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Concept
Three-phase electric power
Summary
Three-phase electric power (abbreviated 3φ) is a common type of alternating current (AC) used in electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. It is a type of polyphase system employing three wires (or four including an optional neutral return wire) and is the most common method used by electrical grids worldwide to transfer power.
Three-phase electrical power was developed in the 1880s by several people. In three-phase power, the voltage on each wire is 120 degrees phase shifted relative to each of the other wires. Because it is an AC system, it allows the voltages to be easily stepped-up using transformers to high voltage for transmission and back down for distribution, giving high efficiency.
A three-wire three-phase circuit is usually more economical than an equivalent two-wire single-phase circuit at the same line to ground voltage because it uses less conductor material to transmit a given amount of electrical power. Three-phase power is mainly used directly to power large induction motors, other electric motors and other heavy loads. Small loads often use only a two-wire single-phase circuit, which may be derived from a three-phase system.
The conductors between a voltage source and a load are called lines, and the voltage between any two lines is called line voltage. The voltage measured between any line and neutral is called phase voltage. For example, for a 208/120 volt service, the line voltage is 208 Volts, and the phase voltage is 120 Volts.
Polyphase power systems were independently invented by Galileo Ferraris, Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky, Jonas Wenström, John Hopkinson, William Stanley Jr., and Nikola Tesla in the late 1880s.
Three phase power evolved out of electric motor development. In 1885, Galileo Ferraris was doing research on rotating magnetic fields. Ferraris experimented with different types of asynchronous electric motors. The research and his studies resulted in the development of an alternator, which may be thought of as an alternating-current motor operating in reverse, so as to convert mechanical (rotating) power into electric power (as alternating current).
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