Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Electrical Machines Lab (ENEE4102)

Report of Experiment 4

“Three phase synchronous generator”

Prepared by:
Name: Yahya Hamed Number: 1210983

Instructor: Dr. Ali Abdo TA: Eng. Rafah Rahhal

Section: 1
Date: 13/ 3 / 2024
Table of contents

1. Abstract...........................................................................................................................................1

2. Theory.............................................................................................................................................2

3. Procedure,Data and Calculation,Discussion and results.................................................................4

4. Conclusion......................................................................................................................................6

5. References.......................................................................................................................................7

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List of Figures

Figure 1: The per-phase equivalent circuit………………………………………………………………… 2

Figure 2: The circuit for studying the synchronous generator...............................................................3
Figure 3: The relation between the excitation current and (Vo, Isc, Xs)...............................................3
Figure 4: The plot of VL-L/VN verses I/IN for resistive load operation...............................................4
Figure 5: (VL-L/VN) verses (I/IN) for Inductive load operation..........................................................4
Figure 6: (VL-L/VN) verses (I/IN) for capastive load operation……………………………………...5
Figure 7: The Manual synchronizing Unit…………………………………………………………….5

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List of Tables

Table 1: Nominal data for machine under test.................................................................................................5

Table 2: Records of the No-Load Generator characteristics...............................................................................5
Table 3: Records of the Generator Short Circuit characteristics..........................................................................5
Table 4: Records of the synchronous reactance for different values of excitation current……………………………….5
Table 5: Generator Resistive Load characteristics Records………………………………………………………………5
Table 6: Generator Inductive Load characteristics Records ……………………………………………………………..5
Table 7: Generator Capacitive Load characteristics Records…………………………………………………………….5
Table 8: The behavior of the generator when connected in parallel with the main power grid…………………………..5

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1. Abstract

The NO-LOAD and Short Circuit tests, two of the key features of three phase synchronous
generators, are the subjects of this investigation. In addition, the three primary load circuits resistive,
inductive, and capacitive were configured to comprehend how each functions and how the generator
interacts with it. It also attempts to look into how the synchronous generator parallels itself when
connected to the main power lines. This report presents an explanation and analysis of each section.
In addition, the outcomes are demonstrated and validated to provide a strong correlation between
theoretical data and mathematical formulas.

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2. Theory

Synchronous generators are synchronous electrical machines that are used to convert the
mechanical power from a prime mover to AC electrical power. Synchronous motor always runs at a
constant speed called the synchronous speed. The prime mover is the initial source of mechanical
energy and it can be a steam of fuel turbine.

The synchronous machine has two main windings:

1- The rotor or (field) windings, where the machine flux is induced.
2- The stator or (armature) windings, where the 3-phase voltages are induced.

The principle operation of the synchronous generator is done by the following procedure:
- A DC current is supplied to the rotor coil to produce a rotor magnetic field.
- The rotor rotates by means of external prime mover to produce a rotating magnetic field.
- The rotating magnetic field will induce 3-phase voltages across the stator armature
windings.

The rotor coil can be fed by slip-rings and brushes; where the slip-rings are metal rings encircling the
shaft but insulated from it. And the brushes are blocks of carbon compound that conducts electricity
freely, but has very low friction. Another way to feed the rotor coil is to use the brushless exciter or
the pilot exciter.
Effects of load Changes on synchronous generators operation:
Varying the generator load will reflect on a changing in the phase voltage across the load. This
change depends on the load nature (resistive, inductive or capacitive). Alternatively, the load nature
can be seen from the power factor point of view as (unity, lagging or leading).
For the lagging (inductive) load the phase voltage will decrease as the armature current increase, the
same for the unity (resistive) load but in lower ratio. However, leading (capacitive) loads the phase
voltage increases as the load increases.
The mechanical speed of synchronous generators:
Synchronous mechanical speed of the rotor is synchronized with the electric frequency by the
relation:

nm= ns= 120 fe/ P (1)

Where:
nm: the speed of the rotor (the mechanical speed).
ns : the synchronous speed.
P : the number of poles.
fe : the electrical frequency in hertz.

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Fig.1 shows the per-phase equivalent circuit of synchronous generators, by applying a KVL in the
per-phase armature circuit we got:

Figure 1:The per-phase equivalent circuit

0

(2)
Where:
EA : the internal voltage of the generator.
RA : the Armature resistance.
XS : the synchronous reactance.
IA : the Armature current.
V φ : the phase voltage.

The paralleling operation of the synchronous generator:

In this experiment we study the paralleling operation of the synchronous generator with the
main power lines.

The paralleling connection has some major advantages:

- Supplies a larger load in the system.
- High reliability of power system.
- One or more generators can be removed for shutdown or preventive maintenance.

