These static capacitors provides leading current which neutralize (totally or
approximately) the lagging inductive component of load current (i.e. leading component
neutralize or eliminate the lagging component of load current) thus power factor of the
load circuit is improved.

These capacitors are installed in Vicinity of large inductive load e.g Induction motors and
transformers etc, and improve the load circuit power factor to improve the system or

devises efficiency.

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 Suppose,here is a single phase inductive load which is taking lagging current (I) and the
load power factor is Cosθ as shown in fig-1.

In fig-2, a Capacitor (C) has been connected in parallel with load. Now a current (Ic) is
flowing through Capacitor which lead 90° from the supply voltage ( Note that Capacitor
provides leading Current i.e., In a pure capacitive circuit, Current leading 90° from the
supply Voltage, in other words, Voltage are 90° lagging from Current). The load current
is (I). The Vectors combination of (I) and (Ic) is (I’) which is lagging from voltage at θ2 as
shown in fig 3.

It can be seen from fig 3 that angle of θ2 < θ1 i.e. angle of θ2 is less than from angle of
θ2. Therefore Cosθ2 is less than from Cosθ1 (Cosθ2> Cosθ1). Hence the load power
factor is improved by capacitor.

Also note that after the power factor improvement, the circuit current would be less than
from the low power factor circuit current. Also, before and after the power factor
improvement, the active component of current would be same in that circuit because
capacitor eliminates only the re-active component of current. Also, the Active power (in
Watts) would be same after and before power factor improvement.
Advantages:
 Capacitor bank offers several advantages over other methods of power factor improvement.
 Losses are low in static capacitors
 There is no moving part, therefore need low maintenance
 It can work in normal conditions (i.e. ordinary atmospheric conditions)
 Do not require a foundation for installation
 They are lightweight so it is can be easy to installed
Disadvantages:
 The age of static capacitor bank is less (8 – 10 years)
 With changing load, we have to ON or OFF the capacitor bank, which causes switching surges
on the system
 If the rated voltage increases, then it causes damage it
 Once the capacitors spoiled, then repairing is costly
2. Synchronous Condenser
When a Synchronous motor operates at No-Load and over-exited then it’s called a
synchronous Condenser. Whenever a Synchronous motor is over-exited then it provides
leading current and works like a capacitor.

When a synchronous condenser is connected across supply voltage (in parallel) then it
draws leading current and partially eliminates the re-active component and this way,
power factor is improved. Generally, synchronous condenser is used to improve the
power factor in large industries.

Advantages:

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 Long life (almost 25 years)
 High Reliability
 Step-less adjustment of power factor.
 No generation of harmonics of maintenance
 The faults can be removed easily
 It’s not affected by harmonics.
 Require Low maintenance (only periodic bearing greasing is necessary)
Disadvantages:
 It is expensive (maintenance cost is also high) and therefore mostly used by large power users.
 An auxiliary device has to be used for this operation because synchronous motor has no self
starting torque
 It produces noise
3. Phase Advancer
Phase advancer is a simple AC exciter which is connected on the main shaft of the motor
and operates with the motor’s rotor circuit for power factor improvement. Phase advancer
is used to improve the power factor of induction motor in industries.

As the stator windings of induction motor takes lagging current 90° out of phase with
Voltage, therefore the power factor of induction motor is low. If the exciting ampere-turns
are excited by external AC source, then there would be no effect of exciting current on
stator windings. Therefore the power factor of induction motor will be improved. This
process is done by Phase advancer.

Advantages:
 Lagging kVAR (Reactive component of Power or reactive power) drawn by the motor is
sufficiently reduced because the exciting ampere turns are supplied at slip frequency (fs).
 The phase advancer can be easily used where the use of synchronous motors is Unacceptable
Disadvantage:
 Using Phase advancer is not economical for motors below 200 H.P. (about 150kW)
Power Factor Improvement in single phase and three phase star & delta
connections
Power factor improvement in three phase system by connecting a capacitor bank in
(1). Delta connection
(2). Star Connection)

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 Power Factor Improvement in single phase and three phase star delta connection

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