FAKULTI KEJURUTERAAN

JABATAN KEJURUTERAAN ELEKTRIK &

ELEKTRONIK

EEE 2241
ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING
LAB II

Familiarization with PSCAD/EMTDC

software and understanding Power Factor
Correction
PSCAD LAB
Group Number: 6

Group Members: Matrix No. :

1.WATHINEE SUKCHAREAN A/P THIWA 2170294

2.KHALEEDA FARISAH BINTI MOHD FARID 2170297

3. PKDT MOHAMMED ZULHILMI BIN MUSA 2170277

LAB 7-2
 Familiarization with
PSCAD/EMTDC software
and understanding Power
Factor Correction

REQUIREMENTS:

The students MUST bring the reference books related to power system and any other notes during the
laboratory session. Additional information can be obtained from journal or conference papers.

OBJECTIVE:

At the end of the experiment, students should have the ability:

1. To analyse power factor correction.

2. To utilise PSCAD/EMTDC in modelling of AC circuits and plotting of results.

LAB 7-3
INTRODUCTION

The phase angle of the load impedance plays a very important role in the absorption of power by load
impedance. As illustrated in equation below, the average power dissipated by an AC load is dependent
on the cosine of the angle of the impedance. To recognize the importance of this factor in AC power
computation, the term cos(θ) is referred to as the power factor (pf).

also, can be written in complex form as S = P + jQ, where P is average power while Q is reactive
power. Then the power triangle can be presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Power Triangle of complex power, S.

1 𝑇 1 𝑇 𝑉𝐼 1 𝑇 𝑉𝐼
𝑃𝑎𝑣 = ∫ 𝑝(𝑡)𝑑𝑡 = ∫ 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃)𝑑𝑡 + ∫ cos(2𝜔𝑡 − 𝜃) 𝑑𝑡
2 0 𝑇 0 2 𝑇 0 2

𝑉𝐼 1 𝑉2 1
𝑃𝑎𝑣 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠(𝜃) = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 𝐼 2 |𝑍|𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 𝑉̃ 𝐼̃𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝜃
2 2 |𝑍| 2

Note that the power factor is equal to 0 for a purely inductive or capacitive load and equal to 1 for a
purely resistive load; in every other case,

0 < 𝑝𝑓 < 1

The equivalent expression for the power factor is given in the following:

𝑃𝑎𝑣
𝑝𝑓 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = ̃and ̃I are the load voltage and current
where V
𝑉̃ 𝐼̃
A power factor close to unity signifies an efficient transfer of energy from the AC source to the load,
while a small power factor corresponds to inefficient use of energy. It should be apparent that if a load
requires a fixed amount of real power, the source will provide the smallest amount of current when the
power factor is the greatest, that is, when cos θ =1. If the power factor is less than unity, some addition
current will be drawn from the source, lowering the efficiency of power transfer from the source to the
load. However, it is possible to improve the power factor of a load according to a procedure called
power factor correction, that is, by placing a suitable reactance in parallel with the load so that the
reactive power component generated by the additional reactance is of opposite sign to the original load

LAB 7-4
reactive power. Most often the need is to improve the power factor of an inductive load, because many
common industrial loads consist of electric motors, which are predominantly inductive loads.

Table below illustrates the concept and summarizes all the important points so far. In the table, the
phasor voltage has a zero phase angle, and the current phasor is referenced to the phase of voltage.

(Courtesy of McGRAW-Hill)

PRE-LAB SESSION

LAB 7-5
1. Calculate the complex power for the below circuit with the given parameters below and illustrate a
complete power triangle (refer Figure 1)

2. Calculate a capacitive reactance XC, to correct the power factor to unity seen from the source by
connecting a parallel reactance to the load. Assuming that f = 50 Hz, VS = 120 30° 𝑉𝑟𝑚𝑠 , R = 4
Ω, XL = 2 Ω.

3. Students are only allowed to do the PSCAD simulation after lecturer validated their Pre-Lab
works.

LAB 7-6
LABORATORY SESSION

1. Familiarization with PSCAD/EMTDC:

Read ahead the “Simple Guide to using PSCAD/EMTDC” below to model AC circuits for this
experiment and plot their results.

