Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 79

4
Synchronous Machine: Steady State
and Transient Operations

4.1 INTRODUCTION
One of the important elements of a powers system is the synchronous generators, which greatly
influences the system behaviour during both steady-state and transients conditions. The
synchronous machine model in steady-state and transient conditions are presented in this
chapter.

4.2 SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR

Synchronous generator is the most important component of a power system. It converts
mechanical power into electrical form and feeds it into the power network. Large scale power
is generated by three-phase synchronous generators (alternators), driven either by steam
turbines, hydro turbines or gas turbines. The armature windings are placed on the stator
(stationary part). The armature windings are designed to generate balanced three-phase voltages
and are arranged to develop the same number of magnetic poles as the field winding that is on
the rotor.
The field is placed on the rotor and requires a relatively small power (0.2–3 per cent of the
machine rating) for its excitation. The rotor is also equipped with one or more short-circuited
windings known as damper windings. The rotor is driven by a prime mover at constant speed
and its field is excited by direct current. The generator excitation system maintains generator
voltage and controls the reactive power flow.
Synchronous machine rotor may be of cylindrical or salient construction. The cylindrical
type of rotor (round rotor) has one distributed windings and a uniform air gap. There generators
are driven by steam turbines and are designed for high speed 3000 or 1500 rpm (two and four
pole machines respectively with frequency 50 Hz) operation. The rotor of these type of generators
has a large axial length and small diameter to restrict the centrifugal forces. Nearly 65 to 70%
percent of large synchronous generators are cylindrical rotor type ranging from about 100 MVA
to 1500 MVA. A salient pole synchronous-machine is distinguished from a round rotor machine
by constructional features of field poles which project with a large interpolar air gap (non
uniform air gap). It has a relatively large number of poles, short axial length and large
diameter. The generators in hydroelectric power stations are driven by hydraulic turbines and
they have salient-pole rotor construction.
80 Electrical Power Systems

4.3 MODEL OF GENERATOR

An elementary two-pole three-phase synchronous generator model is shown in Fig. 4.1. The
rotor and stator are made of high permeability iron to achieve a high ratio of flux density to
mmf. Figure 4.1 is highly schematic. Figure 4.1 shows each phase winding as if it were a single
turn (the coils aa¢, bb¢ and cc¢) coil placed in a single pair of stator slots. Infact, it is a multiturn
coil physically distributed in a number of stator slots. These three coils aa¢, bb¢ and cc¢, displaced
from each other by 120 electrical degrees. The concentrated full-pitch coils shown here may be
considered to represent distributed windings producing sinusoidal mmf waves concentrated on
the magnetic axes of respective phases. When the rotor is excited to produce an air gap flux (fo
per pole) and is rotating at constant angular velocity (w), the flux linkage of the coil varies with
the position of the rotor mmf axis wt. The flux linkage for an N-turn concentrated coil aa¢ will
be maximum at wt = 0 and zero at wt = p/2. The flux linkage with coil a is given as:
la = Nfo cos (wt) ...(4.1)

Fig. 4.1: Elementary two-pole 3-phase synchronous generator.

The voltage induced in the coil aa¢ is given as:

d
Ea = - (l a ) = Nfow sin (wt)

FGH IJK
dt
p
\ Ea = Emax cos wt - ...(4.2)
2
 Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 81

where Emax = N fow = 2pf Nfo ...(4.3)

Therefore, the rms value of the generated voltage is
Erms = 4.44 f Nfo ...(4.4)
Actually, the armature coil of each phase is distributed in a number of slots and the emfs
induced in different slots are not in phase and hence their phasor sum is less than their
numerical sum. Therefore, a reduction factor Kw, called the winding factor, must be considered.
For most of the machines Kw varies from 0.85 to 0.95. Therefore, for a distributed phase
winding,
Erms = 4.44 Kw f Nfo ...(4.5)
The frequency of the armature voltage is given by

FG P IJ FG n IJ
f= H 2 K H 60 K
s
...(4.6)

where ns is the rotor speed in rpm, referred to as synchronous speed.

