CAPACITOR BANKS

General
This part of the specification covers the design, manufacture, delivery, transportation, and commissioning of capacitor banks. The capacitors shall be installed indoors or outdoors as specified along with the related inrush current reactors, switching facilities and protections. All necessary equipment for the control, protection and supervision of the capacitor banks is also deemed to be included. The capacitor bank shall be factory mounted to a maximum possible extent to reduce the work required at site. The capacitor banks shall be designed as compactly as possible in order to reduce space requirements. The capacitor banks shall be designed for temperature class D (max. 55 C) for outdoor installation and class B (max. 45 C) for indoor installation.

Capacitor Units
The capacitor banks shall comprise a series of single phase capacitor units suitably designed for the required total amount of reactive power for the specified frequency and voltage. The capacitor containers shall be of steel with an adequate corrosion protection. The final coat shall comply with RAL code 7038 light grey . The tenderer will submit along with its offer the painting specification for approval. The guaranteed minimum values of losses of the capacitor units shall include losses due to discharge resistors which shall be mounted inside each unit to discharge each unit from peak voltage to maximum 75 V in less than 10 minutes. Internal fuses shall be provided in order to limit possible failure to a single capacitor element only. The capacitors shall be able to carry continuously 1.3 times the rated current 1.1 times the maximum system voltage and shall provide continuously 1.35 times the rated output. All the above requirements shall be fulfilled under maximum ambient temperature. The dielectric material shall consist of an all film material being suitable to operate the capacitors on continuous load under the specified ambient conditions. The impregnant shall be of a hydrocarbon type fluid characterised by high electrical strength and adequate physical and chemical properties and shall be non-PCB. Low toxicity is required and the impregnant shall be a class III B (OSHA classification) combustible fluid. Each capacitor shall have one or two bushings dependent on the mounting arrangement. For outdoor installation a creepage distance of 50 mm/kV for open rack material or 25 mm/kV for complete inclosed material and for indoor installation of 25 mm/kV shall be considered. The arrangement of the fixing and the bushings shall be identical in order to easily exchange and replace any capacitor element of the total capacitor bank. The terminals for bushings and fixing elements shall be ISO standard (metric).

Capacitor bank
A number of capacitor units shall be combined to capacitor banks in double star arrangement. The modules shall be arranged as an assembly on suitably designed enclosure and constructional members of aluminium to avoid any corrosion problem . The capacitor banks shall include all necessary internal connections and busbars, insulators and other fittings. The capacitor enclosure structure shall be designed to carry all required unit capacitors and facilities, and the conductors comprising the incoming and outgoing circuits under the loadings and factors of safety specified and to give the minimum phase and earth clearances. The safe removal and safe replacement of capacitor units shall minimise the dismantling of any structural member, support, including insulators or main connections. Where necessary, approved means shall be provided upon the capacitor equipment for the fixing and bonding of external connections to secure efficient earthing. Steelwork and all items of the capacitor equipment shall be bonded as necessary with copper straps of adequate cross-section. In case of outdoor open rack installation tinned copper shall be used. Approved facilities shall be provided to temporarily earth the connections and apparatus during maintenance.

Switching device
Source circuit breaker The KV Source circuit breaker is excluded from the scope of supply of the multi-stages capacitor bank equipment. The contractor shall verify with the purchaser that the nominated source circuit breaker is suitable for capacitor switching duties. Tenderers shall state in their tender the circuit breaker requirements for the capacitor bank being offered

Capacitor switches
Each stage shall be controlled by a suitable SF6 circuit breaker for switching in and out the respective capacitor stage, according to the capacitive demand required by the system operating conditions The tenderer shall provide details of the proposed circuit breaker in his tender, together with evidence that they are suitable for switching duties and that the circuit breaker and associated power equipment will not be subject to damaging over-voltages when switching.

