ELECTRODYNAMOMETER-TYPE WATTMETER

An electrodynamometer-type wattmeter is similar in design and

construction with the analog electrodynamometer-type ammeter and voltmeter

Construction of Electrodynamometer-type Wattmeter

Schematic diagram displaying the basic constructional features of a
electrodynamometer- type wattmeter is shown in Figure 2.2.

Figure 2.2 Schematic of electrodynamometer-type wattmeter

Internal view of such an arrangement is shown in the photograph of Figure 2.3.

1. Fixed coil system

Such an instrument has two coils connected in different ways to the same
circuit of which power is to be measured. The fixed coils or the field coils are
connected in series with the load so as to carry the same current as the load.
The fixed coils are hence, termed as the Current Coils (CC) of the wattmeter.
The main magnetic field is produced by these fixed coils. This coil is divided
in two sections so as to provide more uniform magnetic field near the centre
and to allow placement of the instrument moving shaft.
Fixed coils are usually wound with thick wires for carrying the main load
current through them. Windings of the fixed coil is normally made of stranded
conductors running together but, insulated from each other. All the strands are
brought out to an external commutating terminator so that a number of current
ranges of the instrument may be obtained by grouping them all in series, all in
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parallel, or in a series–parallel combination. Such stranding of the fixed coils
also reduces Eddy-current loss in the conductors. Still higher current or
voltage ranges, however, can be accommodated only through the use of
instrument transformers.
Fixed coils are mounted rigidly with the coil supporting structures to
prevent any small movement whatsoever and resulting field distortions.
Mounting supports are made of ceramic, and not metal, so as not to disturb the
magnetic field distribution.
2. Moving coil system

The moving coil that is connected across the load carries a current
proportional to the voltage. Since the moving coil carries a current
proportional to the voltage, it is called the voltage coil or the pressure coil or
simply PC of the wattmeter. The moving coil is entirely embraced by the pair
of fixed coils. A high value non-inductive resistance is connected in series
with the voltage coil to restrict the current through it to a small value, and also
to ensure that voltage coil current remains as far as possible in phase with the
load voltage.
The moving coil, made of fine wires, is wound either as a self-sustaining
air-cored coil, or else wound on a nonmetallic former. A metallic former,
otherwise would induce Eddy- currents in them under influence of the
alternating field.
3. Movement and restoring system

The moving, or voltage coil along with the pointer is mounted on an

aluminum spindle in case jewel bearings are used to support the spindle. For
higher sensitivity requirements, the moving coil may be suspended from a
torsion head by a metallic suspension which serves as a lead to the coil. In
other constructions, the coil may be suspended by a silk fibre together with a
spiral spring which gives the required torsion. The phosphor-bronze springs
are also used to lead current into and out of the moving coil.

4. Damping system
Damping in such instruments may be provided by small aluminum vanes
attached at the bottom of the spindle. These vanes are made to move inside
enclosed air chambers, thereby creating the damping torque
5. Shielding system

The operating field produced by the fixed coils, is comparatively lower in

electrodynamometer-type instruments as compared to other type of
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instruments.
Operation of Electrodynamometer-type Wattmeter
The schematic operational circuit of an electrodynamometer-type wattmeter
being used for measurement of power in a circuit is shown in Figure 2.4.

V = voltage to be measured (rms)

I = current to be measured (rms)
IP= voltage (pressure) coil instantaneous current
iC = current coil instantaneous current
RV = external resistance connected with pressure coil

dM
Ti  i p ic
d
Figure 2.4 Operational circuit of electrodynamometer-type wattmeter

RP = resistance of pressure coil circuit (PC resistance + RV)

M = mutual inductance between current coil and pressure coil
Ɵ = angle of deflection of the moving system
ω = angular frequency of supply in radians per second
Φ = phase-angle lag of current I with respect to voltage V
The instantaneous torque of wattmeter shown in Figure 2.4 is given by
vp
ip   2V sin t  2  I p sin t
ip Rp

