Power Factor Correction
Is your Power Factor too low?
Are you at the limit of your KVA?
If so then you are wasting money needlessly.
Check your electricity bill to see what your power
factor is!
The Reactive Power charge on your electricity bill is directly
targeted against those companies who do not demonstrate clear
energy efficiency use. You will find this charge itemised on your
electricity bill.
Reactive power charges can be made significantly smaller by the
introduction of Power Factor Correction Capacitors which is a
widely recognised method of reducing an electrical load and
minimising wasted energy, improving the efficiency of a plant and
reducing the electricity bill.
It is not always necessary to reach a power factor of 1. A cost
effective solution can be achieved by increasing your power factor
to greater than 0.95
A full site survey is required to determine what type and size of
system is required to meet your current and future needs.
Energy in Motion Ltd will carry out the survey, including harmonic
analysis, and the cost of the survey can be remitted against the
cost of the equipment purchased.
Once in place, the cost of PFC can usually be recovered
in less than 1 year.
Email save@energy-in-motion.comor Telephone 0800 389 6076
What is Power Factor?
Power Factor is a measure of how efficiently electrical power is consumed.
In the ideal world Power Factor would be unity (or 1). Unfortunately in the
real world Power Factor is reduced by highly inductive loads to 0.7 or less.
This induction is caused by equipment such as lightly loaded electric motors,
luminaire transformers and fluorescent lighting ballasts and welding sets, etc.
What does it do to my electricity bill?
In a 3 phase supply, kW consumed is (VOLTS x AMPS x 1.73 x Power
Factor) / 1000. The Electricity Company supply you VOLTS x AMPS and
they have to supply extra to make up for the loss caused by poor Power
Factor. When the power factor falls below a set figure, the electricity supply
companies charge a premium on the kW being consumed, or, charge for the
whole supply as kVA.
What causes Power Factor to change?
Inductive loads cause the AMPS to lag behind the VOLTS. The wave forms
of VOLTS and AMPS are then "out of phase" with each other. The more out
of phase they become then the lower the Power Factor. Power Factor is
usually expressed as Cos Phi. (Ø)
In 3 phase power supplies the
"power" can be measured as a
triangle.
ACTIVE Power is the base
line and is the real usable
power measured in kW.
REACTIVE power is the
vertical or that part of the
supply which causes the
inductive load. The reactive
power in is measured in kVAr
(kilo volt-amperes reactive)
APPARENT Power is the
hypotenuse. This is the
resultant of the other two
components and is measured
in kVA
The effects of power factor.
Consider a canal boat being pulled by a horse. If the horse could walk on
water then the angle (Phi) Ø would be zero and COSINE Ø=1. Meaning all
the horse power is being used to pull the load.
However the relative position of the horse influences the power. As the horse
gets closer to the barge, angle Ø1 increases and power is wasted, but, as the
horse is positioned further away, then angle Ø2 gets closer to zero and less
power is wasted
Why do I need Power factor correction?
Capacitive Power Factor correction (PFC) is applied to electric circuits as a
means of minimising the inductive component of the current and thereby
reducing the losses in the supply.
The introduction of Power Factor Correction capacitors is a widely
recognised method of reducing an electrical load, thus minimising wasted
energy and hence improving the efficiency of a plant and reducing the
electricity bill.
It is not usually necessary to reach unity, ie Power Factor 1, since most
supply companies are happy with a PF of 0.95 to 0.98
How does it work?
By installing suitably sized switched capacitors into the circuit, the Power
Factor is improved and the value becomes nearer to 1 thus minimising
wasted energy and improving the efficiency of a plant
