A circuit or component is reactive when its impedance is dominated by inductance or capacitance rather than pure resistance. In these systems, the alternating current and voltage waveforms are out of phase, meaning energy sloshes back and forth without doing useful mechanical or thermal work. High reactive loads require larger conductors and transformers to handle the circulating current.
The load bank is purely resistive, so we need to add some inductors to test how the generator handles a highly reactive load.
Related terms
Reactive power
Power that surges back and forth between the source and the fields of inductors and capacitors, doing no net work.
Impedance
Total opposition a circuit offers to alternating current, combining resistance and reactance, in ohms.
Power factor
Ratio of active power to apparent power, showing how much of the current drawn does useful work.
Apparent power
Product of RMS voltage and RMS current, the figure transformers, generators and UPS units are rated on.