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ThreephaseYandDeltaConfigurations:PolyphaseACCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

ThreephaseYandDeltaConfigurations
Chapter10PolyphaseACCircuits

Initiallyweexploredtheideaofthreephasepowersystemsbyconnectingthree
voltagesourcestogetherinwhatiscommonlyknownastheY(orstar)
configuration.Thisconfigurationofvoltagesourcesischaracterizedbya
commonconnectionpointjoiningonesideofeachsource.(Figurebelow)

ThreephaseYconnectionhasthreevoltagesourcesconnectedtoacommon
point.
Ifwedrawacircuitshowingeachvoltagesourcetobeacoilofwire(alternator
ortransformerwinding)anddosomeslightrearranging,theYconfiguration
becomesmoreobviousinFigurebelow.

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ThreephaseYandDeltaConfigurations:PolyphaseACCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

Threephase,fourwireYconnectionusesacommonfourthwire.
Thethreeconductorsleadingawayfromthevoltagesources(windings)toward
aloadaretypicallycalledlines,whilethewindingsthemselvesaretypically
calledphases.InaYconnectedsystem,theremayormaynot(Figurebelow)be
aneutralwireattachedatthejunctionpointinthemiddle,althoughitcertainly
helpsalleviatepotentialproblemsshouldoneelementofathreephaseloadfail
open,asdiscussedearlier.

Threephase,threewireYconnectiondoesnotusetheneutralwire.

Whenwemeasurevoltageandcurrentinthreephasesystems,weneedtobe
specificastowhereweremeasuring.Linevoltagereferstotheamountof
voltagemeasuredbetweenanytwolineconductorsinabalancedthreephase
system.Withtheabovecircuit,thelinevoltageisroughly208volts.Phase
voltagereferstothevoltagemeasuredacrossanyonecomponent(source
windingorloadimpedance)inabalancedthreephasesourceorload.Forthe

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windingorloadimpedance)inabalancedthreephasesourceorload.Forthe
circuitshownabove,thephasevoltageis120volts.Thetermslinecurrentand
phasecurrentfollowthesamelogic:theformerreferringtocurrentthroughany
onelineconductor,andthelattertocurrentthroughanyonecomponent.
Yconnectedsourcesandloadsalwayshavelinevoltagesgreaterthanphase
voltages,andlinecurrentsequaltophasecurrents.IftheYconnectedsourceor
loadisbalanced,thelinevoltagewillbeequaltothephasevoltagetimesthe
squarerootof3:

However,theYconfigurationisnottheonlyvalidoneforconnectingthree
phasevoltagesourceorloadelementstogether.Anotherconfigurationisknown
astheDelta,foritsgeometricresemblancetotheGreekletterofthesame
name().TakeclosenoticeofthepolarityforeachwindinginFigurebelow.

Threephase,threewireconnectionhasnocommon.
Atfirstglanceitseemsasthoughthreevoltagesourceslikethiswouldcreatea
shortcircuit,electronsflowingaroundthetrianglewithnothingbuttheinternal
impedanceofthewindingstoholdthemback.Duetothephaseanglesofthese
threevoltagesources,however,thisisnotthecase.
OnequickcheckofthisistouseKirchhoffsVoltageLawtoseeifthethree
voltagesaroundtheloopadduptozero.Iftheydo,thentherewillbenovoltage

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voltagesaroundtheloopadduptozero.Iftheydo,thentherewillbenovoltage
availabletopushcurrentaroundandaroundthatloop,andconsequentlythere
willbenocirculatingcurrent.Startingwiththetopwindingandprogressing
counterclockwise,ourKVLexpressionlookssomethinglikethis:

Indeed,ifweaddthesethreevectorquantitiestogether,theydoadduptozero.
Anotherwaytoverifythefactthatthesethreevoltagesourcescanbeconnected
togetherinaloopwithoutresultingincirculatingcurrentsistoopenuptheloop
atonejunctionpointandcalculatevoltageacrossthebreak:(Figurebelow)

Voltageacrossopenshouldbezero.
Startingwiththerightwinding(120V120o)andprogressingcounter
clockwise,ourKVLequationlookslikethis:

Sureenough,therewillbezerovoltageacrossthebreak,tellingusthatno
currentwillcirculatewithinthetriangularloopofwindingswhenthatconnection
ismadecomplete.
Havingestablishedthataconnectedthreephasevoltagesourcewillnotburn
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Havingestablishedthataconnectedthreephasevoltagesourcewillnotburn
itselftoacrispduetocirculatingcurrents,weturntoitspracticaluseasasource
ofpowerinthreephasecircuits.Becauseeachpairoflineconductorsis
connecteddirectlyacrossasinglewindinginacircuit,thelinevoltagewillbe
equaltothephasevoltage.Conversely,becauseeachlineconductorattachesat
anodebetweentwowindings,thelinecurrentwillbethevectorsumofthetwo
joiningphasecurrents.Notsurprisingly,theresultingequationsfora
configurationareasfollows:

Letsseehowthisworksinanexamplecircuit:(Figurebelow)

Theloadonthesourceiswiredina.
Witheachloadresistancereceiving120voltsfromitsrespectivephasewinding
atthesource,thecurrentineachphaseofthiscircuitwillbe83.33amps:

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Soeachlinecurrentinthisthreephasepowersystemisequalto144.34amps,
whichissubstantiallymorethanthelinecurrentsintheYconnectedsystemwe
lookedatearlier.Onemightwonderifwevelostalltheadvantagesofthree
phasepowerhere,giventhefactthatwehavesuchgreaterconductorcurrents,
necessitatingthicker,morecostlywire.Theanswerisno.Althoughthiscircuit
wouldrequirethreenumber1gagecopperconductors(at1000feetofdistance
betweensourceandloadthisequatestoalittleover750poundsofcopperfor
thewholesystem),itisstilllessthanthe1000+poundsofcopperrequiredfora
singlephasesystemdeliveringthesamepower(30kW)atthesamevoltage
(120voltsconductortoconductor).
Onedistinctadvantageofaconnectedsystemisitslackofaneutralwire.
WithaYconnectedsystem,aneutralwirewasneededincaseoneofthephase
loadsweretofailopen(orbeturnedoff),inordertokeepthephasevoltagesat
theloadfromchanging.Thisisnotnecessary(orevenpossible!)ina
connectedcircuit.Witheachloadphaseelementdirectlyconnectedacrossa
respectivesourcephasewinding,thephasevoltagewillbeconstantregardless
ofopenfailuresintheloadelements.
Perhapsthegreatestadvantageoftheconnectedsourceisitsfaulttolerance.
Itispossibleforoneofthewindingsinaconnectedthreephasesourcetofail
open(Figurebelow)withoutaffectingloadvoltageorcurrent!

Evenwithasourcewindingfailure,thelinevoltageisstill120V,andloadphase
voltageisstill120V.Theonlydifferenceisextracurrentintheremaining
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voltageisstill120V.Theonlydifferenceisextracurrentintheremaining

functionalsourcewindings.
Theonlyconsequenceofasourcewindingfailingopenforaconnected
sourceisincreasedphasecurrentintheremainingwindings.Comparethisfault
tolerancewithaYconnectedsystemsufferinganopensourcewindinginFigure
below.

OpenYsourcewindinghalvesthevoltageontwoloadsofaconnectedload.
Withaconnectedload,twooftheresistancessufferreducedvoltagewhile
oneremainsattheoriginallinevoltage,208.AYconnectedloadsuffersaneven
worsefate(Figurebelow)withthesamewindingfailureinaYconnectedsource

OpensourcewindingofaYYsystemhalvesthevoltageontwoloads,and
loosesoneloadentirely.
Inthiscase,twoloadresistancessufferreducedvoltagewhilethethirdloses
supplyvoltagecompletely!Forthisreason,connectedsourcesarepreferred
forreliability.However,ifdualvoltagesareneeded(e.g.120/208)orpreferred

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ThreephaseYandDeltaConfigurations:PolyphaseACCircuitsElectronicsTextbook

forreliability.However,ifdualvoltagesareneeded(e.g.120/208)orpreferred
forlowerlinecurrents,Yconnectedsystemsaretheconfigurationofchoice.
REVIEW:
Theconductorsconnectedtothethreepointsofathreephasesourceor
loadarecalledlines.
Thethreecomponentscomprisingathreephasesourceorloadarecalled
phases.
Linevoltageisthevoltagemeasuredbetweenanytwolinesinathree
phasecircuit.
Phasevoltageisthevoltagemeasuredacrossasinglecomponentina
threephasesourceorload.
Linecurrentisthecurrentthroughanyonelinebetweenathreephase
sourceandload.
Phasecurrentisthecurrentthroughanyonecomponentcomprisinga
threephasesourceorload.
InbalancedYcircuits,linevoltageisequaltophasevoltagetimesthe
squarerootof3,whilelinecurrentisequaltophasecurrent.

Inbalancedcircuits,linevoltageisequaltophasevoltage,whileline
currentisequaltophasecurrenttimesthesquarerootof3.

connectedthreephasevoltagesourcesgivegreaterreliabilityinthe
eventofwindingfailurethanYconnectedsources.However,Yconnected
sourcescandeliverthesameamountofpowerwithlesslinecurrentthan
connectedsources.

PublishedunderthetermsandconditionsoftheDesignScienceLicense
(https://www.gnu.org/licenses/dsl.html)

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