5 Multiphase Circuits

_____________________________________________________________________________

Introduction

In this chapter we study multiphase or poly-phase circuits and systems.

In particular, students must understand the following which are normally covered in the electrical
engineering component of most undergraduate engineering courses:

Three-phase circuits
Measurement of power in three phase
Twoi-phase systems.

Students who feel that they are unfamiliar with one or more of the topics listed above should consult a
standard introductory electrical engineering circuits text book for help in these topics before beginning
this chapter. “Electrical and Electronic Technology” by Hughes published by Pearson Education,
covers all these topics in sufficient detail for this module.

Students may feel confident to tackle this chapter without referring back to a standard text. However
if you find yourself running into difficulties with the terminology, worked examples or tutorial questions,
stop and refer back to a standard text. A little extra time spent revising the fundamentals of circuit
analysis at this stage will make it much easier for you to understand the more advanced topics in the
module.

4
Multiphase Circuits

Learning objectives

To be familiar with the relationships between phase quantities and line quantities in a three-phase
power system.

To be familiar with three-phase power quantities, real power, reactive power, apparent power and
complex power.

To be familiar with methods of measuring three-phase power.

5
Multiphase Circuits

5.1 Three phase circuits

Almost all electric power generation and power transmission uses three-phase AC
circuits. A three-phase AC power system uses three-phase generators, three-phase
transformers and three-phase transmission lines. The power cables which lie below the
roads and pavements of our towns and cities are three phase cables, it is only at the
point where the supplies for individual houses are taken off that a single phase is used.
There are two reasons why power engineers use three-phase systems. Firstly the
output power per unit weight of a three-phase generator or three-phase motor is
greater than the corresponding figure for single-phase machines. Secondly the
instantaneous power in a three-phase system is constant, there is no time variation in
the torque required to drive a three-phase generator or the torque produced by a
three-phase motor.

A three-phase generator can be considered as three separate single phase generators

which have voltages of equal magnitude but with differing phase angles displaced by 120o
with respect to each other as shown in Figure 5.1.

Figure 5.1 Three phase system of voltages

If we take the voltage on phase a as the reference phasor the instantaneous values of
the voltages are:

a = Vm sin t
b = Vm sin (t - 120)
c = Vm sin (t - 240) (5.1)

6
Multiphase Circuits

assuming, as would be expected, that the magnitude of each phase is equal.

Note that in a balanced three phase system (i.e. all the voltages have equal magnitudes
and are displaced from each other by 120 degrees): a + b +c = 0

Also if equal impedances are connected to each phase the magnitude of each of the
three currents will be equal and the phase shift for each phase will be the same, thus
the instantaneous currents are:

ia = Im sin (t - )

ib = Im sin (t - 120- )
ic = Im sin (t - 240 - ) (5.2)

and ia + i b + i c = 0 (5.3)

The power delivered by each phase will be

Pa = Va Ia cos  = Pb = Pc (5.4)

where Va is the rms voltage per phase and Ia is the rms current per phase. The total
three phase power is given by

Total Power = 3 Va Ia cos  (5.5)

Cos  is known as the power factor i.e. the cosine of the phase displacement angle
between current and voltage for one phase of the three-phase system.

There are two alternative methods of connecting a load to a three phase system, star
or delta connection:

Figure 5.2(a) Star Connection Figure 5.2(b) Delta Connection

7
Multiphase Circuits

In a three phase supply system the voltage between phases a and b is known as the line
voltage and in a star system the voltage between a phase and neutral is known as the
phase voltage. The currents in the supply lines are known as line currents and the
current flowing in the impedances are known as phase currents.

By drawing the phasor diagram for the voltages in each type of system the relationships
between the magnitude of the line voltages and the magnitude of the phase voltages can
be found.

In a balanced star connected system:

Line current = phase current (5.6)
Line voltage = 3. phase voltage (5.7)

In a balanced delta connected system:

Line current = 3. phase current (5.8)
Line voltage = Phase voltage (5.9)

In a star connected system if Za = Zb = Zc then the neutral current is zero

Since power = 3 Va Ia cos , i.e. 3 x power supplied to each phase

VL
Then for star connection, Power = 3 . I L cos 
3

= 3 VL I L cos 

IL
and for delta connection, Power = 3V L cos 
3

= 3 VL I L cos 

The common expression for power in a three phase system is

P= 3 VL IL cos  (5.10)

The reactive power is a three phase system is given by

8
Multiphase Circuits

Q= 3 VL IL sin  (5.11)

The apparent power is a thee phase system is given by

S= 3 VL I L (5.12)

These expressions are valid for both star and delta connections.

