American Control Technologies,Inc Power Factor Correction

Technology

American Control Technologies,Inc Power Factor Correction

Technology

1152 West 2400 South Suite ‘C’ Salt Lake City, Utah 84119

• What Is Power Factor?• What is Power Factor Correction?• How Does It Work?

• What Are The Benefits?

• What Makes ACT’S Power Factor Correction Unit Better?

• Actual Results In Clarksville, TN

Overview

Power factor is the ratio between the KW and the KVA drawn by an electrical load where the KW is the actual load power and the KVA is the apparent load power. It is a measure of how effectively the current is being converted into useful work output and more particularly is a good indicator of the effect of the load current on the efficiency of the supply system.

What Is Power Factor?

When electricity energizes the coils of a motor, a reverse current or reactive power from the coils is created. This phenomenon is an expression in electrical physics of Newton’s Third Law of action and reaction. When coiled devices use electricity to perform useful work, the process also creates reactive electrical fields that resist the effective working of the active electrical energy. The reactive power opposes the incoming current. The opposition creates an abnormal condition in which voltage reaches its maximum charge before current reaches its maximum flow. Voltage and current are out of phase. By the time the current overcomes the opposition and finally reaches its maximum flow, the voltage charge has already begun to dissipate, making the transfer of energy less effective. This loss of effective energy is called low power factor. This is called a “lagging power factor” in that the current is lagging behind the voltage. A capacitor works the opposite from a coil; it causes the current to lead the voltage causing a “leading power factor”. A motor or coil causes inductive reactance, capacitors cause capacitive reactance. If the inductive reactance and capacitive reactance are equal they cancel each other, causing the current and voltage to be in phase.

The term “phase angle” is from trigonometry. It describes the relationship of current and voltage, the two parts of working electricity. For current and voltage to produce maximum power, they must be “in phase” with each other. The graphs of their waveforms should overlay each other, so that their waveforms appear simultaneously. Ideally, voltage should reach its maximum value at the same time that the current reaches its maximum value. The optimum phase angle is zero degrees.

What Is Power Factor Correction?

Fig. a. This graph depicts a load that is high in inductance. As you can see current and voltage are not in phase, the current lags the voltage.

Fig. b. This graph depicts a load that is high in capacitance. As you can see voltage and current are not in phase, the current leads the voltage.

Fig. c. This graph shows inductance and capacitance, for all practical purposes, equal. As you can see the current and voltage are in phase.

What Are The Benefits?

• Up to 25% savings on power bill• Equipment will run cooler, longer life, less

maintenance• Environmentally Friendly

What Makes ACT’S Power Factor Correction Unit Better?

• When installed, improves power factor, increases KVA capacity and efficiency of present electrical distribution system

• UL 508 listed, complete assembly • NEMA 1 formed steel enclosure, with bottom entry access • Compact, economical design allows for maximum KVAR in a small footprint • Modular design allows for future expansion, match and line • Three phase power capacitors with 25, 50, 100 and 200 KVAR steps, with other

sizes also available • Current limiting type fuses rated at 100kaic, three-phase fault protection • Blown fuse indication • Microprocessor based power factor controller with digital display • Automatically switched capacitors provide more efficient operation and minimizes

load transients• Easy installation and start-up  

Actual Results In Clarksville, TN

An 600 Amp ACT power factor correction unit was installed at the Ringgold Road pump station in Clarksville, TN. A Fluke meter was installed across the unit and monitored with a laptop computer. Two power factor samples were recorded and documented in an Excel spread sheet. The results are as follows:

Clarksville PFC_off

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101 105 109 113 117 121 125

Time

PF

PF1_off

PF2_off

PF3_off

This graph shows the power factor with the ACT PFC off. As you can see the power factor on phase 1 is approximately .83, phase 2 .82, and phase 3 .88.

Clarksville_PFC_on

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 53 57 61 65 69 73 77 81 85 89 93 97 101 105 109 113 117 121 125 129 133 137

Time

PF

PF1_on

PF2_on

PF3_on

This graph shows the power factor with the ACT PFC on. As you can see the power factor on all 3 phases is .98 or better. This equates to a 15 to 20 percent power savings.

For additional information on our power factor correction solution, or other products and solutions offered by ACT for your water/wastewater facility, please contact us at:

801-972-1555

801-972-5056 fax

www.americancomptech.com