Electrical Power and Energy Systems 33 (2011) 715720

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Electrical Power and Energy Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijepes

Single-phase power supply to balanced three-phase loads through SVAr compensators

F.R. Quintela , R.C. Redondo, J.M.G. Arvalo, N.R. Melchor
Escuela Tcnica Superior de Ingeniera Industrial, Universidad de Salamanca, 37700 Bjar, Spain

a r t i c l e

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Static VAr Compensators (SVCs) can transform phase-to-phase loads into balanced three-phase loads. This paper shows that this function of SVCs is reversible; that is, SVCs can be used to supply power from a single-phase line to balanced three-phase loads. Those three-phase loads then show themselves to the single-phase line as single-phase loads with the desired power factor, even unity. 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Article history: Received 21 October 2008 Received in revised form 7 December 2010 Accepted 9 December 2010 Available online 26 January 2011 Keywords: Static VAr compensator Single-phase power supply Three-phase load

1. Introduction Static VAr compensators (SVCs) are traditionally used to compensate reactive power in order to reduce energy losses in the line and adjust voltages. Research aimed to optimize this function is practically constant [15]. But, at the same time, SVCs can transform unbalanced three-phase loads into balanced three-phase loads with any desired power factor, even unity. The result does not alter the active power extracted from the power system [69]. This transformation can also be applied to phase-to-neutral or phase-to-phase loads. SVCs transform both types of loads into balanced three-phase loads without altering the active power extracted from the power grid. Until now, approaches to SVC analysis have been performed exclusively considering proper loads, that is, loads that absorb positive active power. Some authors have even considered only impedance loads, therefore limiting SVC application to just passive loads [79]. Power analysis procedures plainly show [6], however, that SVCs can be as efcient when coupled to active loads as they are when connected to passive loads, even if the power absorbed by those active loads is negative. This conclusion suggests that the functions of SVCs can be reversible. For example, a single-phase power supply can be transformed into a balanced three-phase supply that delivers power to a balanced three-phase load. In this case, it could be possible to supply power to balanced three-phase loads from a single-phase line through the proper SVC or, in other words,

a SVC could transform a single-phase line into a balanced threephase power supply in order to deliver power to a balanced three-phase load, which can be useful wherever the only energy source is a single-phase line (e.g., many rural areas) [10]. This paper shows that, in fact, this kind of power supply is possible, and deduces the calculation procedure for the adequate SVC. But rst, some SVC related concepts that are used below are outlined.

2. Compensators Fig. 1 shows a three-phase three-wire load with three identical meters. The readings of the meters are the active and reactive powers the load absorbs through the phases [11,12]. As Kirchhoffs rst law imposes the restriction that all the phase currents add up to zero, the following restrictions on the powers appear when the voltages are balanced [6]:

2PR1 PS1

p p 3Q S1 PT1 3Q T1 0 p p 2Q R1 Q S1 3PS1 Q T1 3PT1 0

Corresponding author. Tel.: +34 923408080.

E-mail addresses: felixrq@usal.es (F.R. Quintela), roberrm@usal.es (R.C. Redondo), jumagar@usal.es (J.M.G. Arvalo), norber@usal.es (N.R. Melchor). 0142-0615/$ - see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijepes.2010.12.028

If QR1 = QS1 = QT1 in (1), then it results that PR1 = PS1 = PT1 and the load is balanced. So, it sufces to modify the reactive powers the load absorbs through the phases to alter its balanced or unbalanced state. Fig. 2 shows a procedure to achieve this, consisting in connecting a load, which will be called compensator, in parallel with the load. If the reactive powers absorbed by the compensator through its phases are Q C Q R1 ; Q C Q S1 , and Q C Q T1 , that R S T is, exactly the opposite of those absorbed by the load, then the reactive powers absorbed by the compensator-load set will be Q R Q C Q R1 0; Q S Q C Q S1 0, and Q T Q C Q T1 0. The R S T

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R S T

_ IR _ IS _ IT

PR1,QR1
P ,QS1 S1 P ,QT1 T1

Load

Fig. 1. Powers absorbed by a three-phase three-wire load through each phase.

