Automated system for measuring electrical three-phase power components

This paper describes an automated system, using the software LabVIEW and an experimental setup including a digital oscilloscope equipped with general purpose interface bus (GPIB) interface, to measure the instantaneous and av erage power components of generic three-phase electrical systems. The syste m is being used as an academic laboratory tool for teaching concepts on gen eric three-phase electrical power systems to third-year electrical engineer ing students. The method is based on a generalized instantaneous power theo ry and can be applied to balanced or unbalanced three-phase power systems f eeding linear or nonlinear loads. Details of the methodology, comprising ac quisition, and signal processing are presented. Examples of three-phase bal anced and unbalanced power system measurements are displayed.