G

Excitation Systems
B
B
 Excitation Systems
Excitation System Requirements

Elements of Excitation Systems

G
Types of excitation systems
Control and Protective Functions
AC and DC regulators

B
Load compensation
Under excitation limiter
B

Over excitation limiter

Field shorting circuits

Modeling of Excitation Systems

 Excitation system

G
The functions of an excitation system are
To provide direct current to the synchronous
generator field winding, and

B
To perform control and protective functions
essential to the satisfactory operation of the
B

power system
Excitation system requirements
The performance requirements of the excitation
system are determined by:
Generator considerations:

G
Maintain terminal voltage as output varies
supply and adjust field current as the generator

B
output varies within its continuous capability

Must be able to respond to transient disturbances

B
with field forcing
rotor insulation failure due to high field voltage
rotor heating due to high field current
stator heating due to high VAR loading
heating due to excess flux (volts/Hz)
Power system considerations:

Contribute to effective control of system

G
voltage and improvement of system stability.

Rapid response to improve transient stability.

B
Modulation of field current to enhance
B
small signal stability.
Elements of an excitation system
Exciter
Regulator

G
Terminal voltage transducer and load

B
compensator
Power system stabilizer
B

Limiters and protective circuits

Elements of an excitation system

G
B
B
Elements of an excitation (contd)
Exciter: provides dc power to the generator field
winding
Regulator: processes and amplifies input control signals

G
to a level and form appropriate for control of the exciter
Terminal voltage transducer and load compensator:
senses generator terminal voltage, rectifies and filters it
to dc quantity and compares with a reference; load

B
comp may be provided if desired to hold voltage at a
remote point
Power system stabilizer: provides additional input signal
to the regulator to damp power system oscillations
B

Limiters and protective circuits: ensure that the

capability limits of exciter and generator are not
exceeded
Types of excitation systems
DC excitation systems
utilize dc generators as source of power;
self or separately excited

G
represent early systems (1920s to 1960s);
lost favor in the mid-1960s because of large size;
superseded by ac exciters
(Refer Fig. 8.2 DC excitation system with

B
amplidyne voltage regulators [1])

Ac excitation systems
B
use ac machines (alternators) as source of
power
usually, the exciter is on the same shaft as the
turbine-generator
the ac output of exciter is rectified by either
controlled or non-controlled rectifiers
Types of excitation (contd)
rectifiers may be stationary or rotating
early systems used a combination of magnetic and rotating
amplifiers as regulators; most new systems use electronic
amplifier regulators

G
Stationary rectifier systems:
dc output to the main generator field supplied through slip

B
rings
when non-controlled rectifiers are used, the regulator
controls the field of the ac exciter
B
When controlled rectifiers are used, the regulator directly
controls the dc output voltage of the exciter
(Refer Fig. 8.3&4 Field controlled alternator rectifier
excitation system, Alternator supplied controlled-rectifier
excitation system [1])
 Types of excitation (contd)

Rotating rectifier systems:

the need for slip rings and brushes is eliminated; such
systems are called brushless excitation systems

G
they were developed to avoid problems with the use of
brushes perceived to exist when supplying the high field
currents of large generators

B
they do not allow direct measurement of generator field
current or voltage
(Refer Fig. 8.5 Brushless excitation system [1])
B

Static Excitation Systems:

all components are static or stationary
supply dc directly to the field of the main generator
through slip rings
 Types of excitation (contd)

the power supply to the rectifiers is from the

main generator or the station auxiliary bus

G
Potential-source controlled rectifier
system:

B
excitation power is supplied through a transformer from
the main generator terminals
regulated by a controlled rectifier
B
commonly known as bus-fed or transformer-fed static
excitation system

(Refer Fig. 8.6 Potential-source controlled-rectifier excitation

system [1])
 Types of excitation (contd)

Compound-source rectifier system:

G
power to the exciter is formed by utilizing current as well
as voltage of the main generator
achieved through a power potential transformer (PPT) and

B
a saturable current transformer (SCT)
the regulator controls the exciter output through
controlled saturation of excitation transformer
B
during a system fault, with depressed generator voltage,
the current input enables the exciter to provide high field
forcing capability

(Refer Fig. 8.7 [1])

 Types of excitation (contd)

Compound-controlled rectifier system:

G
utilizes controlled rectifiers in the exciter output circuits
and the compounding of voltage and current within the
generator stator

