NDEJJE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
FINAL YEAR PROJECT REPORT
ON
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AN AUTOMATIC POWER
FACTOR CORRECTION DEVICE
BY
NAME REGISTRATION NUMBER
KASULE HASSAN KIMBUGWE 17/1/329/D/012
OCEN LAWRENCE 17/1/329/D/059

Final Year Project Report Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering in

Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Bachelor of
Engineering (Electrical Eng.) of Ndejje University.

DECLARATION
We hereby do declare that this final year project proposal report is our own original work and
has never been submitted by anyone to any institution before for any academic award.
KASULE HASSAN KIMBUGWE

Signed: ………………………

OCEN LAWRENCE

Signed: ………………………

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DEDICATION

We dedicate this final year project proposal to our parents for their unending financial
support and parental guidance they have always extended to us. We will forever be in
your debt and may ALLAH reward you abundantly.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our family and friends for their noble
support and encouragement. We would like to thank Mr. Ssemuju Mark for his helpful
advice, supervision and support during the preparation of this proposal.

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APPROVAL

I hereby approve that the information below has been collected and is written under
my supervision and all the information stated below was indeed written under my
guidance and it has been submitted for examinations purpose.

Sign: …………………………...

Mr. SSEMUJU MARK

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ABSTRACT
Electric energy being the only form of energy which can be easily converted to any other
form plays a vital role for the growth of any industry. The Power Factor gives an idea about
the efficiency of the system to do useful work out of the supplied electric power. A low value
of power factor leads to increase is electric losses and also draws penalty by the utility.
Significant savings in utility power costs can be realized by keeping up an average monthly
power factor close to unity. To improve the power factor to desired level, reactive power
compensators are used in the substations. The most common used device is capacitor bank
which are switched on and off manually based on the requirement. If automatic switching can
be employed for the correction devices, not only will it improve the response time but also
removes any scope for error.
The work carried out is concerned with developing power factor correction equipment based
on embedded system which can automatically monitor the power factor and take care of the
switching process to maintain a desired level of power factor which fulfils the standard
norms. The Automatic Power Factor Correction (APFC) device developed is based on
embedded system having 89S52 microcontroller at its core. The voltage and current signal
from the system is sampled and taken as input to measure the power factor and if it falls short
of the specified value by utility, then the device automatically switch on the capacitor banks
to compensate for the reactive power. The number of capacitors switched on or off is decided
by the microcontroller based on the system power factor and the targeted power factor.
The measurement and monitoring of three different possible load types suggested that only
the inductive loads required power factor correction. After employing the correction
equipment the targeted power factor of 0.95 is achieved

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vi
Table of Contents
DECLARATION.........................................................................................................................................i
DEDICATION...........................................................................................................................................ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...........................................................................................................................iii
APPROVAL.............................................................................................................................................iv
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................................................vii
ACRONYMS.........................................................................................................................................viii
CHAPTER ONE........................................................................................................................................1
1.0 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT................................................................................................................1
1.2 OBJECTIVES..................................................................................................................................1
1.2.1 General Objective.................................................................................................................1
1.2.2 Specific objective..................................................................................................................1
1.3 SIGNIFCANCY...............................................................................................................................2
1.4 THEORETICAL /CONCEPTUAL FRAME WORK /DIAGRAM.............................................................2
Block diagram of the correction equipment..................................................................................2
1.5 THE SCOPE OF STUDY..................................................................................................................4
1.6 DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS....................................................................................................4
Sensors..........................................................................................................................................4
Relay unit.......................................................................................................................................4
Capacitor bank...............................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER TWO.......................................................................................................................................5
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................................5
2.0.1 Power Factor.........................................................................................................................5
2.0.2 Causes of low power factor..................................................................................................6
2.0.3 Power Factor Correction.......................................................................................................6
CHAPTER THREE....................................................................................................................................7
3.0 METHODOLOGY...........................................................................................................................7
3.0.1 Research design....................................................................................................................7
3.0.2 Data collection methods...........................................................................................................7
3.1 Analysis Of Load Without Correction...........................................................................................7
3.2 Analysis Of Load With Correction................................................................................................8
CONCLUSIONS...................................................................................................................................8
REFRENCES............................................................................................................................................9