Safety interlocking and Earthing

Interlocking shall be provided to ensure that the access to the capacitor bank enclosure is not possible until the associated main incoming circuit breaker has been racked and the faulty stage has been locked out and circuit earth applied. One earthing switch shall be provided in each capacitor stage and will be placed after the automatic circuit breaker. For safety raison this earthing switch will be also interlocked with the main outgoing feeder

Reactor and discharge device Current limiting reactor

The transient current that flows on energising shall not exceed the rated making current of the circuit breaker controlling the capacitor bank stage. If necessary, current limiting reactor shall be connected in series with each capacitor stage to limit the current to an acceptable value. The current calculation which flows upon energising shall be declared and shall take into account the contribution from parallel connected capacitor stages

Current limiting reactors shall be designed for the full system lightning impulse withstand level The reactor shall be dry air cored, mounted on suitably rated support insulator

Discharge devices
Discharge resistors, suitable to discharge the capacitors from peak rated voltage to less than 75 volt within 10 minutes shall be fitted within the capacitor container. Tenderer shall also propose suitable fastdischarge devices for consideration that will achieve de-energisation in less than 30 secondes

Capacitor Protection
The capacitor banks/units shall be provided completely with its internal and external protection which is considered as part of the capacitor equipment. Nevertheless, the general stipulations of Article shall be applicable as far as essential. Protection relays shall be of the numerical type. Fuses Fuses shall be provided internally for protection of individual capacitor units. The fuses shall not deteriorate when the capacitor is subjected to discharge testing nor the currents associated with service operations of the capacitor equipment. Fuses shall only rupture in case the related unit is subject to failure and shall be capable of breaking the current following a failure of the capacitor unit without hazard from the fuse or the capacitor. The ruptured fuse of each element shall withstand indefinitely the voltage imposed across it under all operating conditions. The remaining capacitor units shall be able to operate within the capacitor bank without undue disturbance for a present number of unit capacitor failures. Unbalance Protection Sensitive loss of capacitance and fuse failure detection and alarm facilities shall be provided. The protection shall comprise two independently adjustable steps with separate alarm and tripping contacts at each stage. The first stage is set to operate an alarm when a significant number of capacitor units have failed and the second stage shall initiate tripping after a reset time delay via a trip relay (block-close function) before the loss of capacitance has resulted in an unacceptable over-loading of any capacitor. The Tenderer shall submit a table showing the number of units that can be lost per phase and per series group for a period of 1 month without derating of the capacitor bank and without reduction in the designed life of the capacitor. The minimum number of unit capacitors to satisfy these requirements shall not be less than one. The protection shall be insensitive against inrush and harmonic currents.

Overload and Over-current Protection

For each phase of each capacitor bank an overload and overcurrent protection system shall be provided to protect the capacitors from excess current (rms), including harmonic currents.

Overload protection
A first alarm shall be given at a current of approx. 110 to 120 percent of the rated current if applied for more than approx. 30 min. A second alarm (selectable by links for tripping as well) shall be initiated at currents of 120 to 140 percent of the rated current suitably time delayed to avoid spurious alarms (trippings) being situated during short time disturbances. Each stage of the overload protection shall be independently adjustable.

Over-current protection
For currents above 140 percent of the rated current a time delayed relay shall be provided to initiate tripping. An instantaneous element for initiating tripping at currents above 200 percent of rated current, however properly secured against tripping due to inrush currents shall be added per phase with separate alarm and trip contacts. Reference is made to the MV over-current relays specified in Article of these specifications.

Over-voltage protection
The CONTRACTOR shall propose and provide suitable over-voltage protection devices to control transferred, internal and external over-voltages on the capacitor banks.

Loss of Capacitance
Facilities shall be provided to allow for safe, simple and quick identification of defective capacitor units. Portable test equipment or other means shall be supplied being able to detect defective units.

Protection scheme
The protection scheme shall be designed to isolate the faulted capacitor stage without disruption to the other stages. Schemes which require tripping the main incoming feeder circuit breaker are not acceptable Over-voltage aver-load and unbalance protections may be combined within proprietary relay designed specifically for protection of capacitor banks

