Effect of Change of Excitation:

A change in the excitation of an alternator running in parallel with other affects only
its KVA output; it does not affect the KW output. A change in the excitation, thus, affects
only the power factor of its output. Let two similar alternators of the same rating be operating
in parallel, receiving equal power inputs from their prime movers. Neglecting losses, their
kW outputs are therefore equal. If their excitations are the same, they induce the same emf,
and since they are in parallel their terminal voltages are also the same. When delivering a
total load of I amperes at a power-factor of cos Ф, each alternator delivers half the total
current and I1 = I2 = I/2.

Since their induced emfs are the same, there is no resultant emf acting around the local circuit
formed by their two armature windings, so that the synchronizing current, Is, is zero. Since
the armature resistance is neglected, the vector difference between E1 = E2 and V is equal
to, I1Xs1 I2Xs2 , this vector leading the current I by 900, where XS1 and XS2 are the
synchronous reactances of the two alternators respectively.

Now consider the effect of reducing the excitation of the second alternator. E2 is therefore
reduced as shown in Figure. This reduces the terminal voltage slightly, so let the excitation of
the first alternator be increased so as to bring the terminal voltage back to its original value.
Since the two alternator inputs are unchanged and losses are neglected, the two kW outputs
are the same as before. The current I2 is changed due to the change in E2, but the active
components of both I1 and I2 remain unaltered. It can be observed that there is a small
change in the load angles of the two alternators, this angle being slightly increased in the case
of the weakly excited alternator and slightly decreased in the case of the strongly excited
alternator. It can also be observed that I1 + I2 = I, the total load current.
Effect of Change of Input Torque

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The amount of power output delivered by an alternator running in parallel with others is
governed solely by the power input received from its prime mover. If two alternators only are
operating in parallel the increase in power input may be accompanied by a minute increase in
their speeds, causing a proportional rise in frequency. This can be corrected by reducing the
power input to the other alternator, until the frequency is brought back to its original value. In
practice, when load is transferred from one alternator to another, the power input to the
alternator required to take additional load is increased, the power input to the other alternator
being simultaneously decreased. In this way, the change in power output can be effected
without measurable change in the frequency. The effect of increasing the input to one prime
mover is, thus, seen to make its alternator take an increased share of the load, the other being
relieved to a corresponding extent. The final power-factors are also altered, since the ratio of
the reactive components of the load has also been changed. The power-factors of the two
alternators can be brought back to their original values, if desired, by adjusting the excitations
of alternators.
Load Sharing
When several alternators are required to run in parallel, it probably happens that their rated
outputs differ. In such cases it is usual to divide the total load between them in such a way
that each alternator takes the load in the same proportion of its rated load in total rated
outputs. The total load is not divided equally. Alternatively, it may be desired to run one large
alternator permanently on full load, the fluctuations in load being borne by one or more of the
others. If the alternators are sharing the load equally the power triangles are as shown in Fig

Sharing of load when two alternators are in parallel

Consider two alternators with identical speed load characteristics connected in parallel as
shown in Fig:

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Let E1, E2 be the induced emf per phase,
Z1, Z2 be the impedances per phase,
I1, I2 be the current supplied by each machine per phase
Z be the load impedance per phase,
V be the terminal voltage per phase
From the circuit we have V = E1 - I1Z1 = E2 - I2Z2 and hence, I1 = E1 - V/Z1 and I2 = E2 -
V/Z2
and also V = (I1 + I2 ) Z = IZ solving above equations
I1 = [(E1- E2) Z + E1 Z2]/ [ Z( Z1 + Z2) + Z1Z2]
I2 = [(E2- E1) Z + E2 Z1]/ [ Z( Z1 + Z2) + Z1Z2]
The total current I = I1 + I2 = [E1Z2 + E2Z1] / [ Z( Z1 + Z2) + Z1Z2]
And the circulating current or synchronizing current Is = (E1 - E2) / (Z1 + Z2)

Voltage Regulation of a Synchronous Generator

The Voltage Regulation of a Synchronous Generator is the rise in voltage at the terminals
when the load is reduced from full load rated value to zero, speed and field current remaining
constant. It depends upon the power factor of the load. For unity and lagging power factors,
there is always a voltage drop with the increase of load, but for a certain leading power, the
full load voltage regulation is zero.

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 The voltage regulation is given by the equation shown below.

Where,

 |Ea| is the magnitude of a generated voltage per phase

 |V| is the magnitude of rated terminal voltage per phase

In this case, the terminal voltage is the same for both full load and no load conditions. At
lower leading power factors, the voltage rises with the increase of load, and the regulation is
negative.

Determination of Voltage Regulation

There are mainly two methods which are used to determine the regulation of voltage of a
smooth cylindrical rotor type alternators. They are named as direct load test method
and indirect methods of voltage regulation. The indirect method is further classified
as Synchronous Impedance Method, Ampere-turn Method and Zero Power
Factor Method.

Direct Load Test

The alternator runs at synchronous speed, and its terminal voltage is adjusted to its rated
value V. The load is varied until the Ammeter and Wattmeter indicate the rated values at the
given power factor. The load is removed, and the speed and the field excitation are kept
constant. The value of the open circuit and no load voltage is recorded.

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 It is also found from the percentage voltage regulation and is given by the equation shown
below.

The method of direct loading is suitable only for small alternators of the power rating less
than 5 kVA.

Indirect Methods of Voltage Regulation

For large alternators, the three indirect methods are used to determine the voltage regulation
they are as follows.

 Synchronous Impedance Method or EMF method.

 Ampere-turn method or MMF method of Voltage Regulation.
 Zero Power Factor method or Potier Method
 ASA method

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