Technical Note:: Tas Powertek Pvt. LTD

Presentation By:
Tushar Mogre, CEO, Director.

TAS PowerTek Pvt. Ltd.
TAS PowerTek Pvt. Ltd. Technical Note: Reactive Power Compensation by APFC-03 relays
APFC-03 PF correction Relay:
Reactive Power Compensation Method & Settings.
The APFC-03 PF correction relay has primary function of compensation of the reactive power for Power Factor
compensation of the inductive loads by addition of right values of Capacitors in the supply system.
It is used with the PF improvement system that is designed by usage of switched Capacitor banks. The bank sizing is
decided by the system designer depending upon the Overall Capacitor compensation and minimum step size
requirements.
Thus, the settings on the APFC-03 are provided for the user to adjust it as per their application requirements.
It is depending upon:
 Capacitor System Overall rating in terms of total KVAR of the system
 Overall Supply system rating in terms of KVA (Decided by the Nominal voltage feedback and CT primary rated
current)
 The resolution of the Capacitor Panel. It is depending upon the steps sizing decided as per the application
engineer for the Capacitor switching panel. Normally decided by the smallest Capacitor bank size.
 Requirement of the Target PF to be achieved within the acceptable tolerance range.
This technical Note Presentation is for explaining the various settings that are required to be carried out by the
Commissioning Engineer when the system is being commissioned.
Commissioning Engineer would therefore need to know following parameters before the APFC-03 is commissioned:
 Supply system Nominal Voltage – Phase to Phase Voltage (Or Phase to Neutral Voltage) value and supply frequency.
 Feedback Current CT primary rated current value in terms of Amp-AC-Fundamental.
 Capacitor Banks sizing of the system in terms of KVAR at supply system Nominal Voltage value.
The parameters that would be set of APFC-03 that would affect the performance are:
System
 Rated Supply Voltage
 CT Ratio
 PF Target : Inductive or Capacitive
 PF Target : Value of Target PF
Steps
 Smallest KVAR safety factor
 Compensation Band Offset in %
Rated Supply Voltage and CT ratio are the parameters that gets fixed once the supply system is installed on a specific
supply and Current Transformers (CTs) are installed.
PF Target is the requirement by the user for deciding the value of PF that can be set as per the supply system
requirement. This too is normally fixed once the system pararmeter’s requirements are freezed.
The capacitor bank sizing has to be carefully decided by the Application Engineer while designing the PF compensation
system. But once the capacitor bank sizes are confirmed, commissioning engineer would be able to do small refinements
on APFC-03 unit, in achieving the desired results for attaining the PF of the system.
As the Target PF is a specific value that is desired by the Electricity Consumers, the PF correction system step sizes
decides the tolerance band around the set Target PF within which the PF can be maintained.
For an example:
If target PF is set at 0.980 inductive.
If minimum capacitors has step size of 10KVAR @ rated supply voltage with overall PF panel capacity of
200KVAR @ 415V-ac.
AND
Rated Voltage of 415V (Ph-Ph) and CT primary current of 1000Amp.
Presently, Load is having 3-ph Ph to Ph voltage of 420Vac with Current of 500Amp with Power Factor of
0.875 inductive.
This means KW-Load = KVA-Load X PF-Load
= (√3 X 420 X 500 / 1000) X 0.875
= 318.264
Then the exact requirement of KVAR compensation required is:
KVAR-Target PF = KW-Load X [ tan{cos-1(PF-Load)} – tan{cos-1(PF-Target)} ]
= 318.264 X { tan28.995 – tan11.478 }
= 111.464
So, normalized voltage KVAR requirement is 111.464 X (415 / 420) 2 = 108.826 KVAR.
But the PF correction can either have 100KVAR OR 110KVAR that can be put in the system as the smallest capacitor
bank size is 10KVAR.
So, if 100KVAR is inserted, then 8.826KVAR (9.040KVAR at 420V) would remain uncompensated at rated voltage value
And if 110KVAR is inserted, then 1.174KVAR (1.202KVAR at 420V) would be over-compensated at rated voltage value.
This also means that PF that can be achieved
can rarely be of exact Target PF value but would
be with some error.
One has to know that PF-System Resolution

(smallest step size normally decides resolution)
would be the deciding factor for the error in PF
compensation.
This can be depicted by KW – KVAR (X-Y) axis plot With 110KVAR
Thisachieving
For
KW
Load
Basic&means
100KVAR
KVAR
KVA
Power ofthat
Targetof
values
the
Plot
compensation
smallest
PF,
the
Whenthe
load
system Capacitor
values
isare of KVAR
as shown
Capacitor by
Load KVAR - Inductive
bank
are
red would
arrow.
banks, decide the
CT ratio
error
& in PF
Target PFcorrection
value is
200KVAR system.
fixed
PF correction system
Maximum Compensation range
KVAR-ind 176.380 KVAR Area.
Rating of KVA for Target PF
111.464 KVAR
PF system
64.916 KVAR With 100 KVAR cap
With 110 KVAR cap
Load - KW
318.264 KW
Maximum rated KVA value 718.801 KVA

