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Excitation capacitance requirements of three

phase self excited induction generator for
WindMill application

CONFERENCE PAPER APRIL 2013

DOI: 10.1109/ICEETS.2013.6533410

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 Excitation Capacitance Requirements of Three Phase
Self Excited Induction Generator for WindMill
Application
Sachin kumar1, Sovit Pradhan2 and Rudra Narayan Sahu3
Department of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi, India
sachin.kumar.eee11@itbhu.ac.in, sovit.pradhan.eee11@itbhu.ac.in, rudra.narayan.eee11@itbhu.ac.in
AbstractThe paper introduces a new, simple and direct
method of determining the minimum capacitance required for
self-excitation of the three phase self excited cage machine. The
proposed method is based on the analysis of the complex
impedance matrix of the induction generator, when loaded with a
general resistive-inductive load (RL). A simple computer
algorithm has been developed to predict the minimum value of
capacitance necessary for self-excitation.
Keywords Induction Generators, Excitation Capacitance,
Self-Excited Induction Generator (SEIG), Wind Energy, MATLAB.
I. INTRODUCTION
In this fast moving world of information technology,
information is prime facie, but electricity is an unsung hero, its
importance is felt only when it is absent. It has become basic
necessity of todays world. The progress of a country, now a
days is measured in terms of per capita power consumption
(i.e. kWh/ year/ person). In developing countries, the situation
becomes grim with the depleting resources of fossil fuels
resulting in their increased cost and risk of exhaustion of the
same over time. The grid power is often inadequate or not
available to several areas mainly those in remote and
inaccessible locations. This has led to increased use of
decentralized and remote area power generation units
employing local available energy resources such as wind,
hydro, solar, bio-energy. The development of appropriate
energy conversion system in low power ranges to provide
energy to local feeder or grid, by using these energy resources
has taken considerable significance. Electric power generating
system for such application should be economical, simple in
maintenance and capable of operating in variable speed
conditions. These requirements have reignited the research on
technology of induction generator other than conventional
alternators. Especially, in low power ranges were the
synchronous generators have higher cost, require frequent
maintenance due to brushes and are unsuitable for variable
speed prime mover. Therefore, the study of both three phase
and single phase self excited induction generator (SEIG) has
regained importance.
Among the alternative generating system self excited
induction generator has drawn considerable attention of
researchers due to its inherent advantages like rugged
978-1-4673-6150-7/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE
construction, brushless design, asynchronous operation etc.
However, it requires a reactive power source to provide the
magnetization current, thus it needs a power grid or a VAr
source, like capacitor or synchronous condenser. Depending
upon the mode of excitation, induction generators are classified
into constant-voltage, constant-frequency generators (fixed
speed) and variable voltage, variable-frequency generators
(variable speed). Fixed speed systems commonly use squirrel
cage induction generators, which are directly connected to the
grid while variable speed employ an electronic interface for
grid connection. In fixed speed systems, induction generators
are particularly favoured owing to their lower cost and higher
reliability. Thus study of induction generator has an important
role to play in future scope of power generation.
An analytical method based on loop impedance matrix has
been used by [1] to calculate the minimum value of capacitance
required for self excitation, under no load condition. [2]has
presented a paper for calculating the minimum capacitance
required for self excitation and exact values for the minimum
capacitance under no load, inductive and resistive load using a
new simple and direct method. A subsequent paper by[3]
presents a simple method for computing the minimum value of
capacitance required for sustaining the voltage build up in a
three phase self excited induction generator, based on the
steady state equivalent circuit model. A similar concept is also
used in [4] to determine the minimum capacitance under load
condition. [5] Demonstrated that a minimum air gap flux
linkage is needed to establish self excitation and that solely
depends on saturation characteristic and hence design of the
machine. Recently [6] has investigated the determination of
both minimum and maximum values of the capacitance
required to sustain the self excitation process in a single phase
SEIG using a three phase induction machine employing the
first order Eigen value sensitivity analysis, which involves an
iterative procedure. The same author also determined the
optimal size of capacitance for maximum output power of the
generator in [7]. [8] have attempted the determination of the
critical value of capacitance using complex impedance matrix
method of SEIG. Recently [9] has determined the boundary
values of excitation capacitance and minimum load impedance
for wind driven SEIG. A new approach based on L-C
resonance and non linear behavior, to calculate the value of
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capacitance needed to obtain pre-determined no load voltage
has been investigated in [10]. Effect of capaccitive excitation on
performance of three phase SEIG is investigated by [11]. In
this paper Matlab based modeling of SEIG is done and most
optimized value of capacitive VAR has been found out.
Most of the researchers have used eitheer loop impedance
method or nodal admittance method to callculate the critical
value of the capacitance.
Fig.1. Self excited induction generator.
In this paper, complex impedance matrix,
m based on
generalized machine theory has been used to obtain the
performance characteristics and minimum value
v of excitation
capacitance required for self excitation.
II. INDUCTION MACHINE MODE
ELLING
When the R-L load is connected to self excited generator,
