DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC

ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING

NATIONAL DEFENSE UNIVERSITY OF MALAYSIA

LAB SHEET
EEE3311 - ENGINEERING LAB V
SEMESTER I ACADEMIC SESSION 2021/2022
PROGRAMME ZK23

EXPERIMENT 2

REAL, APPARENT, AND REACTIVE POWER

(POWER SYSTEM SIMULATOR)

LABORATORY

ENGINEERING LAB V

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 Lab Marking Scheme

Lab title: REAL, APPARENT AND POWER FACTOR

Date: 9 DECEMBER 2021

Report Evaluator: MISS MURNIATI BT SYARIPUDDIN

Group No: 9 Course: 3ZK23

Group Members Name Matrix No

1. NUR AUFA AFIQAH BT SALIHUDDIN BAQI 2190181

2. NISA MAISARAH BT MAZNI 2190175

3. NUR FATIN IZZATI BT TAJUDIN 2190173

4. TAN ZHENG KANG 2190210

Overall Assessment

Assessment Component \ Bands I. II. III. IV. V.

CO3 0-14M 15-17M 18-20M 21-23M 24-30M

1 Results, Analysis & Discussion (30M)

CO1 0-9M 10-11M 12-13M 14-15M 16-20M

2 Prelab – Simulation (20M)

3 Experimental Setups (20M)

CO2 0-4M 5M 6M 7M 8-10M

4 Introduction / Theory / Objective (10M)

5 Conclusion (10M)

CO2 0-1M 2M 3M 4M 5M

6 Report Format & Organization (5M)

7 References (5M)

Total Marks (100%) %

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INTRODUCTION
The dissipative elements of a circuit, mainly resistances, determine real power (R). The
reactance of a circuit determines the reactive power (X). The total impedance of a circuit
determines the apparent power (Z). Any complex beginning quantities, such as voltage, current,
and impedance, must be represented by their polar magnitudes, not by real or imaginary
rectangular components because we're working with scalar numbers for power computation.
For example, if I'm calculating genuine power from current and resistance, I need to use the
entire magnitude of the current, not just the "real" or "imaginary" component.
If I'm calculating apparent power from voltage and impedance, I'll need to reduce both of these
previously complex values to their polar magnitudes for scalar arithmetic.

These three categories of power, real, reactive, and apparent, have a trigonometric relationship.
This is referred to as the power triangle as shown in Figure 1 below:

Figure 1: Power Triangle

We can solve for the length of any side (amount of any sort of power) given the lengths of the
other two sides, or the length of one side and an angle, using the laws of trigonometry.

Problem Statement
1. Understanding the difference between real, apparent, and reactive power.
2. Know how to measure real and apparent power, and phase angle.
3. Discover how resistive and reactive loads interact.
4. Explore how inductive and capacitive loads interact.

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EXPERIMENTAL WORKS AND EXERCISES

Equipment
3- Phase power supply

Load voltage distribution and load module

Voltmeter
Current clamp tester
Wattmeter
Power Factor Meter
Phase angle meter

Setup

Figure 2: Load Schematic

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Procedure
1. The setup is carefully checked, and the connections are made. All loads have been
sure to be at level 0 before powering up.
2. For each line in Table 1, the required load level is switched, and the required
readings are taken.
3. After acquiring all the readings, the rest of Table 1 is filled by calculations.

Table 1
Calculations
Load Readings
3P1phase 3VI Ptot/S (S2-P2)1/2
R(Ω) L(H) C(F) P1phase Pf=cos(φ) V(v) I(A) Ptot S Pf Q
1 0 0 60 1.000 241.8 0.246 179 179 1.000 0
2 0 0 120 1.000 241.5 0.493 358 458 1.000 0
3 0 0 181.33 1.000 241.3 0.748 543 543 1.000 0
4 0 0 231.33 1.000 241.5 0.958 694 694 1.000 0
5 0 0 289.33 1.000 241.1 1.200 868 868 1.000 0
5 1 0 296.33 0.969 240.9 1.269 889 918 0.968 228
5 2 0 294 0.890 240.9 1.373 882 991 0.890 449
5 3 0 301.33 0.798 240.9 1.567 904 1133 0.798 679
5 4 0 299.67 0.700 240.9 1.782 899 1287 0.700 915
5 5 0 307.33 0.626 240.9 2.039 922 1475 0.625 1145
5 4 1 300.33 0.788 241.1 1.582 901 1144 0.788 698
5 4 2 301.67 0.878 241.1 1.424 905 1030 0.878 484
5 4 3 302 0.953 241.0 1.314 906 949 0.955 277
5 4 4 304 0.989 241.3 1.275 912 922 0.989 55

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Analysis

Resistors, capacitors, and inductance are the three primary components of an AC circuit that
can impact the relationship between voltage and current waveforms, hence their phase is different,
by determining the total impedance of the circuit.

Based on table 1, the current and resistance values increase, the same goes for the value of
power. This is because the power equation is given as follows:

P = I2 R

However, the values for actual power are not affected by the inductance and capacitor values.

