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Lecture notes - all AC circuit lectures

Electrical and Electronic Systems (University of Southampton)

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AC CIRCUIT ANALYSIS
PROFESSOR SULEIMAN SHARKH

INTRODUCTION

Electricity is mostly generated, transmitted and distribute in alternating current (AC) for a number of reasons:
electric machines are AC in nature; AC can be readily transformed to a high voltage so as to reduce the current
and the size and cost of the transmission lines and cables; and it is easier to switch off.

In this chapter you will learn how to analyse AC circuits, using phasors, to calculate steady state voltages and
currents. We will also learn about active and reactive power and power factor, and their physical and practical
significance.

Using phasors an AC real circuit, that is described by differential equations, is transformed into an equivalent
network of complex impedances that can be described by algebraic equations and analysed in the same way
we analyse circuits containing resistive elements (without capacitors or inductors). The difference is that the
analysis of the phasor equivalent circuits involves the use of complex numbers. We will therefore briefly
review complex number arithmetic, but you are strongly encouraged to review the material you have learnt in
the mathematics module.

THE AC WAVEFORM

The AC voltage supplied by the electricity network are sinusoidal, as shown in Figure 1. Most electricity loads
and generators (e.g., appliances, machinery, UPS systems, solar farms wind generator etc.) draw or supply
sinusoidal currents from or into the network – they are in fact obliged to do so by regulations. Non-sinusoidal
currents and voltage increase losses in electrical devices, and increase the torque ripple of electric machines,
which can cause vibrations and increase acoustic noise.

The sinusoidal waveform is characterised by its peak (or maximum) value, frequency and phase angle. The
period is the time difference between two peaks or two troughs; it is the reciprocal of the frequency.

Electrical engineers normally use the root mean square value or rms, which is equal to the peak value divided
by the square root of 2, as shown in Figure 2. The reason for this is that the average power in an AC circuit is
given by the product of the rms voltage times the rms current, as we will see later. The rms value of AC
voltage or current is in fact the equivalent DC voltage or current that produces the same power in a resistor, as
can be seem in Figure 2.

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Figure 1– Characteristics of the sinusoidal waveform

Figure 2– Definition of the root mean square

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CIRCUIT ELEMENTS AND KIRCHOFF’S LAWS

Electric circuits, as the name suggests, are circuits or networks of electric devices connected by wires or cables.
When the frequency is low, most of the electrical energy will be confined to flow within wires and devices,
with negligible radiated electromagnetic energy in the form of electromagnetic fields (e.g. radio waves). In this
case the network of electrical devices can be represented by equivalent circuit elements (lumped parameters):
resistors; inductors; and capacitors 1. These circuit elements are conceptual electric devices that represent the
different energy manifestation of electricity: resistance which represents heat or increased vibrations of the
molecules of a conductor as a result of collisions with the flowing electrical charges (usually electrons);
capacitance which is a measure of the amount of the potential energy needed to store electric charges; and
inductance which is a measure of the magnetic flux produced due to the movement of electric charge, hence it
can be thought of as a measure of the kinetic energy of the electric charge. The behaviour of these circuit
elements is described by the relationship between the current flowing through them as shown in Figure 3. In
equivalent circuits the elements are connected to each other and to electricity sources using ‘wires’ of zero
resistance inductance and capacitance. Electricity flow is permitted or interrupted using ideal switches with
have zero on voltage when on and infinite resistance when off.

In lumped parameter equivalent circuits Charge and energy are conserved by definition (as we assume no
energy leakage due to radiation). Kirchhoff’s voltage law (KVL) – see Figure 4 – is a statement of the law of
conservation of energy and Kirchhoff’s current law (KCL) is a statement of the conservation of charge – see
Figure 5. Using these laws we can analyse electric circuit to determine the distribution of voltage and current
and hence the power in the different circuit elements.

Figure 3 – Circuit elements.

1
If the frequency is high equivalent and radiated energy is significant then circuits using lumped parameters
(resistors, capacitors and inductors) are not an accurate representation. In this case we need to use
electromagnetic field theory to solve Maxwell’s equations, which is outside the scope of this module.