Under normal operating conditions, three phase armature currents are balanced. Assuming
current in phase a is lagging the generated emf Ea by an angle f, which is indicated by line pq
in Fig. 4.1, the instantaneous armature currents are
Ia = Imax sin(wt – f)
FGH 2p I
J
3K
Ib = Imax sin wt - f - ...(4.7)

Ic = Imax
FH
sin G wt - f -
4pI
JK
3
From eqn. (4.2), it is seen that the generated emf Ea is maximum when rotor magnetic axis
is under phase a. In Fig. 4.1, when line pq reaches the axis of coil aa¢, current in phase a reaches
it maximum value. At any instant of time, each phase winding of synchronous machine produces
a sinusoidally distributed mmf wave with its peak along the axis of the phase winding. These
mmf amplitudes are proportional to the instantaneous value of the phase current, i.e.,
Fa = K.Ia
Fb = K.Ib ...(4.8)
Fc = K.Ic
Using eqns. (4.8) and (4.7) we get,
Fa = Fm sin (wt – f)
FGH 2p I
J
3K
Fb = Fm sin wt - f - ...(4.9)

FH 4pI
sin G wt - f - J
Fc = Fm
K
3
where Fm = K.Imax ...(4.10)
where K is proportional to the number of armature turns per phase and is a function of the
winding type. Now the resultant mmf may be obtained by projecting these mmf on line pq and
obtain the resultant in-phase and quadrature-phase components. The resultant in-phase
components are
82 Electrical Power Systems

LM FG IJ FG IJ
H K H K
2p 2p
N
Fp = Fm sin(wt – f) cos(wt – f) + sin wt - f -
3
cos wt - f -
3
FG IJ FG IJ OP
H K H KQ
4p 4p
+ sin wt - f - cos wt - f -
3 3

LM FG IJ FG IJ OP
H K H KQ
Fm 2p 4p
\ Fp =
2 N
sin 2 (wt - f) + sin 2 wt - f -
3
+ sin 2 wt - f -
3
\ Fp = 0 ...(4.11)
The sum of quadrature components results in

LM FG IJ FG IJ
H K H K
2p 2p
NF
Fq = Fm sin(wt – f)sin(wt – f) + sin wt - f -

4p I F 4pI O
3
sin wt - f -
3
+ sinG wt - f - J sinG wt - f - J
H 3K H 3 K PQ
3
\ Fq = F ...(4.12)
2 m
Therefore, resultant armature mmf or stator mmf becomes
3
Fs = Fp + Fq = Fm ...(4.13)
2
We therefore conclude that the resultant mmf has a constant amplitude perpendicular to
line pq.
Field alignment for synchronous generator is shown in Fig. 4.2 using space vectors to
represent the different fields.

Fig. 4.2: Phasor/vector diagram for non-salient pole synchronous generator.

 Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 83

At no load (armature current is zero), the field mmf Fr produces the no-load generated emf
E and this voltage is proportional to the field current known as excitation voltage. It is worth
mentioning that in Fig. 4.2 mmfs are space vectors whereas the emfs are time phasors.
When the synchronous generator is loaded, i.e., the armature is carrying balanced three
phase currents. The interaction of armature mmf and the field mmf, known as armature
reaction and produced resultant air gap mmf Fsr. Fsr is responsible for the resultant air gap flux
fsr which induces the generated emf on load Esr. Fs induces the emf Ear, known as the armature
reaction voltage. The voltage Ear leads the armature current Ia by 90° and thus can be represented
by a voltage drop across a reactance xar due to the current Ia. xar is known as armature reaction
reactance.
From Fig. 4.2,
E = Esr + j xar Ia ...(4.14)
Esr = V + raIa + j xl Ia ...(4.15)
From eqns. (4.14) and (4.15), we get
E = V + {ra + j(xl + xar)}Ia
\ E = V + {ra + jxs)Ia ...(4.16)
where xs = (xl + xar) is known as synchronous reactance.
The cosine of the angle between Ia and V represents the power factor (cos q) at the generator
terminals. The relative positions of Fr and Fsr dictates the action of the synchronous machine.
When Fr is ahead of Fsr by an angle dr, the machine is operating as a generator and when Fr falls
behind Fsr, the machine will act as a motor. Figure 4.3 shows equivalent circuit of nonsalient
pole synchronous machine.

