ISSN (Online) 2278-1021

ISSN (Print) 2319-5940

IJIREEICE
International Journal of Innovative Research in
Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control Engineering
SITES
Smart And Innovative Technologies In Engineering And Sciences
Gyan Ganga College of Technology
Vol. 4, Special Issue 4, November 2016

Automatic Power Factor Correction Using

Capacitor Banks
Utpal1, Rishav2, Madhu Tiwari3
Assistant Professor, Dept of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, SIET, Jabalpur, M.P, India1
Planning Assistant, Larsen and Toubro ltd., Asansol, W.B, India2
Student, Dept of Electrical Engineering, GGITS, Jabalpur, M.P, India3

Abstract: The thirst for new sources of energy is unquenchable, but we seldom realize that we are wasting a part of the
electrical energy everyday due to the lagging power factor in the inductive loads we use. Hence, there is an urgent need
to avoid this wastage of energy. Before getting into the details of Power Factor Correction, let us just brush our
knowledge about the term ―power factor‖. In simple words, power factor basically states how far the energy provided
has been utilized. The maximum value of power factor is unity. So the closer the value of power factor to unity, better
is the utility of energy or lesser is the wastage. In electrical terms, power factor is basically defined as the ratio of active
power to reactive power or it is the phase difference between voltage and current. Active power performs useful work
while reactive power does no useful work but is used for developing the magnetic field required by the device. Most of
the devices we use have power factor less than unity. Hence, there is a requirement to bring this power factor close to
unity. Here we are presenting a prototype for automatic power factor correction using the 8-bit AVR microcontroller
“Atmega328” as Arduino Uno. Power factor correction using capacitor banks reduces reactive power consumption
which will lead to minimization of losses and at the same time increases the electrical system„s efficiency. Power
saving issues and reactive power management has brought about the development of single phase capacitor banks for
domestic applications. The development of this project is to enhance and upgrade the operation of single phase
capacitor banks by developing a micro-processor based control system. The control unit will be able to control the
individual capacitors in the capacitor bank and will operate in steps based on the variation in power factor. Current
transformer and a Voltage transformer are used for sampling of the circuit current and voltage, so as to determine the
power factor. The intelligent control using this micro-processor control system ensures even utilization of capacitor
steps, minimizes number of switching operations and optimizes power factor correction.

Keywords: Power factor, Capacitor banks, Compensation, Microcontroller (Arduino uno).

I. INTRODUCTION
All current will cause losses in the supply and distribution
Power Factor system. A load with a power factor of 1.0 result in the
Power factor is the ration between the KW and the KVA most efficient loading of the supply and a load with a
drawn by an electrical load where the KW is the actual power factor of 0.5 will result in much higher losses in the
load power and the KVA is the apparent load power. It is a supply system.
measure of how effectively the current is being converted
into useful work output and more particularly is a good A poor power factor can be the result of either a
indicator of the effect of the load current on the efficiency significant phase difference between the voltage and
of the supply system. current at the load terminals, or it can be due to a high
harmonic content or distorted/discontinuous current
waveform. Poor load current phase angle is generally the
result of an inductive load such as an induction motor,
power transformer, lighting ballasts, welder or induction
furnace. A poor power factor due to an inductive load can
be improved by the addition of power factor correction,
but, a poor power factor due to a distorted current
waveform requires a change in equipment design or
expensive harmonic filters to gain an appreciable
Fig.1. Power triangle improvement.