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Figure 4 – Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law (KVL)

Figure 5 – Kirchhoff’s Current Law (KCL)

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EXAMPLE – ANALYSIS OF AN AC CIRCUIT

Consider the circuit in Figure 6. Let

𝑣 = 𝑉𝑝 cos 𝜔𝑡 = √2 𝑉 cos 𝜔𝑡 (1)

Applying KVL we obtain the following equation:

𝑑𝑖 (2)
−𝑣 + 𝑖𝑅 + 𝐿 =0
𝑑𝑡
or
𝑑𝑖 (3)
𝐿 + 𝑖𝑅 = 𝑣
𝑑𝑡

As the voltage is sinusoidal, the current will be also sinusoidal of the same frequency (due to the fact that
electric circuits are linear, described by linear ordinary differential equation). The current will have the general
form:

𝑖 = 𝐼𝑝 cos(𝜔𝑡 + 𝜙) = √2 𝐼 cos(𝜔𝑡 + 𝜙) (4)

Figure 6 – RL circuit using real functions.

Substituting (4) into (3) we obtain

−𝐿𝜔 √2𝐼 sin(𝜔𝑡 + 𝜙) + 𝑅√2𝐼 cos(𝜔𝑡 + 𝜙) = √2𝑉 cos(𝜔𝑡) (5)

The objective is to solve the above equation to find 𝐼 and 𝜙. That is possible, but it is not easy to do!
Fortunately, there is an easier way to solve the problem using complex function and phasors.

PHASORS

As can be seen in Figure 7, there is a direct relationship between the complex exponential function, which
represents a rotating arrow in the complex plane, and the sinusoidal functions; the projection of the arrow on
the real and imaginary axes trace sinusoidal waves as the arrow rotates. The relationship is defined by Euler’s
formula. In other words, we can use complex exponential functions to represent sinusoidal functions as
illustrated in Figure 8 and use that to obtain a complex solution of the differential equation from which we can
derive the real sinusoidal solution.

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Figure 7 – Relationship between sinusoidal and complex function

Figure 8 –RL Circuit using complex functions.

The complex function equivalents of equations (3) and (4) are

𝑑𝐢 (6)
𝐿 + 𝐢𝑅 = 𝐯 = √2𝑉𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡
𝑑𝑡
𝐢 = √2𝐼𝑒 𝑗(𝜔𝑡+𝜙) (7)

Substituting (7) into (6) and cancelling the √2 we obtain

𝑗𝜔𝐿𝐼𝑒 𝑗(𝜔𝑡+𝜙) + 𝑅𝐼𝑒 𝑗(𝜔𝑡+𝜙) = 𝑉𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡 (8)

Expanding the exponentials we obtain

𝑗𝜔𝐿𝐼𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑒 𝑗𝜙 + 𝑅𝐼𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡 𝑒 𝑗𝜙 = 𝑉𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡 (9)

Cancelling the 𝑒 𝑗𝜔𝑡 terms in the above equation we get,

𝐼𝑒 𝑗𝜙 (𝑗𝜔𝐿 + 𝑅) = 𝑉𝑒 𝑗0 (10)

Define

𝐕 = 𝑉𝑒 𝑗0 (11)

2
Note that in electrical engineering, for obvious reasons, the 𝑗 rather than 𝑖 represents the imaginary number
√−1.

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𝐈 = 𝐼𝑒 𝑗𝜙 (12)
𝐙 = 𝑅 + 𝑗𝜔𝐿 (13)

Substituting (11), (12) and (13) into (10) we get

𝐕 = 𝐙𝐈 (14)

The above equation as analogous to Ohms Law, 𝑉 = 𝑅𝐼, and it is known as the Generalised Ohm’s law. The
complex variables 𝐕 and 𝐈 are called phasors. Note that they are not functions of time and are represented as
stationary arrows in the complex plane as shown in Figure 9 - complex variables that are functions of as
shown in Figure 7. Also note that it is common to write 𝑒 𝑗𝜙 as ∠𝜙

Figure 9 –Phasor representation in the complex plane

𝐙 is knows as impedance. Impedance is a complex number with the real part representing the resistance. The
imaginary part is called reactance, which in this example is equal to 𝜔𝐿, the product of the angular frequency,
𝜔 = 2𝜋𝑓, times the inductance.

Based on equation (14) we the problem reduces to analysing a complex phasor equivalent circuit as shown in
Figure 10. We can now analyse this circuit in the same way we analyse circuits with resistors only, or dc circuits
to write and solve algebraic equations. The difference is that we now have complex numbers instead of real
numbers. The phasor current 𝐈 in Figure 10 can be calculated directly from the generalised Ohms law as

𝐕 𝑉∠0 𝑉 𝜔𝐿 (15)
𝐈 = 𝐼∠𝜙 = = = ∠ (−tan−1 )
𝐙 𝑅 + 𝑗𝜔𝐿 �𝑅2 + (𝜔𝐿)2 𝑅

See a summary of complex number arithmetic in the appendix.

