Power Factor Correction & Ultra Low Harmonics

Right, we’re going to try and break this down a little differently today. Last week we wrote an article, and it was so brain numbingly rigid that we decided to scrap it and switch things up a little to cover the basics of what we need to get across without the technical jargon. You ready? Let’s go, we’re trying to explain power factor and power factor correction without boring you all.

We’ll use an analogy we can all relate to; Imagine you're sipping a McDonalds milkshake through a straw. You want as much of that yummy milkshake as possible with each sip, right? But if there’s a lot of air in the straw, you're doing work (that’s you sucking hard to get that shake in your mouth) but not getting much other than cheek ache. That "wasted effort" is the same as what happens when power factor isn’t great, but in real life the milkshake is whatever you’re driving, a motor for example.

Power factor is a way of measuring how efficiently electricity is being used. It’s measured as a number between 0 and 1. The closer to 1, the more efficiently a system uses electricity. If the power factor is low, it means a lot of electricity is being wasted, just like sucking air instead of that banana milkshake (just my personal fave, but feel free to pick yours).

Why Does Power Factor Correction Matter? 

Well, good power factor means less waste, lower costs, more reliable power, and a greener operation. In massive facilities like data centers, even small improvements in power efficiency can save huge amounts of money and energy.

Yeh yeh yeh, But What About.....Fans

Yes, right! So how is all this relevant to you being brought to a fan engineering website? We all know that EC fans are super efficient and widely used in data centers for cooling. These EC fans can (not always) draw a distorted current, and that distorted current can affect the power factor in data centres, especially important if you’re the engineer tasked with the design and efficiency of a data centre. What we mean by distorted is, instead of drawing a smooth, wave-like current, they pull current in sharp pulses. This creates harmonics, a kind of electrical “noise” that adds extra, non-productive energy into the system. See how this is starting to link up with the wasted energy we tried to explain when we had our milkshake earlier on? After this, we’ll have subliminally spoke about those golden arches enough that you’ll make your way there no doubt.

You know what’s awesome news though! 

The Rosenberg range of EC plug fans offer ultra-low harmonics, so if you’re using them, you’re in a great spot from an energy efficiency and power quality perspective. You can learn more about the Rosenberg plug fan range in our products section.

For those of us that don’t know what ultra-low harmonics means, lets break that down a little. Remember how we explained power factor as the wasted energy from poorly sipping a milkshake through a straw? You want milkshake, the real power, not air, which in this instance is the wasted power.

So, when we say Rosenberg EC fans have ultra-low harmonics, we mean they pull electricity in a nice, smooth way. Their internal electronics are like a smart filter that keeps everything neat and steady. That’s what we mean by ultra-low harmonics, they don’t add noise or chaos to the electrical system. This cleanliness is measured using something called Total Harmonic Distortion, or THD. The lower it is, the better. For the Rosenberg range, the power factor is typically above 0.99 and the THD is smaller than 3% in a wide power range.

Ready To Talk Harmonics?

Now let’s add harmonics to the ice cream mix:

So poor harmonics, imagine milkshake is full of weird chunks and random air bubbles. As you sip, your straw gets clogged, and sometimes you just pull in air or splutter. You’re working hard, but getting inconsistent results, sometimes milkshake, sometimes a mess. That’s like a high-harmonic electrical load; The power draw is messy, It stresses the system and It makes your system inefficient; low power factor, extra losses.

With ultra-low harmonics, think of a perfectly blended milkshake, with no bubbles or chunks. Every sip gives you exactly what you want with no effort wasted. That’s what ultra-low harmonics do to your power system; clean current, the system works smoother and more efficiently, and there’s less strain on wiring, UPS, transformers and motors for example.

Active power factor correction (Active PFC) is like a smart milkshake machine that senses clumps and adjusts in real time to keep everything smooth (think back to the film the founder, image above as a reminder, where that guy sells milkshake machines and then ends up taking over the McDonalds franchise). In the real data centre, the active PFC actively reshapes the incoming current to match the voltage wave. Instead of gulping power in awkward bursts (which creates harmonics), it draws it in a smooth, consistent flow.

So Can we Ever Get a Perfect Power Factor?

Well not really, as you’ll always have to use some effort to get things going, that’s what’s termed reactive power, without it nothing would flow. In electrical systems there are always motors, coils and other equipment that need reactive power to build magnetic fields or to keep voltage stable. So even the best designed systems don’t have a power factor of exactly 1. The goal is to get as close and make the waves as smooth as possible.

So, in short and to summarise, if every server, component, fan, or HVAC unit had this level of built-in power smoothing, a data center would be like a milkshake bar with top-tier equipment, everything runs quieter, cooler, and more efficiently.

If you're interested in learning how EC fans can make a significant impact on your power factor, or to discuss how our fans can reduce harmonics, or even for a hobbie chat about current distortion, 'cuz we're like that', then contact our technical team on 01782 349 430.