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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: BLOCK DIAGRAM OF CORRECTION EQUIPMENT....................................................................2
Figure 2: Power triangle........................................................................................................................6
Figure 3: Meco power guard instrument...............................................................................................7

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ACRONYMS
A - Ampere
ATP - Alternative Transient Program
APFC - Automatic Power factor Correction
CT - Current Transformer
KVA - Kilo Volt Ampere
KVAR - Kilo Volt Ampere Reactive
KW - Kilo Watt
LCD - Liquid Crystal Display
PCB - Printed Circuit Board
PF - Power Factor
PT - Potential Transformer
R-L - Resistive-Inductive
RMS - Root Mean Square
V - Volt
ZCS - Zero Current Sensor
ZVS - Zero Voltage Sensor

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CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
In electrical plants, we have hundreds of loads draw power from the network which is known as
active power. To get this, it is often necessary that the load exchanges with the network and the
reactive energy is produced mainly from inductive type. This energy, even if not immediately
converted into other forms, contributes to increase the total power flowing through in the electrical
network, from the generators, all along the conductors, to the users. To cater for such negative
effects, the power factor correction of the electrical plants is carried out by using capacitor banks
The power factor of an electrical system gives the idea about the efficiency of the system to do
useful work out of the supplied electric power. A low power factor leads to increase in losses and
also draws penalty by the utility therefore reactive power consumption causes the reduction of
voltage of feeder in the plants and on the other hand, it causes the reduction of power factor of
the whole plants. Most industries and companies using mechanized methods suffers from low
power factor due to the use of different electric equipment which requires more reactive power.
Significant savings in utility power costs can be realized by keeping up an average monthly power
factor close to unity. Utilizing shunt capacitor banks for Power Factor Correction (PFC) is an
exceptionally established methodology. The recent trend is to automate the switching procedure of
capacitors to get greatest advantage in real time basis.
Embedded systems based on microcontrollers can be used to monitor and control the switching of
correction devices and use of GSM device that transmits information to plant owner when power
factor is than 0.9.
1.1 PROBLEM STATEMENT
In Uganda today, the demand of electrical energy is increasing day by day. More and more
inductive loads are being used in industry and domestic applications. These Inductive loads are the
base reason for low power factor in a power system, hence there is a need to develop a method to
improve power factor automatically with ease. This method will compensate for the Low power
factor which is the main reason of high electricity tariffs and bills.
1.2 OBJECTIVES
1.2.1 General Objective
 The primary objective of this project is to design a correction equipment which can monitor
the power factor of the electrical network and enhance the power factor to a desired value
by use of a microcontroller.
1.2.2 Specific objective
 To design a microcontroller-based correction equipment which improves power factor of
the system to desired value of greater than 0.95.
 To monitor the different electrical load models and diverse load patterns to verify the result.
 To carry out economic analysis for power factor improvement.

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1.3 SIGNIFCANCY
Our power factor correction project will tackle the effects of high tariff billing by improving it to
the required percentage and its automatic nature reduces human interaction and its simpler that way
to overcome transmission losses. High electricity bills /tariffs, penalties and high costs in
distribution will be prevented since power factor is maintained towards unity
1.5 THE SCOPE OF STUDY
Geographical scope
The project was carried out along Kampala – Gulu highway Wakiso District in central region of
Uganda with much emphasis put on the Bombo grid. We visited Transmax company to carry out
research on the different inductive loads such as transformers and motors.
Time scope
This project was carried out between months of February and September which was just adequate
to carryout research and finalize the prototype construction.
Content scope
We undertook to design a simple model for an automated power factor correction device which
will be able to raise the power factor closest to unity.
1.6 Limitations
Due to the outbreak of covid 19 which led to the closure of schools and institutions, our project was
delayed

1.6 DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS

Sensors
We have voltage sensing devices and current sensing device. The voltage device (VTs) is used to
step down the voltage to about 6V into the input while the current sensing devices (CTs) detect
electric current through the circuit and generate a signal proportional to it.
Relay unit
This unit consists of a relay driver and some relays. As the output of the microcontroller cannot
control the switching of capacitors directly, this unit is responsible for controlling the high-power
circuit from a low power circuit.
Capacitor bank
Shunt capacitor banks are used to improve the quality of the electrical supply and the efficient
operation of the power system. They are relatively inexpensive and can be easily installed
anywhere on the network. The capacitor bank consists of number of shunt capacitors which are
switched ON or OFF depending on the reactive power requirement. The switching of capacitors
can be done manually or automatically by using relays.

