Power factor correction: a guide for the plant engineer

advertisement

Power factor correction: a guide for the plant engineer

Power factor correction: a guide for the plant engineer

What is power factor?

    Special electrical requirement of inductive loads Most loads in modern electrical distribution systems are inductive. Examples include motors, transformers, gaseous tube lighting ballasts, and induction furnaces. Inductive loads need a magnetic field to operate. Inductive loads require two kinds of current:

• Working power (kW) to perform the actual work of creating heat, light, motion, machine output, and so on.

• Reactive power (kVAR) to sustain the magnetic field Working power consumes watts and can be read on a wattmeter.

    It is measured in kilowatts (kW). Reactive power doesn’t perform useful “work,” but circulates between the generator and the load. It places a heavier drain on the power source, as well as on the power source’s distribution system. Reactive power is measured in kilovolt-amperes-reactive (kVAR).

Short Circuit Current Calculation

advertisement

Table Of Content

Part one: power factor

What is power factor?. 2

Should I be concerned about

low power factor?. 3

What can I do to improve power factor?. 4

How much can I save by installing

power capacitors?. 5

How can I select the right capacitors

for my specific application needs? . 9

How much kVAR do I need? . 9

Where should I install capacitors

in my plant distribution system? . 15

Can capacitors be used in nonlinear,

nonsinusoidal environments?. 17

What about maintenance? . 17

Code requirements for capacitors. 17

Useful capacitor formulas. 18

advertisement

Part two: harmonics

Introduction. 19

What are harmonics? . 19

What are the consequences

of high harmonic distortion levels?. 20

IEEET 519 . 20

How are harmonics generated? . 21

What do power factor correction

capacitors have to do with harmonics?. 22

How do I diagnose a potential

harmonics-related problem?. 22

How can harmonics problems be eliminated?. 22

What is a passive harmonic filter? . 22

Do I need to perform a system analysis

to correctly apply harmonic filters?. 23

What is Eaton’s experience

in harmonic filtering?. 23

Effective August 2014

Supersedes November 2010

Capacitor banks and

Technical Data SA02607001E passive harmonic filters

Power factor correction:

a guide for the plant engineer

Contents

Description Page Description Page

Download full PDF in Comment section

advertisement