Electrical Machine 2

EEE 209

Abid Hasan
Lecturer
Department of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
University of Global Village, Barisal
 Introduction of synchronous
machines
Synchronous machines are mostly 3-phase AC machines that
can be used as generator as well as motor.
➢ Synchronous generator also knows as alternator is the
primary source of ac power throughout the world. The
frequency of the generated voltage is proportional to the
speed of the prime mover.
❖ It converts mechanical power into ac electric power. The
source of mechanical power, the prime mover, may be a
diesel engine, a steam turbine, or a water turbine.
❖ For high speed generators, prime movers are usually steam
turbines employing fossil or nuclear energy resources.
❖ Low speed generators are often driven by hydro-turbines
that employ water power.
 Introduction of synchronous
machines

➢ Synchronous motor is a constant speed motor; the speed is

determined by the supply frequency.

❖ It is also used to improve the power factor of the system

when operated as a leading power factor load. In this case,
it is called synchronous condenser.
 Construction of synchronous
machines
Synchronous machines have two major parts:

1) Rotor-(rotating parts): Field winding/rotor winding is

usually placed on the rotor and is excited by dc current or
permanent magnets to produce main magnetic flux. It is
constructed of thin laminations to reduce eddy current
losses.
2) Stator-(stationary parts): The armature winding is almost
invariably on the stator and is usually a 3-phase winding.
Voltage is induced in the stator winding when used as
generator. If used as motor, ac voltage is supplied to this
winding.
 Rotor of synchronous machines
Two types of rotor structures:
1) Round or cylindrical rotor (non-salient pole rotor)
2) Salient pole rotor

Salient-pole rotor: four

Non-salient-pole rotor: and more poles (low
two- and four-pole rotors (high speed machine). speed machine).
Non-salient pole Rotor
Salient pole rotor
 Construction of synchronous
machines
A dc current is applied to the field circuits on the rotating rotor.

➢ If the machine is used as generator, the rotor is then turned

by prime mover. It induces ac voltage in the stator
conductor.

➢ If the machine is used as motor, an electrical energy is to

be supplied to the stator conductor. The two magnetic
fields then act to produce rotation of the rotor.
 Construction of synchronous
machines
Two common approaches are used to supply a DC current to
the field circuits on the rotating rotor:

1. Supply the DC power from an

external DC source to the rotor
by means of slip rings and
brushes;

2. Supply the DC power from a

special DC power source
mounted directly on the shaft
of the machine.
 Construction of synchronous
machines
Slip rings and brushes have disadvantages: increased friction
and wear (therefore, needed maintenance), brush voltage drop
can introduce significant power losses. Still this approach is
used in most small synchronous machines.
On large synchronous machines, brushless exciters are used.
Brushless exciter is a small AC generator whose field circuits
are mounted on the stator and armature circuits are mounted on
the rotor shaft. The exciter generator’s 3-phase output is
rectified to DC by a 3-phase rectifier (mounted on the shaft) and
fed into the main DC field circuit.
Since no mechanical contact occurs between the rotor and the
stator, exciters of this type require much less maintenance.
Construction of synchronous
machines
 Construction of synchronous
machines
A rotor of large
synchronous
machine with a
brushless exciter
mounted on the
same shaft.
 Construction of synchronous
machines
A large
synchronous
machine with
the exciter
and salient
poles.
 Rotation speed of
synchronous generator
By the definition, synchronous generators produce electricity
whose frequency is synchronized with the mechanical
rotational speed.
nm P
fe =
120
Where fe is the electrical frequency, Hz;
nm is mechanical speed of magnetic field (rotor speed
for synchronous machine), rpm;
P is the number of poles.
High speed steam turbines generate 50 Hz with 3000 rpm in
2-pole generators.
Low speeds (200-300 rpm) water turbines requires many
poles to generate same frequency.
Overview of generator winding
Internal generated voltage of a
synchronous generator (Ref: Art. 4.4)
The magnitude of internal generated voltage induced in a given stator is

EA = 2 NC f = K
where K is a constant representing the construction of the machine,  is flux in it
and  is its rotation speed.