R S T

PR,QR PS ,QS PT ,QT

C QR

PR1,QR1 PS1 ,QS1 PT1,QT1 QC S QC T Compensator Load

Therefore, it is always possible to design compensators that absorb the desired reactive power through each phase. Seeing that these compensators do not absorb active power, because they are formed only by reactances, they can be used to balance any three-phase three-wire load without modifying the active power extracted from the power system. For example, in order to balance the load depicted in Fig. 2 while achieving unity power factor, it sufces to connect a compensator that absorbs through each of its phases exactly the opposite reactive powers the load absorbs through theirs, that is, Q C Q R1 ; Q C Q S1 , and Q C Q T1 . R S T The reactive powers of the needed reactance compensator are obtained by substituting those reactive powers in (3):

Q RS Q R1 Q S1 Q T1 Q ST Q S1 Q T1 Q R1 Q TR Q T1 Q R1 Q S1
Eq. (4) give the powers of the delta-connected reactances; these powers depend on the reactive powers absorbed through the phases by the three-phase load. The result is that the reactive power absorbed by the whole compensator-load set is zero, and a balanced load that absorbs no reactive power is obtained. Should a balanced load that absorbs a reactive power Q be preferred, then Q/3 must be added to the expressions on the right side of the equal sign of (3) and (4) [6]. 4. Transforming phase-to-phase loads into balanced threephase loads Reactance compensators can be employed to transform phaseto-phase loads into balanced three-phase loads. The readings of the identical var-meters depicted in Fig. 4a give the reactive power that the load connected to phases R and S absorbs through those phases [11,12]. The reactive power absorbed by the load through phase T is zero: QT1 = 0. If those values are substituted in (4), then the reactances of the compensator that transforms the load connected to phases R and S into a balanced three-phase load with unity power factor are obtained:

Fig. 2. If Q C Q R1 , Q C Q S1 , and Q C Q T1 , then Q R Q S Q T 0, and the R S T compensator-load set is balanced with unity power factor.

compensator-load set would then be balanced with unity power factor, because the reactive power extracted by the whole set from the power system is Q = QR + QS + QT = 0 [11]. Moreover, if the compensator does not absorb active power, then the load would have been balanced without altering the active power obtained from the system. This is possible by using reactance compensators, also known as Static VAr Compensators (SVC). 3. Reactance compensators Fig. 3 shows three delta-connected reactances, whose reactive powers are QRS, QST, and QTR. The three-terminal network they form will be called reactance compensator. The reactive powers it absorbs through each phase are [6]:

QC R

Q RS Q TR 2 Q ST Q RS C QS 2 Q TR Q ST C QT 2

Q RS Q R1 Q S1 Q ST Q R1 Q S1 2 Q TR Q R1 Q S1

Regardless of the values adopted for Q C , Q C , and Q C , there alR S T ways are three delta-connected reactances that absorb those reactive powers through the phases. These three reactances are the solution of (2):

The reactances of the compensator can also be obtained from the readings of the meter in Fig. 4b, which gives the active and reactive powers of the load. Seeing that PT1 = QT1 = 0, then P1 = PR1 + PS1, and Q1 = QR1 + QS1 [11]; from (1):

Q RS Q C Q C Q C R S T Q ST Q C Q C Q C S T R Q TR QC T QC R QC S 3

1 1 Q R1 p P1 Q 1 2 2 3 1 1 Q S1 p P1 Q 1 2 2 3
Substituting these values in (5):

(a)

R
C QR

S
C QS

T
C QT

R S T

PR1,QR1

(b)
R S T

P1,Q1

PS1,QS1

QRS QTR

QST

PT1,QT1

QRS QTR

QST

Fig. 3. Reactance compensator. The right values of QRS, QST, and QTR dene a compensator that absorbs any desired reactive powers through the phases.

Fig. 4. (a) Three identical meters placed to measure the active and reactive powers of each phase. (b) A reactance compensator can transform a phase-to-phase load into a balanced three-phase load with the desired power factor, even unity.

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717

Q RS Q 1 P1 Q ST p 3 P1 Q TR p 3

The expressions show that if the active power P1 and the reactive power Q1 of the phase-to-phase load are known, then the compensator reactances that transform the former load into a balanced load with unity power factor can be obtained. If the compensatorload set is required to absorb any desired reactive power Q while remaining balanced, then (7) has to take the form:

Q RS Q 1 Q ST Q TR

Q 3 P1 Q p 3 3 P1 Q p 3 3

wherein Q/3 has been added to the expression on the right side of each equal sign of (7). 5. Single-phase power supply to balanced three-phase loads Whenever the voltages of the three-phase power system are balanced, the variables involved in (8) must full the relations shown in those formulas. Therefore, any three of those variables can be arbitrarily xed, and the other three are deduced from (8). If a negative value is given to P1, then the load is a generator. It is possible to set the value of Q1 too: if Q1 = 0, for instance, then that generator neither absorbs nor delivers reactive power. As there still remain four variables, one can still be arbitrarily xed. Fig. 5a is similar to Fig. 4b, but now the load connected to phases R and S is explicitly shown as a generator. The effective voltage of that generator is U = URS, where U RS is the phasor of that voltage. If Pg is the active power delivered by that generator, then P1 = Pg. Furthermore, Pg is equal to the active power PL absorbed by the balanced three-phase load placed to the left side of Fig. 5a, as the compensator neither absorbs nor delivers active power because it is formed only by reactances. It is also true that Q1 = Qg, where Qg is the reactive power delivered by the generator. In (8) Q = QL, where QL is the reactive power absorbed by the three-phase load on the left side of Fig. 5a. Generally, Q g Q L , as the compensator can deliver or absorb reactive power. If those values are substituted in (8), then it results:

Q RS Q g Q ST Q TR

QL 3 PL Q L p 3 3 PL Q p L 3 3

Eq. (9) give the powers of the compensator reactances that allow a certain single-phase generator to deliver the power Pg = PL to a balanced three-phase load. The single-phase generator delivers to the compensator-load set the reactive power Qg, which is generally just a part of the reactive power QL absorbed by the load. Indeed, by adding the three formulas of (9) and solving Qg, it results that Qg = QL (QRS QST QTR). As QRS QST QTR is the reactive power delivered by the compensator, it follows that the generator only delivers the reactive power not supplied by the compensator to the load. This distribution of reactive powers only inuences the value of QRS, which is the sole compensator reactance that depends on Qg. As stated above, it is possible to x any desired value for Qg in (9). For example, Qg = QL, so the addition of (9) gives QRS + QST + QTR = 0; that is to say, the compensator does not absorb nor deliver reactive power, and all the reactive power absorbed by the load is delivered by the single-phase generator. An interesting fact is that whenever the compensator absorbs neither active nor reactive power, its phase currents form a balanced negativephase-sequence set [6]. A better solution is to design the compensator so that the generator does not have to deliver nor absorb reactive power. It sufces for that purpose to make Qg = 0 in (9). The compensator will then deliver all the reactive power QL absorbed by the load. In effect, if the three formulas of (9) are added with a sign change, and with Qg = 0, then the result is QRS QST QTR = QL. The rst member of this expression is the reactive power delivered by the compensator, which is equal to the power absorbed by the load. Fig. 5b is a more convenient representation of Fig. 5a. The single-phase generator is now supposed to be on the left side of the gure, though only the single-phase line coming from it has been depicted. The compensator allows to supply the active power PL and the reactive power QL to a balanced three-phase load from that single-phase line. In order to design such a compensator it sufces to know the powers PL and QL absorbed by the three-phase load when connected to a three-phase line of balanced voltages, wherein the effective phase-to-phase voltage is U. Eq. (9) provide the compensator reactances, and U coincides with the effective voltage of the single-phase line. The amount of the reactive power Qg that will be delivered by the single-phase line can be arbitrarily xed. As has already been said, an appropriate value could be Qg = 0, because then the single-phase line does not supply any reactive power, therefore producing the smallest possible power loss in the line. In other words, from the point of view of the single-phase line, the compensator designed using (9), and Qg = 0 as restriction, transforms the three-phase load into a single-phase load with unity power factor. Thus, the effect achieved by the reactance compensator may also be interpreted as a transformation of a balanced three-phase load into a single-phase load with, at the same time, its power factor corrected to any desired value, even unity. Note that this transfor-

(a)
Threephase load S PL,QL T R

P1,Q1
+

(b) _
_ URS I _ _ U RS I

P ,Qg g _ C IS _ QRS C IR QST QTR

QRS QTR

QST

_ IR1 _ I S1 _ I T1 _ C IT

Threephase load P ,QL L

Fig. 5. (a) Transformation of a single-phase generator into a three-phase generator. (b) Generalization of (a) where the three-phase load is placed to the right side of the gure. The network represents the power supply from a single-phase line to a balanced three-phase load.

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mation does not affect the performance of the load, which continues to work as a balanced three-phase load. The values of the compensator reactances can be obtained from their reactive powers by taking into account that, in general:

U2 Q

10

are obtained. Only three of those real equations are independent, and can lead to obtain the expressions deduced in (9) just by solving the values of QRS, QST, and QTR, that is, just by obtaining the reactance powers of the compensator that allows to deliver electric power to the balanced three-phase load through a single-phase line.