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 3. Procedure, Data and Calculation, Discussion and results

This experiment was preceded in two parts, in the first one the synchronous generator characteristics
and behavior were studied for different types of loads. And the second part studied the synchronizing
circuit.
Before starting performing this experiment, the nominal machine data was read from the name plate
of the machine and listed in Table. 1

Nominal Voltage VN when connected in star: 400V

Nominal Voltage VN when connected in delta: 230V

Nominal Current IN when connected in star: 0.83A

Nominal Current IN when connected in delta: 1.44A

Nominal Power Factor, Cos(θN) : 0.7/1.0

Nominal Power PN : 0.27kW

Nominal excitation voltage VEN: 20V

Nominal excitation current IEN: 4A

Nominal speed η(N): 1360/1500 rpm

Table 1: Nominal data for machine under test

Part A: Behavior as a Generator in isolated operation:

i. Generator No-Load (open circuit) characteristics:

This part aims to study the behavior and the characteristics of the synchronous generator in five
different situations, the no-load and the short circuit tests. In addition to the resistive, inductive and
capacitive load characteristics.

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Fig. 2 shows the main connection that was used in this part.

Figure 2:The circuit for studying the synchronous generator

Table. 1 were used to calculate the excitation current and the output voltage for the given values of
(IE/IEN) shown in the tables.2,3,5,6,7.
A DC power supply was used to excite the generator with the required excitation current and the
output voltage was measured.
The results were recorded in table.2
IE/IEN 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
IE/[A] (0.0).IEN 0.8 1.6 2.4 3.2 4
V0/[V] - 200v 320v 390v 415v 430v
V0/VN - 0.5v 0.8v 0.97v 1.03v 1.07v
Table 2: Records of the No-Load Generator characteristics

From the obtained results we can see that the output voltage is increasing as the excitation current
increases until they reach their nominal values.

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ii. Generator short circuit characteristics:

The same connection and procedure were used to implement this section but now with the
generator terminals are shorted. An ammeter is connected in series with one phase terminal in order
to measure the short circuit current passing through it.
The measured values of the armature short-circuited current are listed in Table. 3

IE/IEN 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

IE/[A] 0.0 0.8 1.6 2.4 3.2 4
V0/[V] - 0.2A 0.36A 0.54A 0.71A 0.87A
V0/VN - 0.24A 0.43A 0.65A 0.85A 1.04A

Table 3: Records of the Generator Short Circuit characteristics

As the table results implies it is noticed that the short circuit current is increasing while the filed
current is increasing another time until they reach their nominal values.
Q1)
-Calculating the synchronous reactance Xs:
Xs= (open circuit voltage)/(short circuit current)
Where we got them from tables 2ans3 .
The measured values were recorded in table.4

IE/IEN 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Xs - 1000 ohm 888 ohm 722 ohm 585 ohm 494 ohm
Table 4: Records of the synchronous reactance for different values of excitation current
By following the obtained results we can see that the reactance is decreasing while the excitation
current increasing.
Therefore, synchronous reactance (Xs) decreases as core gets saturated.

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Q2)
To understand the previous relationships we can plot the obtained data of the no-load voltage, the
short circuit current and the synchronous reactance as functions of the excitation current. Fig. 3 this
plot:

the realation excitation current and(vo,Isc,Xs)

1200 1
0.9
1000
0.8
0.7
800
0.6
600 0.5
0.4
400
0.3
0.2
200
0.1
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2

Figure 3:The relation between the excitation current and (Vo, Isc, Xs)
Where the:
Silver color is (Xs)
Orange color is (Isc)
Blue color is (V0)
The plot results have verified the theoretical explanation. As we can see the voltage has a steep
increase when the excitation current is far from its nominal value and a small increase as it
approaches it. The current relationship is somewhat linear relation. And finally the reactance is
decreasing gradually.

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iii. Generator Resistive load characteristics:

The main connection of the generator shown in Fig. 2 was established but now a full resistive load
was connected to its terminals. The load was connected in wye (Y) configuration and it was initially
set to be 100% of its value.

The calculation for the armature current and the line voltage were listed in the following table:

R% 100 80 60 40 20
I/[A] 0.13A 0.14A 0.19A 0.26A 0.5A
VL-L/[V] 400v 400v 398V 380V 350V
I/IN 0.156A 0.168A 0.22A 0.31A 0.6A
VL-L/VN 1v 1v 1v 0.95v 0.87v
Table 5: Generator Resistive Load characteristics Records
We can see that the load current has increased while the line voltage has decreased as the resistive
load decreasing. This means that the relation of the resistive load voltage and current is an inverse
linear relationship as we already know.
And we can see that the ratio between the current and voltage for the resistive load is decreasing
slightly because of the unity power factor between them from the following plot:

VL-L/VN verses I/IN for resistive load operation

1.05

0.95

0.9

0.85

0.8
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

Figure 4:The plot of VL-L/VN verses I/IN for resistive load operation

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iv Generator Inductive load characteristics:

The main connection of the generator shown in Fig. 2 was established but now a full resistive
load was connected to its terminals. The load was connected in wye (Y) configuration and it was
initially set to be 100% of its value.