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CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
With the development of the telecommunication industry and the internet demands on reliable,
cost-effective on power has grown. For mission critical applications, communication between
modules and system controllers is critical for reliability.
Information about temperature, current and total harmonic distortions of each module will
enable the functions such as dynamic temperature controller, fault diagnosis and it will also
enhance functions such as current sharing and fault protection.
The dominance of the analog controller at the modular level limits the system’s module
communication. Whereas digital controller is more suitable with its good communication
abilities it provides system-modules communication for direct current power supply.
The PFC converter is an important stage for distributed power system. Its controller is the most
complex with a 3 loop structure and multiplier/divider. This thesis has given the design method,
implementation and cost effectiveness of digital controller for PFC and for advanced PFC
controller. It also discusses the influence of digital delay on PFC performance as cost effective
solution that achieves good performance is provided. This same effectiveness is verified by
our designed and constructed project.
A digital power factor corrector circuit including a digital comparator that compares the actual
direct current, bus voltage of an electrical circuit with a desired direct current, bus voltage to
produce a digitally attenuated signal in the form of a pulse width, this modulated signal is used
to attenuate the voltage from a time varying source. This attenuated source voltage is used as
the current demand signal for a current controller that controls the current drawn from the line.

High power factors are desired for various others reasons, including energy efficiency. In general
the higher the power factor of a particular load the greater is the efficiency of the load further
higher the power factor lesser the load will distort the voltage source provided by the source of
electric power. To avoid significant distortions in the voltage waveform provided by the power
utilities, certain countries have promulgated regulation requiring electrical equipment’s above a
certain power rating and to have minimum power factor losses.
In real time applications electrical circuits do not have unity power factor. In certain applications
such as motor controller circuit that either uses an invertors or convertor operating from direct
current bus, the power factor can vary significantly far from unity. Such circuits make use of a
combination of a full wave rectifier and a relatively large direct current bus capacitor. This
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converts sinusoidal alternating input voltage into substantially constant unidirectional voltage.
In such applications power factor correction circuits are mainly used only for power factor
correction purpose.
Efficient utilization of energy is now considered as one of the primary motives in any mechanized
industry. The power factor of any electrical system suggests how efficient it is to do the useful
work. Most industries have notoriously poor power factors because of under-utilization of
induction loads which specifically identifies poor system efficiency and utilization. The maximum
kilovolt-ampere demand charge increases as a consequence of poor power factor, and in most cases
forms a rather large part of the monthly utility service charge. There are different ways of
improving power factor such as;
i. Adding a static capacitor load to offset the inductive load present in the power system.
ii. Using a synchronous condenser
iii. Using phasor advancer
The capacitors can be installed at the service entrance of the plant or on the load side of the
metering equipment. Though it commonly used, it has a major set back in that in case voltage rise
beyond the rated voltage, the capacitor easily gets damaged.
Due to this set back, we are adding a voltage regulator to the system to prevent the voltage from
rising beyond the rated limit.
We are also replacing the capacitor with a synchronous condenser to improve the life span of the
system.
2.0.1 Power Factor
In 2006 Ware. J, described that power factor is the ratio between the real power (kW) to the total
(apparent) power (kVA) consumed by an item of alternating current. It is a measure of how
efficiently electrical power is converted into useful work output. The ideal power factor is unity, or
one and anything less than one means that extra power is required to achieve the actual task at
hand.

KW is working power also called Actual Power or Active Power or Real Power. It is the power
that actually powers the equipment and performs useful work.
KVAR (reactive power). It is power that magnetic equipment (transformer, motor and relays)
need to produce the magnetic flux.
KVA (apparent power). Is the vectorial summation of KVAR and KW
Since power factor is defined as the ratio of KW to KVA, we see a low power factor result when
KW is small in relation to KVA. Remembering the analogy, this would occur when KVAR is large.
Power factor = real power(kW)/apparent power (KVA)
In a.c circuits, there is generally a phase difference between voltage and current. If the circuit is
inductive, the current then lags behind the voltage and the power factor is called lagging power
factor and if the circuit is capacitive then current leads to voltage and power factor is said to be
leading power factor.