Capacitor Bank Control

The capacitor banks connected to each of the xxx kV busbars via one outgoing xxx kV feeder shall consist of one . X Mvar or . X .Mvar. Automatic and manual switching control shall be provided for the different stages. Automatic control shall be preferably provided by a numerical type of reactive power regulator including harmonic current supervision and. The operating mode of each capacitor bank shall be selectable via an Auto/ Manual / Off switch. There shall be On / Off push buttons for manual Close/trip. Manual closing shall only be possible with the selector switch in Manual position. Time delay facilities shall be provided in the manual control circuit to inhibit any re-closing within a set delay time. Delay time shall be adjustable over the range of 0-5 minutes The automatic control unit will initiate switching f the appropriate number of stages in or out of service. The control unit shall select the capacitor stage to be switched in and means shall be provided to vary the duty cycle to ensure a reasonable distribution of switching operations between different capacitor stages. The control system shall provide facility for manual / remote switching out, both locally and remotely from the control centre. Suitable indications of the status of the capacitor bank shall be provided locally and made available for signalling to the control centre. The detailed design of the control and indicating system shall be submitted for approval

Control Panel
A modular panel housing the individual and master controllers is required to be supplied and will be installed in the control room of the substation. The enclosures shall provide at least IP42 protection to the control equipment.

The capacitor bank will be controlled by a logic control scheme as specified in section below.

Controller
The controller shall automatically switch of the Capacitor Banks in the event of loss of the 22 kV supply. The scheme must be capable of re-starting automatically following restoration of supplies. The automatic sequence of switching IN/OUT of the capacitor units in stages shall be controlled by a programmable logic controller of the power factor controler (PFC). The switching sequence shall be coordinated with the logic control of the sub-station. device and Voltage Control (VC) device, and these shall be selectable from manual selection facilities. The switching steps shall be programmable to achieve switching of capacitor sub-banks through stage controlled circuit breaker. Tenderers shall state the substation parameters that are necessary for implementation of the control system, including the required specification of the main transformer CTs. A flow chart detailing the switching sequences shall be included in the Tender. Power Factor Control The PFC relay/equipment shall have a range suitable for proper selection of switching In/Out of the Sub-banks to maintain the Target Power Factor via the PLC. The relay PF setting range shall be. 0.8 CAPACITIVE UNITY 0.8 INDUCTIVE The relay shall have as a minimum a digital display of PF, Target PF, Operation Time Delay, voltage and current. Details of the PFC equipment/manufacturer shall be given in Schedule C.. TESTING

General
The manufacturer shall prepare a programme of type and routine tests and submit these to the Purchaser at least on month before commencement of the programme. Each capacitor unit shall be routine tested to IEC 60871-1&2. Type test certification according to IEC60871-1&2 shall be submitted to the Purchaser for approval. Type test evidence in lieu of tests shall only be accepted on units of identical construction and similar rating to those proposed for this application. Other equipment associated with that capacitor banks shall be subject to routine tests to the relevant IEC standard. The complete capacitor sub-bank assembly shall be subject to insulation testing at the factory. A functional test of the complete capacitor bank control, protection and interlocking schemes shall be carried out in the factory. These shall include secondary injection tests on the protection relays. Simulation tests shall be carried out on all control logic for the integrity of the PFC and VC functions. Routine test results shall be produced and must be available at the time of delivery of the equipment.

Factory Acceptance Tests

CEB reserves the right to witness all Factory Acceptance Tests (FAT, and all costs including travel board and lodgings for such tests are to be to the Contractors account. Notification of the FAT programme shall be forwarded to CEB at least 2 weeks before the tests.

Site Tests
After the plant and ancillary equipment has been erected and connected on site, the installation contractor shall, under the supervision of the manufacturer, carry out tests to the satisfaction of CEB. Details of site tests shall be agreed with CEB, but shall include. System measurements of harmonics to ensure that the addition of the bank has not affected the system. Visual checks of all equipment (for damage, leaks etc). Earthing, earth switches, door operated earth switches. a) Continuity of cable connections, ad phasing as appropriate b) Insulation to earth c) Insulation between phases d) Fuse ratings e) Correct operation of protection relays f) Correct operation of controllers

The Site Acceptance Test (SAT) format for the capacitor banks shall be forwarded by the capacitor bank manufacturer.

