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MysteriousSynchronousOperationOf
Generator

Mysterious Synchronous Operation Of Generator (on photo: Generator at Manchester Museum of Science
and Industry by Mr Woodstock via Flickr)

Whatisthesynchronisation?
Tomanypeople,theoperationofa synchronousgenerator isverymysteriousand
strange.Hereisthishugemachinewhichrunsareaconstantspeedwhetherthe4
24inchsteamvalvesarewideopenorshuttightlythemachinespeedisconstant.

Changingthesteamflowintothemachinechangesthepoweroutputbuthasno
effectonthespeed.

Thenthereisthestrangeconceptofreactivepower.Reactivepowerflows
arenotsupposedtobetakinganyenergyandyettheychangeasthe
steamvalvesopenandclose.
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Changingtheexcitationonthegeneratorwillchangethevoltageattheterminalsbut
justalittle.Ithasnowhereneartheeffectthatchangingtheexcitationwouldhaveon
themachinewhenitisnot synchronizedorconnectedtothesystem.

Thistechnicalarticleofthecoursewill,hopefully,explainsomeofthesephenomena.

TheMagneticFields
Oneofthekeystounderstandingthestrangebehaviorofthegeneratorisdevelopa
mentalimageofthemagneticfieldinthegenerator.Althoughthereisonlyone
magneticfield,forthemostpartwecanconsiderittobetwoandalotofthebehavior
ofthemachinecanbeexplainedbytheinteractionofthetwomagneticfields.

Forsimplicityatwopolegeneratorisconsidered.Thesameargumentshold
forgeneratorswithmorepoleshowever,thepicturesandwordstodescribethe
interactionsgetmorecomplicated.

Thefirstmagneticfieldistheonesetupintherotorbytheexcitationsystem.Itisfield
thatisconstantinstrengthandrotatesaroundthemachineatthespeedofrotationof
therotor.Themagnitudeisdirectlyproportionaltothefieldcurrent(aslongas
wedonotsaturatethemagneticcircuit).

Figure 1 Rotor Magnetic Field

Thesecond magneticfield istheonesetupbythecurrentflowinthethreephase

statorwinding.Ifathreephasesupplyisconnectedtothreewindings

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displacedaroundthecoreofthegenerator,thewindingwillgeneratearotating
magneticfield.

Thestrengthofthemagneticfieldwilldependonthecurrentflowinthe
windingandthespeedofrotationwilldependonthefrequencyofasupply.

Inatwopolemachinewitha60Hz.Supplythespeedofrotationwillbe
60revolutionspersecondor3600rpm.

Figure 2 Stator Magnetic Field

Itistheinteractionofthesetwomagneticfieldsthatcreatetheforcesinthegenerator
thattransfertheenergytotheelectricalcircuit.

Inalargegeneratortheseforcescanreachordersofmagnitudeof
106Newtons.

Thisisthesortofforcerequirestopushspaceshipsintospace.Inasynchronized
machineitisthisforcethatkeepstherotorturningatthespeeddeterminedbythe
frequencyofthesystem.Themagneticfieldfromthestatorcurrentandthe
magneticfieldoftherotorlocktogetherandrotateatthesamespeedaround
andaroundinneverendingcircles.

Themagneticfieldsdonotlineupperfectlyunlessthemachineisproducingnopower
output.Thereisananglebetweenthem.

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Theangleiscalled theloadangle or torque

angle anditisrelatedtothepoweroutputof
themachine.

ForcesbetweentheMagneticFields
Theforcebetweenthemagneticfieldsittheforcebetweentheshaftandthe
electricalsystem.Itisthisforcethattransmitstheenergyfromtheshafttothe
electricalsystem.

Whenthefieldsareperfectlylinedupwithnoanglebetweenthemthereisnoforce
andnopoweristransmitted.Thisisthenoloadstate.Thegovernorvalvesareopen
andallowjustenoughsteamintothemachinetoovercomethefrictionalandwindage
lossesoftheunitturningatthesynchronousspeed.Ifthegovernorvalvesare
openedmoresteamisadmittedandtherotorstartstoaccelerate.

Asitmovesaheadthemagneticfieldsinthegeneratorcomeoutofalignment.

Thiscreatesaforcebetweenthemopposingtheaccelerationofthemachine.
Energywillflowfromthemachinetothesystem.Therateofenergyfloworpower
outputofthemachineisproportionaltothestrengthofthemagneticfieldsinthe
machineandthesineoftheloadangle.

