Parallel capacitor reactive power compensation rate diagram

Can synchronous compensators compensate reactive power?

Instead of using capacitor banks, there is a different alternative to compensate the reactive power that is based on the use of synchronous compensators. These are synchronous machines that, operating with null active power, can behave either as variable capacitors or coils, by simply changing their excitation current .

How are power capacitors rated?

Power capacitors are rated by the amount of reactive power they can generate. The rating used for the power of capacitors is KVAR. Since the SI unit for a capacitor is farad, an equation is used to convert from the capacitance in farad to equivalent reactive power in KVAR.

What is the maximum reactive power rating for a capacitor bank?

For example, the configuration for a 5-stage capacitor bank with a 170 KVAR maximum reactive power rating could be 1:1:1:1:1, meaning 5*34 KVAR or 1:2:2:4:8 with 1 as 10 KVAR. The stepping of stages and their number is set according to how much reactive power changes in a system.

What are the problems with reactive power compensation?

One of the main problems is that most of the power electronics used consume reactive power, which causes low power factor and system instability–a problem that has put power factor correction methods under development again. This article discusses the two most used reactive power compensation methods.

What is a capacitor bank?

1. Capacitor Banks: Capacitor banks are systems that contain several capacitors used to store energy and generate reactive power. Capacitor banks might be connected in a delta connection or a star (wye) connection. Power capacitors are rated by the amount of reactive power they can generate. The rating used for the power of capacitors is KVAR.

What happens if a three phase combination has equal capacitive compensation?

The combinations will have the required equal degree of capacitive compensation in the three phases at the power frequency. At any other frequency, the three combinations will appear as unequal reactance in the three phases.