SECTION 9 GENERATORS9.1 GENERATORS Mechanical energy is converted into Electrical Energy in an Electrical Generator by the use of the fundamental principle that if the lines of force, of a magnet are made to cross. through a coil, a voltage will be induced in that coil Magnetism ‘A piece of iron can have permanent magnetism, for example a compass pointer, or it can be made to have the properties of a permanent magnet by placing it in a coil of wire through which a current is passing in one direction. Example of Electro Magnet — BATTERY + Magnetic fields can find a path much more easily in any ferrous material than through air, therefore electro magnets always use steel cores. While current flowing in a coil will produce a magnetic field, moving a coil of wire in an existing field will produce a voltage across the ends of that coil. Page 9.192 In this elementary system of generation the voltage produced will be sinusoidal and would produce an alternating eee IF Bryer eS WE a a a ° . The converse of the above is that if a coil is stationary and magnetic lines of force are made to cross that coil then a voltage will be induced inthe coil, This system is at the heart of all ° Me ” 1 mevousTions power generators eel ee Stators and Rotors output oS 22 Bastar Ais the Rotor with its steel core and winding rotated by an energy source. The winding produces a strong magnetic field when supplied with D.C. via the Brushgear C. B the Stator windings, generally 3 three interwound coils. D the D.C. regulated source can be from D.C. generator driven by the shaft as on small power machines, or from static convertor supplied from AC source then rectified and controlled by thyristors. Page 9.2The stronger the magnetic field, the higher the rotor current in D.C. amps, the more lines of force crossing the windings and consequently the higher the voltage induced. E=K dBL dt where E = —_ Voltage (Electro Motive Force) dB = Rate change of Magnetic Flux at L_ = _ length of Conductor exposed to Flux K = Constant The relationship between the number of magnetic poles on the rotor and the speed of the rotor in Revolutions per minute determines the frequency of the A.C. voltage produced, f = pxw60 where £ Frequency a speed in R.P.M. P= _ number of pairs of magnetic poles ‘Therefore for 2 pole mvc rotating at 3000 R.P.M. f = 13000 = S0Hz 60 For Water Turbine rotating at 750 P.P.M. f = 4x750 60 50Hz ‘The rotor on this slow revving m/c would have 4 pairs of Poles. Page 9.3,9.3 Power Generation Typical Cross Section through a Generator 3 Phase Power To produce a sinusoidal voltage the magnetic field must vary sinusoidally around the rotor. This is achieved in the way the rotor is manufactured. The Stator or fixed winding is usually three coils overlapping around the steel core. The three windings are usually connected at what is called the star point. Output terminal V Line Voltage B Phase Voltage = Vph The magnetic field rotating within these windings produce voltages which are 120° different in phase angle to each other. Page 9.4,Typical Construction of 2 pole rotor showing the winding layout. Also shows cooling paths through the rotor. Page 9.5 (8 Ww94 THREE PHASE VOLTAGE The power delivered by this arrangement would be P = [3 V,_x I, if the load across the terminals was pure resistance, which is never the case in practice. The current I, usually lags behind the voltage because of inductance in the system. Therefore real active power would be, P,=BV, I, cos where cos © is the Power Factor (P.F.) and the angle @ is the angle between the vectors representing the voltage and the current Power Factor Only the component of the current in phase with the voltage counts, this being the active power P (MW) the other component of the current is called the reactive power MVAR. Page 9.7Here we have a mechanical analogy to the concept of power factor. Note that it is only the component of the pull that is in line with the truck that is effective in moving the truck. For an electrical system the angle between the vector representations of the voltage and the current in an alternating system @ increases as the current moves away from the voltage. Since Cos is equal to the power factor then the power factor goes down from Unity towards zero. ‘This means that with a severely lagging or leading PF. very little active power is being produced despite very high current flows. Note: In practice Power Factor (P.F.) generally runs between 0.8 and 0.9. ‘As the useless component increases than Cos @ decreases Er __ ALS Page 9.89.5 Load Angle Representation of the Magnetic Fields within a Generator running with no load ie. showing a Cross Section through the stator rotor and windings. ‘As the Toad on the Generator increases the stator winding itself produces a magnetic field due to the current flowing in it, this opposes the rotating rotor field and therefore more power is required to keep it at full speed. The two fields rotating at rotor speed maintain a relationship which cannot be greater than 90° from no load condition. If the angle between the axes of the two fields becomes greater than 90° you have 'slip' which causes instability and severe overheating. Slip is the consequence of insufficient excitation (see 9.8 later) for the conditions prevailing. The angle between the resultant magnetic flux in the air gap and the magnetic flux in the rotor resulting from the D.C. excitation is called the "Load Angle". Page 9.9Effect of load angle on Magnetic Field 9.6 Capability Curve For the protection of the generator it must be operated within limits of Stator Current, Rotor