1. Automated Power Factor Acquisition and Correction A Senior Design Project idea By Emanuel Tavares University of Massachusetts Boston Fall 2015

2. W h a t is P F ? The angle ϕ is the phase difference between Voltage and Current on a Load. Goal: minimize PF (PF Correction) by making cos(ϕ) closest possible to 1.

3. Problem : Poor PF can be found in Industrial, commercial and residential buildings. Most equipment consume inductive reactive power rather than capacitive. Solution : Design, Build and Test an Automatic Power Factor Correction system or device capable of: 1.Recording values of PF over an extensive period of time for future analysis and economic viability studies. 2.Correcting the PF in real-time (Dynamic PFC) using bank of capacitors in parallel with the load.

4. A simplified schematic of PFC system http://www.google.com/patents/US6462519

5. Potential uses and functions Besides industrial and commercial applications, a potential use for an Automated Power Factor Acquisition and Correction system/device can be in the classroom as an educational tool. A Software can be developed to read the stored PF, and to help visualize the electrical parameters being sensed and conditioned by the system.