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Power Factor...
Overview
Managing energy
costs is an ongoing challenge, particulary now with
increasing electricity prices. For most power users,
reducing electricity costs means limiting usage out
of hours, limiting peak demand or installing energy-saving
equipment.
However, a significant portion of the
monthly bill that can be decreased without altering
usage patterns. Power factor represents a considerable
part of the electric bill for many sites, yet is often
one of the most controllable costs. Further, poor power
factor increases power system costs in three other ways:
- The site consumes more Power
- System charges passed on by the electricity supplier
increase
- Reduced life of connected equipment
Power factor (p.f.) of a circuit is the
ratio of useful power (kW) against apparent power (kVA).
It's a measure of how efficiently the electrical supply
is being utilized. From an economics point of view,
the lower the p.f., the higher the electricity bill.
To eliminate or reduce
power factor penalties, the best solution is to install
power factor correction capacitor banks at site.
For example, a site in the South East
has a maximum demand of 559kVA and a p.f. of 0.79. To
improve the power factor to 0.95 requires 200kvar of
correction. This saves:
- 95kVA
- 132 Amps
- AND over £2,300 p.a. - paying for
the PFC bank in just over 14 months.
Many sites already have
these banks, but infrequent maintenance or incorrect
installation means they are not realising their potential
payback.
Properly applied PFC pays for
itself many times over - as long as care is taken to
ensure that the correct size and type of equipment is
specified and it is correctly installed and maintained.
PQM Ltd provides Low and Medium Voltage PFC assessments,
and restores existing PFC equipment to produce maximum
savings.
Feel
free to contact us for more
info.
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