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 ISSN (Online) 2278-1021
ISSN (Print) 2319-5940

IJIREEICE
International Journal of Innovative Research in
Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control Engineering
SITES
Smart And Innovative Technologies In Engineering And Sciences
Gyan Ganga College of Technology
Vol. 4, Special Issue 4, November 2016

Power Factor Correction retailers offer incentives for operating with a power factor
Capacitive Power Factor correction is applied to circuits of better than 0.9, while others penalize consumers with a
which include induction motors as a means of reducing the poor power factor. There are many ways that this is
inductive component of the current and thereby reduce the metered, but the net result is that in order to reduce wasted
losses in the supply. There should be no effect on the energy in the distribution system, the consumer will be
operation of the motor itself. encouraged to apply power factor correction.
An induction motor draws current from the supply that is Power factor correction is achieved by the addition of
made up of resistive components and inductive capacitors in parallel with the connected motor circuits
components. and can be applied at the starter, or applied at the
switchboard or distribution panel. The resulting capacitive
The resistive components are: current is leading current and is used to cancel the lagging
(i) Load current inductive current flowing from the supply. Capacitors
(ii)Loss current connected at each starter and controlled by each starter are
known as "Static Power Factor Correction"
The inductive components are:
(i) Leakage reactance Static Correction
(ii) Magnetizing current As a large proportion of the inductive or lagging current
on the supply is due to the magnetizing current of
induction motors, it is easy to correct each individual
motor by connecting the correction capacitors to the motor
starters. With static correction, it is important that the
capacitive current is less than the inductive magnetizing
current of the induction motor.
When the motor is connected to the supply, the capacitors
are also connected providing correction at all times that
the motor is connected to the supply. This removes the
requirement for any expensive power factor monitoring
Fig. 2. Ideal running condition of motor and control equipment. In this situation, the capacitors
remain connected to the motor terminals as the motor
The current due to the leakage reactance is dependent on slows down. An induction motor, while connected to the
the total current drawn by the motor, but the magnetizing supply, is driven by a rotating magnetic field in the stator
current is independent of the load on the motor. The which induces current into the rotor. When the motor is
magnetizing current will typically be between 20% and disconnected from the supply, there is for a period of time,
60% of the rated full load current of the motor. The a magnetic field associated with the rotor. As the motor
magnetizing current is the current that establishes the flux decelerates, it generates voltage out its terminals at a
in the iron and is very necessary if the motor is going to frequency which is related to its speed. The capacitors
operate. connected across the motor terminals, form a resonant
The magnetizing current does not actually contribute to circuit with the motor inductance. If the motor is critically
the actual work output of the motor. It is the catalyst that corrected, (corrected to a power factor of 1.0) the
allows the motor to work properly. The magnetizing inductive reactance equals the capacitive reactance at the
current and the leakage reactance can be considered line frequency and therefore the resonant frequency is
passenger components of current that will not affect the equal to the line frequency. If the motor is over corrected,
power drawn by the motor, but will contribute to the the resonant frequency will be below the line frequency. If
power dissipated in the supply and distribution system. the frequency of the voltage generated by the decelerating
Taking an example, a motor with a current draw of 100 motor passes through the resonant frequency of the
Amps and a power factor of 0.75 the resistive component corrected motor, there will be high currents and voltages
of the current is 75 Amps and this is what the KWh meter around the motor/capacitor circuit. This can result in
measures. The higher current will result in an increase in severe damage to the capacitors and motor. It is imperative
the distribution losses of (100 x 100) / (75 x 75) = 1.777 or that motors are never over corrected or critically corrected
a 78% increase in the supply losses. when static correction is employed.
In the interest of reducing the losses in the distribution Static power factor correction should provide capacitive
system, power factor correction is added to neutralize a current equal to 80% of the magnetizing current, which is
portion of the magnetizing current of the motor. Typically, essentially the open shaft current of the motor. The
the corrected power factor will be 0.92 - 0.95 some power magnetizing current for induction motors can vary

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IJIREEICE
International Journal of Innovative Research in
Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control Engineering
SITES
Smart And Innovative Technologies In Engineering And Sciences
Gyan Ganga College of Technology
Vol. 4, Special Issue 4, November 2016