Since flux in the

machine depends
on the field current
through it, the
internal generated
voltage is a
function of the
rotor field current.
Magnetization curve (open-circuit characteristic) of a
synchronous machine
Armature winding of synchronous
generator (Ref: Appendix B.1)
Generally full pitch winding, considering sinusoidal
distribution of flux is done. The actual flux
distribution will consists of a fundamental
sinusoidal component plus harmonics. The stator
voltage and current therefore contains the
undesirable harmonic component. To suppress the
harmonics, fractional pitch winding is used.
Pole pitch is
The pitch or pitch angle of a fractional pitch coil in
elect. degree is
where m is the angular distance between
coil sides in mechanical degree.
Armature winding of synchronous
generator (Ref: Appendix B.1)
The pitch factor is

Distribution factor

Where n is the no. of slots/phase/pole, and  is the

angular distance between two slots in elect. degree.
Generated voltage with distributed
winding
The rms value of internal generated voltage
induced in a coil of NC turns is
E A = NC / 2

With distributed and fractional pitch winding , the

rms voltage induced per phase is

E A = k p k d Np / 2

Np =iNC where i is the no. of coils/phase

Equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator
The internally generated voltage in a single phase of
a synchronous machine EA is not usually the voltage
appearing at its terminals. It equals to the output
voltage V only when there is no armature current in
the machine. The reasons that the armature voltage
EA is not equal to the output voltage V are:
1. Distortion of the air-gap magnetic field caused by
the current flowing in the stator (armature
reaction);
2. Self-inductance of the armature coils;
3. Resistance of the armature coils;
Equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator
Armature reaction (the
largest effect):
When the rotor of a is
synchronous generator is
spinning, a voltage EA
induced in its stator. When a
load is connected, a current
starts flowing creating a
magnetic field in machine’s
stator. This stator magnetic
field BS adds to the rotor
(main) magnetic field BR
affecting the total magnetic
field and, therefore, the
phase voltage.
 Equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator
Assuming that the generator is connected to a lagging load,
the load current IA will create a stator magnetic field BS, which
will produce the armature reaction voltage Estat. Therefore,
the phase voltage will be
V = EA + Estat

The net magnetic flux will be

Bnet = BR + BS
Rotor field Stator field

Note that the directions of the net magnetic flux and the phase
voltage are the same.
 Equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator
Assuming that the armature reactance is X, the armature reaction voltage
is
Estat = − jXI A
The phase voltage is then V = E A − jXI A
Armature reactance can be modeled by the
following circuit…
However, in addition to armature reactance
effect, the stator coil has a self-inductance LA
(XA is the corresponding reactance) and the
stator has resistance RA. The phase voltage is
thus
V = E A − jXI A − jX A I A − RI A
 Equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator
Often, armature reactance and self-inductance are combined into the
synchronous reactance of the machine:
XS = X + XA
Therefore, the phase voltage is

V = E A − jX S I A − RI A

The equivalent circuit of a 3-phase

synchronous generator is shown.

The adjustable resistor Radj controls

the field current and, therefore, the
rotor magnetic field.
 Equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator
A synchronous generator can be Y- or -connected:

The terminal voltage will be

VT = 3V − for Y VT = V − for 

 Equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator
Note: the discussion above assumed a balanced load on the
generator!
Since – for balanced loads – the three phases of a
synchronous generator are identical except for phase
angles, per-phase equivalent circuits are often used.
 Phasor diagram of a
synchronous generator
Since the voltages in a synchronous generator are AC voltages, they are usually
expressed as phasors. A phasor plot of voltages and currents within one phase is
called a phasor diagram.
A phasor diagram of a synchronous generator
with a unity power factor (resistive load):

Lagging power factor (inductive load): a larger

than for leading PF internal generated voltage
EA is needed to form the same phase voltage.

Leading power factor (capacitive load):

For a given field current and magnitude of

load current, the terminal voltage is lower for
lagging loads and higher for leading loads.
 Power and torque in
synchronous generators
A synchronous generator needs to be connected to a prime moverwhose
speed is reasonably constant (to ensure constant frequency of the
generated voltage) for various loads.
The applied mechanical power
Pin = appm
is partially converted to electricity
Pconv = indm = 3E A I A cos
Where  is the angle
between EA and IA.

The power-flow diagram of

a synchronous generator.
 Power and torque in
synchronous generators
The real output power of the synchronous generator is

Pout = 3VTI L cos = 3VI A cos

The reactive output power of the synchronous generator is

Qout = 3VTI L sin = 3VI A sin

Recall that the power factor angle  is the angle between V and IA and not the
angle between VT and IL.
In real synchronous machines of any size, the
armature resistance RA << XS and, therefore,
the armature resistance can be ignored. Thus,
a simplified phasor diagram indicates that
E A sin 
I A cos =
XS
 Power and torque in
synchronous generators
Then the real output power of the synchronous generator can be approximated as

3VEA sin 
Pout 
XS
We observe that electrical losses are assumed to be zero since the resistance is
neglected. Therefore:
Pconv  Pout
Here  is the torque angle of the machine – the angle between V and EA. It is also
the angle between the rotor magnetic field BR and the net magnetic field Bnet.

