Reactors are also called inductors. They are widely used in circuits. Because of the effect of electromagnetic induction, there is a certain inductance in the circuit, which can prevent the current from changing. When a conductor is energized, it will generate a magnetic field in a certain range of space it occupies, so all current-carrying electrical conductors are inductive in a general sense. However, the inductance of the energized long straight conductor is small, and the generated magnetic field is not strong, so the actual reactor is the wire wound into the form of a solenoid, which is called an air-core reactor; sometimes in order to make the solenoid have a larger inductance, The iron core is inserted into the solenoid, which is called iron core reactor. Reactance is divided into inductive reactance and capacitive reactance. The more scientific classification is that inductors (inductors) and capacitors (capacitors) are collectively referred to as reactors. However, since there were inductors in the past and they were called reactors, So now what people call a capacitor is a capacitive reactor, and a reactor refers specifically to an inductor.
The common reactors used in power systems are series reactors and shunt reactors. The series reactor is mainly used to limit the short-circuit current, and it is also used in series or parallel with the capacitor in the filter to limit the higher harmonics in the power grid. The reactors in the 220kV, 110kV, 35kV, and 10kV power grids are used to absorb the charging capacitive reactive power of the cable lines. The operating voltage can be adjusted by adjusting the number of parallel reactors.
