The Measurement of Power in Polyphase Circuits

The object of this paper is to point out that the existing methods of measuring power when applied to unbalanced three-phase systems are not equitable for symmetrical polyphase machinery. On the other hand, unsymmetrical loads on polyphase systems are not sufficiently penalized for the trouble which they create in the system. It is first of all shown that a symmetrical generator cannot deliver power except through the balanced components of current. The unbalanced currents are capable of resolution into two balanced systems of currents, one of which is of the same phase sequence as the generator e. m. f., and the other component is of reversed or negative phase sequence. The generator cannot deliver power through the medium of this latter component of the currents, because the instantaneous product of the generated voltage and these currents in the three phases is always zero. However, the volt-ampere product per phase is of great significance, because it is a measure of the effect of the current unbalance on the system. The generator therefore delivers power only through the medium of the positive phase sequence currents. Any power that appears in the system through the negative phase sequence currents is positive phase sequence power which has been supplied by the generator and degraded through unbalanced loads and fed back to the system in the form of negative phase sequence power.