Capacitor Design

Application Overview:

 See Capacitor Design Setup for more details on user input options for this application.  Available Output Variables for the application are described in the final section of this topic.

The Capacitor Design application models improvements in circuit performance by evaluating new capacitor placement at various locations throughout the circuit, one location at a time.  The application only analyzes the first circuit selected for analysis.  If more than one circuit has been selected for analysis, Capacitor Design ignores all other circuits selected after the first.  If more than one time point is selected, the results apply to the earliest time point selected.  If no time points are selected, Capacitor Design runs for the first time point.  A design may be created by first running the application for the minimum load condition to design fixed units, and then running again for the peak load condition to design switched units.

Three types of capacitor locations are defined for the Capacitor Design application:  

1. "Existing Locations" are defined as those locations in the circuit where capacitors existed before initializing the current run of the Capacitor Design application.  The user can limit the evaluation to consider only locations where capacitors already exist.  An existing location becomes a test location if additional test units (new capacitors) are added there for evaluation.
     

2. "Test Locations" are defined as those locations where new capacitors are being evaluated by the application.  When run over an entire circuit, the application may produce results for many test locations.  Improvements in voltage, power factor, and overall circuit losses are evaluated.  Some locations will provide a greater improvement in voltage, while others will provide a greater improvement in circuit losses.  For each location, the voltage and power factor improvements are evaluated at the test location and also at the substation.  
    

3. "Installed Locations," are defined as those locations where the user has confirmed the addition of evaluation test units into the circuit for the remainder of the evaluation.  The application then incorporates results from the installed capacitors into further evaluations of other test locations.  When an installed location is created, all units present at that location (i.e. both existing and test units) become installed units.  Additional test units may subsequently be added to an installed location.  As with existing locations, locations having both installed units and test units fall into both locational categories.  Installed locations are only defined for the current run of the application.

Application Run / Results:

See Running DEW Applications for general details on running an application, selecting and displaying output variables.  

Interactive Run/Results:

The Capacitor Design application must be run in the interactive mode, i.e. with the Interactive Apps option selected.  

If the application does not find any locations for adding capacitors that meet the specified setup criteria, then a dialog appears to allow user either to place capacitors manually or to end current run of application.

When the application finds locations for capacitor placement (or user chooses to continue with manual placement), the Command Center dialog opens, listing the results for each recommended location.

View Test Locations/Results:
 

Test Locations:

List box contains all test locations, with the current test location highlighted in the list, as well as centered and highlighted in the drawing window.
 

[Test Results]

Opens a dialog presenting the user with the Capacitor Design Test Results for the highlighted Test Location.
 

[PFlow View]

Allows user to view power flow results for an individual component, which is selected by mouse (pointer finger).  Once picked, the user is presented with the Capacitor Design Component Pflow Viewer dialog.
 

[Next Spot]

Steps highlighted selection in list to the next test location and pans the highlighted component to center of drawing window.

Modify Test Locations/Quantities (if needed):
 

[Add Test Units]

Allows user to add or modify capacitors at desired test location, which is selected with mouse (pointer finger) and may or may not be a recommended location.  Once picked, the user is presented with the Add Units to this Location dialog.

Create Installed Locations:
 

[Fix and Run]

Installs the units for the selected test location and drives application to reevaluate the circuit for new test locations based on inclusion of all previously installed units.  Installed units will remain installed for duration of the current run of application.

Review Installation Results:
 

[Installed List]

Presents the user with the Installed Location List dialog, which lists all of the locations where capacitors have been added during current run, via Fix and Run command, and pans the highlighted location to center of drawing window.
 

[Report]

Generates a text file output that contains information about all test units and installed units.  Multiple reports may be generated in a single session. (See Capacitor Design Sample Report)
 

[Plot]

Presents the user with the Choose Plot Type dialog, which allows the user to create plots of the selected output variable versus test location.  (See Capacitor Design Sample Plot)
Note: Plots cannot be generated when there is only one test location.  

[Exit]

Closes the Command Center dialog and terminates the current analysis run.

Available Output Variables:

For general details on running an application, selecting and displaying output variables, see Running DEW Applications.  The output variables available for display from the Capacitor Design application are described in the following table.  For outputs that apply to line/cable sections, the outputs are available for all phases present.  Outputs that apply to circuits represent the loading associated with all three phases.  Interactive outputs to the circuit schematic are available only when the application is running in the Interactive Mode.