considerably. Typically, magnetizing currents for large higher frequency harmonics. Typically, a reactor would be
two pole machines can be as low as 20% of the rated designed to create a resonant circuit with the capacitors
current of the motor while smaller low speed motors can above the third harmonic, but sometimes it is below.
have a magnetizing current as high as 60% of the rated full Adding the inductance in series with the capacitors will
load current of the motor. It is not practical to use a reduce their effective capacitance at the supply frequency.
"Standard table" for the correction of induction motors Reducing the resonant or tuned frequency will reduce the
giving optimum correction on all motors. Tables result in effective capacitance further. The object is to make the
under correction on most motors but can result in over circuit look as inductive as possible at the 5th harmonic
correction in some cases. Where the open shaft current and higher, but as capacitive as possible at the
cannot be measured, and the magnetizing current is not fundamental frequency. Detuning reactors will also reduce
quoted, an approximate level for the maximum correction the chance of the tuned circuit formed by the capacitors
that can be applied can be calculated from the half load and the inductive supply being resonant on a supply.
characteristics of the motor. harmonic frequency, thereby reducing damage due to
supply resonance amplifying harmonic voltages caused by
non linear loads.

III. SUPPLY RESONANCE

Capacitive Power factor correction connected to a supply

causes resonance between the supply and the capacitors. If
the fault current of the supply is very high, the effect of the
resonance will be minimal, however in a rural installation
where the supply is very inductive and can be high
Fig.3: Static correction impedance, the resonance can be very severe resulting in
major damage to plant and equipment.
Static correction is commonly applied by using one To minimize supply resonance problems, there are a few
contactor to control both the motor and the capacitors. It is steps that can be taken, but they do need to be taken by all
better practice to use two contactors, one for the motor and on the particular supply.
one for the capacitors. Where one contactor is employed, it
should be up sized for the capacitive load. The use of a 1) Minimize the amount of power factor correction,
second contactor eliminates the problems of resonance particularly when the load is light. The power factor
between the motor and the capacitors. correction minimizes losses in the supply. When the
supply is lightly loaded, this is not such a problem.
II. SUPPLY HARMONICS 2) Minimize switching transients. Eliminate open
transition switching - usually associated with generator
Harmonics on the supply cause a higher current to flow in plants and alternative supply switching, and with some
the capacitors. This is because the impedance of the electromechanical starters such as the star/delta starter.
capacitors goes down as the frequency goes up. This 3) Switch capacitors on to the supply in lots of small steps
increase in current flow through the capacitor will result in rather than a few large steps.
additional heating of the capacitor and reduce its life. 4) Switch capacitors on o the supply after the load has
The harmonics are caused by many nonlinear loads; the been applied and switch off the supply before or with the
most common in the industrial market today, are the load removal.
variable speed controllers and switch mode power Harmonic Power Factor correction is not applied to
supplies. Harmonic voltages can be reduced by the use of circuits that draw either discontinuous or distorted current
a harmonic compensator, which is essentially a large waveforms.
inverter that cancels out the harmonics. This is an
expensive option. Passive harmonic filters comprising IV. CALCULATION OF CAPACITANCE
resistors, inductors and capacitors can also be used to REQUIRED
reduce harmonic voltages. This is also an expensive
exercise. In order to reduce the damage caused to the In order to calculate power factor correction for your
capacitors by the harmonic currents, it is becoming installation, you should follow the steps below:
common today to install detuning reactors in series with Step 1– Calculate Actual Load (kW)
the power factor correction capacitors. These reactors are (Load) Power kW = Volts V x √3 x Current I x Power
designed to make the correction circuit inductive to the factor (Pf)

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IJIREEICE
International Journal of Innovative Research in
Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control Engineering
SITES
Smart And Innovative Technologies In Engineering And Sciences
Gyan Ganga College of Technology
Vol. 4, Special Issue 4, November 2016