The calculation for the armature current and the line voltage were listed in the following table:

R% 100 80 60 40 20
I/[A] 0.1A 0.21A 0.41A 0.56A 0.76A
VL-L/[V] 400v 360v 300V 230V 100V
I/IN 0.12A 0.25A 0.5A 0.67A 0.9A
VL-L/VN 1v 0.9v 0.75v 0.57v 0.25v
Table 6: Generator Inductive Load characteristics Records
The results are showing a steep decrease in the voltage as the inductive load decreases. On the other
hand the current is increasing.

Moreover, as the load is inductive the voltage regulation of the generator is greater than 1 which
indicates that the voltage should decrease as it is shown as plot bellow:

(VL-L/VN) verses (I/IN) for Inductive load opera-

tion
1.2

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

Figure 5:(VL-L/VN) verses (I/IN) for Inductive load operation

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v Generator capacitive load characteristics:

The main connection of the generator shown in Fig. 2 was established but now with capacitive
load was connected to its terminals. The load was connected in wye (Y) configuration as the two
previous connections.

The same technique was repeated for the capacitive load. However there are only two values for the
capacitive load the machine was de-energized with every calculation.

The obtained results for the load current and voltage were listed in Table. 7:

C/[μF] 1 2
I/[A] 0.09 A 0.18 A
VL-L/[V] 420 v 435 v
I/IN 0.108 A 0.216 A
VL-L/VN 1.05 v 1.08V
Table 7: Generator Capacitive Load characteristics Records

As the results illustrate, we can see that as the load is capacitive which mean we have a leading
power factor and therefore the voltage regulation is less than 1. In other words, the voltage will
increase as the current increase.
We can see that from the following plot:

(VL-L/VN) verses (I/IN) for capastive load operation

1.085
1.08
1.075
1.07
1.065
1.06
1.055
1.05
1.045
1.04
1.035
0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2 0.22 0.24

Figure 6:(VL-L/VN) verses (I/IN) for capastive load operation

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Part B: Synchronizing Circuits:

This part aims to study the paralleling operation of the generator to the main power lines. The
synchronizing unit is shown in Fig. 8

Figure 7:The Manual synchronizing Unit

The three phase power supply was powered on and the machine was excited with the nominal
excitation current found in Table. 1. Then the indictors were observed for the direction of the rotating
fields. Both had the same direction of rotation which meant that the oncoming generator had the
same sequence as the 3- phase power supply. In addition, both had the same phase sequence and the
RMS line voltage was the same on both sides. Then the synchroscope indicator was observed until it
reached 12 O’clock and that’s when synchronization lamps turned OFF.
At this point the synchronization switch was turned ON. After that, the mode of operation was
changed from the load characteristic mode to the torque regulation mode so that the output power fed
to the grid from the generator can be controlled. Next, the nominal torque TN was calculated using
the values obtained in Table 1. Then for the normalized torque values given in Table 8, the actual
torque values were calculated. Finally, the torque values were changed and at each value the voltage,
current, and power factor were measured and recorded in Table 8 and then these values were used in
the power equations to calculate the values of the input and output power.
Pin = Tact * Wm (3)

Pout= 3^0.5 * Vl-l * cos(θ) (4)

Where: Wm= 1500*2pie/60=1.72 rad/s

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 T/TN 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8

Tact - 0.344 0.688 1.03 1.37

V 377 377 377 377 377

I 0.15 0.16 0.22 0.29 0.37

cos(θ) 0.12 0.4 0.65 0.74 0.76

P in - 54 108 161 215

P out - 41.8 93.4 140 183.6

Table 8: The behavior of the generator when connected in parallel with the main power grid

From the table results it is noticed that when the input torque increased the measured values of
current increasing very slowly, because of the rate between the actual torque and the nominal torque
increasing very slowly, while the voltage is approximately constant. The power factor improving and
so on the efficiency of the generator. Since the input and output power depends on the previous
values they will be changed as it is shown in the table.

Due to the power losses it’s obvious that the output power is less than the input power. Also the ratio
between the input and the output increases as the power factor increases.

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4. Conclusion

In conclusion , this experiment has focused on studying the three phase synchronous generator from
two different points of views. One is to understand its characteristics according to various loads (no-
load, short-circuit load, resistive, inductive and capacitive loads). And in the other one is the
paralleling method and how to connect an oncoming generator to a main power lines. These
objectives had been fully understood by connecting the theoretical part of the generators with the
generators in real life. This combination led us to be more familiar with the synchrounos generator
and how it works.

Although the experiment gave satisfactory results, there are some errors in this experiment. The
main one is that the voltmeters and the ammeters were not digital ones which make the accuracy of
the readings decrease. Another is that we neglect a lot of things like the resistance of the lines and the
generator. But the obtained results have verified the theory in an acceptable way.

Finally, synchrounos generators are a main machine in electrical power systems and factories, so it’s
very important to investigate its properties and characteristics.

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5. References
[1] Electrical Machines Laboratory ENEE4102 frome page 50 to 58.
[2] Electrical machine fundamental 5th edition.
[3] http://www.egr.unlv.edu/~eebag/Synchronous%20Generator%20I.pdf visited. 3/13/2024.

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