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Figure 10 – Phasor equivalent circuit

In summary, the procedure for analysing AC circuits using phasors as as follows:

1. Draw the phasor equivalent circuit

a. Replace the real sinusoidal 𝑣 and 𝑖 with their equivalent phasors.
b. Replace the circuit elements with their equivalent impedances.
2. Analyse the circuit as you would analyse a dc circuit (or a circuit with resistors only). The difference is
that we now need to deal with complex numbers.

IMPEDANCE

In the previous section we observed that the impedance of a resistor is simply 𝑅 and that of an inductor is
𝑗𝜔𝐿. The detailed proof of this is shown in Figure 11 and Figure 12. It can be also readily shown that the
1 𝑗
impedance of a capacitor is =− as shown in Figure 13. A summary is shown in Figure 14.
𝑗𝜔𝐶 𝜔𝐶

Figure 11 – Impedance of a resistor

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Figure 12 – Impedance of an inductor

Figure 13 – Impedance of a capacitor

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Figure 14 – Impedances of circuit elements.

PHASE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE VOLTAGES AND CURRENTS OF CIRCUIT

ELEMENTS

It is useful to consider the phase relationship between the voltages and currents of circuit elements. For a
resistor the current and voltage are in phase, i.e. their peaks, troughs and zero crossings occur at the same
time and their phasors will be parallel to each other, i.e. they will have the same angle as illustrated in Figure
15.

Figure 15 – Waveforms and phasor diagrams of voltage and current of a resistor – the voltage and current are in phase.

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For an inductor, there is a 90 degrees phase difference between the voltage and the current; when one is at its
peak, the other will be crossing zero. In Figure 16, moving in the positive direction of the time axis, one will see
the peak of the voltage waveform first, followed by the peak of the current waveforms; in other words, the
current lags the voltage. One could also see this if one imagines the phasors of the voltage and current rotating
in the counter clockwise direction; one would see the tip of the current phasor 90 degrees later after seeing
the tip of the voltage phasor.

For a capacitor, the current leads the voltage as shown in Figure 17. To help you remember this think of the
word ‘CIVIL’: starting from the left or start of the word you see that for a capacitor C the current I lead the
voltage V; starting from the right end of the word you will see I occurring after or lagging V.

Figure 16 – Waveforms and phasor diagram of voltage and current of an inductor - the current lags the voltage.

Figure 17 – Waforms and phasor diagram of voltage and current of a capacitor – the current leads the voltage.

CAPACITIVE AND INDUCTIVE LOADS

If the impedance of the load has a negative imaginary part, then its current will be leading the voltage, and it
will be a capacitive load, even though it may include an inductance, as illustrated in Figure 18. An inductive
load has an impedance with a positive imaginary part and its current lags the voltage as shown in Figure 19.

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Figure 18 – An example of a capacitive load – it has a negative imaginary part and the its current will lead the voltage.

Figure 19 – An example of an inductive load – it has a net positive imaginary part and its current lags the voltage.

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EXAMPLE 1 – ANALYSIS OF AN RLC CIRCUIT

Find the current 𝐼 in the circuit shown in Figure 20.

Figure 20 – RLC Circuit.

SOLUTION

The first step is to draw the corresponding phasor-domain circuit shown in Figure 21 using 𝜔 = 4000 rad/s of
the source. The current is

𝐕 140 ∠�−10° � 140 ∠�−10° �

𝐈= = = = 36.1 ∠(11.9° ) A
𝐙 3.6+𝑗4.8−𝑗6.25 3.88 ∠�−21.9 ° �

This current can be used to obtain the voltage phasors:

𝐕𝐑 = 36.1 ∠(11.9° ) × 3.6 = 130 ∠(11.9° ) V

𝐕𝐋 = 36.1 ∠(11.9° ) × 𝑗4.8 = 36.1 ∠(11.9° ) × 4.8 ∠(90° ) = 173 ∠(102° ) V

𝐕𝐂 = 36.1 ∠(11.9° ) × (−𝑗6.25) = 36.1 ∠(11.9° ) × 6.25 ∠(−90° ) = 225 ∠(−78.1)°

3.6 Ω 4.8 Ω

+ -j6.25Ω
𝑉 = 140 ∠(−10) V

Figure 21 – Phasor-domain RLC circuit.

