ANALYSIS OF REACTIVE POWER AND POWER-FACTOR CORRECTION IN THE PRESENCE OF HARMONICS AND DISTORTION

A new time domain definition is proposed and the reactive power compon ent in the presence of harmonics and distortion analyzed. The proposed time domain definition clearly demonstrates advantages over previous time domain techniques. First, the proposed definitions accommodate th e presence of uncommon harmonics between voltage and current, second, the orthogonality relationship between the power components is clearly established and proved, third, physical meaning is attributed to each of the power components; these are tasks unaccomplished by previous t ime domain techniques. The power factor in the presence of harmonic di stortion and the conventional method of design of capacitors for power factor correction, which is based on the fundamental components of po wer, are examined. It is shown that the conventional method of design of capacitor banks for power factor correction does not yield the desi red power factor. Physically observable facts are then reviewed in the light of the developed theory and cogent explanations sought to expla in the facts. It is also shown that designing capacitors for power fac tor correction should be based on an accurate method for calculating t he reactive power in the presence of harmonics and distortion.