Practical sharing: Analysis of reactive power compensation and its governance benefits

Reactive power is the electrical power used for the exchange of electric and magnetic fields within a circuit, and for establishing and maintaining a magnetic field in electrical equipment. It does not perform external work, but is converted into other forms of energy. Any electrical equipment with electromagnetic coils that establishes a magnetic field requires the consumption of reactive power. Reactive power does not do any work, but to ensure the conduction of active power, it must first meet the reactive power of the power grid.

Under normal circumstances, electrical equipment not only needs to obtain active power from the power source, but also needs to obtain reactive power from the power source. If the reactive power in the power grid is in short supply, the electrical equipment will not have enough reactive power to establish a normal electromagnetic field, and these electrical equipment will not be able to operate at rated conditions. The terminal voltage of the electrical equipment will drop, thereby affecting its normal operation. However, the reactive power supplied from generators and high-voltage transmission lines is far from sufficient to meet the needs of the load. Therefore, some reactive power compensation devices need to be installed in the power grid to supplement the reactive power, in order to ensure that users' demand for reactive power is met, so that electrical equipment can operate at rated voltage. Reactive power compensation is the process of connecting devices with capacitive power loads and inductive power loads in parallel in the same circuit, where energy is exchanged between the two loads. In this way, the reactive power required by inductive loads can be compensated by the reactive power output from capacitive loads.

Governance benefits:

1. Adopting reactive power compensation technology to improve the power factor of low-voltage power grids and electrical equipment is an important measure for energy-saving work;

2. Reactive power compensation refers to the use of reactive power compensation equipment to provide necessary reactive power, in order to improve the power factor of the system, reduce energy consumption, improve the voltage quality of the power grid, and stabilize equipment operation;

3. To reduce power loss, the power distribution in general factories has a power loss of about 20% -30% depending on different lines and load conditions. By using capacitors to increase the power factor, the total radio wave is reduced, which can reduce the power loss of the supply current and the power consumption end;

4. Improving power supply quality, increasing power factor, reducing total load current and voltage drop, installing capacitors on the secondary side of transformers can improve power factor and increase secondary voltage.

5. Extending the lifespan of equipment and improving the power factor can reduce the total current of the line, reducing the capacity load of machinery and equipment such as transformers and switches that are close to saturation. Therefore, it can reduce temperature rise and increase lifespan (for every 10 degrees Celsius decrease in temperature, the lifespan can be doubled).

6. Ultimately meeting the monitoring requirements for reactive power compensation in the power system and eliminating fines caused by low power factor.

7. Reactive power compensation can improve power quality, reduce power loss, tap into the potential of power generation and supply equipment, and reduce user electricity expenses. It is an energy-saving measure with low investment and fast results.

8. The impact of reactive power compensation technology on the low-voltage distribution network of power supply units and the economic and social benefits brought by improving power factor, determining the compensation capacity of reactive power, ensuring the economic, reasonable, safe and reliable nature of compensation technology, and achieving the goal of energy conservation.