Chapter 12

Three Phase Circuits

Chapter Objectives:
 Be familiar with different three-phase configurations and how
to analyze them.
 Know the difference between balanced and unbalanced circuits
 Learn about power in a balanced three-phase system
 Know how to analyze unbalanced three-phase systems
 Be able to use PSpice to analyze three-phase circuits
 Apply what is learnt to three-phase measurement and
residential wiring

Huseyin Bilgekul
Eeng224 Circuit Theory II
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Eastern Mediterranean University Eeng 224 ‹#›
Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Three phase Circuits
 An AC generator designed to develop a single sinusoidal voltage for each rotation
of the shaft (rotor) is referred to as a single-phase AC generator.
 If the number of coils on the rotor is increased in a specified manner, the result is a
Polyphase AC generator, which develops more than one AC phase voltage per
rotation of the rotor
 In general, three-phase systems are preferred over single-phase systems for the
transmission of power for many reasons.
1. Thinner conductors can be used to transmit the same kVA at the same voltage, which
reduces the amount of copper required (typically about 25% less).

2. The lighter lines are easier to install, and the supporting structures can be less
massive and farther apart.

3. Three-phase equipment and motors have preferred running and starting

characteristics compared to single-phase systems because of a more even flow of power
to the transducer than can be delivered with a single-phase supply.

4. In general, most larger motors are three phase because they are essentially self-
starting and do not require a special design or additional starting circuitry.
Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Single Phase, Three phase Circuits

b) Single phase systems three-wire type.

a) Single phase systems two-wire type Allows connection to both 120 V and
240 V.

Two-phase three-wire system. The AC sources

operate at different phases. Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Three-phase Generator
 The three-phase generator has three induction coils placed 120° apart on the stator.
 The three coils have an equal number of turns, the voltage induced across each coil
will have the same peak value, shape and frequency.

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Balanced Three-phase Voltages

Three-phase four-wire system

Neutral Wire

A Three-phase Generator
Voltages having 120 phase difference

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Balanced Three phase Voltages

Neutral Wire

a) Wye Connected Source b) Delta Connected Source

Van  V p 0 Van  V p 0

Vbn  V p   120 Vbn  V p   120
Vcn  V p   240 Vcn  V p   240

a) abc or positive sequence b) acb or negative sequence Eeng 224 ‹#›

Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Balanced Three phase Loads
 A Balanced load has equal impedances on all the phases

a) Wye-connected load b) Delta-connected load

Balanced Impedance Conversion:

Conversion of Delta circuit to Wye or Wye to Delta.
ZY  Z1  Z 2  Z 3
Z   Z a  Zb  Zc
1
Z  3ZY ZY  Z 
3
Eeng 224 ‹#›
General Delta to Wye conversion

Delta to Wye Wye to Delta

works the same way for complex impedances Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Three phase Connections
 Both the three phase source and the three phase load can be
connected either Wye or DELTA.
 We have 4 possible connection types.
• Y-Y connection
• Y-Δ connection
• Δ-Δ connection
• Δ-Y connection
 Balanced Δ connected load is more common.
 Y connected sources are more common.

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Balanced Wye-wye Connection
 A balanced Y-Y system, showing the source, line and load impedances.

Line Impedance
Source Impedance
Load Impedance

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Balanced Wye-wye Connection
Line current In add up to zero.
Neutral current is zero:
In= -(Ia+ Ib+ Ic)= 0

 Phase voltages are: Van, Vbn and Vcn.

 The three conductors connected from a to A, b to B and c to C are called LINES.

 The voltage from one line to another is called a LINE voltage
 Line voltages are: Vab, Vbc and Vca

 Magnitude of line voltages is √3 times the magnitude of phase voltages. VL= √3 Vp

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Balanced Wye-wye Connection
Line current In add up to zero.
Neutral current is zero:
In= -(Ia+ Ib+ Ic)= 0

 Magnitude of line voltages is √3 times the magnitude of phase voltages. VL= √3 Vp

Van  Vp 0, Vbn  Vp   120, Vcn  Vp   120

Vab  Van  Vnb  Van  Vbn  3Vp 30
Vbc  Vbn  Vcn  3Vp   90
Vca  Vcn  Van  Van  Vbn  3Vp   210
Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Balanced Wye-wye Connection
 Phasor diagram of phase and line voltages

VL  Vab  Vbc  Vca

= 3 Van  3 Vbn  3 Vcn = 3Vp

V p  Van  Vbn  Vcn

Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Single Phase Equivalent of Balanced Y-Y Connection
 Balanced three phase circuits can be analyzed on “per phase “ basis..

 We look at one phase, say phase a and analyze the single phase equivalent circuit.
 Because the circuıit is balanced, we can easily obtain other phase values using their
phase relationships.

Van
Ia 
ZY

Eeng 224 ‹#›

Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Balanced Wye-delta Connection
 Three phase sources are usually Wye connected and three phase loads are Delta
connected.
 There is no neutral connection for the Y-∆ system.

