Switching reactive banks

This is a highly recommended method of capacitor switching for installations that are large and require very fine monitoring and correction of p.f. with the smallest number of banks. The entire reactive requirement is arranged in only a few steps yet a small correction up to the smallest capacitor unit is possible. The relay is sequenced so that through its binary counter the required switching is achieved in small steps, with just four or six sets of capacitor units or banks. The operation of the entire sequence can be illustrated as follows ... 

Arc furnaces are operated in conjunction with large capacitor banks and harmonic filters to improve the power factor and also to filter the harmonic frequency currents so they do not unduly affect other power users sharing the same power fines. It is not uncommon to see arc furnaces supplied from dedicated utility power fines to minimize their impact on other power users. The presence of large capacitance in an electrical system can result in voltage rise due to the leading reactive power demands of the capacitors, unless they are adequately canceled by the lagging reactive power required by the loads. This is why capacitor banks, whether for power factor correction or harmonic current filtration, are switched on when the furnace is brought on line and switched off when the arc furnace is off line. 

Switching of harmonic filter banks or capacitor banks on loss of utility power can allow a standby generator to operate at a suitable output power factor when supplying load. Installation of a reactive load bank can provide a further sink for system reactive power if a standby generator is not capable of absorbing the power present in the system. 

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