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The corresponding sinusoidal quantities are

𝑖 = 36.1 √2 cos(4000𝑡 + 11.9° ) A,

𝑣𝑅 = 130 √2 cos(4000𝑡 + 11.9° ) V,

𝑣𝐿 = 173 √2 cos(4000𝑡 + 102° ) V,

𝑣𝑐 = 225 √2 cos(4000𝑡 − 78.1° ) V.

EXAMPLE – ANALYSIS USING PHASOR DIAGRAMS

Find the source voltage 𝐕 in the circuit shown in Figure 22 using the phasor diagram graphical method.

Figure 22 – An AC source supplying an inductive load through a cable.

SOLUTION

We can treat phasors in the same way we treat vectors; they can be added or subtracted graphically in the
same way we add or subtract vectors. To add two phasors for example we draw them connected top to tail
and the resultant will be the phasor closing the triangle.

In the above circuit we can write

𝐕𝐬 = (𝑅 + 𝑗𝑋)𝐈 + 𝐕 = 𝑅𝐈 + 𝑗𝑋𝐈 + 𝐕 = 2𝐈 + 5𝐈 ∠(90° ) + 𝐕 = 4 ∠(−30° ) + 10 ∠(60° ) + 𝐕

The above equation can be written as

𝐕𝐬 = 𝐕𝑅 + 𝐕𝐿 + 𝐕 (16)

In other words, the supply voltage is the sum of the voltages across the resistor, inductor and the load. The
resistor’s voltage phasor, 𝐕𝑅 = 2𝐈 = 4 ∠(−30° ), is proportional to that of the current phasor, and hence the
two are in parallel. But the inductor’s voltage phasor, 𝐕𝐿 = 5𝐈 ∠90° = 10 ∠(60° ), is perpendicular to that of
the current. The phasor diagram representing equation (16) is shown in Figure 23.

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20

15

10

5 𝐕𝐬
𝑗𝑋𝐈

0
𝐕
𝐈
𝑅𝐈
-5
-5 0 5 10 15 20

Figure 23 – Phasor diagram

EXAMPLE – AC CIRCUIT ANALYSIS

Find the current 𝐈, 𝐕𝟏 , 𝐕𝟐 in the circuit shown in Figure 24.

𝐈
10 Ω 15 Ω

+ −𝑗30 Ω
𝐕1 𝑗20 Ω 𝐕2
𝐕 = 100 ∠(20° ) V

Figure 24 – AC circuit

SOLUTION

The current can be found by dividing the voltage by the total impedance. The impedance of the right hand
loop resistance in series with the capacitance, 15 − 𝑗30 Ω = 33.5 ∠(−63.4° ) Ω are connected in parallel with
the 𝑗20 Ω of the inductor:

𝑗20 × 33.5 ∠(−63.4° ) 671 ∠(26.6° )

𝐙𝐱 = = = 37.2 ∠(60.3° ) = 18.5 + 32.3 Ω
𝑗20 + 15 − 𝑗30 18 ∠(−33.7° )

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Note that in the above expression we used the polar form when doing multiplication or division and the
Cartesian form when doing addition or subtraction. The resultant impedance is inductive as the imaginary part
is positive.

The above value of 𝐙𝐱 plus the 10 Ω of the series resistor gives the total impedance:

𝐙 = 10 + 18.5 + 𝑗32.3 = 28.5 + 𝑗32.3 = 43.1 ∠(48.6° )Ω.

The current 𝐈 can now be calculated as

𝐕 100∠(20° )
𝐈= = = 2.32 ∠(−28.6° ) A.
𝐙 43.1 ∠(48.6° )

We can use the voltage divider rule twice to calculate 𝐕𝟏 and 𝐕𝟐 :

𝒁𝒙 37.2 ∠(60.3° ) 3720 ∠(80.3° )

𝐕𝟏 = 𝐕= × 100 ∠(20° ) = = 86.4 ∠32° V.
𝒁 28.5 + 𝑗32.3 43.1 ∠(48.6° )

−𝑗30 2590 ∠(−58° )

𝐕𝟐 = × 86.4 ∠32° = = 77.3 ∠(5° ) V.
15 − 𝑗30 33.5 ∠(−63° )

RC FILTERS

You have done experiments to measures the frequency response of simple first order RC filter circuits: low
pass and high pass filters. Using phasors we can now analyse these circuits and derive their gain plots that you
measured in the experiments.