Step 2– Calculate Required Power Factor Correction The CT has 1000 turns, so the secondary peak current will
(kVAr) be:
Power Factor Correction kVAr = Power kW (TanΦi – Secondary peak-current = Primary peak-current / no. of
TanΦd) turns = 7.07 A / 100= 0.0707A
Φi = Cos-1 Initial Power Factor Pf 4) To maximise measurement resolution, the voltage
Φd = Cos Required Power Factor Pf
-1
across the burden resistor at peak-current should be equal
Step 3– Calculate Actual Power Factor Correction [kAVr to one-half of the Arduino analog reference voltage.
]. (AREF / 2)
Actual Power Factor Correction Pf = Cos(Tan-1 (TanΦi – If you're using an Arduino running at 5V: AREF / 2 will
Correction kVAr / Power kW )) be 2.5 Volts. So the ideal burden resistance will be:Ideal
burden resistance = (AREF/2) / Secondary peak-current =
V. CIRCUIT FOR SENSING CURRENT AND 2.5 V / 0.0707 A = 35.4 Ω 35 Ω is not a common resistor
VOLTAGE value. The nearest values either side of 35 Ω are 39 and 33
Ω. always choose the smaller value, or the maximum load
Circuit for Sensing Current current will create a voltage higher than AREF.
To connect a CT sensor to an Arduino, the output signal Here are the same calculations as above in a more compact
from the CT sensor needs to be conditioned so it meets the form:
input requirements of the Arduino analog inputs, i.e.
Burden Resistor (ohms) = (AREF * CT TURNS) / (2√2 *
a positive voltage between 0V and the ADC reference
max primary current)
voltage. This can be achieved with the following circuit
which consists of two main parts:
Adding a DC Bias
1. The CT sensor and burden resistor
If you were to connect one of the CT wires to ground and
2. The biasing voltage divider (R1 & R2)
measure the voltage of the second wire, relative to ground,
the voltage would vary from positive to negative with
respect to ground. However, the Arduino analog inputs
require a positive voltage. By connecting the CT lead we
connected to ground, to a source at half the supply voltage
instead, the CT output voltage will now swing above and
below 2.5 V thus remaining positive. Resistors R1 & R2 in
the circuit diagram above are a voltage divider that
provides the 2.5 V source .Capacitor C1 has a low
reactance - a few hundred ohms - and provides a path for
the alternating current to bypass the resistor.
Choosing a suitable value for resistors R1 & R2:
Higher resistance lowers quiescent energy consumption.
Fig 4. Current sensing circuit Circuit for Sensing Voltage
An AC voltage measurement is needed to calculate real
Calculating a Suitable Burden Resistor power, apparent power and power factor. This
If the CT sensor is a "current output" type the current measurement can be made safely (requiring no high
signal needs to be converted to a voltage signal with a voltage work) by using an AC to AC power adaptor. The
burden resistor. If it is a voltage output CT you can skip transformer in the adapter provides isolation from the high
this step and leave out the burden resistor, as the burden voltage mains. The main objective for the signal
resistor is built into the CT. conditioning electronics detailed below, is to condition the
output of the AC power adapter so it meets the
1) Choose the current range you want to measure requirements of the Arduino analog inputs: a positive
The CT has a current range of 0 to 5 A. For this example, voltage between 0V and the ADC reference voltage
let's choose 5 A as our maximum current. (5V).The output signal from the AC voltage adapter is a
2) Convert maximum RMS current to peak-current by near-sinusoidal waveform. If you have a 9V (RMS) power
multiplying by √2. adapter the positive voltage peak be 12.7V, the negative
Primary peak-current = RMS current × √2 = 5 A × 1.414 = peak -12.7V. However, due to the poor voltage regulation
7.07A with this type of adapter, when the adapter is un-loaded (as
3) Divide the peak-current by the number of turns in the in this case), the output is often 10-12V (RMS) giving a
CT to give the peak-current in the secondary coil. peak voltage of 14-17V. The voltage output of the

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IJIREEICE
International Journal of Innovative Research in
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SITES
Smart And Innovative Technologies In Engineering And Sciences
Gyan Ganga College of Technology
Vol. 4, Special Issue 4, November 2016

transformer is proportional to the AC input voltage. The Calculating Power Factor

signal conditioning electronics needs to convert the output To calculate the power factor, we need to sense
of the adapter to a waveform that has a positive peak that's instantaneous current and voltage and calculate real and
less than 5V and a negative peak that is more than 0V. So apparent power, from the relation of power factor with real
we need to: and apparent power we can calculate power factor.
1. Scale down the waveform.
2. Add an offset so there is no negative component. VI. INSTANTANEOUS VOLTAGE AND CURRENT

