Chapter 1

SINGLE PHASE CIRCUITS: POWER

DEFINITIONS AND COMPONENTS
(Lectures 1-8)
1.1 Introduction
The denitions of power and its various components are very important to understand quantitative
and qualitative power quality aspects in power system [1][5]. This is not only necessary from the
point of view of conceptual clarity but also very much required for practical applications such as
metering, quantication of active, reactive power, power factor and other power quality parameters
in power system. These aspects become more important when power system is not ideal i.e., it
deals with unbalance, harmonics, faults and uctuations in frequency. We therefore, in this chapter
explore the concept and fundamentals of single phase system with some practical applications and
illustrations.
1.2 Power Terms in a Single Phase System
Let us consider a single-phase system with sinusoidal system voltage supplying a linear load as
shown in Fig. 1.1. A linear load is one which consists of ideal resistive, inductive and capacitive
elements. The voltage and current are expressed as below.
v(t) =

2 V sin t
i(t) =

2 I sin(t ) (1.1)
The instantaneous power can be computed as,
1
v
i
Fig. 1.1 A single phase system
p(t) = v
(
t) i(t) = V I [2 sin t sin(t )]
= V I[cos cos(2t )]
= V I cos (1 cos 2t) V I sin sin 2t (1.2)
= P(1 cos 2t) Qsin 2t
= p
active
(t) p
reactive
(t)
Here, P =
1
T
_
T+t
1
t=t
1
p(t) dt = average value of p
active
(t). This is called as average active power.
The reactive power Q is dened as,
Q

= max {p
reactive
(t)} (1.3)
It should be noted that the way Q is dened is different from P. The Q is dened as maximum
value of the second term of (1.2) and not an average value of the second term. This difference
should always kept in mind.
Equation (1.2) shows that instantaneous power can be decomposed into two parts. The rst term
has an average value of V I cos and an alternating component of V I cos 2t, oscillating at twice
the line frequency. This part is never negative and therefore is called unidirectional or dc power.
The second term has an alternating component V I sin sin 2t oscillating at twice frequency with
a peak vale of V I sin . The second term has zero average value. The equation (1.2) can further
be written in the following form.
p(t) = V I cos V I cos(2t )
= p(t) + p(t)
= p
average
+p
oscillation
= p
useful
+p
nonuseful
(1.4)
With the above denitions of P and Q, the instantaneous power p(t) can be re-written as following.
p(t) = P(1 cos 2t) Qsin 2t (1.5)
2
Example 1.1 Consider a sinusoidal supply voltage v(t) = 230

2 sin t supplying a linear load of

impedance Z
L
= 12 + j13 at = 2f radian per second, f = 50 Hz. Express current i(t) as a
function of time. Based on v(t) and i(t) determine the following.
(a) Instantaneous power p(t), instantaneous active power p
active
(t) and instantaneous reactive
power p
reactive
(t)
(b) Compute average real power P, reactive power Q, apparent power S, and power factor pf.
(c) Repeat the above when load is Z
L
= 12 j13 , Z
L
= 12 , and Z
L
= j13
(d) Comment upon the results.
Solution: A single phase circuit supplying linear load is shown Fig. 1.1. In general, the current in
the circuit is given as,
i(t) =

2 I sin(t )
where = tan
1
(X
L
/R
L
), and I = (V/|Z
L
|)
Case 1: When load is inductive, Z
L
= 12 +j13
|Z
L
| =
_
R
2
L
+X
2
L
=

12
2
+ 13
2
= 17.692 , and I = 230/17.692 = 13 A
= tan
1
(X/R) = tan
1
(13/12) = 47.29
o
Therefore we have,
v(t) = 230

2 sin t
i(t) = 13

2 sin(t 47.29
o
)
The instantaneous power is given as,
p(t) = V I cos (1 cos 2t) V I sin sin 2t
= 230 13 cos 47.29
o
(1 cos(2 314t)) 230 13 sin 47.29
o
sin(2 314t)
= 2028.23(1 cos(2 314t)) 2196.9 sin(2 314t)
= p
active
(t) p
reactive
(t)
3
The above implies that,
p
active
(t) = 2028.23(1 cos(2 314t))
p
reactive
(t) = 2196.9 sin(2 314t)
Average real power (P) is given as,
P =
1
T
_
T
0
p(t) dt
P = V I cos = 230 13 cos 47.29
o
= 2028.23 W
Reactive power (Q) is given as maximum value of p
reactive
, and equals to V I sin as given below.
Q = V I sin = 230 13 sin 47.2906

= 2196.9 VAr
Apparant power, S = V I =
_
P
2
+Q
2
= 230 13 = 2990 VA
Power factor =
P
S
=
2028.23
2990
= 0.6783
For this case, the voltage, current and various components of the power are shown in Fig. 1.2. As
seen from the gure the current lags the voltage due to inductive load. The p
active
has an offset of
2028.23 W, which is also indicated as P in the right bottom graph. The p
reactive
has zero average
value and its maximum value is equal to Q, which is 2196.9 VArs.
Case 2: When load is Capacitive, Z
L
= 12 j13 that implies |Z
L
| =