Sizing of Capacitor banks for power factor improvement The Power Factor Correction of electrical loads is a problem common to all industrial companies. Every user which utilizes electrical power to obtain work in various forms continuously asks the mains to supply a certain quantity of active power together with reactive power. Most loads on an electrical distribution system can be placed in one of three categories: Resistive Inductive Capacitive The most common of these on modern systems is the inductive load. Typical examples includes transformer, fluorescent lighting, AC induction motors, Arc/induction, furnaces etc. which draw not, only active power from the supply, but also inductive reactive power (KVAr). Common characteristics of these inductive loads is that they utilize a winding to produce an electromagnetic field which allows the motor or transformer to function and requires certain amount of electrical power in order to maintaining the field. Therefore Active Power (KW) actually performs the work whereas Reactive Power (KVAr) sustains the electro-magnetic field. This reactive power though is necessary for the equipment to operate correctly but could be interpreted as an undesirable burden on the supply. If we quantify power factor improvement aspect from the utility companys point of view, than raising the average operating power factor of the network from 0.7 to 0.9 means: Cutting costs due to ohmic losses in the network by 40% Increasing the potential of production and distribution plants by 30%. These figures speak for themselves: it means saving hundreds of thousands of tons of fuel and making several power plants and hundreds of transformer rooms available. Thus in the case of low power factors utility companies charge higher rates in order to cover the additional costs they must incur due to the inefficiency of the system that taps energy. It is a well-known fact that electricity users relying on alternating current with the exception of heating elements absorb from the network not only the active energy they convert into mechanical work, light, heat, etc. but also an inductive reactive energy whose main function is to activate the magnetic fields necessary for the functioning of electric machines. Power Factor is also defined as cos = kW / KVA One can see after compensation requirement of kVAR (equal to kVAR1 kVAR2) from the system has gone down. Since kVA = kW + kVAR decreased kVAR requirement from the system has will result in decreased kVA requirement, which will consequently result in lower current consumption from the source. Point to be noted in this case that any load which was operating at a power factor of 0.85 before compensation continues to operate on same power factor of 0.85 even after compensation. It is the source power factor which has been improved by compensating the kVAR requirement of that particular load (or group of loads) from parallel connected capacitor banks. The source is now relieved of providing some amount of kVAR (=kVAR1 kVAR2). COMPENSATED kVAR = kVAR1 kVAR2 = kW tan1 tan 2 = kW [tan1 tan 2]

Power Factor Triangle Hence Required Rating of Capacitor banks to be connected = kW [tan1 - tan 2] Where, cos 1 = Operating Power Factor cos 2 = Target Power Factor or Power Factor after improvement.

Automatic capacitor banks consist of stages controlled by a power factor controller which ensures that the required capacitor power is always connected to the system, it means that always would be optimal correction. (pic by energolukss.lv) Sizing of switching device for Capacitor banks It should be noted that in an inductance the current lags the voltage by 90 degrees and in a capacitor the current leads the voltage by 90 degrees. These relationships are very important for drawing phasor diagrams. It is very convenient to remember these relationships by the word CIVIL as follows:

Hence Current drawn from Capacitor bank =

Since sin90 = 1 hence the equation for current drawn can be rewritten as:

The relevant Standards on this device recommend a continuous overload capacity of 30%. A capacitor can have a tolerance of up to +15% in its capacitance value. All current-carrying components such as breakers, contactors, switches, fuses,

