The power factor is one of the fundamental parameters describing the efficiency of electrical energy use, both in industrial and commercial installations. The closer it is to the value of 1, the more energy drawn from the network is converted into useful energy.
Conversely, the lower its value, the greater the energy losses, network overload, and the costs of the energy itself. Moreover, it happens that power network operators charge additional fees for excessive consumption of reactive power closely related to efficient energy use.
For this reason, improving the power factor is not only recommended for technical reasons, but it is also a real way to reduce costs. When designing a home or industrial installation, it is worth looking at products from the power factor correction category of the ISKRA brand. It is currently one of the largest European manufacturers of automation with as many as seven manufacturing plants in Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In this text, we cover topics such as:
Capacitor contactors
ISKRA three-phase contactors are designed with applications involving capacitors in mind. They are equipped with a block of three auxiliary contacts connected to six damping resistors (two per phase). These elements are characterized by power described in the range from 12.5VAR to 60kVAR, besides, they comply with the IEC 60947-4-1 standard for AC-6b usage category and UL certificate. The contactors are controlled by standard voltages of 24V, 220/230V, and 415V. It is also worth mentioning that the devices can switch between different banks of capacitors in parallel without power loss, simultaneously saving energy while in the ‘ON’ state.
SKRA capacitors
Capacitors designed for reactive power compensation are characterised by long life and stability of parameters, which is extremely important in power supply systems, lighting, or HVAC devices. These elements are designed with industrial installations in mind, making their size compact and installation extremely simple.
EMI filters
EMI filters are also an essential element of electrical installations, improving the parameters of the electrical network. These elements reduce the risk of damage to appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, or microwave ovens. The filter available from ISKRA is characterised by several parameters: rated capacity: 0.47 µF + 2×10000pF, rated inductance: 2×1mH, discharge resistor: 680kΩ ±5% 0.6W, rated current: 16A at 40 °C, rated voltage: 275V AC.
Power regulators
TME also offers power regulators that act as the ‘brain’ of modern reactive power compensation systems. Their task is to monitor network parameters and automatically select the number of capacitors to be switched on. Thanks to the built-in screen and a small number of buttons, the operation of the regulators is simple and intuitive.
