Per Unit System

Simplifying Calculations on an
Electric Power System

James A. Schreiber
December 17, 2008

Why Use Per Unit?

Where doing analysis of a system with multiple voltages,
Per Unit makes calculations easier.
1amp 69kV 1amp 230kV
By using Per Unit rather than actual values, electrical
parameters at differing voltage levels can be directly
used.

Per Unit System

What is Per Unit?

A Per Unit value is a ratio:
Per Unit = actual number / base number
Compare to Percent (a more familiar concept)
Per Cent = Per hundred
(100/100 = One hundred Percent = 100%)
( 87/100 = Eighty-seven Percent = 87%)

Per Unit = Per unit of base number =

(100/100 = One Per Unit = 1.00 p.u.)
( 87/100 = 0.87 Per Unit = 0.87 p.u.)
( 87/87 = One Per Unit = 1.00 p.u.)
Per Unit System

Per Cent

/ 100

Examples of Per Unit

Choose a Base Value that has some meaning in your calculations.
Example: Eggs
Choose 12 eggs (one dozen) as the base value.
Base Value = 12 eggs = 1 dozen = 100% = 1 Per Unit
Number
Fraction
Percent
Per Unit
of eggs
of 12 eggs Base of 12 eggs Base of 12 eggs Base
0/
0
0%
0 p.u.
12
3/
3
25%
0.25 p.u.
12
6/
6
50%
0.50 p.u.
12
12/
12
100%
1.00 p.u.
12
24/
24
200%
2.00 p.u
12
Note: Per Unit = Percent

/ 100
Per Unit System

How do we get Per Unit Values?

Four base electrical quantities must be selected:

1. MVA base ( 3 phase )
2. Voltage ( VL-L ) ( Note that we use KVL-L )
3. Ohms ( per phase )
4. Amps ( Amps per phase )

Choose any two values and the remaining two can be

calculated.
(Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; Power equals I squared R!)

Per Unit System

Selecting Per Unit Base Values

We choose 100MVA as our Base MVA.
Base MVA = 100MVA
Base KVA = 100,000KVA
We choose the various line-to-line voltage levels used on
our system for Base Voltages:
500, 230, 115, 69, 36, 13.8, 4.33kV

Per Unit System

Deriving Conversion Formulas

Use the Power Formula, P = ( I ) ( V )
For each phase of the system, these values are per phase
Convert our chosen base, 100MVA, to a per phase value,
and our chosen voltage to a line to ground voltage.
P3 / 3 = ( I per ) ( VLL / 3 )
I per = ( P3 / 3 ) / ( VLL / 3 )
= P3 / ( 3 )( VLL )
At 13.8kV, I per = 100MVA / ( 3 )( 13.8kV ) = 4184A
Per Unit System

Formulas Used for Obtaining

Other Base Values
IBase = (Base

KVA)

/ (3)(Base KV) amperes

ZBase = (1000) (Base KV) /

(Base KVA) ohms

= (1000) (Base KV) / (3) (Base I) ohms

NOTE: These formulas are for a three phase system.

Per Unit System

Other Important Formulas

Once the Base Values are determined, the Per Unit values
can be calculated.
Per Unit Volts =

Actual Volts

/ Base Volts

Per Unit Amps = Actual Amps /

Base Amps

Per Unit Ohms = Actual Ohms /

Per Unit System

Base Ohms

Per Unit Constants on a 100MVA Base

Base Voltage
(KV)
500
230
138
115
69
36
13.8
4.3

Base
Ohms
2500.00
529.00
190.44
132.25
47.61
12.96
1.90
0.19

Base Amps
(per phase)
115.47
251.03
418.38
502.06
836.76
1603.80
4183.82
13334.12

(NOTE: This is the most important page of the presentation! Know this page and youre golden.)
Per Unit System

10

Example of Using Per Unit

Convert 10 MVA to actual amps per phase at 13.8kV:
Using actual values: I = 10 MVA / (3) (13.8kV)
= 10,000 KVA / (3) (13.8kV)
(Requires calculator)

= 418 Amps @ 13.8kV

Using Per Unit:

I = (10 MVA ) (4184A base @13.8kV / 100MVA)

= (0.1) (4184A)
(Simple arithmetic)

= 418 Amps @ 13.8kV

Per Unit System

11

Converting from Per Unit to Actual Values

Actual Value = (Per Unit Value) (Base Value)
Actual Amps = (Per Unit Amps) (Base Amps)
Actual Ohms = (Per Unit Ohms) (Base Ohms)
Actual Volts = (Per Unit Volts) (Base Volts)
Going back to our Egg Example:
12 eggs = 1 Per Unit
If you have 0.67 per unit eggs, you have:
Actual eggs = (Per Unit eggs) (Base eggs)
= (0.67) (12 eggs)
= 8 eggs
Per Unit System

12

Uses of Per Unit System

Performing System Analysis Calculations
Impedances of system expressed in per unit (or %)
Load flows (System Planning)
Short circuit studies (System Protection)
Equipment sizing (Substation Engineering)
30MVA transformer carries how many amps?
I = (30MVA/100MVA)(Base Amps)
= (0.3)(4184A @ 13.8kV) = 1255A @13.8kV
= (0.3)( 836A @ 69kV) = 251A @ 69kV

Per Unit System

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Uses of Per Unit System (cont)

The per unit system is good for determining transformer
paralleling suitability.
If you are paralleling transformers with differing MVA
ratings, they will share the load properly if they have the
same per unit impedance on their own base.
Example: Transf A = 12% @ 30MVA
Transf B = 12% @ 50MVA
Transf C = 14% @ 33.6MVA
Transfs A and B can be paralleled and will each load up to
its appropriate rating.
If Transf C is paralleled with either A or B, it will be carrying
less than full load when A or B reach full load.
Per Unit System

14

Conversion Formulas
Converting Per Unit Ohms to a new base:
PU Ohms (New Base) = PU Ohms (Old Base) (New Base/Old Base)
Example: 30MVA Transformer with Impedance of 12% on its own base.
We want to convert its impedance to 100MVA, the system base.
Convert % to Per Unit: 12% / 100
= 0.12 per unit @30MVA
Converting to 100MVA base:
PU Ohms (100MVA) = (0.12pu) (100MVA/30MVA)
= 0.40pu @ 100MVA
Per Unit System

15