13
Figure 1: Power triangle

Note: The power factor never exceeds 100 percent or unity because the value of active power can
never be greater than apparent power. (Ware, 2006)

What causes a large KVAR in a system?

The answer is inductive load which source of reactive power:
 Transformer
 Induction motors
 Induction Generators
 High Intensity Discharge

Some benefits of improving power factor

 This increase in required reactive power causes an increase in required apparent power
which is what the utility is supplying. So, a facility’s low power factor causes the utility to
have increased its generation and transmission capacity in order to handle its extra
demand. By raising the power factor we are using less KVAR. This results in less KW which
equate to utility cost saving
 Increased system capacity and reduced system losses in our electrical system are done by
adding capacitors to the system. Hence the power factor is improved and the KW capacity
of the system is increased. Thus by improving the power factor, these losses can be
reduced. With the current rise in the cost of electrical energy, increased facility efficiency
is very desirable.
 With lower system losses we will be able to add additional load to our system. Thus it
comes as no surprise that one way to increase the power factor is by adding capacitors to
the system.
The power factor control device is useful in the improvement of the efficient transmission of the
active power. This PFC are popular because of their advantage such as high power factors, fast
dynamic response and low cost. Digital PFC is more desirable because they have many
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advantages over the analog controllers due to their programmability, flexibility, no temperature
and aging effect and more resistant to input voltage distortion.
Power factor correction using capacitor banks reduce reactive power consumption which will
lead to minimization of losses and at the same time increase the electrical system’s efficiency.
Power saving issues and power management has led to the development of single phase
capacitor banks for domestic and industrial applications.
2.0.3 Power Factor Correction
Power factor correction is the term given to a technology that has been used since the turn of the
20th century to restore the power factor to as close to unity as is economically viable. Therefore by
definition, Power factor correction is a technique of counteracting the undesirable effects of electric
loads that create a power factor that is less than 1. Power factor correction may be applied either by
an electrical power transmission utility to improve the stability and efficiency of the transmission
network or, correction may be installed by individual electrical customers to reduce the costs
charged to them by their electricity supplier.
There will be no power loss if the current and voltage are in phase, thus it can improve the power
factor value to almost unity. This is normally achieved by the adding capacitors to the electrical
network which compensate for the reactive power demand of the inductive load and thus reduce the
burden on the supply and neutralize as much of magnetizing current as possible thus reducing
losses in the distribution system, reducing the electricity bill, power factor correction. Capacitors
contained in most power factor correction equipment draw current that leads the voltage, thus
producing a leading power factor. If capacitors are connected to a circuit that operates at a
nominally lagging power factor, the extent that the circuit lagging is reduced, practically the
corrected power factor will be 0.92 to 0.95.
Through some tariff settings, some power distributors offer incentives for operating with a power
factor of better than 0.9 and some penalize consumers with a poor power factor. There are several
ways that is metered but in order to reduce wasted energy in the distribution system, the consumer
is advised to apply power factor correction and most Network Operating companies now penalize
for power factors below 0.95 or 0.9. (Zaidi & Ali, 2018)

CHAPTER THREE
3.0 METHODOLOGY
3.0.1 Research design
The development of this project is to enhance and upgrade the operation of single phase
capacitor banks by developing a microprocessor based control system.

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 BLOCK DIAGRAM

Our system presents power factor correction (PFC) technique using solid state switched
capacitors. This system describes the design and simulator correction using current transformer
to get current wave form from of load current and current transformer also step down AC current.
LM358 is used as a comparator similarly voltage transformer is used to get voltage wave form and
fed this wave to LM358 comparator. LM358 is used as zero crossing detector in this project. After
LM358 both current and voltage waveforms are fed to Atmega 328P microprocessor. Atmega
328P microprocessor measures zero crossing detection and power factor by measuring time
difference between current and voltage wave form. Time difference between current and voltage
waveform is used to measure power factor using Atmega microprocessor. After power factor is
calculated by microprocessor, LCD displays it. If the power factor is not in the range, the switches
are on/off conditioned by the microprocessor unit and capacitors are activate/deactivate and
improve the power factor, at this point also SMS will be sent through GSM technology to phones
of management to be notified.
This system provides implementation done on Atmega microprocessor using C++ language
software to program it and determine time lag between current and voltage and Proteus
software to simulate the power factor according to the load.