The maximum power can be supplied by the generator when  = 900:

3V EA
Pmax =
XS
 Power and torque in
synchronous generators
The maximum power is called the static stability limit of the generator.
Normally, real generators do not approach this limit: full-load torque angles
are usually between 150 and 200.

The induced torque is

3VEA sin 
 ind =
m X S
 Measuring parameters of
synchronous generator model
The three quantities must be determined in order to describe the
generator model:

1. The relationship between field current and flux (and therefore between
the field current IF and the internal generated voltage EA);
2. The synchronous reactance;
3. The armature resistance.
We conduct first the open-circuit test on the synchronous generator: the
generator is rotated at the rated speed, all the terminals are disconnected
from loads, the field current is set to zero first. Next, the field current is
increased in steps and the phase voltage (which is equal to the internal
generated voltage EA since the armature current is zero) is measured.

Therefore, it is possible to plot the dependence of the internal generated

voltage on the field current – the open-circuit characteristic (OCC) of the
generator.
 Measuring parameters of
synchronous generator model
Since the unsaturated core of the machine has a
reluctance thousands times lower than the
reluctance of the air-gap, the resulting flux
increases linearly first. When the saturation is
reached, the core reluctance greatly increases
causing the flux to increase much slower with
the increase of the mmf.

We conduct next the short-circuit test on the synchronous generator: the generator
is rotated at the rated speed, all the terminals are short-circuited through
ammeters, the field current is set to zero first. Next, the field current is increased in
steps and the armature current IA is measured as the field current is increased.

The plot of armature current (or line current) vs. the field current is the short-circuit
characteristic (SCC) of the generator.
 Measuring parameters of
synchronous generator model
The SCC is a straight line since, for the
short-circuited terminals, the magnitude of
the armature current is
EA
IA =
RA2 + X S2

The equivalent generator’s circuit during SC

The resulting
phasor diagram

The magnetic
fields during
Since BS almost cancels BR, the short-circuit test
net field Bnet is very small.
Measuring parameters of
synchronous generator model
An approximate method to determine the synchronous reactance XS at a given
field current:
1. Get the internal generated voltage EA from the OCC at that field current.
2. Get the short-circuit current IA,SC at that field current from the SCC.
3. Find XS from
EA
XS 
I A,SC

Since the internal machine impedance is

EA
ZS = R + X =
2
A
2
S  XS since X S << RA 
I A,SC
 Measuring parameters of
synchronous generator model
A drawback of this method is that the internal generated voltage EA is measured
during the OCC, where the machine can be saturated for large field currents, while
the armature current is measured in SCC, where the core is unsaturated.
Therefore, this approach is accurate for unsaturated cores only.

The approximate value of synchronous

reactance varies with the degree of
saturation of the OCC.
Therefore, the value of the synchronous
reactance for a given problem should be
estimated at the approximate load of the
machine.
The winding’s resistance can be
approximated by applying a DC voltage
to a stationary machine’s winding and
measuring the current. However, AC
resistance is slightly larger than DC
resistance (skin effect).
 Measuring parameters of
synchronous generator model: Ex
Example 7.1: A 200 kVA, 480 V, 50 Hz, Y-connected synchronous generator with a
rated field current of 5 A was tested and the following data were obtained:
1. VT,OC = 540 V at the rated IF.
2. IL,SC = 300 A at the rated IF.
3. When a DC voltage of 10 V was applied to two of the terminals, a current of 25 A
was measured.
Find the generator’s model at the rated conditions (i.e., the armature resistance and
the approximate synchronous reactance).
Since the generator is Y-connected, a DC
voltage was applied between its two
phases. Therefore:
VDC
2RA =
I DC
VDC 10
RA = = = 0.2
2I DC 225
 Measuring parameters of
synchronous generator model: Ex
The internal generated voltage at the rated field current is
VT 540
E A = V,OC = = = 311.8V
3 3
The synchronous reactance at the rated field current is precisely
E 2A 311.8 2
X S = Z S2 − RA2 = 2
− RA2 = − 0.2 2
= 1.02 
I A,SC 300 2

We observe that if XS was estimated via the approximate formula, the result would
be:
EA 311.8
XS  = = 1.04 
I A,SC 300
Which is close to the previous result.
The error ignoring RA is much smaller
than the error due to core saturation.
The equivalent circuit
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone
The behavior of a synchronous generator varies greatly under
load depending on the power factor of the load and on
whether the generator is working alone or in parallel with other
synchronous generators.

