Types of ac generators

• ROTATING ARMATURE-ALTERNATOR is
essentially a loop rotating through a
stationary magnetic fealties cutting action of
the loop through the magnetic field
generates ac in the loop. This ac is removed
from the loop by means of slip rings and
applied to an external load.
• ROTATING-FIELD ALTERNATOR has a
stationary armature and a rotating field. High
voltages can be generated in the armature
and applied to the load directly, without the
need of slip rings and brushes. The low dc
voltage is applied to the rotor field by means
of slip rings, but this does not introduce any
insulation problems.
 The rotor of a synchronous generator is
essentially a large electromagnet.
The magnetic poles on the rotor can be of either salient or nonsalient
construction.
• A salient means “protruding” or “sticking out” and a salient pole is a
magnetic pole that sticks out from the surface of the rotor.
• A nonsalient pole is a magnetic pole constructed flush with the
surface of the rotor.

Because the rotor is subjected to changing magnetic fields, it is

constructed of thin laminations to reduce eddy current losses.
 Rotor and Stator Constructor
• In alternators may be either of two types.
– The salient-pole rotor is used in slower speed alternators.
– The turbine driven-type is wound in a manner to allow high-speed use
without flying apart.
N N
a
b'
c'
S S
b c
Salient pole Cylindrical
a' or
nonsalient pole
Stator Rotor
 Source of Mechanical Power
• Called a prime mover divided into two classes
– High-speed prime mover --- steam and gas turbines
– Low-speed prime mover --- internal-combustion engines,
water, and electric motors

• The type of prime mover plays an important part in the design of

alternators since the speed at which the rotor is turned
determines certain characteristics of alternator construction and
operation.
 Synchronous Generator Construction
• A dc current must be supplied to the field circuit on the rotor.
Since the rotor is rotating, a special arrangement is required to
get the dc power to its field windings.
There are two common approaches to supplying this dc power:
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 synchronous generator.
 Exciter Generator
Exciter are small dc generators built into alternators to provide
excitation current to field windings. These dc generators are
called exciters.
 Exciter:
DC, shunt-wound, self-excited generator
The exciter shunt field (2) creates an area of intense magnetic flux
between its poles. When the exciter armature (3) is rotated in the
exciter-field flux, voltage is induced in the exciter armature
windings. The output from the exciter commutator (4) is connected
through brushes and slip rings (5) to the alternator field. Since this
is direct current already converted by the exciter commutator, the
current always flows in one direction through the alternator field (6).
Thus, a fixed-polarity magnetic field is maintained at all times in the
alternator field windings. When the alternator field is rotated, its
magnetic flux is passed through and across the alternator armature
windings (7).
 Synchronous Generator Construction
• Slip rings are metal rings completely
encircling the shaft of a machine but
insulated from it.
• One end of the dc rotor winding is tied to
each of the two slip rings on the shaft of
the synchronous machine, and a stationary
brush rides on each slip ring.
• Slip rings and brushes
– to conduct the current from the
armature to the load for rotating
armature generator
– but conduct the current from DC
exciter to field for rotating field
generator.
 Synchronous Generator Construction
• A “brush” is a block of graphite like
carbon compound that conducts
electricity freely but has very low
friction, so that it doesn’t wear down
the slip ring.
• If the positive end of a dc voltage
source is connected to one brush
and the negative end is connected
to the other, then the same dc
voltage will be applied to the field
winding at all times regard-less of
the angular position or speed of the
 Synchronous Generator Construction

• Slip rings and brushes create a few problems when they are used
to supply dc power to the field windings of a synchronous machine.
• They increase the amount of maintenance required on the machine,
since the brushes must be checked for wear regularly.
• Brush voltage drop can be the cause of significant power losses on
machines with larger field currents.
 Synchronous Generator Construction
• Slip rings and brushes are used on all smaller synchronous
machines, because no other method of supplying the dc field
current is cost-effective.
• On larger generators and motors, brushless exciters are used
to supply the dc field current to the machine.
• A brushless exciter is a small ac generator with its field circuit
mounted on the stator and its armature circuit mounted on the
rotor shaft.
 Speed of Rotation of a Synchronous
Generator (contd.)
• Now, the rate of rotation of the magnetic fields in the machine is
related to the stator electrical frequency by Equation

• where fe = electrical frequency, in Hz

• nm = mechanical speed of magnetic field, in r/min (equals
speed of rotor for synchronous machines)
• P = number of poles
 Internal Generated Voltage of a Synchronous
Generator
The magnitude of the voltage induced in a given stator phase was
found to be

• This voltage depends on the flux  in the machine, the frequency or speed
of rotation, and the machine’s construction.
• In solving problems with synchronous machines, this equation is sometimes
rewritten in a simpler form that emphasizes the quantities that are variable
during machine operation.
 Internal Generated Voltage of a Synchronous
Generator (contd.)