12
2
+ 13
2
= 17.692,
and I = 230/17.692 = 13 A, = tan
1
(13/12) = 47.2906
o
.
v(t) = 230

2 sin t
i(t) = 13

2 sin(t + 47.2906
o
)
p(t) = V I cos (1 cos 2t) V I sin sin 2t
= 230 13 cos(47.2906
o
)(1 cos(2 314t)) 230 13 sin(47.2906
o
) sin(2 314t)
= 2028.23(1 cos(2 314t)) + 2196.9 sin(2 314t)
p
active
(t) = 2028.23(1 cos(2 314t))
p
reactive
(t) = 2196.9 sin(2 314t)
P = V I cos = 230 13 cos 47.2906
o
= 2028.23 Watt
Q = V I sin = 230 13 sin(47.2906
o
) = 2196.9 VAr
S = V I =
_
P
2
+Q
2
= 230 13 = 2990 VA
For Case 2, the voltage, current and various components of the power are shown in Fig. 1.3. The
explanation given earlier also holds true for this case.
Case 3: When load is resistive, Z
L
= R
L
= 12 , I = 230/12 = 19.167 A, and = 0
o
.
4
0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-400
-200
0
200
400
sec


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-20
-10
0
10
20
sec


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
sec
V
A
,

W
,

V
A
r


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
2000
2100
2200
2300
2400
sec
W
,

V
A
r


Voltge (V)
Current (A)
Average Power (W)
Reactive Power (VAr)
p(t)
p
act
(t)
p
react
(t)
Fig. 1.2 Case 1: Voltage, current and various power components
Therefore, we have
v(t) = 230

2 sin t
i(t) = 19.167

2 sin t
p(t) = 230 19.167 cos 0
o
{1 cos(2 314t)} 230 19.167 sin 0
o
sin(2 314t)
= 4408.33(1 cos(2 314t))
p
active
(t) = 4408.33{1 cos(2 314t)}
p
reactive
(t) = 0
P = V I cos = 230 19.167 cos 0
o
= 4408.33 W
Q = V I sin = 230 19.167 sin 0
o
= 0 VAr
S = V I =
_
P
2
+Q
2
= 230 19.167 = 4408.33 VA
Power factor =
4408.33
4408.33
= 1
5
0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-400
-200
0
200
400
sec


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-20
-10
0
10
20
sec


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
sec
V
A
,

W
,

V
A
r


0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04
-3000
-2000
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
sec
W
,

V
A
r


Voltage (V)
Current (A)
Average Power (W)
Reactive Power (VAr)
p(t)
p
act
(t)
p
react
(t)
Fig. 1.3 Case 2: Voltage, current and various power components
For Case 3, the voltage, current and various components of the power are shown in Fig. 1.4. Since
the load is resistive, as seen from the graph p
reactive
is zero and p(t) is equal to p
active
. The average
value of p(t) is real power (P), which is equal to 4408.33 W.
Case 4: When the load is purely reactive, Z
L
= j13 , |Z
L
| = 13 , I =
230
13
= 17.692 A, and
= 90
o
. Therefore, we have
v(t) = 230

2 sin t
i(t) = 17.692

2 sin(t 90
o
)
p(t) = 230 17.692 cos 90
o
(1 cos(2 314t)) 230 17.692 sin 90
o
sin(2 314t)
= 0 4069 sin(2 314t)
p
active
(t) = 0
p
reactive
(t) = 4069 sin(2 314t)
P = V I cos = 230 17.692 cos 90
o
= 0 W
Q = V I sin = 230 17.692 sin 90
o
= 4069 VAr
S = V I =
_
P
2
+Q
2
= 230 17.692 = 4069 VA
Power factor =
0
4069
= 0
6
0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-400
-200
0
200
400
sec


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30
sec


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
sec
V
A
,

W
,

V
A
r


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-1000
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
sec
W
,

V
A
r


Average Power (W)
Reactive Power (VAr)
Voltage (V)
Current (A)
p(t)
p
act
(t)
p
react
(t)
Fig. 1.4 Case 3: Voltage, current and various power components
For Case 4, the voltage, current and various components of the power are shown in Fig. 1.5. The
load in this case is purely reactive, hence their is no average component of p(t). The maximum
value of p(t) is same as p
reactive
(t) or Q, which is equal to 4069 VArs.
1.3 Sinusoidal Voltage Source Supplying Non-linear Load Current
The load current is now considered as nonlinear load. A non-linear load is one which consists
of switched elements such as diode, transistors, MOSFET, etc., in the circuit. In power circuit,
non-linear load current exists, when source supplies to power electronics based loads such as rec-
tier, inverter, cyclo-converters etc.. These loads cause presence of harmonics in the load current.
Assuming that all harmonics are present in the load current, the voltage and current are expressed
as following.
v(t) =

