COMPARISON OF POWER DEFINITIONS FOR REACTIVE POWER

COMPENSATION IN NONSINUSOIDAL CONDITIONS

M.Erhan BALCI

M.Hakan HOCAOGLU
Electronics Engineering Department
Gebze Institute of Technology, 41400, Gebze, TURKEY

ABSTRACT
Since the beginning of the power systems, harmonic distortion
have been existed due to nonlinear equipments such as;
generators, transformers motors etc. Moreover, harmonic
pollution on power systems has dramatically increased in
parallel with large proliferation of power electronic devices.
Consequently, the reactive power compensation in
nonsinusoidal conditions became one of the most important
problems in power systems. This paper presents a comparison
on widely accepted power definitions in a simple single phase
circuits with nonsinusoidal waveforms of voltage and/or
currents by giving particular emphasis to the reactive power
compensation.

general, these comparisons neglect the line impedance and non

linearity introduced due to distorted source voltage.
In this work, widely accepted power definitions have been
compared for a simple single phase circuit by giving particular
emphasis to the reactive power compensations. Accordingly a
closed form expression has been derived for nonsinusoidal
situations taking into account source impedance and nonlinearity. Although comparisons have been undertaken for
reactive power compensation, the results also give useful
information on line loading.
2. SINUSOIDAL CONDITIONS
Instantaneous power for sinusoidal situations is given as

Keywords: Power definitions, nonsinusoidal conditions, VAr p(t ) = v(t ) i (t ) = 2 V I Sin t Sin ( t )
(1)
compensation, harmonic, power quality.
with instantaneous voltage;
v(t ) = 2 V Sint
(2)
THE LIST OF PRINCIPLE SYMBOLS
and instantaneous current;
th
Vn: RMS value of n harmonic voltage
i(t ) = 2 I Sin ( t )
(3)
Vmn: Maximum value of nth harmonic voltage
th
In: RMS value of n harmonic current
Instantaneous power can be divided into two components as;
t : Time
(4)
p (t ) = pa (t ) + pr (t )
n : Phase angle of nth harmonic
with instantaneous active power
n : Angular frequency of nth harmonic
pa (t ) = V I Cos (1 Cos 2 t )
(5)
V: RMS value of voltage
and instantaneous reactive power
I: RMS value of current
pr (t ) = V I Sin Sin 2 t
(6)
: Phase angle
Instantaneous active, reactive and total powers for sinusoidal
: Angular frequency
situations are shown in Figure 1.
Tf : Period of fundamental waveform
1. INTRODUCTION
In classical manner, generated and distributed electric energy
must be sinusoidal with predetermined frequency and
magnitude. However, nonsinusoidal currents and voltages
always exist in electric power systems due to nonlinear
elements such as; transformers, motors, generators etc. Since
the reference was made to the fact that oscillations of power
between an alternating voltage source and load in 1888, a
number of power definitions have been discussed and
compared for nonsinusoidal conditions in the literature [1]. It
was repeatedly shown that classical definitions of electric
Figure 1: Instantaneous active, reactive and total powers in
power, namely; active, reactive and apparent power, does not
sinusoidal situations.
fulfill the conditions caused by harmonics. Consequently,
various power definitions and calculation methods have been The average value of the instantaneous active power;
proposed [1, 2, 3]. Some of those definitions widely discussed
P = V .I .Cos
(7)
and evaluated using simple analytical techniques [1, 2, 3]. In
defined as active power. The maximum value of the
instantaneous reactive power;
ICHQP Paper #hqp110

