4/5/2018

Lecture 7th

Shunt Capacitor Banks

Course Teacher:
Dr. Muhammad Mohsin Aman
Course Code:
EE-524
Course Title:
Electrical Power Distribution System Engineering -1
Venue:
Department of Electrical Engineering , NED University Karachi.

7th Lecture’s Outline

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7th Lecture’s Outline

 Problems Power Factor Correction
 Power Factor Correction in 3 Phase System
 Problems
 Application of Shunt Capacitors on Distribution Lines
 Shunt Capacitor Bank Protection

Problems
Power Factor Correction

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Example 1-- Kc Factor

Supposing the need to change from 0.8 to 0.93 the power factor of a three phase
installation (Ur= 400 V) which absorbs an average power of 300 kW.

Solution:
From Table 2, at the intersection of the column corresponding to the final power
factor (0.93), and the row corresponding to the starting power factor (0.8), the value
of Kc (0.355) can be read. The reactive power Qc which must be generated locally
shall be: QC
KC   ( tan1  tan 2 )
P
Qc = Kc . P = 0.355 . 300 = 106.5 Kvar
Due to the effect of power factor correction, the current absorbed decreases from 540
A to 460 A (a reduction of approximately 15%).

Example 2
Assume that a 700kVA has a 65% power factor. It is desired to improve the power
factor to 92%. Using Table 2, determine the following:
a. The correction factor required.
b. The capacitor size required.
c. What would be the resulting power factor if the next higher standard capacitor
size is used?

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Example 2
Solution:
a. From Table 2, the required correction factor KC is 0.74
b. The required capacitor size is
PL  S L  cosΦ  700  0.65  455kW

QC
KC   QC  K C  P
P

Q C  455(0.74)  336.7kVAR

Example 2
das

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PFC in 3 phase System

PFC in 3 phase System

✓In a 3 phase system, capacitors banks can be connected in star as well as in
delta, as shown in Fig.
1
XC 
ωC
V
Q  VI C  V   V 2 ωC
XC

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PFC in 3 phase System

✓In a three-phase system, to supply the same reactive power, the star
connection requires a capacitor with a capacitance three times higher than
the delta connected capacitor.
✓In addition, the capacitor with the star connection results to be
subjected to a voltage √3 lower and flows through by a current √3 higher
than a capacitor inserted and delta connected.
✓Capacitors are generally supplied with connected discharge resistance,
calculated so as to reduce the residual voltage at the terminals to 75 V in 3
minutes, as stated in the reference Standard.

Problem
PFC in 3 phase System

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Problem: PFC in 3 phase System

✓Assume that a three phase 500hp 60-Hz 4160V wye-connected induction
motor has a full load efficiency of 88%, a lagging power factor 0.75 and is
connected to a feeder. If it is desired to correct the power factor of the load to a
lagging power factor of 0.9 by connecting three capacitors at the load,
determine the following:
a. The rating of the capacitor bank in kVARs.
b. The capacitance of each unit if the capacitors are connected in delta (in
micro-farad).
c. The capacitance of each unit if the capacitors are connected in wye, in
microfarads.

✓The input power of the induction motor

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✓dasda

Problem: PFC in 3 phase System

And hence the capacitance of each unit (micro Farad), if the capacitors are
connected in delta, is

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Problem: PFC in 3 phase System

✓dasda

Application of Shunt Capacitors

on Distribution Lines

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Application of Shunt Capacitors on Distribution Lines

✓In general, capacitors can be applied at
almost any voltage level.
✓As illustrated in Fig., individual
capacitors can be added in parallel to
achieve the desired kVA capacity and can
be added in series to achieve the required
kilo-volts voltage for economic reasons.
✓The cumulative data gathered for the
entire utility industry indicate that approx.
60% of the capacitors is applied to the
feeders, 30% to the substation buses and the
remaining 10% to the transmission system.
Connection of capacitor units for
one phase of a three phase wye
connected bank

Application of Shunt Capacitors on Distribution Lines

✓In general, capacitors installed on feeders are pole top banks with necessary group
fusing. The fusing applications restrict the size of the bank that can be used. Therefore
the maximum sizes used are about 1800kVAR at 15kV and 3600kVAR at higher
voltages. Usually utilities do not install more than four capacitor banks (of equal sizes)
on each feeder.

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Application of Shunt Capacitors on Distribution Lines

✓Fig. illustrates the effects of a fixed capacitor on the voltage profiles of a feeder
with uniformly distributed load at heavy and light loads.

Application of Shunt Capacitors on Distribution Lines

✓dsfsdf

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Application of Shunt Capacitors on Distribution Lines

✓ From Fig. 8.14 following points can be observed:
1. The voltage profile of the system changes up to the point where shunt capacitor
banks are installed.
2. At light loads, the utility may experience an excessive leading power factor and
the voltage rise in that feeder. If proper switching of shunt capacitor bank is not
provided, the system voltage may increase the maximum allowable voltage.