Although most of the synchronous generators in the world

operate as parts of large power systems, we start our
discussion assuming that the synchronous generator works
alone.

Unless otherwise stated, the speed of the generator is

assumed constant.
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone
Effects of load changes
A increase in the load is an
increase in the real and/or
reactive power drawn from the
generator.
Since the field resistor is unaffected, the field current is constant and, therefore, the
flux  is constant too. Since the speed is assumed as constant, the magnitude of
the internal generated voltage is constant also.
Assuming the same power factor of the load, change in load will change the
magnitude of the armature current IA. However, the angle will be the same (for a
constant PF). Thus, the armature reaction voltage jXSIA will be larger for the
increased load. Since the magnitude of the internal generated voltage is constant

EA = V + jX S I A
Armature reaction voltage vector will “move parallel” to its initial position.
The Synchronous generator
operating alone
Increase load effect on generators with

Leading PF

Lagging PF

Unity PF
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone
Generally, when a load on a synchronous generator is added, the following
changes can be observed:

1. For lagging (inductive) loads, the phase (and terminal) voltage

decreases significantly.
2. For unity power factor (purely resistive) loads, the phase (and
terminal) voltage decreases slightly.
3. For leading (capacitive) loads, the phase (and terminal) voltage rises.

Effects of adding loads can be described by the voltage regulation:

Vnl −V fl
VR = 100%
Vfl
Where Vnl is the no-load voltage of the generator and Vfl is its full-load voltage.
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone
A synchronous generator operating at a lagging power factor has a fairly large
positive voltage regulation. A synchronous generator operating at a unity power
factor has a small positive voltage regulation. A synchronous generator operating
at a leading power factor often has a negative voltage regulation.
Normally, a constant terminal voltage supplied by a generator is desired. Since the
armature reactance cannot be controlled, an obvious approach to adjust the
terminal voltage is by controlling the internal generated voltage EA = K. This
may be done by changing flux in the machine while varying the value of the field
resistance RF, which is summarized:

1. Decreasing the field resistance increases the field current in the generator.
2. An increase in the field current increases the flux in the machine.
3. An increased flux leads to the increase in the internal generated voltage.
4. An increase in the internal generated voltage increases the terminal voltage of
the generator.
Therefore, the terminal voltage of the generator can be changed by adjusting the
field resistance.
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone: Example
Example 7.2: A 480 V, 60 Hz, Y-connected six-pole synchronous generator has a
per-phase synchronous reactance of 1.0 . Its full-load armature current is 60 A at
8.PF lagging. Its friction and windage losses are 1.5 kW and core losses are 1.0 kW
at 60 Hz at full load. Assume that the armature resistance (and, therefore, the I2R
losses) can be ignored. The field current has been adjusted such that the no-load
terminal voltage is 480 V.

a. What is the speed of rotation of this generator?

b. What is the terminal voltage of the generator if
1. It is loaded with the rated current at 0.8 PF lagging;
2. It is loaded with the rated current at 1.0 PF;
3. It is loaded with the rated current at 0.8 PF leading.
c. What is the efficiency of this generator (ignoring the unknown electrical
losses) when it is operating at the rated current and 0.8 PF lagging?
d. How much shaft torque must be applied by the prime mover at the full
load? how large is the induced countertorque?
e. What is the voltage regulation of this generator at 0.8 PF lagging? at 1.0 PF? at
0.8 PF leading?
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone: Example
Since the generator is Y-connected, its phase voltage is

V = VT 3 = 277V
At no load, the armature current IA = 0 and the internal generated voltage is EA =
277 V and it is constant since the field current was initially adjusted that way.
a. The speed of rotation of a synchronous generator is
120 120
nm = fe = 60 = 1200 rpm
P 6
which is m = 1200 2 = 125.7 rad s
60
b.1. For the generator at the rated current and the 0.8
PF lagging, the phasor diagram is shown. The phase
voltage is at 00, the magnitude of EA is 277 V,
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone: Example
and that jX S I A = j 1 60− 36.87 = 6053.13

Two unknown quantities are the magnitude of V and the angle  of EA. From the
phasor diagram:

E A2 = (V + X S I A sin  ) + ( X S I A cos  )