the complex form of the differential equuations with flux
linkages chosen as state variables in the arbitrary
a reference
frame is given [8] where subscript s denotees the stator and r
is for rotor:-
1 0
0 0
1
1 (B3)
0 0
Where,
/ , / ,
/ , / ,
, , andd
In balanced steady state conditions, variables in d-q
reference frames are sinusoidal quantities in all
a asynchronously
rotating frames except the fact that in synchhronously rotating
frames they are constants [12]. Therefore, in synchronously
rotating frame of reference is the angularr frequency of the
self exciting voltages and currents, also steady state value of
voltages and current can be obtained by puttiing time derivative
of state variables equal to zero (p=0) in equattion (1).
By putting determinant of the complex impeddance matrix equal
to zero, we got the following expression:
( 1
1 /
0 (2)
On equating real part of the aboove equation we get equation (3)
1
3
On rearranging the above equattion, we get
Equating imaginary part equal to
t zero, we get equation (5)
0 5
On substituting the value of C from equation (4) into equation
(5), one can get the following second
s order equation is angular
slip frequency s:
0 6
On solving equation (6) gives:
(7)
Since s is small negative quanntity in case of SEIG. Therefore
only positive sign is consideredd.
Hence, self-excitation frequency is given by:
(8)
Where,
1 (B1)
1 (B2)
(B4)
(B5)
/
/ (B6)
(B7)
III. MINIMUM CAPACITA
ANCE REQUIREMENT FOR SEIG
The saturation of the magneetic path plays an important role
in the self excitation processs and for stable operation; the
generator must operate at an appreciable level of saturation.
Therefore, the value of excitation capacitance must be greater
than a minimum limit so thaat the magnetization current is
enough for the operation in the non linear portion of the
magnetization curve. Since the magnetization reactance
depends on the no load capacitance combination, the
unsaturated value of the magnnetizing inductance gives
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the minimum (critical) value of excitation capacitance below IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
which de-excitation takes place. The proposed method (4) of determining the minimum
A. Algorithm and flow chart excitation capacitance is tested on a machine used in [1] and
Fig. 2 shows the flow chart for the computer computation [2].the data are: =3.23 p.u, =0.071 p.u, =0.0881 p.u,
of the minimum self excitation capacitance of self excited 0.1813 . , =0.1813 p.u, =60Hz, Zb=43.3 , and
induction generator. =1800 rev/min.
The various performance characteristics obtained from
a) Read the machine data ( , , , , prime complex impedance matrix analysis are being plotted in Fig.3
mover speed, p.f. Of load, synchronous speed test to 13. A simple Matlab program, based on above algorithm is
data etc. executed to find the minimum value of excitation capacitance
required for different loading conditions. The online technique
b) Assume an initial value of angular frequency
using complex impedance matrix is simple and gives typical
and take the value of . results as the results obtained from iterative technique without
c) Evaluate , are calculated from (B5- any iteration or divergence problem. Only one algebraic
B7). equation used is solved to iteratively to yield the value of the
angular frequency and then is computed.
d) The value of the angular frequency is updated Fig. 3 shows the variation in no load terminal voltage ( )
using equation (8). of SEIG with excitation capacitance. As seen from the graph,
e) Repeat steps (a) and (b), each time using the increase in capacitor bank value increases the no load voltage.
updated value of for evaluating , Also the excitation capacitance requirement in case of star
until the values of in two successive iterations connection is more as compared to delta connection and the
satisfy a specific accuracy. relation 3 is also validated from the same. From Fig.
4, one depicts that excitation capacitance requirements
f) By getting the value of angular frequency, the decrease with increase in rotor prime mover speed. Fig. 5
value of is computed directly from equation shows the load characteristics of 3 phase SEIG, supplying 3
(4). phase balanced load. Capacitor of value 36f is connected
across the stator winding, so as to provide necessary excitation
for voltage build up across the terminal of SEIG. As seen from
the graph, power drawn from the machine increases as speed
increases at regulating voltage but at higher load the voltage
, , , , , , , 0 falls down and finally collapses at overload condition.
The variation in terminal voltage with change in series
capacitor value is shown in Fig. 6. We see that power
1 extraction capacity from the machine increases as value of
series capacitor increases. Use of series capacitor with load is
one of the ways of improving voltage regulation of the SEIG.
,
By choosing the suitable values of capacitance, a highly
improved voltage regulation of the SEIG is obtained. Fig. 7
8 shows that the minimum capacitance requirement for voltage
build up at a particular speed goes on increasing as we move
from leading to lagging load and reverse pattern is obtained in
case of corresponding maximum frequency as shown in Fig. 8.
Fig.9 to 13 shows the variation in minimum capacitance
requirement with different operating speed at different loading
conditions. Fig. 9 and 10 show the variation of minimum
capacitance with load resistance ( ) at different operational
speeds. For resistive load and inductive load, it reveals that as
| | speed increases the minimum capacitance required drops but in
case of capacitive load, Fig. 11 shows that at lower resistance
value the capacitance requirement goes to negative value which
means that, the load capacitance also acts as the source of
4
reactive power and decreases the requirement of excitation
capacitance to a negative value. There is minimum excitation
speed as well as an upper limit for the load resistance beyond
which the self excitation cannot takes place with any value of
the excitation capacitance. Fig. 12 and 13 shows that minimum
Fig. 2. Flow chart for computation of . capacitance required for self excitation would be greater for
purely inductive load as compared to impedance load.