LOW PASS FILTER

Consider the circuit shown in Figure 25. The output voltage can be calculated using the voltage divider rule as:

1
𝑗 𝜔𝐶 𝐕𝐢𝐧 𝑉𝑖𝑛 ∠(− tan−1 (𝑅𝐶 𝜔))
𝐕𝐨𝐮𝐭 = × 𝐕𝐢𝐧 = =
𝑅+�
1
� 1 + 𝑗𝑅 𝜔𝐶 �1 + (𝑅𝐶 𝜔)2
𝑗 𝜔𝐶

The above assumes that the phase angle of 𝐕𝐢𝐧 is zero and its magnitude is 𝑉𝑖𝑛 .

The voltage gain is defined as the ratio of the magnitude of the output to the magnitude of the input:

𝐕𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡 1
𝑉𝐺𝐴𝐼𝑁 = � �= =
𝐕𝐢𝐧 𝑉𝑖𝑛 �1 + (𝑅𝐶 𝜔)2

1
At very low frequencies, the gain is approximately unity. At high frequencies the gain is approximately ,
𝑅𝐶 𝜔
i.e. it is inversely proportional to frequency. Hence such a filter will let the low frequency components of a
signal pass through, but attenuates the high frequency signals, and hence this circuit is known as a low pass
filter. It is used to remove high frequency noise from a signal.

The corner frequency (also known as the bandwidth) is defined as the frequency at which the power of the
corresponding components of the signal is halved. Recalling that power is proportional to the square of the
1
voltage, then the corner frequency will be that at which the gain equals or 𝑅𝐶 𝜔𝑐 = 1. Hence,
√2

𝜔𝑐 1 (17)
𝑓𝑐 = =
2 𝜋 𝑅𝐶

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Figure 25 – Low pass RC filter.

Expressing gain using the decibel (dB) scale:

The bel (B) scale is a logarithmic scale used for expressing gains, in terms of a signal amplitude, or the power
contained in the signal. A decibel (dB) is just one-tenth of a bel, i.e. 1dB = 0.1B (to yield more convenient
numerical values). In the case of signal power, the gain in bels is simply:

P 
PGAIN (B ) = log OUT 
 PIN 

 POUT 
Therefore, in decibels, PGAIN (dB ) = 10 ⋅ log 
 PIN 

For the signal amplitude gain, note that the power is proportional to the square of the amplitude (e.g. in the
electrical case P = V2 ÷ R). Using the laws of logarithms, voltage gain can therefore be expressed as:

 V  2  V 
VGAIN (B ) = log  OUT   = 2 ⋅ log OUT 
  VIN    VIN 
 

 V  2  V 
VGAIN (dB ) = 10 ⋅ log  OUT   = 20 ⋅ log OUT 
  VIN    VIN 
 

Note that a positive value on the bel scale corresponds to an amplification, whereas a negative value
corresponds to an attenuation. It is useful to recognise several commonly occurring gains expressed in decibels
– see the table below.

Signal Gain Gain (dB) Signal Gain Gain (dB)

√2 (~1.4) 3 1/√2 (~0.7) -3
10 20 0.1 -20
100 40 0.01 -40

The corner frequency of a low pass filter would therefore correspond to the point when the dB gain reduces to
approximately -3 dB.

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HIGH PASS FILTER

Basically, the circuit of the high pass filter is similar to that that of the low pass filter, but with the resistor and
capacitor swopping places as shown in Figure 26. The gain is now given by

𝑅𝐶𝜔 (18)
𝑉𝐺𝐴𝐼𝑁 =
�(𝑅𝐶𝜔)2 +1

When 𝜔 is large, the voltage gain approaches unity. But at low frequencies the gain will become
approximately𝑅𝐶𝜔, i.e. proportional to frequency, and hence low frequency signals will be attenuated. The
corner frequency is also given by (17).

Figure 26 – High pass RC filter

POWER IN AC CIRCUITS

The instantaneous power in an AC circuit, calculated as the product of the instantaneous voltage and current,
fluctuates periodically at double the frequency as illustrated in Figure 27 for a purely resistive load. But this
quantity is rarely used in practice.

