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THE DEFINITION AND IMPORTANCE OF POWER FACTOR FOR POWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTERS
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| Author(s) |
W. F. Ray; R. M. Davis |
| Abstract |
With the significant increase in use of power electronic circuits and the consequent increase in harmonic content the value of power factor as a simple measure of goodness of power utilisation is questionable. Reactive power in the presence of harmonics has little meaning and the cosinusoidal definition of power factor inadequate. The paper summarises the supply authority regulations and reviews the various methods used for measuring power factor. It then examines the definition and relevance of power factor with non-linear and unbalanced loads and unbalanced supplies. A 3-phase rectifier feeding a capacitive dc link is a particular example where harmonics are largely governed by supply impedance and where small supply unbalance gives significant unbalance in line currents. It is therefore difficult for manufacturers to specify values for power factor and harmonic content appropriate to a particular user. The paper concludes that a code of practice placing minimum limits on front end line reactance for power electronic equipment would be easier to implement than maximum limits on harmonic content. |
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| Filename: | Unnamed file |
| Filesize: | 1.248 MB |
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| Type |
Members Only |
| Date |
Last modified 2021-02-11 by System |
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