POWER CALCULATION FORMULAES

1) True Power / Active Power (P) = The actual amount of power being used, or dissipated, in a circuit is called true
power, and it is measured in watts (symbolized by the capital letter P, as always).
2) Reactive Power (Q) = We know that reactive loads such as inductors and capacitors dissipate zero power, yet
the fact that they drop voltage and draw current gives the deceptive impression that they actually do dissipate
power. This phantom power is called reactive power, and it is measured in a unit called Volt-AmpsReactive (VAR), rather than watts. The mathematical symbol for reactive power is (unfortunately) the capital
letter Q.
3) Apparent Power (S) = The combination of reactive power and true power is called apparent power, and it is the
product of a circuit's voltage and current, without reference to phase angle. Apparent power is measured in the
unit of Volt-Amps (VA) and is symbolized by the capital letter S.
As a rule, true power is a function of a circuit's dissipative elements, usually resistances (R). Reactive
power is a function of a circuit's reactance (X). Apparent power is a function of a circuit's total impedance (Z).
Since we're dealing with scalar quantities for power calculation, any complex starting quantities such as voltage,
current, and impedance must be represented by their polar magnitudes, not by real or imaginary rectangular
components. For instance, if I'm calculating true power from current and resistance, I must use the polar
magnitude for current, and not merely the real or imaginary portion of the current. If I'm calculating
apparent power from voltage and impedance, both of these formerly complex quantities must be reduced to
their polar magnitudes for the scalar arithmetic.
There are several power equations relating the three types of power to resistance, reactance, and
impedance (all using scalar quantities):

Inductive /Resistive Load:

Resistive load only:

These three types of power -- true, reactive, and apparent -- relate to one another in trigonometric form. We call this
the power triangle:

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

CALCULATION OF KVAR REQUIRED FOR x KW:

In electrical installations the operating load kW and its average power factor (PF) can be ascertained from the
electricity bill. Alternative it can also be easily evaluated by the formula,
Average PF = KWh / KVAH
Operating load KW = KVA demand x Average PF
The average PF is considered as the initial PF and the final PF can be suitable assumed as required. In such cases
required capacitor KVAR can be calculated as shown in the example
Example:
Calculate the required KVAR compensation for 500 kW installations to improve the PF from 0.75 to 0.96.
KVAR = KW x multiplying factor from below table 4.2
= 500 x 0.59
= 295 KVAR.
Note:
The table (a) is based on following Formula:}
KVAR required = kW (tan 1 tan 2)
Where 1 = Cos-1 (PF 1) and
1 = Cos-1 (PF 2) and
TABLE (a)
Initial Final PF
PF
0.9 0.91 0.92 0.93 0.94 0.95 0.96 0.97 0.98 0.99
0.4 1.807 1.836 1.865 1.896 1.928 1.963 2.000 2.041 2.088 2.149
0.42 1.676 1.705 1.735 1.766 1.798 1.832 1.869 1.910 1.958 2.018
0.44 1.557 1.585 1.615 1.646 1.678 1.712 1.749 1.790 1.838 1.898
0.45 1.500 1.529 1.559 1.589 1.622 1.656 1.693 1.734 1.781 1.842
0.46 1.446 1.475 1.504 1.535 1.567 1.602 1.639 1.680 1.727 1.788
0.48 1.343 1.372 1.402 1.432 1.465 1.499 1.536 1.577 1.625 1.685
0.5 1.248 1.276 1.306 1.337 1.369 1.403 1.440 1.481 1.529 1.590
0.52 1.158 1.187 1.217 1.247 1.280 1.314 1.351 1.392 1.440 1.500
0.54 1.074 1.103 1.133 1.163 1.196 1.230 1.267 1.308 1.356 1.416
0.55 1.034 1.063 1.092 1.123 1.156 1.190 1.227 1.268 1.315 1.376
0.56 0.995 1.024 1.053 1.084 1.116 1.151 1.188 1.229 1.276 1.337
0.58 0.920 0.949 0.979 1.009 1.042 1.076 1.113 1.154 1.201 1.262
0.6 0.849 0.878 0.907 0.938 0.970 1.005 1.042 1.083 1.130 1.191
0.62 0.781 0.810 0.839 0.870 0.903 0.937 0.974 1.015 1.062 1.123
0.64 0.716 0.745 0.775 0.805 0.838 0.872 0.909 0.950 0.998 1.058
0.65 0.685 0.714 0.743 0.774 0.806 0.840 0.877 0.919 0.966 1.027
0.66 0.654 0.683 0.712 0.743 0.775 0.810 0.847 0.888 0.935 0.996
0.68 0.594 0.623 0.652 0.683 0.715 0.750 0.787 0.828 0.875 0.936
0.7 0.536 0.565 0.594 0.625 0.657 0.692 0.729 0.770 0.817 0.878
0.72 0.480 0.508 0.538 0.569 0.601 0.635 0.672 0.713 0.761 0.821
0.74 0.425 0.453 0.483 0.514 0.546 0.580 0.617 0.658 0.706 0.766
0.75 0.398 0.426 0.456 0.487 0.519 0.553 0.590 0.631 0.679 0.739
0.76 0.371 0.400 0.429 0.460 0.492 0.526 0.563 0.605 0.652 0.713
0.78 0.318 0.347 0.376 0.407 0.439 0.474 0.511 0.552 0.599 0.660
0.8 0.266 0.294 0.324 0.355 0.387 0.421 0.458 0.499 0.547 0.608
0.82 0.214 0.242 0.272 0.303 0.335 0.369 0.406 0.447 0.495 0.556
0.84 0.162 0.190 0.220 0.251 0.283 0.317 0.354 0.395 0.443 0.503
0.85 0.135 0.164 0.194 0.225 0.257 0.291 0.328 0.369 0.417 0.477