B
result is a high initial response static system with full
fault-on forcing capability

(Refer Fig. 8.8 [1])

B
Control and protective functions

To fulfill the performance requirements

G
modern excitation control must include:
Excitation control

B
Excitation limiting
Excitation protection
B
Control and protective functions (contd)

Any given system may include only some or all of these

functions depending on the specific application and the
type of exciter

G
control functions regulate specific quantities at the
desired level

B
limiting functions prevent certain quantities from
exceeding set limits
Protective functions are provided so that any of the
B

capability limit is violated the protection function will

operate and remove appropriate components or the
unit from service
Control and protective functions (contd)

G
B
B
 AC Regulator:
Basic function is to maintain generator stator
voltage
DC Regulator:
holds constant generator field voltage (manual
control) used for testing and startup, when ac

G
regulator is faulty
Excitation System Stabilizing Circuits:
excitation systems with significant time delays have
poor inherent dynamic performance

B
unless very low steady-state regulator gain is used,
the control action is unstable when generator is on
open-circuit
series or feedback compensation is used to improve
B

the dynamic response

most commonly used form of compensation is a
derivative feedback which is used to improve the
dynamic performance of the control system.
 G
Derivative feedback excitation control system
stabilization

B
B
 Power System Stabilizer (PSS):
uses auxiliary stabilizing signals such as
shaft speed,
frequency,

G
Power
to modulate the generator field voltage so as to damp
system oscillations

B
Load Compensator:
used to regulate a voltage at a point either within
B
or external to the generator
achieved by building additional circuitry into the
AVR loop (Fig. 8.16)
 G
B
B
The magnitude of the resulting compensated voltage
(Vc), which is fed to the AVR, is given by

Vc Et Rc jX c I t
~ ~
 For RC and XC positive, the compensator
regulates a voltage at a point within the
generator;

G
used to ensure proper sharing VARs between
generators bussed together at their terminals

For RC and XC negative, the compensator

B
regulates voltage at a point beyond the
generator terminals
commonly used to compensate for voltage drop across
B
step-up transformer when generators are connected
through individual transformers
 Underexcitation Limiter (UEL):

intended to prevent reduction of generator excitation to a level

where steady-state (small-signal) stability limit or stator core
end-region heating limit is exceeded

G
control signal derived from a combination of either voltage and
current or active and reactive power of the generator
should be coordinated with the loss-of-excitation protection

B
(Figure 8.17)

UEL prevents the AVR from reducing excitation to such a

low level that the generator is in danger of:
B
- losing synchronism,
- exceeding machine under -excited capability, or
- tripping due to exceeding the loss of excit ation protection
setting.
UEL must prevent reduction of field current to a level where the
generator loss -of -field protection may operate.
 G
B
Under excitation limiter
B
 Overexcitation Limiter (OXL)
purpose is to protect the generator from overheating due to
prolonged field overcurrent
Fig. 8.18 shows thermal overload capability of the field winding
OXL detects the high field current condition and, after a time delay,

G
acts through the ac regulator to ramp down the excitation to about
100% to 110% of rated field current; if unsuccessful, trips the ac
regulator, transfers to dc regulator, and repositions the set point
corresponding to rated value

B
two types of time delays used: (a) fixed time, and (b) inverse time
with inverse time, the delay matches the thermal capability as
shown in Figure 8.18
B
 G
B
Figure 8.18: Coordination of over-excitation limiting with
field thermal capability
B

Thermal overload of the field winding of round rotor generators

 Volts per Hertz Limiter and Protection:
Used to protect generator and step-up transformer from
damage due to excessive magnetic flux resulting from low
frequency and/or overvoltage

G
Excessive magnetic flux, if sustained, can cause overheating
and damage the unit transformer and the generator core
Typical V/Hz limitations:

V/Hz (p.u.)
B
GEN
1.25

0.2
1.2

1.0
1.15

6.0
1.10

20.0
1.05

B
Damage Time in
Minutes XFMR 1.0 5.0 20.0
 V/Hz limiter (or regulator) controls the field
voltage so as to limit the generator voltage
when V/Hz exceeds a preset value
V/Hz protection trips the generator when

G
V/Hz exceeds the preset value for a specified
time

B
Note: The unit step-up transformer low
voltage rating is frequently 5% below the
generator voltage rating
B
 G
End of chapter 4
B
B