Chapter 16:

RC Circuits (Part 2)
Parallel RL Circuits and Power Factor

1
 Objectives
After completing Part 2 of this chapter, you will be able
to:
• Analyse a parallel RL circuit
• Determine AC impedance and admittance of a
parallel RL circuit
• Understand the phase relationship between applied
voltage and currents in a parallel RL circuit
• Draw impedance and phasor diagrams of a parallel
RL circuit
• Determine power and power factor of RL circuits

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16-2 Analysing Parallel RL Circuit
Admittance and Impedance of Parallel RL Circuits :
When dealing with parallel RL circuits, it is more
convenient to represent the resistor and inductor by
their admittances.
I IR IL

VS G -jBL

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Admittance and Impedance of Parallel RL
Circuit
• Admittance is the reciprocal of impedance

1
Y  (Siemens, S)
Z
1 1 G : conductance
YR   G
ZR R

1 1 1
YL   j
Z L jX L XL

1
YL   jB L  BL   90 O
BL  : inductive susceptan ce
XL
4
Admittance and Impedance of Parallel RL
Circuit
• Admittance of a parallel circuit

1 1 1 1
   
Z T Z1 Z 2 Zn

YT  Y1  Y2  Y3  ........... Yn

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Admittance and Impedance of Parallel RL
Circuit
1 1 1 1 1
   
ZT ZR ZL R jX L

YT  YR  YL  G  jB L
2 2
YT  G  jBL  G  BL   

1 BL 1 R
where   tan  tan
G XL
Admittance = Conductance - j Susceptance
1
ZT 
YT 6
 Admittance Diagram
G
G
- -

OR -jBL
Y

Y
-jBL

2
Y  G  jB L  G 2  BL   

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Voltage and Currents in Parallel RL Circuit
VS is common in parallel circuit.
VS is chosen as the reference phasor .
oo
V  V 
 ES ES00

• Supplied I  I   O
current:

 is the phase between I and VS

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Applying Circuit Laws to Parallel RL Circuit
The voltages, current and admittances are related by Ohm’s Law :
VS
I   VS YT
ZT

VS IR is in phase with VS
IR   (VS )(G )
R

VS
IL   (VS )(  jBL ) IL lags VS by 90o
jX L
The currents in the circuit are related by Kirchhoff’s Current Law

I  IR  IL 9
 To draw a phasor diagram for a parallel RL circuit :

VS IR VS
- IR -

I IL
OR
I
IL

• I lags VS by 

IL
1 1 VS BL 1 BL 1 R
    tan   tan   tan   tan
IR VS G G XL
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Relationship between Admittance Diagram and
Phasor Diagram

1. Admittance diagram and phasor diagram are similar

and are related by VS since the admittance diagram
when multiplied with the circuit voltage becomes the
phasor diagram.

2. The phase of the circuit admittance and the phase

of the circuit current is the same:
Y  I  

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 Analysis Procedure

1. Calculate circuit admittance: Y = G - jBL

VS
2. Calculate the circuit current: I 
ZT
 VS YT

V VS
I R  S  (VS )(G ) IL   (VS )(  jBL )
3. Calculate: R jX L

4. Draw phasor & admittance diagrams if necessary

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Example 16-2
A 120o V (rms), 1.5kHz ac voltage source is
connected to a parallel RL circuit. Given that R =
220 and XL = 150 :
(a) Draw the phasor domain schematic diagram
(b) Find the admittance and draw the admittance
diagram
(c) Draw the phasor diagram
(d) Write the time domain sinusoidal expression of the
applied voltage and circuit current
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Solution
1 1 1 1
(a) G  S BL   S
R 220 X L 150

I IR IL

1 1
VS=120 V o S  j S
220
150

Phasor Domain Schematic Diagram

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Solution

1 1
Y  G  jB L   j  ( 4.545  j 6.667) mS
220 150
 8.069  55.7 mS

4.545mS
G
-55.7o
Admittance
6.667mS
Diagram

-jBL Y 15
 VS o 1
(c ) IR   (120 )( 0o )  54.50 o mA
R 220
VS o 1
IL   (120 )(   90 o )  80  90o mA
jX L 150