Copyright 2004 IEEE

Q = V .I .Sin
(8) 3.2. FRYZES POWER EQUATION
defined as reactive power. The vector sum of active and Despite the fact that Budenaus power decomposition provides
reactive powers;
enough information on compensable reactive power, the
(9) calculated active and reactive powers merely give any data
S 2 = P2 + Q2
defined as apparent power for sinusoidal situations. The power about the source efficiency. In addition, Budeanus equation
factor (pf) which determines the line efficiency can be require harmonic domain calculations and sophisticated
calculated as;
measurement devices. Accordingly, Fryze proposed a current
P
based decomposition [4] in which current is divided into two
(10)
pf =
orthogonal components namely; active and reactive currents.
S
However in nonsinusoidal situation, the process is not The first is calculated using load active power
straightforward as depicted above.
P
iA (t ) 2 v(t )
(17)
V
3. NONSINUSOIDAL CONDITIONS
The nonsinusoidal voltage and current generated by nonlinear and the second,
(18)
loads could be analyzed using Fourier series. The iR (t ) = i (t ) iA (t )
The power equation as suggested by Fryze is
nonsinusoidal voltage and current are expressed;
n
S 2 = P 2 + QF2
(19)
v(t ) =
2 Vn Sin( nt )
(11)
with Fryze reactive power
1
QF = V .I R
(20)
n
i (t ) =
2 I n Sin( nt n )
(12) The main advantages of Fryzes decomposition are; to provide
accurate information on source efficiency and to be
1
As in sinusoidal condition the instantaneous power could determined using ordinary phasor measurement devices.
simply be calculated with product of instantaneous voltages However calculated values are not suitable for reactive power
compensator design.
and currents

p(t ) =

2 Vn Sin( nt )

2 I n Sin( nt n )

(13)

3.3. SHEPHERD AND ZANDS POWER EQUATION

It is clear that power in above definitions is actually in

phase power which is converted to the work. However there is
also harmonic in phase power in reverse direction i.e. from
load to source. Despite the fact that the reverse power in
phase, therefore, active in nature, it is treated as distortion
power in Budeanus decomposition and reactive power in
Fryzes terms. The same observation can be made for
Budeanus reactive power in which reverse reactive power is
considered as distortion power. This phenomenon was
discussed by Shepherd and Zand in reference [5].
3.1. BUDEANUS POWER EQUATION
Accordingly, the current is divided into three components
Budeanu postulated that total power consists of two which are: active current;
n
orthogonal components namely active and deactive powers
I = I n2 .Cos 2 n
(21)
[3]. The former is simply the average power which could R
1
easily be calculated by averaging the instantaneous power in reactive current;
time domain or by convolution in phasor domain:
n
n
I X = I n2 .Sin 2 n
(22)
P = Vn .I n .Cos n
(14)
1
1
and distortion current;
This component was chosen by Budeanu due to the fact that it
2
2
2
(23)
is actual power converted to the work. The later one was I D = I I R I X
divided into two components Budeanu reactive and distortion Authors proposed a power equation related to this current
powers. Budeanu reactive power is calculated by summing of decomposition:
the individual harmonic reactive powers:
S 2 = S R2 + S X2 + S D2
(24)
n
QB = Vn .I n .Sin n
(15) with active apparent power,
1

Nevertheless, decomposition of instantaneous power in

nonsinusoidal conditions is not a clear-cut process, as done for
sinusoidal condition. In order to obtain information regarding
phase angle, source efficiency and line voltage drop, it is
necessary to decompose instantaneous power, preferably in
phasor domain (as done for sinusoidal case). Consequently, a
number of new definitions have been proposed in the
literature. They are briefly summarized here for convenience:

Distortion power is calculated by cross product of different

harmonics voltages and currents;
n g

DB2 = S 2 P 2 QB2 = Vn2 .I g2 + Vg2 .I n2 2.Vn .I g .I n .Vg .Cos ( n g ) (16)

SR =

V . I
2
n

2
n

.Cos 2 n

reactive apparent power,

n

V . I

2
2
n .Sin n
Budeanu reactive power can be completely compensated with
1
1
a simple capacitor. However this is not a case for the and distortion apparent power,
distortion power, given in Equation 16.
1

(25)