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ZERO CROSSING DECTECTION

Zero crossing detector is used to detect sine wave zero crossing from positive half cycle to
negative half cycle or negative half cycle. To measure time difference between two waves is to
detect zero crossing of two waves. The 230 V, 50 Hz is step downed using voltage transformer
and current transformer is used to extract the waveforms of current. The output of the voltage
transformer is proportional to the voltage across the load and output of current transformer is
proportional to the current through the load. These waveforms are fed to voltage comparators
constructed using operational amplifier. It is a zero crossing detector, and its output changes
during zero crossing of the current and voltage waveforms. These outputs are fed to the
microprocessor that does further power factor calculations

“Image of zero crossing detector

SOLID STATE SWITCHES

Solid state switches are electronic switching devices that can operate on or off positions when a
small external voltages is applied from the microcontroller. In AC circuits, solid state relays (SCR or
TRIAC) switch on at the points of zero load current. The circuit will never be interrupted in the
middle of a sine wave peak, preventing the large transient voltages that would otherwise occur
due to sudden collapse of the magnetic field around the inductance. This feature is called zero-
crossover switching. Many advantages appear by using the solid state switches in this system.
There are slimmer profile, allowing tighter packing , totally silent operation and switch faster than

17
electromechanical relays; the switching time of a typical optically coupled SSR is dependent on
the time needed to power the LED on and off of the order of microseconds to milliseconds. It can
increase lifetime, even if it is activated many times, as there are no moving parts to wear and no
contacts to pit or build up carbon. Output resistance remains constant regardless amount of
use.
Capacitor Bank
There are two ways of connecting capacitor banks these include shunt and series connecting.
Among these two categories, shunt capacitors are more commonly used in the power system of
all voltage levels. There are some specific advantages of using shunt capacitors such as:

 It reduces line current of the system.

 It improves voltage level of the load.
 It also reduces system losses.
 It reduces load of the alternator.
All the above-mentioned benefits come from the fact that the effect of capacitor reduces
reactive current flowing through the whole system. Shunt capacitor draws almost fixed amount
of leading current which is superimposed on the load current and consequently reduces reactive
components of the load and hence improves the power factor of the system. Series capacitor on
the other hand has no control
Capacitors may catastrophically fail when subjected to voltages or currents beyond their rating,
or as they reach their normal end of life. Dielectric or metal interconnection failures may create
arcing that vaporizes the dielectric fluid, resulting in bulging, rupture, or even an explosion.
Capacitors units are intended to be operated at or below their rated voltage and frequency.

Whenever power factor correction is applied to a distribution network, bringing together

capacitance and inductance, there will always be a frequency at which the capacitors are in
parallel resonance with the supply. If this condition occurs at, or close to, one of the harmonics
generated by any solid- state control equipment, then large harmonic currents can circulate
between the supply network and the capacitor equipment, limited only by the damping
resistance in the circuit. Such currents will add to the harmonic voltage disturbance in the
network causing an increased voltage distortion.
POWER FACTOR CORRECTION
In electrical installations, namely in industry, exists several consumers, such as motors, that have
an important inductive load that provokes a phase shift between voltage and current, as show on
the figure below.

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 Phase Shift
Phase shift
Phase shift is represented as an angle (Ф) and current may be in advance or delayed of voltage. If
capacitance of the circuit prevails current is advanced and if inductance prevails current is
delayed.

11.1.2 Power triangle

Fig 10.1.5 Power Triangle

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The cosine of Ф (cos Ф) is the power factor, its value varies from 0 to 1 and the relations
between the powers in the above triangle are:
P = S x cos Φ
Q = S x sin Φ

The consequences of a low power factor are:

• Higher currents in cables.
• Higher losses by Joule effect in the conductors.
• Higher voltage drops
In most countries electricity distribution companies do not allow power factor to be lower than a
defined value (in Europe it must be cos Ф ≥ 0.93 <> tg Ф ≤ 0.4) and impose penalties to clients
that do not comply with this requirement.
When installing capacitor banks, it is necessary to:
• Calculate the bank size (the size of a capacitor bank is defined kVAr)
• Determine the location for connection.
• Select a control method.
To define the location of the capacitor bank it must be taken into account that three methods are
used for power factor correction, which depends of the location of the inductive loads and their
requested reactive power:
i. Centralized correction: one capacitor bank is installed near the main incoming
switchboard
ii. De-centralized correction: capacitor banks are installed near distribution
switchboards that supply energy to the main consumers responsible for the low power
factor
iii. Local correction: capacitor banks are installed near individual consumers