When analyzing three-phase systems, it is convenient to work with one phase only, i.e.
use the per phase equivalent circuit and convert per-phase values to three-phase values
when appropriate. Figure 5.3 shows a star connected three-phase generator supplying
a three-phase star connected load through a three-phase feeder. It can be shown that
the voltages and current belonging to a particular phase are identical to corresponding
voltages and currents in the other phases except for 120 degrees shifts in their
respective phase angles. Therefore a single circuit consisting on one phase and neutral
wire may be analyzed and the results applied to the other phases by including the
corresponding phases shift. This is illustrated in example 2.2. When the three-phase
source (or load) is delta connected, it is customary to transform it to its equivalent
star-connected source (or load) before applying the procedure.

Figure 5.3 Star connected three-phase generator supplying a load

and equivalent per phase circuit 9
Multiphase Circuits

Example 5.1

A three-phase power system consists of a star-connected ideal generator connected to

a star-connected load through a three-phase transmission feeder. The load has an
impedance of Z L  2030 o  /phase, and the feeder has an impedance of
Z fdr  1.575 o  /phase. The terminal voltage of the load is 4.16 kV.

Determine (a) the terminal voltage of the generator, (b) the line current supplied by the
generator and (c) the total real, reactive, and apparent power drawn from the supply.

Solution 5.1

Part a)
With both the generator and the star-connected load, the single phase analysis is used
in conjunction with the single-phase equivalent circuit shown below.

The phase voltage at the load is taken as the reference voltage. Remember that we
always specify line to line voltages, so the phase voltage at the load is:

4160
Van  0 o  2400 0 o V (line to neutral)
3

The phase a current which is identical to the line a current is given by:

Van 2400 0 o
Ia    120   30 o A
ZL 2030 o

10
Multiphase Circuits

The phase a voltage of the generator is found by adding the phase a voltage at the load
to the voltage drop across the feeder:

 
E an  Van  I a Z fdr  2400 0 o  120   30 o 1.575 o 
 2527  j127  2530 30 V

Consequently, the phase voltages for the load are:

Van  2400 0 o V
Vbn  2400   120 o V
Vcn  2400   120 o V

The phase voltages at the generator are:

E an  2530 3o V
E bn  2530   117 o V
E cn  2530   123 o V

The corresponding line to line voltages are:

Vab  4160 30 o V E ab  4382 33 o V

Vbc  4160   90 o V E bc  4382   87 o V
Vca  4160 150 o V E ca  4382 153 o V

Part b)
The load current and the generator current are equal and given by:

I a  120   30 o A
I b  120   150 o A
I c  120 90 o A

Part c)
The supply line to line voltage has an rms value of 4382 V.
The supply line current has an rms value of 120 A.
The supply voltage on phase a is E an  2530 3o V and the supply current on phase a
is I a  120   30 o A The phase angle between the voltage and the current is
therefore 3   30   33 degrees.

11
Multiphase Circuits

Hence the three-phase real power drawn from the supply is:

P  3VL I L cosφ  3  4382  120  cos 33  764 kW

The three-phase reactive power drawn from the supply is:

Q  3VL I L sinφ  3  4382  120  sin 33  496 VAr

The three-phase apparent power drawn from the supply is:

S  3VL I L 3  4382  120  910 VA

Tutorial questions

5.1 A three-phase induction motor draws 20 kVA at 0.8 power factor lagging from a 415 V
three-phase supply.

Determine
a) the real power drawn from the supply
b) the reactive power drawn from the supply
c) the line current

5.2 A balanced three-phase load is connected to a 3.3 kV, 50 Hz supply. The load draws a
current of 60 A at a power factor of 0.9 lagging. Calculate the real, reactive, and
apparent power drawn by the load.

5.3 A star-connected load consists of three identical impedances of (8 + j6)  each and is
supplied from a 415 V, three-phase source. Find the line current drawn from the
supply, the power factor and the three-phase real and reactive powers drawn by the
load.

12
Multiphase Circuits

5.2 Measurement of Power in Three Phase Systems

a. Balanced Load

Measure current per phase, voltage per phase and phase shift to give power per phase.
Total power is three times this value.

b. Unbalanced Load

Here it is necessary to measure current, voltage and phase angle in each phase to give
the total power.

c. Two Wattmeter Method

Two watt-meters can be used to give a measurement of total power where one meter
measures current in phase A, but measures the voltage between phases A and B. The
other wattmeter measures current in phase C and voltage between phases C and B.