Instantaneous value of voltage across the pressure-coil circuit is

v p  2  V sin t

If the pressure coil resistance can be assumed to be very high, the whole
pressure coil can be assumed to be behaving like a resistance only. The
current iP in the pressure coil thus, can be assumed to in phase with the voltage
vP, and its instantaneous value is

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 dM
Ti  2  I p sin t  I sin(t   )
d
where IP = V/RP is the rms value of current
dM
Ti  2  I p I sin t sin(t   ) in pressure coil.
d
Assuming that the pressure-coil
dM
resistance is sufficiently high to prevent
Ti  I p I {cos   cos(2t   )}
d
branching out of any portion of the supply
current towards the pressure coil, the current coil current can be written as
ic  2  I sin(t   )

Presence of the term containing 2ωt, indicates the instantaneous torque as

shown in (2.3) varies at twice the frequency of voltage and current.
Average deflecting torque over a complete cycle is
T 2
1 1 dM
Td 
T0 Ti dt 
2 I
0
p I {cos   cos(2t   )}
d
dt

I pI dM
= [t cos  ]02
2 d
dM
 I p I cos 
d
V dM
 I cos 
Rp d
VI cos  dM
=
Rp d

With a spring constant K, the controlling torque provided by the spring

for a final steady-state deflection of θ is given by
TC = Kθ

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 Under steady-state condition, the average deflecting torque will be
balanced by the controlling torque provided by the spring. Thus, at balanced
condition T

where, P is the power to be measured and K1 = 1/KRP is

constant.Steady-state deflection θ is thus found to be an indication of the
power P to be measured
Shape of scale in Electrodynamometer-type Wattmeter
Steady-state deflection θ can be made proportional to the power P to be measured,
i.e., the deflection will vary linearly with variation in power if the rate of change
of mutual inductance is constant over the range of deflection. In other words, the
scale of measurement will be uniform if the mutual inductance between the fixed
and moving coils varies linearly with angle of deflection. Such a variation in
mutual inductance can be achieved by careful design of the instrument. Figure
2.5 shows the expected nature of variation of mutual inductance between fixed
and moving coils with respect to angle of deflection.

VI cos  dM Figure 2.5 Variation of mutual inductance with deflection

K 
By a Rp dsuitable design, the mutual inductance between fixed
and VI cos  dM moving coils can be made to vary linearly with

KR p d deflection angle over a range of 40° to 50° on
either side of zero mutual inductance position, as shown
in Figure   ( K1 dM
) P 2.5 If the position of zero mutual inductance can be
kept at d the mid-scale, then the scale can be graduated to
be uniform over 80° to 100°, which covers almost entire range of the scale.

Errors in Electrodynamometer-type Wattmeter

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1.Error due to Press coil inductance

It was assumed during the discussions so far that the pressure coil circuit is
purely resistive. In reality, however, the pressure coil will have certain
inductance along with resistance. This will introduce errors in measurement
unless necessary compensations are taken care of. To have an estimate of such
error, let us consider the following:

V = voltage applied to the pressure coil circuit (rms)

I = current in the current coil circuit (rms)
IP = current in the voltage (pressure) coil circuit (rms)
rP = resistance of pressure coil only
L = inductance of pressure coil
RV = external resistance connected with pressure coil
Rp resistance of pressure coil circuit (PC
1 L L
  tan ( )  tan (
1
) resistance + RV)
ZP= R p rp  Rv impedance of pressure coil circuit
M = mutual inductance between current coil and pressure coil
ω = angular frequency of supply in radian per second
Φ = = phase-angle lag of current I with respect to voltage V
Due to inherent inductance of the pressure coil circuit, the current and
voltage in the pressure coil will no longer be in phase, rather the current
through the pressure coil will lag the voltage across it by a certain angle given
by

As can be seen from Figure 2.6, current through the pressure coil lags voltage
across it by a phase-angle which is less than that between the current coil
current and the pressure coil voltage.