Current Transformer
A current transformer (CT) is a type of transformer that is used to measure alternating current. It
produces a current in its secondary which is proportional to the current in its primary.
Current transformers are the current-sensing units of the power system and are used at
generating stations, electrical substations, and in industrial and commercial electric power
distribution.
PotentialTransformer
The potential transformer may be defined as an instrument transformer used for the
transformation of voltage from a higher value to the lower value. This transformer step down the
voltage to a safe limit value which can be easily measured by the ordinary low voltage
instrument like a voltmeter, wattmeter and watt-hour meters, etc.

20
Phasor Diagram of a Potential Transformer

phasor diagram of the potential transformer

21
 Voltage Divider

In electronics, a voltage divider (also known as a potential divider) is a passive linear circuit
that produces an output voltage (Vout) that is a fraction of its input voltage (Vin). Voltage
division is the result of distributing the input voltage among the components of the
divider. A simple example of a voltage divider is two resistors connected in series, with
the input voltage applied across the resistor pair and the output voltage emerging from
the connection between them.

Resistor voltage dividers are commonly used to create reference voltages, or to reduce the
magnitude of a voltage so it can be measured and may also be used as signal attenuators
at low frequencies. For direct current and relatively low frequencies, a voltage divider may
be sufficiently accurate if made only of resistors; where frequency response over a wide
range is required (such as in an oscilloscope probe), a voltage divider may have capacitive
elements added to compensate load capacitance. In electric power transmission, a
capacitive voltage divider is used for measurement of high voltage.

I implemented a voltage divider with PT because the output of PT will be 6 volt. 6 volt PT
have peak of 1.4*6 = 8.4 volts which is harmful for the IC. So I placed a voltage divider to cut
the peak to the 4.2 volts.  The resistor present in front of the CT is burden resistor which is
essential for CT. We never leave secondary of CT as open circuit.
Atmega 328P microprocessor
A microprocessor is a single chip, self-contained computer which incorporates all the basic
components of a personal computer on a much smaller scale. Microprocessors are often
referred to as single chip devices or single chip computers. The main consequence of the
microprocessor small size is that its resources are far more limited than those of a desktop
personal computer. In functional terms.
The microprocessor is a programmable single chip which controls a process or system.
Microprocessors are typically used as embedded controllers where they control part of a
larger system, a computer peripheral. Microprocessor are designed to be low cost solutions;
therefore, using them can drastically reduce part and design costs for a project. Physically, a
microprocessor is an integrated circuit with pins along each side. The pins presented by a
microprocessor are used for power, ground, oscillator, I/O ports, interrupt request signals,
reset and control. In contrast, the pins exposed by a microprocessor are most often memory
bus signals (rather than I/O ports).

Atmega 328P Microprocessor has seven main components:

 Central processing unit (CPU)

1
 ROM
 RAM
 Input and Output
 Timer
 Interrupt circuitry
 Buses

Feature of Atmega 328P microprocessor:

 Advanced RISC Architecture
 Up to 16 MIPS Throughput at 16 MHz
 16K Bytes of In-System Self-Programmable Flash
 512 Bytes EEPROM
 1K Byte Internal SRAM
 32 Programmable I/O Lines
 8-channel, 10-bit ADC
 Two 8-bit Timer/Counters with Separate Prescalers

2
 Pin Configuration AT Mega 328P Microprocessor
PIN DESCRIPTION OF ATMEGA 328P MICROPROCESSOR:
VCC
Digital supply voltage.
GND
Ground.
Port B (PB7:0) XTAL1/XTAL2/TOSC1/TOSC2
Port B is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit).
The Port B output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and
source capability. As inputs, Port B pins that are externally pulled low will source current if
the pull-up resistors are activated.
Port C (PC5:0)
Port C is a 7-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit).
The PC5...0 output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and
source capability.