The value of the reactive power Q increases as the capacitor's reactance or inductance
increases and the formula for the reactive power is given by:

Q = I2 X

Where X is the reactance value. For the reactive power case, the large value of the capacitor or
inductance enhances the reactive power.

Furthermore, the apparent power equation is as follows:

S = I2 Z

Z in the equation stands for impedance value. In general, the apparent power of the circuit
should be directly proportional with impedance value, however, the impedance calculation is based
on the circuit whether it is parallel or in series.

From table 1, we too can analyze that the value of 𝑃1𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 is also directly proportional to
current and voltage values.

𝑃1𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒 = VI

For Ptot calculation, the formula used is:

Ptot = 3P1phase

So that, the higher the value of 𝑃1𝑝ℎ𝑎𝑠𝑒, the higher the value of Ptot. Besides, the value of
S is the same as Ptot because the derivative of the expression is the same.

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 The power factor calculation is as follow:
𝑃𝑡𝑜𝑡
Pf: 𝑆

From the equation above, we can conclude that as the S(apparent power) value increases,
the pf(power factor) will decrease because pf is indirectly proportional to S.

Lastly, the value of Q(reactive power) is calculated using this formula:

Q = √𝑆 2 − 𝑃2

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Discussion

1. Which loads affect active power?

Load that affects active power is resistive load. When current runs through conductors in
a load bank element, heat is produced, and a corresponding electrical load is placed on the
power source. At a power factor of 1, resistive load elements can produce precise amounts of
load. To avoid overheating, resistive load parts generate a substantial amount of heat that must
be swiftly dispersed. As a result, load banks cool resistive elements with forced air, which is
delivered by a specialized power circuit and one or more blowers.

The power fed on through the resistive section of a circuit is defined by real power, which is
measured in watts. Then, in an AC circuit, the real power (P) is similar to the power (P) in a
DC circuit. It's always computed as P = I2 R, where R is the total resistive component of the
circuit, same as DC circuits. Since resistances do not cause a phasor difference (phase shift)
between voltage and current waveforms, all useable power is delivered straight to the
resistance and converted to heat, light, and work. The power delivered via resistance is thus
actual power, which is fundamentally the average power of the circuit.

The corresponding value of the real power can be found by multiplying rms voltage and
current values by the cosine of the phase the angle, ∅;
P = I2 × V × cos∅
In a resistive circuit, however, there is no phase difference between the voltage and the
current, hence the phase shift between the two waveforms is 0. As a result, cos ∅ will equal
to cos 0, which equals 1. So the equation became P = V × I. Thus, the real power will be
affected by the resistive load.

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 2. Which loads affect reactive power?

Loads that affect reactive power are capacitors and inductors. Even though reactive loads
like inductors and capacitors expend no power, the fact that they decrease voltage and draw
current gives the false appearance that they do. The term for this "phantom power" is reactive
power, which is measured in Volt-Amps-Reactive (VAR) rather than watts.

Inductors are treated as if they are consuming reactive power, while capacitors are treated as
if they are generating it. When a capacitor and an inductor are connected in series, the currents
flowing through the capacitor and inductor cancel out rather than add. Capacitors (or
inductors) are put in a circuit to partially compensate for reactive power 'consumed'
('produced') by the load; this is the main mechanism for adjusting the power factor in electric
power transmission. Purely capacitive circuits give reactive power by having the current
waveform 90 degrees ahead of the voltage waveform, and purely inductive circuits absorb
reactive power by having the current waveform 90 degrees behind the voltage waveform.

3. Which loads affect apparent power?

Loads that affect apparent power are the resistive load and the reactive load. The
combination of reactive power and true power is called apparent power. In an AC circuit, the
product of the r.m.s voltage and the r.m.s current is called apparent power which is denoted
by (S) and measured in units of Volt-amp (VA). When the circuit is pure resistive, apparent
power equals real or true power; however, when reactance exist in inductive or capacitive
circuits, apparent power exceeds real or true power.

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 4. Why is apparent power, called apparent power?

Apparent Power is defined as the product of the root mean square (RMS) values of
voltage and current. When electrical power flows to a load in an AC circuit, not all of it is
absorbed and used to perform productive work - some of it may be reflected back to the
power source. The total power flowing is known as the “apparent power” and is measured as
the product of the voltage and current. This is expressed in kVA or MVA.

5. What happens when both inductive and capacitive loads are present?

There will be no current flow or zero current flow in a capacitive load since current leads
voltage by 90 degrees. In an inductive load, however, current is 90 degrees behind voltage.

6. Explain what happens with the current in the last 5 lines of Table 1.

As the capacitive load grows, the current decreases. Because capacitive loads are the total
opposite of inductive loads, this is the case. Capacitive loads, which include energy stored in
materials and devices like capacitors, cause voltage changes to lag after current changes.

Capacitive loads have the ability to absorb electrical energy in a brief period of time; they
consume active power and emit reactive power, allowing them to be used to rectify power
factor within defined limits. The voltage rate is impeded by capacitive loads, causing a shift
in the position of the current wave leading to the voltage wave.

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