Study of Reactive Power Compensation by Capacitor Banks in the Industrial Complex of The N'djili Water Distribution Authority (Regideso N'djili), City of Kinshasa

Abstract

Our study offers an economical and adapted solution to improve the electrical quality of an industrial complex. The choice of which capacitor banks to install depends on several factors, such as the total active power of the installation, the cosine phi and tangent phi power factors before and after the installation of the capacitors, as well as the total installed apparent power. Using data from the industrial complex's inductive receivers and making some assumptions, we determined the total active, reactive, and apparent power using CALCELECT 2.1.0 software for 24 hours of use. Taking into account the simultaneity factor KS per number of receiver, we obtained the following values: 4757.45 KW of active power, 2826.34 KVAR of reactive power and 5533.67 KVA of apparent power, with a power factor of 0.865. The implementation of compensation by capacitor banks, in accordance with the conditions of the REGIDESO N'DJILI industrial complex, requires an investment of approximately $110,000. Currently, REGIDESO SA spends on average $43,200 per year in penalties linked to poor power factor. Thanks to this solution, the investment will be recovered in less than 3 years. In addition, with an estimated lifespan of between 10 and 12 years for the proposed capacitor banks, REGIDESO SA will save at least $432,000 over the next 10 years.