Aplication

Three-phase voltage, frequency and number of wires Although single-phase power is more prevalent today, three phase is still chosen as the power of choice for many different types of applications. Generators at power stations supply three-phase electricity. This is a way of supplying three times as much electricity along three wires as can be supplied through two, without having to increase the thickness of the wires. It is usually used in industry to drive motors and other devices. three phase electricity is by its very nature a much smoother form of electricity than single-phase or two-phase power. It is this more consistent electrical power that allows machines to run more efficiently and last many years longer than their relative machines running on the other phases. Some applications are able to work with three-phase power in ways that would not work on single phase at all. Three phase is a common method of electric power transmission. It is a type of polyphase system used to power motors and many other devices. This article deals with where, how and why "three phase" is used. For information on the basic mathematics and principles of three phase see three-phase. For information on testing three phase equipment (kit) please see three-phase testing. Three phase systems may or may not have a neutral wire. A neutral wire allows the three phase system to use a higher voltage while still supporting lower voltage single phase appliances. In high voltage distribution situations it is common not to have a neutral wire as the loads can simply be connected between phases (phase-phase connection). Three phase has properties that make it very desirable in electric power systems. Firstly the phase currents tend to cancel one another (summing to zero in the case of a linear balanced load). This makes it possible to eliminate the neutral conductor on some lines. Secondly power transfer into a linear balanced load is constant, which helps to reduce generator and motor vibrations. Finally, three-phase systems can produce a magnetic field that rotates in a specified direction, which simplifies the design of electric motors. Three is the lowest phase order to exhibit all of these properties. Most domestic loads are single phase. Generally three phase power either does not enter domestic houses at all, or where it does, it is split out at the main distribution board. The three phases are typically indicated by colors which vary by country.

3 Phase Electrical Power

3-phase electricity is a common method of electric power transmission. It is a type of polyphase system. This site details where, how and why "3 phase electricity" is used. For information on the basic mathematics and principles of 3 phase electricity see three-phase. 3 phase electricity has properties that make it very desirable in distribution. Firstly all three wires carry the same current. Secondly power transfer into a linear balanced load is constant. Most domestic loads are single phase electricity. Generally 3 phase electricity either does not enter domestic houses at all, or where it does, it is split out at the main distribution board.

3 Phase Electricity Wave Form

One voltage cycle of a 3-phase electrical system, labeled 0 to 360 ( 2 radians) along the time axis. The plotted line represents the variation of instantaneous voltage (or current) with respect to time. This cycle will repeat 50 or 60 times per second, depending on the power system frequency. The colors of the lines represent the American color code for three-phase. That is black=VL1 red=VL2 blue=VL3 3 phase electricity systems may or may not have a neutral wire. A neutral wire allows the three phase system to use a higher voltage while still supporting lower voltage single phase appliances. In high voltage distribution situations it is common not to have a neutral wire as the loads can simply be connected between phases (phase-phase connection).

3 Phase Electricity Wiring Color Coding

The 3 phases are typically indicated by colors which vary by country. See the table for more information. Conductors of a three phase system are usually identified by a color code, to allow for balanced loading and to assure the correct phase rotation for induction motors. Colors used may adhere to old standards or to no standard at all, and may vary even within a single installation. However, the current National Electrical Code (2005) does not require any color identification of conductors other than that of the neutral (white or white with a color stripe) the ground (green or green with a yellow stripe) or in the case of a High Leg Delta system, the High Leg must be identified orange. Read more on 3 Phase Wiring and Color Coding.

3 Phase Electricity Generation

At the power station, an electrical generator converts mechanical power into a set of alternating electric currents, one from each electromagnetic coil or winding of the generator. The currents are sinusoidal functions of time, all at the same frequency but with different phases. In a three-phase system the phases are spaced equally, giving a phase separation

of 120. The frequency is typically 50 Hz in Europe and 60 Hz in the US (see List of countries with mains power plugs, voltages and frequencies).

3 Phase Electricity Distribution and Transmission

After numerous further conversions in the transmission and distribution network the power is finally transformed to the standard mains voltage (the voltage of "house" or "household" current in American English). The power may already have been split into single phase at this point or it may still be 3 phase. Where the step-down is 3 phase, the output of this transformer is usually star connected with the standard mains voltage (120 V in North America and 230 V in Europe) being the phase-neutral voltage. Another system commonly seen in the USA is to have a delta connected secondary with a center tap on one of the windings supplying the ground and neutral. This allows for 240 V three phase as well as three different single phase voltages (120 V between two of the phases and the neutral, 208 V between the third phase (known as a wild leg) and neutral and 240 V between any two phases) to be made available from the same supply.

3 Phase Electricity Calculation

The 3 phases are typically indicated by colors which vary by country. See the table for more information.

