Most common low voltage problems in

distribution systems can be addressed by

installing capacitors. But, how to optimally
place and size the capacitors?  And how
would the capacitors impact the system due
to harmonics and switching transients?  In
this article, we propose to address these
questions.
Methodology
There are several different methodologies
for determining capacitor size and location:
A. General:
1. Place capacitors at loads which
consume significant reactive power. For
example, place capacitor in an industrial
plant which have less than 85% power
factor and bus voltage less than 95%
nominal.
2. Combination between rule of thumb
(so called 2/3 rule) and running series of
power flow simulations to fine-tune the
capacitor size and location.
o 2/3 Rule: Place capacitor 2/3 of the
feeder length from the substation,
and size the capacitor 2/3 of the
feeder load.
B. Use of Optimal Power Flow (OPF)
program to optimize capacitor size based on
potential capacitor locations selected by the
engineer (refer to point “A1” for industrial
loads in dist ribution system and point “A2”
for feeder loads)
C. Use of Optimal Capacitor Placement
(OCP) program to optimize the capacitor
sizes and locations.
Assumptions Generally used in the
Power Flow Model
Most approaches to optimizing capacitor
allocation use a power flow model which
represents ... The aspects of the power flow
model which are important to capacitor
allocation are:
 Transmission grid is generally modeled
as a swing bus feeding the main
distribution transformers.
 In a relatively large distribution system,
single phase feeders are generally
lumped and modeled as 3 phase loads
and similarly for industrial plants.
Power Factor and Voltage Regulation
 I reactive current at end of line
 m  (1)
I1 reactive current at beginning of line
I kVAR of cap to be installed
c c  (2)
I1 kVAR of total reactive load
2
c (3)
2n  1

The c-ratio of eq. (2) is the ratio of the capacitor current to the current at the beginning of the
line. For eq. (3), n is the number of capacitor banks; for n=1, then c = 2/3, which means the
optimal amount of capacitance is 2/3 of the total reactive load.

xi 
1

 2i  1 c (4)
1  2(1   )

xi  is the optimal per unit distance of location along distribution feeder; i is the number of
locations along the distribution feeder

Application:

Specify two capacitor banks, size and location, allocated along the feeder in order to
minimize real power losses in the feeder.
 I reactive current at end of line 4
 m    0.0667
I1 reactive current at beginning of line 60
2 2
c   0.4
2n  1 2(2)  1
I kVAR of cap to be installed
c c 
I1 kVAR of total reactive load
I c  cI1  0.4(60)  24 kVAR

xi 
1

 2i  1 c  1  (2i  1)0.4
1   2(1   ) 1  0.0667 2(1  0.0667)
for i  1, x1  0.857 or 0.857(7.5 mi.)  6.428 mi.
for i  2, x2  0.429 or 0.429(7.5 mi.)  3.214 mi.

Reference:

Electric Power Distribution System Engineering, T. Gonen, McGraw-Hill, 1986.

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Since the system condition is dynamic:

change with the season, time of the day,
and other special condition, the capacitor
should be sized according to power factor
criteria and such that it would provide an
acceptable voltage regulation during most, if
not all, such conditions.
For this purpose, historic measurement
(annual measurement is preferred) helps
obtain an idea about typical light load and
peak load conditions in the system. Further,
the light load condition can be modeled in
the power flow program and used to
determine the size of “fixed” capacitor
banks; and the peak load condition is used
to determine the size of “switched”capacitor
banks.
Review the Impact of Installing
Capacitor in the System
1. Harmonic Resonance, placing
capacitor in a system could cause
resonance (very high impedance) at
certain frequencies.
o For example resonance could occur
at 300 Hz or 5th harmonic in 60 Hz
system. If this 5th harmonic
resonance are located near the
location of 5th harmonic current
 source such as VSD drive in
industrial plant, then this could cause
very high voltage and current
harmonic distortion and could cause
equipment damages due to high
voltage, excessive thermal problem,
and current circulation between the
capacitor and the system.
2. Transient Switching, placing
capacitor in relatively weak system could
cause high voltage problem during
switching period.
Reader Question:
Please provide a sample calculation on how
can we determine the size of the capacitor
in the distribution system.
Answer:
Assuming that all capacitor banks are of
equal size,