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| Power Factor Correction |
What is power factor correction?
- A technique used to improve the power factor of ac circuits by reducing the reactive power present in the circuit.
- The main target for power factor correction is to increase the efficiency of the circuit & reduced the current drawn by the load.
- It reduces the phase shift between voltage & current, so it tries to keep the power factor to unity.
- The most economical value is between 0.9 to 0.95.
Need for power factor correction
- In AC Circuits, voltage & current are sinusoidal waves. Hence, the magnitude & direction changes continuously. At the particular instant of time, the power dissipated is a multiplication of voltage & current at that instant.
- If an AC circuit having inductive loads having a winding, chowk coils, solenoid, transformer the current is out of phase with the voltage.
Power Factor Correction Circuit
- For power factor correction we mainly used Capacitor, Capacitor Bank, and Synchronous condenser.
- According to equipment used there are 3 types
- Capacitor Bank
- Synchronous Condenser
- Phase advancer
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| Capacitor Bank |
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| Synchronous Condenser |
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| Phase Advancer |
Applications of Power factor Correction
1. In the transmission network high power factor is necessary. by using Power factor correction methods high power losses reduced & voltage regulation improved.
2. In an industrial plant induction motor used. This method reduced heat dissipation and Improved the efficiency of the system.
3. PFC Equipment reduces heat generation of the cables, alternator, switchgear, etc.
4. Generate less energy due to the high efficiency of the network. this reduces carbon emission.