PC6/RESET
If the RSTDISBL Fuse is programmed, PC6 is used as an I/O pin. Note that the electrical
characteristics of PC6 differ from those of the other pins of Port C. If the RSTDISBL Fuse is
unprogrammed, PC6 is used as a Reset input.
Port D (PD7:0)
Port D is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit).
The Port D output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and
source capability
AVCC

3
AVCC is the supply voltage pin for the A/D Converter, PC3:0, and ADC7:6. It should be
externally connected to VCC, even if the ADC is not used. If the ADC is used, it should be
connected to VCC through a low-pass filter.
AREF
AREF is the analog reference pin for the A/D Converter.
Notice that all these pins have some function written in bracket. These are additional function
that pin can perform other than I/O. Some of them are.
 ADC (ADC0 - ADC7 on PORTA).
 UART (Rx, TX on PORTD).
 TIMERS (OC0 - OC2).
 SPI (MISO, MOSI, SCK on PORTB).
 External Interrupts (INT0 - INT2).
Registers
All the configurations in microprocessor is set through 8 bit (1 byte) locations in RAM (RAM
is a bank of memory bytes) of the microprocessor called as Registers. All the functions are
mapped to its locations in RAM and the value at that location that is at that Register
configures the functioning of microprocessor.
Analog to Digital Conversion (ADC):
Microprocessor understands only digital language. The inputs available from the environment
to the microprocessor are mostly analog in nature, in order to understand the inputs by the
digital processor, a device called Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) is used. As the name
suggests this peripheral gathers the analog information supplied from the environment and
converts it to the controller understandable digital format. Microprocessor then processes the
information and provides the desired result at the output end.
Relays
A relay is an electrically operated switch. Current flowing through the coil of the relay
creates a magnetic field which attracts a lever and changes the switch contacts. The coil
current can be on or off so relays have two switch positions and most have double throw
(changeover) switch contacts as shown in the diagram.

Relays allow one circuit to switch a second circuit which can be completely separate from the
first. For example a low voltage battery circuit can use a relay to switch a 230V AC mains
circuit. There is no electrical connection inside the relay between the two circuits; the link is
magnetic and mechanical. The coil of relay passes a relatively large current, typically 30mA

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for a 12V relay, but it can be as much as 100mA for relays designed to operate from lower
voltages.

Most Ics (chips) cannot provide this current and a transistor is usually used to amplify the
small IC current to the larger value required for the relay coil. The maximum output current
for the 555 timer IC is 200mA so these devices can supply relay coils directly without
amplification. Relays are usually SPDT or DPDT but they can have many more sets of switch
contacts, for example relays with 4 sets of changeover contacts are readily available.

Capacitors
Capacitors are two-terminal electrical component separated by a dielectric (insulator) and
used for storing electric charges. It consists of metal foils separated by a layer of insulating
film. When there is a potential difference (voltage) across the insulated films, a static electric
field develops across the dielectric, causing positive charge to attract on one plate and
negative charge on the other plate.
Why were they used?
For smoothening the output signal voltage.

LCD
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a low cost, low power device capable of displaying text and
images. LCDs are extremely common in embedded systems, since such systems often do not
have video monitors like those that come standard with desktop systems. LCDs can be found
in numerous common devices like watches, fax and copy machines, and calculators.

LCD is an electronically-modulated optical device shaped into a thin, flat panel made up of
any number of color or monochrome pixels filled with liquid crystals and arrayed in front of
light source (backlight) or reflector.

LCDs with small number of segments, such as the one shown in the below figure, have
individual electrical contacts for each segment. An external dedicated circuit supplies an
electric charge to control each segment. This display structure is widely for more than a few
display elements.

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The LCD controller provides a relatively simple interface between a processor and an LCD.
LCDs can be added quite easily to an application use as few as three digital output pins for
control.

Pin
Function Name
No

1 Ground (0V) Ground

2 Supply voltage; 5V (4.7V – 5.3V) Vcc

3 Contrast adjustment; through a variable resistor VEE

4 Selects command register when low; and data register when high Register
Select

5 Low to write to the register; High to read from the register Read/write

6 Sends data to data pins when a high to low pulse is given Enable

7-14 8-bit data pins DB0- DB7

15 Backlight VCC (5V) Led+

16 Backlight Ground (0V) Led

NPN Transistor

The transistor in which one p-type material is placed between two n-type materials is known
as NPN transistor. The NPN transistor amplifies the weak signal enter into the base and

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produces strong amplify signals at the collector end. In NPN transistor, the direction
of movement of an electron is from the emitter to collector region due to which the current
constitutes in the transistor. Such type of transistor is mostly used in the circuit because their
majority charge carriers are electrons which have high mobility as compared to holes.

