Performance of insulation systems for low voltage APFC panels during temperature rise test at elevated ambient temperatures

Application of Automatic Power Factor Correction panels (APFC) in electrical distribution network is gaining importance due to the advantages of APFC panels over fixed capacitor banks, like, ability to maintain the target power factor with varying load and hence improve efficiency of the system and consequently reduce distribution losses. The desired performance of the APFC panels can be efficiently achieved with appropriate design, material, construction and application. Temperature rise test is one of the important tests to assess the thermal performance of constituent components of APFC panels. Rise in temperature and hence performance of materials and components is influenced by the ambient temperature which may be as high as 50°C. The paper deals with the performance of APFC panels at elevated ambient temperatures. Temperature rise measured at capacitor banks, reactors, switching components and MCCBs employed in APFC panels are discussed. The information would help in arriving at limits for temperature rise for components employed in 3 phase low voltage APFC panels.