VAB
I AB 
Z
VBC
I BC 
Z
VCA
I CA 
Z
Line currents are obtained from the phase currents IAB, IBC and ICA

I a  I AB  I CA  I AB 3  30 I L  I a  Ib  Ic
I b  I BC  I AB  I BC 3  30 I p  I AB  I BC  I CA
I c  I CA  I BC  I CA 3  30 I L  3I p
Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Balanced Wye-delta Connection
 Phasor diagram of phase and line currents

I L  I a  Ib  Ic
I p  I AB  I BC  I CA
I L  3I p

 Single phase equivalent circuit of the balanced Wye-delta connection

Z
3

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Balanced Delta-delta Connection
 Both the source and load are Delta connected and balanced.

VAB VBC VCA

I AB  , I BC  , I CA 
Z Z Z
I a  I AB  ICA , Ib  I BC  I AB , I c  I CA  I BC
Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Balanced Delta-wye Connection

Transforming a Delta connected source

to an equivalent Wye connection Single phase equivalent of Delta Wye connection

Vp   30
3

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Chapter 12
Three Phase Circuits

Chapter Objectives:
 Be familiar with different three-phase configurations and how
to analyze them.
 Know the difference between balanced and unbalanced circuits
 Learn about power in a balanced three-phase system
 Know how to analyze unbalanced three-phase systems
 Be able to use PSpice to analyze three-phase circuits
 Apply what is learnt to three-phase measurement and
residential wiring

Huseyin Bilgekul
Eeng224 Circuit Theory II
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Eastern Mediterranean University Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Power in a Balanced System
 The total instantaneous power in a balanced three phase system is constant.
v AN  2V p cos(t ) vBN  2V p cos(t  120) vCN  2V p cos(t  120)
ia  2 I p cos(t   ) ib  2 I p cos(t    120) ib  2 I p cos(t    120)
p  pa  pb  pc  v AN ia  vBN ib  vCN ic
p  2V p I p  cos(t ) cos(t   )  cos(t  120) cos(t    120)  cos(t  120) cos(t    120) 
1
cos A cos B  [cos( A  B)  cos( A  B)] Using the identity and simplifying
2

p  3V p I p cos

The instantenous power is not function of time.

The total power behaves similar to DC power.
This result is true whether the load is Y or  connected.
The average power per phase Pp  p .
3

Pp  p  V p I p cos 
3

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Power in a Balanced System
 The complex power per phase is Sp. The total complex power for all phases is S.
p  3V p I p cos 
1 1
Pp = p  V p I p cos  Qp = p  V p I p sin  S p  Vp I p
3 3
Sp  Pp  jQp  Vp I p Complex power for each phase
P  Pa  Pb  Pc  3Pp  3V p I p cos   3VL I L cos 
Q  3Q p  3V p I p sin   3VL I L sin 
3Vp 2
S=3Sp  3Vp I p  3I p 2 Z p  
Total complex power
Zp
S  P  jQ  3VL I L 
Vp , I p , VL and I L are all rms values,  is the load impedance angle
Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Power in a Balanced System
3Vp 2
S=3Sp  3Vp I p  3I p 2 Z p  
Toal complex power
Zp
S  P  jQ  3VL I L 
Vp , I p , VL and I L are all rms values,  is the load impedance angle

 Notice the values of Vp, VL, Ip, IL for different load connections.

VL  3 Vp IL  I p VL Vp IL  3 I p

Ip
Vp Vp
Ip Vp VL
VL
VL Ip
VL Ip
Vp Vp

VL Vp
Ip Ip
VL
Y connected load. Δ connected load. Eeng 224 ‹#›
Power in a Balanced System

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 Single versus Three phase systems
 Three phase systems uses lesser amount of wire than single phase systems for the
same line voltage VL and same power delivered.

a) Single phase system b) Three phase system

Wire Material for Single phase 2( r 2l ) 2r 2 2

  '2  (2)  1.33
Wire Material for Three phase 3( r l ) 3r
'2
3
 If same power loss is tolerated in both system, three-phase system use
only 75% of materials of a single-phase system

Eeng 224 ‹#›

Eeng 224 ‹#›
VL=840 V (Rms)

IL

Capacitors for pf
Correction

Eeng 224 ‹#›

 S 73650
IL    50.68A
3 VL 3 840
Without Pf Correction Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Unbalanced Three Phase Systems
 An unbalanced system is due to unbalanced voltage sources or unbalanced load.
In a unbalanced system the neutral current is NOT zero.

Unbalanced three phase Y connected load.

Line currents DO NOT add up to zero.

In= -(Ia+ Ib+ Ic) ≠ 0

Eeng 224 ‹#›

Eeng 224 ‹#›
 Three Phase Power Measurement
 Two-meter method for measuring three-phase power

Eeng 224 ‹#›

Residential Wiring

Single phase three-wire residential wiring

Eeng 224 ‹#›