Using APFC Control Panels to Reduce your Electricity Bill
Energy is no longer a commodity, it's a necessity in today's world. Today most of our work and life depends on electricity. Research has shown that in the next 15 to 20 years Asia will be consuming more energy than any other part f the world. This is gradually going to become a pressing issue unless it is addressed soon. Asians pay very high electricity bills as compared to those who live in the US or Canada. It's time for Asia, especially countries like India to take a good look of where this is heading so that we have a solution before it gets to be a major problem. Currently products such as APFC try to address the problem of high power consumption. Let's look at what APFC's are along with what / who uses them currently in a bit more detail. APFC control panels and capacitors refer to automatic power factor control panels. These are used to improve the power factor(PF) of electric devices such as motors. APFC's achieve this by switching the power through multiple capacitor banks.
Before we go into depth about the benefits of using a APFC control panel or capacitor, what is the market size that APFC may have. At the offset there are many types of industries that currently use APFC some of which are mentioned below: - Commercial Industries which deal with a variety of export - Housing Complexes - Hotels specially the 5 star resorts - Outsourcing BPO centers, Call centers - Software Development Centers - Airports, Dockyards, Banks - Emergency Units like hospitals, Fire emergency units etc These are many types of players that supply APFC control panels and capacitors such as - Capacitor Manufacturers - Panel Builders - Customized and specialized Manufacturers - Integrators that deal with various equipments - Energy Services Companies - Control Panel Manufacturers APFC control panels are fast moving products today due to the high demand from the above industries in keeping their business running 24 by 7. One of the major hurdles that large industrial companies and business centers have to cross is the high electrical load. These loads are created by Motors, large industrial machines, Data centers, air conditioners, automated machinery, etc. Unfortunately these loads are highly inductive in Nature and there by result in lagging power factor which leaks and wastes energy. According to industry standards in an ideal world the Power Factor needs to be at Unity however in practice this is most often not the case as most industrial loads have a PF lower than 1.
Since one of the key factor in saving energy is determined by the Power Factor, it's necessary to understand the key role of Power factor and what it really means. According to Wikipedia the Power factor is defined as a ratio of Power Utilized (KW) to the Power Drawn (KVA). What this means is that when power is applied to any electrical motor usually the power is not entirely utilized as KW. Hence most often KVA is used excessively due to various factors especially with the induction design of electric motors. With manual intervention the load can be maintained as a fixed load and in such cases the power factor can be maintained at Unity. However this is usually highly impractical for large industrial businesses as most of the work done in these companies needs to be automated and run without supervision. In such cases APFC provides good value for money since the KVAR required is minimal in terms of investment as compared to that of fixed capacitors.
The State Electricity Board (SEB's) in India has insisted on maintaining an average Power Factor above a specified limit(0.85 - 0.90 PF). This goes to prove that electricity needs to be used efficiently without which penalties added on top of the standard electricity bill. If this is the case in India at the moment imagine what will be in store in the coming years for other countries who face similar energy issues and shortage. The big question that APFC manufacturers are asked is whether there are any problems or issues with their own model of APFC. The main issues that arise in any APFC are: - Improper Design - Improper Component Size when being built - Improper Installation - Wrong connections to the Automatic Relay - A narrow band-width - Discharge Resistor or choke coils burning out. - Time Delay Relays bypassed . - Improper ventilation - Leaks within capacitors
Due to these factors the APFC manufactured results in - Higher Maintenance and frequent visits for servicing - Poorer PF raises the kVA consumed A well designed APFC control panel will have the following, make sure when investing in one that you check if these features are provided - Rust Proof Steel Material is used to create the APFC Panels - Independent fuses are used for circuits - Harmonic current needs to be minimized - APFC contains Micro-Controller along with some digital computation - The capacitors are protected against any kind of damage such as High Voltage, Low Voltage
