THREE-PHASE SYSTEMS: SUMMARY

Three-phase systems are commonly used in generation, transmission and distribution of

electric power. Power in a three-phase system is constant rather than pulsating and three-phase
motors start and run much better than single-phase motors. A three-phase system is a generator-
load pair in which the generator produces three sinusoidal voltages of equal amplitude and
frequency but differing in phase by 120 from each other.
The phase voltages va(t), vb(t) and vc(t) are as follows

v a  Vm cos t

v b V m cos t  120 
v c  Vm cost  240  , 

whereas the corresponding phasors are

Va Ia Za

Vb Ib Zb

Vc Ic Zc

In

Va  Vm

Vb  Vm e  j120

Vc  Vm e  j240 .

A three-phase system is shown in Fig 1. In a special case all impedances are identical

Za = Zb = Zc = Z .

Such a load is called a balanced load and is described by equations

V V V
Ia  a Ib  b Ic  c .
Z Z Z

Using KCL, we have

Va  Vb  Vc  ,
1
I n  Ia  I b  Ic 
Z

1
where

  
Va  Vb  Vc  Vm 1  e  j120  e  j240 
 1 3
 
 Vm 1  cos120   j sin 120   cos 240   j sin 240   Vm 1   j
2 2
3 1
 j
2 2
  0.

 

Setting the above result into the previous equation, we obtain

In  0 .

Since the current flowing though the fourth wire is zero, the wire can be removed :

Va Ia Z

Vb Ib Z
n n’

Vc Ic Z

The system of connecting the voltage sources and the load branches is called the Y system or
the star system. Point n is called the neutral point of the generator and point n’ is called the
neutral point of the load.
Each branch of the generator or load is called a phase. The wires connecting the supply to
the load are called the lines. In the Y-system, each line current is equal to the corresponding
phase current, whereas the line-to-line voltages ( or simply line voltages ) are not equal to the
phase voltages.

Y-CONNECTED SYSTEMS

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 Va
a

Vab
Vb b
n Vca

Vc Vbc
c

The phasors of the phase voltages can be generally written as follows

Va  V  Vme j

Vb  Ve  j120
o
.

Vc  Ve  j240
o

We determine the line voltages Vab, Vbc, Vca ( see Fig.3). Using KVL, we obtain

 1 3 3 3
Vab  Va  Vb  Va 1   j   Va   j  
 2 2  2 2 
2
 3   3  j tan 1
2 3
 Va    

e 3
 Va 3e j30 .
 2   2 

Thus,

o
Vab  Va 3 e j30 .

holds and similarly we obtain

o
Vbc  Vb 3 e j30

o
Vca  Vc 3 e j30 .

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The phasor diagram showing the phase and line voltages is shown in Fig.4.

Vab

Vc
30 Va
30

Vca

30

Vb
Vbc

Thus, the line voltages Vab, Vbc, Vca form a symmetrical set of phasors leading by 30 the set
representing the phase voltages and they are 3 times greater.

Vab  Vbc  Vca  3 Va .

The same conclusion is valid in the Y connected load.

a

Va Za=Z

Vab

Vca Zc=Z
Zb=Z
Vc
Vb

Vbc

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THREE-PHASE SYSTEMS CALCULATIONS

When the three phases of the load are not identical, an unbalanced system is produced. An
unbalanced Y-connected system is shown in Fig.1. The system of Fig.1 contains perfectly
conducting wires connecting the source to the load. Now we consider a more realistic case
where the wires are represented by impedances Zp and the neutral wire connecting n and n’ is
represented by impedance Zn.
Va Ia Zp Za
a a’

n Zp
Vb b Ib b’ Zb n’

Vc c Ic Zp c’ Zc

Zn In

Vn
Using the node n as the datum, we express the currents Ia, Ib, Ic and In in terms of the node
voltage Vn

