Date of Award
6-5-2015
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Santa Clara: Santa Clara University, 2015.
Department
Electrical Engineering
First Advisor
Maryam Khanbaghi
Abstract
Low power factor systems run inefficiently and cause power companies to lose thousands of dollars with wasted power. Correction systems currently implement static capacitor solutions to offset this power factor; however, companies where the power factor varies significantly need a better solution. In this paper, we discuss a reactive power factor correction system that could greatly benefit companies with this problem. The system is in its prototype state, which comprises of a capacitor bank, sensing circuit, a switching circuit and a microprocessor; we named it the Dynamic Capacitor Bank. During our project, we were able to get a sensing circuit to sense load voltage and current, as well as design a switching circuit and an inductive load for testing of the system. Our system performed the necessary steps to correct a power factor; however, we were limited by the power levels allowed for a senior design project and could not show precise information. Overall, a Dynamic Capacitor Bank could greatly benefit systems with varying power factor.
Recommended Citation
Mendoza, J. Daniel and Roguski, Peter, "Dynamic capacitor bank" (2015). Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses. 20.
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/elec_senior/20