We hope that you are able to gain some insight with regards to APFC control panels and capacitors. The best way to go about investing in APFC control panels is to deal with the manufacturer directly so that installations and warranties are taken care of. There are a variety of APFC manufacturers in India so do make sure that you deal with someone within the country. Either way make sure that some of the basics that have been discussed in the article are being covered in the information provided by the manufacturer
Before we go into depth about the benefits of using a APFC control panel or capacitor, what is the market size that APFC may have. At the offset there are many types of industries that currently use APFC some of which are mentioned below: - Commercial Industries which deal with a variety of export - Housing Complexes - Hotels specially the 5 star resorts - Outsourcing BPO centers, Call centers - Software Development Centers - Airports, Dockyards, Banks - Emergency Units like hospitals, Fire emergency units etc These are many types of players that supply APFC control panels and capacitors such as - Capacitor Manufacturers - Panel Builders - Customized and specialized Manufacturers - Integrators that deal with various equipments - Energy Services Companies - Control Panel Manufacturers APFC control panels are fast moving products today due to the high demand from the above industries in keeping their business running 24 by 7. One of the major hurdles that large industrial companies and business centers have to cross is the high electrical load. These loads are created by Motors, large industrial machines, Data centers, air conditioners, automated machinery, etc. Unfortunately these loads are highly inductive in Nature and there by result in lagging power factor which leaks and wastes energy. According to industry standards in an ideal world the Power Factor needs to be at Unity however in practice this is most often not the case as most industrial loads have a PF lower than 1.
Since one of the key factor in saving energy is determined by the Power Factor, it's necessary to understand the key role of Power factor and what it really means. According to Wikipedia the Power factor is defined as a ratio of Power Utilized (KW) to the Power Drawn (KVA). What this means is that when power is applied to any electrical motor usually the power is not entirely utilized as KW. Hence most often KVA is used excessively due to various factors especially with the induction design of electric motors. With manual intervention the load can be maintained as a fixed load and in such cases the power factor can be maintained at Unity. However this is usually highly impractical for large industrial businesses as most of the work done in these companies needs to be automated and run without supervision. In such cases APFC provides good value for money since the KVAR required is minimal in terms of investment as compared to that of fixed capacitors.
The State Electricity Board (SEB's) in India has insisted on maintaining an average Power Factor above a specified limit(0.85 - 0.90 PF). This goes to prove that electricity needs to be used efficiently without which penalties added on top of the standard electricity bill. If this is the case in India at the moment imagine what will be in store in the coming years for other countries who face similar energy issues and shortage. The big question that APFC manufacturers are asked is whether there are any problems or issues with their own model of APFC. The main issues that arise in any APFC are: - Improper Design - Improper Component Size when being built - Improper Installation - Wrong connections to the Automatic Relay - A narrow band-width - Discharge Resistor or choke coils burning out. - Time Delay Relays bypassed . - Improper ventilation - Leaks within capacitors
Due to these factors the APFC manufactured results in - Higher Maintenance and frequent visits for servicing - Poorer PF raises the kVA consumed A well designed APFC control panel will have the following, make sure when investing in one that you check if these features are provided - Rust Proof Steel Material is used to create the APFC Panels - Independent fuses are used for circuits - Harmonic current needs to be minimized - APFC contains Micro-Controller along with some digital computation - The capacitors are protected against any kind of damage such as High Voltage, Low Voltage
We hope that you are able to gain some insight with regards to APFC control panels and capacitors. The best way to go about investing in APFC control panels is to deal with the manufacturer directly so that installations and warranties are taken care of. There are a variety of APFC manufacturers in India so do make sure that you deal with someone within the country. Either way make sure that some of the basics that have been discussed in the article are being covered in the information provided by the manufacturer
About the Author:
We are a Pune based APFC Control Panel Manufacturers. We specialize in International quality standard APFC Control Panels. We take pride in nurturing proficient skilled professionals in manufacturing varied electrical panels.
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