ACTIVE POWER, P [W]

Normally, we are interested in average power, also known as the active power. In a purely resistive load, the
𝑉2
average power equals the product of the rms values of the voltage and current: 𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼 = 𝐼2 𝑅 = (see the
𝑅
derivation in Figure 27), which is analogous to the way we calculate power in a DC circuit. The units of active
power is Watts or W.

In a purely inductive load, however, the average or active power is zero as the power used to magnetise the
inductor is recovered every quarter of a cycle as illustrated in Figure 28. Similarly, the average power used by a
capacitor is zero as illustrated in

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Figure 27 – Power in a purely resistive load

Figure 28 – Power in a purely inductive load.

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Figure 29 – Power in a purely capacitive load

REACTIVE POWER, Q [VAR]

Although the alternating magnetising current flowing into and out of an inductor and the alternating flow of
charge into and out of a capacitor do not on average consume any power, they do matter as these currents
will produce losses in the transmission lines and can cause significant voltage drops.

𝑉2
Reactive power is defined as 𝑄 = 𝐼2 𝑋 = , which is analogous the expression for active power loss in a
𝑋
𝑉2
resistor, 𝑃 = 𝐼2 𝑅 = . As can be seen from Figure 28 and Figure 29, this quantity corresponds to the peak of
𝑅
the instantaneous power. Note that the reactive power of a capacitor is negative. Its unit is Volt Amp Reactive
or VAR.

THE POWER FACTOR

Consider the flow of power in an inductive load including a resistor as shown in Figure 30. The instantaneous
power alternates between negative and positive values, but the average power is not zero; some of the power
will be dissipated as heat in the resistor. As can be seen in Figure 31, the active power can be shown to be give
by

𝑃 = 𝐼2 𝑅 = 𝑉𝐼 cos 𝜙 (19)

The factor cos 𝜙 is known as the power factor.

Similarly, as can be seen in Figure 32, the reactive power can be show to be given by

𝑄𝐿 = 𝐼2 𝑋𝐿 = 𝑉𝐼 sin 𝜙 (20)

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Figure 30 – Power in an inductive load

Figure 31 – Active power in an inductive load

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Figure 32 – Reactive power in an inductive load.

Figure 33 –Active and reactive power in a capacitive load.

Similarly, the active power in a capacitive load can be also shown to be given by (19). The reactive power of a
capacitor is negative and can be shown to be given by

𝑄𝑐 = −𝐼2 𝑋𝑐 = −𝑉𝐼 sin 𝜙 (21)

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COMPLEX AND APPARANT POWERS [VA], AND THE POWER TRIANGLE

Complex power is defined in terms of the active and reactive powers as shown in Figure 34. The magnitude of
the complex power is known as the apparent power whose unit is [VA]. Figure 35 presents a summary of the
main power and power factor relationships.

Figure 34 –Complex power and the power triangle.

Figure 35 – Apparent power and power factor

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EFFECT OF THE POWER FACTOR

Consider the circuit shown in Figure 36. The magnitude of the current in the transmission line 𝑅 + 𝑗𝑋 = 0.2 +
𝑗1 Ω can be readily calculated as

50
𝐼=
10 cos 𝜙

The transmission line losses can then be calculated as 𝐼2 𝑅 = 0.2𝐼2 .

The phase angle of the current is – 𝜙 and hence the current phasor is

50
𝐈= ∠(−𝜙)
10 cos 𝜙

The source voltage can then be calculated as

𝐕 = 10 ∠0 + (0.2 + 𝑗1)𝐈

Voltage regulation is defines as the ratio of the difference between the magnitudes of the source and load
voltages to the source voltage. In this case it is

𝑉 − 10
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = × 100%.
𝑉

The results of the calculations for different power factors are shown in Figure 37. As can be seen, the
transmission losses increase if the power factor is less than unity. Inductive loads have high voltage regulation,
and can cause the voltage to dip significantly, unless the source voltage is increased. Capacitive loads have the
opposite effect; they increase the load voltage above the source voltage. Higher of lower voltage than normal
can cause damage to electrical devices or could impair their performance. Hence non-unity power factors are
not desireable.

10 ∠0 V

𝑃 = 50 W

𝑃𝐹 = cos 𝜙

Figure 36 – A source supplying power to load with different power factors through a transmission line.

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Figure 37 – Effect of power factor on transmission losses and voltage regulation.