Fig. 4.3: Synchronous machine equivalent circuit.

Figure 4.4 shows the phasor diagram of the generator for lagging, unity and leading power
factors.

(=) Logging pf load (>) Leading pf load (?) Upf load

Fig. 4.4: Phasor diagram of synchronous generator.

Voltage regulation of an alternator is defined as the percentage change in terminal voltage

from no load to rated load.
Voltage Regulation,
84 Electrical Power Systems

|Vnl| - |Vrated| |E| - |Vrated|

VR = ´ 100 = ´ 100 ...(4.17)
|V rated| |V rated|

4.4 POWER ANGLE CHARACTERISTICS

From Fig. 4.3, the three phase complex power at the generator terminal is
S3 f = 3VIa* ...(4.18)
Also
|E| d -|V| 0 º
Ia = ...(4.19)
|Z s| b
From eqns. (4.18) and (4.19), we get
|E||V| |V|2
S3 f = 3 b-d -3 b ...(4.20)
|Z s| |Z s|
\ Three phase real and reactive power are:

|E||V| |V|2
P3 f = 3 cos(b - d ) -3 cos b ...(4.21)
|Z s| |Z s|

|E||V| |V|2
Q3 f = 3 sin(b - d) -3 sin b ...(4.22)
|Z s| |Z s|
If ra is neglected, then Zs = jxs and b = 90º,
Therefore,
|E||V|
P3 f = 3 sin d ...(4.23)
Xs

|V|
Q3 f = 3 (|E|cos d -|V|) ...(4.24)
Xs

Example 4.1: A 50 MVA, 13.8 kV, three-phase, 50 Hz synchronous generator has a synchronous
reactance of 3 W/phase and ra » 0. One generator is delivering rated power at a 0.85 pf lagging
at the rated terminal voltage to an infinite bus.
(a) Compute the excitation voltage per phase E and the power angle d.
(b) With the excitation held constant at the value found in (a), the driving torque is reduced
until the generator is delivering 22 MW. Determine the armature current and the power
factor.
(c) If the generator is operating at the excitation voltage of part (a), what is the maximum
power the machine can deliver before losing synchronism?
Solution:
(a) cos q = 0.85 \ q = 31.8º
S3f = 50 31.8 º = (42.5 + j26.34) MVA
 Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 85

13.8
\ V= = 7.96 kv
3
Using eqn. (4.18),
S3*f 50 -31.80 ´ 10 3
Ia = = Amp.
3V * 3 ´ 7.96 0 º
\ Ia = 2093.8 -318
. º Amp.
Using eqn. (4.16)
( j3) * 2093.8
E = 7.96 + -318
. º
1000
\ E = 7.96 + 6.28 58.2 º = 1127
. + j 5.33
\ E = 12.46 25.3º kV.
Therefore the excitation voltage magnitude is 12.46 kv and power angle is 25.3º.

(b) When the generator is delivering 22 MW, from eqn. (4.23),

LM 22 ´ 3 OP = sin FG 66 IJ = 12.8º
d = sin
-1
N3 ´ 12.46 ´ 7.96 Q H 297.54 K-1

12.46 12.8 º - 7.96 0 º (4.19 + j2.76)

Ia = =
j3 j3
\ Ia = 1672.4 -56.6 º Amp.