3 Phase Electricity Loads

The most important class of three-phase load is the electric motor. A three phase induction motor has a simple design, inherently high starting torque, and high efficiency. Such motors are applied in industry for pumps, fans, blowers, compressors, conveyor drives, and many other kinds of motor-driven equipment. A three-phase motor will be more compact and less costly than a single-phase motor of the same voltage class and rating; and single-phase AC motors above 10 HP (7.5 kW) are uncommon. Large air conditioning equipment (for example, most York units above 2.5 tons (8.8 kW) cooling capacity) use three-phase motors for reasons of efficiency and economy. Resistance heating loads such as electric boilers or space heating may be connected to three-phase systems. Electric lighting may also be similarly connected. These types of loads do not require the revolving magnetic field characteristic of three-phase motors but take advantage of the higher voltage and power level usually associated with three-phase distribution. Large rectifier systems may have three-phase inputs; the resulting DC current is easier to filter (smooth) than the output of a single-phase rectifier. Such rectifiers may be used for battery charging, electrolysis processes such as aluminum production, or for operation of DC motors. An interesting example of a three-phase load is the electric arc furnace used in steel making and in refining of ores. In much of Europe stoves are designed to allow for a 3 phase feed. Usually the individual heating units are connected between phase and neutral to allow for connection to a single phase supply where this is all that is available.

3 Phase Loads on 1 Phase Power

The three phases are typically indicated by colors which vary by country. See the table for

more information.

3 Phase Converters
Occasionally the advantages of three-phase motors make it worthwhile to convert singlephase power to 3 phase. Small customers, such as residential or farm properties may not have access to a three-phase supply, or may not want to pay for the extra cost of a threephase service, but may still wish to use three-phase equipment. Such converters may also allow the frequency to be varied allowing speed control. Some locomotives are moving to multi-phase motors driven by such systems even though the incoming supply to a locomotive is nearly always either DC or single phase AC. Because single-phase power is interrupted at each moment that the voltage crosses zero but three-phase delivers power continuously, any such converter must have a way to store energy for the necessary fraction of a second. One method for using three-phase equipment on a single-phase supply is with a rotary phase converter, essentially a three-phase motor with special starting arrangements that produces a three-phase system. When properly designed these rotary converters can allow satisfactory operation of three-phase equipment such as machine tools on a single phase supply. In such a device, the energy storage is performed by the mechanical inertia (flywheel effect) of the rotating components. Some devices are made which create an imitation three-phase from three-wire single phase supplies. This is done by creating a third "subphase" between the two live conductors, resulting in a phase separation of 180 - 90 = 90. Many three-phase devices will run on this configuration, but at lower efficiency. Solid-state inverters also can be used to power three-phase motors from a single-phase supply. The two main types of 1 phase to 3 phase converters are Rotary Phase Converters and Static Phase Converters.

3 Phase Frequency and Frequency Converters

The three phases are typically indicated by colors which vary by country. See the table for more information. The two main types of 1 phase to 3 phase converters are Rotary Phase Converters and Static Phase Converters.

1 Phase Loads on 3 Phase Power

Single-phase loads may be connected to a three-phase system, either by connecting across two live conductors (a phase-to-phase connection), or by connecting between a phase conductor and the system neutral, which is either connected to the center of the Y (star) secondary winding of the supply transformer, or is connected to the center one winding of a delta transformer (High leg Delta system). Single-phase loads should be distributed evenly between the phases of the three-phase system for efficient use of the supply transformer and supply conductors.

Application.

3 Phase Electrical Circuit Wiring and Color Codes

The 3 phases are typically indicated visually in electrical diagrams by colors. The standards for these colors vary by country. See the 3 phase wiring color code table for details. Conductors of a 3 phase system are usually marked by color code, to allow for balanced loading and to assure the correct phase rotation for 3 phase induction motors. Colors used vary widely and may adhere to old standards or to no standard at all, and sometimes vary even within an installation. However, the current National Electrical Code (2005) does not require color identification of conductors other than that of the neutral (white or white with a color stripe), the ground (green or green with a yellow stripe), or in the case of a High Leg Delta system, the High Leg must be identified with orange. See the chart below for color

coding by country.

3 Phase Power Wave Form

One voltage cycle of a three-phase system, labeled 0 to 360 ( 2 radians) along the time axis. The plotted line represents the variation of instantaneous voltage (or current) with respect to time. This cycle will repeat 50 or 60 times per second, depending on the power system frequency. The colors of the lines represent the American color code for three-phase. That is black=VL1 red=VL2 blue=VL3

Advantages.

Advantages choosing 3-phase than single phase

'Why is power for a country's mains grid usually generated as 3-phase electricity not single phase?' Single phase power has a sine wave voltage that crosses zero before reversing its polarity. In the region near the zero-crossing there is not much power. At zero there is none at all. So single phase loads often need some trickery to deliver output in this area. Often it is just the inertia of the motor or appliance. Three phase power is always delivering power on one of its phases, and is thus preferred for machines, motors and appliances that use lots of power.

