Power Factor Correction System Using Matlab with Different Loads

Power factor is an important parameter in electrical power systems as it directly affects system efficiency, voltage regulation, and transmission losses. Industrial and commercial electrical loads are predominantly inductive in nature, resulting in a lagging power factor and increased reactive power consumption. Furthermore, load conditions in practical power systems continuously vary, causing fluctuations in the power factor and making conventional fixed capacitor compensation methods less effective. This work presents the design and simulation of an Automatic Power Factor Correction (APFC) system using MATLAB/Simulink under different load conditions. The proposed system is developed to operate with resistive (R), inductive (L), and combined resistive-inductive (RL) loads that change automatically during the simulation process. A measurement unit continuously monitors voltage, current, active power, reactive power, and power factor of the system. Based on the measured power factor, an automatic capacitor bank switching mechanism is implemented to provide the required reactive power compensation. The proposed APFC system dynamically connects or disconnects capacitor banks according to load variations in order to maintain the power factor close to unity. Simulation results demonstrate that the implementation of capacitor bank compensation significantly improves the power factor, reduces reactive power demand, decreases line current, minimizes transmission losses, and enhances voltage regulation. A comparative analysis between uncompensated and compensated systems is carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The results confirm that the MATLAB/Simulink-based Automatic Power Factor Correction system provides an efficient and reliable solution for maintaining power quality and improving overall system performance under varying load conditions.