Real, reactive, and apparent power
Engineers use three types of power to describe energy flow in a system:
Real power (P)
Reactive power (Q)
Apparent power (S sometimes |S| when regarded as the modulus of complex power)
In the diagram, P is the real power, Q is the reactive power (in this case negative), and the length of S is the apparent power.
The unit for all forms of power is the watt (symbol: W). In practice, however, this is generally reserved for the real power component. Apparent power is conventionally expressed in volt-amperes (VA) since it is the simple multiple of rms voltage and current. The unit for reactive power is given the special name "var" which standard for volt-amperes-reactive in IEC 60027-1.
Understanding the relationship between these three quantities lies at the heart of understanding power engineering. The mathematical relationship among them can be represented by vectors and is typically expressed using complex numbers
S = P + jQ (where j is the imaginary unit)
This complex value S is often referred to as the complex power.
Consider an ideal alternating current (AC) circuit consisting of a source and a generalized load, where both the current and voltage are sinusoidal. If the load is purely resistive, the two quantities reverse their polarity at the same time; the direction of energy flow does not reverse; and there is only real power flowing. If the load is purely inductive or capacitive, then the voltage and current are 90 degrees out of phase (for a capacitor, current leads voltage; for an inductor, current lags voltage) and there is no net power flow. This energy flowing backwards and forwards is known as reactive power. If a capacitor and an inductor are placed in parallel, then the currents caused by the inductor and the capacitor are 180 degrees out of phase with each other and therefore partially cancel out rather than adding to each other. Conventionally, capacitors are considered to generate reactive power and inductors to consume it. In reality, the load is likely to have resistive, inductive, and capactive parts; and so both real and reactive power will flow to the load. The apparent power is the result of a naïve calculation of power from the voltage and current that is simply multiplying the rms voltage by the rms current. Apparent power is handy for rough sizing of generators or wiring, especially when the power factor is close to 1. However, adding the apparent power for two loads will not give the total apparent power unless the two loads have the same phase difference between voltage and current.
Apparent Power
The definition of Apparent Power is considered to be one of the most controversal topics in Power Engineering. Originally, Apparent Power arose merely as a figure of merit. Major delineations of the concept are attributed to Stanley's Phenomena of Retardation in the Induction Coil (1888) and Steinmetz's Theoretical Elements of Engineering (1915). However, with the development of three-phase power distribution it became clear that the definition of Apparent Power and the power factor could not be applied to unbalanced poly-phase systems. In 1920, a "Special Joint Committee of the AIEE and the National Electric Light Association) met to resolve the issue. They considered two definitions:
pf = (Pa + Pb + Pc) / (Sa + Sb + Sc) i.e., the quotient of the sums of the real powers for each phase over the sum of the apparent power for each phase.
pf = (Pa + Pb + Pc) / ( | Pa + Pb + C + j(Qa + Qb + Qc) | ) i.e., the quotient of the sums of the real powers for each over the magnitude of the sum of the complex powers for each phase).
The 1920 committee found no consensus and the topic continued to dominate discussions. In 1930 another committee formed and once again failed to resolve the question. The transcripts of their discussions are the lengthiest and most controversial ever published by the AIEE (Emanuel, 1993). Further resolution of this debate did not come until the late 1990s.
Power Factor
The ratio between real power and apparent power in a circuit is called the Power factor. Where the waveforms are purely sinusoidal, the power factor is the cosine of the phase angle between the current and voltage sinusoid waveforms. Equipment data sheets and nameplates often will abbreviate power factor as " cos φ" for this reason.
Power factor equals unity (1) when the voltage and current is in phase, and is zero when the current leads or lags the voltage by 90 degrees. Power factor must be specified as leading or lagging. For two systems transmitting the same amount of real power, the system with the lower power factor will have higher circulating currents due to energy that returns to the source from energy storage in the load. These higher currents in a practical system may produce higher losses and reduce over all transmission efficiency. A lower power factor circuit will have a higher apparent power and higher losses for the same amount of real power transfer.
Capacitive circuits cause reactive power with the current waveform leading the voltage wave by 90 degrees, while inductive circuits cause reactive power with the current waveform lagging the voltage waveform by 90 degrees. The result of this is that capacitive and inductive circuit elements tend to cancel each other out. By convention, capacitors are said to generate reactive power whilst inductors are said to consume it (this probably comes from the fact that most real life loads are inductive and so reactive power has to be supplied to them from power factor correction capacitors).
In power transmission and distribution, significant effort is made to control the reactive power flow. This is typically done automatically by switching in/out inductors or capacitor banks, by adjusting generator excitation, and by other means. Electricity retailers may use electricity meters which measure reactive power to financially penalise customers with low power factor loads (especially larger customers).