POWER FACTOR CORRECTION

Electricity distribution network operators normally charge companies for the active energy in [kWh] that they
use as that is proportional to the amount of fuel used to generate the electricity. But a ‘poor’ power increases
transmission losses as we discussed in the previous section, which costs more fuel. For this reason, customers
with a poor power factor load have to pay a penalty unless they correct the power factor.

Most load are inductive and therefore have a lagging power factor and absorb reactive power. To correct the
power factor, reactive power needs to be supplied locally by connecting a capacitor in parallel with the
inductive load as illustrated in Figure 38. Capacitors can be thoughts of as generators on reactive power as
illustrated in Figure 39 and Figure 40.

Figure 38 – Instantaneous power in a load comprising an inductor in parallel with a capacitor.

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Figure 39 – Loads and generators of active power.

Figure 40 – Absorbers and generators of reactive power.

POWER FACTOR CORRECTION EXAMPLE

An inductive load with a power factor of 0.5 draws 80 kVA at 400 V, 50 Hz. Determine the power and reactive
power and draw the power triangle. If a power factor correction capacitor of 1mF is connected across the load,
determined the new power factor.

SOLUTION

The active power 𝑃 = 𝑆 cos 𝜙 = 80 × 0.5 = 40 kW. This remains the same before and after connecting the
capacitor.

The reactive power before the capacitor is connected is

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𝑄 = 𝑆 sin 𝜙 = 80 × 0.886 = 69 kVAR.

The reactive power supplies by the capacitor is

𝑉2
𝑄𝑐 = − = −𝑉 2 𝜔𝐶 = −2𝜋𝑓𝐶𝑉 2 = −50 kVAR.
𝑋𝑐

The total reactive power of the combined capacitor and load is now

𝑄𝑛𝑒𝑤 = 69 − 50 = 19 kVAR.

The new apparent power is then

𝑆𝑛𝑒𝑤 = �𝑃2 + 𝑄 2 = (�402 + 192 = 44 VA.

The new power factor is then

𝑃 40
cos 𝜙𝑛𝑒𝑤 = = = 0.9 lagging.
𝑆𝑛𝑒𝑤 44

APPENDIX COMPLEX NUMBERS

You need to become very familiar with complex number arithmetic: conversion from polar to Cartesian form
and vice versa; and addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

A complex number 𝑧 = 𝑥 + 𝑗𝑦 is composed of two real numbers, the real part 𝑥 and the imaginary part 𝑦.
Graphically, it is normally represented using the Argand diagram shown in Figure A1. The form 𝑧 = 𝑥 + 𝑗𝑦 is
known as the Cartesian form. But we can also represent a complex number in polar form as 𝑧 = 𝑟𝑒 𝑗𝜃 . From
Figure A1,

𝑟 = �𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2

𝑦
𝜃 = tan−1
𝑥

𝑥 = 𝑟 cos 𝜃

𝑦 = 𝑟 sin 𝜃

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Figure A1 – Complex number graphical representation.

Let

𝐙𝟏 = 𝑥1 + 𝑗𝑦1 = 𝑟1 ∠𝜃1

𝐙𝟐 = 𝑥2 + 𝑗𝑦2 = 𝑟2 ∠𝜃2

It is easier to use the Cartesian form when doing summation or subtraction and the polar form when doing
multiplication and division. When we sum or subtract two numbers we simply sum or subtract the real parts
together and the imaginary parts together, respectively. Hence,

𝐙𝟏 + 𝒁𝟐 = (𝑥1 + 𝑗𝑦1 ) ± (𝑥2 + 𝑗𝑦2 ) = (𝑥1 ± 𝑥2 ) + 𝑗(𝑦1 ± 𝑦2 )

We then convert the result into polar form if we need to,

𝑦1 ± 𝑦2
𝐙𝟏 + 𝒁𝟐 = �((𝑥1 ± 𝑥2 )2 + (𝑦1 ± 𝑦2 )2 ∠ tan−1 � �
𝑥1 ± 𝑥2

When we multiply or divide numbers using the polar forms, we multiply or divide the magnitudes and add or
subtract the phase angles, respectively. Thus,

𝐙𝟏 𝒁𝟐 = 𝑟1 𝑟2 ∠(𝜃1 + 𝜃2 )

𝐙𝟏 𝑟1
= ∠(𝜃1 − 𝜃2 )
𝐙𝟐 𝑟2

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