cables and busbar systems associated with a capacitor unit or its banks, must therefore be rated for at least 1.5 times the rated current. The rating of a capacitor unit will thus vary in a square proportion of the effective harmonic voltage and in a direct proportion to the harmonic frequency. This rise in kVAR, however, will not contribute to improvement of the system power factor. but only of the overloading of the capacitors themselves. Therefore it may, however, sometimes be desirable to further enhance the overloading capacity of the capacitor and so also the rating of the current-carrying components if the circuit conditions and type of loads connected on the system are prone to generate excessive harmonics. Examples are when they are connected on a system on which we operating static drive and arc furnaces. It is desirable to contain the harmonic effects as far as practicable to protect the capacitors as well as inductive loads connected on the system and the communication network, if running in the vicinity. Hence as per above discussion when determining the actual load current of a capacitor unit in operation, a factor of 1.15 is additionally considered to account for the allowable tolerance in the capacitance value of the capacitor unit. Effective kVAR = 1.3 x 1. I5 = 1.5 times the rated kVAR and for which all switching and protective devices must be selected. Taking care of harmonics It is common practice to leave the star-connected capacitor banks ungrounded when used in the system or use delta-connected banks to prevent the flow of third harmonic currents into the power system through the grounded neutral. Use of filter circuits in the power lines at suitable locations, to drain the excessive harmonic quantities of the system into the filter circuits. A filter circuit is a combination of capacitor and series reactance, tuned to a particular harmonic frequency (series resonance), to offer it the least impedance at that frequency and hence, filter it out. Say, for the fifth harmonic, Xc5 = XLS. The use of a reactor in series with the capacitors will reduce the harmonic effects in a power network, as well as their effect on other circuits in the vicinity, such as a telecommunication network. The choice of reactance should be such that it will provide the required detuning by resonating below the required harmonic, to provide a least impedance path for that harmonic and filter it out from the circuit. The basic idea of a filter circuit is to make it respond to the current of one frequency and reject all other frequency components. At power frequency, the circuit should act as a capacitive load and improve the p.f. of the system. For the fifth harmonic, for instance, it should resonate below 5 x 50 Hz for a 50 Hz system, say at around 200-220 Hz, to avoid excessive charging voltages which may lead to: Overvoltage during light loads Overvoltage may saturate transformer cores and Failure of capacitor units and inductive loads connected generate harmonics in the system. It should be ensured that under no condition of system disturbance would the filter circuit become capacitive when it approaches near resonance. To achieve this, the filter circuits may be tuned to a little less than the defined harmonic frequency. Doing so will make the Land hence XL, always higher than Xc, since This provision will also account for any diminishing variation in C, as may be caused by ambient temperature, production tolerances or failure of a few capacitor elements or even of a few units during operation.

The power factor correction system would thus become inductive for most of the current harmonics produced by power electronic circuits and would not magnify the harmonic effects or cause disturbance to a communication system if existing in the vicinity A filter circuit can be tuned to the lowest (say the fifth) harmonic produced by an electronic circuit. This is because LT capacitors are normally connected in delta and hence do not allow the third harmonic to enter the circuit while the HT capacitors are connected in star, but their neutral is left floating and hence it does not allow the third harmonic to enter the circuit. In non-linear or unbalanced loads, however, the third harmonic may still exist. For a closer compensation, uni-frequency filters can be used to compensate individual harmonic contents by tuning the circuit to different harmonics. For more exact compensation, the contents and amplitudes of the harmonic quantities present in the system can be measured with the help of an oscilloscope or a harmonic analyzer before deciding on the most appropriate filter circuit/circuits. Theoretically, a filter is required for each harmonic, but in practice, filters adjusted for one or two lower frequencies are adequate to suppress all higher harmonics to a large extent and save on cost. If we can provide a series reactor of 6% of the total kVAR of the capacitor banks connected on the system, most of the harmonics present in the system can be suppressed. With this reactance, the system would be tuned to below the fifth harmonic (at 204 Hz) for a 50Hz system. Working of APFC Relay The basic principle of this relay is the sensing of the phase displacement between the fundamental waveforms of the voltage and current waves of power circuit. Harmonic quantities are filtered out when present in the system. This is a universal practice to measure the p.f. of a system to economize on the cost of relay. The actual p.f. of the circuit may therefore be less than measured by the relay. But one can set the relay slightly higher (less than unity), to account for the harmonics, when harmonics are present in the system. From this phase displacement, a D.C. voltage output is produced by a transducer circuit. The value of the D.C. voltage depends upon the phase displacement, i.e. the p.f. of the circuit. This D.C. voltage is compared with a built-in reference D.C. voltage, adjustable by the p.f. setting knob or by selecting the operating band provided on the front panel of the relay. Corrective signals are produced by the relay to switch ON or OFF the stage capacitors through a built-in sequencing circuit to reach the desired level of p.f. A little lower p.f. then set would attempt to switch another unit or bank of capacitors, which may overcorrect the set p.f. Now the relay would switch off a few capacitor units or banks to readjust the p.f. and so will commence a process of hunting, which is undesirable. To avoid such a situation the sensitivity of the comparator is made adjustable through the knob on the front panel of the relay. The sensitivity control can be built in terms of phase angle (normally adjustable from 4 to 14 degrees electrical) or percentage kVAR. The sensitivity, in terms of an operating band, helps the relay to avoid a marginal overcorrection or under correction and hence the hunting. As soon as the systems actual p.f. deviates from the pre-set limits, the relay becomes activated and switches in or switches out capacitor units one by one, until the corrected p.f. falls within the sensitivity limit of the relay. The power factor correction relays are normally available in three versions:

Electromagnetic (being quickly outdated). They are very slow, and may take up to 2 minutes or more to initiate a correction. Solid state-based on discrete ICs. Solid state-based on micro-controllers (microprocessors). A time delay is built in to allow discharge of a charged capacitor up to 90% before it is reswitched. This is achieved by introducing a timer into the relays switching circuit. The timer comes on whenever an OFF signal occurs, and blocks the next operation of a charged capacitor, even on an ON command, until it is discharged to at least 90% of the applied voltage. This feature ensures safety against an overvoltage. Normally this time is 1-3 minutes for LT and 5-10 minutes for HT shunt capacitors unless fast-discharge devices are provided across the capacitor terminals to reduce this time. Fast-discharge devices are sometimes introduced to discharge them faster than these stipulations to match with quickly varying loads. The ON action begins only when the timer is released. The time of switching between each relay step is, however, quite short, of the order of 3-5 seconds. It includes the timings of the control circuit auxiliary relays (contactors). It may be noted that of this, the operating time of the static relay is scarcely of the order of three to five cycles. In rapidly changing loads it must be ensured that enough discharged capacitors are available in the circuit on every close command. To achieve this, sometimes it may be necessary to provide special discharge devices across the capacitor terminals or a few extra capacitor units to keep them ready for the next switching. It may require a system study on the pattern of load variations and the corresponding p.f. Fast switching, however, is found more often in LT systems than in HT. HT systems are more stable, as the variable loads are mostly LT. The above discussion is generally related to IC-based solid-state relays and in most parts to microprocessor based relays of the more rudimentary types. Power Factor Correction of Induction Motor The selection of capacitor rating, for an induction motor, running at different loads at different times, due either to change in load or to fluctuation in supply voltage, is difficult and should be done with care because the reactive loading of the motor also fluctuates accordingly. A capacitor with a higher value of kVAR than the motor kVAR, under certain load conditions, may develop dangerous voltages due to self-excitation. At unity power factor, the residual voltage of a capacitor is equal to the system voltage. It rises at leading power factors. These voltages will appear across the capacitor banks when they are switched off and become a potential source of danger to the motor and the operator. Such a situation may arise when the capacitor unit is connected across the motor terminals and is switched with it. This may happen during an open transient condition while changing over from star to delta, or from one step to another, as in an A/T switching, or during a tripping of the motor or even while switching off a running motor. In all such cases the capacitor will be fully charged and its excitation voltage, the magnitude of which depends upon the p.f. of the system, will appear across the motor terminals or any other appliances connected on the same circuit. The motor, after disconnection from supply, will receive the self-excitation voltage from the capacitor and while running may act as a generator, giving rise to voltages at the

motor terminals considerably higher than the system voltage itself. The solution to this problem is to select a capacitor with its capacitive current slightly less than the magnetizing current, Im, of the motor, say, 90% of it. If these facts are not borne in mind when selecting the capacitor rating, particularly when the p.f. of the motor is assumed to be lower than the rated p.f. at full load, then at certain loads and voltages it is possible that the capacitor kVAR may exceed the motor reactive component, and cause a leading power factor. A leading p.f. can produce dangerous overvoltages. This phenomenon is also true in an alternator. If such a situation arises with a motor or an alternator, it is possible that it may cause excessive torques. Keeping these parameters in mind, motor manufacturers have recommended compensation of only 90% of the no-load kVAR of the motor. irrespective of the motor loading. This for all practical purposes and at all loads will improve the p.f. of the motor to around 0.9-0.95. which is satisfactory. Motor manufacturers suggest the likely capacitor ratings for different motor ratings and speeds.