Figure 2.6 Wattmeter phasor diagram with pressure coil inductance

In such a case, phase-angle difference between the with pressure coil

inductance pressure coil current and current coil current is
'    
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Following from (7.11), the wattmeter deflection will be
I pI dM
 ' cos  '
K d
V dM
' I cos(   )
ZpK d

Relating to RP = ZP cos α in the pressure coil circuit, the wattmeter

deflection can be re-written as VI dM

In the absence of inductance, ZP = RP and α = 0; wattmeter in that case

will read true power, given by,

Taking the ratio of true power indication to actual wattmeter reading, we get

True power indication can thus be obtained from the actual wattmeter
reading using the correction factor CF as
True power indication = CF X Actual wattmeter reading

ERROR DUE TO CONNECTION:

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 .
Wattmeter reading = Power consumed by load + Power loss in CC
.
Wattmeter reading = Power consumed by load + Power loss in PC
.Errors due to branching out of current through the pressure coil can be
minimised by the use of compensating coil as schematically shown in Figure
2.10.

Figure 2.10 Schematic connection diagram of compensated wattmeter

In the compensated connection, the current coil consists of two windings,

each winding having the same number of turns. The two windings are made as
far as possible identical and coincident. One of the two windings (CC) is made
of heavy wire that carries the load current plus the current for the pressure coil.
The other winding (compensating coil–CoC) which is connected in series with
the pressure coil, uses thin wire and carries only the current to the pressure
coil. This current in the compensating coil is, however, in a direction opposite
to the current in main current coil, creating a flux that opposes the main flux.
The resultant magnetic field is thus due to the current coil only, effects of
pressure coil current on the current coil flux mutually nullifying each other.
Thus, error due to pressure coil current flowing in the current coil in
cancelled out and the wattmeter indicates correct power.

LPF wattmeter(LOW POWER FACTOR WATTMETER)

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If an ordinary electrodynamometer wattmeter is used for measurement of power in low
power factor circuits, (PF<0.5), then the measurements would be difficult and inaccurate
since:
• The deflecting torque exerted on the moving system will be very small and
• Errors are introduced due to pressure coil inductance (which is large at LPF)
Thus, in a LPF wattmeter, special features are incorporated in a general electrodynamometer
wattmeter circuit to make it suitable for use in LPF circuits as under:
(a) Pressure coil current:
The pressure coil circuit is designed to have a low value of resistance so that the current
through the pressure coil is increased to provide an increased operating torque.
(b) Compensation for pressure coil current:
On account of low power factor, the power is small and the current is high. In this
context, there are two possible connections of the potential coil of a wattmeter as shown
in figure 2.12. The connection (a) can not be used, since owing to the high load current,
there would be a high power loss in the current coil and hence the wattmeter reading
would be with a large error. If the connection (b) is used, then the power loss in the
pressure coil circuit is also included in the meter readings.

Figure 2.12 Low power factor wattmeter

Thus it is necessary to compensate for the pressure coil current in a low power factor wattmeter. For
this, a compensating coil is used in the instrument to compensate for the power loss in the pressure coil
circuit as shown in figure.

(c) Compensation for pressure coil inductance:

At low power factor, the error caused by the pressure coil inductance is very large. Hence, this has to
be compensated, by connecting a capacitor C across a portion of the series resistance in the pressure
coil circuit as shown in figure 4.5.

(d) Realizing a small control torque:

Low power factor wattmeters are designed to have a very small control torque so that they can provide
full scale deflection (f.s.d.) for power factor values as low as 10%.

Phantom loading
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 When the current rating of a meter under test is high a test with actual loading
arrangements would involve a considerable waste of power. In order to avoid this
"Phantom" or "Fictitious" loading is done.
Phantom loading consists of supplying the pressure circuit from a circuit of
required normal voltage, and the current circuit from a separate low voltage supply. It is
possible to circulate the rated current through the current circuit with a ,low voltage -
supply as the impedance of this circuit.is very-low. With this arrangement, the total
power supplied for the test is that due to the small pressure coil current at normal-
voltage, plus that due to the current circuit current supplied at low voltage. The total
power, therefore required for testing the meter with Phantom loading is
comparatively very small. This point is illustrated by the following example.