Diode

A diode is a device which only allows unidirectional flow of current if operated with in a
rated specified voltage level

Resistor

A resistor is a linear, passive, two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical

resistance as a circuit element. The current through a resistor is in direct proportion to the
voltage across the resistor's terminals. Thus, the ratio of the voltage applied across a resistor's
terminals to the intensity of current through the resistor is called resistance. This relation is
represented by Ohm's law: I= V/R.

LEDs
These are lighting elements that works on the principle that when current flows from it
cathode to anode, it emits light. These are used to show if a certain process is on in the
system for example if the transmitter is powered a red LED is turned on in the luggage
system and a blue one on the remote system.

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Bread board
This is a construction base for prototyping of electronics. This is commonly known as solder
less breadboard (plug board). It is reusable making it easy to use for creating temporary
prototypes and experimenting with circuit design. In the development of the luggage anti-
theft system two bread boards where used before the system was finally soldered onto the
copper board.

Relay
Here we are majoring on industries that use inductive loads such as motors, power drills,
transformers when connected with resistive load banks, we will able to evaluate the
performace of a full power system including generators, voltage regulators, conductors and
other equipment.
Study area and population
Still emphasis is put on the industrial sector in Uganda and we are to solve or improve the
power factor within these industrial facilities.

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 Methodology

OBJECTIVES METHODS
How and why came up with the project  Viewing television
 Seeing our working neighbor
 Listening to radios
 Reading newspapers and journals
Collection of data  Through interviews
 Through questionnaires
Literature reviewing and component  Through consultations
collection  Comparison with current system
used
 Research on internet about data sheet
of every component
 Collection of components from
electronic shops
Design of the project  Using design soft wares for example
proteus software
 Using programming software for
example c++
 Using simulation soft wares
Construction of the project  Inserting components on bread board
and strip boards
Implementation and Testing  Powering and actual viewing the
required results
Referencing  Through research on internet and
textbooks

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CHAPTER FOUR
Project results and discussion of results.
CODING AND PROGRAMMING

We used C++ as the programming language

Coding part:
The code is written on code vision known by the computer/laptop

//_________function to get the time difference_____________

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void pf_func(){
while(1){
if ( PINC.0==1 ){
TCNT1=0;
TCCR1B = 0x01; // Start timer at Fcpu/1
break;
}
else {
continue;
}
}
while(1){
if ( PINC.1 == 1 ){
TCCR1B = 0x00; //Stop timer
g=TCNT1;
break;
}
else {
continue;
}}}
In this function, we started the Timer1 of microcontroller when zero crossing of
voltage occurs at PINC.0 and turned off the Timer2 at PINC.4 when zero crossing of
current occurs. “g variable” has the final time count of the difference.

/________function to calculate the power factor______

int powerfactor(){
k=0;
// To complete number of counts
g=g+1; //Value from the timer
//To convert into seconds
pf=(float)g/1000000;
//To convert into radians
pf=pf*50*360*(3.14/180);
//power facor
pf = cos(pf);
//power factor into percentage
k=abs(ceil(pf*100));
return k;
}
In this function, we converted the delay into seconds and then converted that
seconds into angle using the formula we mentioned above.

Secondly, we use proteus software has designing programme has shown below

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12
CONCLUSIONS
The Power factor correction equipment designed based on capacitor banks and
microcontroller will be used for measurement and monitoring of modeled electrical load and
the following deductions were obtained:
 Our automatic power factor correction device will be able to improve the power factor
from 0.76 to 0.97 under the test load conditions.
 Then with the proper amount of reactive power compensation, the system capacity is
realized as there is a reduction in current drawn.
 With this project, there will be savings in energy cost realized after a certain period of
time, a month per se.

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REFRENCES
1.Technology, M. O. F., & Routray, S. S. (2015). MICROCONTROLLER BASED
AUTOMATIC POWER FACTOR CORRECTION IN MINES Department of Mining
Engineering National Institute of Technology MICROCONTROLLER BASED
AUTOMATIC.
2.Ware, B. J. (2006). POWER FACTOR. 22–24.
3. Zaidi, M. N., & Ali, A. (2018). Power Factor Improvement Using Automatic Power
Factor Compensation ( APFC ) Device for Medical Industries in Malaysia. 01004.

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