The power factor is cos (56.6º) = 0.55

|E||V| 3 ´ 12.46 ´ 7.96
(c) Pmax = 3 = = 99.18 MW
xs 3

12.46 90 º - 7.96 0 º -(7.96 - j12.46)

Ia = =
j3 j3
Ia = 4928.5 32.5 º Amp Ans.

Example 4.2: A 80 MVA, 69.3 kV, three-phase, synchronous generator has a synchronous
reactance of 10 W per phase and ra » 0. The generator is delivering rated power at 0.8 pf lagging
at the rated terminal voltage to an infinite bus bar. Determine the magnitude of the generated
emf per phase and the power angle d.
Solution:
cos q = 0.8 \ q = 36.87º

S3f = 80 36.87 º = (64 MW + j 48 MVAr)

69.3
The rated voltage per phase is V = kV = 40.01 kV
3
\ V = 40.01 0 º kV
86 Electrical Power Systems

The rated current is

S3*f 80 -36.87 º
Ia = = = 666.5 -36.87 º Amp
* 3 ´ 40.01 0 º
3V
j10 ´ 666.5 -36.87 º
\ E = 40.01 0 º + = 40.01 + 6.665 5313
. º
1000
\ E = 40.01 + 4 + j 5.33 = 44.01 + j 5.33
\ E = 44.33 6.9 º kV
\ magnitude of generated emf = 44.33 kV and d = 6.9º Ans.

4.5 SALIENT POLE SYNCHRONOUS GENERATORS

A salient pole synchronous machine (Fig. 4.5) is distinguished from a round rotor machine by
constructional features of field poles with a large interpolar air gap. The reluctance along the
polar axis, commonly referred to as the rotor direct axis is less than that along the interpolar
axis, commonly referred to as the quadrature axis. Therefore direct axis reactance xd is higher
than the quadrature axis reactance xq. These two reactances give voltage drop in the armature
and can be taken into account by resolving the armature current Ia into two components Id in
quadrature and Iq in phase. The phasor diagram with zero armature resistance is shown in
Fig. 4.6.

Fig. 4.5: Schematic representation of a salient pole

synchronous generator (four poles).
 Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 87

Fig. 4.6: Phasor diagram of a salient pole

synchronous generator.

From Fig. 4.6,

|E| = |V| cos d + xd Id ...(4.25)
The three-phase real power at the generator terminal is
P = 3|V| |Ia| cos q ...(4.26)
From Fig. 4.6,
|Ia|cos q = Iq cos d + Id sin d ...(4.27)
From eqn. (4.26) and (4.27), we get
P = 3|V| (Iq cos d + Id sin d ) ...(4.28)
Again from Fig. 4.6,
|V| sin d = xqIq
|V|sin d
\ Iq = ...(4.29)
xq
From eqn. (4.25), we get
|E|-|V|cos d
Id = ...(4.30)
xd
From eqn. (4.28), (4.29) and (4.30) we get,
|E||V| ( x d - xq )
P3f = 3 sin d + 3|V|2 sin 2d ...(4.31)
xd 2 xd xq
In eqn. (4.31), second term is known as the reluctance power. Note that equations (4.25) and
(4.31) can be utilized for steady state analysis. Under transient conditions, xd takes on different
values depending upon the transient time following the short circuit.
Example 4.3: A 25 MVA, 13.8 kV, 50 Hz synchronous generator has a synchronous reactance of
1.2 pu and a resistance of 0.02 pu calculate (a) the base voltage, base power and base impedance
of the generator. (b) The actual value of the synchronous reactance (c) The actual winding
resistance per phase (d) the total full load copper loss.
Solution.
(a) The base voltage is
13.8
EB = = 7.967 kV.
3
88 Electrical Power Systems

25
The bare power is SB = = 8.333 MVA
3

FG 13.8 IJ 2

E B2 H 3K
The base impedance is ZB = =
FG 25 IJ
SB
H3K
\ ZB = 7.6176 W .
(b) The synchronous reactance is
xs = xs(pu) × ZB = 1.2 × 7.6176 = 9.14112 W .
(c) The resistance per phase is
R = R (pu) × ZB = 0.02 × 7.6176 = 0.1523 W
Note that all the impedance value are on per phase basis.

