A New Technique of Automatic Power Factor Correction

Abstract

Efficient generation of power at present is crucial as wastage of power is a global concern. Power factor measures the power efficiency of a system and is an important feature in improving the quality of supply. The increasing use of inductive load in most of the power systems results in poor power factors. A power factor correction unit would allow the system to regain its power factor close to unity for efficient operation. By correcting the power factor reduces the power system losses, increased load carrying capabilities, improved voltages, and much more. The project aim is to build an Automatic Power Factor Control (APFC) unit which is capable to monitor the energy consumption of a system and improving the power factor automatically. The APFC device measures the reactive power consumed by a system’s inductive load balances the lagging power factor using capacitance from the capacitor bank. For the efficient use of energy, it is important to use automatic power factor correction in industries. Although there has been much research in automatic power factor correction there is huge potential for more research in this field in the future.