I  I R  I L  54.5  j80  96.8  55.7 o mA

54.5mA
VS
-55.7o IR

80mA
96
.8m

Phasor Diagram
A

I
IL 16
(d ) v(t )  V p sin( 2ft )  12 2 sin 3000t V

i (t )  I p sin( 2ft   )  96.8 2 sin( 3000t  55.7 o ) mA

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 16-3 Power in RL Circuits
For RL circuits, there are 3 categories of power:
• Apparent power (S) , is the total power that appears to be
transferred from the source to the RL circuit. It is the phasor
sum of 2 components; the true power and reactive power.
Unit is volt-ampere (VA)
• Reactive power (Q) is that cyclical power which shuttles
between the source and the inductor in the RL circuit. It does
no useful work. Unit is volt-ampere-reactive (VAR)
• True power (P) is the dissipated in the resistance in the form of
heat. This is that power that does the actual useful work in the
RL circuit. Unit is Watt (W)
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• Ideally, all of the power transferred to the RL circuit should
be true power and none of it reactive power i.e Q = 0 and
S=P
• All 3 categories of power can be calculated using Ohm’s Law
as follows :

True Power (P) = I2 R = (VR)2 / R

Reactive Power (Q) = I2 XL = (VL)2 / XL

Apparent Power (S) = I2 ZT = (VS)2 / ZT = VS I

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 Power Triangle (Series RL)
A power triangle shows the relationship between the 3 types of power.
It is derived from the corresponding impedance or phasor diagram.
They are related by the circuit current, I.
I Z T
ZT =
XL VS
  VL =IXL

R
Impedance  VR=IR
Phasor  = Impedance  x I
I
=V S
Note that :
2 Z T
I P2  Q2
S=  Q= I2 XL= VSIsin S

Power  = Phasor  x I
P= I2 R= VSIcos 20
 Power Triangle (Parallel RL)
A power triangle shows the relationship between the 3 types of power.
It is derived from the corresponding impedance or phasor diagram.
They are related by the common voltage, VS.
Admittance  Phasor  = Admittance  x VS
G IR=VSG
-
-
BL IT = IL =VS BL
Y V
T S Y
T
P= VS2 G= VSITcos Note that :
S= - S  P2  Q2
V 2
S Z
=V Q= VS BL= VSITsin
2

SI Power  = Phasor  x VS 21
 The Power Factor
Power factor measures the conversion efficiency of the apparent
power from the source into true power. It is the ratio of True Power
and Apparent Power.
• Series RL: P V R
Power Factor  cos    R

S VS ZT
• Parallel RL:
P IR G
Power Factor  S  I  Y  cos 
T T
• 0  cos   1
• Ideally, Q = 0, P = S so that cos  = 1

• If i(t) lags vS (t), power factor is

• lagging.
RL circuit has lagging power factor. 22
Example 16-3

A 10 V ac source is connected to a series RL circuit which has a

resistance of 1 k and an inductive reactance of 2 k. Determine
the power factor, the true power, the reactive power and the
apparent power of the circuit.

Solution:

Z  R  jX L  (1  j 2) k  2.2463.4k
Power factor = cos  = cos 63.4o = 0.448 lagging

VS 10 V
I    4.46 mA
Z 2.24 K
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P = VS I cos = 10 x (4.46 x 10-3) x 0.448 = 20 mW

Q = VS I sin  = 10 x (4.46 x 10-3) x sin 63.4o = 40 mVAR

S = VS I = 10 x (4.46 x 10-3) = 44.6 mVA

Alternatively,
P = I2 R = (4.46 x 10-3)2 x 1000 = 20 x 10-3 W = 20 mW

Q = I2 XL =(4.46 x 10-3)2x2000=40 x 10-3 VAR= 40 mVAR

S = I2 Z = (4.46 x 10-3)2 x 2240 = 44.6 x 10-3 = 44.6 mVA

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 Summary
• For parallel RL circuit, it is more convenient to work
in terms of admittance, conductance and susceptance.
• The 3 categories of power in an RL circuit are true
power, reactive power and apparent power.
• Power factor is defined as :

P IR G
Power Factor  cos    
S IT YT

• An RL circuit has a lagging power factor.

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End of Chapter 16

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