Example A 220 V,5A d.c. energy meter is tested at its marked ratings. The resistance
of the pressure circuit is,3800 Ω and that of current coil is 0.1 Ω Calculate the power,
consumed when testing the meter with
(i) Direct loading arrangements. .
(it) Phantom loading with current circuit.excited by a 6 V batterysolution. The two
testing arrangements are ShOW.l in Figure. 2.13

Figure 2.13

(i) Direct loading:

(220) 2
Power consumed in the pressure circuit =   5.5W
8800

Power consumed in current circuit =220×5 = 1100W

Total power consumed = 5.5+1100 = 1105.5W

(ii) Phantom loading:

(220) 2
Power consumed in the pressure circuit =   5.5W
8800
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 Power consumed in current circuit =6×5 = 30W

Total power consumed = 5.5+30 = 35.5W

This power consumption is considerably smaller than the one with direct loading

Constructional Details of Induction-Type Energy Meter

Constructional details of an induction-type single-phase energy meter are
schematically shown in Figure 2.14.

Figure 2.14. Single phase energy meter

1. Volatage coil–many turns of fine wire encased in plastic, connected in

parallel with load.
2. Current coil–few turns of thick wire, connected in series with load
3. Stator–concentrates and confines magnetic field.
4. Aluminum rotor disc.
5. Rotor brake magnets
6. Spindle with worm gear.
7. Display dials
A single phase energy meter has four essential parts:
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 (i) Operating system
(ii) Moving system
(iii) Braking system
(iv) Registering system
1. Operating System
The operating system consists of two electromagnets. The cores of these
electromagnets are made of silicon steel laminations. The coils of one of
these electromagnets (series magnet) are connected in series with the load, and
is called the current coil. The other electromagnet (shunt magnet) is wound
with a coil that is connected across the supply, called the pressure coil. The
pressure coil, thus, carries a current that is proportional to supply voltage.
Shading bands made of copper are provided on the central limb of the shunt
magnet. Shading bands, as will be described later, are used to bring the flux i
— Bearing produced by a shunt magnet exactly in quadrature Pivot with the
applied voltage.

2. Moving System
The moving system consists of a light aluminum disc mounted on a spindle.
The disc is placed in the space between the series and shunt magnets. The disc
is so positioned that it intersects the flux produced by both the magnets. The
deflecting torque on the disc is produced by interaction between these fluxes
and the eddy current they induce in the disc. In energy meters, there is no
control spring as such, so that there is continuous rotation of the disc.
3. Braking System
The braking system consists of a braking device which is usually a
permanent magnet positioned near the edge of the aluminum disc.
The emf induced in the aluminum disc due to relative motion between the
rotating disc and the fixed permanent magnet (brake magnet) induces eddy
current in the disc. This eddy current, while interacting with the brake magnet
flux, produces a retarding or braking torque. This braking torque is
proportional to speed of the rotating disc. When the braking torque becomes
equal to the operating torque, the disc rotates at a steady speed.

4. Registering System
The function of a registering or counting system is to continuously record a
numerical value that is proportional to the number of revolutions made by the
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rotating system. By suitable combination of a train of reduction gears, rotation
of the main aluminum disc can be transmitted to different pointers to register
meter readings on different dials. Finally, the kWh reading can be obtained by
multiplying the number of revolutions as pointed out by the dials with the
meter constant. The photograph of such a dial-type registering system
Operation of Induction-Type Energy Meter
As per construction, the pressure coil winding is made highly inductive by
providing a large number of turns. The air gaps in a shunt magnet circuit are
also made small to reduce the reluctance of shunt flux paths. Thus, as supply
voltage is applied across the pressure coil, the current IP through the pressure
coil is proportional to the supply voltage and lags behind it by an angle that is
only a few degrees less than 90°. Ideally, this angle of lag should have been
90° but for the small unavoidable resistance present in the winding itself and
the associated iron losses in the magnetic circuit.
Figure 2.15 shows the path of different fluxes while the meter is under
operation. The corresponding phasor diagram is shown in Figure 2.16.
Let,
V = supply voltage
I= load current
θ = phase angle of load
β= phase angle of aluminum disc
α= phase angle between shunt magnet and series magnet fluxes
δ= phase angle between supply voltage and pressure coil flux