Low Voltage Power Capacitor Maximum Permissible Current Capacitor units shall be suitable for continuous operation at an RMS current of 1.30 times the current that occurs at rated sinusoidal voltage and rated frequency, excluding transients. Taking into account the capacitance tolerances of 1.1 CN, the maximum permissible current can be up to 143 IN. These overcurrent factors are intended to take care of the combined effects of harmonics and overvoltages up to and including1.10 UN, according to IS 13340. Discharge Device Each capacitor unit or bank shall be provided with a directly connected discharge device. The discharge device shall reduce the residual voltage from the crest value of the rated value UN to 50 V or less within 1 min, after the capacitor is disconnected from the source of supply. There must be no switch, fuse or any other isolating device between the capacitor unit and the discharge device. A discharge device is not a substitute for short-circuiting the capacitor terminals together and to earth before handling.

Where: t = time for discharge from UN Jr to UR(s), R = equals discharge resistance C = rated capacitance (pF) per phase, UN = rated voltage of unit (V), UR = permissible residual voltage k = coefficient depending on both resistance and capacitor unit connections, Value of k to be taken as per IS13340

Configuration of Capacitor bank A delta-connected bank of capacitors is usually applied to voltage classes of 2400 volts or less. In a three-phase system, to supply the same reactive power, the star connection requires a capacitor with a capacitance three times higher than the delta connected capacitor. In addition, the capacitor with the star connection results to be subjected to a voltage 3 lower and flows through by a current 3 higher than a capacitor inserted and delta connected. For Three Phase STAR Connection Capacity of the capacitor bank C = Qc / (2FrUr2) Rated current of the components IRC = 2FrCUr / 3 Line current I = IRC Three Phase Delta Connection Capacity of the capacitor bank C = Qc / (2FrUr2.3) Rated current of the components IRC = 2FrCUr Line current I = IRC / 3 Where, Ur = rated voltage, which the capacitor must withstand indefinitely; Fr = rated frequeny Qc = generally expressed in kVAR (reactive power of the capacitor bank) While deciding the size of capacitor bank on any bus it is necessary to check the voltage rise due to installation of capacitors under full load and light load conditions. It is recommended to limit the voltage rise to maximum of 3% of the bus voltage under light load conditions. The voltage rise due to capacitor installation may be worked out by the following expression. Voltage Drop/Rise Due to Switching Switching on or off a large block of load causes voltage change. The approximate value can be estimated by: Voltage change load in MVA/fault level in MVA Switching a capacitor bank causes voltage change, which can be estimated by: Voltage change capacitor bank rating in MVA /system fault level in MVA Where, % VC = % voltage change or rise due to capacitor % X = % Reactance of equipment e.g. Transformer If the capacitor bank is STAR connected than the required value of C will be higher in comparison to the value of C in DELTA connection for the same value of required kVAR. Higher value of C will cause higher voltage rise of the system causing nuisance tripping of the equipment provided with over voltage protection. It is common practice to leave the star-connected capacitor banks ungrounded (there are separate reason for leaving it ungrounded) when used in the system or use delta-connected banks to prevent the flow of third harmonic currents into the power system through the grounded neutral. Large capacitor banks can be connected in STAR ungrounded, STAR grounded or delta. However, the wye ungrounded connection is preferable from a protection standpoint. For the STAR ungrounded system of connecting single capacitor units in parallel across phase-to-neutral voltage the fault current through any incomer fuse or breaker of capacitor bank is limited by the capacitors in the two healthy

