The PFC 10 Commandments

Here you will find a collection of PFC recommendations and practical tips based on our field experience. If you follow them, surely you will get great results. 1 Measure the load and the grid: Disconnect all existing capacitors, determine what would be normal load operating conditions and then measure all electrical parameters of the installation including PF, Current, Active and Reactive Power, real permanent voltage, THDV%, THD-I%, each harmonic current amplitude, and how fast the loads reactive power changes.

2- Analyze measurements and select the proper PFC technology: Consider if a different load condition could show significantly different results of the measurements, especially in regards to harmonics. Foreseeing eventual load conditions can spare you from problems. If THD-V% is higher than 3% or if THD-I% is higher than 10% you should use Detuned PFC Filter technology. If the 3rd harmonics is the dominant choose 14% detuning. If the 5th or a higher harmonic is the dominant choose 7% detuning. If the load changes significantly within minutes, use dynamic PFC technology. If the load changes along hours, standard contactor technology is fine.

3- Select capacitors rated voltage higher than real operating voltage: Real operating voltage is that one you measure when capacitors are connected. Usually industrial facilities have their own substations and transformers output voltage are many times set higher than the normal rated voltage supplied by a power utility. This is done to get good voltage level at distant loads. If you use capacitors with rated voltage higher than real operating voltage you will get significantly extended capacitors life expectancy. The effective power loss due to operation at lower than rated voltage can be compensated by selecting a higher kVAR output capacitor at a higher rated voltage.

4 Use always forced ventilation: Capacitors should operate at average 35 C ambient temperature, although they can eventually operate at maximum 55 C. Operating at maximum temperature is not recommended at all, because a significant life expectancy derating inevitably happens. Systems using standard PFC (only capacitors) should have forced ventilation air flow of 1 m3/hr per kVAR. Systems with detuning reactors, 2.5 m3/hr per kVAR.

5 Mount all PFC system components properly: Capacitor must only be mounted inside a PFC system following the below mentioned practical recommendations and never mounted inside the main switchboard. The PFC system must be connected to a switched and protected output of the main switchboard. All components inside a PFC system dissipate heat, so its very important to allow proper cooling by mounting the temperature sensitive capacitors on profiles and not on flat plates that would cut all cooling airflow. If there are filter reactors which operate close to 100 C, they must be mounted in a different vertical line of the capacitors to avoid heat transfer thru the airflow and they should also be mounted on another profiles, close to the cabinet frame, to use the frame mass as a heat sink. Contactors are rated for a certain capacitor power switching ability up to 50 C, but if their operating temperature exceeds this value, their switching ability is significantly derated. You should mount them in such away that they dont receive any heat transfer from any other hotter component. Use always high braking capacity fuses dimensioned for 1,6 times the rated current. Do not connect capacitors in parallel by making a bridge using the capacitors terminal block because they are prepared for the current of only one capacitor. If you need to parallel capacitors use the terminals of that component prepared to handle such capacitors together, for example the contactors or reactors terminals.

Use only the recommended cable cross sections, using smaller ones may lead to capacitor terminals overheating and life expectancy derating. Apply recommended torques on capacitors terminals and grounding stud. 6 - Limit inrush currents: When connecting capacitors, inrush currents always occur. These are transients more dependant on the short circuit current of the point of connection than on the capacitor you are connecting. These transients, if not properly controlled, will inevitably damage the PFC system and will worsen the power quality of the whole installation. In standard PFC systems, capacitors must only be switched using capacitor contactors especially designed to switch capacitive loads and damp the inrush currents. Its important to have in mind that even these capacitor contactors can only attenuate the inrush currents to a certain extent but they dont disappear at all. So you should better limit the number of switchings as low as possible to avoid these damped currents to repeat too much and damage the components of the PFC system. Handmade coils, just made by wrapping the feeding cable have no inrush limiting inductance because the magnetic flux gets dispersed, are a waste of cable and an undesirable source of heat close to the capacitors. Modern dynamic PFC systems use thyristor modules to switch capacitor steps without any inrush current transient at all and they allow unlimited numbers of switchings without any stress to the capacitors or damage to the power quality.

7 Configure the PFC system properly: Usually the PFC system should achieve an average desired PF, and observe that I said an average desired PF, not an instantaneous desired PF. Once you have determined the total required power of the necessary PFC system it is recommendable that you dont configure it in a too sensitive way. The minimum step should not be smaller than 10% of the total available capacitive power; otherwise a slight change in the load could cause a system

step switching leading to an unnecessary number of switchings derating the capacitors life expectancy significantly. To reduce the number of switchings its convenient to use intelligent controllers, those which register the number of switchings and the operation time of every step, and consider this information when sequencing the steps to get faster response with minimum switching and achieving an even wear of the capacitors. But you can help the controller by configuring the system with two steps with the same minimum power. The minimum step is the most stressed because it has to take care of the fine regulation, so if there are two of them the controller has an option to fine regulate with them in an alternative way. An important programmable parameter in the controller is the discharge time. This is the time that the controller has to wait before reconnecting the same capacitor to assure it is discharged when reconnected. Usually the controllers default setting for the discharge time is 60 seconds and its not enough with capacitors equipped with 3 minutes discharge resistors. Setting the discharge time at least to 2 minutes will slow down the system and prevent excessive number of switchings while getting the desired average PF.

8 - Protect the PFC system against transient over voltages All capacitor overload conditions in the end rises the operating temperature of the capacitors. Over current due to harmonics causes more internal losses that turns into heat. Permanent over voltage causes permanent over current, heat again. High ambient temperature heats up the capacitors. And the main problem is that the capacitor dielectric is quite sensitive to temperature, the higher the temperature the lower transient over voltages will cause a breakdown. In an industrial installation, its plenty of transient over voltages due to high power inductive loads switchings. So a very effective and cheap protection is installing LV varistors from phases-to-ground. They really can spare the system and you from a significant stress.

9 Perform periodical preventive maintenance: A preventive maintenance program for a PFC system is quite simple. Verify the system complies with all the above recommendations.

After first week of operation, re-tighten all terminals. Verify the efficiency of the forced ventilation (about 35C) Verify that there are no evidences of overheating or electrical arcs. Keep the system clean, free of dust. Check the capacitors RMS current, it should be between 0.9 and 1,2 Ir Repeat all these checks every 6 months.

10 Use high quality and high technology PFC components A PFC system has a power comparable to that of a transformer, that means in single cabinet we have as much power as all the distributed electrical equipments of the installation put together. Certainly it deserves especial attention, precautions and cares. With so much power involved, the components reliability and safety are a must, and considering all power electronic systems generating harmonics and transients, it becomes very important to use high quality and high technology in a 21st century PFC project. All EPCOS PFC products, the capacitors, the filter reactors, the intelligent controllers, the capacitor contactors and the thyristor switches are application specific designed PFC products of the highest quality, reliability and safety. All this back up by superior application support and the latest PFC technologies at your disposal makes EPCOS your most convenient Power Quality Solutions provider. For more information, please visit www.epcos.com/pfc

Author: Ricardo Garrido EPCOS AG Munich, Germany. PFC Capacitors Marketing Manager.

August 2006.