ELECTRICAL

MACHINES
LECTURE.NO.07
ENGR.MUZAMMIL HAYAT
Alternators

 A.C. system has a number of advantages over d.c. system.

 These days 3-phase a.c. system is being exclusively used for
generation, transmission and distribution of power.
 The machine which produces 3-phase electrical power from
mechanical power is called an alternator or synchronous
generator.
 Alternators are the primary source of all the electrical energy we
consume.
 These machines are the largest energy converters found in the
world.
 They convert mechanical energy into a.c. energy.
Alternators
 An alternator operates on the
same fundamental principlei.e.,
when the flux linking a
conductor changes, an e.m.f. is
induced in the conductor.
 An alternator has an armature
winding and a field winding.
 It is usually more convenient
and advantageous to place the
field winding on the rotating
part (i.e., rotor) and armature
winding on the stationary part
(i.e., stator) as shown in Figure
on next slide.
Alternators
Advantages of stationary armature

 The field winding of an alternator is placed on the rotor and is

connected to d.c. supply through two slip rings.
 The 3-phase armature winding is placed on the stator.
 This arrangement has the following advantages:
(i) It is easier to insulate stationary winding for high voltages for
which the alternators are usually designed. Ii is because they are
not subjected to centrifugal forces and also extra space is available
due to the stationary arrangement of the armature.
(ii) The stationary 3-phase armature can be directly connected to
load without going through large, unreliable slip rings and brushes.
Alternators
Advantages of stationary armature

(iii) Only two slip rings are required for d.c. supply to the field
winding on the rotor. Since the exciting current is small, the slip
rings and brush gear required are of light construction.
(iv) Due to simple and robust construction of the rotor, higher
speed of rotating d.c. field is possible. This increases the output
obtainable from a machine of given dimensions.

 Note: All alternators above 5 kVA employ a stationary armature

(or stator) and a revolving d.c. field.
Alternators
Construction of Alternator

 An alternator has 3,-phase winding on the stator and a d.c. field

winding on the rotor.
 Stator:
It is the stationary part of the machine and is built up of sheet-steel
laminations having slots on its inner periphery. A 3-phase winding is
placed in these slots and serves as the armature winding of the
alternator. The armature winding is always connected in star and
the neutral is connected to ground.
 Rotor:
The rotor carries a field winding which is supplied with direct current
through two slip rings by a separate d.c. source.
Alternators
Construction of Alternator

 This d.c. source (called exciter) is generally a small d.c. shunt or

compound generator mounted on the shaft of the alternator.
 Rotor construction is of two types, namely;
 (i) Salient (or projecting) pole type
 (ii) Non-salient (or cylindrical) pole type
Salient pole type:
 In this type, salient or projecting poles are mounted on a large
circular steel frame which is fixed to the shaft of the alternator as
shown in Figure on next slide.
Alternators
Construction of Alternator
 The individual field pole windings are
connected in series in such a way that
When the field winding is energized by
the d.c. exciter, adjacent poles have
Opposite polarities.
 Low and medium-speed alternators
(120-400 r.p.m.) such as those driven by
diesel engines or water turbines have
salient pole type rotors due to the
following reasons:
Alternators
Construction of Alternator

 (a) The salient field poles would cause .an excessive windage loss if
driven at high speed and would tend to produce noise.
 (b) Salient-pole construction cannot be made strong enough to
withstand the mechanical stresses to which they may be subjected at
higher speeds.
 Since a frequency of 50 Hz is required, we must use a large number
of poles on the rotor of slow-speed alternators. Low-speed rotors
always possess a large diameter to provide the necessary spate for
the poles. Consequently, salient-pole type rotors have large
diameters and short axial lengths.
Alternators
Construction of Alternator

 Non-salient pole type:

 In this type, the rotor is made of smooth solid forged-steel radial
cylinder having a number of slots along the outer periphery.
 The field windings are embedded in these slots and are connected in
series to the slip rings through which they are energized by the d.c.
exciter.
 The regions forming the poles are usually left un-slotted as shown in
Figure on next slide.
 It is clear that the poles formed are non-salient i.e., they do not
project out from the rotor surface.
Alternators
Construction of Alternator

 High-speed alternators (1500 or 3000 r.p.m.)

are driven by steam turbines and
use non-salient type rotors due
to the following reasons:
 (a) This type of construction has mechanical
robustness and gives noiseless operation at
high speeds.
 (b) The flux distribution around the periphery
is nearly a sine wave and hence a better e.m.f.
waveform is obtained than in the case of
salient-pole type.
Alternators
Construction of Alternator

 Since steam turbines run at high speed and a frequency of 50 Hz is

required, we need a small number of poles on the rotor of high-speed
alternators (also called turbo alternators). We can use not less than 2
poles and this fixes the highest possible speed.
 For a frequency of 50 Hz, it is 3000 r.p.m. The next lower speed is 1500
r.p.m. for a 4-pole machine. Consequently, turbo alternators possess 2
or 4 poles and have small diameters and very long axial lengths.
Alternators
Operation

 The rotor winding is energized from the d.c. exciter and alternate N
and S poles are developed on the rotor.
 When the rotor is rotated in anti-clockwise direction by a prime mover,
the stator or armature conductors are cut by the magnetic flux of rotor
poles.
 Consequently, e.m.f. is induced in the armature conductors due to
electromagnetic induction.
 The induced e.m.f. is alternating since N and S poles of rotor
alternately pass the armature conductors.