SX =

2
n

(26)

n
z
u
z
n

S D2 = Vn2 . I z2 + Vu2 . I n2 + I z2
1
1
1
1
1

(27)

and scattered current

IS =

(G

Ge ) Vn2
2

(36)
where z: the harmonic number of current in which there is no
where k represents current harmonic numbers do not present
voltage harmonics.
u: the harmonic number of voltage in which there is no in the set of voltage harmonic numbers N. The equivalent
conductance of load defined as;
current harmonics.
Therefore, active and reactive apparent powers provide G = P
(37)
e
V2
meaningful data about line loading, therefore, efficiency.
where nth harmonic admittance of load
3.4 SHARONS POWER EQUATION
Yn = Gn + jBn
(38)
Although Shepherd and Zands power equations give enough
He proposed that power equation related to this current
information on line loading, nevertheless can not be used to
decomposition as:
calculate power factor. Consequently, Sharon proposed
2
2
2
2
2
(39)
reactive component of power equation which is based on S = P + DS + QR + DH
Shepherd and Zands reactive apparent power. However he with reactive power
(40)
chose the active component of his power equation as average QR = V I R
power i.e. P, thus; Sharons power equation is defined [6] as;
scattered power
DS = V I S
(41)
S 2 = P 2 + SQ2 + SC2
(28)
and generated harmonic power
with reactive apparent power,
DH = V I H
(42)
n
The main property of Czarneckis power equation is
SQ = V I n2 .Sin 2 n
1
(29) identification of the physical phenomena responsible for the
source current increase.
complementary apparent power,
2
2
2
SC = S P SQ
(30) 4. ANALYSIS OF POWER DEFINITION FOR
Sharons power equation give data about line loading REACTIVE POWER COMPENSATION
conditions which is made by reactive load current and power The behavior of the reactive power compensation in
factor easily be calculated.
nonsinusoidal situations is analyzed for three different cases.
n N

These cases are nonsinusoidal voltage source-linear load,

nonsinusoidal voltage source-nonlinear load and sinusoidal
Kimbark postulated that total power is consist of two voltage source-nonlinear load.
orthogonal components namely; active and deactive powers as
done by Budeanu. Kimbark proposed active component as 4.1. NONSINUSOIDAL VOLTAGE SOURCE AND
average power. The deactive power was divided into two LINEAR LOAD
components i.e. Kimbark reactive power and distortion powers The circuit used in the case of linear load with nonsinusoidal
[7]. The first is calculated by harmonic phasors.
voltage source is given in Figure 2.
QK = V1.I1.Sin1
(31)
Thus, reactive power can easily be related to load parameters.
On the other hand distortion power consists of individual
harmonic reactive powers and cross products of different
harmonics currents and voltages:
DK = S 2 P 2 QK2
(32)
3.5. KIMBARKS POWER EQUATION

Figure 2: The circuit used for the analysis.

3.6. CZARNECKIS POWER EQUATION

The need of identification decreasing source efficiency due to
nonsinusoidal waveforms was motivated Czarneckis work. In
his studies author clearly distinguishes current components
due to load and source nonlinearities. Accordingly, he
employed a current based decomposition in which current
divided into four components i.e. active, reactive, scattered
and generated harmonic currents [7]. Source current can be
expressed as;
I 2 = I A2 + I R 2 + I S 2 + I H 2
(33)
These components are defined as reactive current
I R = Bn2 Vn2
(34)

A passive impedance model is used in the circuit for

presentation of load. The current and voltage are calculated by
super position theorem in phasor domain.
4.2. NONSINUSOIDAL VOLTAGE SOURCE AND
NONLINEAR LOAD
The circuit used in the case of nonlinear load with
nonsinusoidal voltage source is depicted in Figure 3.

n N

generated harmonic current

IH =

I
n k

2
n

(35)

Figure 3: The circuit used for the analysis.

v(t ) = Vmn Sin ( n t + n )

(43)
(44)

Line,Load and
Capacitance Currents(A)

diLine
+ vLoad (t ) = v(t )
dt
di
RLoad iLoad (t ) + LLoad Load vLoad (t ) = 0
dt
dvLoad
iLine (t ) iLoad (t ) C
=0
dt
RLine iLine (t ) + LLine

Load Voltage(V)