Thus instantaneous power in load A = iaVa

B = ibVb
C = icVc

Giving total instantaneous power = iaVa + ibVb + icVc

Instantaneous current through W1 = ia

and instantaneous voltage measured by W1 = νan - νbn

giving instantaneous power = ia(νan - νbn)

Similarly power measured by W2 = ic(νcn - νbn)

Sum of readings W1 + W2 = iaνan - iaνbn + icνcn - icνbn

= iaνan + icνcn - νbn(ia+ic)

but ia + i b + i c = 0  ib = -(ic+ia)

Sum of readings W1 + W2 = iaνan + ibνbn + icνcn

13
Multiphase Circuits

= total power

The two wattmeter method can be used for either balanced or unbalanced loads and
for either star or delta connection.

Using the two wattmeter method it is also possible to measure the power factor when
the load is balanced. The power factor (cos θ) can be derived from

W1  W2
tan θ = 3
W1  W2

5.3 Two Phase Systems

Two-phase systems have never been as common as d.c. or three-phase a.c. systems.
One of the main applications is where a d.c. system needs upgrading without the need to
replace a lot of infrastructure.
The waveforms of a two-phase systems are 90o out of phase.

14
Multiphase Circuits

Basics Summary

Be familiar with single-phase power quantities, real power, reactive power,

apparent power and complex power.

Quantity Equation Units

Real Power P  IV cos  W
Reactive Power Q  IV sin  VAr
Apparent Power S  IV VA
Complex Power S  VI *  P  jQ VA
In this table the voltages and currents are their r.m.s. values

Be familiar with the term “power factor”

Real Power IV cos 

pf    cos 
Apparent Power IV

Be familiar with the relationships between phase quantities and line quantities in
a three-phase power system.

In a balanced star connected system:

Line current = phase current
Line voltage = 3. phase voltage
In a balanced delta connected system:
Line current = 3. phase current
Line voltage = Phase voltage

To be familiar with three-phase power quantities, real power, reactive power,

apparent power and complex power.

Quantity Equation Units

Real Power P  3IV cos  W
Reactive Power Q  3IV sin  VAr
Apparent Power S  3IV VA
Complex Power S  VI *  P  jQ VA
In this table the voltages and currents are their r.m.s. line values

Be familiar with methods of measuring three-phase power.

15
Multiphase Circuits

The two watt-meter method can be used to measure the three-phase power in a
three-phase star or delta connected system. The total power is the sum of the two
watt-meter readings.

Be familiar with two-phase systems.

16
Multiphase Circuits

Chapter 5 Tutorial Solutions

5.1 Part a)

The three phase apparent power is 20 kVA. (Note that is the units had been 20 kW,
then the three-phase real power would have been 20 kW.)
For a three-phase system the apparent power is S  3VL I L and the real power is
P  3VL I L cos   S cos  .
Hence in this example P  S cos   20  103  0.8  16 kW

Part b)
If cos   0.8 , then   cos 10.8  36.86o and sin   sin 36.86   0.6
hence Q  S sin   20  103  0.6  12 kW

Part c)
S 20  103
For a three-phase system S  3VL I L , hence I L    27.8 A
3 VL 3  415
5.2 P  3VL IL cos   3  3.3  103  60  0.9  308 kW
If cos   0.9 then   cos 10.9  25.84o

Q  3VL IL sin   3  3.3  103  60  sin 25.84   149 kVAr

S  3VL IL  3  3.3  103  60  343 kVA

5.3 With both the supply and the load star-connected, the single phase analysis is used in
conjunction with the single-phase equivalent circuit shown below.

17
Multiphase Circuits

The phase voltage at the load is taken as the reference voltage. Remember that we
always specify line to line voltages, so the phase voltage at the load is:

415 o
Van  0  2400o V (line to neutral)
3

The phase a current which is identical to the line a current is given by:

Van 2400 o 240 8  j6  240

Ia      2 8  j6   19.2  j14.4  A
ZL 8  j6  8  j6  8  j6  8  62

Hence the magnitude of the phase a current is 19.22  14.42  24.0A at an angle of
 14.4 
 tan 1   36.86 . The power factor of the load is therefore cos 36 .86   0.8
o
 19.2 

The three-phase real, reactive and apparent powers can now be calculated (there is no
need to determine the voltages and currents in the other two phases).

The three-phase power drawn from the source is therefore:

P  3VL I L cos   3  415  24  0.8  13.8 kW

The three-phase reactive power drawn from the source is:

Q  3VL I L sin   3  415  24  sin 36.86   10.3 kVAr

The three-phase apparent power drawn from the source is:

S  3VL I L  3  415  24  17.25 kVA

(Alternative: As we know the resistance per phase and the current in each phase, the
power per phase is I2R  24 2  8  4.6 kW per phase, the total three phase power is
3  4.6 kW  13.8 kW . A similar calculation for the reactive power per phase,
multiplied by 3 gives 17.25 kVA as before.)

18