3 phase power system tutorial

What are the basics of three phase electricity?

The basics of Three phase electricity explained. We start with a simple single phase AC generator and then add in a second and third phase to under stand its working principle. We also cover three phase power uses and distribution as well as why we don't use more phases.

What is a three phase power system?

Now one of the interesting things with three phase power is that you can connect to all three phases and power large industrial equipment or you can also connect to only one of the phases and also power small electrical goods. This is generally how large tower blocks and sky scrapers distribute electricity through the building.

Is 3 phase electricity a good option?

There are still some small gaps between the phases and you could keep adding in more and more phases to fill in these gaps but this becomes more and more expensive to keep running all these cables, so three phase electricity became widely accepted as it is a good compromise between power provided and cost to build.

Does a building need three phase power?

The lifts motors and air conditioning pumps need three phase power but the computers and office equipment will need single phase power. So they distribute three phase power up the building and then draw off from this as needed The same occurs with the distribution of electricity across a city.

What are the advantages of a three-phase power system?

Let’s survey the advantages of a three-phase power system over a single-phase system of equivalent load voltage and power capacity. A single-phase system with three loads connected directly in parallel would have a very high total current (83.33 times 3, or 250 amps. (Figure below) For comparison, three 10 Kw loads on a 120 Vac system draw 250 A.

How do you get two voltages from a 3 phase supply?

You’ll see the three-phase voltage comes out to 208V for a 120V supply 380V for a 220V supply 398V for a 230V supply 415v for a 240V supply We can get two voltages from a three phase supply. We call the smaller voltage our phase voltage, and we get that by connecting between any phase and the neutral line.