Chapter 3

Power Capacitor
Meng Sokkheng
Improving line losses and voltage
drops by power capacitors
Distribution systems consist of lots of
reactive power loads, which lead the power
factor to become lower.
This low power factor causes voltage drop
and power losses.
When a power capacitor, which induces
capacitance in a circuit, is installed parallel
to a distribution line, the power factor is
improved and the voltage drop is reduced as
shown in Figure 1.
it can give good results for reducing the line
losses and enhancing the line capacity.
1.Necessary capacity of a power capacitor
As shown in Figure 2, when a power
capacitor is installed, the current I
1
is
changed to I
2
.
As a result the power factor is improved.
The necessary capacity Q (Var) is:
Figure 2 Vector diagram after installing a power capacitor
2. Voltage rise by power capacitors
Voltage rise by installing a power capacitor is
calculated by the following.


V: voltage rise by installing a power capacitor, in V
X: line reactance between the beginning of the line
and the installation point of the power capacitor,
in .
X I V
C
= A 3
Voltage rise is also given by the following.

100
2
%
= A
V
X Q
V
C
V%: voltage rise by installing a power capacitor, %
Qc: power capacitor, in VAR

3. Installation of power capacitors
The purpose of installing power capacitors is to
improve the power factor, in order to reduce the
power losses of lines and transformers and to
reduce the voltage drop, the power capacitors
may be put to the end of the lines.
Especially for large industrial loads, the best
location is often going to be right, at the load.
3.1 Installation points
To place capacitors at the loads, however,
would increase the installation cost
because many small power capacitors are
required.
Taking into account above reasons, the
installation point should be judged
according to both the effect and the cost.
The installation points of power capacitors
for MV lines and LV lines are decided as
Figure 3.

- Installation point (1): 22kV bus
Because it has no effect on line losses, it is
applied only for a big power system.
- Installation point (2):MV line
- Installation point (3): LV line

3.2 A simple rule on installation points and
capacity
One rule for sizing and placing capacitors to
optimal reduce losses of distribution lines is
introduced for uniformly distributed lines,
that is, "2/3 rule".
The optimal capacitor size is 2/3 of the var
requirements of the circuit and the optimal
replacement of the capacitor is 2/3 of the
distance from the station to the end of the
line.
2/3 rule can be changed into 2/(2n+ 1) rule.
That means placing the first capacitor at a
distance of 2/(2n+ 1) of the total line length
from the station with 2/(2n+ 1) of the circuit
var requirement and adding the rest of the
units at intervals of2/(2n-1) of the total line
length.
Where: n the number of power capacitor
Figure 4: reactive power reduction using capacitor 2/3 rule
With one capacitor
The voltage increases, when the power
factor exceeds unity.
Therefore we should decide the capacity
very carefully, especially if the var
requirements are always changing.
On a typical distribution system, the load in
the early morning is very low.
In this case we can install small power
capacitors and then switch on and off the
power capacitors according to the var
requirements.
Although there are some systems that would
track the var requirements exactly, they are
fairly expensive.
We should note that if the power factor is
leading, the generator voltage may increase
too much and the insulation may break.
Calculation example
Effectiveness of a power capacitor

p: Active power
Q
1
: Reactive power before installing a power
capacitor
Q
2
: Reactive power after installing power
capacitor
Q
c
: Installed capacity of a power capacitor
S
1
: Apparent power before installing a power
capacitor
S
2
:Apparent power after installing a power
capacitor

1,2
:Angle between the voltage and the current

Reducing line losses and saving fuel
To help simplify load loss calculations, the sum of
the loads connected to an approximately
uniformly loaded radial feeder that is "Distributing
equally all the line".
In this case, the line losses are given by the
following.

L I R P
Loss
2
0
3 =
R
0
- resistance per unit length of feeder (Q/km)
L - feeder section length (km)
Before switching on
the capacitor
After switching on
the capacitor
After the capacitor is connected to the
distribution line, each power factor before
and behind the capacitor is 0.942 and 0.7
respectively.
Before switching on the capacitor)

R
0
L = 0.23 x 1=0.23()

P
LOSS
=3x0.23 x(185)
2
= 23.615kW

After switching on the capacitor

P
LOSS
=3x0.23 x(138)
2
= 13.14kW
Difference line loss between before and
after switching on the power capacitor is:
23.615-13.14= 10.475 kW
If we uses the power capacitor from 6 p.m to
9 p.m.
Total energy to be saved by the power
capacitor is:
10.475(kW) x 3(hours) x 365(days)
=11470.125(kWh)
-The fuel consumption rate (Liter/kWh)=0.355
The licensee can save the fuel as follows:
11470.125 kWh x O.355(liter/kWh) = 4071.9(liter)
The average fuel price: 1.2(USD/liter)
Finally the licensee can save money:
4071.9 (Iiter) x 1.2(USD/litter) =4886.28(USD/year)
The price of the power capacitor (60kVAr):around
250(USD)
Conclusion
The installation of the power capacitor is a cost-
effective investment.
Voltage rise
A
V
Q
I
C
C
6 . 86
400 3
000 , 60
3
=

=
*Note: Where three conductors are arranged
horizontally at intervals of 1000mm.
How to find reactance (X)
where
f (frequency) =50(Hz)
GMD (Geometric Mean Distance)=
(d: distance between each conductor)
GMR (Geometric Mean Radius)=conductor radius x (GMR
Factor)
3
3 2 1
d d d
Exercise 1
a. How many kVARS of capacitors do I need
to change the power factor from .8 to .85on
a 100 kVA load?
b. How many kVARS of capacitors do I need
to change the power factor from .9 to .95on
a 100 kVA load?
c. What conclusions can you see?
Exercise 2.
The combination of active and reactive power is
referred to as complex power, defined as follows:



The absolute value of S, is S = VI.
Complex power S, can more conveniently be
defined as follows:
jVISin VICos S
jQ P S
+ =
+ =
*
2
*
*
Z
V
Z
V
V S
VI S
=
|
.
|

\
|
=
=
Find the total complex power of the system and
for each element in the system shown in Figure.
Solution
A Purely active loss in R
1

Exercise 3.
What happens if we disconnect capacitor X
2

from the circuit shown in Exercise 2?

I, the total current, is then