EE207 Electrical Power

Lecture 2 Active, Reactive, and Apparent Power Part2

Reactive Power
Reactive Power: This power is responsible for the production of the magnetic flux in electrical systems, and it does not produce any useful work or heat. Reactive power will surge back and forth between the source and the load. Its unit is VAR and is measured using a special instrument called varmeter. Reactive power flows from/to a system due to the presence of inductive or capacitive elements.
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Reactive Power
Capacitors and inductors both are reactive elements. An inductor absorbs reactive power and it appear as reactive load, whereas a capacitor supplies reactive power and it appears as reactive source. The current in an inductor lags the voltage across it by 90o. Conversely, the current in a capacitor leads the voltage across it by 90o. An inductive reactance is expressed as jXL, and a capacitive reactance is expressed as jXC .
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Reactive Power
Example A sinusoidal voltage source has a voltage peak Vp= 162Vand frequency of 60Hz is applied to the terminals of an inductor. The resulting current has a peak of Ip= 7.5 A.
a) Calculate the value of the inductor in [H]. b) Plot the current, voltage and instantaneous power waveforms. c) Calculate the power absorbed by the reactor. d) Plot the phasor diagram.
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Reactive Power
a) The inductance L
XL = Vp Ip = 162 = 21.6 7 .5

21.6 X L = 2fL = 21.6 L = = 50.73mH 2 60 b) Assume the voltage is a cosine signal thus the current will be 90o lagging. i.e.
V = 162 cos t and I = 7.5 cos( t 90o ) or in phasor repres . 162 o 7 .5 o V= 0 = 114.550 V & I = 90 o = 5.3 90 o A 2 2
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Reactive Power
P Instant.

V=162(V) I =7.5(A)
0

45

90

135

180

225

270

315

360

405

450

495

540

585

630

675

720

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EE207

Electrical Power

Reactive Power
You can observe from the graph that The instantaneous power has positive and negative peaks at 607.5 var. The instantaneous power pulsates at 120Hz which is twice the supply frequency, and it is average is zero.
c) Reactive power absorbed by the inductor:

QL = Veff I eff =

162 7.5 = 607.5 var 2 2

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EE207

Electrical Power

Reactive Power
d) Phasor diagram

162 V= 2 I= 7.5 2

Note that the reactive power is calculated as the product of the effective values of the voltage times the current component which is out of 90o.

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EE207

Electrical Power

Reactive Power
Reactive power can be obtained from the product of the out of phase components of the effective values of the voltage and current. To understand this lets consider the following example: A sinusoidal AC voltage v ( t ) = V p cos (t + ) is applied across the terminals of a network and produced a current given as: i ( t ) = I p cos(t + )
i(t) v(t) Z

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EE207

Electrical Power

Active Power
Note that the voltage and current are at different phase angles (, and respectively) and the load is given as Z (impedance). Lets consider this general example to find Q. To simplify the analysis, the phasor representation will be used, and the cosine function (i.e. cost) will be used as a reference. Thus the rms voltage and current phasors are given as: V = V o
rms

I = I rms o
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Active Power
V = Vrms o = Vrms (cos + j sin ) = a + jb I = I rms o = I rms (cos + j sin ) = c + jd

Since the phase difference between the voltage and the current is ( ) then the active power is given as:
P = Vrms I rms sin( ) = Vrms I rms (sin cos cos sin ) = bc ad

The above term can also be obtained by taking the Imaginary part of the result of the
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Active power multiplication of the voltage times the complex conjugate of the current. i.e.
Q = Im VI *

{ } ( = Im { a + jb )( c + jd ) }
*

= Im{( ac + bd ) + j ( bc ad )} = ( bc ad )

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EE207

Electrical Power

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Active, Reactive Power

Active and reactive powers function independently of each other and, consequently, they can be treated as separate quantities in electric circuits. Both place burden on the transmission line that carries them, but, whereas active power produces a tangible result(heat, mechanical work, light, etc.), reactive power only presents power that oscillates back and forth. Transformers, ballasts, induction motor absorb reactive power, and it produces magnetic field in these devices.
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Active, Reactive Power

Example An ac generator (G) is connected to a group of R, L, C circuit elements. The respective elements carry currents as show by the figure. Calculate the active and reactive power associated with the generator. j3 2
16.12A G 20A -j3.5 14A 4

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EE207

Electrical Power

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Active, Reactive Power

Solution The two resistors absorb active power given by:
P = I 2 R = ( 142 4 ) + ( 16.12 2 2 ) = 784 + 520 = 1304W

The inductor absorbs reactive power given by:

QL = I 2 X L = 142 3 = 588 var

The capacitor generates reactive power given by:

QC = I 2 X C = 20 2 3.5 = 1400 var

Thus the net reactive power in the circuit is:

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Active, Reactive Power

QT
QT = QC + QL = 1400 + 588 = 812 var

Note that QT is negative and that shows that the load will generate reactive power, which means that this power has to be absorbed by the Generator. However, the power absorbed by the resistor must be supplied by the Generator.