Notes:
1.It is considered uneconomical in industrial applications to improve power factor by individual compensation for
motor ratings below 15hp.
2.For motor ratings above 250hp the capacitor kVAr rating would be about 25% of the motor rating in hp.
3.In all cases it should be ensured that the capacitor current at rated voltage is always less than 90% of the no load
current of the motor. This is due to the fact that when capacitor current exceeds the no load magnetizing current of
the motor, excessive voltage surges can occur due to self excitation in the event of an interruption in power supply
which will prove harmful to both the motor as well as the capacitor.
4.The capacitor kVAr values indicated in the above table are after taking into consideration the condition specified in
the item-3 above and assuming motor loading of greater than 80%.
5.If the motor is loaded less than 80% the capacitor kVAr required may be greater than the values indicated in the
above table. In such case the capacitor should be connected upstream in group or central compensation mode.

Capacitor KVAR for Transformer

Power
and
distribution
transformers,
which
work
on
the
principle
of
electron-magnetic
induction, consume reactive power for their own needs even when its secondary is not
connected to any load. The power factor will be very low under such a situation.
To improve the power factor it is required to connect a fixed capacitor or a capacitor
bank at the LT side of the transformer. The table (b) gives the approximate kVAr of
capacitors required.
TABLE (b)
Sl.no
1
2
3

kVA rating of the

transformer
upto and including 315
kVA
315 kVA - 1000 kVA
Above 1000 kVA

kVAr required for

compensation
5% of kVA rating
6% of kVA rating
8% of kVA rating

Capacitor kVAr For AC Induction Motors

This table (c) gives the recommended ratings of power capacitors, which are to be used directly with 3 phase AC
induction motors. The estimation of kVAr required for compensation to achieve desired power factor is generally done
depending on the type of loads to be compensated. For ease of use the tables and formulae given in this section may be
used.

Table (C) :

Motor Capacitor ratings in kVAr

Rating when speed (rev / min)
in HP
is
3000 1500 1000 750 500
2.5 1.0 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
5
2.0 2.0 2.5 3.5 4.0
7.5 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.5 5.5
10 3.0 4.0 4.5 5.5 6.5
15 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.5 9.0
20 5.0 6.0 7.0 9.0 12.0
25 6.0 7.0 9.0 10.5 14.5
30 7.0 8.0 10.0 12.0 17.0
40 9.0 10.0 13.0 15.0 21.0
50 11.0 12.5 16.0 18.0 25.0
60 13.0 14.5 18.0 20.0 28.0
70 15.0 16.5 20.0 22.0 31.0
80 17.0 19.0 22.0 24.0 34..0
90 19.0 21.0 24.0 26.0 37.0
100 21.0 23.0 26.0 28.0 40.0
110 23.0 25.0 28.0 30.0 43.0
120 25.0 27.0 30.0 32.0 46.0
130 27.0 29.0 32.0 34.0 49.0
140 29.0 31.0 34.0 36.0 52.0
145 30.0 32.0 35.0 37.0 54.0
150 31.0 33.0 36.0 38.0 55.0
155 32.0 34.0 37.0 39.0 56.0
160 33.0 35.0 38.0 40.0 57.0
165 34.0 36.0 39.0 41.0 59.0
170 35.0 37.0 40.0 42.0 60.0
175 36.0 38.0 41.0 43.0 61.0
180 37.0 39.0 42.0 44.0 62.0
185 38.0 40.0 43.0 45.0 63.0
190 38.0 40.0 43.0 45.0 65.0
200 40.0 42.0 45.0 47.0 67.0
250 45.0 50.0 55.0 60.0 70.0