• where K is a constant representing the construction of the

machine. If  is expressed in electrical radians per second, then

• while if  is expressed in mechanical radians per second, then

 Internal Generated Voltage of a Synchronous
Generator (contd.)
• The internal generated voltage EA is directly proportional to the flux
and to the speed, but the flux itself depends on the current flowing
in the rotor field circuit.
• The field circuit IF is related to the flux  in the manner shown in
Figure 7a.
• Since EA is directly proportional to the flux, the internal generated
voltage EA is related to the field current as shown in Figure 7b.
• This plot is called the magnetization curve or the open-circuit
characteristic of the machine.
Internal Generated Voltage of a Synchronous
Generator (contd.)

Fig7. (a) Plot of flux versus field current for a synchronous generator.
(b) The magnetization curve for the synchronous generator.
Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
There are a number of factors that cause the difference between
the two voltages
1. The distortion of the air-gap magnetic field by the current flowing
in the stator, called armature reaction.
2. The self-inductance of the armature coils.
3. The resistance of the armature coils.
4. The effect of salient-pole rotor shapes,
Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• The first effect mentioned, and normally the largest one, is
armature reaction.
• When a synchronous generator's rotor is spun, a voltage EA
is induced in the generator's stator windings.
• If a load is attached to the terminals of the generator, a
current flows.
• But a three-phase stator current flow will produce a
magnetic field of its own in the machine.
 Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• This stator magnetic field distorts the original rotor magnetic field,
changing the resulting phase voltage.
• This effect is called armature reaction because the armature (stator)
current affects the magnetic field which produced it in the first
place,
 Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• To understand armature reaction, refer to Figure 8.
• Figure 8a shows a two-pole rotor spinning inside a three-phase
stator.
• There is no load connected to the stator,
• The rotor magnetic field BR produces an internal generated
voltage EA whose peak value coincides with the direction of BR.
 Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)

Fig8. The development of a model for armature reaction:

(a) A rotating magnetic field produces the internal generated voltage EA
(b) The resulting voltage produces a lagging current flow when
connected to a lagging load.
Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• With no load on the generator, there is no armature current
flow, and EA will be equal to the phase voltage V

• Now suppose that the generator is connected to a lagging

load. Because the load is lagging, the peak current will
occur at an angle behind the peak voltage.
• This effect is shown in Figure 8b.
 Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)

(c) The stator current produces its own magnetic field BS which produces its
own voltage Estat in the stator windings of the machine.
(d) The field BS adds to BR distorting it into Bnet.
The voltage E adds to E producing V at the output of the phase.
Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)

• The current flowing in the stator windings produces a

magnetic field of its own.
• This stator magnetic field is called Bs and its direction is
given by the right-hand rule to be as shown in Figure 8c.
• The stator magnetic field Bs produces a voltage of its own in
the stator, and this voltage is called Estat on the figure.
 Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• With two voltages present in the stator windings, the total voltage in
a phase is just the sum of the internal generated voltage EA and the
armature reaction voltage Estat:

• The net magnetic field Bnet is just the sum of the rotor and stator
magnetic fields:

• Since the angles of EA and BR are the same and the angles of Estat
and Bs, are the same, the resulting magnetic field Bnet will coincide
with the net voltage V .
 Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• How can the effects of armature reaction on the phase voltage be
modeled?
• First note that the voltage Estat lies at an angle of 90. behind the
plane of maximum current IA.
• Second, 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
Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• The voltage on a phase is thus

• Look at the circuit shown in Figure 9.

• The Kirchhoff’s voltage law equation for this circuit is

Fig9. A simple circuit for

synchronous machine
Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• In addition to the effects of armature reaction, the stator coils
have a self-inductance and a resistance.
• If the stator self-inductance is called LA (and its
corresponding reactance is called XA) while the stator
resistance is called RA, then the total difference between EA
and V is given by
Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• The armature reaction effects and the self-inductance in the
machine are both represented by reactances, and it is
customary to combine them into a single reactance, called
the synchronous reactance of the machine:

• Therefore, the final equation describing

Fig10. The full
equivalent
circuit of a
three-phase
synchronous
generator.
Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• These three phases can be either Y – or -connected as
shown in Figure 11.
• If they are Y-connected , then the terminal voltage VT is
related to the phase voltage by

• If they are -connected

 Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)