The circuits operate in two modes as triac conduction and triac by ATP version of EMTP [8] for 90 triac conduction angle,
cut off. During triac cut off mode, equations of the current and as depicted in Figure 4.
voltage in circuit are expressed using super position theorem
..EMTP
in phasor domain. During triac conduction mode, equations of
--EMTP Computed
-ANALYTICAL
-Analytichal Computed
current and voltage in the circuit are found by solving the
200
system of equations given below
100

(45)
(46)

0
-100
-200
20
15
10
5
0
-5
-10
-15
-20

i L ine ( t ) =

[A

Sin ( n t + n ) + B n C os ( n t + n ) ] +

+ c1 n e D1 t + c 2 n e D 2 t + c 3 n e D 3 t
v Load ( t ) =

[(Vm

80

100

120

100

120

Load Current

Capacitance Current
40

60

80

Sample Number

Figure 4: The time domain comparison of the results with

EMTP.

5. RESULTS

R Line An + L Line B n n ) Sin ( n t + n ) ] +

+ [ ( R Line B n L Line An n ) C os ( n t + n ) ] +
1

( R Line + L Line D1 ) c1n e D1 t

1

( R Line + L Line D 2 ) c 2 n e D 2 t
1

( R Line + L Line D 3 ) c 3 n e D3 t
1

(48)
n

iLoad (t ) = ( An C RLine Bn wn C LLine An wn2 ) Sin(wn t + n ) +

1

To show the effect of passive compensation capacitance over

the power definitions; power components for each definitions
are calculated in harmonic domain via FFT of sampled
currents and load voltages of analyzed circuits which has triac
controlled load. Three different cases have been considered.
These are nonsinusoidal voltage source-linear load,
nonsinusoidal voltage source-nonlinear load, and sinusoidal
voltage source-nonlinear load.
The variations of Budeanu, Kimbark, Fryze, Shepherd and
Zand, Sharon, and Czarnecki reactive powers with power of
compensation capacitance for three different cases are shown
in Figure 5.

..Sinusoidal voltage source-Nonlinear load

-Nonsinusoidal voltage source-Nonlinear load
--Nonsinusoidal voltage source-Linear load

+ ( Bn Vmn C n + RLine An C n LLine Bn C n2 ) Cos(n t + n ) +

1

+ (1 + RLine C D2 + LLine C D22 ) c2n eD2 t +

1

0,9

Power Factor

+ (1 + RLine C D1 + LLine C D12 ) c1n eD1 t +

0,8
0,7
0,6

(49)
where An and Bn are the coefficients for nth harmonic of the
voltage source and c1n, c2n, c3n are the coefficients for nth
harmonic of the voltage source. These coefficients and initial
values of line current, load voltage and load current are given
in Appendix. Triac cut-off time tcut-off is solution of the
following equation
iLoad (tcut off ) = 0
(50)

0,0

QB,QK(pu)

0,2

0,4

0,75
0,50
0,25
0,00
-0,25

QF,SX,SQ,QR(pu)

+ (1 + RLine C D3 + LLine C D32 ) c3n eD3 t

for interval tconduction<tcut-off<(tconduction+Tf /2).

60

The analytical computation and EMTP results are in very

(47) close agreement.

40

Line Current

20

Equations (43-46) are solved for the initial conditions line

current, load voltage and load current. The solutions of the
system for line current iLine(t), load voltage vLoad(t) and load
current iLoad(t) is

20

0,6

0,8

1,0

QK

QB

1,00 0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1,0

0,75
0,50

SX,SQ,QR

QF

0,25
0,00
0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1,0

Power of Compensation Capacitance(pu)

Figure 5: The variations of Budeanu, Kimbark, Fryze,

Shepherd and Zand, Sharon, and Czarnecki reactive powers.

The sinusoidal voltage source and nonlinear load case could

easily be obtained by substituting n=1 in the equations from In nonlinear load cases triac is conducted during 90. SX, SQ
(43) to (50).
and QR reactive powers attain the same numerical values for
all compensation capacitance in three different voltage source
In order to demonstrate accuracy of the solutions the results
and load cases. It can be seen that QF, SX, SQ and QR can not
obtained by this method compared with the results produced
be completely compensated by means of simple capacitance.

