Synchronous Generator

Mrinmoy Kundu, Lecturer

[email protected]
Dept. of EEE, BUET
Date: 3/12/2023

Reference : Chapter4, Electric Machinery Fundamentals, J. Chapman (5 th ed)

Basic Principle
• Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction says
the current is induced in the conductor inside a
magnetic field when there is a relative motion
between that conductor and the magnetic field.
• The synchronous generator or alternator is an
electrical machine that converts the mechanical
power from a prime mover into AC electrical
power at a particular voltage and frequency.
• The synchronous machine always runs at a
constant speed called synchronous speed.
Structure – Rotor
• The rotor of a synchronous generator is essentially a large
electromagnet. Magnetic poles on the rotor can be of 2 types
• Salient pole: "protruding" or "sticking out," magnetic pole that sticks out
radially from the shaft of the rotor.
• Non-salient pole: Magnetic pole with windings embedded flush with the
surface of the rotor.
Structure – Rotor
• Poles: Number of North and South poles produced on the rotor as
it acts like a electromagnet.

2-pole Rotor 6-pole Rotor

Structure - Stator
• The stator is the stationary part of a synchronous generator that hosts
armature coils along the preformed stator structure with windings that
are particularly distributed and chorded.
• As the rotor rotates, 3-phase AC voltage is induced in the stator windings

Simplified diagram of a three-phase stator

 Rotor/Field Windings

Industrial Synchronous Generator

Stator/Armature Windings
Synchronous Generator working - YouTube
Speed of Rotation
• Synchronous generators are by definition synchronous, meaning that the
electrical frequency produced is locked in or synchronized with the
mechanical rate of rotation of the generator.

Example: To generate 50-Hz power in a four-pole machine, the rotor must turn at 1500 r/min.
Internal Generated Voltage
• Internal generated voltage generated in the stator is a sinusoid whose magnitude
depends on three factors
1. Flux in the machine
2. Speed of rotation
3. A constant representing the construction of the machine (the number of loops,
etc.)
• RMS voltage of any phase of the 3-phase stator is

Formula Derivation Ref.

Chapter 3, Section 3.4

Flux in the machine Φ is directly produced by field current I F in the rotor. Φ ∝ IF

Internal Generated Voltage vs Terminal
Voltage
• Voltage EA is not usually the voltage that appears at the terminals of the
generator VΦ: EA≠ VΦ
• Nonideal reasons are
1. Armature Reaction: Distortion of the air-gap magnetic field by the current flowing in the
stator.
2. Self-inductance of the armature coils.
3. Resistance of the armature coils.
4. Effect of salient-pole rotor shapes.
Armature Reaction
• Normally the largest effect
• Affects only when a load is connected, meaning stator current flows. If no load is
connected, EA = VΦ

Rotor As load is Stator Stator field Resulting

spins, EA connected, current distorts in changes
induced in current produces the in terminal
the stator flows in own original voltage ->
the stator magnetic field VΦ
field
Armature Reaction
• A rotating magnetic field BR produces the
internal generated voltage EA
• The resulting voltage produces a lagging current
IA when connected to a lagging load.
• The stator current IA produces its own magnetic
field Bs, which produces its own voltage Estat in
the stator windings of the machine.
Armature Reaction
• The field Bs adds to BR, distorting it into BNet.
The voltage EStat adds to EA, producing VΦ at the
output of the phase.
• The angle between BR and BNet is known as
the internal angle or torque angle of the
machine, symbolized as δ.
Equivalent Circuit
How can the effects of armature reaction on the phase voltage be modeled?
• Firstly, the voltage Estat lies at an angle of 90° behind the plane of maximum current IA
• Secondly, the voltage Estat is directly proportional to the current IA. If X is a constant of
proportionality, then the armature reaction voltage can be expressed as

This armature reaction can

be modeled as an inductor
Final Equivalent Circuit
In addition to the effects of armature reaction, the
stator coils have a self-inductance and a
resistance,

Synchronous
Reactance

Equiv. ckt. of a 3-phase synchronous generator.

