Correcting Power Factor at Your Motor Terminals

Jun. 1, 2002 John Paschal, P.E., Bechtel Corp. | Electrical Construction and Maintenance

Correctly installing capacitors at the terminals of your motors can lower reactive power .re uirements and increase system power factor Induction motors are the primary source of rotary power in the United States, and they require reactive and real power to operate. The reactive power, which is measured in volt-amperes reactive (VA s!, sets up the ma"netic fields within the motor, while the inphase power, which is measured in watts (#!, does the wor$ of rotatin" the shaft. As such, %oth VA s and watts flow throu"h the motor supply conductors. The VA s don&t consume ener"y. Instead, they %uild up ener"y from the "enerator and momentarily store it within the motor&s ma"netic fields. These fields collapse durin" the ne't half cycle and .return the ma"netic ener"y to the electric power system

The power flow to the motor is the vector sum of the real power and the reactive power (VA s!. The VA s increase the $ilovolt-ampere ($VA! demand required from the motor, which is measured at the electric utility meter (Fig. 1a, ri"ht!. (owever, this doesn&t increase the watta"e load. The #)VA s ratio is $nown as the power factor (*+!. Utilities have lon" char"ed customers for the increased $VA demand, ar"uin" they must have "enerators, transformers, and lines lar"e enou"h to carry %oth the in-phase current and la""in" current, even thou"h the VA ener"y is returned to the electric .power system every half cycle ,ou can reduce the $VA demand %y installin" *+ correction capacitors on the load side of the utility meter (Fig. 1b a%ove!. -apacitor current leads rather than la"s the volta"e (in electric de"rees!. Thus, capacitors are effectively a source of leadin" reactive power, measured in VA s-leadin", or volt-amperes capacitive (VA-s!. -apacitors connected to the electric power system on the load side of the utility meter merely trade reactive ener"y %ac$ and forth with the ma"netic fields, such as motor fields, within the electric power system. The connection produces a net effect of reduced $VA demand measured %y the .utility meter As capacitors are connected closer and closer to the motor&s ma"netic field, the amount of I . heat lost in the wires %etween the motor and the capacitor is reduced. -onnectin" the capacitor to the terminals of the .motor at the motor /unction %o' minimi0es the conductor heat loss as much as possi%le Sec. 123.4(-! of the 56- requires you to provide capacitors with disconnectin" means, %ut it ma$es an e'ception for capacitors connected on the load side of the motor controller (Fig. 1b on pa"e 7.!. 8ecause a motor capacitor disconnect switch is unnecessary, the motor capacitor installation is much less e'pensive. -uttin" e'pense is important when you consider the cost (in 9)$VA-! of installin" lar"er capacitor %an$s that

provide VA- for "roups of inductive loads. This is true %ecause the 9)$VA- of small capacitors is relatively hi"h when compared to the 9)$VA- of lar"er capacitors, and even more-so when compared to the low 9)$VA- cost of hi"her volta"e capacitors. 8ut connectin" the capacitor at the motor or at the load side of the motor starter provides a .%uilt-in capacitor controller that de-ener"i0es the capacitor when not in use There are, however, limitations on capacitor si0e when connectin" capacitors this close to the motor terminals. These limitations are products of self-e'cited motor overvolta"e (of as hi"h as two times source volta"e! and e'cessive inrush current (of as much as .3 times normal full-load current!. Su%sequent transient torque caused %y out-of-phase reclosin" %efore the capacitor can dischar"e can also play a part in limitin" capacitor .si0e #hen it comes to capacitors, how lar"e is too lar"e: If the ma'imum si0e capacitor is not printed on the motor nameplate or in the manufacturer&s motor data, then it&s a "ood idea to $eep the capacitor small enou"h that the capacitor current doesn&t e'ceed the motor no-load current. Test the current with a clamp-on ammeter. The resultin" ma'imum capacitor si0e will normally %e appro'imately 7;< of the $VA ratin" of the motor, %ut this .capacitor will not improve the motor *+ to "reater than a%out =;< -onnection of the capacitor on the motor side of the thermal overload reduces current throu"h the overload %ecause the reactive current flows only %etween the motor and the capacitor, and no lon"er flows throu"h the overload. 56- 123.= and valid en"ineerin" require that the overload ratin" %e reduced in ampere trip ratin" so that it can still effectively protect the motor from overload current. The reduction in overload si0e will .vary from 73< to >;<, dependin" upon the motor speed and horespower To $now for sure the correct new overload ratin" for each motor, rather than %ecomin" %affled %y numerous ta%les and formulas that attempt to predict the %est percent reduction in overload requirement, the most accurate method for determinin" the reduction for each specific motor involves usin" one of the fine small power analy0er meters availa%le today. Simply measure the real and reactive fully loaded motor current drawn throu"h the protective overload device %efore and after capacitor installation, and reduce the overload ampere ratin" %y the amount of overload current reduction caused %y the capacitor installation. The meter readin"s will show that reactive current sums vectorially as an out-of-phase current from motor real load current. As a chec$, the final ampere value of the overload selected should not e'ceed the fully loaded motor current .measured throu"h the overload multiplied %y the appropriate percenta"e from 1>3.>.