Figure 3 Forces between fields

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Ifmoresteamisadmittedtheangleincreases(sodoesthesineoftheangle)theforce
opposingrotationincreasesandthemachinespeedstaysconstant.Ifthestrengthsof
eithermagneticfiledisincreasedthepoweroutputofthemachineremainsconstant
buttheincreasedforcesbetweenthefieldspullstherotorbacktowardsitsnoload
positionandtheloadangledecreases.

Thepoweroutputcannotchangethesteamflowintothemachine
determinesthepoweralone.Energyinmustalwaysequalenergyout.

Intheoperationofanindividualsynchronizedmachinetherearetwothingsthatcan
bealteredthegovernorvalveandtherotorfieldstrength,bothaffecttheloadangle.
Increasingthefieldstrengthdecreasestheloadanglebuttheloadstaysthesame.

Increasingthesteamflowincreasestheloadangleandthepoweroutputof
themachineincreases.

Motoring
Ifthesteamvalvesareclosedtoallowlessenergyinthanthatrequiredovercoming
thefrictionlossestherotorwilltendtoslowdown.Themagneticfieldswillgooutof
alignmentandaforcewillbegeneratedtopulltherotorinthedirectionofrotation.

Thisconditioniscalledmotoring.

Themachineisdrivenasasynchronousmotor.Motoringisaconditionthatmayor
maynotbeallowedinagenerator.MostlargesteamturbinesinCANDUplantshave
thecapabilityofmotoringatleastofatimeperiod.

Limits
Thereisalimittothisphenomenon.Iftheloadangleofthemachinereaches90it
hasreacheditsmaximumpoweroutputforthestrengthofthemagneticfields.Ifthe
powerinputtothemachinepushestherotorpastthe90positiontheretardingforces
ontheshaftstarttodecreasenotincrease.

Therotorwillstarttoaccelerate.Itwillstarttotravelfasterthantherotatingmagnetic
fieldofthearmature.
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However,letsnotforgetthemillionsofNewtonsforcethatthemagneticfieldscan
produce.Andtherotortakesanextrarevolutionitwillundergoseveremechanical
stressesasthehorrendousmagnetforceputtorquesontheshaftfirsttryingtobrake
themachineandthentryingtoaccelerateit.

Thesetorquepulsationswillcausedamage,possiblycatastrophicdamage
tothemachine.Thisphenomenoniscalledslippingapole.

Itshouldbenotedherethattheloadangleisameasurementoftheelectricalangles.
Thesearethesameasmechanicalanglesonlyinatwopolemachine.Inafourpole
machinethemechanicalshiftofthegeneratorshaftisonehalfoftheloadangle.

Inmachineswithevenmorepolesthemechanicalanglesbecomesmallerand
smaller.

SynchronizedGeneratorEquivalentCircuit

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Generator Simplified Equivalent Circuit

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Thefirstkeytoexplainingthebehaviorofasynchronizedgeneratoristheideaofload

anglehowitchangeswithfieldstrengthandhowitchangeswithload.Thesecond
keyisthesimplifiedequivalentcircuit.

Itconsistsofageneratorandinductorandaloadwithavoltage
fixedacrossitbythesystem.Thegeneratorrepresentsa

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theoreticalgenerator.ThegeneratedvoltageEg isdirectlyproportionalto
thestrengthofthemagneticfieldoftherotor.

IftheexcitationcurrentisincreasedEg willincrease.ThephaseofEgwillbe
determinedbytheloadangle.Increasingtheloadanglewilladvancethephaseangle
ofEg.TheinductivereactanceXrepresentstheimpedanceofthewindingsonthe
machine.Theresistanceofthewindingsissmallcomparedtotheinductivereactance
andcanbeignoredinacircuitdesignedtogiveoneafeelformachine
operationratherthanalookintotheminutedetail.

TheterminalvoltageVt isavoltagethatisdeterminedbytherestofthesystem.A
singlegeneratorinalargesystemhaslittleeffectonthefrequencyandthevoltage
orthesystem.Foroursimplelittlegeneratoritwillbethevoltageattheterminalsof
themachine.

Acouplemoreimportantthingstorecall,thevoltagedropacrossX(Vx)willleadthe
currentby90andVt andVxwilladdtogiveEg,solongaswerememberthatwhen
weaddACstuffwehavetousephasors.

Reference:ScienceandReactorFundamentalsElectricalCNSCTechnicalTraining
Group

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Edvard Csanyi
EdvardElectricalengineer,programmerandfounderofEEP.Highlyspecializedfor
designofLVhighpowerbusbartrunking(<6300A)inpowersubstations,buildingsand
industryfascilities.DesigningofLV/MVswitchgears.ProfessionalinAutoCAD
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