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 500 250

450

400 200
N o -l o a d t e rm in a l v o la t g e ( v o lt s )

350
Delta connected capacitor bank Star connected capacitor bank

T e rm in a l V o la tg e
300 150

250

200 100
72 micro farad
25 micro farad
150

100 50 61 micro farad

36 micro farad
50

0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800
Shunt Capacitor(micro farad) Power ( watts)

Fig.3. Effect of shunt capacitor on no load terminal voltage ( ) of SEIG. Fig.6. Effect of series capacitor on load characteristics of SEIG.

300 300

250 250
72 micro farad
N o lo a d t e rm in a l v o la tg e ( v o lts )

200 M inim um Capac itance (uF)

200

150
150
50 micro farad
0.8 p.f leading
100 0.8 p.f lagging
100
unity p.f

50
50

0
1000 1100 1200 1300 1400 1500 1600 1700 1800 0
Prime mover speed(rpm) 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Speed (rpm)
Fig.4. Variation of no-load terminal voltage of SEIG with speed for different
capacitance values. Fig.7. Variation in minimum capacitance (f) with rotor speed (rpm) at
different loading conditions.
300
120

At 1590 rpm 0.8 pf leading/lagging

250
100
M ax im um F requenc y (Hz )

200
80
V o lt a g e (v o lt s )

unity p.f
150 At 1560 rpm
60
At 1500 rpm
At 1530 rpm
100 40

50 20

0 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500
Power( Watts) Speed (rpm)

Fig. 5. Load characteristics of SEIG supplying balanced three phase load. Fig.8. Variation of maximum frequency (Hz) with rotor speed (rpm) at
different loading conditions.

368
 50 90

speed = 3600 rpm 80

45

speed = 900 rpm 70

M in im u m C a p a c ita n c e (u F )
M in im u m C a p a c it a n c e (u F )

40

60

35
speed = 900 rpm
speed=2700 rpm 50
speed=2700 rpm

30
40 speed = 1800 rpm

25 30
speed = 1800 rpm
speed = 3600 rpm

20
20 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
Load Resistance ( RL)
Load Resistance ( RL)

Fig. 9. Variation of minimum capacitance, (f) with load resistance (RL) Fig.12. Variation of minimum capacitance, (f) with inductive reactance
at XL=0. (XL) at RL=0.