current, and Load Angle, These limitations are usually combined in a Capability Curve which is displayed for the operator with the point of actual operation of generator indicated on the display. This point of operation which depends on load and power factor must be within the boundaries of the Capability Curve at all times Page 9.1097 Mvar brn | 1} P| os 0,85 120 100 (0,95 (0,975 Overexcited (inductive) ———————> &*8 = 2 8 8 & 3 10,975, g 3 10,95 5 { MvAr ; | 100 i 9,9 Cooling Although low resistance material (copper) is used in the windings of the Stator and Rotor current must be limited in these windings to prevent overheating. Considerable resources are utilized in bringing this about, most particularly in way the windings are cooled. Circulating air within the generator which is in tum cooled by Water Cooled Heat Exchangers is normal on small machines. As size increases generally above 60 MW, then Hydrogen under pressure of two or more atmospheres is used and circulated through multiple passages in the Stator and in the Rotor. The Hydrogen, as with the air is cooled by Water Cooled Heat Exchangers. Page 9.11Hydrogen is used because of its low density. Even when compressed it is usually less than half that of air which means a considerable saving in the friction loss caused by the rotation of rotor at 3000 r-p.m. Power required to circulate the cooling gas is also reduced. Hydrogen also has much higher heat transfer capability and additionally greatly reduces the degradation of the insulation. On the negative side Hydrogen is a gas that can become an explosive mixture over a very wide band. Anywhere between 4% and 76% in air being dangerous. Big generators can have systems which circulate ultra pure water through the conducting bars of the stator to provide additional cooling. The use of Hydrogen as a cooling medium and water in stator bars brings advantages in efficiency and capacity rating but is not without disadvantages in plant complexity and additional running costs. In the final analysis it is usually economic considerations that decide whether these refinements are included in the specification. 98 Excitation Excitation systems, which supply the D.C. for the main rotor must be capable of operating over a very wide range to cope with all conditions and must have a fast response. Excitation can be either rotating or static, Rotational excitation system will have a generator usually running at full speed of main shaft, with its output to the main generator rotor controlled by the amount of excitation allowed in the field winding of the machine supplying that output. Page 9.12More usual now is the static generator where the exciter supply is from a transformer through thyristors which are controlled at their gates. Both these systems will have A.V.R. (automatic voltage regulation) that is the operator will give a setting for the excitation to hold a certain output voltage and in a large system this means a fixed P.F. (power factor) Se a Laas] “Typie!hyritorexiaion system If the nvc was running disconnected from the system or with small load then the terminal voltage would be controlled by the A.V.R. but when connected to a large stable system then one unit can only marginally effect the voltage and the primary effect of changing the excitation is to make the power factor vary. Increasing excitation giving a greater lagging power factor and conversely reducing excitation will eventually put the generator into leading power factor. Increasing or decreasing the power input to the turbine will cause a change in the load angles, i.e. the relative positions of the rotating magnetic fields, and a change in electrical output. There are many ways that very serious damage can be caused to a generating unit, Overheating being the most common can be caused by overcurrent, or by under excitation which can lead to pole slipping. Page 9.13While overheating usually leads to insulation damage in the medium to long term, pole slipping can lead to severe damage in a very short time. Over voltage will generally only occur with disconnected m/c, and should be controlled by the operator. Earth faults on the stator are usually protected against by star point monitoring. Again the m/c will be tripped automatically because of the danger of a second and catastrophic earth fault. Many other areas are protected, for example phase to phase fault, over excitation , loss of excitation, high conductivity in stator winding cooling water, etc., etc., ‘The response of the protection systems is carefully graded to meet safely the requirements of the particular situation, This response can range from tripping of the turbine and generator and excitation, to advising the operator to take action say to reduce load, The safest way for the protection to trip the unit is for it to start by shutting the steam valves and allowing the unit to trip itself on reverse power. Where the fault is electrical and action must be rapid a direct trip will go simultaneously to generator breaker and to the excitation as well as to the turbine stop. Note that manual tripping of an on load generator should be avoided because of the risks involved. Where immediate manual tripping is essential then the turbine should be tripped allowing automatic tripping of the generator on reverse power, that is, where there is insufficient power being delivered by the turbine to keep the unit at full speed then the generator will take power from the system the reverse of the normal condition. Electrical protection system will then cause the generator circuit breaker to open. Page 9.14