Figure 2.15 Flux paths in induction-type single-phase energy meter

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 Figure 2.16 Phasor diagram of single-phase induction-type energy meter

The current IP produces a flux φpt that is in same phase as IP. This flux is
made to divide itself in two parts, φg and φp. The major portion of total
pressure coil flux, i.e., φg passes through the side gaps as shown in Figure
2.15,  p s  as reluctance of these paths are low due very
Td  sin  cos 
small Z air gaps. Remaining portion of the flux, i.e., φp
passes through the disc and is responsible for production of the driving
torque. Due to larger reluctance of the path, this flux φp is relatively weaker.
The flux φp is proportional to the current IP and is in the same phase, as
shown in the phasor diagram of Figure 2.17. The flux φp is thus proportional to
the supply voltage V and lags it by an angle δ which is only a few degrees less
than 90°. The flux φp being alternating in nature, induces and eddy emf Eep in
the disc, which in turn produces eddy current I. Depending on the impedance
angle β of the aluminum disc, eddy current I will lag behind the eddy emf Eep
by an angle β.
Following (8.1), the resultant deflecting torque on the disc due to
combined action of two fluxes φp and φs is given as

where, Z is the impedance of the aluminum disc and ω is the angular

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frequency of supply voltage.
The driving torque can be re-written following the phasor diagram in Figure
2.16 as

Where K1 is constant Since we have, jp α V and φs α I,

If ω,Z and β are constant then Td = K3VIsin(  -Ɵ)

If N is the speed of rotation of the disc, then braking torque Tb = K4 N

At steady running condition of the disc, the driving torque must equal
the braking torque,
K4 N = K3VIsin(  -Ɵ)
N = KVIsin(  -Ɵ)
If we can make δ = 90°
Then the speed of the disc is N = KVI sin (90 – θ) = KVI cosθ
Thus speed N = K × Power
Thus, in order that the speed of rotation can be made to be proportionate to
the power consumed, the angle difference δ between the supply voltage V
and the pressure coil flux φp must be made 90°
Total number of revolutions within a time interval dt is

  Ndt   KVI sin(   )dt

If, δ = 90°, total number of revolutions
 p s   K  VI cos dt
Td  K1 sin(   ) cos 
Z  K  power  dt
= K×Energy

Thus,  total number of revolutions is proportional

Td  K 2VI sin(   ) cos 
to the Z energy consumed.

ERRORS IN INDUCTION-TYPE ENERGY METERS AND

THEIR COMPENSATION

1 Phase-angle Error
It is clear from (8.7) that the meter will indicate true energy only if the phase
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angle between the pressure coil flux φp and the supply voltage V is 90°. This
requires that the pressure coil winding should be designed as highly inductive
and its resistance and iron losses should be made minimum. But, even then the
phase angle is not exactly 90°, rather a few degrees less than 90°. Suitable
adjustments can be implemented such that the shunt magnet flux linking with
the disc can be made to lag the supply voltage by an angle exactly equal to
90°.
(a) Shading Coil with Adjustable Resistance
Figure 2.17 shows the arrangement where an additional coil (shading coil)
with adjustable resistance is placed on the central limb of the shunt magnet
close to the disc. Main flux created by the shunt magnet induces an emf in this
shading coil. This emf creates its own flux. These two fluxes result in a
modified flux to pass through the air gap to link the disc and thus produce the
driving torque. With proper adjustment of the shading coil resistance, the
resultant flux can be made to lag the supply voltage exactly by an angle of 90°.