However, they all attain their minimum value when power

factors reach their maximum values for all voltage source and
load cases. On the other hand, for sinusoidal voltage sourcenonlinear load QB and QK obtain zero values when power
factor maximum. However, this is not the case for
nonsinusoidal voltage source-linear load and nonsinusoidal
voltage source-nonlinear load cases.

SR,P,P1(pu)

Distortion power calculated according to Budeanu and

Kimbark still be compensated by means of simple capacitance.
This shows that Budeanu and Kimbarks distortion powers
consist of not only distortion power but also reactive power
which can be compensated. Shephards distortion power SD
and Czarneckis harmonic generated power DH are equal to
zero for all cases due to load voltage and line current do not
The variations Shepherd and Zands active apparent power, include different harmonics.
average power and fundamental harmonic active power for 6. CONCLUSION
three different voltage source and load cases are shown in
In this study, some of the well known power definitions have
Figure 6.
been analyzed in a simple generic circuit for three voltage
..Sinusoidal voltage source-Nonlinear load
source and load cases.
-Nonsinusoidal voltage source-Nonlinear load
--Nonsinusoidal voltage source-Linear load

0,76
0,74
0,72
0,70
0,68
0,66
0,64
0,62
0,60

Power decomposition according to Fryze, Shepherd

and Zand, Sharon, Czarnecki could be used to
accurately estimate source efficiency.

Reactive power calculated according to Fryze,

Shepherd and Zand, Sharon, and Czarnecki could not
be completely compensated by a passive capacitance.

Optimum compensation capacitance could not be

determined by using any of power definitions
directly.

On the other hand optimum compensation

capacitance could be calculated by taking derivative
of to Fryze, Shepherd and Zand, Sharon, Czarnecki
reactive powers.

SR
P1
P

0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1,0

1,6
1,4

SR

1,2

P1

1,0
0,8
0,6
0,0

0,2

0,4

0,6

0,8

1,0

Power of Compensation Capacitance(pu)

Figure 6: The variations Shepherd and Zands active apparent

power, average power and fundamental harmonic active
power.
As depicted in Figure 6; average power may attain value
which is smaller than fundamental harmonic active power.
This phenomenon demonstrates that harmonic active power
might be in distortive nature. Therefore, average power does
not provide any meaningful information on loading conditions
of the line.
The variations of Budeanu, Kimbark, Shepherd and Zand,
Sharon and Czarnecki power equations distortion components
for three different voltage source and load cases are shown in
Figure 7.
..Sinusoidal voltage source-Nonlinear load
-Nonsinusoidal voltage source-Nonlinear load
--Nonsinusoidal voltage source-Linear load

DB, SD,SC,DK,DS,DH(pu)

0.8

DB

DK

0.4

SC,DS

0.2

0.0
0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

[1] Emanuel, A.E.; Powers in Nonsinusoidal Situations a

Review of Definitions and Physical Meaning, IEEE Trans.
on Power Delivery, Vol.5, No: 3, July 1990, pp.1377-1389.
[2] IEEE Working Group on Nonsinusoidal Situations: Effect
of Meter Performance and Definitions of Power; Practical
Definitions for Powers in Systems with Nonsinusoidal
Waveforms and Unbalanced Loads: A Discussion, IEEE
Trans. on Power Delivery, Vol.11, No.1. January, 1996,
pp.79-101.

[4] Fryze, S.; Active-, Reactive-, and Apparent Powers in

Networks with Nonsinusoidal Waveforms of Voltage and
Current, (in Polish) Przegl. Elektr., No.7,8,1931, (in
German) ETZ, Bd.53,1932.
[5] Shepherd, W. and Zand, P.; Energy Flow and Power
Factor in Nonsinusoidal Circuits, (Cambridge University
Press, 1979).

SD,DH

0.0

REFERENCES

[3] IEEE Std 1459-2000: IEEE Trial-Use Standard Definitions

for The Measurement of Electric Power Quantities Under
Sinusoidal, Nonsinusoidal, Balanced, or Unbalanced
Conditions, 21 June 2000.