2 V sin t
i(t) =

n=1
I
n
sin(nt
n
) (1.6)
The instantaneous power is therefore given by,
7
0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-400
-200
0
200
400
sec


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-30
-20
-10
0
10
20
30


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
-5000
0
5000
V
A
,

W
,

V
A
r


0 0.01 0.02 0.03
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
W
,

V
A
r


Voltage (V)
Current (A)
p(t)
p
act
(t)
p
react
(t)
Active Power (W)
Reactive Power (VAr)
Fig. 1.5 Case 4: Voltage, current and various power components
p(t) = v(t) i(t) =

2 V sin t

n=1
I
n
sin(nt
n
)
= V

n=1
[I
n
2 sin t sin(nt
n
)]
= V [I
1
2 sin t sin(t
1
)]
+ V

n=2
[I
n
2 sin t sin(nt
n
)] (1.7)
Note that 2 sin A sin B = cos(A B) cos(A + B), using this, Eqn. (1.7) can be re-written as
the following.
8
p(t) = V I
1
[cos
1
cos(2t
1
)] V I
1
sin
1
sin 2t
+V

n=2
I
n
[ (cos
n
cos(2nt
n
)) sin
n
sin 2nt]
= V I
1
cos
1
(1 cos 2t) V I
1
sin
1
sin 2t (1.8)
+

n=2
V I
n
[ cos
n
(1 cos 2nt) sin
n
sin 2nt]
= A + B
In above equation, average active power P and reactive power Q are given by,
P = P
1
= average value of p(t) = V I
1
cos
1
Q = Q
1

= peak value of second term in A = V I

1
sin
1
(1.9)
The apparent power S is given by
S = V I
S = V
_
[I
2
1
+I
2
2
+I
2
3
+.....] (1.10)
Equation (1.10) can be re-arranged as given below.
S
2
= V
2
I
2
1
+V
2
[I
2
2
+I
2
3
+I
2
4
+...]
= (V I
1
cos
1
)
2
+ (V I
1
sin
1
)
2
+V
2
[I
2
2
+I
2
3
+I
2
4
+.....]
= P
2
+Q
2
+H
2
(1.11)
In above equation, H is known as harmonic power and represents V As corresponding to harmonics
and is equal to,
H = V
_
[I
2
2
+I
2
3
+I
2
4
+.....] (1.12)
The following points are observed from description.
1. P and Q are dependent on the fundamental current components
2. H is dependent on the current harmonic components
3. Power components V I cos 2t and V I
1
sin
1
sin 2t are oscillating components and can
be eliminated using appropriately chosen capacitors and inductors
4. There are other terms in (1.10), which are functions of multiple integer of fundamental fre-
quency are reected in B terms of Eqn. (1.8). These terms can be eliminated using tuned
LC lters.
9
This is represented by power tetrahedron instead of power triangle (in case of voltage and current
of sinusidal nature of fundamental frequency). In this context, some important terms are dened
here.
Displacement Power Factor (DPF) or Fundamental Power Factor (pf
1
) is denoted by cos
1
and is cosine angle between the fundamental voltage and current. This is equal to,
DPF = pf
1
= cos
1
=
P
1
S
1
. (1.13)
The Power Factor (pf) is dened as ratio of average active power to the total apparent power
(V I) and is expressed as,
Power Factor (pf) =
P
S
=
V I
1
cos
1
V I
=
_
I
1
I
_
cos
1
= cos cos
1
(1.14)
The equation (1.14) shows that power factor becomes less by a factor of cos , which is ratio of
fundamental to the total current. This is due to the presence of the harmonics in the load current.
The nonlinear load current increases the ampere rating of the conductor for same amount of active
power transfer with increased VA rating. Such kind of load is not desired in power system.
Example 1.2 Consider an ideal single-phase voltage source supplying a rectier load as given
in Fig. 1.6. Given a supply voltage, v(t) = 230

2 sin t and source impedance is negligible,

draw the voltage and current waveforms. Express current using Fourier series. Based on that
determine the following.
1. Plot instantaneous power p(t).
2. Plot components of p(t) i.e. p
active
(t), p
reactive
(t).
3. Compute average real power, reactive power, apparent power, power factor, displacement
factor (or fundamental power factor).
4. Comment upon the results in terms of VA rating and power output.
Solution: The above system has been simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK. The supply voltage
and current are shown in Fig. 1.7. The current waveform is of the square type and its Fourier series
expansion is given below.
i(t) =

n=2h+1
4I
dc
n
sin(nt) where h = 0, 1, 2 . . .
The instantaneous power is therefore given by,
10
I
d
i ( ) t
v( ) t
Fig. 1.6 A single phase system with non-linear load
p(t) = v(t) i(t) =

2 V sin t

n=2h+1
4I
dc
n
sin(nt). (1.15)
By expansion of the above equation, the average active power (P) and reactive power (Q) are given
as below.
P = P
1
= average value of P
active
(t) or p(t) = V I
1
cos
1
= V I
1
(since,
1
= 0, cos
1
= 1, sin
1
= 0)
Q = Q
1

