Generation of 3 Phase Power in 3 Phase Circuits

Power in 3 Phase Circuits

The three-phase power is mainly used for generation, transmission and distribution of electrical power because of their superiority. It is more economical as compared to single-phase power and requires three live conductors for power supply. Power in a single-phase system or circuit is given by the relation shown below:

Where,

V is the voltage of single-phase, i.e. V_ph
I is the current of single-phase, i.e. I_ph and
Cosϕ is the power factor of the circuit.

Contents:

• Generation of 3 Phase E.M.Fs in a 3 Phase Circuit
• Phasor Diagram

In 3 phase circuits (balanced load), the power is defined as the sum of various powers in a three-phase system. i.e.

Power in star connections in a 3 phase circuits is given as

The phase voltage and line voltage in the star connection is represented as shown below:

Therefore, equation (1) can be written as:

Power in delta connections in 3 phase circuits is given by the equation shown below:

In delta connections, the relation between phase and line voltage and phase and line current is given as:

Hence, equation (3) can be written as

Thus, the total power in a 3 phase balanced load system, irrespective of their connections, whether the system is star connected or delta connected, the power is given by the relation:

√3 V_LI_LCosϕ

Its units are kilowatt (kW) or Watt (W).

Apparent Power is given as:

The unit of apparent power is kilovolt-ampere (kVA) or volt-ampere (VA).

Similarly, Reactive Power is given by the equation:

Its units are kilovolt-ampere reactive (kVAR) or volt-ampere reactive (VAR).

Generation of 3 Phase E.M.Fs in a 3 Phase Circuit

In a 3 phase system, there are three equal voltages or EMFs of the same frequency having a phase difference of 120 degrees. These voltages can be produced by a three-phase AC generator having three identical windings displaced apart from each other by 120 degrees electrical.

When these windings are kept stationary, and the magnetic field is rotated as shown in the figure A below or when the windings are kept stationary, and the magnetic field is rotated as shown below in figure B, an emf is induced in each winding. The magnitude and frequency of these EMFs are the same but are displaced apart from one another by an angle of 120 degrees.

Consider three identical coils a₁a₂, b₁b₂ and c₁c₂ as shown in the above figure. In this figure a₁, b₁ and c₁ are the starting terminals, whereas a₂, b₂ and c₂ are the finish terminals of the three coils. The phase difference of 120 degrees has to be maintained between the start terminals a₁, b₁ and c₁.

Now, let the three coils mounted on the same axis, and they are rotated by either keeping coil stationary and moving the magnetic field or vice versa in an anticlockwise direction at (ω) radians per seconds. Three EMFs are induced in the three coils respectively.

Considering the figure C, the analysis of their magnitudes and directions are given as follows:

The emf induced in the coil a₁a₂ is zero and is increasing in the positive direction as shown by the waveform in the above figure C represented as e_a1a2.

The coil b₁b₂ is 120 degrees electrically behind the coil a₁a₂. The emf induced in this coil is negative and is becoming maximum negative as shown by the wave e_b1b2.

Similarly, the coil c₁c₂ is 120 degrees electrically behind the coil b₁b₂, or we can also say that the coil c₁c₂ is 240 degrees behind the coil a₁a₂. The emf induced in the coil is positive and is decreasing as shown in figure C represented by the waveform e_c1c2.

Phasor Diagram

The EMFs induced in the three coils in 3 phase circuits are of the same magnitude and frequency and are displaced by an angle of 120 degrees from each other as shown below in the phasor diagram:

These EMFs of 3 phase circuits can be expressed in the form of the various equations given below:

This is all about Generation of 3 Phase Power in 3 Phase Circuits.