Va  Vn
Ia 
Za  Zp

Vb  Vn
Ib 
Zb  Zp

Vc  Vn
Ic 
Zc  Zp

Vn
In  .
Zn

Hence, we obtain the node equation

Vn Va  Vn Vb  Vn Vc  Vn
   0
Z n Za  Z p Z b  Z p Zc  Z p

Solving this equation for Vn, we have

Va Vb Vc
 
Za  Zp Zb  Zp Zc  Zp
Vn  .
1 1 1 1
  
Zn Za  Zp Zb  Zp Zc  Zp
The above relationships enable us to formulate a method for the analysis of three-phase systems.
The method consists of three steps as follows:

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(i) Determine Vn using (15)
( ii ) Calculate the currents Ia, Ib, Ic and In applying (11) - (14).
( iii ) Find the phase and line voltages using Kirchhoff’s and Ohm’s laws.

When the neutral wire is removed, the system contains three connecting wires and is called
a three-wire system. In such a case we set Z n   into :

Va Vb Vc
 
Za  Zp Zb  Zp Zc  Zp
Vn  .
1 1 1
 
Za  Zp Zb  Zp Zc  Zp
The balanced system can be considered as a special case of the unbalanced system, where
Za = Zb = Zc = Z. Using (16), we obtain

 Va  Vb  Vc 
1
Z  Zp
Vn  0 .
3
Z  Zp

Consequently, the relationships (11)-(13) reduce to

Va
Ia 
Z  Zp

Vb
Ib 
Z  Zp

Vc
Ic  .
Z  Zp

   
Since Vb  Va e j120 and Vc  Va e j240 , we have Ib  Ia e j120 and Ic  Ia e j240 .
Hence, we need to calculate Ia only using (18), which can be made applying the one-phase
circuit:
Zp Ia

Va Z Va

n n’

6
This means that the analysis of a balanced three-phase system can be reduced to the analysis of
one-phase system depicted in Fig.7.

EXAMPLE

Let us consider three-phase system shown. The system is supplied with a balanced three-phase
generator, whereas the load is unbalanced.

The effective value of the generator phase voltage is 220V, the impedance of any connecting
wire is Z p   2  j2 and the phase impedances of the load are Za  2  j4 ,
Zb  4  j2 , Zc  2  j4 . We wish to determine the line currents.

Va Zp Ia Za
a


Vab
Vb Zp Ib Zb
b
n n’
Vca

Vbc
Vc Zp Ic Zc
c

Vn

Since the circuit is a three-wire system, we apply equation (16) to compute Vn. The phase
generator voltages are

Va  220 2 V
 1 3
Vb  Va e  j120  220 2    j    155.56  j269.44V


 2 2 
 1 3
Vc  Va e  j240  220 2    j    155.56  j269.44V .


 2 2 

Using the previous equations, we find

220 2  155.56  j269.44  155.56  j269.44

 
4  j6 4  j6
 97.5  j61.2V .
6
Vn 
1 1 1
 
4  j6 6 4  j6

7
Next, we compute the line currents :
V  Vn 220 2  97.5  j61.2
Ia  a   23.49  j19.94A
Za  Z p 2  j4  2  j2
Vb  Vn  155.56  j269.44  97.5  j61.2
Ib     42.18  j34.70A
Zb  Zp 4  j2  2  j2
Vc  Vn  155.56  j269.44  97.5  j61.2
Ic    18.68  j54.63A .
Zc  Z p 2  j4  2  j2

POWER IN THREE-PHASE CIRCUITS

In the balanced systems, the average power consumed by each load branch is the same and
given by
~
Pav  Veff Ieff cos 

where Veff is the effective value of the phase voltage, Ieff is the effective value of the phase
current and  is the angle of the impedance. The total average power consumed by the load is
the sum of those consumed by each branch, hence, we have
~
Pav  3Pav  3Veff Ieff cos 

In the balanced Y systems, the phase current has the same amplitude as the line current
Ieff  Ieff L , whereas the line voltage has the effective value Veff L which is 3 times
greater than the effective value of the phase voltage, Veff L  3Veff . Hence, using the
previous equations, we obtain

Veff L  
Pav  3 Ieff L cos   3 Veff L Ieff L cos 
3

Similarly, we derive

Px  3 Veff  L  I eff  L sin  .