= peak value of P
reactive
(t) = V I
1
sin
1
= 0
The rms value of fundamental and rms value of the total source current are given below.
I
rms
= I
d
= 103.5 A
I
1
=
2

I
d
= 93.15 A
The real power (P) is given by
P = V I
1
= V
2

I
d
= 21424.5 W .
The reactive power (Q) is given by
Q = Q
1
= 0.
The apparent power (S) is given by
S = V I
rms
= V I
d
= 23805 VA .
11
1 1.001 1.002 1.003 1.004 1.005 1.006
x 10
5
-300
-200
-100
0
100
200
300
Ti me(Sec )


Supply current (A)
Supply voltage (V)
1 1.001 1.002 1.003 1.004 1.005 1.006
x 10
5
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
x 10
4
Ti me (Sec )


instantaneous power
Average power (W)
Reactive power (Var)
Fig. 1.7 Supply voltage, current and instantaneous power waveforms
The displacement power factor (cos
1
) is,
DPF = cos
1
= 1.
Therefore power factor is given by,
pf =
P
S
=
S
1
S
P
1
S
1
=
V I
1
V I
rms
cos
1
=
I
1
I
rms
DPF = 0.9 (lag)
1.4 Non-sinusoidal Voltage Source Supplying Non-linear Loads
The voltage source too may have harmonics transmitted from generation or produced due to non-
linear loads in presence of feeder impedance. In this case, we shall consider generalized case of
non-sinusoidal voltage source supplying nonlinear loads including dc components. These voltages
and currents are represented as,
v(t) = V
dc
+

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
) (1.16)
12
and
i(t) = I
dc
+

n=1

2I
n
sin(nt
in
) (1.17)
Therefore, instantanteous power p(t) is given by,
p(t) = [V
dc
+

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)].[I
dc
+

n=1

2I
n
sin(nt
in
)] (1.18)
p(t) = V
dc
I
dc
. .
I
+V
dc

n=1

2I
n
sin(nt
in
)
. .
II
+I
dc

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)
. .
III
+

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)

n=1

2I
n
sin(nt
in
)
. .
IV
(1.19)
p(t) = p
dcdc
+p
dcac
+p
acdc
+p
acac
(1.20)
The term I (p
dcdc
) contributes to power from dc components of voltage and current. Terms II
(p
dcac
) and III (p
acdc
) result from the interaction of dc and ac components of voltage and current.
In case, there are no dc components all these power components are zero. In practical cases, dc
components are very less and the rst three terms have negligible value compared to IV term.
Thus, we shall focus on IV (p
acac
) term which corresponds to ac components present in power
system. The term IV can be written as,
IV
th
term = p
acac
=

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)

h=1

2I
h
sin(ht
ih
) (1.21)
where n = h = 1, 2, 3..., similar frequency terms will interact. When n = h, dissimilar
13
frequency terms will interact. This is expressed below.
p
acac
(t) =

2V
1
sin(t
v1
)

2I
1
sin(t
i1
)
. .
A
+

2V
1
sin(t
v1
)

h=2,h=1

2I
h
sin(ht
ih
)
. .
B
+

2V
2
sin(2t
v2
)

2I
2
sin(2t
i2
)
. .
A
+

2V
2
sin(2t
v2
)

h=1,h=2

2I
h
sin(ht
ih
)
. .
B
+. . . +. . .
+

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)

2I
n
sin(nt
in
)
. .
A
+

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)

h=1,h=n

2I
h
sin(ht
ih
)
. .
B
(1.22)
The terms in A of above equation form similar frequency terms and terms in B form dissimilar
frequency terms, we shall denote them by p
acacnn
and p
acacnh
. Thus,
p
acacnn
(t) =

n=1
V
n
I
n
2 sin(nt
vn
) sin(nt
in
) (1.23)
and
p
acacnh
(t) =

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)

h=1,h=n

2I
n
sin(ht
ih
) (1.24)
Now, let us simplify p
acacnn
in
p
acacnn
(t) =

n=1
V
n
I
n
[cos(
in

vn
) cos(2nt
in

vn
)]
=

n=1
V
n
I
n
[cos(
n
) cos(2nt (
in

vn
) 2
vn
)]
=

n=1
V
n
I
n
[cos(
n
) cos (2nt 2
vn
)
n
]
=

n=1
V
n
I
n
[cos(
n
) cos(2nt 2
vn
) cos
n
sin(2nt 2
vn
) sin
n
]
(1.25)
14
where
n
= (
in

vn
) = is phase angle between n
th
harmonic current and voltage. Therefore,
p
acacnn
(t) =

n=1
[V
n
I
n
cos
n
{1 cos(2nt 2
vn
)}]

n=1
[V
n
I
n
sin
n
sin(2nt 2
vn
)]. (1.26)
Thus, the instantaneous power is given by,
p(t) = p
dcdc
. .
I
+p
dcac
. .
II
+p
acdc
. .
III
+p
acacnn
. .
IVA
+p
acacnh
. .
IVB
. .
IV
p(t) = V
dc
I
dc
+V
dc