2. Open the PSCAD/EMTDC software. There will be 3 windows appeared in the software which are
the workspace window, input/output window, and circuit window/view.

Workspace
Window

Circuit
Window/View

Figure 1: PSCAD/EMTDC Windows

Figure 2: PSCAD/EMTDC Output Window

Output Window

4. In order to open the existing file, go to “file”, a drop down menu should appear. Select Load
Project.
5. A dialog window should open with a default Files of type as PSCAD Files (*.psc, *.psl) for
PSCAD case project and library project respectively.

6. Navigate and select the desired project so that its name appear in the File name field, as shown;

Figure 4: Open File Option

7. When there is more than one case project loaded simultaneously in the Workspace window,
PSCAD needs to know which project to run when requesting simulation. This is accomplished
by setting the ‘Active Project’. In the work space window, right click on the title of an inactive
project and select Set as Active.

8. Model a single-phase ac circuit where a voltage source Vs at the given frequency is supplying
an inductive series R-L load, with an impedance of R and XL. Plot the waveforms for the voltage
and current (both in the same plot), the average power and reactive power delivered to the load.
The current phase is leading or lagging with the voltage? Prove it by plotting in the same plot.

9. Calculate a capacitive reactance XC, to be connected in parallel with the load, to bring the overall
power factor seen from the source to unity. Plot the voltage, current (both in the same plot),
then plot the average power. Is current phase is leading or lagging, illustrate the answer.

10. Can a series capacitor be used for power factor correction?

11. Write a report to discuss your finding on the above tasks.

SIMPLE GUIDE TO USING PSCAD/EMTDC

1. Launch PSCAD (student version) from Start Menu.

LAB 7-8
2. Creating new project:

Click on File/New/Case – A new project entitled ‘noname’ appears in the left workspace
window, indicating that a new project is created.

3. Setting active project:

In the workspace window, right click on the title of an inactive project and select Set as
active.

4. Saving active project:

Click on File/Save Active Project. Select appropriate folder and save the project as ‘Lab
UPNM’ or any other name.

5. Adding components to a project:

Double click on master library in left top workspace. Navigate to the area containing desired
component. Right click on component and select Copy. Open the project where you wish to
add the component (double click on ‘project name’), right click over blank area and select
Paste. (Note: There are many other ways to add a component to a project)

6. Setting Properties:

To set the properties double click on any component and change the parameters. At the top of
the parameter dialog is a drop list, which contains list of all parameter dialog pages. If only one
page exists, then the drop list will be disabled. For example, if you double click on resistor, it
will ask for only resistance value.

7. Making connections between components:

Click Wire Mode button in the main toolbar. Move the mouse pointer onto the project page.
The mouse pointer will have turned into a pencil, which indicates you are in Wire mode. To
draw a wire, move the cursor to the node where you want line to start and left click. Move the
cursor to where you want the line to end and right-click to complete the wire. Multi-segment
Wires may be built by continuing to left click at different points. To turn off Wire Mode, press
Esc key.

8. Measurement:

To measure currents and voltages ammeter and voltmeter are provided on toolbar on right.
Ammeter should be connected in series. To plot currents and voltages use output channel and
data signal label on toolbar, as shown in the figure below

where VHigh, is data signal label and is same signal name given in voltmeter or ammeter.
Voltmeter /Ammeter signal name and data label signal name should match. In the output
channel parameter dialog give title, unit, scale factor and min/max limits.

9. Adding a Graph Frame:

Right click on the Output Channel component. Select Input/Output Reference/Add Overlay
Graph with Signal. This will create a new graph frame, overlay graph and a curve

LAB 7-9
 simultaneously. For adding more graphs on same graph frame, right click on graph frame and
click Add Overlay Graph (Analog). This will add another graph on same frame. To put a
curve on this graph Ctrl+click on output channel and drag it on the graph. Curve corresponding
to that output channel will be added on to graph. When you run the simulation curves will be
automatically plotted on this graph. Press Y and X buttons to see complete curve (zoom out).

10. Setting time step and simulation time:

Right click on blank space in project, select Project Settings. In runtime tab you can set
simulation time, time step and plot step.

12. To simulate the project: Click on Build/R.

LAB 7-10