Power factor correction — A fresh look into today's electrical systems

Poor power factor in an industrial plant can lead to low energy efficiency, unacceptable voltage regulation, larger equipment size, and potential damage to plant equipment when not corrected properly. The most common and inexpensive way to correct power factor in an industrial application is by supplying reactive power with a capacitor bank. However, other application issues must be considered when capacitance is added to the system. This paper takes a fresh look at an old application, focusing on the potential issues with power factor improvement capacitors, available power factor correction methods, and design considerations for implementing these technologies in today's modern power systems.