The waveform can be scaled down using a voltage divider As the name suggests, AC Voltage and current continually
connected across the adapter's terminals, and the offset alternate. If we draw a picture of the voltage and current
(bias) can be added using a voltage source created by waveform over time, it will look something like the image
another voltage divider connected across the Arduino's below. Depending on the type of load consuming power,
power supply (in the same way we added a bias for the the current waveform - blue in the diagram below - is what
current sensing circuit). you get if you look at a typical laptop computer power
supply. (There's an incandescent light bulb present, as
well). The image was made by sampling the mains voltage
and current at high frequency, which is exactly what we do
on the emontx or Arduino. We make between 50 and 100
measurements every 20 milliseconds. 100 if sampling only
current. 50, if sampling voltage and current. We're limited
by the Arduino analog read command and calculation
speed.
Each individual sample is an instantaneous voltage or
current reading.

Fig. 5. Voltage sensing circuit

Resistors R1 and R2 form a voltage divider that scales

down the power adapter AC voltage. Resistors R3 and R4
provide the voltage bias. Capacitor C1 provides a low
impedance path to ground for the AC signal. The value is
not critical, between 1 μF and 10 μF will be satisfactory.
R1 and R2 need to be chosen to give a peak-voltage-
output of ~1V. For an AC-AC adapter with an 9V RMS
output, a resistor combination of 10k for R1 and 100k for
R2 would be suitable: Fig. 7. Instantaneous voltage or current reading
peak_voltage_output = R1 / (R1 + R2) x
peak_voltage_input = 10k / (10k + 100k) x 12.7V = 1.15V VII. CALCULATING REAL POWER ON AN
ARDUINO
VIII.
Real power is the average of instantaneous power. The
calculation is relatively straight forward.
First we calculate the instantaneous power by multiplying
the instantaneous voltage measurement by
the instantaneous current measurement. We sum the
instantaneous power measurement over a given number of
samples and divide by that number of samples:
for (n=0; n<number_of_samples; n++)
{
// inst_voltage and inst_current calculation from raw
ADC input goes here
Fig. 6. Circuit to sense current and voltage inst_power = inst_voltage * inst_current;

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IJIREEICE
International Journal of Innovative Research in
Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control Engineering
SITES
Smart And Innovative Technologies In Engineering And Sciences
Gyan Ganga College of Technology
Vol. 4, Special Issue 4, November 2016

sum_inst_power += inst_power; connected in parallel, they are connected in parallel with

} the relay switch board.

real_power = sum_inst_power / number_of_samples;

Root-Mean-Square (RMS) Voltage:

The root-mean-square is calculated in the way the name
suggests. First we square the quantity, then we calculate
the mean and finally, the square-root of the mean of the
squares, this is how its done:

for (n=0; n<number_of_samples; n++)

{
// inst_voltage calculation from raw ADC input goes
here.
squared_voltage = inst_voltage * inst_voltage;
sum_squared_voltage += squared_voltage;
}
mean_square_voltage = sum_squared_voltage / number_o Fig. 8. connection of capacitor bank.
f_samples;
root_mean_square_voltage = sqrt(mean_square_voltage); IX. DESIGN OF POWER CIRCUIT

Root-Mean-Square (RMS) Current: The power circuit provides the Power factor circuit and the
Same as the RMS voltage calculation: microcontroller with +5V supply and relay circuit with
for (n=0; n<number_of_samples; n++) +12V supply for uninterrupted operation. The following
{ circuit is used for the power circuit. In this circuit the
// inst_current calculation from raw ADC input goes here. single phase supply of 230 V ac is stepped down to 12 V
squared_current = inst_current * inst_current; using a 230/12 V transformer of 1 amp rating. Then after
sum_squared_current += squared_current; this the 12v A C supply is passed through a bridge rectifier
} made of 4 p-n junction diode IN4007 which converts the
mean_square_current = sum_squared_current / number_of A C supply into D C supply which filtered through a 1000
_samples; uF electrolytic capacitor. Below is the circuit-
root_mean_square_current = sqrt(mean_square_current);
Apparent Power
apparent_power = root_mean_square_voltage * root_mean
_square_current;
As RMS voltage is generally a fixed value such as: 230V
(+10% -6% in the UK). It's possible to approximate
apparent power without making a voltage measurement by
setting the RMS voltage to 230V. This is a common
practice used by commercially available energy monitors.
Power Factor
power_factor = real_power / apparent_power;