Three phase power generation is preferred if the application needs very high power, or nees relatively small power output but with with weight restrictions - as in automobiles, where the power is generated in a 3-phase alternator and then converted to DC using rectifiers! Use of DC (Direct Current) is the next step up for smooth high-power devices but requires rectification, regulation and smoothing to be useful. Another problem with DC is that, for efficient long distance transmission, it cannot be simply converted to much higher voltages than the voltage at which it was generated at the power station. Similarly DC cannot - simply by using transformers - be converted down to safer, much lower AC mains voltages for use by consumers. Conversion of DC to AC requires the use of expensive high-power electronic "power inverter" systems and the opposite - the conversion of high-power AC to DC - requires the use of very big power rectifiers. AC (Alternating Current) is used for high power generation and distribution because it can easily be transformed, using transformers, to achieve very efficient power transmission over very long distances and can then be transformed down to low voltages for distribution to consumers. Two phase, and higher multi-phases are also used, but very rarely, for a few very specialised applications. <><><> A three phase system provides constant torque, whereas single phase does not. With three phase you will get more power per kilogram of metal to generate electrical energy.

Disadvantages

Disadvantages
In Australia most power is generated in 3 phase the split down to single phase wen it reaches individual residences 3 phase power is more efficient to produce. most single phase motors have switching gear and capacitors to help kick a motor on when it starts because single phase power doesn't have enough power to turn over a motor. 3 phase motors are generally simpler and require no starting gear ( normally cheaper to build) Most workshops have 3 phase machinery for the extra power it prvides Some motors can be 2 phase (rare) as well.

The heart of an electric car is the combination of: 1. 2. 3. The electric motor The motor's controller The batteries The controller takes power from thebatteries and delivers it to themotor. The accelerator pedal hooks to a pair of potentiometers(variable resistors), and these potentiometers provide the signal that tells the controller how much power it is supposed to deliver. The controller can deliver zero power (when the car is stopped), full power (when the driver floors the accelerator pedal), or any power level in between. The controller normally dominates the scene when you open the hood, as you can see here:

The 300-volt, 50-kilowatt controller for this electric car is the box marked "U.S. Electricar."

In this car, the controller takes in 300 volts DC from the battery pack. It converts it into a maximum of 240 volts AC, three-phase, to send to the motor. It does this using very large transistors that rapidly turn the batteries' voltage on and off to create a sine wave. When you push on the gas pedal, a cable from the pedal connects to these two potentiometers:

The potentiometers hook to the gas pedal and send a signal to the controller.

The signal from the potentiometers tells the controller how much power to deliver to the electric car's motor. There are two potentiometers for safety's sake. The controller reads both potentiometers and makes sure that their signals are equal. If they are not, then the controller does not operate. This arrangement guards against a situation where a potentiometer fails in the full-on position.

Heavy cables (on the left) connect the battery pack to the controller. In the middle is a very large on/off switch. The bundle of small wires on the right carries signals from thermometers located between the batteries, as well as power for fans that keep the batteries cool and ventilated.

The heavy wires entering and leaving the controller

The controller's job in a DC electric car is easy to understand. Let's assume that the battery pack contains 12 12-volt batteries, wired in series to create 144 volts. The controller takes in 144 volts DC, and delivers it to the motor in a controlled way. The very simplest DC controller would be a big on/off switch wired to the accelerator pedal. When you push the pedal, it would turn the switch on, and when you take your foot off the pedal, it would turn it off. As the driver, you would have to push and release the accelerator to pulse the motor on and off to maintain a given speed. Obviously, that sort of on/off approach would work but it would be a pain to drive, so the controller does the pulsing for you. The controller reads the setting of the accelerator pedal from the potentiometers and regulates the power accordingly. Let's say that you have the accelerator pushed halfway down. The controller reads that setting from the potentiometer and rapidly switches the power to the motor on and off so that it is on half the time and off half the time. If you have the accelerator pedal 25 percent of the way down, the controller pulses the power so it is on 25 percent of the time and off 75 percent of the time. Most controllers pulse the power more than 15,000 times per second, in order to keep the pulsation outside the range ofhuman hearing. The pulsed current causes the motor housing to vibrate at that frequency, so by pulsing at more than 15,000 cycles per second, the controller and motor are silent to human ears.

An AC controller hooks to an AC motor. Using six sets of power transistors, the controller takes in 300 volts DC and produces 240 volts AC, 3-phase. See How the Power Grid Works for a discussion of 3-phase power. The controller additionally provides a charging system for the batteries, and a DC-to-DC converter to recharge the 12volt accessory battery.

In an AC controller, the job is a little more complicated, but it is the same idea. The controller creates three pseudo-sine waves. It does this by taking the DC voltage from the batteries and pulsing it on and off. In an AC controller, there is the additional need to reverse the polarity of the voltage 60 times a second. Therefore, you actually need six sets of transistors in an AC controller, while you need only one set in a DC controller. In the AC controller, for each phase you need one set of transistors to pulse the voltage and another set to reverse the polarity. You replicate that three times for the three phases -- six total sets of transistors. Most DC controllers used in electric cars come from the electric forklift industry. The Hughes AC controller seen in the photo above is the same sort of AC controller used in the GM/Saturn EV-1 electric vehicle. It can deliver a maximum of 50,000 watts to the motor.

Conclusion. Three phase system is better than single phase system.