1.0

0.6

As a future work, studies will be extended to cover constant

power and voltage sensitive harmonic load models.

1.0

Power of Compensation Capacitance (pu)

Figure 7: The variations of Budeanu, Kimbark, Shepherd and

Zand, Sharon and Czarnecki power equations distortion
components.

[6] Sharon, D.; Reactive Power Definition and Power Factor

Improvement in Nonlinear Systems, Proc. IEE, 120, 1973,
pp. 704-706.

[7] Czarnecki, L. S.; Comparison of Power Definitions for [8] CAN/AM EMTP User Group Alternative Transient
Circuits with Nonsinusoidal Waveforms, IEEE Tutorial Program (ATP) Rule Book, (Canadian/American EMTP
Course 90EH0327-7-PWR, pp.43-50.
User Group, 1992).
APPENDIX

An =

1, n

5, n

2, n

6, n

3, n

5, n

4, n

6, n

, Bn =

3, n

1, n

4, n

2, n

3, n

5, n

4, n

6, n

where 1,n = LLoad C Vmn wn2 Vmn , 2,n = RLoad C Vmn wn

3, n = ( RLine LLoad C + RLoad LLine C ) wn2 RLoad RLine , 4, n = LLoad LLine C wn3 ( RLoad RLine C + LLine + LLoad ) wn

5, n = LLoad LLine C wn3 + ( RLoad RLine C + LLine + LLoad ) wn , 6, n = ( RLine LLoad C + RLoad LLine C ) wn2 RLoad RLine

c1n =

1, n 2, n 3, n
2, n 2, n 3, n
3, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n

, c 2n =

1, n 1, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 3, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n

, c3n =

1, n 2, n 1, n
1, n 2, n 2, n
1, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n
1, n 2, n 3, n

where 1, n = iLine ( n ) An Sin(n ti + n ) Bn Cos(n ti + n ) ,

2, n = vLoad (n) (Vmn RLine An + LLine Bn n ) Sin(n ti + n ) ( RLine Bn LLine An n ) Cos (n ti + n )

3, n = ( An n C ( RLine Bn + LLine An n )) Sin(n ti + n ) ( Bn C n (Vmn RLine An + LLine Bn n )) Cos(n ti + n )

1, n = e D t , 2, n = e D t , 3, n = e D t
1 i

2 i

3 i

1, n = ( RLine LLine D1 ) e D t , 2, n = ( RLine LLine D2 ) e D t , 3, n = ( RLine LLine D3 ) e D t

1 i

3 i

2 i

1, n = (1 + RLine C D1 + LLine C D12 ) e D t , 2, n = (1 + RLine C D2 + LLine C D2 2 ) e D t , 3, n = (1 + RLine C D3 + LLine C D32 ) e D3 ti

1 i

2 i

and the initial values of line current and load voltage related to nth harmonic of voltage source
iLine (n) =

Vmn Sin (n ti + n n )
RLine + jX Line (n) jX Comp (n)

( X Line ( n) X Comp (n))

RLine

, vLoad (n) = iLine (n) jX Comp (n) , n = arctan

( ti =tconduction for first cycle and ti =tconduction + Tf /2 for second cycle )

Initial values of load current are zero at ti for first and second cycle.
The characteristic equation is

D 3 + 2 D 2 + 3 D + 4 = 0 where 1 = LLoad LLineC , 2 = RLoad LLineC + RLine LLoad C , 3 = RLoad RLineC + LLine + LLoad , 4 = RLine + RLoad
1
1
1
The roots of characteristic equation are
D1 =

61 3 2 22 2

3 22 2
3
6 2 22
+ 1 3

+ j
+ 1 3
, D2 =

61
31
31
121
31
31
2 61
31

D3 =

3 22 2
3
6 2 22
+ 1 3

j
+ 1 3

121
31
31
2 61
31

where
= 3 361 2 3 10812 4 8 23 + 121 121 33 3 22 32 541 2 3 4 + 8112 42 + 12 23 4