APFC Panel
APFC Panel
APFC Panel
Disadvantages:
Application:
The equipment is applied at points in an installation where the active-power or reactive power
variations are relatively large, for example:
Where the kvar rating of the capacitors is less than, or equal to 15% of the supply transformer
rating, a fixed value of compensation is appropriate.
Above the 15% level, it is advisable to install an automatically-controlled bank of
capacitors.
Control is usually provided by contactors. For compensation of highly fluctuating loads, fast and
highly repetitive connection of capacitors is necessary, and static switches must be used.
Advantages:
Application:
Advantages
Disadvantages
Individual capacitors Most technically efficient, most flexible Higher installation & maintenance
cost
Fixed bank
Automatic bank
Least flexible
Combination
2. Heavy-duty
Construction: Rectangular and Cylindrical (Resin filled / Resin coated-Dry/oil/gas)
Application:
1.
2.
3.
4.
3. LT Capacitor
Application:
Go to Content
3.3 KV , 6.6KV
75 Kvar
11 KV
200 Kvar
22 KV
400 Kvar
33 KV
600 Kvar
Unit sizes lower than above is not practical and economical to manufacture.
When capacitors are connected directly across motors it must be ensured that the rated current
of the capacitor bank should not exceed 90% of the no-load current of the motor to avoid selfexcitation of the motor and also over compensation.
Precaution must be taken to ensure the live parts of the equipment to be compensated should not
be handled for 10 minutes (in case of HT equipment) after disconnection of supply.
Crane motors or like, where the motors can be rotated by mechanical load and motors with
electrical braking systems, should never be compensated by capacitors directly across motor
terminals.
For direct compensation across transformers the capacitor rating should not exceed 90 %
of the no-load KVA of the motor.
Calculation of Non liner Load, Example: Transformer Rating 1MVA,Non Liner Load 100KVA
% of non Liner Load = (Non Liner Load/Transformer Capacity) x100 = (100/1000)
x100=10%.
According to Non Linear Load Select Capacitor as per Following Table.
Type of Capacitor
Standard Duty
Up to 15%
Heavy Duty
Up to 20%
Up to 25%
Above 30%
Configuration of Capacitor
Power factor correction capacitor banks can be configured in the following ways:
1. Delta connected Bank.
2. Star-Solidly Grounded Bank.
3. Star-Ungrounded Bank.
1. Star-Solidly Grounded
Initial cost of the bank may be lower since the neutral does not have to be insulated from
ground.
Capacitor switch recovery voltages are reduced
High inrush currents may occur in the station ground system.
The grounded-Star arrangement provides a low-impedance fault path which may require
revision to the existing system ground protection scheme.
Typically not applied to ungrounded systems. When applied to resistance-grounded
systems, difficulty in coordination between capacitor fuses and upstream ground protection
relays (consider coordination of 40 A fuses with a 400 A grounded system).
Application: Typical for smaller installations (since auxiliary equipment is not required)
2. Star-Ungrounded
Industrial and commercial capacitor banks are normally connected ungrounded Star, with
paralleled units to make up the total kvar.
It is recommended that a minimum of 4 paralleled units to be applied to limit the over voltage on
the remaining units when one is removed from the circuit.
If only one unit is needed to make the total kvar, the units in the other phases will not be
overloaded if it fails.
In industrial or commercial power systems the capacitors are not grounded for a variety of
reasons. Industrial systems are often resistance grounded. A grounded Star connection on the
capacitor bank would provide a path for zero sequence currents and the possibility of a false
operation of ground fault relays.
Also, the protective relay scheme would be sensitive to system line-to-ground voltage
Unbalance, which could also result in false relay tripping.
Application: In Industrial and Commercial.
3. Delta-connected Banks
Delta-connected banks are generally used only at distributions voltages and are configured with
a Single series group of capacitors rated at line-to-line voltage. With only one series group of
units no overvoltage occurs across the remaining capacitor units from the isolation of a faulted
capacitor unit.
Therefore, unbalance detection is not required for protection and they are not treated further in this
paper.
Application: In Distribution System.
Series Connection
This method of connection is not much common. Even though the voltage regulation is much
high in this method,
It has many disadvantages.
One is that because of the series connection, in a short circuit condition the capacitor should be
able to withstand the high current. The other is that due to the series connection due to
the inductivity of the line there can be a resonance occurring at a certain capacitive value.
This will lead to very low impedance and may cause very high currents to flow through the
lines.