VIII. INTERFACING OF CAPACITOR BANK Fig.9. Design of power circuit.

Capacitors are connected in parallel to the load circuit, so X. PROGRAM SKETCH

they are designed such as to be connected in parallel to
load. Capacitance of capacitors add when connected in #include "EmonLib.h" // Include Emon Library
parallel, they are connected in parallel with the relay EnergyMonitor emon1; // Create an instance
switch board. Below figure shows the connection of #include <LiquidCrystal.h>
capacitor bank. Capacitors are connected in parallel to the LiquidCrystal lcd(12, 11, 5, 4, 3, 2);
load circuit, so they are designed such as to be connected int cap1 = 6; //2.5 micro farad capacitor
in parallel to load. Capacitance of capacitors add when int cap2 = 7; //2.5 micro farad capacitor

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IJIREEICE
International Journal of Innovative Research in
Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control Engineering
SITES
Smart And Innovative Technologies In Engineering And Sciences
Gyan Ganga College of Technology
Vol. 4, Special Issue 4, November 2016

int cap3 = 8;//2.5 micro farad capacitor Serial.print("\tThe corrected Power factor ( 1 ) is:\t\t\t");
int cap4 = 9; //2.5 micro farad capacitor Serial.println(powerFActor);

float upf = -0.90; if(0.01<powerFActor <0.99 )

float lpf = -0.01; {
float powerFActor; Serial.print("\tThe load connected is Inductive in nature,
therefore the power factor is inductive in nature:\t\t\t");
void setup() digitalWrite(cap2, LOW);
{ delay(10000);
Serial.begin(9600); getpf();
lcd.begin(16, 2); Serial.print("\tThe corrected Power factor ( 1 ) is:\t\t\t");
Serial.println(powerFActor);
emon1.voltage(2, 234.26, 1.7); // Voltage: input pin,
calibration, phase_shift
emon1.current(1, 111.1); // Current: input pin, if(upf<powerFActor <lpf)
calibration. {
digitalWrite(cap2, HIGH);
pinMode(cap1, OUTPUT); delay(10000);
pinMode(cap2, OUTPUT); getpf();
pinMode(cap3, OUTPUT); Serial.print("\tThe corrected Power factor ( 2 ) is:\t\t\t");
pinMode(cap4, OUTPUT); Serial.println(powerFActor);

} if(0.01<powerFActor <0.99 )
{
void loop() Serial.print("\tThe load connected is Inductive in nature,
{ therefore the power factor is inductive in nature:\t\t\t");
getpf(); digitalWrite(cap3, LOW);
delay(5000); delay(10000);
Serial.print("\tThe current Power factor of the system getpf();
is:\t\t\t"); Serial.print("\tThe corrected Power factor ( 1 ) is:\t\t\t");
Serial.println(powerFActor); Serial.println(powerFActor);
lcd.setCursor(0,0); if(upf<powerFActor <lpf)
lcd.print("Power Factor ="); {
lcd.setCursor(8,1); digitalWrite(cap3, HIGH);
lcd.print(powerFActor); delay(10000);
getpf();
Serial.print("\tThe corrected Power factor (3) is:\t\t\t");
if(0.01<powerFActor <0.99 ) Serial.println(powerFActor);
{
Serial.print("\tThe load connected is Inductive in nature, if(0.01<powerFActor <0.99 )
therefore the power factor is inductive in nature:\t\t\t"); {
digitalWrite(cap1, LOW); Serial.print("\tThe load connected is Inductive in nature,
delay(10000); therefore the power factor is inductive in nature:\t\t\t");
getpf(); digitalWrite(cap4, LOW);
Serial.print("\tThe corrected Power factor ( 1 ) is:\t\t\t"); delay(10000);
Serial.println(powerFActor); getpf();
Serial.print("\tThe corrected Power factor ( 1 ) is:\t\t\t");
if(upf<powerFActor <lpf ) Serial.println(powerFActor);
{
Serial.print("\tThe load connected is Inductive in nature, if(upf<powerFActor <lpf)
therefore the power factor is inductive in nature:\t\t\t"); {
digitalWrite(cap1, HIGH); digitalWrite(cap4, HIGH);
delay(10000); delay(10000);
getpf(); getpf();

