Electrical Circuits

Part (2) : AC Circuits

Lecture 4
.

Chapter (17)

Power in ac Circuits

The Relationship between P, Q, and S

Real, reactive, and apparent power are related by a
very simple relationship through the power triangle.
Consider the series circuit of Figure (a)
Let the current through the circuit be I = I 0o as shown in (b)

VR is in phase with I, while VL leads it by 90o .

Kirchhoffs voltage law applies for ac voltages in phasor form.
Thus as indicated in figure (c):

The voltage triangle of (c) may be redrawn as :

Chapter (17)

Power in ac Circuits

Apparent Power

When a load has voltage V across it and

current I through it , the power that
appears to flow to it is :

Since VI appears to represent power, it is called apparent power.

if the load contains both resistance and reactance, this product represents
neither real power nor reactive power.

Chapter (17)

Power in ac Circuits

The Relationship between P, Q, and S

From the geometry of this triangle:
Magnitude:
Complex Power representation:

If the circuit is capacitive instead of inductive:

Real and Reactive Power Equations

V and I are the magnitudes of the rms values

is the angle between them
=
P is always positive,
Q is positive for inductive circuits and negative
for capacitive circuits.

Power in ac Circuits

Chapter (17)
Complex Power Relations:

P = Cos(v i) =

Cos(v i) = S Cos(v i)

Q = Sin(v i) =

Sin(v i) = S Sin(v i)

Magnitude: is the product of the rms values of voltage and current.

I* is the conjugate of current

The Power Factor:

is the ratio of the average power to the apparent
The angle = v i is called the power factor angle,
which is equal to the angle of the load impedance

the power factor cannot exceed 1.0 (or 100% if expressed in percent).
A loads power factor shows how much of its apparent power is actually real power:

For a purely resistive circuit:

= 0, pf = cos(0) = 1
All the loads apparent power is real power
This case is referred to as unity power factor.
For a Purely reactive circuit: v i = 90, pf = 0.
In this case the average power is zero.
In between these two extreme cases, pf is said to be leading or lagging.
Leading power factor means that current leads voltage, which implies a
capacitive load.
Lagging power factor means that current lags voltage, implying an
inductive load.

The complex power may be expressed in terms of the load impedance:

Since:

Therefore

Why Equipment Is Rated in VA instead of watts.

Assume that the generator is rated at :

600 V, 120 kVA.
Current capability:

I = 120 kVA / 600 V = 200 A

In Figure (a), the generator is supplying a purely

resistive load with 120 kW.
Since S = P for a purely resistive load, S = 120 kVA
and the generator is supplying its rated current.
In Figure (b), the generator is supplying a load
with P= 120 kW as before, but Q=160 kVAR.
Its apparent power is therefore S = 200 kVA,
Supplied current:

I = 200 kVA / 600 V = 333.3 A

So, the current-carrying capability can be greatly

exceeded (even though its power rating is not)
which means overloading and possible damage.

Ch (17) : ac Series-Parallel Circuits

The rules and laws which were developed for dc circuits will apply
equally well for ac circuits.

Ohms law,
The voltage divider rule,
Kirchhoffs voltage law,
Kirchhoffs current law, and
The current divider rule.

The major difference between solving dc and ac circuits is that analysis of

ac circuits requires using vector algebra.
you should be able to add and subtract any number of vector quantities.

ac Series Circuits
When working with ac circuits we no longer work
with only resistance but with impedances

Use rectangular form to add real parts

and imaginary parts

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ac Series Circuits

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Kirchhoffs Voltage Law

and the Voltage Divider Rule
When a voltage is applied to impedances in series, Ohms law may be used to
determine the voltage across any impedance as:

The current in the circuit is:

By substitution, we arrive at the voltage divider :

It is very similar to the equation for the voltage divider rule in dc circuits.
The fundamental differences in solving ac circuits are that :
We use impedances rather than resistances and
The voltages found are phasors.
we generally use the polar form rather than the rectangular form for
division and multiplications

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Kirchhoffs Voltage Law

and the Voltage Divider Rule
Kirchhoffs voltage law for ac circuits may be stated as:

The phasor sum of voltage drops and voltage rises around a

closed loop is equal to zero.
Remember : The summation is generally done more easily in rectangular form
than in the polar form.

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Kirchhoffs Voltage Law and the Voltage Divider Rule

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ac Parallel Circuits
The admittance Y of any impedance is dened as a vector quantity which is the
reciprocal of the impedance Z.
the unit of admittance is the siemens (S).

Purely resistive component :

admittance of a resistor R is called conductance

Purely reactive component :

Admittance diagram
admittance of a reactance X is called susceptance

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ac Parallel Circuits
The total admittance is the vector sum of the admittances of the network.

The Current Divider Rule

For two branches in parallel

Kirchhoffs Current Law (KCL):

The summation of current phasors entering and leaving a node is equal to zero.

Series-Parallel Circuits

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