Centre for Diploma Studies Page No.

1/7

Department of Electrical Engineering Revision No. 1

LAB4_POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC) Effective Date 14/03/2022

CENTRE FOR DIPLOMA STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM LABORATORY

(MAKMAL SISTEM KUASA ELEKTRIK)

WORKING INSTRUCTION AND REPORT

Course Code & Name /

DAE 32403 ( ELECTRICAL POWER SYSTEM )
Kod & Nama Kursus
Code & Title of Experiment/
LAB4_POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC)
Kod & Tajuk Ujikaji
Date of Experiment/
Tarikh Ujikaji
Programme/Program 2DAE
Group/ Kumpulan
Matrix No./
Name/Nama
Group Members/ No. Matrik
Ahli Kumpulan 1.
2.
3.
Instructor Name / 1.
Nama Instruktor 2.

Keputusan/Result - P3 /35%
Pengiraan/Calculation - P3 /25%
Perbincangan/Discussion - C3 /15%
Assessment / Penilaian Kesimpulan/Conclusion - C3 /15%
Minit mesyuarat/Minutes meeting –A2 /10%
TOTAL/
/100%
JUMLAH
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Department of Electrical Engineering Revision No. 1

LAB4_POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC) Effective Date 14/03/2022

EXPERIMENT: POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC)

AIM: To understand the power factor correction technique which uses capacitors in parallel with load
by determining the required reactive power (Qc (kVAR)) to be installed, in order to improve the
power factor (cos θ) and reduce the apparent power (S).

OBJECTIVES:
(1) To build and simulate an AC circuit with a reactive power component and to improve its efficiency
using the power factor correction technique thus improving the power quality.
(2) To draw the power triangle before and after the power factor correction.

1. INTRODUCTION

Power Factor is an index used to measure the efficient use of electricity. This index is measured on a range
of 0 to 1.0. For customers taking supply at 33 kV or below, the value of the power factor to be maintained
is ≥ 0.85. Power factor < 0.85 will result in power factor surcharge. For customers taking supply at 132 kV
or above, the value of the power factor to be maintained is ≥ 0.90. Power factor < 0.90 will result in power
factor surcharge. A high Power Factor index (e.g. above 0.85 or 0.90 ) indicates an efficient level of
electricity usage. On the other hand, a low Power Factor index (e.g. under 0.85 or 0.90) shows an
inefficient use of electricity, indicating electricity wastage.

A high Power Factor index gives the following benefits:

 No additional charges on monthly electricity bill as there is no Power Factor Surcharge
 Extends the lifespan of electrical appliances
 Reduces electricity wastage for electrical installations at customers’ premises
 Conserves the environment by lowering fuel usage and helps the country reduce carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions

Power Factor can be improved by:

 Install equipment that can improve Power Factor, such as a Capacitor Bank.
 Avoid operating motor-based electrical appliances without load or below the load recommended
by manufacturers.
 Use motor-based electrical appliances with a high Power Factor.
 Use motor-based electrical appliances that are SIRIM-certified and have energy-efficient labels.

Power Factor Correction

Power Factor Correction uses parallel-connected capacitors to oppose the effects of inductive elements
and reduce the phase shift between the voltage and current as shown in Figure 1. When dealing with
direct current (DC) circuits, the power dissipated by the connected load is simply calculated as the product
of the DC voltage times the DC current, that is V*I, given in watts (W). For a fixed resistive load, the current
is proportional to the applied voltage so the electrical power dissipated by the resistive load will be linear.
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Department of Electrical Engineering Revision No. 1

LAB4_POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC) Effective Date 14/03/2022

But in an alternating current (AC) circuit the situation is slightly different as reactance affects the behavior
of the circuit.

Figure 1: Inductive load with a power factor correction capacitor

In a DC circuit, the average power is simply V*I, but the average power of an AC circuit is not the same
value; as many AC loads have inductive elements, such as coils, windings, transformers, etc. where the
current is out of phase with the voltage by some degrees resulting in the actual power dissipated in watts
being less than the product of the voltage and current. This is because, in circuits containing both
resistance and reactance, the phase angle, θ between them must also be taken into account.

For an AC circuit, the power dissipated in watts at any instant in time is equal to the product of the volts
and amperes at that exact same instant, this is because an AC voltage (and current) is sinusoidal, therefore
it changes continuously in both magnitude and direction with time at a rate determined by the source
frequency. Figure 2 shows the voltage and current output for an ideal load and linear load. Most electrical
loads have inherent reactive properties that make it difficult for them to achieve the ideal power factor.
To overcome this limitation, power factor correction circuits are added to a network to compensate for a
load’s reactive characteristics.