n=1

2I
n
sin(nt
in
) +I
dc

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)
+

n=1
[V
n
I
n
cos
n
{1 cos(2nt 2
vn
)}]

n=1
[V
n
I
n
sin
n
. sin(2nt 2
in
)] (1.27)
1.4.1 Active Power
Instantaneous active power, p
active
(t) is expressed as,
p
active
(t) = V
dc
I
dc
+

n=1
[V
n
I
n
cos
n
{1 cos(2nt 2
vn
)}] (1.28)
It has non-negative value with some average component, giving average active power. Therefore,
P =
1
T
_
T
0
p(t) dt
= V
dc
I
dc
+

n=1
V
n
I
n
cos
n
. (1.29)
The reactive component of the instantaneous power is denoted by p
reactive
(t) and is given as fol-
lowing.
p
reactive
(t) =

n=1
[V
n
I
n
sin
n
sin(2nt 2
vn
)] (1.30)
resulting in
15
Q max of (1.30) magnitude
=

n=1
V
n
I
n
sin
n
. (1.31)
From (1.29)
P = P
dc
+

n=1
V
n
I
n
cos
n
= P
dc
+V
1
I
1
cos
1
+V
2
I
2
cos
2
+V
3
I
3
cos
3
+. . .
= P
dc
+P
1
+P
2
+P
3
+. . .
= P
dc
+P
1
+P
H
(1.32)
In above equation,
P
dc
= Average active power corresponding to the dc components
P
1
= Average fundamental active power
P
H
= Average harmonic active power
Average fundamental active power (P
1
) can also be found from fundamentals of voltage and cur-
rent i.e.,
P
1
=
1
T
_
T
0
v
1
(t) i
1
(t)dt (1.33)
and harmonic active power (P
H
) can be found as below.
P
H
=

n=1
V
n
I
n
cos
n
= P P
1
. (1.34)
1.4.2 Reactive Power
The reactive power or Budeanus reactive power (Q) can be found by summing maximum value of
each term in (1.30). This is given below.
Q =

n=1
V
n
I
n
sin
n
= V
1
I
1
sin
1
+V
2
I
2
sin
2
+V
3
I
3
sin
3
+. . .
= Q
1
+Q
2
+Q
3
+. . .
= Q
1
+Q
H
(1.35)
16
Usually this reactive power is referred as Budeanus reactive power, and sometimes we use sub-
script B to indicate that i.e.,
Q
B
= Q
1B
+Q
HB
(1.36)
The remaining dissimilar terms of (1.27) are accounted using p
rest
(t). Therefore, we can write,
p(t) = p
dcdc
+p
active
(t) +p
reactive
(t)
. .
Similar frequency terms
+ p
rest
(t)
. .
Non-similar frequency terms
(1.37)
where,
p
dcdc
= V
dc
I
dc
p
active
(t) =

n=1
[V
n
I
n
cos
n
{1 cos(2nt 2
vn
)}]
p
reactive
(t) =

n=1
[V
n
I
n
sin
n
. sin(2nt 2
vn
)]
p
rest
(t) = V
dc

n=1

2I
n
sin(nt
in
) +I
dc

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)
+

n=1

2V
n
sin(nt
vn
)

m=1,m=n

2I
m
sin(mt
im
) (1.38)
1.4.3 Apparent Power
The scalar apparent power which is dened as product of rms value of voltage and current, is
expressed as following.
S = V I
=
_
V
2
dc
+V
2
1
+V
2
2
+
_
I
2
dc
+I
2
1
+I
2
2
+ (1.39)
=
_
V
2
dc
+V
2
1
+V
2
H
_
I
2
dc
+I
2
1
+I
2
H
Where,
V
2
H
= V
2
2
+V
2
3
+ =