Figure 2.17 Shading coil for lag adjustment V

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Figure 2.18 Phasor diagram showing operation of shading coil for lag adjustment

2. Copper Shading Bands

A similar result of lag adjustment can be obtained by the use of copper
shading bands placed on the central limb of the shunt magnet. Such an
arrangement is shown in Figure 2.19. Following the same arguments, the
resultant flux φp crossing over to the disc can be made to lag the supply
voltage V by exactly 90° by proper adjustment of the mmf produced by the
copper shading bands. Adjustments in this case can be done by moving the
shading bands along the axis of the limb. As the bands are moved upwards
along the limb, they embrace more flux. This results in increased values of
induced emf, increased values of induced eddy current and hence increased
values of the mmf produced by the bands. Similarly, as the bands are
moved downwards, mmf produced by the bands is reduced. This changes
the phase angle difference between φp and φpt,

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 Figure 2.19 Copper shading bands for lag adjustment

Creeping Error
In some meters, a slow but continuous rotation of the disc can be observed
even when there is no current flowing through the current coil, and only
pressure coil is energised. This is called creeping.

Calibration of wattmeter
Calibration of DC wattmeter can be done by
1. Comparison with standard meter
2. Using DC potentiometers
Calibration by comparison with standard meter

For calibration of dynamometer the current coil of the standard and test meters are connected in
series and the pressure coils are connected in parallel. Phantom loading technique is usually
employed to reduce the power consumption.

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 Figure 2.22 Calibration of wattmeter by Comparison with standard meter

The rheostat is used to vary the Current in the current coil and the potential divider is used to
vary the voltage across the potential coil. The ammeter and voltmeter indicate the current and
voltage in current coil and pressure coil respectively. WT is the wattmeter under test and WS is the
standard wattmeter.
The two wattmeter readings are noted and error if any is calculated using formula

% Error = WT - WS × 100
WS
Based on the error calibration curve is drawn and necessary steps are taken to eliminate the error if
any.

AC calibration
The calibration of AC wattmeter can be carried out by any of the following methods
1. Comparison with standard wattmeter
2. Using AC potentiometer
3. By use of resistive load
4. By electro static wattmeter

Calibration by Comparison with standard wattmeter

Figure 2.23 Calibration of wattmeter by Comparison with standard meter

The calibration of AC wattmeter is same as that of DC except that for AC wattmeter, an AC
supply is used instead of DC supply.

Use of resistive load for AC wattmeter calibration

19
 1. This is the accurate method of testing low range wattmeter at unity power factor
2. In this method a non-inductive standard resistance is used as load and power consumed
by this load is determined from its resistance and voltage drop across it.
3. Electrostatic voltmeters are usually employed for measuring voltage across the load
(resistor) as they are more accurate.

CALIBRATION OF SINGLE PHASE ENERGY METER

Aim:

To calibrate the given energy meter using a standard wattmeter and to obtain percentage error.

Theory:

The energy meter is an integrated type instrument where the speed of rotation of aluminium
disc is directly proportional to the amount of power consumed by the load and the no of revs/min is
proportional to the amount of energy consumed by the load. In energy meter the angular displacement
offered by the driving system is connected to the gearing arrangement to provide the rotation of energy
meter visually. The ratings associated with an energy meter are

1. Voltage Rating, 2. Current Rating, 3. Frequency Rating and 4. Meter Constants. Based on the
amount of energy consumption, the driving system provides rotational torque

for the moving system which in turn activates the energy registering system for reading the real energy
consumption.The energy meter is operated based on induction principle in which the eddy

current produced by the induction of eddy emf in the portion of the aluminium disc which
creates the driving torque by the interaction of two eddy current fluxes.

Circuit Diagram:

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Formulae used:

Wattmeter Reading (P) = VI watts.

Measured Value True Value

% Error  100
True Value

Procedure:

1. Connections are given as per the circuit diagram.

2. The DPST switch is closed to give the supply to the circuit.
3. The load is switched ON.

4. Note down the ammeter, voltmeter & wattmete reading .Also note down the time
taken for 5 revolutions for the initial load.
5. Note down the energy meter constant from the energy meter setup.

6. The number of revolutions can be noted down by adapting the following

procedure.When the red indication mark on the aluminium disc of the meter passes, start
to count the number of revolutions made by the disc by using a stop watch and note it
down.

7. Repeat the above steps (4) for different load currents by varying the load for the fixed
number of revolutions.
8. Calculate the % error using the given formula.

Graph: Plot the graph betweenLoad Current (X-axis) and %Error (Y-axis).

graph:

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