AUTOMATIC POWER FACTOR CORRECTION USING SWITCHING CAPACITORS

In an electric power system, a load with a low power factor draws more current than a
load with a high power factor for the same amount of useful power transferred. The higher
currents increase the energy lost in the distribution system, and require larger wires and other
equipment. Because of the costs of larger equipment and wasted energy, electrical utilities will
usually charge a higher cost to industrial or commercial customers where there is a low power
factor.

An automatic power factor correction unit consists of a number of capacitors that are
switched by means of relays. These contactors are controlled by a regulator that measures power
factor in an electrical network. Depending on the load and power factor of the network, the
power factor controller will switch the necessary blocks of capacitors in steps to make sure the
power factor stays above a selected value.

In this circuit two zero crossing detector circuits are used for detecting the phase angle of
the current and the voltage. Once the phase angle is found the power factor is calculated from it.
Then if the calculated power factor is less than 1. Then the controller will connect the capacitors
to the line to improve the power factor.

The zero crossing detector circuits will convert the square input to the square wave so
that the controller can read the phase angle of the square wave directly which is the replica of the
sine wave input signal. From the zero crossing detectors the signal is given to the at89s52
microcontroller. This will make the controller to calculate the power factor and then display it on
the lcd display. The controller will then switch the capacitor and measure the power factor and
display it on the lcd in real time.

SOFTWARE TOOLS USED:

1. Embedded C programming language

2. KEIL IDE for writing the program for micro controller

3. PROLOAD for dumping

4. ORCAD to draw the schematic diagram

HARDWARE USED:

1. AT89s52 Micro Controller

2. Power supply

3. LCD Display

4. Zero crossing detector

5. capacitors

6. relays
Block diagram:

Advantages:

1) The line losses are reduced as the power factor is improved.

 2) The active power can be increased for the same sized conductor.
3) Area of cross section of the conductor can be reduced.

Disadvantages:

1) Switching capacitors will make the power factor leading in some cases which is not
reliable.

Applications:

1) Can be used near domestic loads to improve the factor.

2) Can be used in industries to control the apparent power or improve the power factor.