= √3 X (rated CT current) X (rated Voltage ph-ph) Rated Apparent Power
Value.
Load KVAR - Capacitive
The Power Factor Correction Relay – APFC-03 is programmed to provide the right level of Capacitor
banks compensation. But with the Accuracy of correction parameters decided by the following factors:
 Rated KVA of the supply system (decided by the CT rated current value & nominal rated voltage)
 Rating of the PF improvement system in terms of KVAR
 Resolution of the PF improvement system which is normally decided by the smallest capacitor
bank size.
So the user of PF-Correction controller APFC-03 has to understand that even though the
target PF settings are programmed on it, the accuracy level of PF achieved would not be
dependent upon the APFC-03, but it is dependent upon the above specified application
engineering issues.
Still,
APFC-03 gives some options to adjust the PF compensation accuracy levels as per the User
requirements.
These are by adjustment of the parameters:
 Smallest KVAR safety factor
APFC-03 PF correction relay (Or as a matter of fact any other make of PF regulation
relay) may not be able to cater to the issues created by the system or application
related issues.
The PF correction panel designer has to look into various issues while deciding the
Capacitor banking sizing, Panel KVAR capacity, type of switching arrangement along
with speed of switching and supply system harmonics with system impedances
distribution.
For the detailed understanding on the subject matter, Application engineer is requested
to go through the Book “Reactive Power Compensation on LV supply” by Tushar
Mogre available as E-Book on www.amazon.com
Further part of the this technical presentation would give the details on the adjustments
and its implications on the PF correction along with accuracy of PF correction. It would
also give the other relevant issues associated.
As it is well understood from the previous slides that accuracy of PF correction is primarily
depending upon the “Regulation of the PF system”. That is the size of the smallest capacitor bank.
Therefore, if the PF correction relay has a single point “Target PF” setting, it would never be able
to see this exact value.
It would go on turning ON and OFF the smallest capacitor bank during its every correction cycle
time.
In previous example, PF correction would keep the process on for switching ON and OFF the
10KVAR capacitor bank. This is because with capacitor bank OFF, the PF seen would be lower
than the Target PF. AND with capacitor bank ON, the PF seen would be higher than the Target PF.
To avoid this frequent switching ON and OFF of the smallest capacitor Bank, APFC-03 works on
the principle of “NO ACTION KVAR BAND”. This means that there is a tolerance band created
around the Target PF within which the PF is assumed to be fine by the APFC-03 and there would
be NO switching ON or OFF of the capacitor banks.
Only when the load changes its values, the KVAR requirement may go out of the said “NO
ACTION KVAR BAND”. Then, APFC-03 would take the right corrective action to bring this within
the said No Action Band by switching ON / OFF the capacitor banks.
One can see the following KW – KVAR (X – Y axis) plot to see the “NO ACTION KVAR TOLERENCE BAND”.
CAPACITOR ADDITION BAND

NO ACTION KVAR BAND
TARGET PF
Load - KW
CAPACITOR REMOVAL BAND
The positioning of this “NO ACTION KVAR BAND” are the parameters that can be adjusted in
APFC-03 by programming the parameter:
The values of this parameter can be adjusted from 0% to 100%. In can be understood from the
plot here under:
NO ACTION KVAR BAND

TARGET PF
Load - KW
Compensation Band
With 100%
50%
0% offset
offset
offset
value
value
value
Previous plot clearly shows the various positions of the “NO ACTION KVAR BAND” around the
Target PF setting. This means that Error in achieving the Target PF is well defined within a
specific tolerance band and positioning of this tolerance band around Target PF can be adjusted
by the user of the system.
Next is the width of the band around Target PF. Which is defined in APFC-03 parameter as
 Smallest KVAR safety factor.
NO ACTION KVAR BAND

TARGET PF KVA Line
Load - KW
Load KVAR - Capacitive Smallest KVAR Safety Factor 1.9 ------ 1.1
This shows the effect of Value change in Smallest KVAR Safety Factor
The change in value of “Minimum KVAR safety factor” can determine the accuracy level
of the given configured PF correction system.
Smaller the value of this parameter, more accurate the PF correction system. Still, a very
low value is programmed in this parameter, would cause frequent switching of “smallest
capacitor bank” as well as even the other capacitor banks for smaller changes in load
values.
Very frequent switching of the capacitor banks can cause the “Maintenance Issues” and
increase in the “Maintenance Costs” of the PF correction system. It can even reduce the
operational reliability of the system and components like capacitors can experience the
reduced life expectancy. Additionally, Power Quality issues of supply transients caused
by capacitor switching too can be a matter of concern.
In view of these points, the user has to decide the right value by taking into account all
the issues with regards to accuracy of PF against the maintenance/PQ related issues.
Any further clarification on APFC-03 functioning, please refer to the latest “User Manual”.
Thank You
Presentation By:
Tushar Mogre, CEO, Director.
TAS PowerTek Pvt. Ltd.

Technical Note:: Tas Powertek Pvt. LTD

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Technical Note:: Tas Powertek Pvt. LTD

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Presentation By:

Tushar Mogre, CEO, Director.

One has to know that PF-System Resolution

Maximum rated KVA value 718.801 KVA

Load KVAR - Capacitive

Load KVAR - Inductive

CAPACITOR ADDITION BAND

CAPACITOR REMOVAL BAND

Load KVAR - Capacitive

Load KVAR - Inductive

Load KVAR - Capacitive

Load KVAR - Inductive

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