Name: Course: Yr.
& Sec:
Section: Time: Room:
Instructor: Date Date
Performed: Submitted:
Experiment POWER FACTOR CORRECTION Rating:
No. 7
I. OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the detrimental effect of a low power factor on a
system.
2. To improve the power factor of the circuit by connecting a capacitor/s
in parallel with the load.
II. THEORY
Power factor is an indication of useful work in AC circuit. It is also defined as a
ratio of the real power to the apparent power. Low power factor is determined for
three important reasons.
a) The power factor cuts down the load ability; i.e. it reduces the capacity of
the power system to carry useful power as kilowatts. As a result larger
generators, transmission lines, transformers, feeders and switches must be
provided for each kilowatt of the load when the power factor is low than
when it is high. Thus the capital investment per kilowatt of the load is
higher.
b) A low power factor makes each kilowatt of power carry a higher burden of
line losses. Therefore, it makes it cost more to transport each kilowatt of
power.
c) A low power factor may depress the voltage and even cause some
production slump by making the motors sluggish, dimming the lights and
slowing up the heaters.
If a capacitor is connected in para;;e; with the load having a lagging low power
factor, it will develop a reactive power in opposite direction to that of the load, thus
improving the power factor. By proper choice of capacitance, the power factor can
be made close to unity.
III. INSTRUMENTS AND COMPONENTS
1 Wattmeter 100 / 500 watts
1 AC voltmeter 0-150 / 250 volts
1 AC ammeter 0-0.2 / 0.5 / 2 amp
Resistance Module
Inductance Module
Cord with Male plug
Connecting wires
1 SPST switch (Optional)
IV. PROCEDURES
Caution: High voltages are present in this experiment! Do not make any
connections with the power on! The power should be turned off after
completing each individual measurement.
1. Connect the circuit shown in Fig. 7-1
Fig. 7-1
R = 180Ω
L = 0.5H
Note: Current coil of wattmeter shall be connected in series with
the line and potential coil in parallel.
2. Set the given instruments to the following range;
Voltmeter - 250 volts
Ammeter - 2 amp
Wattmeter - 500 watts
3. Have your connected circuit checked by your instructor
4. Turn on the power supply.
a. Measure and record the line current and voltage
I2 = ________ amp V = ________ volts
b. Measure and record the real power (wattmeter
reading).
P = ________ watts
5. Turn-off the power supply and calculate;
a. The apparent power (S)
S = VIL = ____________ volt-amp
b. The power factor
P
p.f. = = ____________
S
P
-1
Θ = cos = ____________
S
c. The reactive power (Q)
Q = √S2 – P2 = ____________ vars.
Or
Q = S sinθ = ____________ vars.
6. Connect the capacitance module in parallel with the load
as shown in Fig. 7-2. open all of the associated capacitor
toggle switches.
Fig. 7-2
R = 180Ω Es = 220V
L = 0.5H
7. Have your connected circuit checked by your instructor.
8. Turn-on the power supply.
a. Start to add capacitance to your circuit by closing
the switches one at a time. Note that the line
current diminishes as capacitance as added. At some
point, as you keep adding more capacitance the line
current will start to increase (the line current
has gone through a minimum value).
b. Adjust your capacitance for minimum line current.
Note the value of capacitance that will give
this minimum line current.
C = ____________ μF
c. Measure and record the line current and voltage at
condition (b).
IL = ____________ amp.
V = ____________ volts.
d. Measure and record the real power (Wattmeter
reading) at condition (b)
P = ____________ watts.
9. Turn-off the power supply and calculate;
a. The apparent power (S)
S = VIL = ____________ volt-amp.
b. The power factor
P
p.f. = = ____________
S
P
-1
Θ = cos = ____________
S
c. The reactive power (Q)
Q = √S2 – P2 = ____________ vars.
Or
Q = S sinθ = ____________ vars.
V. COMPUTATIONS
VI. DISCUSSIONS AND ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
VII. CONCLUSION
VIII. QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
1. Compare the results of procedures 4 and 5 with the results of
procedure 8 and 9
a. Has there been a significant reduction in line current by
adding capacitance?
b. Is the real power approximately the same whether the
capacitance is added or not? Explain.
c. What reactance value gives the lowest line current?
2. A 60 hz source with an effective voltage of 240 volts supplies 4500
volt-amp to a load with a p.f. of 0.75 lagging. Determine the parallel
capacitance required to improve the power factor to:
a. 0.9 lagging
b. 0.9 leading
What percent reduction in line current resulted in part (a).
3. The power factor of a certain load is corrected to 0.9 lagging with the
addition of 20 kvar of capacitors. If the final kva is 185, determine the
power triangle of the load before correction.