(d) The per-unit copper losses at full-load are

P(pu) = I 2(pu) × R(pu) = 12 × 0.02 = 0.02 pu

Note that full load per unit value of I is equal to 1.

The copper losses for all these phase are

P = 3 × 0.02 × SB = 3 × 0.02 × 25 × 1000 = 1500 kW Ans.

Example 4.4: A 30 MVA, 15 kV, 1500 rpm, 3 phase synchronous generator connected to a power
grid has a synchronous reactance of 9 9 per phase. If the exciting voltage is 12 kV (line-to-
neutral) and the system voltage is 17.3 kV (line-to-line), calculate the following:
(a) The active power which the machine delivers when the torque angle @ is 30º (electrical).
(b) The maximum power that the generator can deliver before it falls out of step (losses
synchronous).
Solution.
17.3
(a) |E| = 12 kV, |V| = = 9.988 kV, xs = 9 W, d = 30º
3

|E||V| 12 ´ 9.988 1
P= sin d = ´ MW = 6.658 MW.
xs 9 2

The total three-phase power delivered = 19.976 MW.

(b) The maximum power, per phase, is attained when d = 90º,

 Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 89

|E||V| 12 ´ 9.988
\ P= sin 90 º = = 13.317 MW.
x 9
Maximum these-phase power output of the alternator

= 13.317 × 3 = 39.952 MW.

4.6 TRANSIENTS OF SYNCHRONOUS MACHINE

A three-phase synchronous machine consists of three windings mounted on the stator, one field
winding mounted on the rotor and two amortisseur or damper windings could be added to the
rotor, one along the direct axis and other along the quadrature axis, which model the short-
circuit paths of the damper windings. These windings are schematically shown in Fig. 4.7.

Fig. 4.7: Schematic representation of a synchronous machine.

The idealized synchronous machine is represented as group of magnetically coupled circuits

with inductances which depend on the angular position of the rotor. It is assumed that saturation
is neglected and spatial distribution of armature mmf is sinusoidal. Figure 4.8 gives the
schematic representation of synchronous machine.
90 Electrical Power Systems

Fig. 4.8: Schematic representation of synchronous machine.

4.7 SIMPLIFIED REPRESENTATION OF SYNCHRONOUS

MACHINE FOR TRANSIENT ANALYSIS
For steady state operation, the synchronous generator was represented with a constant emf
behind a synchronous reactance xs. For salient pole machine, because of the nonuniformity of
the air gap, it was modeled with direct axis reactance xd and the quadrature axis reactance xq.
Under short circuit conditions, the circuit resistance is much smaller than the reactance and
hence the stator current lags nearly 90º behind the driving voltage and the armature reaction
mmf is centered almost on the direct axis. Therefore, under short circuit conditions, the
effective reactance of the machine may be assumed only along the direct axis.
At the instant, prior to short circuit condition, there must be some flux on the direct axis
linking both the stator and rotor, due to rotor mmf only if the machine on open circuit or due
to the resultant of rotor and stator mmf, if some stator current is flowing. Under short circuit
condition, there will be sudden increase of stator current and the flux linking the stator and
rotor cannot change immediately due to eddy currents flowing in the rotor and damper circuits,
which oppose this change. The reactance of armature reaction is negligible because stator mmf
is unable at first to establish any armature reaction and value of initial reactance is same as the
leakage reactance when the eddy current in the damper circuit and eventually in the field
circuit decays, the armature reaction will be fully established.
For the purpose of explanation, imagine that the field and damper windings are the
secondaries of a transformer where primary is the armature winding. Under normal steady
state operations there is no transformer action between stator and rotor windings as the
resultant field produced by both the stator and rotor revolve with the same synchronous speed.
During short circuit conditions, rotor speed is not the same as that of the revolving field
produced by stator windings resulting in the transformer action. Therefore, damper and field
circuits resemble much more nearly as short-circuited secondaries. The equivalent circuit for
this condition is shown in Fig. 4.9 and equivalent reactance is known as direct axis subtransient
reactance.
 Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 91

