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Article: Power factor correction equals big savings. (use of capacitors to improve power factor of inductive electrical loads)
- Article from:
- Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration News
- Article date:
- April 29, 1991
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1991 BNP Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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POWER FACTOR CORRECTION EQUALS BIG SAVINGS
In the case of typical alternating current (ac) circuits, voltage and current are continuously varying in a sinusoidal manner, as shown in Figure 1a.
For a purely resistive load, such as electric infrared heaters and duct heaters, the voltage and current waveforms are coincident. In other words, the peaks and valleys occur at the same time. At the instant the voltage is zero, the current is also zero. A load of this type has a power factor of 1.
In the case of inductive loads, such as electric motors, the current usually lags behind the voltage, as shown in Figure 1b. A load of this type is referred ...