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IJIREEICE
International Journal of Innovative Research in
Electrical, Electronics, Instrumentation and Control Engineering
SITES
Smart And Innovative Technologies In Engineering And Sciences
Gyan Ganga College of Technology
Vol. 4, Special Issue 4, November 2016

Serial.print("\tThe corrected Power factor (4) is:\t\t\t"); XII. CONCLUSION

Serial.println(powerFActor);
In this automatic power factor correction system, we are
} using potential divider circuits instead of traditional zero
} crossing detector which gives a more stable power factor
} and the price also get cut down because we do not need to
}}}}} use IC‟s.
It can be concluded that power factor correction
else if(powerFActor=1) techniques can be applied to the industries, power systems
{ and also households to make them stable and due to that
Serial.print("\tThe circuit has a resistive load, hence the the system becomes stable and efficiency of the system as
normal power factor is:\t\t\t"); well as the apparatus increases. The use of microcontroller
Serial.println(powerFActor); reduces the costs. Due to use of microcontroller multiple
} parameters can be controlled and the use of extra hard
} wares such as timer, RAM, ROM and input output ports
void getpf() reduces.
{ Care should be taken for overcorrection otherwise the
emon1.calcVI (20,2000); // Calculate all. No. of half voltage and current becomes more due to which the power
wavelengths (crossings), time-out system or machine becomes unstable and the life of
capacitor banks reduces.
power Factor = (emon1.powerFactor); //extract
Power Factor into Variable REFERENCES
}
1. Global Journal of Researches in Engineering: paper on Design and
Implementation of Automatic Microcontroller- Based Controlling
XI. APPLICATION AND PROPOSED of Single Phase Power Factor Using Capacitor Banks by M. Naeem
IMPROVEMENT Afridi.
2. www.OpenEnergyMeter.com
Application 3. www.arduino.cc
4. www.electrosome.com
1. This automatic power factor controller provides an easy
and reliable method to monitor and improve power
factor of an electrical system. BIOGRAPHIES
2. A system with improved power factor will provide the
following advantages: Utpal B.E. in Electrical, Assistant
Professor, SIET, Jabalpur, M.P.,
· Reactive power decreases Research interest in field of renewable
· Avoid poor voltage regulation energy, power distribution.
· Overloading is avoided
· Copper loss decreases
· Transmission loss decreases Rishav MBA in Power Management,
· Improved voltage control B.Tech in Electronics and
· Efficiency of supply system and apparatus increases Communication, Planning assistant,
Larsen and Toubro Ltd, Asansol, W.B.,
3. This kind of automatic power factor controller is cost Research interest in field of VLSI and
effective, so can be applied to small systems too. Semi-conductor.

Proposed Improvements
1. Measurement of power factor need to be done with
better and accurate potential transformer. Madhu Tiwari B.E. in Electrical (Final
2. Capacitors with quick response are needed which can Year), Student, GGITS, Jabalpur, M.P.,
charge and discharge quickly otherwise, any change in Research interest in field of Power
power factor will cause two three cycles of program to run transmission and distribution.
before final correction.
3. More combinations of capacitors are required to be
applied so that precise improvement can be done.

Copyright to IJIREEICE DOI 10.17148/IJIREEICE 16