Fig. 4.9: Equivalent circuit for the subtransient condition.

Subtransient reactance xd² can be given as,

F 1 + 1 + 1 IJ
+G
-1

x d² = x l
Hx x x K
a f d
...(4.32)

The direct axis subtransient reactance xd² is only used if the initial current is important, for
example to determine the short-circuit rating of circuit breaker.
The short-circuit subtransient time constant of damper winding is very small (about 0.03 to
0.04 seeads) and this component of current decays very quickly.
Therefore, one can ignore the branch of the equivalent circuit which takes into account the
damper winding. Equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 4.10.

Fig. 4.10: Equivalent circuit for the transient condition.

The equivalent reactance of Fig. 4.10 is known as short circuit transient reactance and is
given by

FG 1 + 1 IJ -1

x d¢ = x l +
Hx x K
a f
...(4.33)

Finally, when the disturbance is over, there will

not be any transformer action between the stater and
roter windings and the equivalent circuit is shown in
Fig. 4.11.
The equivalent reactance of Fig. 4.11 is known as Fig. 4.11: Equivalent circuit for
direct axis synchronous reactance and is given by the steady-state condition.

xd = xl + xa ...(4.34)
92 Electrical Power Systems

Similar equivalent circuits can be obtained for reactances along the quadrature axis. These
reactances, x²q, x¢q, and xq may be considered for cases when the circuit resistance results in a
power factor above zero and the armature reaction is not totally on the direct axis.
The armature current following sudden short circuit to the armature of an initially unloaded
machine can be expressed as:

LMF 1 - 1 I e FG 1 - 1 IJ e OP
MNGH X ¢¢ X ¢ JK
-t t d¢¢ - t t d¢
1
ia(t) = 2 Eo
d d
+
H X¢ X K
d d
+
Xd PQ
sin (wt + d ) ...(4.35)

Where
t²d = direct axis short-circuit subtransient time constant
t¢d = direct axis short-circuit transient time constant.

4.8 DC COMPONENTS OF STATOR CURRENTS

The expression for the armature current as given by eqn. (4.35), the unidirectional transient
component has not been considered. As we know from the consideration of the simple R-L
circuit, there will be a dc offset depending on when the voltage is applied. Similarly, in a
synchronous machine, the dc offset component depends on the instantaneous value of the stator
voltage at the time of the short circuit. The time constants associated with the decay of the dc
component of the stator current is defined as the armature short circuit time constant, ta.
Most of the decay of the dc component current occurs during the subtransient period and
because of this reason, the average value of the direct axis and quadrature axis subtransient
reactances is used for calculating ta. It’s approximate value is given by,
( X d¢¢ + X q¢¢)
ta = ...(4.36)
2 Ra
Typical value of ta is around 0.045 to 0.18 second.

The dc component current for phase ‘a’ is given by

Eo
idc = 2 sin d .e - t/ ta ...(4.37)
X d¢¢
Combination of eqns. (4.35) and (4.37) will give an asymmetrical wave form, i.e.,
LMFG 1 - 1 IJ e FG 1 - 1 IJ e 1 OP E
MNH X ¢¢ X ¢ K H X¢ X K PQ
- t / t d¢¢ - t / t d¢
iasy (t) = 2 Eo + + sin(wt + d) + 2 o sin d . e - t / ta
d d d d Xd X d¢¢
...(4.38)
The maximum possible initial magnitude of the dc component current is
Eo
idcmax = 2 ...(4.39)
X d¢¢

Therefore, the maximum rms current at the beginning of the short circuit is
 Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 93

FG E IJ + FG 2 E IJ
2 2

H X ¢¢ K H X ¢¢ K
max o o
\ iasy = ...(4.40)
d d

from which

FG E IJ
H X ¢¢ K
max o
iasy = 3 ...(4.41)
d

The momentary duty of a circuit breaker is given in terms of the asymmetrical short-circuit
current.

