How to Calculate 3 Phase Power

•••

Updated November 12, 2018

By Lee Johnson

Three-phase power is a widely used method for generating and transmitting

electricity, but the calculations you’ll need to perform are a little more complicated
than for single-phase systems. That said, there isn’t much extra you have to do
when working with three-phase power equations, so you’ll be able to solve
whatever three-phase power problem you’ve been assigned easily. The main
things you’ll need to do are find the current given the power in a circuit or vice-
versa.
 TL;DR (Too Long; Didn't Read)
Perform a three-phase power calculation using the formula:

P = √3 × pf × I × V​

Where p
​ f​is the power factor, I​ ​is the current, V
​ ​is the voltage and P
​ ​is the
power.

Single-Phase vs. Three-Phase Power

Single- and three-phase power are both terms describing alternating current (AC)
electricity. The current in AC systems continually varies in amplitude (i.e., size) and
direction, and this variation generally takes the shape of a sine wave. This means it
smoothly varies with a series of peaks and valleys, described by the sine function.
In single-phase systems, there is only one such wave.

Two-phase systems split this into two. Each section of current is out of phase with
the other by half a cycle. So when one of the waves describing the first part of the
alternating current is at its peak, the other is at its minimum value.

Two-phase power isn’t common, though. Three-phase systems use the same
principle of splitting the current into out-of-phase components, but with three
instead of two. The three parts of the current are out of phase by a third of a cycle
each. This creates a more complicated pattern than two-phase power, but they
cancel each other out in the same way. Each part of the current is equal in size but
opposite in direction to the other two parts combined.

Three-Phase Power Formula

The most important three-phase power equations relate power (​P​, in watts) to
current (​I​, in amps), and depend on the voltage (​V​). There is also a “power factor” (​
pf​) in the equation that takes account for the difference between the real power
(which performs useful work) and the apparent power (which is supplied to the
circuit). Most types of three-phase power calculations are performed using this
equation:

P = √3 × pf × I × V​

This simply states that the power is the square root of three (around 1.732)
multiplied by the power factor (generally between 0.85 and 1, see Resources), the
current and the voltage. Don’t let all the symbols scare you off using this equation;
once you put all the relevant pieces into the equation, it’s easy to use.

Converting kW to Amps
Let’s say you have a voltage, a total power in kilowatts (kW) and a power factor,
and you want to know the current (in amps, A) in the circuit. Re-arranging the
power calculation formula above gives:

I = P / (√3 × pf × V)​

If your power is in kilowatts (i.e., thousands of watts) it’s best to either convert it to
watts (by multiplying by 1,000) or keep it in kilowatts make sure your voltage is in
kilovolts (kV = volts ÷ 1,000). For example, if you have a 0.85 power factor, 1.5 kW
of power and a voltage of 230 V, simply quote your power as 1,500 W and
calculate:

I = P / (√3 × pf × V)​

= 1,500 W / √3 × 0.85 × 230 V

= 4.43 A
Equivalently, we could have worked with kV (noting that 230 V = 0.23 kV), and
found the same:

I = P / (√3 × pf × V)​

= 1.5 kW / √3 × 0.85 × 0.23 kV

= 4.43 A

Converting Amps to kW
For the reverse process, use the form of the equation given above:

P = √3 × pf × I × V​

Simply multiply your known values together to find the answer. For example, with I​ ​
= 50 A, V
​ ​= 250 V and p
​ f​= 0.9, this gives:

P = √3 × pf × I × V​

= √3 × 0.9 × 50 A × 250 V

= 19,486 W

Since this is a big number, convert to kW using (value in watts) / 1000 = (value in
kilowatts).

19,486 W / 1000 = 19.486 kW

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