n=2
V
2
n
I
2
H
= I
2
2
+I
2
3
+ =

n=2
I
2
n
(1.40)
V
H
and I
H
are denoted as harmonic voltage and harmonic current respectively. Expanding (1.39)
we can write
17
S
2
= V
2
I
2
= (V
2
dc
+V
2
1
+V
2
H
)(I
2
dc
+I
2
1
+I
2
H
)
= V
2
dc
I
2
dc
+V
2
dc
I
2
1
+V
2
dc
I
2
H
+V
2
1
I
2
1
+V
2
1
I
2
dc
+V
2
1
I
2
H
+V
2
H
I
2
dc
+V
2
H
I
2
1
+V
2
H
I
2
H
= V
2
dc
I
2
dc
+V
2
1
I
2
1
+V
2
H
I
2
H
+V
2
dc
(I
2
1
+I
2
H
) +I
2
dc
(V
2
1
+V
2
H
) +V
2
1
I
2
H
+V
2
H
I
2
1
= S
2
dc
+S
2
1
+S
2
H
+S
2
D
= S
2
1
+S
2
dc
+S
2
H
+S
2
D
. .
= S
2
1
+S
2
N
(1.41)
In above equation, the term S
N
is as following.
S
2
N
= V
2
dc
I
2
1
+V
2
dc
I
2
H
+V
2
1
I
2
dc
+V
2
1
I
2
H
+V
2
H
I
2
dc
+V
2
H
I
2
1
+V
2
H
I
2
H
+I
2
dc
I
2
H
+I
2
dc
V
2
dc
(1.42)
Practically in power systems dc components are negligible. Therefore neglecting the contribution
of V
dc
and I
dc
associated terms in (1.42), the following is obtained.
S
2
N
= I
2
1
V
2
H
+V
2
1
I
2
H
+V
2
H
I
2
H
= D
2
V
+D
2
I
+S
2
H
(1.43)
The terms D
I
and D
V
in (1.43) are known as apparent powers due to distortion in current and
voltage respectively. These are given below.
D
V
= I
1
V
H
D
I
= V
1
I
H
(1.44)
These are further expressed in terms of THD components of voltage and current, as given below.
THD
V
=
V
H
V
1
THD
I
=
I
H
I
1
(1.45)
From (1.45), the harmonic components of current and voltage are expressed below.
V
H
= THD
V
V
1
I
H
= THD
I
I
1
(1.46)
Using (1.44) and (1.46),
D
V
= V
1
I
1
THD
V
= S
1
THD
V
D
I
= V
1
I
1
THD
I
= S
1
THD
I
S
H
= V
H
I
H
= S
1
THD
I
THD
V
(1.47)
Therefore using (1.43) and (1.47), S
N
could be expressed as following.
18
S
2
N
= S
2
1
(THD
2
I
+THD
2
V
+THD
2
I
THD
2
V
) (1.48)
Normally in power system, THD
V
<< THD
I
, therefore,
S
N
S
1
D
I
(1.49)
The above relationship shows that as the THDcontent in voltage and current increases, the non fun-
damental apparent power S
N
increases for a given useful transmitted power. This means there are
more losses and hence less efcient power network.
1.4.4 Non Active Power
Non active power is denoted by N and is dened as per following equation.
S
2
= P
2
+N
2
(1.50)
This power includes both fundamental as well as non fundamental components, and is usually
computed by knowing active power (P) and apparent power (S) as given below.
N =

S
2
P
2
(1.51)
1.4.5 Distortion Power
Due to presence of distortion, the total apparent power S can also be written in terms of active
power (P), reactive power (Q) and distortion power (D)
S
2
= P
2
+Q
2
+D
2
. (1.52)
Therefore,
D =
_
S
2
P
2
Q
2
. (1.53)
1.4.6 Fundamental Power Factor
Fundamental power factor is dened as ratio of fundamental real power (P
1
) to the fundamental
apparent power (S
1
). This is given below.
pf
1
= cos
1
=
P
1
S
1
(1.54)
The fundamental power factor as dened above is also known as displacement power factor.
19
1.4.7 Power Factor
Power factor for the single phase system considered above is the ratio of the total real power (P)
to the total apparent power (S) as given by the following equation.
pf =
P
S
=
P
1
+P
H
_
S
2
1
+S
2
N
=
(1 +P
H
/P
1
)
_
1 + (S
N
/S
1
)
2
P
1
S
1
(1.55)
Substituting S
N
from (1.48), the power factor can further be simplied to the following equation.
pf =
(1 +P
H
/P
1
)
_
1 +THD
2
I
+THD
2
V
+THD
2
I
THD
2
V
pf
1
(1.56)
Thus, we observe that the power factor of a single phase system depends upon fundamental (P
1
)
and harmonic active power (P
H
), displacement factor (DPF = pf
1
) and THDs in voltage and
current. Further, we note following points.
1. P/S is also called as utilization factor indicator as it indicates the usage of real power.
2. The term S
N
/S
1
is used to decide the overall degree of harmonic content in the system.
3. The ow of fundamental power can be characterized by measurement of S
1
, P
1
, pf
1
, and Q
1
.
For a practical power system P
1
>> P
H
and THD
V
<< THD
I
, the above expression of power
factor is further simplied as given below.
pf =
pf
1
_
1 +THD
2
I
(1.57)
Example 1.3 Consider the following voltage and current in single phase system.
v
s
(t) = 230