4.9 EFFECT OF LOAD CURRENT

If the fault occurs when the synchronous generator is delivering a perfault load current, two
methods might be used in the solution of three-phase symmetrical fault currents.

4.9.1 Use of Internal Voltages Behind Reactances

When there is a prefault load current, three internal voltages E², E¢ and E may be considered
to be during subtransient, transient and the steady state periods, respectively and these
voltages are known as the voltage behind subtransient reactance, voltage behind transient
reactance and voltage behind synchronous reactance. Consider the single line diagram of a
loaded generator as given in Fig. 4.12.

Fig. 4.12: (=) Single line diageram of a loaded generator (>) Phasor diagram.

From Fig. 4.11(b), we can write

E ² = V + jX ²d IL
E¢ = V + jX ¢d IL ...(4.42)
E = V + jX d IL

4.9.2 Use of Thévenin’s Theorem and Superposition with Load Current

An alternate method of computing short-circuit current is through use of Thévenin’s theorem
and superposition of prefault load current. Here it is illustrated through an example.
Consider a synchronous generator feeding a synchronous motor load, over a transmission
line. Figure 4.13 (a) shows the circuit model under steady load conditions. Fault computations
94 Electrical Power Systems

are to be made for a fault at F, at the motor terminals. Figure 4.13(b) shows the circuit
considering transient reactances (or subtransient reactances if subtransient currents are of
interest) in series with voltages behind transient reactances.
Figure 4.13 (c) shows the Thevenin’s equivalent circuit. This circuit comprises prefault
voltage V0 in series with the passive Thevenin’s impedance network. Figure 4.13 (d) shows the
Thevenin equivalent of the system feeding the fault impedance.

Fig. 4.13: Short-circuit current computation using Thevenin equivalent.

From Fig. 4.13 (d), we can write

Vo
If = ...(4.43)
Z f + j X Tn
Also
X dm
¢ . If
DIg = ...(4.44)
( X dg
¢ + X ¢ + X dm
¢ )

( X dg
¢ + X ¢)
DIm = . If ...(4.45)
( X dg
¢ + X ¢ + X dm
¢ )
Postfault currents and voltages are obtained using superposition:
Igf = Io + DIg ...(4.46)
Imf = Io – DIm (in the direction of Io)
 Synchronous Machine: Steady State and Transient Operations 95

Postfault voltage
Vf = Vo + (–jXTH If ) = Vo + DV ...(4.47)

EXERCISE
4.1. A three phase synchronous generator produces an open circuit line voltage of 6000 volt when the
dc exciting current is 50 Amp. The ac terminals are then shrot circuited, and the three line currents
are found to be 660 Amp. Calculate (a) the synchronous reactance per phase (b) the terminal
voltage if three 12 ohm resistors are connected in Y across the terminals.
Ans. (a) 5.248 ohm (b) 5.5 kv.
4.2. A three phase, 50 Hz synchronous generator is driven at constant synchronous speed by a prime
mover. The armature windings are initially open-circuited and field voltage is adjusted so that the
armature terminal voltage is at the rated value (i.e., 1.0 pu). The machine has x²d = 0.15 pu,
x¢d = 0.40 pu and xd = 1.20 pu. Determine the steady state, transient and subtransient short circuit
currents.
Ans. 0.833 pu, 2.50 pu, 6.67 pu