In the unbalanced systems, we add the powers of each phase

Pav   Veff  a I eff  a cos  a   Veff  b I eff  b cos  b   Veff  c I eff  c cos  c

Px   Veff  a  I eff  a sin  a   Veff  b  I eff  b sin  b   Veff  c  I eff  c sin  c .

In order to measure the average power in a three-phase Y-connected load, we use three
wattmeters connected as shown:

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The reading of the wattmeter W1 is

PW1 
1
2
 
Re Va Ia   Vm  a  I m  a cos  a   Veff  a  I eff  a cos  a  Pa .
1
2
*
Ia Za
a’ W1
*
Va
* Ib
b’ Zb
W2 n’
*
Vb
*
Ic Zc
c’
W3
*
Vc

Similarly, W2 and W3 measure the average power of the load branch b and c, respectively. Thus,
the sum of the three readings will give the total average power. This method of the average
power measurement is valid for both balanced and unbalanced Y-connected loads. Note that in
the case of a balanced Y-connected load all three readings are identical and therefore we use
only one wattmeter.
For measuring average power in a three-phase three-wire system, we can use a method
exploiting two wattmeters. In this method two wattmeters are connected by choosing any one
line as the common reference for the voltage coils of the wattmeters. The current coils are
connected in series with the other two lines and the asterisk terminals of each wattmeter are
short-circuited.

* Ia
a
W1
*
*
Vac b Ib
W2 Load
*
Vbc
Ic
c

The indications of the wattmeters are

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 PW1 
1
2

Re Vac Ia ,
PW2 
1
2

Re Vbc Ib .

Va
Ia
a
Za
Vac b Ib Vb

Vbc Zb
Ic Vc
c
Zc

Since Vac = Va - Vc and Vbc = Vb - Vc, we obtain

  
PW1  Re Va  Vc Ia  Va Ia  Vc Ia ,
1
2
1
2

  
PW2  Re Vb  Vc Ib  Vb Ib  Vc Ib .
1
2
1
2

The sum of PW1 and PW2 gives

PW1  PW2 
1
2
 
Re Va I a  Vb I b  Vc I a  I b . 
Currents Ia, Ib, Ic satisfy KCL

Ia + Ib + Ic = 0
Hence, it holds
Ia + Ib + Ic = 0 ,
or
Ia + Ib = - Ic .

Substituting , we have

PW1  PW2 
1
2
 
Re Va I a  Vb I b  Vc I c  Pav .

The following says that the sum of the two wattmeters readings in a Y-connected system equals
the total average power consumed by the load.

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 Let us consider a balanced Y-connected load and calculate the instantaneous power delivered
by the generator to the load

p t   va t  ia  t   vb  t  i b  t   vc  t  ic  t  ,

where
va  t   Vm cos t


v b  t   Vm cos t  120o  (33)

vc  t   Vm cost  240  o

and
i a t   Vm cost  

i b t   Vm cos t  120    (34)
i c t   Vm cost  240 
  .

where v a t , v b t , v c t  are the voltages of the load branches, i a  t , i b  t , i c  t  are the

currents of the load branches and  is the angle of the load impedance. Upon substitution, we
get:


p t   VmI m[cos t cost    cos t  120o cos t  120o      
  
 cos t  240o cos t  240o   ] 
and use the trigonometric identity

cos x  cos y 
1
2

cos x  y  cos x  y , 
finding

p t  
1
2   
VmI m 3cos   cos2t    cos 2t  240o    cos 2t  480o    .
  
Since

 
cos 2t    cos 2t  240o    cos 2t  480o    0  
we obtain

pt  
3
Vm I m cos  3Veff I eff cos  Pav
2

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Thus, the total instantaneous power p(t) delivered by a three-phase generator to the balanced
load is constant and equals the average power consumed by the load.

12