EKT212

Principles of Measurement and Instrumentation

CHAPTER 3

Power Measurement

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 Concept of Electric POWER
• Power can be defined as the time rate of
energy transfer or energy dissipation in a
load.
• Power is the rate of using or supplying energy.
• The rate at which work is done to maintain an
electric current in a circuit is termed
ELECTRIC POWER.
• Electric power is measured in watts (W).
• The SI unit of power is the watt (W), where
W = 1 J/s.
• The kilowatt is a commonly used unit where I
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kilowatt = 1000 watts.
 Electric POWER Formula
 Normally electric power is useful, making a
lamp light or a motor turn.

 ELECTRIC POWER equals the product of the

current I and the potential difference V.

Power  Current x Voltage Difference

P(Watts )  I ( Amperes ) x V (volts)

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  If P is positive, the component absorb
power.

 If P is negative, the component

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produces power.
 POWER in DC Circuits
 The POWER in DC circuit is equal to the product of
voltage and current. [Power = Current × Voltage]
 When the system voltage is constant, ammeter
readings are almost a sufficient indication of the
POWER taken.
 The POWER is calculated by using voltmeter and
ammeter or wattmeter.
 P = I × V = I² × R = V² / R
 where:
 P = power in watts (W)
I = current in amps 
(A)
R = resistance in ohms ( )
V = voltage in volts (V)
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 Example
 How much power is used in a circuit which is 110
volts and has a current of 1.36 amps?

P  IV
 1.36 A x 110V
 150W

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 Examples

 Label on TV state 720W/120V. Find the current

supply to this TV.

 A heater has 30 resistor connected to voltage

source 120V. Find the total power which changed
to heat .

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 POWER in AC Circuits
 In AC circuits the voltage and current are
changing their magnitude and polarities with
reference to time.
 The electric power in the circuit at any instant is
equal to the product of the current and the
voltage across its terminals at that instant.[p = vi]
 The instantaneous power,
p  vi
 Vmax sin  x I max sin(   )
 Vmax I max sin  sin(   )
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  The mean power
2
Vmax I max sin   sin    d
1
p 
2 0
Vmax I max cos 

2
P  VI cos 

 V and I are rms value of voltage and current and to

calculate power, we should know the power factor of
the load in AC circuit.
 Power factors are usually stated as "leading" or
"lagging" to show the sign of the phase angle of
9 current with respect to voltage.
 Example
 The real power is 700 W and the phase angle ()
between voltage and current is 45.6°.

 The power factor = cos(45.6°) = 0.700.

The apparent power = 700 W / cos(45.6°) = 1000
VA

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 •The power output rating of motors is usually
expressed in a power unit call the horsepower
(hp)
•The relation between horsepower and watts is
1hp = 746W
•Electric motors and other systems have an
efficiency () of operation
Pout
 x100%
11 Pin
 Examples
1. Calculate the power for a 12V battery supply
250A to a starter motor.

2. Find the current drawn from a 115V line by a

DC electric motor that delivers 1hp by
assuming 100% efficiency of operation.

3. What is the operating efficiency of a fully

loaded 2hp DC electric motor that drawn
19A at 100V?
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 Why Wattmeter Needed?
 Ammeter measures load current IL and there is
voltage drop VA across ammeter.
 VL=V – VA
 Pdc= VL IL = (V – VA)IL = VIL – VAIL
[Power measured by meters] =
[Power consumed by load] + Power loss in ammeter]
 The product of ammeter and voltmeter does not
give correct power consumed by load

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  If voltmeter shifted across the load to measure the
load voltage, it measures VL correctly but ammeter
measures current I.
 I = IL + IV
 Pdc= VL IL = VL (I - IV)= VL I – VL IV
[Power measured by meters] =
[Power consumed by load] + [Power loss in voltmeter]
 Power measured is higher than power actually
consumed by load.
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 *
 The power loss in the instrument (ammeter or
voltmeter) near the load cause an error.

 To avoid that errors in power measurement, we

need a device called wattmeter which gives direct
reading of power.

 Ammeter and Voltmeter is not sufficient to

measure power in AC power because the
measurement of power consumption in circuit
considering the effect of cos .
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 POWER Measurement
 A wide variety of instrumentation and transducers
for the measurement of POWER in AC and DC
circuit.
 Important primarily for the testing, monitoring and
maintenance of the energy supply network and
electrical equipment.
 Required in high frequency and low power
circuits.
 A wattmeter suitable used for power meter
measurement in DC and AC systems, which will
give the same angle of deflection for a given
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power.
  Wattmeter's are designed for lower power factor
rating. This improves precision & reduces error.

 As two different ranges of voltage and current are

available for wattmeter to calculate actual power,
multiplying factor should be used.
voltage range x current range x rated power factor
Multiplying Factor 
Full Scale Deplection

Measured Power  Wattmeter Reading x Multiplying Factor

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 Examples
 Let FSD of wattmeter be 1250W. If potential coil
is connected across 250V and the current coil
connected for a current range 5A, What is the
multiplying factor?

 In a circuit power is measured with a wattmeter

with 13A, 240V, 1500Watts F.S.D. The
measurement reading was 700Watts. What is the
power consumed by load?

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 Error in wattmeter
 Connection error can be reduced by

used for low current,

high voltage circuit.

 Wattmeter Reading = (power consumed by load) + (Power

consumed by current coil)

used for high current, low voltage circuit,

by selecting a proper connection the

 Wattmeter Reading = (power consumed by load) + (power

consumed by pressure coil)

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 Example
 A circuit takes 10A at 200V and the power
absorbed is 1000W. If a current coil has a
resistance of 0.15 resistance and a pressure
coil has a resistance of 5000 , Inductance of
0.3H. Find
 The error due to resistance for each of two
possible method of connection.
 The error due to the inductance if the
frequency of 50Hz.
 The total error in each case.

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 Method of Connections

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