2 sin(t) + 50

2 sin(3t 30

)
i(t) = 2 + 10

2 sin(t 30

) + 5

2 sin(3t 60

)
Determine the following.
(a) Active power, (P)
(b) Reactive power, (Q)
(c) Apparent power, (S)
(d) Power factor, (pf)
20
Solution: Here the source is non-sinusoidal and is feeding a non-linear load. The instantaneous
power is given by,
p(t) = v(t) i(t)
p(t) = {V
dc
+

n=1

2 V
n
sin(nt
vn
)} {I
dc
+

n=1

2 I
n
sin(nt
in
)}
(a) The active power P is given by,
P =
1
T
_
T
0
p(t) dt
= P
dc
+V
1
I
1
cos
1
+V
2
I
2
cos
2
+...... +V
n
I
n
cos
n
(1.58)
= P
dc
+P
1
+P
H
where,

n
=
in

vn
P
dc
= V
dc
I
dc
P
1
= V
1
I
1
cos
1
P
H
=

n=2
V
n
I
n
cos
n
Here, V
dc
= 0, V
1
= 230 V,
v1
= 0, V
3
= 50 V,
v3
= 30

, I
dc
= 2 A, I
1
= 10 A,
i1
= 30

,
I
3
= 5 A,
i3
= 60

. Therefore,
1
=
i1

v1
= 30

and
3
=
i3

v3
= 30

.
Substituting these values in (1.58), the above equation gives,
P = 0 2 + 230 10 cos 30

+ 50 5 cos 30

= 2208.36 W.
(b). The reactive power (Q) is given by,
Q =

n=1
V
n
I
n
sin
n
= V
1
I
1
sin
1
+V
2
I
2
sin
2
+.....V
n
I
n
sin
n
= 230 10 sin 30

+ 50 5 sin 30

= 1275 VAr.
(c). The Apparent power S is given by,
S = V
rms
I
rms
=
_
V
2
dc
+V
2
1
+V
2
2
+....V
2
n
_
I
2
dc
+I
2
1
+I
2
2
+.....I
2
n
=
_
V
2
dc
+V
2
1
+V
2
H
_
I
2
dc
+I
2
1
+I
2
H
where,
V
H
=
_
V
2
2
+V
2
3
+....V
2
n
I
H
=
_
I
2
2
+I
2
3
+.....I
2
n
21
Substituting the values of voltage and current components, the apparent power S is computed as
following.
S =

0 + 230
2
+ 50
2

2
2
+ 10
2
+ 5
2
= 235.37 11.357 = 2673.31 VA
(d). The power factor is given by
pf =
P
S
=
2208.36
2673.31
= 0.8261 lag
Example 1.4 Consider following system with distorted supply voltages,
v(t) = V
dc
+

n=1

2V
n
n
2
sin(nt
vn
)
with V
dc
= 10 V, V
n
/n
2
= 230

2/n
2
and
vn
= 0 for n = 1, 3, 5, 7, . . .
The voltage source supplies a nonlinear current of,
i(t) = I
dc
+

n=1

2I
n
n
sin(nt
in
).
with I
dc
= 2 A, I
n
= 20/n A and
in
= n 30
o
for n = 1, 3, 5, 7, . . .
Compute the following.
(a) Plot instantaneous power p(t), p
active
(t), p
reactive
(t), P
dc
, and p
rest
(t).
(b) Compute P, P
1
, P
H
(= P
3
+ P
5
+ P
7
+ . . .).
(c) Compute Q, Q
1
, Q
H
(= Q
3
+ Q
5
+ Q
7
+ . . .).
(d) Compute S, S
1
, S
H
, N, D.
(e) Comment upon each result.
Solution: Instantaneous power is given as following.
22
p(t) = v(t) i(t) =
_
10 +

n=1,3,5
230

2
n
2
sin(nt)
__
2 +

n=1,3,5
20

2
n
sin n(t 30
0
)
_
= 20
..
I
+10

n=1,3,5
20

2
n
sin n(t 30
0
)
. .
II
+2

n=1,3,5
230

2
n
2
sin(nt)
. .
III
+
_

n=1,3,5
230

2
n
2
sin(nt)
__

n=1,3,5
20

2
n
sin n(t 30
0
)
_
. .
IV
= 20
..
I
+

n=1,3,5
200

2
n
sin n(t 30
0
)
. .
II
+

n=1,3,5
460

2
n
2
sin(nt)
. .
III
+

n=1,3,5
4600
n
3
(cos(30
o
n)(1 cos 2nt) sin (2nt) sin(30
o
n))
. .
IVA
+
_

n=1,3,5
230

2
n
2
sin nt
__

h=1,3,5;h=n
20

2
h
sin h(t 30
0
)
_
. .
IVB
a. Computation of p(t), p
active
(t), p
reactive
(t), P
dc
., and p
rest
(t)
p
dcdc
(t) = 20 W
p
active
(t) =

n=1,3,5
4600
n
3
cos n30
0
(1 cos 2nt)
p
reactive
(t) =

n=1,3,5
4600
n
3
sin(n30
0
) sin(2nt)
p
rest
(t) =

n=1,3,5
200

2
n
sin n(t 30
0
) +

n=1,3,5
460

2
n
2
sin(nt)
+
_

n=1,3,5
230

2
n
2
sin nt
__

h=1,3,5;h=n
20

2
h
sin h(t 30
0
)
_
23
b. Computation of P, P
1
, P
H
P =
1
T
_
T
0
p(t)dt
= 20 +

