International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 11, November 2013)

Reactive power Management in Industries: An Analysis

Shashidhar Kasthala
Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala
Abstract Industries having poor power factor face the
problem of reduced power quality and increased electricity
charges. To improve the power factor, capacitor banks of
appropriate KVAR ratings are to be placed. In this paper the
inductive loads in a sugar mill are investigated and suitable
power factor improvement capacitors are recommended. The
effect of low power factor on distribution losses and KVA
Demand is also analyzed.

TABLE I
EQUIPMENT DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT

Description
Intake Section
Screw
Conveyor
Elevator
Cleaning
machine
Grinding
Section
Hammer Mill
Shaker Feeder
Batch Mixer
Mixing Section
Screw
Conveyor
Elevator
Molasses pump
Pelleting
Section
Pellet Mill
Pellet Mill
Screw
Air
Compressor

Keywords Distribution losses, KVA demand, Power

factor, Reactive power compensation

I. INTRODUCTION
Inductive loads need both active and reactive power for
their operation. The reactive power which maintains the
magnetic field results in lagging power factor and causes
additional power losses in motor and network [1]. Power
factor in simple words is a measure of electrical efficiency
and can be improved by connecting capacitors in parallel to
the load. This reactive power compensation has many
benefits viz. constant voltage profiles are maintained, total
power losses are reduced, penalties are avoided and system
capacity is increased. Studies say that power factor
correction to approximately 95% provides maximum
benefit [2]. The Capacitors connected in parallel may either
be energized continuously or switched on and off during
load cycles [5].If the existing system is overloaded, or an
additional load is to be added to already loaded lines,
correction must be applied at the load. For largely varying
loads automatic capacitor switching is a good solution [6].

KW

HP

Volts

RPM

3.75
3.75
3.75

5
5
5

415
415
415

1430
1430
1430

15
0.4
15

20
0.5
20

400/44
0
400/44
0
400/44
0

1450
1460
1440

3.75
3.75
2.25

5
5
3

415
415
415

1450
1430
1430

56.2
5
3.75

75
5
5

400/44
0
400

1475
1440
1430

3.75

415

KVAR rating of the required capacitor

= Power drawn x (tan1 tan2)
Reduction in distribution losses =

Reduction in KVA demand =

Power rating/existing p.f Power rating/ new p.f

II. POWER FACTOR CORRECTION

As part of the case study, the cattle field division of
vasantdada shetkari sahakari sakhar karkahana, Sangli is
considered which has a sanctioned load of 130 KW, total
motor load of 156 HP. The equipment description is shown
in table I.
In the process of investigation the average power factor
is found to 0.727 in the month of November 2012. The
electrical utility has imposed penalty to this unit due to low
power factor. To avoid penalty and achieve power factor of
0.95, an analysis is done on the inductive loads and the
capacitive requirement for this loads is estimated using the
formula [3] shown.

The required capacitor rating, percentage reduction in

distribution losses and thereby reduction in KVA demand
for each load is shown in table II.
With the implementation of reactive power
compensation the average power factor in January 2013 is
recorded as 0.951, thus avoiding penalty from the state
electricity board. The figure 2 shows the comparative
analysis.

157

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 11, November 2013)
TABLE II
LOAD ANALYSIS FOR POWER FACTOR IMPROVEMENT

Load

Power
Drawn
(KW)

Existing
power
factor

Required
Power
factor

Intake Section
Grinding Section
Batch Mixer
Mixing section
Pelting section
Air Compressor

11
11
14.5
9
60
3.7

0.75
0.67
0.69
0.69
0.68
0.68

0.95
0.95
0.95
0.95
0.95
0.95

The plant has both individual reactive compensation and

sector-wise compensation. The choice between individual
and sector-wise compensation is based on various
parameters and is discussed in [2] in detail.
After three months to cater the demand, additional loads
shown in table III are added to the unit, increasing the total
load to 200 HP. During the study it is also found that a fuse
has blown out on a capacitor bank connected to the mixing
section reducing the power factor to 0.617.

K.W
14.6
15

H.P
20
25

Volts
415
400/440

Reduction
in KVA
demand
3.09
4.83
5.8
3.57
25.05
1.546

TABLE IV
ADDITIONAL LOADS IN THE PLANTS

Month

Billed kWH
kVA
demand
Nov 2012 127
2393
Jan 2013 130
6736
May 2013 169
6488
June 2013 132
6852

TABLE III
ADDITIONAL LOADS IN THE PLANTS

Make
Kirloskar
Crompton

%
Reduction
in
distribution
losses
37.7
50.3
47.3
47.3
48.8
48.8

Other consequences of harmonics are reduced motor life,

Mal-operation of fuses and circuit breakers, mal-operation
of electronic controls, increased copper losses on
transformer [2]. For this reason capacitor banks should
have a filter to detune the harmonics in the circuit.
The blown fuse has been replaced and found that the
power factor has now increased to 0.77. Another benefit of
capacitor is that it can help in catering the additional load
without changing the existing system [4]. The required
rating of capacitor is calculated as follows:
Step 1: The extra load installed in the plant is 30%
Step 2: The monthly bill shows a demand of 169 KVA,
130 KW and the modified power factor is 0.77.
To achieve a power factor of 0.95, from the formula
shown above, the required KVAR rating is 65 KVAR

Figure 1 Power factor improvement on various loads

Description
Batch Mixer
Air
Compressor

Required
Capacitor
rating
(KVAR)
6
9
11
7
45
3

RPM
1430
1440

kVAH RkVAH Power P.F penalty

(Lag)
factor
3787
7950
10831
8120

2260
2193
8287
2304

0.727
0.951
0.617
0.959

Rs. 11,513.00
Rs. 0.00
Rs. 34,502.33
Rs. 0.00

The summary of monthly electricity bills of the sugar

factory are placed in table IV.
III. PAYBACK PERIOD

Unacceptable harmonics levels in the system will lead to

fuse blow on capacitors. Thorough investigation was done
to identify any such problem.

For estimating the payback period of newly installed

capacitor banks, the Electricity bill for the month of May is
considered. The monthly bill is shown in table IV.

158

International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 11, November 2013)
The power factor penalty imposed on the company for
the month of May is Rs. 34,502.00
Reduction in bill due to reduced KVA demand is
33KVA x Rs.190 = Rs.6,270

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]

The savings from the electricity bill is

34,502.00 + 6,270 = Rs. 40,772.00

[3]

Cost of installation is sum of Capacitors cost, auxiliaries

and labour cost
i.e Total cost = 60,000 +25,000 + 5000 = 90, 000.

[4]

Thus payback period is less than 3 months

[5]

IV. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE

The Inductive load in sugar factory has a great scope in
improving power factor, reducing KVA demand and
distribution losses thereby reducing the electrical utility
bills. Future scope exists in dealing with harmonic
resonance and unbalanced loads.

159

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Industry, Newnes-Elsevier, 2004, pp 76-79.
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