wherein X is any reactance that absorbs the reactive power Q when its effective voltage is U. 6. Direct analysis All of the above relies on the analysis of SVCs, and leads to the network of Fig. 5b. In this network, a compensator allows to supply electric power to a balanced three-phase load by means of a singlephase line. This reasoning seems quite convenient because it suggests the reversibility of SVCs. However, a direct analysis of Fig. 5b can be implemented without any reference to SVCs. The values of QRS, QST, and QTR can be calculated so that the phase voltages and currents in Fig. 5b be balanced. The effective voltage U = URS, the active power PL, and the reactive power QL absorbed by the balanced three-phase load, would be the starting values. The reactive power Qg, which the single-phase line has to deliver, must be xed, too. Qg can amount to any value, including zero. Once all these data are xed, the complex power delivered by the single-phase line is Sg P L jQ g . The complex power absorbed by the balanced threephase load is SL PL jQ L , and the power absorbed through each phase is S P L =3 jQ L =3. Therefore, the phase currents are:

7. Example Let a three-phase load be formed by three identical impedances whose values, in ohms, are Z R jX 4 j3, and let there be a single-phase line of effective voltage U 400 V. A balanced three-phase power source is created for that load (Fig. 6) by means of a SVC, so that the phase voltages are

U V RO V R p =0 3 U V SO V S p = 120 3 U V TO V T p =120 3

The effective current through each phase will then be IR1 p IS1 p p IT1 I1 V=Z 80= 3 A, wherein V U= 3, and Z 42 32 . The active power absorbed by the three-phase load is P L 3RI2 1 25600 W, and the reactive power is Q L 3XI2 19200 VAr. If 1 these data and Qg = 0 are used in (9), then the reactance powers of the p compensator, in VAr, are QRS= 6400, Q ST 6400 p 25600= 3, and Q TR 6400 25600= 3. The compensator delivers all the reactive power that the load needs, as QRS QST QTR = 19200 = QL. The single-phase line does not deliver reactive power. The values of the compensator reactances can be calculated using (10). If it is preferred that all the reactive power be delivered by the line instead, it sufces to make Qg = QL. From (9) it results that QRS = 12800, and the other two reactance powers remain unchanged. Now, the compensator is neither providing nor absorbing any reactive power. Indeed, QRS + QST + QTR = 0. All the reactive power absorbed by the three-phase load is delivered by the single-phase line. The compensator phase currents are, in this case, as follows:

IR1 IS1 IT1

VR ! S VS S VT !

11

wherein V R V=0 , V S V= 120 , and V T V=120 , with p V U= 3. The asterisk denotes the conjugate of the complex number. Only two of the three equations in (11) are independent, as the currents add up to zero. The currents of the three compensator terminals are:

IC j R

Q RS U RS

U TR Q ST Q RS C IS j j U ST U RS Q TR Q ST C IT j j U TR U ST

Q TR IC IRS ITR R 12 IC IST IRS S

jQ RS jQ TR 46:19=23:13 U U TR RS jQ ST U ST jQ RS U RS 46:19=143:13

wherein U RS V R V S , U ST V S V T , and U TR V T V R . Once again, the three equations in (12) are not independent of each other, as the three currents add up to zero too. The current of the single-phase line is:

IC ITR IST T

jQ TR jQ ST 46:19= 96:87 U U ST TR

Sg U RS

! 13

Moreover:

I IR1 IC R I IS1 IC S IT1 IC T

If the currents in (14) are replaced by their respective values from (11)(13), then three complex equations or six real equations

14

_ R IR1 _ _ URS S IS1 _ _ C IS_ _ T IT1 IRS IST _ _ C C IR QRS _ QST IT QTR ITR

_ Z _ Z _ Z

Fig. 6. Power supply from a single-phase line to a balanced three-phase load.

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719

(a)
R S T _ URS

_ IR _ IS _ IT _ _ _ VR VS VT

(b)
Load _ URS R S T SVC

_ IR _ IS _ IT _ _ _ VR VS VT

Load

Fig. 7. Feeding a three-phase load from (a) a three-phase line and (b) a single-phase line through the appropriate SVC.

which form a balanced negative-phase-sequence system, as mentioned above, because the compensator neither absorbs nor delivers reactive power.