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EE207

Electrical Power

16

Apparent Power
The apparent power (S) is a combination of the active power and reactive power and is expressed as:
S = VI = P 2 + Q 2 assu min g that an angle between the voltage and the current , then V0o and I o S = ( VI cos )2 + ( VI sin )2 = VI 1 42 43 1 42 43
P Q

The unit of the apparent power is VA (Volt-Ampere).

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Apparent Power
Example A wattmeter and a varmeter are connected into a 120V single phase line that feeds an ac motor. They respectively indicate 1800W and 960var.
a) Calculate the in phase and quadrature (90o out of phase) components of the current. b) The line current. c) The apparent power d) The phase angle between the voltage and the line current.
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Apparent Power
Solution
a) The in phase current (Ip) corresponds to the Active power measured, thus: P 1800 I p = I cos = = = 15 A V 120 The quadrature component Iq corresponds to the reactive power measured, thus: Q 960 I q = I sin = = = 8A V 120
Ip =15A Iq=8A
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EE207 Electrical Power

V=120V

19

Apparent Power
b) From the phasor diagram, the current I can be found as: 2 I = I p + jI q = I 2 + I q p
I = 15 2 + 8 2 = 17 A

c) The apparent power S

S = VI = P 2 + Q 2 = 120 17 = 2040VA
d) The phase angle between V and I 1 I q 1 Q = tan ( ) = tan ( ) = 28.1o Ip P
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Power Factor
Power factor (p.f.) of an alternating current device or circuit is the ratio of the active power P to the apparent power S, and is given as:
p. f . = P = cos S

Power factor can never be greater than unity (100%) as P can never exceed S. The power factor is said to be lagging if the current lags behind the voltage. Conversely, the power factor is said to be leading if the current leads the voltage.
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Power Factor
The power factor of a resistive circuit is Unity (100%) because the apparent power and the active power are equal. Pure inductive or capacitive circuits have zero power factor. (note =90o between V and I). A combination of an inductive and resistive elements will have a lagging power factor. A combination of capacitive and resistive circuit elements will have a leading power factor.

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EE207

Electrical Power

22

Power Triangle
The relationship between S, P, and Q can be shown graphically using a Power Triangle according to the following rules:
Active power P absorbed (delivered) by a circuit or device is considered to be positive (negative) and is drawn horizontally to the right (left). Reactive power Q absorbed (delivered) by a circuit or device is considered to be positive (negative) and is drawn vertically upwards (downwards).
Inductive & resistive circuit power triangle

+P S +Q S +P

Capacitive & resistive circuit power triangle

-Q
23

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EE207

Electrical Power

Example 7-8
A single phase motor draws a current of 5A from a 120V, 60 Hz. The power factor is 65 percent. Calculate a) The active power absorbed by the load b) The reactive power supplied by the line.

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EE207

Electrical Power

24

a) Apparent power S = VI = 120 5 = 600VA

P = cos S P = S cos = 600 0.65 = 390W

b) The reactive power

S = P +Q
2 2

Q = S sin cos = PF = cos 1 ( PF ) = cos 1 (0.65) = 45.46 Q = 600 sin 45.46 = 456 var
25

Q = S 2 P 2 = 6002 3902 = 456 var

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EE207

Electrical Power

Example 7.9
A 50F paper capacitor is placed across the motor terminals. Calculate:a) The reactive power generated by the capacitor b) The active power absorbed by the motor c) The reactive power absorbed by the line d) The new line current
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a) XC = 1/ jC = 1/ j2fC = 53 so the current in the capacitor I = V/ XC = 120 / 53 = 2.26 A Therefore Qc = VI = 120(2.26) = 271 Var
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b) The active power absorbed by the motor remains the same. c) Qnet = 456 271 =185 var
d)

S = P 2 + Q 2 = 3902 + 1852 = 432VA S 432 IL = = = 3.6 A V 120 P 432 cos = = = 0.903 S 120

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EE207

Electrical Power

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271 var

S= 600VA

456 Var 432VA

185 var

390 W
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EE207

Electrical Power

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PF correction
It can be seen that apparent power is larger than P if PF is less than 1. So, the current I must be supplied is larger for PF<1, eventhough P supplied is the same. This larger current add cost to suppliers. Power companies charge industrial customers higher who operate at low power factor. (residential operate at unity PF) Must install capacitors to improve power factor.

Rajparthiban Kumar

EE207

Electrical Power

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