4 Significant Benefits of Power Factor Correction

Power factor correction is one of the many measures that can be applied to electric and power management systems to increase their efficiency. Some of the most significant benefits of power factor correction are:

1.      Preventing power factor penalties

Some industrial processing facilities utilize a large number of induction motors to function their pumps, conveyors, and other machinery. These induction motors permit the power factor to be intrinsically low for most industrial facilities. Many electric utility companies use a lower power factor to reduce the power factor penalty from your bill.

2.      Reducing demand charges

Many electric utility companies charge for maximum metered demand either on the basis of highest registered demand in kilowatts or a fraction of the highest registered demand in KVA, whichever is bigger. In case the power factor is low, the percentage of the measured KVA will be notably greater than the KW demand. Enhancing the power factor through power factor correction will, therefore, reduce the demand charge, helping to lower electricity bills.

3.      Increasing capability of existing circuits

Installing power factor correction capacitors at the edge of existing circuits close to the inductive loads lower the current flowing in each circuit. This lowered current flow, resulting from improved power factor, can allow the circuit to carry new loads. This prevents the expenses of renovating the distribution network when extra capacity is needed for additional machinery or equipment, saving individuals or companies thousands of dollars in redundant upgrade costs.

4.      Voltage power optimization

A lower power factor would mean a higher current flow for any given load. As the line current increases, the voltage drop in the conductor rises at the same time, which could lead to a lower voltage at the equipment. With a better power factor, the voltage drop in the conductor is close to negligible, optimizing the voltage power.

Power factor correction is also one of the finest ways for power quality monitoring and also helps negate resistive losses in the circuit. For more information, feel free to visit www.icopower-esco.com.