phases. In addition the ground path for harmonic currents is not present for the ungrounded bank. For STAR grounded or delta-connected banks, however, the fault current can reach the full short circuit value from the system because the sound phases cannot limit the current. Detuning of Capacitor Banks In an industrial plant containing power factor correction capacitors, harmonics distortions can be magnified due to the interaction between the capacitors and the service transformer. This is referred to as harmonic resonance or parallel resonance. It is important to note that capacitors themselves are not main cause of harmonics, but only aggravate potential harmonic problems. Often, harmonicrelated problems do not show up until capacitors are applied for power factor correction. In de-tuned systems, reactors are installed in series with the capacitors and prevent resonance conditions by shifting the capacitor/network resonance frequency below the first dominant harmonic (usually the 5th). Impedance of the capacitor decreases with increase in frequency. Capacitor capacity to cancel out harmonic decreases with increase in frequency. This offer the low impedance path to harmonic currents. These harmonic currents added to the fundamental current of capacitors can produce dangerous current overloads on capacitor. Each of the harmonic currents causes the voltage drop across the capacitor. This voltage drop is added to the fundamental voltage. Thus in presence of harmonics higher voltage rating of capacitor is recommended. This overvoltage can be much above permissible 10% value when resonance is present. Another important aspect is resonance which can occur when p.f. capacitors forms the series or parallel resonant circuit with impedance of supply transformer. If the resonance frequency of this LC circuit coincides with one of the harmonic present, the amplitude of the harmonic current flowing through LC circuit is multiplied several times damaging the capacitors, supply transformer and other network components. Precautions to be taken while switching ON a capacitor bank Make sure that there is adequate load on the system. The normal current of the capacitor to be switched ON at 440 volts is say 100 amps. Therefore the minimum load current at which the capacitor should be switched ON is 130-150 amps. If one capacitor unit is already on and a second one is to be added then minimum load current on this bus system must be equal to or more than the combined capacitor current of the two banks by at least a factor of 1.35 to 1.5. After switching off the capacitor wait for at least one minute before switching it on. Earth all the live terminals only after waiting for one minute before touching these with spanner etc. If above precautions are not observed, this could lead to dangerous situations both for plant and personnel. Switch off the capacitors when there is not enough load. This is a MUST. If the capacitors are kept ON when there is no load or less load then Power factor goes to leading side and system voltage increases which may cause damage to the capacitors as well as other electrical equipments and severe disturbance can be caused.) If the line voltages are more than the capacitor rated voltage, then do not switch on the capacitors. As the load builds up, the line voltage will fall. Switch on the capacitors then only. Operation of capacitor bank and co relatation with harmonics in the system

Harmonics can be reduced by limiting the non-linear load to 30% of the maximum transformers capacity. By doing this we ensure that power system does not exceeds the 5% voltage distortion level of IEEE Standard 519. However, with power factor correction capacitors installed, resonating conditions can occur that could potentially limit the percentage of non-linear loads to 15% of the transformers capacity. Use the following equation to determine if a resonant condition on the distribution could occur: FR = kVASC / kVARC Where, FR = resonant frequency as a multiple of the fundamental frequency kVASC= short circuit current at the point of study kVARC = capacitor rating at the system voltage If FR equals or is closed to a characteristic harmonic, such as the 5th or 7th, there is a possibility that a resonant condition could occur. Almost all harmonic distortion problems occur when the parallel resonance frequency is close to the fifth or seventh harmonic, since these are the most powerful harmonic current components. The eleventh and thirteenth harmonics may also be worth evaluating. True and displacement power factor specially with regards to variable speed drives? Power factor of variable speed drives With the six-step and current source inverters, the power factor will be determined by the type of front end used. When SCRs are used, the power factor will be relatively poor at reduced speeds. When diodes with a dc chopper are used, the power factor will be the same as a PWM inverter, which is relatively high (near to unity) at all, speeds. True power factor is the ratio of real power used in kilo watts (kW) divided by the total kilo volt-amperes. Displacement power factor is a measure of the phase displacement between the voltage and current at the fundamental frequency. True power factor includes the effects of harmonics in the voltage and current. Displacement power factor can be corrected with capacitor banks. Variable speed drives have different displacement power factor characteristics, depending on the type of rectifier. PWM type variable speed drives use a diode bridge rectifier and, have displacement power factors very close to unity. However, the input current harmonic distortion can be very high for these variable speed drives, resulting in a low true power factor. True power factor is approximately 60% despite the fact that the displacement power factor is very close to unity. The true power factor can be improved substantially in this case through the application of input chokes or transformers which reduce current distortion. Capacitor banks provide no power factor improvement for this type of variable speed drives and can make the power factor worse by magnifying the harmonic levels.