What is reactive power?

While the real or active power is the energy supplied to run a motor, heat a home, or illuminate an electric light bulb, reactive power provides the important function of regulating the voltage thereby helping to move power effectively through the utility grid and transmission lines to where it is required by the load.

What is reactive power regulation?

Reactive power production and consumption by generators allows the network operator to control voltages throughout their system. The requirements can be stated in a number of ways. The simplest is the fixed power factor.

How is reactive power used?

Reactive power is used to provide the voltage levels necessary for active power to do useful work. Reactive power is required to maintain the voltage to deliver active power (watts) through transmission lines. Motor loads and other loads require reactive power to convert the flow of electrons into useful work.

What is reactive voltage?

Reactive Power is when the Current flow, caused by AC Voltage applied across a device, results in the Current flow being either ahead or behind the applied AC Voltage.

What happens to voltage if reactive power increases?

Reactive power can cause voltage to rise or to fall depending on which elements are being used for reactive power compensation. So, to maintain voltage stability, decreasing the reactive power causes the voltage to fall and increasing it causes the voltage to rise.

How do you control reactive power in a power system?

(a) Sources or sinks of reactive power, such as shunt capacitors, shunt reactors, synchronous condensers, and static var compensators (SVCs). (b) Line reactance compensators, such as series capacitors. (C) Regulating transformers, such as tap-changing transformers and boosters. BAK L .

What is re-reactive power?

Reactive power is either generated or absorbed by electric generators (or, in some cases, devices known as “capacitors”) to maintain a constant voltage level, commonly referred to as providing “voltage support.”. Generators providing voltage support often suffer heating losses that result in a reduced ability to generate “real” power.

What causes positive reactive power in an electric circuit?

Some appliances such as electric motors and refrigerators have inductive properties. When current lags voltage, there is positive reactive power in the circuit. The most important cause of positive reactive power is the reactance of power lines themselves.

What is the role of reactive power in transmission lines?

Increasing reactive power may be described as making the riverbed steeper while “squeezing” the water forward. This “squeeze” increases the density of the water and allows it to travel further. Similarly, reactive power is crucial in transmission lines to increase voltage upstream and“squeeze” flow downstream.

How does reactive power affect the flow of water?

Referring back to the river analogy, without a riverbed to push against for forward motion there could be no water flow. Increasing reactive power may be described as making the riverbed steeper while “squeezing” the water forward. This “squeeze” increases the density of the water and allows it to travel further.