Power Factor Correction improves the phase angle between the supply voltage and current while the real power consumption in watts remains the same, because as we have seen a pure reactance does not consume any real power. Adding an impedance in the form of capacitve reactance in parallel with the coil above will decrease Θ and thus increases the power factor which in turn reduces the circuits rms current drawn from the supply.
The power factor of an AC circuit can vary from between 0 and 1 depending on the strength of the inductive load but in reality it can never be less than about 0.2 for the heaviest of inductive loads. As we have seen above, a power factor of less than 1 means that there is reactive power consumption which increases the closer it gets to 0 (fully inductive). Clearly then a power factor of exactly “1” means the circuit consumes zero reactive power (fully resistive) resulting in a power factor angle of 0o. This is referred to as “unity power factor”.
Utility Power Factor
Your power factor is a measure of how effectively electricity is consumed at your facility. In order for a utility supplier to always provide the electricity required of all energy users, and to maintain electric grid reliability for all energy consumers, the supplier needs to determine each property’s peak electric demand. Whether it is powering a manufacturing line, heating and air conditioning, or running large compressors for snowmaking, electricity is demanded at a given rate for each. In most cases, the initial electricity required to start a system exceeds the amount of electricity needed to keep that system running. Understanding how the energy choices you make will impact your power factor can help you lower energy costs and improve energy efficiency.
Your company’s electric utility bill shows two types of demand; kilowatts (kW), which is the amount of ‘working power’ or ‘real power’ that is actually being used by a facility, and kilovolt-amps (kVA) the ‘apparent power’ or ‘demand’. Your power factor is the ratio of real power to apparent power (ratio of kW/kVA). An inefficient or low power factor, with the kVA demand being higher than the kW usage, can require a utility to install or purchase additional electric capacity in order to deliver a higher electric current to supply electricity loads.
Understanding your power factor can be confusing and it is easy to overlook if you aren’t sure what to look for when assessing your utility bills. Recently, while reviewing one of our client’s electric utility bills, we noticed that the kVA was greater than the kW; meaning that the client had a poor power factor. Since the client had already optimized their building systems, we thought it would be beneficial for the client to install capacitors on some of their equipment to improve their power factor. By accumulating and holding electricity, capacitors increase a system’s carrying capacity, which raises the kW power factor and reduces kVA demand. In essence, you are able to increase the kW load without affecting the kVA. Once the power factor is increased, kW demand should increase above kVA demand, and the utility will begin calculating demand charges on the kW rather than the kVA. By understanding their power factor and making prudent adjustments, our client quickly saw improvements.
YTPQC-SVG Static Var Generator (SVG) is the new standard in reactive energy compensation. When the load is generating inductive or capacitive current, it makes load current lagging or leading the voltage.
YTPQC-SVG detects the phase angle difference and generates leading or lagging current into the grid, making the phase angle of current almost the same as that of voltage on the transformer side, which means fundamental power factor is unit.
The Static VAR Generator(SVG) is able to improve power factor for a lagging or leading displacement Power factor.SVG is also modular in design, and the SVG system consists of one or several SVG modules and an optional Liquid Crystal Monitor & Control Panel (LCM).
Each SVG module is an independent reactive power compensation system, and users can change the SVG rating by adding or removing SVG modules. SVGs deliver real-time inductive or capacitive reactive power compensation. SVG can rapidly and continuously compensate both inductive and capacitive reactive power, and correct load imbalance. With sufficient capacity, the SVG ensures excellent fundamental power factor improvement performance. Rapid response time provides stable and accurate power factor correction without the drawbacks of conventional solutions like capacitor banks and reactor banks.
The targeted use of power factor correction systems can significantly improve energy efficiency as the power losses in the electrical transmission and distribution network are significantly reduced and, the CO2 emissions for generating wasted power are avoided. Transformers and the power transmission and distribution networks can be used more efficiently.
Why SVG is better than Capacitor Banks
Low power factor increases the active energy losses of installations and affects their stability. It is typically caused by inductive or capacitive loads that demand extra reactive power to perform properly. Other contributors to low power factor are harmonic currents produced by nonlinear loads and the change of load in the electric power system. Static Var Generator(SVG) deliver real-time inductive or capacitive reactive power compensation. Rapid response time provides stable and accurate power factor correction without the drawbacks of conventional solutions like capacitor banks and reactor banks
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