how to convert kva to kw in 3 phase and 1, 2 phase

We explained how to perform the conversion from kVA to kW in a simple step by step, besides analyzing some examples and giving the most common values ​​of the power factor to facilitate the conversion.

To convert from kVA to kW you must have two variables: kVA and power factor, then you simply multiply kVAxFactor power, as reported by the formula and the result of this multiplication will be the kW. If you want to convert kVA to kW automatically you can use this tool .

It is important to know that the kW will always be lower than the kVA, this is because the power factor is always less than 1 (From 0 to 1) so that the multiplication of kVAxF.P = kW, will never result in a value greater than kVA (kW≤kVA)

The kVA and the power factor are commonly found on the plate characteristic of the inductive electrical equipment (see figure 1), mainly generators, keep in mind that the power factor can also appear as cos (φ). In this case, figure 1 shows the characteristic plate of a 570kVA generator and a power factor of 0.8.

datos de placa de generador
Figure 1. Generator plate data

Actually most of the plates characteristic of electrical equipment do not have the kVA because the common designation is done in kW, this is partly because many of them despise the power factor because they are very efficient electrical equipment, without However this does not mean that the equipment does not have fp, on the other hand most of the equipment that works with AC voltage has power factor, so if the plates do not inform you the fp we show you the tables with the most common values of the power factors for different engines, constructions and equipment in general.

How to convert from kVA to kW step by step:
kva to kw convert in only step

Step 1:

The calculation to convert from kva to kw is done simply by multiplying the kVA by the power factor of the load, if you do not know the latter you can use the ones shown here .

Example , To avoid running out of energy a mine uses an electric generator, which has a prime power of 74.6kVA, this equipment has a power factor of 0.87, knowing the above, how much power in kW this equipment can deliver ?, to know the answer you only have to multiply 74.6kVA by 0.87 which will result in: 64.9kW. (74.6kVAx0.87 = 64.9kW).

In reality the power factor delivered by a generator depends on the load and is limited by the capacity of the generator, this means that if the generator is built to deliver 800kVA / 640kW at a power factor of 0.8, it can not deliver 750kVA / 562kW at a power factor of 0.75. Therefore it is important to respect the limits of both kVA, kW and power factor of the generators and the load.

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