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Electrical and Electronic Measurements and Instrumentation
Electrical and Electronic Measurements and Instrumentation
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10EE35
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
4.1 Introduction
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4.6 Exercises
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CHAPTER 4
POWER MEASUREMENTS
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Electric power is the rate of doing work. It is expressed in Watts. The higher units of
power used in practice include kilowatts, megawatts, etc. PWatts = VI COS φ , i.e., a power
of one watt is said to be expended when a source of one volt passes a current of one
ampere through a load resistance/ impedance of one ohm at unity power factor.
The power measurements are made with the help of a wattmeter. Wattmeter is an
indicating deflecting type of instrument used in laboratories for measurement of power in
various ranges. A wattmeter consists of two coils as shown in the schematic
representative figure 4.1
The wattmeter can be a UPF meter or LPF meter depending on the type of the load
connected in the measuring circuit. For power measurements in AC circuits, the
wattmeter is widely adopted. In principle and construction, it is a combination of those
applicable for an ammeter and a voltmeter.
The electrical power can be of three forms:
Real power or simply, the power is the power
consumed by the resistive loads on the system.
It is expressed in watts (W). This is also
referred as true power, absolute power, average
power, or wattage.
Reactive power is the power consumed by the
reactive loads on the system. It is expressed in
reactive volt-amperes (VAr).
Apparent power is the vector sum of the above
two power components. It is expressed in volt-
amperes (VA). Fig.4.2 The Power Triangle
Thus, it is observed from the power triangle shown in figure 4.2, that more is the
deviation of power factor from its unity value, more is the deviation of real power from
the apparent power. Also, we have
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The fixed coils are wound with heavy wire of minimum number of turns. The fixed coils
embrace the moving coil. Spring control is used for movement and damping is by air. The
deflecting torque is proportional to the product of the currents in the two coils. Theses
watt meters can be used for both DC and AC measurements. Since the deflection is
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proportional to the average power and the spring control torque is proportional to the
deflection, the scale is uniform. The meter is free from waveform errors. However, they
are more expensive.
Expression for the deflection torque:
Let iC, iP : Current in the fixed and moving coils respectively,
M : Mutual inductance between the two coils,
θ : Steady final deflection of the instrument,
K: Spring constant,
V, I : RMS values of voltage and current in the measuring circuit and
RP : Pressure coil resistance.
∫
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= (1/T)
0
IP I [ cos ϕ - cos (2wt - ϕ ) ] ( d M / d θ ) d wt
= ( V I / RP ) cos ϕ ( d M / d θ ) (4.4)
Since the controlling torque, Tc=Kθ, we have at balance of the moving pointer, Td=Tc, so
that, θ = [ V I cos ϕ / ( K RP ) ] ( d M / d θ )
= ( K’ d M / d θ ) P (4.5)
Where K’ = K RP and P is the power consumption. Thus the deflection of the wattmeter is
found to be the direct indication of the power being consumed in the load circuit.
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(a) (b)
Fig. 4.4 Wattmeter Connections
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 4.5.
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(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%. Thus, the
complete circuit of a low power factor wattmeter is as shown in figure 4.5.
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A single wattmeter can also be used for three phase reactive power measurements. For
example, the connection of a single wattmeter for 3-phase reactive power measurement in
a balanced three phase circuit is as shown in figure 4.6.
The current coil of the wattmeter is inserted in one line and the potential coil is connected
across the other two lines. Thus, the voltage applied to the voltage coil is VRB= VR-VB,
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where, VR and VB are the phase voltage values of lines R and B respectively, as illustrated
by the phasor diagram of figure 4.7.
The reading of the wattmeter, W3ph for the connection shown in figure 4.6 can be
obtained based on the phasor diagram of figure 4.7, as follows:
Wattmeter reading, Wph = Iy VRB
= Iy VL cos (90+Ø)
= - √3 Vph Iph sin Ø
= - √3 (Reactive power per phase) (4.6)
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The readings of the two wattmeters used for real power measurements in three phase
circuits as above vary with the load power factor as described in the table 4.1.
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1. A 3-phase, 10 kVA load has a PF of 0.342. The power is measured by two wattmeter
method. Find the reading of each wattmeter when the PF is (i) Lagging and (ii)
Leading
Solution:
The total VA, S3ph = √3VLIL
i.e., 10 x 103 = √3VLIL
Thus, VLIL= 5.7735 kVA
(i) Lagging PF:
W1 = VLIL cos(30-φ) = 5.7735 x 103 cos (30-70) =4.4228 kW and
W2 = VLIL cos(30+φ) = 5.7735 x 103 cos (30+70) = -1.0026 kW
(ii) Leading PF:
W1 = VLIL cos(30+φ) = -1.0026 kW and W2 = VLIL cos(30-φ) = 4.4228 kW
Note: It can be observed that when the PF is changed from lagging to leading, the
readings of wattmeters W1 and W2 get interchanged.
2. A 3-phase, 400 V load has a PF of 0.6 lagging. The two wattmeters read a total input
power of 20 kW. Find reading of each wattmeter.
Solution:
W1+W2 = P3ph = 20000 W, VL = 400 V, cos φ = 0.6
i.e., 20 x 103 = √3 (400) IL (0.6); solving, IL = 48.1125 A, φ = 53.130
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W1 = VLIL cos(30-φ) = 17.698 kW
W1 = VLIL cos(30+φ) = 2.302 kW
4.6 EXERCISES
1. The two wattmeter method is used to measure power consumed by a delta connected
load. Each branch of load has an impedance of 20∠600. Supply voltage is 400 V.
calculate the total power and the readings on the individual wattmeters.
2. The power input measurement to a synchronous motor is done using two wattmeter
method. Each of the wattmeter reads 40 kW at a certain operating condition. If now,
the PF is changed to 0.8 lagging, what would be the new wattmeter readings?
(Ans. : 22.6 kW and 57.4 kW)
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