What Is Reactor, Types Of Reactors Used In Power Systems, Applications

Hello guys, welcome back to my blog. In this article, I will discuss the types of reactors used in power systems, what is reactor, applications of reactors, advantages, disadvantages, etc.

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Types Of Reactors Used In Power Systems

A reactor is a coil that is mainly used for the protection of the power transformers and the other devices from the reactive currents generated during the fault conditions in the transmission. The reactor is mainly made up of inductive material. The reactors are used according to the requirement but the main concept of the reactor is to limit the reacting currents which can damage the power transformer during the transmission or distribution in the substation.

The reactors are having different functions in the electrical power system according to their usage. The elimination of harmonics, reactive currents, and fault rectification are such types of functions that involve the reactor to perform the operation. The different types of reactors in the electrical power system are:

Shunt Reactor
Series reactor
Damping reactor
Tuning reactor
Arc suspension reactor

Shunt Reactor

The name itself consists of a shunt which denotes that it is parallel. The shunt reactor is connected in parallel. The main purpose of the shunt reactor is to compensate for the capacitive currents in the substation. The shunt reactors are also used for absorbing the reactive power generated due to the capacitive effect in the process of transmission. The shunt reactor is designed according to the configuration of the power system. The shunt reactor is connected between the line and the ground.

According to the configuration of the power system, the reactors used can be single-phase or three-phase. Shunt reactors can also be used for supplying auxiliary power to the system. The air-cored and gapped iron cored are the two different constructions in the shunt reactors, the type of construction is selected by the type of application.

Series Reactor

The series reactor is also called the current limiting reactor. The series reactor is connected in series with the line in the system. These reactors are used to minimize the fault currents in the system. Three-phase short circuit faults are mainly rectified using the series reactor.

The main advantage of the series reactor is that it can be connected in the series with the feeder to minimize the short circuit faults in the power system. The stability of the system can be equally maintained using the series capacitor. The series capacitor used between the neutral and earth to limit the line to earth current then is called the Neutral Earthing reactor.

The series and the shunt reactors are mostly used in the substations for various operations such as protection and fault detection.

The main purpose of the reactor in the substation is to compensate for the reactive power and the currents at the receiving end of the substation. Reactors in the substation are mainly used in two different situations and conditions. The first situation is when the substation is lightly loaded with high input voltages.

The receiving end of the substation is of high input voltage but the load in the substation is low so the unnecessary high voltage can show a maximum negative impact on the current flow. So to minimize this condition the shunt reactors are mainly used. The shunt reactors will maintain the system unstable by producing the required power and controlling the high voltage levels. The reactive power generation from the high voltage will disturb the stability of the system. The compensation of the reactive power will be done by using the shunt reactor.

Coming to the second situation of the substation usage of reactors the fault currents are generated in the substation which cannot be compensated by the circuit breakers and the capacitor banks can be done by the usage of the reactor.

The series capacitor is used to minimize the fault currents as it consists of additional inductive reactance which will decrease the fault currents because of this inductive reactance offered by the reactors the circuit breakers can be handled easily. The reactor’s use will decrease the fault current and it also protects the circuit breakers and the cables from damage caused by the fault currents.

The main use of the line reactors is to prevent the overflow of the capacity of the circuit breakers. The high voltages passing through the circuit breakers may damage them so to protect them the line reactors are used.

The reactors will save money and time and they will also help in clearing the faults in the substation which will decrease the pressure on the circuit breaker and cables. This reactor will improve the efficiency of the system by maintaining the system’s stability.

Advantages Of Series Reactor

The reactors resist the high currents and voltages due to the inductive reactance properties
They are made up of inductive material which needs less maintenance
Reactors are cost-effective and provide the high efficiency
Increase the stability of the substation
Reactors also work as the protective elements

Disadvantages Of Series Reactor

The constant voltage drop in the reactor is more
There is even power loss during the normal operation
The feeder reactor protection is sometimes limited according to its usage.
The compensation failure may occur when the high currents cannot be limited

Applications Of Reactor

Reactors are used in the substation to limit the fault currents and the short circuit currents.
Reactors are also used as the protective element for the substation equipment.
The reactors limit the currents according to the capacity of the circuit breaker.

This was about ” Types Of Reactors Used In Power Systems “. I hope this article ” Types Of Reactors Used In Power Systems ” may help you all a lot. Thank you for reading.

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Chetan Shidling

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