8. Experimental tests Computer simulations that corroborate the above results were developed using Mathematica (Wolfram Research, Inc.) and LabVIEW (National Instruments, Corp.). Also, a three-phase load, which was formed by three identical Y-connected impedances, was rst coupled to a three-phase power line (Fig. 7a) and its phase voltage and currents were measured

using a National Instruments DAQ-Card and a Macintosh computer running LabVIEW [6]. Then that load was connected to a singlephase line using the appropriate SVC (Fig. 7b). The single-phase line of Fig. 7b was formed by two of the three phases of the former three-phase line. The phase voltages and currents were once more obtained. The results of both congurations were as expected: the phase voltages and currents measured when using a single-phase power supply to feed the three-phase load through the SVC were the same of those obtained using the three-phase power supply. Fig. 8 shows the voltage and current of each phase when the load was connected to the three-phase power grid, and Fig. 9 shows those voltages and currents when the load was connected to the single-phase line through the SVC. These results clearly show that the load could be fed as a balanced three-phase load from the single-phase line, with all its phase voltages and currents balanced. Finally, in order to avoid the stroboscopic effect, a balanced three-phase voltage system obtained with a SVC from a 230 V phase-to-neutral line was used to feed three discharge lamps in a delta connection (Fig. 10). The SVC was also designed so that the whole set had unity power factor. Fig. 11 shows the balanced

R N

i u uTR
3.8 F

uRS uST

1.5 F

Fig. 8. Screenshot of the phase voltages (top) and the phase currents (bottom) of the three-phase load that is connected to the three-phase power grid. Labels over each waveform are their effective value.

7.5 F
Fig. 10. Delta-connection of discharge lamps.

Fig. 9. Screenshot of the phase voltages (top) and the phase currents (bottom) of the three-phase load connected to a single-phase line through the appropriate SVC.

Fig. 11. (a) Balanced three-phase voltage system that prevents the stroboscopic effect. (b) Voltage and current in the single-phase line.

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F.R. Quintela et al. / Electrical Power and Energy Systems 33 (2011) 715720 [3] Hu Zechun, Wang Xifan, Taylor Gareth. Stochastic optimal reactive power dispatch: Formulation and solution method. Int J Electr Power Energy Syst 2010;32(July):61521. [4] Sei Alireza, Hesamzadeh Mohammad Reza. A hybrid optimization approach for distribution capacitor allocation considering varying load conditions. Int J Electr Power Energy Syst 2009;31(NovemberDecember):589695. [5] Zhijun E, Fang DZ, Chan KW, Yuan SQ. Hybrid simulation of power systems with SVC dynamic phasor model. Int J Electr Power Energy Syst 2009;31(June):61521. [6] Quintela FR, Arvalo JMG, Redondo RC. Power analysis of static VAr compensators. Int J Electr Power Energy Syst 2008;30(July):37682. [7] Bhim Sing, Anuradha Saxena, Kothari DP. Power factor correction and load balancing in three-phase distribution systems. In TENCON 98. 1998 IEEE Region 10 International Conference on Global Connectivity in Energy, Computer, Communication and Control; 1998, doi:10.1109/TENCON. 1998.798259. [8] San-Yi Lee, Wei-Nan Chang, Chi-Jui Wu. A compact algorithm for three-phase three-wire system reactive power compensation and load balancing. In International conference on energy management and power delivery, 1995. Proceedings of EMPD 95, vol. 1; 1995. p. 35863 [November]. [9] Lee San-Yi, Wu Chi-Jui, Chang Wei-Nan. A compact control algorithm for reactive power compensation and load balancing with static Var compensator. Electr Power Syst Res 2001;58:6370. [10] Hosseinzadeh N, Mayer JE, Wolfs PJ. Rural single wire earth return distribution networks Associated problems and cost-effective solutions 2011;33(2):159 170. [11] Quintela FR, Melchor NR. Multi-terminal network power measurement. Int J Elect Eng Edu 2002;39(2):14861. [12] Quintela FR, Redondo RC, Melchor NR, Redondo M. A general approach to Kirchhoffs laws. IEEE Trans Edu 2009;52(May):2738.

three-phase voltages of the lamps, and the voltage and current of the single-phase line. The power factor of the whole set is 0.99. Due to the initially low power factor of the lamps (0.4), the SVC could be formed only by three capacitors of 7.5, 3.8, and 1:5 lF. 9. Conclusions This paper shows that SVCs can be used to obtain a balanced three-phase system from a single-phase line in order to supply power to a balanced three-phase load. This feature can be used to incorporate SVCs in the design of three-phase receivers that could be connected wherever single-phase lines are the only ones available. A SVC whose values are automatically adapted to every load can also be the basis of a phase converter used to feed variable three-phase loads from single-phase power supplies, so that the overall power factor remains near unity. Formulas for the design of the SVCs based on various hypotheses have been deduced. References
[1] de Oliveira Leonardo W et al. Optimal reconguration and capacitor allocation in radial distribution systems for energy losses minimization. Int J Electr Power Energy Syst 2010;32(October):8408. [2] Wu WC, Zhang BM, Lo KL. Capacitors dispatch for quasi minimum energy loss in distribution systems using a loop-analysis based method. Int J Electr Power Energy Syst 2010;32(July):54350.