2 2

Then:
V = E 2
A − ( S A cos ) − X S I A sin = 236.8V
X I
2

Since the generator is Y-connected,

VT = 3V = 410V
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone: Example
b.2. For the generator at the rated current and
the 1.0 PF, the phasor diagram is shown.
Then:
2 − ( X I cos  ) − X I sin  = 270.4V
2
V = E A S A S A

and VT = 3V= 468.4V

b.3. For the generator at the rated current and the

0.8 PF leading, the phasor diagram is shown.
Then:

V = E −2
A
( X I
S A
cos  )2
− X I sin  = 308.8V
S A

and VT = 3V = 535V

 The Synchronous generator
operating alone: Example
c. The output power of the generator at 60 A and 0.8 PF lagging is

Pout = 3V I A cos = 3 236.860 0.8 = 34.1kW

The mechanical input power is given by

Pin = Pout + Pelec loss + Pcoreloss + Pmech loss = 34.1+ 0 +1.0 +1.5 = 36.6 kW
The efficiency is
Pout 34.1
 = 100 % = 100% = 93.2%
Pin 36.6
d. The input torque of the generator is

P
 app = in = 36.6 = 291.2 N -m
m 125.7
 The Synchronous generator
operating alone: Example
The induced countertorque of the generator is

Pconv 34.1
 app = = = 271.3 N -m
m 125.7
e. The voltage regulation of the generator is

480 − 410
Lagging PF: VR = 100% = 17.1%
410
480 − 468
Unity PF: VR = 100% = 2.6%
468
480 − 535
Lagging PF: VR = 100% = −10.3%
535
 Parallel operation of
synchronous generators
Most of synchronous generators are operating in parallel with other
synchronous generators to supply power to the same power system.
Obvious advantages of this arrangement are:
1. Several generators can supply a bigger load;
2. A failure of a single generator does not result in a total power loss to the load
increasing reliability of the power system;
3. Individual generators may be removed from the power system for maintenance
without shutting down the load;
4. A single generator not operating at near full load might be quite inefficient.
While having several generators in parallel, it is possible to turn off some of
them when operating the rest at near full-load condition.
 Conditions required for
paralleling
A diagram shows that Generator 2
(oncoming generator) will be connected
in parallel when the switch S1 is closed.
However, closing the switch at an
arbitrary moment can severely
damage both generators!

If voltages are not exactly the same in both lines (i.e. in a and a’, b and b’ etc.), a
very large current will flow when the switch is closed. Therefore, to avoid this,
voltages coming from both generators must be exactly the same. Therefore, the
following conditions must be met:
1. The rms line voltages of the two generators must be equal.
2. The two generators must have the same phase sequence.
3. The phase angles of two a phases must be equal.
4. The frequency of the oncoming generator must be slightly higher than the
frequency of the running system.
 Conditions required for
paralleling
If the phase sequences are different,
then even if one pair of voltages
(phases a) are in phase, the other two
pairs will be 1200 out of phase creating
huge currents in these phases.

If the frequencies of the generators are different, a large power transient may occur
until the generators stabilize at a common frequency. The frequencies of two
machines must be very close to each other but not exactly equal. If frequencies
differ by a small amount, the phase angles of the oncoming generator will change
slowly with respect to the phase angles of the running system.
If the angles between the voltages can be observed, it is possible to close the
switch S1 when the machines are in phase.
 General procedure for
paralleling generators
When connecting the generator G2 to the running system, the following steps
should be taken:
1. Adjust the field current of the oncoming generator to make its terminal voltage
equal to the line voltage of the system (use a voltmeter).
2. Compare the phase sequences of the oncoming generator and the running
system. This can be done by different ways:
1) Connect a small induction motor to the terminals of the oncoming generator
and then to the terminals of the running system. If the motor rotates in the
same direction, the phase sequence is the same;
2)Connect three light bulbs across the
open terminals of the switch. As the phase
changes between the two generators, light
bulbs get brighter (large phase difference)
or dimmer (small phase difference). If all
three bulbs get bright and dark together,
both generators have the same phase
sequences.
 General procedure for
paralleling generators
If phase sequences are different, two of the conductors on the oncoming
generator must be reversed.
3. The frequency of the oncoming generator is adjusted to be slightly higher than
the system’s frequency.
4. Turn on the switch connecting G2 to the system when phase angles are equal.
The simplest way to determine the moment when two generators are in phase is by
observing the same three light bulbs. When all three lights go out, the voltage
across them is zero and, therefore, machines are in phase.

A more accurate way is to use a synchroscope – a meter

measuring the difference in phase angles between two a
phases. However, a synchroscope does not check the
phase sequence since it only measures the phase
difference in one phase.

The whole process is usually automated…