Application of Shunt Capacitors on Distribution Lines

✓ Therefore, some of the capacitors
are installed as switched capacitor
banks so that they can be switched off
during light load conditions. Thus the
fixed capacitors are sized for light load
and connected permanently banks.
✓ A daily reactive load duration
curve can be generated as shown in Fig.
✓ From Fig. it can be seen that the
size of the fixed capacitor must be
600kVAr.

Fig. Sizing of the fixed and switched capacitors

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Economic Justification For Capacitors

Economic Justification For Capacitors

✓Effects of shunt capacitor include:
1. Reduced energy copper losses
2. Reduce voltage drop and consequently improved voltage regulation
3. Released capacity of feeder and associate apparatus.
4. Postponement or elimination of capital expenditure due to system
improvements and/or expansions.
5. Revenue increase due to voltage improvements.

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Economic Justification For Capacitors

✓In general the economic benefits that can be derived from capacitor installation
can be summarized as follows:
1. Released distribution substation capacity
2. Released transmission capacity
3. Released generation capacity

Economic Justification For Capacitors

✓It is a well known thumb rule that the optimum amount of capacitor
kilovars to employ is always the amount ($) at which the economic
benefits obtained from the addition of the last kvar exactly equals the
installed cost of the kvars of capcitors.
✓The methods used by utilities to determine the economic benefits
derived from the installation of capacitors vary from company-to-
company but the determination of the total installed cost of a kvar of
capacitors is easy and straightforward.

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Location Of Shunt Capacitors

Location Of Shunt Capacitors

• Power factor correction capacitors can be installed at high voltage
bus, distribution, or at the load.
• The following power factor correction approaches are commonly
used.
✓ Group Capacitor Bank
✓ Branch Capacitor Bank
✓ Local Capacitor Bank

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Location Of Shunt Capacitors

✓ Group Capacitor Bank
▪ This technique is suitable for utility or industrial customers with
distributed load. If the entire load comes on or off together, then it is
reasonable to switch the capacitor bank in this manner.
▪ If part of the load is switched on and off on a regular basis, then this
type of reactive compensation is not appropriate.

Location Of Shunt Capacitors

✓ Branch Capacitor Bank

▪ In certain industrial applications, the load is switched on and off based

on shifts.

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Location Of Shunt Capacitors

✓ Local Capacitor Bank

Location Of Shunt Capacitors

• This type of reactive compensation is mainly suitable for industrial
loads.
• The localized power factor correction can be expensive.
• It is economical to have a large capacitor bank for reactive
compensation rather than several smaller banks.

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Shunt Capacitor Bank Protection

Shunt Capacitor Bank Protection

✓The capacitor banks are generally classified as fused and fuse-less design
capacitor.
✓In fused-capacitor, capacitor banks are classified as internally or externally
protected capacitor bank, as shown in Fig. 2.

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Shunt Capacitor Bank Protection

✓The capacitor banks are generally classified as fused and fuse-less design
capacitor.
✓In fused-capacitor, capacitor banks are classified as internally or externally
protected capacitor bank, as shown in Fig. 2.
Capacitor
Bushing
Fuse
Discharging
Resistor

b. Externally Fused c. Fuseless Capacitor

a. Internally Fused Capacitor Bank
Capacitor Bank bank
Figure 2. Protection of Capacitor Units

Internally fused capacitor

✓In an internally fused capacitor bank, each capacitor element is fused
inside the capacitor unit.

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Internally fused capacitor

✓When an individual capacitor
element shorts, the fuse for that Capacitor
Bushing

element blows and reduces the

overvoltage stress on the
remaining elements.

Discharging
Resistor

Externally fused capacitor bank

✓In an externally fused capacitor bank, an individual fuse is externally mounted
between the capacitor unit and the capacitor bank fuse bus which typically protects
the entire capacitor unit.

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Externally fused capacitor bank

✓The external fuse will generally not blow out for
failure of an individual element and the “capacitor
can” will continue to operate with a reduced VAR Fuse

flow and increased voltage stress across the

remaining elements within the can.
✓The increased voltage stress usually results in
cascaded failure of the remaining elements within
the can, ultimately blowing the external fuse.

Fuseless capacitor
✓Fuseless capacitor units eliminate the presence of all fuses
from the entire capacitor bank, as shown in Fig. 2. This is
majorly due to the development of high quality insulating
materials and highly sensitive protection devices used in
present day.
✓The design of fuseless capacitor bank resembles with
externally-fused capacitors. Failure of an individual capacitor
element leads to a very small voltage rise, which does not
cause any further element failures in the string.
✓The fuseless capacitor bank design has the same advantages
as the internally-fused capacitor bank design. In addition, the
fuseless design produces lower power losses than the fused
design since there are no I2R losses associated with capacitor
can fuses.

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Protection of Fused And Fuseless Capacitor Banks

Protection of Fused And Fuseless Capacitor Banks

✓Regarding protection of fused and fuseless capacitor banks, following points are
observed:
✓The life of a SCB is defined as reduction in output reactive power upto 90% and it
is assumed to be 20 years or more.
✓Life of SCB is shortened by overstressing due to voltage, overheating, chemical
change in the capacitor elements, physical damage, or repeated temperature changes.
Life to 90% survival should exceed 20 years.
✓Element or can failure can be detected by voltage differential, neutral
overvoltage and neutral overcurrent methods. All three of these methods can be
used on fused and fuseless banks.