Fig11. The generator equivalent circuit connected in Y – or -connection

 Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
• The fact that the three phases of a synchronous generator are
identical in all respects except for phase angle normally leads to the
use of a per-phase equivalent circuit.
• The per-phase equivalent circuit of this machine is shown in Figure
12. One important fact must be kept in mind when the per-phase
equivalent circuit is used.
• The three phases have the same voltages and currents only when
the loads attached to them are balanced.
• If the generator’s loads are not balanced, more sophisticated
techniques of analysis are required.
 Phasor Diagram of a Synchronous Generator

• Because the voltages in a synchronous generator are ac voltages,

they are usually expressed as phasors.
• Since phasors have both a magnitude and an angle, the relation-
ship between them must be expressed by a two-dimensional plot.
• When the voltages within a phase and the
current IA in the phase are plotted in such a fashion as to show the
relationships among them, the resulting plot is called a phasor
diagram.
 Phasor Diagram of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.) Fig12. The per- phase
equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator.
The internal field circuit
resistance and the
external variable resistance
have been combined into a
single resistor RF‘

Fig13. The phasor diagram of a

synchronous generator at unity
power factor.

This phasor diagram can be compared to the phasor diagrams of

generators operating at lagging and leading power factors.
Phasor Diagram of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
Notice that, for a given phase voltage and armature current, a
larger internal generated voltage EA is needed for lagging
loads than for leading loads.
• Therefore, a larger field current is needed with lagging loads
to get the same terminal voltage, because

 must be constant to keep a constant frequency.

Phasor Diagram of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)

Fig14. The phasor diagram of a synchronous generator at

(a) lagging and (b) leading power factor.
Phasor Diagram of a Synchronous Generator
(contd.)
For a given field current and magnitude of load current, the
terminal voltage is lower for lagging loads and higher for
leading loads.
• In real synchronous machines, the synchronous reactance is
normally much larger than the winding resistance RA, so RA
is often neglected in the qualitative study of voltage
variations.
• For accurate numerical results, RA must of course be
considered.
Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
• A synchronous generator is a synchronous machine used as
a generator. It converts mechanical power to three-phase
electric power.
The source of mechanical power, the prime mover, may be
a diesel engine, a steam turbine, a water turbine, or any
similar device.
• Whatever the source, it must have the basic property that its
speed is almost constant regardless of the power demand.
• If that were not so, then the resulting power system’s
frequency would wander.
Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
(contd.)
• The difference between output power and input power represents the
losses of the machine.

Fig15. The power-flow diagram of a synchronous generator.

Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
(contd.)
• The input mechanical power is the shaft power in the
generator

while the power converted from mechanical to electrical form

where r is the angle between EA and IA.

Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
(contd.)
• The difference between the input power to the generator and
the power converted in the generator represents the
mechanical, core, and stray losses of the machine.
• The real electric output power of the synchronous generator
can be expressed in line quantities as

• and in phase quantities as

Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
(contd.)
• The reactive power output can be expressed in line
quantities as

• or in phase quantities as

• If the armature resistance RA is ignored (since XA >> RA),

then a very useful equation can be derived to approximate
the output power of the generator.
Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
(contd.)
• Figure 16 shows a simplified phasor diagram of a generator
with the stator resistance ignored. Notice that the vertical
segment bc can be expressed as either

• Therefore,
Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
(contd.)

Fig16. Simplified phasor diagram with armature resistance

ignored.
Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
(contd.)

• The angle  is known as the torque angle of the machine.

Notice also that the maximum power that the generator can
supply occurs when

• The maximum power indicated by this equation is called the

static stability limit of the generator.
• Normally, real generators never even come close to that
limit.
• Full-load torque angles of 15 to 20” are more typical of
real machines.
• the induced torque in this generator can be expressed as
Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
(contd.)
• Because

the induced torque can be expressed as

 Why are synchronous generators operated in parallel?
There are several major advantages to such operation:
1. Several generators can supply a bigger load than one machine by itself.
2. Having many generators increases the reliability of the power system,
since the failure of any one of them does not cause a total power loss to
the load.
3. Having many generators operating in parallel allows one or more of them
to be removed for shutdown and preventive maintenance.
4. If only one generator is used and it is not operating at near full load, then it
will be relatively inefficient. But with several smaller machines it is
possible to operate only a fraction of them. The ones that do operate are
operating near full load and thus more efficiently.
 Conditions Required for Paralleling

• To achieve this match, the following paralleling 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 the two a phases must be equal.
4. The frequency of the new generator, called the oncoming
generator, must be slightly higher than the frequency of the
running system.
 Alternator Voltage

• Voltage Regulation is the change in output voltage of an

alternator under varying load conditions.

• Voltage Control in alternators is accomplished by varying

the current in the field windings, much as in dc generators.