(a) (b)

Figure 2: (a) Voltage and current for ideal load (b) Voltage and current for linear load
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Department of Electrical Engineering Revision No. 1

LAB4_POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC) Effective Date 14/03/2022

Calculating the Require Active Power:

Qc is power of the capacitor bank in kVAr or denominated as Q3 as in Figure 3, can be determined from
the formula Q3 = P (tan θ1 – tan θ2). Where:

P = active power of the load in kW

tan θ1= tangent of phase shift angle before compensation
tan θ2 = tangent of phase shift angle after compensation

Figure 3: Power Factor Correction PFC formulae

2. PRELAB

2.1 Create a New Folder at your desktop and named it as “DAE32403 Lab”and a subfolder in it,
named as “Lab 4”

3. EQUIPMENTS
(1) PSCAD software student version V5.
(2) Personal computer.

4. PROCEDURES

4.1 Task 1: Calculate the desired value for every component of an AC circuit.

(1) A coil has a resistance of 10Ω and an inductance of 17.34 Ω. If it draws a current of 5 Amperes
when connected to a 100Vrms, 60Hz supply, calculate:

a) The inductance of the coil, L = ______________H

b) The voltages across the components
 VR = _______________V
 VL = _______________V
 VS = _______________V
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Department of Electrical Engineering Revision No. 1

LAB4_POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC) Effective Date 14/03/2022

c) The phase angle of the circuit, θ = ______ °

d) The power factor of the circuit, p.f. = ___________ lagging/leading

e) The circuit power:

 Real power, P =_____________W
 Reactive power, Q = ____________ VAR
 Apparent power, S = ____________VA

4.2 Task 2: Build and simulate the AC circuit from task 1.

(1) Using the data given, built your schematic diagram in project file named “Lab4”. You may
refer to the schematic below:

Figure 5: Schematic AC circuit with a coil as a load

(2) Set the value of the parameter as given data in Task 1.

(2) Run the simulation & measure the current and voltage outputs using a multimeter for:
 Sending voltage, VS = _______________V
 Sending current, IS = _______________A
 Receiving voltage, V (across load in rms) = _______________V
 Receiving current, I (thru load in rms) = _______________A
 Real power, P = _______________W
 Reactive power, Q = _______________VAr

(3) Find the Apparent Power, S = ________________VA

(4) Calculate the power factor, p.f = ________________lagging/leading

(5) Activity 1: Draw and label the resulting power triangle for both the calculation in Task 1 and
simulation output in different figures side by side. Attached ALL output graphs in your lab
report. Discuss your finding based on the circuit behavior observation in the lab report.
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Department of Electrical Engineering Revision No. 1

LAB4_POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC) Effective Date 14/03/2022

4.3 Task 3: Calculate the Required Active Power and Compensated Capacitor Value

(1) A Capacitor of negligible resistance is connected in parallel with the loads in Task 1 circuit to
improve the power factor to 0.95 lagging. Calculate the required active power, QC (kVAR), and
the compensated capacitor value.
 QC =____________kVAR
 C =____________F

(2) Activity 2: Show the calculation steps involves in this task.

4.4 Task 4: Simulate the Circuit With Added Compensated Capacitor in Parallel with Load

(1) Add a capacitor in parallel with load in the same circuit using the capacitor value obtained
from Task 3.

(2) Run the simulation & measure the current and voltage outputs using a multimeter for:

 Sending voltage, VS = _______________V

 Sending current, IS = _______________A
 Receiving voltage, V (across load in rms) = _______________V
 Receiving current, I (thru load in rms) = _______________A
 Real power, P = _______________W
 Reactive power, Q = _______________VAr

(3) Find the Apparent Power, S = ________________VA

(4) Calculate the power factor, p.f = ________________lagging/leading

(5) Activity 3: Draw the new power triangle figure and compare both calculation and simulation
results. Attach ALL output graphs in your lab report. Discuss your finding based on the circuit
behavior observation in the lab report.
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Department of Electrical Engineering Revision No. 1

LAB4_POWER FACTOR CORRECTION (PFC) Effective Date 14/03/2022

5. LAB REPORT WRITING

Lab report writing must consist of ALL of these items:

 Lab front page.

 Attached ALL schematic diagrams involves in this laboratory tasks.
 Shows ALL calculation steps accordingly.
 Activity 1: Draw and label the resulting power triangle for both the calculation in
Task 1 and simulation output in different figures side by side. Attached ALL output
graphs in your lab report. Discuss your finding based on the circuit behavior
observation in the lab report.
 Activity 2: Show the calculation steps involves in this task.
 Activity 3: Draw the new power triangle figure and compare both calculation and
simulation results. Attach ALL output graphs in your lab report. Discuss your finding
based on the circuit behavior observation in the lab report.
 Brief Conclusion (not more than 1 page)
 Minutes meeting of lab report works distributions amongst group members (1 page)
 Report submission is within ONE WEEK after the lab session. Zero tolerance for
plagiarism; no marks will be given.
 Marks will be given according to the rubric marking schemes.

Prepared by / Disediakan oleh :

Signature / Tandatangan :
Name / Nama : Dr Zainab Zainal
Date / Tarikh : April 2022