EXAMPLE 8.
1
Assume that a 700-kVA load has a 65% power factor. It is desired to improve the
power factor to 92%. Using Table 8.1, determine the following:
(a) The correction factor required.
(b) The capacitor size required.
(c) What would be the resulting power factor if the next higher standard
capacitor size is used?
Solution
(a) From Table 8.1, the correction factor required can be found as 0.74.
(b) The 700-kVA load at 65% power factor is
P L=S L × cos θ¿ 700 ×0.65¿ 455 kW .The capacitor size necessary to improve the power
factor from 65 to 92% can be found as
Capacitor size = P L (correlation factor)
¿ 455 (0.74)¿ 336.7 kvar . (c) Assume that the next higher standard capacitor size (or
rating) is selected to be 360 kvar. Therefore, the resulting new correction factor
can be found from
New correction factor = standard capacitor rating / P L
360 kvar
¿ =0.7912 .A computerized method to determine p.f
455 kW
As suggested a load flow digital computer program can be employed to
determine the kilovolt amperes, kilovolts, and kilovars at annual peak level for
the entire system (from generation through the distribution substation buses) as
the power factor is varied. As a start, shunt capacitors are applied to each
substation bus for correcting to an initial power factor, for example, 90%. Then, a
load flow run is performed to determine the total system kilovolt amperes, and
kilowatt losses (from generator to load) at this level and capacitor kilovars are
noted. Later, additional capacitors are applied to each substation bus to increase
the power factor by 1%, and another load flow run is made. This process of
iteration is repeated until the power factor becomes unity. As a final step, the
benefits and costs are calculated at each power factor. The economic power
factor is determined as the value at which benefits and costs are equal. After
determining the economic power factor, the additional capacitor size required
can be calculated as
Δ Q c =PPK (tan ϕ −tan θ)where Δ Q c is the required capacitor size (kvar), P PK is the
system demand at annual peak (kW), tan ϕ is the tangent of the original power
factor angle, and tanθ is the tangent of economic power factor angle.
Application of Capacitors
• In general, capacitors can be applied at almost any voltage level
• As illustrated in fig. 8.11, individual capacitor units can be added in parallel to
achieve the desired kilovars capacity and can be added in series to achieve
kilovolt voltage
• They are employed at or near rated voltage for economic reasons
The cumulative data gathered for the entire utility industry indicates that
approximately 60% of the capacitors is applied to the feeders, 30% to the
substation buses, and the remaining 10% to the transmission system.
Example 2
Assume that a three-phase 500-hp 60-Hz 4160-V wye-connected induction motor
has a full-load efficiency of 88%, a lagging power factor of 0.75, and is connected
to a feeder. If it is desired to correct the power factor of the load to a lagging
power factor of 0.9 by connecting three capacitors at the load, determine the
following:
(a) The rating of the capacitor bank, in kilovars.
(b) The capacitance of each unit if the capacitors are connected in delta, in
microfarads.
(c) The capacitance of each unit if the capacitors are connected in wye, in
microfarads.
Solution
(a) The input power of the induction motor can be found as
P=¿¿ The reactive power of the motor at the uncorrected power factor is
0.75)¿ 423.69 × 0.8819¿ 373.7 kvar . The reactive power of the motor
Q1=P tan θ 1¿ 423.69 tan ( cos −1
at the corrected power factor is
0.90)¿ 423.69 × 0.4843¿ 205.2 kvar .Therefore, the reactive power
Q2=P tan θ2¿ 423.69 tan ( cos −1
provided by the capacitor bank is
Qr =Q1−Q2¿ 373.7−205.2¿ 168.5 kvar .Hence, assuming the losses in the capacitors are
negligible, the rating of the capacitor bank is 168.5 kvar.
(b) If the capacitors are connected in delta as shown in Figure 8.13a, the current
line is
Qc 168.5
I L= = =23.39 A and therefore
√3 ×V L−L √ 3 ×4.16
I L 23.39
I c= = =13.5 A Thus, the reactance of each capacitor is
√3 √ 3
V L− L 4160
X c= ¿ ¿ 308.11 Ωand hence the capacitance of each unit, if the capacitors are
Ic 13.5
connected in delta, is
6 6
10 10
C= ¿ ¿ 8.61 μF .
ω X c 2 π ×60 ×308.11
(c) If the capacitors are connected in wye as shown in Figure 8.13b,
I c =I L =23.39 A and therefore
V L− N 4160
X c= ¿ ¿ 102.70 Ω .Thus, the capacitance of each unit, if the capacitors are
I c √ 3 × 23.39
connected in wye, is
6 6
10 10
C= ¿ ¿ 25.82 μF .EXAMPLE 8.3
ω X c 2 π ×60 ×102.70
Assume that a 2.4-kV single-phase circuit feeds a load of 360 kW (measured by a
wattmeter) at a lagging load factor and the load current is 200 A. If it is desired
to improve the power factor, determine the following:
(a) The uncorrected power factor and reactive load.
(b) The new corrected power factor after installing a shunt capacitor unit with a
rating of 300 kvar.
