Industrial Engineer · phase 13 of 16 · noun
Line Reactor
Series input inductor that reduces current peaks, line disturbances, and some harmonic current while adding impedance.
The Explain card
- Plain English
- A line reactor is an inductor in series with the drive's input. It slows the rate at which current can change, which flattens the pulses the rectifier draws.
- Example
- A three percent line reactor in front of a drive drops its current THD from around 80 percent to around 35. It also blunts the surge from a capacitor bank switching on the utility.
- Why it matters
- It is the cheapest harmonic mitigation there is and it protects the front end from line transients. The cost is a small voltage drop and a hot lump of iron in the cabinet, which makes it an easy thing to leave out and regret.
- Hook
- A little inductance between the drive and the world.
Word knowledge
How the word is built, where it came from, and what it sits beside in memory.
In a sentence
The electrician mounted the line reactor between the three-phase disconnect and the variable frequency drive input terminals.
Why these words
- line Old English līne, from Latin līnea, linen thread or string identifies the supply side of the electrical circuit
- reactor English react plus the device-forming suffix -or names an electrical device characterized by reactance
Where it came from
- Origin
- English compound formed from line and reactor
- Entered the language
- 20th century
- What changed
- Line developed from thread and drawn mark to electrical conductor or circuit, while reactor became a technical name for a device whose reactance affects an alternating-current circuit.
How it is spelled
- Pattern
- Line keeps the final silent e that marks the long i sound.
- Pattern
- Reactor keeps the base react before the device-forming suffix -or.
- Pattern
- The compound is normally written as two separate words.
Spelled like
- fine
- mine
- motor
- generator
Broken into chunks
-
line
- line-side
- line voltage
-
react
- reactance
- reactive
-
or
- motor
- generator
What it sits beside
Same subject
- variable frequency drive
- input terminals
- three-phase supply
- DC bus
- harmonic filter
Same shape
- load reactor
- DC reactor
- input reactor
drive-side locations
- line side
- load side
magnetic circuit components
- reactor
- transformer
- choke
Where it sits in the deck
Phase 13: VFD Power Quality, Wiring, and Motor Protection
Harmonics, reflected waves, shielded cable and bearing currents: the side effects a drive inflicts on everything around it.