The terminals VΦ1 , VΦ2 , VΦ3
can be Wye or Delta connected
Final Equivalent Circuit
In addition to the effects of armature reaction, the
stator coils have a self-inductance and a
resistance,

Synchronous
Reactance
Per phase equiv. ckt. of synchronous generator.
 Phasor Diagram

• For a given phase voltage and armature current,

EA (lagging) > EA (leading). Therefore, a larger field
current is needed with lagging loads to get the
same terminal voltage, because

• Alternatively, for a given field current IF and

magnitude of load current, the terminal voltage is
lower for lagging loads and higher for leading loads
VΦ (lagging) < VΦ (leading)
 Power and Torque

From prime 3EAIAcos ɣ

mover

Power converted from mechanical to electrical form internally is given by

γ is the angle between EA and IA
Power and Torque
• Let’s analyze a case when RA ~ 0 and lagging load current I A

Per phase equiv. ckt. of the synchronous generator

• In physical space, torque angle δ is the angle between BR and BNet

• In phasor domain, torque angle δ is the angle between VΦ and EA
 Since the RA ~ 0, there are no electrical losses in
Power and Torque this generator, so Pconv = Pout

Maximum power indicated, called the static stability limit of the generator when
δ = 90°. However, the typical generator is not capable of exceeding these limits,
generators typically have full-load torque angles of 20-30°.
Effect of Load Changes for Synchronous
Generator Operating alone
What changes? what doesn’t change?
Pout ↑, Qout ↑, Field resistance Rf,
What happens when we increase the load on the generator? 𝜏ind ↑, 𝜏app↑ Field current, flux Φ
Load current IA ↑ Rotor speed ω, EA= KΦω
Effect of Lagging Load
Let’s examine a generator operating at a lagging power factor. If more load
is added at the same power factor, then |IA| increases but remains at the
same angle to VΦ

Observations as the lagging load increases

• Terminal voltage VΦ decreases rather sharply
• Torque angle δ increases

What to do to restore the falls in V Φ?

• Decrease the field resistance RF to increase its field current IF
• An increase in the field current increases the flux Φ in the machine
• An increase in the flux increases the internal generated voltage E A = KΦω
• An increase in EA increases the terminal voltage V Φ
Effect of Unity Load and Leading
As before, let’s examine a generator operating at a leading and
unity power factor, and |IA| increases but remains at the same
angle to VΦ

Observations as the unity load increases

• Terminal voltage VΦ slightly decreases
• Torque angle δ increases

Observations as the leading load increases

• Terminal voltage VΦ rises
• Torque angle δ increases
Voltage Regulation
A convenient way to compare the voltage behavior of two generators is by
their voltage regulation. The voltage regulation (VR) of a generator is defined by
the equation

• Lagging power factor has a fairly large positive voltage regulation,

• Unity power factor has a small positive voltage regulation
• Leading power factor often has a negative voltage regulation.

See Example 4-2 and 4-3

Frequency-Power Characteristics
• Regardless of the original power
source, all prime movers tend to
behave similarly - as the power
drawn from them increases, the
speed at which they turn
decreases. Some form of governor
mechanism is usually included to
make the decrease in speed linear.
• The speed droop (SD) of a prime
mover is defined as
Frequency-Power Characteristics
 Reactive Power-Voltage Characteristics

• When a lagging load is added to a synchronous

generator, its terminal voltage drops.
• Likewise, when a leading load is added to a synchronous
generator, its terminal voltage increases.
 Governor Control Mechanism
The real power P and reactive power Q supplied by the
generator operating alone will be the amount demanded
by the load attached to the generator, and cannot be
controlled by the generator's controls.

These two characteristics dictate how to control the

governor mechanism of a synchronous generator when it is
subject to variations in demands
• For any given real power P, the governor setpoints
control the generator's operating frequency fe
• For any given reactive power Q, the field current IF
controls the generator's terminal voltage VΦ

See Example 4-5

The End