(a) Before the power factor correction,
S1=V × I ¿ 2.4 × 200¿ 480 kVA ,therefore, the uncorrected power factor can be found as
P 360 kW
cos θ1= ¿ ¿ 0.75
S 1 480 kVA
and the reactive load is
Q1=S1 ×sin (cos θ1)¿ 480 × 0.661¿ 317.5 kvar .(b) After the installation of the 300-kvar
−1
capacitors,
Q2=Q1−Qc¿ 317.5−300¿ 17.5 kvar and therefore, the new power factor can be found from
Equation 8.9 as
P ¿ 360
cos θ2= ¿ 0.9989 or 99.89 % .Example 8.4
¿ ¿ ¿ ( 360 +17.52 ¿ 1/ 2
2
Assume that the Riverside Substation of the NL&NP Company has a bank of three
2000-kVA transformers that supplies a peak load of 7800 kVA at a lagging power
factor of 0.89. All three transformers have a thermal capability of 120% of the
nameplate rating. It has already been planned to install 1000 kvar of shunt
capacitors on the feeder to improve the voltage regulation. Determine the
following:
(a) Whether or not to install additional capacitors on the feeder to decrease the
load to the thermal capability of the transformer.
(b) The rating of the additional capacitors.
Solution
(a) Before the installation of the 1000-kvar capacitors,
P=S 1 × cos θ¿ 7800 ×0.89¿ 6942 kW
and
Q1=S1 ×sin θ ¿ 7800 ×0.456¿ 3556.8 kvar .
Therefore, after the installation of the 1000-kvar capacitors,
6942
Q2=Q1−Qc¿ 3556.8−1000¿ 2556.8 kvar¿ ¿ 0.938 or 93.8 %and the corrected
( 6942 + 2556.82 ¿ 1/ 2
2
apparent power is
P 6942
S2 = ¿ ¿ 7397.9 kVA .
cos θ 2 0.938
On the other hand, the transformer capability is
ST =6000 ×1.20 ¿ 7200 kVA .
Therefore, the capacitors installed to improve the voltage regulation are not
adequate; additional capacitor installation is required.
(b) The new or corrected power factor required can be found as
P
PF2 , new =cos θ 2, new = ¿ 6942 ¿ 0.9642 or 96.42 %
ST 7200
and thus the new required reactive power can be found as
Q2 , new=P × tan θ2 , new¿ P × tan (cos −1 PF2 ,new )¿ 6942 ×0.2752=1910 kvar.
Therefore, the rating of the additional capacitors required is
Qc ,add =Q2−Q2 , new¿ 2556.8−1910¿ 646.7 kvar.
Example 8.5
If a power system has 10,000 kVA capacity and is operating at a power factor of
0.7 and the cost of a synchronous capacitor (i.e., synchronous condenser) to
correct the power factor is $10 per kVA, find the investment required to correct
the power factor to:
(a) 0.85 lagging power factor.
(b) Unity power factor.
Pold =S cos θ old =(10,000 kVA)0.7=7000 k W Qold =S sin θ old=(10,000 kVA) sin 45.57∘=7141.43 kvar .
(a) For PF = 0.85 lagging:
Pnew 7000 kW
Pnew =Pold =7000 kW (as before) Snew = = =8235.29 kVA
Qc =Q required=Qold −Q new=7141.43−4338.21=2803.22 kvar correction needed .Hence, the theoretical cost
cos θ new 0.85
of the synchronous capacitor is
Cost capacitor =(2803.22 kVA)($ 10/ kVA)=$ 28,032.20 .Note that it is customary to give the cost of
capacitors in dollars per kVA rather than in dollars per kvar.
(b) For PF = 1.0:
Qc =Q required=Qold −Q new=7141.43−0.0=7141.43 kvar .Thus, the theoretical cost of the synchronous
capacitor is
Cost capacitor =(7141.43 kVA)($ 10 /kVA)=$ 71,414.30 .Note that Pnew =7000 kW the same as before.
Example 8.6
If a power system has 15,000 kVA capacity, operating at a 0.65 lagging power
factor and cost of synchronous capacitors to correct the power factor is
$12.5/kVA, determine the costs involved and also develop a table showing the
required (leading) reactive power to increase the power factor to:
(a) 0.85 lagging power factor.
(b) 0.95 lagging power factor.
(c) Unity power factor.
Solution
At original power factor or 0.65:
P=S cos θ=(15,000 kVA ) 0.65=9750 k W The following table shows the amount of reactive
power that is required to improve the power factor from one level to the next at
0.05 increments.
(a) For PF = 0.85 lagging:
P=S cos θ=(15,000 kVA )× 0.65=9750 kW .and
−1
Q=S sin θ=(11,470 kVA) sin (cos 0.85)=6042 kvar .
The amount of additional reactive power correction required is
Additional var correction = 11,399−6042=5357 kvar .
The cost of this correction is
Cost of correction = (5357 kVA)($ 12.5/ kVA)=$ 66 , 962.50 .
(b) For PF = 0.95 lagging:
9750 kW
S= =10,263 kV A and
0.95
−1
Q=(10,263 kVA) sin (cos 0.95)=3204 kvar .The amount of additional reactive power
correction required is
Additional var correction = 11,399−3204=8195 kvar.
The cost of this correction is
Cost of correction = (8195 kVA)($ 12.5/ kVA)=$ 102,438.
(c) For unity power factor:
The amount of additional reactive power correction required is
Additional var correction = 11,399 kvar.
The cost of this correction is
Cost of correction = (11,399 kVA) ($12.5/kVA) = $142,487.50.