Power In AC Circuits

EEE 3 Lecture 8
Objectives
• Define, differentiate, and calculate the
• real,
• reactive, and
• apparent powers
consumed or generated by circuit elements.
Outline
• Power in DC vs Power in AC
• Complex Power
• Instantaneous Power
• Real, Reactive, and Apparent Power
• Power factor
• Power Triangle
DC vs. AC: Power supplied by source

PDC: 12.5 W PAC: 100+j32

Complex Power
➢Definition: The product of the phasor voltage and the
conjugate of the phasor current. Its magnitude is called the
Apparent Power.

• Symbol:
• Units: Magnitude is in Volt-Amperes (VA)
• Real part is called Active Power (in Watts)
• Imaginary part is called Reactive Power (in VARs)
Complex Power

Converting to rectangular-coordinate form:

The complex power has real (active power) and imaginary

(reactive power) components.
 Apparent Power
➢ Definition: The product of the effective values of the
voltage and current. It is also known as the Volt-Ampere.
• Magnitude of the complex power

• Symbol: VA or S
• Units: Volt-Amperes (VA)
Real Power or Active Power
➢ Definition: The time average of the instantaneous power.
The power converted to useful work or heat.

P = VI cos(θ𝑉 − θ𝐼 )
• Symbol: P
• Units: Watts
• Real power = power consumed by a resistance

• Real power consumed is the time-average of instantaneous power

consumed.
• Real power generated is the time average of instantaneous power
generated.
Reactive Power
➢ Definition: The imaginary part of the complex power. It
represents the power (or energy) alternately stored
and released by the capacitors and inductors
present in the circuit.

• Symbol: Q
• Units: Volt-Ampere Reactive (VARs)
Special Cases
Circuit Element

+ _

Consumed
Circuit Element
Real Reactive Apparent
Resistor VI 0 VI

Inductor 0 VI VI

Capacitor 0 -VI VI
Power Factor
• Definition: The ratio of the real power and apparent power.

Power Factor Angle

• Definition: Angle separating the complex power phasor from
the real power (x-axis)
Power Factor
• Power factor can be stated as either “lead” or “lag”

• Power factor lagging (e.g. 0.8 pf lag):

• inductive load
• current lags the voltage
• reactive power is positive

• Power factor leading (e.g. 0.85 pf lead):

• capacitive load
• current leads the voltage
• reactive power is negative

• If power factor is 1.0, the load is purely resistive, i.e. the

complex power is equal to the real/active power.
Currents and Complex Power
Given a voltage at the reference angle, VS=5/0O Volts

Inductive circuits: Only inductors or inductor-resistor

• The current, IS, of the circuit lags VS, say 1/–30O Amps.
• The complex power will be:

S =VSIS* = (5/0O)(1/–30O)*
= 5/+30O VA
= 4.3 Watts + j2.5 VARs
• Power factor is “lag”
Currents and Complex Power
Given a voltage at the reference angle, VS=5/0O Volts

Capacitive circuits: Only capacitors or capacitor-resistor

• The current, IS, of the circuit leads VS, say 1/+30O Amps.
• The complex power will be:

S = VSIS* = (5/0O)(1/+30O)*
= 5/–30O VA
= 4.3 Watts – j2.5 VARs
• Power factor is “lead”
The Power Triangle
Right triangle used for frequency-domain power calculations.

Im

VA

Q
S

Re

P
Announcements
• Practice set to be released this weekend
• Submit with the problem set
• Exam 3 (problem set)
• Tentative release: week of April 29 (UVLE)
• Submission: next meeting right after the exam, 8:30AM (submit upon
entering the room)
• Compre exam/finals
• Sometime in the finals week
• For those who have missed an exam OR who wants to replace their
lowest exam (please notify me if you are taking the exam)
• Will cover all topics
 5 0.5H
Homework: Given
vs=100cos10t volts + iX
is=10cos(10t+30 ) v
o
.01F is
s 10
amps. Find iX using -
the Thevenin
equivalent circuit
as seen by the 10Ω
resistor.
Example 1:
• A certain appliance with the equivalent circuit as shown is
supplied from a 220-V AC source through a wire with a 0.5-
Ohm resistance and 3.06-mH inductance.
• Find the real and reactive power consumed by the appliance.
• Find the daily energy consumed in kWh if the appliance run for
8-hours a day.
0.5 3.06 mH
Appliance
+ iS(t) 7.5
vS(t)
- 12.854 mH

Ans: 3630 W; 2346 Vars ; 29.04 kWh

Example 2:
A small industrial shop has the following connected load:
Load L1: Induction motor 2kW, 0.85 pf lag
Load L2: Electric Heater 3kW, 1.0 pf
Load L3: Lighting Load 500W, 0.9 pf lag
Load L4: Outlets 1kW, 0.95 pf lag
The voltage across the load is 220 V RMS. Find the current
through each load and the total current supplied to the shop.
Power saving device:

Without power
saving device:

With power
saving device:
Power Factor Correction
A single-phase source delivers 100kW to a load operating at a
power factor of 0.8 lagging. Calculate the reactive power to be
delivered by a capacitor connected in parallel with the load in
order to raise the power factor to 0.95 lagging.
Power Factor Correction
Basically, the power saving device is a power factor corrector.
✓ Reduces the apparent power
✓ Reduces the source current magnitude (I=S/V)

So it is technically a power saving device?

⨯ As residential customers, we are only charged for our kW
consumption
⨯ As can be seen from the power triangle, the real power (in
kW) did not change
⨯ So, no savings for us (and additional expense if you bought
the power saving device)
Summary
• Complex Power
= VI* = P + jQ = S∠θ = P cos θ + jQ sin θ
• Power Factor
𝑃
pf = = cos θ
𝑆
• Power Triangle Im

VA

Re