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1. Voltage differential protection (87V)

In case of voltage differential
Phase 1
protection, voltage differential relay
(87V) is connected to look at the
difference between the bus voltage and
the protection module voltage (see 87V
Fig.).

2. Neutral overcurrent relaying (51N)

Neutral overcurrent relaying (51N) can Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

also be used to detect failed elements

in any grounded capacitor bank (3
phase), as shown in Fig.

51N

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3. Neutral overvoltage relay (59N)

It is a fact that the voltage across all Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

three phases changes as elements fail

within the series groups. Thus the
neutral overvoltage relay (59N) can
also be used to detect failed elements
in both fused and fuseless capacitor
banks.

59N

Considerations In Locating Capacitors

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Considerations In Locating Capacitors

• Shunt capacitors provide reactive power locally, resulting in reduced
maximum kVA demand, improved voltage profile, reduced line/feeder
losses, and decreased payments for the energy.
• Maximum benefit can be obtained by installing the shunt capacitors at
the load. This is not always practical due to the size of the load,
distribution of the load, and voltage level.
• Depending on the need, the capacitor banks are installed at extra-high
voltage (above 230 kV), high voltage (66–145 kV), and feeders at 13.8
and 33 kV. In industrial and distribution systems, capacitor banks are
installed at 4.16 kV.

1. Pole-Mounted Capacitor Banks

• In the distribution systems, the
power factor correction
capacitors are installed on the
poles. These installations are
similar to the pole-mounted
distribution transformers.
• Pole-mounted capacitor banks
can be fixed units or switched
units to meet the varying load
conditions.

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2. Metal-Enclosed Capacitor Banks

• When the capacitor banks are
installed in industrial or small substations
in indoor settings, then metal-enclosed
cabinet type construction is employed.
Such units are compact and require less
maintenance.
• The life expectancy of these type of
units is longer because they are not
exposed to external environmental factors
such as severe heat, cold, humidity, and
A metal-enclosed harmonic filter bank.
dust.

3. Distribution Capacitor Banks

• Distribution capacitors are installed close to the load, on the poles,
or at the substations. Although these capacitor units provide reactive
power support to local load, they may not help reduce the feeder and
transformer losses.
• Low voltage capacitor units are cheaper than high voltage capacitor
banks. Sometimes pad-mounted installations are used for low or medium
voltage distribution capacitors.
• Although the pad-mounted capacitors are outdoor installations, they
are protected by metal enclosures from outdoor environment and are
similar to pad-mounted transformer installations.

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Distribution Capacitor Banks

• A typical pad-mounted capacitor bank is shown in Figure 7.8.

Fixed Capacitor Banks

• In distribution and certain industrial loads, the reactive power
requirement to meet the required power factor is constant. In such
applications, fixed capacitor banks are used.
• Sometimes such fixed capacitor banks can be switched along
with the load. If the load is constant for the 24-hour period, the
capacitor banks can be on without the need for switching on and off.

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Switched Capacitor Banks

• In high voltage and feeder applications, the reactive power
support is required during peak load conditions. Therefore the
capacitor banks are switched on during the peak load and switched
off during off-peak load.
• The switching schemes keep the reactive power levels more or
less constant, maintain the desired power factor, reduce overvoltage
during light load conditions, and reduce losses at the transformers
and feeders.

Switched Capacitor Banks

• The switching controls are operated using one of the following
signals:
✓ Voltage: since the voltage varies with load.
✓ Current: as the load is switched on.
✓ kVAR: as the kVAR demand increases, the capacitor banks can be
switched on and vice versa.
✓ Power factor: as the power factor falls below a predetermined value,
the capacitor banks can be switched on.
✓ Time: sometimes the capacitor banks can be switched on using a
timer and switched off at the end of a factory shift.

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Switched Capacitor Banks

• The general practice is to switch the capacitor in steps in order to
accommodate large voltage changes. Several layouts for switching
capacitor banks are shown in Figure 7.9.

Switched Capacitor Banks

• In Figure 7.9a, one capacitor bank is switched by a circuit breaker.
• Figure 7.9b shows one fixed capacitor and two automatically
switched capacitor banks. The circuit breakers must have suitable short-
circuit ratings to handle the energization and back-to-back switching
requirements.
• Figure 7.9c shows the capacitor bank switching arrangement with
one automatic and two nonautomatic circuit breakers.

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Switched Capacitor Banks

• In certain applications with random variations in the reactive power
requirements, the capacitors are to be switched in and out using a binary
arrangement. Such a scheme is shown in Figure 7.9d.

Switched Capacitor Banks

• Figure 7.9e shows another scheme where one automatic circuit
breaker can switch three capacitor banks equipped with fuses and non-
automatic circuit breakers. The capacitor banks can be of equal size.

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