n=1,3,5
4600
n
3
cos(30
o
n)
= 20 + 4600 cos 30
0
+

n=3,5,7...
4600
n
3
cos(30
o
n)
= 20 + 3983.71 + (43.4841)
= P
dc
+ P
1
+ P
H
Thus,
Active power contributed by dc components of voltage and current, P
dc
= 20 W.
Active power contributed by fundamental frequency components of voltage and current, P
1
=
3983.71 W.
Active power contributed by harmonic frequency components of voltage and current, P
H
= 43.4841
W.
c. Computation of Q, Q
1
, Q
H
Q =

n=1,3,5
4600
n
3
sin(30
o
n)
= 4600 sin 30
0
+

n=3,5,7...
4600
n
3
sin(30
o
n)
= 2300 + 175.7548 VArs
= Q
1
+Q
H
The above implies that, Q
1
= 4600 VArs and Q
H
=

n=3,5,7...
(4600/n
3
) sin(30
o
n) = 175.7548
VArs.
d. Computation of Apparent Powers and Distortion Powers
24
The apparent power S is expressed as following.
V
rms
=
_
V
2
dc
+V
2
1
+V
2
3
+V
2
5
+V
2
7
+V
2
9
+....
=
_
10
2
+ 230
2
+ (230/3
2
)
2
+ (230/5
2
)
2
+ (230/7
2
)
2
+ (230/9
2
)
2
+....
= 231.87 V (up to n = 9)
I
rms
=
_
I
2
dc
+I
2
1
+I
2
3
+I
2
5
+I
2
7
+I
2
9
+....
=
_
2
2
+ 20
2
+ (20/3)
2
+ (20/5)
2
+ (20/7)
2
+ (20/9)
2
+....
= 21.85 A (up to n = 9)
The apparent power, S = V
rms
I
rms
= 231.87 21.85 = 5066.36 VA.
Fundamental apparent power, S
1
= V
1
x I
1
= 4600 VA.
Apparent power contributed by harmonics S
H
= V
H
I
H
V
H
=
_
V
2
3
+V
2
5
+V
2
7
+V
2
9
+....
=
_
(230/3
2
)
2
+ (230/5
2
)
2
+ (230/7
2
)
2
+ (230/9
2
)
2
+....
= 27.7 V (up to n = 9)
I
H
=
_
I
2
3
+I
2
5
+I
2
7
+I
2
9
+....
=
_
(20/3)
2
+ (20/5)
2
+ (20/7)
2
+ (20/9)
2
+....
= 8.57 A (up to n = 9).
Therefore the harmonic apparent power, S
H
= V
H
I
H
= 237.5 VA.
Non active power, N =

S
2
P
2
=

5067
2
3960.2
2
= 3160.8 VArs (up to n=9)
Distortion Power D =
_
S
2
P
2
Q
2
=

5067
2
3960.2
2
2475.77
2
= 1965.163
VArs (up to n=9).
Displacement power factor (cos
1
)
cos
1
=
P
1
S
1
=
3983.7
(230)(20)
= 0.866 lagging
Power factor (cos )
cos =
P
S
=
3960.217
5067
= 0.781 lagging
The voltage, current, various powers and power factor are plotted in the Fig. 1.8, verifying
above values.
25
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
-200
-100
0
100
200
time (sec)
V
o
l
t
a
g
e

(
v
)

0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
-20
-10
0
10
20
time (sec)
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
A
)
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
-2000
0
2000
4000
time (sec)
I
n
s
t
.

P
o
w
e
r

(
W
)
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
time (sec)
I
n
s
t
.

a
c
t
i
v
e

p
o
w
e
r

(
W
)
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
-1000
-500
0
500
1000
time (sec)
I
n
s
t
.

r
e
a
c
t
i
v
e

p
o
w
e
r
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
-2000
0
2000
time (sec)
R
e
s
t

o
f

i
n
s
t
.

p
o
w
e
r

(
W
)
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
1000
1500
2000
2500
3000
time (sec)
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0.03 0.035 0.04
1165
1166
1167
1168
time (sec)
N
o
n

a
c
t
i
v
e

p
o
w
e
r

(
V
A
)
Avg. active power (W)
Avg. reactive power (VAr)
Distortion power (W)
Total apparent power (VA)
Fig. 1.8 System voltage, current and related powers
References
[1] IEEE Group, IEEE trial-use standard denitions for the measurement of electric power quan-
tities under sinusoidal, nonsinusoidal, balanced, or unbalanced conditions, 2000.
[2] E. Watanabe, R. Stephan, and M. Aredes, New concepts of instantaneous active and reactive
powers in electrical systems with generic loads, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 8,
no. 2, pp. 697703, 1993.
[3] T. Furuhashi, S. Okuma, and Y. Uchikawa, A study on the theory of instantaneous reactive
power, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 8690, 1990.
[4] A. Ferrero and G. Superti-Furga, A new approach to the denition of power components in
three-phase systems under nonsinusoidal conditions, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation
and Measurement, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 568577, 1991.
[5] J. Willems, A new interpretation of the akagi-nabae power components for nonsinusoidal
three-phase situations, IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 41,
no. 4, pp. 523527, 1992.
26