This simulator models a balanced three-phase AC source feeding an inductive load with an adjustable capacitor bank for compensation. Adjust the load's real power, uncompensated power factor, capacitor bank output, line voltage and frequency, and select a leading or lagging load, to see how real, reactive and apparent power and line current change as compensation is added, removed or overshot.
• A real-time 3D model of the AC source, the three-phase bus, the real-power load, the inductive component, the capacitor bank and the power meter, with home view, focus-selected-part, toggleable enclosure, auto-rotate and expand controls, tappable components with callouts, and numbered labels matching a companion diagram. • Six live controls: load real power, uncompensated load power factor, a leading-load toggle, capacitor bank output, line-to-line voltage, and supply frequency. • Play/pause, single-step and larger-step time controls, plus a playback-speed selector from 0.1x to 60x laboratory speed. This model has no fault-injection actions — controls apply immediately and continuously rather than through a discrete apply/remove/reclose sequence. • Six live metrics: real power, net reactive power, apparent power, net power factor, line current RMS, and current lag angle. • A Phasors & waveforms tab with two charts, the full model equations, and snapshot measurements. • An Experiments tab with four guided scenarios (uncompensated load, near-unity correction, overcompensation, leading load plus capacitance), a model-verification bench of independent automated checks, and a timestamped event log with a copyable trial report. • A Learn & assess tab with guided lessons, a knowledge-check quiz and a written scope/reference statement.
Real power (P) is the average rate at which the load actually converts electrical energy into useful work or heat — it's what you pay for and what does the job. Reactive power (Q) instead describes energy that sloshes back and forth between the source and the load's magnetic or electric fields each cycle without doing net useful work; an inductive load draws lagging (positive) reactive power, while a capacitor bank supplies negative reactive power that can offset it. Apparent power (S) is the vector combination S = √(P² + Q²), and it — not P alone — is what actually sets the current the source and wiring must carry: for balanced three-phase power, S = √3 · VLL · IL.
Adding capacitor kvar reduces the net reactive power Qnet = Qload − Qcapacitor, which shrinks S and therefore lowers line current at the same real power and voltage — this is the practical payoff of power-factor correction. But compensation is a balance, not a one-way improvement: add enough capacitance and Qnet crosses zero and becomes negative, turning a lagging net load into a leading one, which the overcompensation and leading-load experiments let you verify directly.
The equations panel shows Qload = ±P·tan(acos(PFload)), Qnet = Qload − Qcapacitor, S = √(P² + Qnet²), PF = P/S, IL = S/(√3·VLL), and the current lag angle φ = atan2(Qnet, P). Because P stays fixed as you add capacitance, every reduction in current comes from reducing |Qnet| and therefore S — the simulator is explicit that lower apparent power (kVA) is not the same thing as reduced real load (kW).
This is a balanced, sinusoidal, constant-P/Q teaching fixture with an independently specified capacitor kvar output; it does not solve harmonic distortion, frequency-dependent bank rating, resonance, switching transients or network voltage rise, and the displayed power factor is displacement power factor under these idealized assumptions.
Real power (P) is the average rate of actual energy conversion to useful work or heat. Reactive power (Q) represents energy that oscillates between the source and the load's magnetic or electric fields without doing net useful work — inductive loads draw lagging Q while capacitors supply negative Q. Apparent power (S) is the vector sum S = √(P² + Qnet²), and it determines the actual current the source and wiring must carry, via S = √3 · VLL · IL for balanced three-phase systems.
A capacitor bank supplies negative reactive power that partially or fully cancels the load's lagging reactive demand: Qnet = Qload − Qcapacitor. Since real power P stays the same, reducing |Qnet| reduces apparent power S = √(P² + Qnet²), and because IL = S/(√3·VLL), that directly lowers the line current the source and cables must carry.
Yes. If capacitor kvar output exceeds the load's inductive reactive demand, Qnet becomes negative, which means the net power factor becomes leading rather than lagging. The overcompensation and leading-load-plus-capacitance experiments in the simulator demonstrate this directly — more capacitance is not always better, and the simulator's scope notes that harmonics, resonance and switching duty need separate analysis beyond what this fixture models.
No. Power-factor correction reduces apparent power (kVA) and therefore line current, but the load's real power (kW) — the actual useful energy conversion — stays unchanged. The simulator's power meter is explicit that it does not confuse reduced kVA with reduced real load kW.