Automated system for measuring electrical three-phase power components

This paper describes an automated system, using the software LabVIEW and an experimental setup including a digital oscilloscope equipped with general purpose interface bus (GPIB) interface, to measure the instantaneous and average power components of generic three-phase electrical systems. The system is being used as an academic laboratory tool for teaching concepts on generic three-phase electrical power systems to third-year electrical engineering students. The method is based on a generalized instantaneous power theory and can be applied to balanced or unbalanced three-phase power systems feeding linear or nonlinear loads. Details of the methodology, comprising acquisition, and signal processing are presented. Examples of three-phase balanced and unbalanced power system measurements are displayed.