ECE 330

POWER CIRCUITS AND ELECTROMECHANICS

LECTURE 2
ACTIVE, REACTIVE, AND COMPLEX POWER

Acknowledgment-These handouts and lecture notes given in class are based on material from Prof. Peter
Sauer’s ECE 330 lecture notes. Some slides are taken from Ali Bazi’s presentations

Disclaimer- These handouts only provide highlights and should not be used to replace the course textbook.
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Copyright © 2017 Hassan Sowidan
 TWO-TERMINAL NETWORK
• A two-terminal electrical network has voltage at its
terminals and current flowing in and out of its
terminals. i(t) i(t)

+ Load + Source
v(t) Notation v(t) Notation
- -

• The instantaneous power is p (t )  v (t ) i (t ).

• For i (t )  I m cos( t  i ) A and v (t ) V m cos( t  v ) V
we get
p (t ) V m I m cos( t  v ) cos( t  i )
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 TWO-TERMINAL NETWORK

1
cos  cos   [cos(   )+ cos(   )]
2

VmIm VmIm
p (t )  cos(v  i )+ cos(2 t  v  i ) W
2 2

The first term is time-independent, while the second

term is a sinusoid at double frequency.

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 TWO-TERMINAL NETWORK
• The average power is thus
T
1
P   P (t ) d (t ) 2
, T 
T 0 
Vm I m
Pin  cos( v  i ).
2
• This is called the active or real power and its unit is
watts (W).
• The power factor is the cosine of the phase angle
between v (t) and i(t).
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 POWER FACTOR

• The power factor (P.F.) is thus P.F .  cos(v  i ).

• The power factor can be:
– Lagging: 0o  v  i  90o
– Leading: 90o  v  i  0o
– Unity:  v  i  0
Therefore, 0  P.F.  1 ,
and the highest real power
exists when P.F.=1. Source: grupovision.com
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 APPARENT POWER AND REACTIVE POWER

VmIm
• The apparent power is S 
2
• The apparent power unit is volt-amps (VA).
Vm I m
• The reactive power is Qin  sin( v  i ).
2
• The reactive power unit is volt-amps-reactive

(VARs).

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 COMPLEX POWER
• The instantaneous power is
VmIm VmIm
p (t )  cos(v  i )+ cos(2 t  v  i ) W
2 2
• The time varying component
VmIm VmIm
cos (2 t  v  i )  cos[ (2 t  2i )  (v  i )]
2 2
VmIm VmIm
 cos (2 t  2i ) cos (v  i )  sin (2 t  2i )sin (v  i )
2 2

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 COMPLEX POWER
• Define
VmIm
Q in  sin(v  i ), (Reactive power)
2
p (t )  Pin  Pin cos(2 t  2 i )  Q in sin(2 t   i )
 Pin (1  cos(2 t  i ))  Q in sin(2 t  2i )

• The real power can be written as

VmIm
Pin  cos(v  i )  Vrms I rms cos(v  i )
2
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 PHASOR REPRESENTATION
Vm I m jv  ji j v  ji
Pin  Re{ e e }  Re{Vrms e I rms e }
2
• The reactive power can be written as
Vm I m jv  ji
Qin  Im{ e e }  Im{Vrms e jv I rms e  ji }
2
• The voltages and currents can be written as phasors:
jv ji
Vrms e  V and I rms e I.
Pin  Re(V I  )  Vrms I rms cos(v  i )
Qin  Im(V I  )  Vrms I rms sin(v  i )
Source: Tonex.com
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 Complex Power
• Define the complex power as S  Pin  jQin
• Then S can be written as S  V I *
• The quantity I * is the complex conjugate of I .
• S can also be written as
S  S (v  i )
• Note that
S
Qin
VmIm
S   Pin2  Q in2 (v  i )
2 Pin
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 ALTERNATE FORMS OF COMPLEX POWER

• If the load is Z  R  jX , connected across the source V

By Ohm’s law: V  Z I , but S V I *
Then S can be written as S  I 2 R  jI 2 X Also,
P  I 2 R and Q  I 2 X , Z and P.F .  cos(angle( Z )).
• Thus, Q > 0 when Z is inductive, X   L
1
and Q < 0 when is capacitive, X  
C
• S and Z are not phasors but complex quantities.
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 EXAMPLE: LC FILTER AND R LOAD
• The circuit shown is commonly used as an LC filter
to supply a load, which is resistive in this case.
• Find the current, real, reactive, and complex powers,
and the P.F. for v(t )  2Vrms cos(377t )
L
 j 
Z  j L   R / /  +
  C  v(t)
i(t)
C R
-
 L  j ( 2 RLC  R)
Z
 RC  j
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 EXAMPLE: LC FILTER AND R LOAD
• Let
Vrms  120V , L  1mH, C  6.8mF, and R  10.
Z  0.0197  39.41o  0.0152  j 0.0125
V 1200o
I    6091.4 39.41o
A
Z 0.0197  39.41o

i (t )  6091.4 2 cos(377t  39.41o ) L

S  V I *  731  39.41o kVA +

i(t)
v(t) C R
Pin  731cos( 39.41o )  564.8kW -

Qin  731sin( 39.41 )  464.1kVAR

o

P.F.= cos( 39.41o )  0.773 leading ( v  i  39.41o )

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 READING MATERIAL

• Reading material: Chapter 2 sections 2.1 – 2.3.

• Recommended reading for next time: section 2.4.

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