 N = speed of rotor in r.p.m.

 P = number of rotor poles
Alternators
Operation

 The magnitude of the voltage induced in each phase depends upon the
rotor flux, the number and position of the conductors in the phase and
the speed of the rotor.
Alternators
Operation

 Fig. shows star-connected armature winding and d.c. field winding.

 When the rotor is rotated, a 3-phase voltage is induced in the armature
winding. The magnitude of induced e.m.f. depends upon the speed of
rotation and the d.c. exciting current.
 The magnitude of e.m.f. in each phase of the armature winding is the
same.
 However, they differ in phase by 120° electrical as shown in the phasor
diagram in Fig.
Alternators
Frequency

 The frequency of induced e.m.f. in the armature conductors depends

upon speed and the number of poles.
 Let N = rotor speed in r.p.m.
 P = number of rotor poles
 f = frequency of e.m.f. in Hz
 Consider a stator conductor that is successively swept by the N and S
poles of the rotor.
 If a positive voltage is induced when a N-pole sweeps across the
conductor, a similar negative voltage is induced when a S-pole sweeps
by.
 This means that one complete cycle of e.m.f. is generated in the
conductor as a pair of poles passes it i.e., one N-pole and the adjacent
following S-pole.
Alternators
Frequency

 The same is true for every other armature conductor.

 No. of cycles/revolution = No. of pairs of poles = P/2
 No. of revolutions/second = N/60
 No. of cycles/second = (P/2)(N/60) = N P/120
 But number of cycles of e.m.f. per second is its frequency.
 f = NP/120
 It may be noted that N is the synchronous speed and is generally
represented by Ns. For a given alternator, the number of rotor poles is
fixed and, therefore, the alternator must be run at synchronous speed
to give an output of desired frequency.
 For this reason, an alternator is sometimes called synchronous
generator.
Alternators
A.C. Armature Windings

 A.C. armature windings are always of the non-salient-pole type and are
usually symmetrically distributed in slots around the complete
circumference of the armature.
 A.C. armature windings are generally open-circuit type i.e., both ends
are brought out.
 An open-circuit winding is one that does not close on itself i.e., a closed
circuit will not be formed until some external connection is made to a
source or load.
 The following are the general features of a.c. armature windings:
 (i) A.C. armature windings are generally distributed windings i.e., they
are symmetrically distributed in slots around the complete
circumference of the armature.
Alternators
A.C. Armature Windings

 A distributed winding has two principal advantages. First, a distributed

winding generates a voltage wave that is nearly a sine curve. Secondly,
copper is evenly distributed on the armature surface. Therefore, heating
is more uniform and this type of winding is more easily cooled.
 (ii) A.C. armature windings may use full-pitch coils or fractional-pitch
coils. A coil with a span of 180° electrical is called a full-pitch coil. In this
case, the two sides of the coil occupy identical positions under adjacent
oppositepoles and the e.m.f. generated in the coil is maximum. A coil
with a span of less than 180° electrical is called a fractional-pitch coil.
For example, a coil with a span of 150° electrical would be called a 5/6
pitch coil. Although e.m.f. induced in a fractional-pitch coil is less than
that of a full-pitch coil, fractional-pitch coils are frequently used in a.c.
machines for two main reasons. First, less copper is required per coil and
secondly the waveform of the generated voltage is improved.
Alternators
A.C. Armature Windings

 (iii) Most of a.c. machines use double layer armature windings. In a

double layer winding, one coil side lies in the upper half of one slot
while the other coil side lies in the lower half of another slot spaced
about one-pole pitch from the first one. This arrangement permits
simpler end connections and it is economical to manufacture.
 (iv) Since most of a.c. machines are of 3-phase type, the three
windings of the three phases are identical but spaced 120 electrical
degrees apart.
 (v) A group of adjacent slots belonging to one phase under one pole
pair is known as phase belt. The angle subtended by a phase belt is
known as phase spread. The 3-phase windings are always designed for
60° phase spread.
Alternators
Armature Winding of Alternator

 With very few exceptions, alternators are 3-phase machines because of

the advantages of 3-phase service for generation, transmission and
distribution. The windings for an alternator are much simpler than that of
a d c. machine because no commutator is used.
 Fig. shows a 2-pole, 3-phase double-layer,
full pitch, distributed winding for the stator of an
alternator.
 There are 12 slots and each slot contains two
coil sides.
 The coil sides that are placed in adjacent slots
belong to the same phase such as a1, a3 or a2, a4
constitute a phase belt.
Alternators
Armature Winding of Alternator

 Note that in a 3-phase machine, phase belt is always 60° electrical.

Since the winding has double-layer arrangement, one side of a coil,
such as a1, is placed at the bottom of a slot and the other side - a1 is
placed at the top of another slot spaced one pole pitch apart.
 Note that each coil has a span of a full pole pitch or 180 electrical
degrees. Therefore. the winding is a full-pitch winding.
 Note that there are 12 total coils and each phase has four coils. The
four coils in each phase are connected in series so that their voltages
aid. The three phases then may be connected to form Y or D-
connection.