90
90
speed = 900 rpm
80
80

70

M in im u m C a p a c it a n c e (u F )
70
M in im u m C a p a c it a n c e (u F )

speed = 1800 rpm

60
60

speed = 900 rpm 50

50 speed = 2700 rpm
speed=2700 rpm
40
40 speed = 1800 rpm

30 speed = 3600 rpm

30
speed = 3600 rpm
20
20 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 Inductive Reactance(XL)
Load Resistance ( RL)
Fig. 13. Variation of minimum capacitance, (f) with inductive
Fig. 10. Variation of minimum capacitance, (f) with load resistance reactance (XL) at RL=0.75 p.u.
(RL) at XL= 0.75 p.u.
Table I
50
Critical capacitance for different loading conditions at rated speed ( =1800
rpm).
40

30 Load Load Value of Corresponding

speed=900 rpm inductance( ) capacitance Value of
resistance( )
M in im u m C a p a c it a n c e (u F )

20 p.u. p.u. required(Cmin ) f frequency(fmax )Hz

speed=1800 rpm speed=2700 rpm
10 1 2 42.9452 59.622

0 0.5 0 27.2201 56.904

-10
0.75 0 22.6955 57.906
-20
speed=3600 rpm 1 0 21.0097 58.398
-30
0 0.5 140.6436 59.964
-40
0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
Load Resistance ( RL) 0 0.75 99.7580 59.964
Fig. 11. Variation of minimum capacitance, (f) with load resistance
(RL) at XL= - 0.75 p.u. 0 1 79.3152 59.964

369
 =minimum capacitance required for self excitation, f.
0.5 0.75 76.4862 58.95
=resistance of stator winding per phase, .
0.75 0.75 60.5569 58.878
= per phase resistance of rotor winding referred to
stator, .
1 0.75 48.8598 58.92
=per phase leakage reactance of stator winding,.
0.75 0.5 58.0706 58.488
=per phase leakage reactance of rotor winding referred to
0.75 1 58.4484 59.166 stator side,.
VII. REFERENCES
0.5 -0.75 -37.4237 58.95
[1] N. H. Malik and A. A. Mazi, Capacitance requirements for isolated
self-excited induction generators, IEEE Trans. Energy Conversion, vol.
0.75 -0.75 -21.1506 58.878
2, no. 1, pp. 62-68, March 1987.
[2] A.K. Al Jabri and A.I. Alolah, Capacitance requirement for isolated
1 -0.75 -9.6736 58.92 self-excited induction generator, IEE Proc., PartB, Vol. 137, No.
3,1990, pp. 154-159.
[3] T.F. Chan, Capacitance requirements of self-excited induction
To validate the results shown in Table I, we can use the generators, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1993,
particular value of =1 p.u, = 2 p.u. and corresponding pp. 304-311.
value of is obtained which comes out to be 42.95 f [4] A.M. Eltamaly, New formula to determine the minimum capacitance
corresponding to = 59.622 Hz. The same results was required for self-excited induction generator, Proc. of the IEEE 23rd
Power Electronics Specialist Conference, 2002, Vol. 1, pp. 106-110.
obtained by [1] and [2] corresponding to same value of and [5] O. Ojo, Minimum airgap flux linkage requirement for self-excitation in
which confirms the accuracy of the proposed method. stand-alone induction generators, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion,
Vol. 10, No. 3, 1995, pp. 484-492.
The above method can easily be modified to find out the [6] S.N. Mahato, S.P. Sing and M.P. Sharma, Excitation capacitance
maximum value of critical capacitance and minimum value of required for self excited single phase induction generator using three
frequency required for self excitation. phase machine, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 49, 2008,
pp. 1126-1133.
V. CONCLUSION [7] S.N. Mahato, S.P. Sing and M.P. Sharma, Capacitors required for
maximum power of a self-excited single-phase induction generator using
In this paper a simple and accurate method, based on the a three-phase machine, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 23,
analysis of the complex impedance matrix is used to calculate No. 2, 2008, pp. 372-381.
[8] R.J. Harrington and F.M.M. Bassiouny, New approach to determine
the minimum value of capacitance ( ) required for self the critical capacitance for self-excited induction generators, IEEE
excitation in three phase self excited induction generator under Trans. on Energy Conversion, Vol. 13, No. 3, 1998, pp. 244-249.
various loading conditions. Here, only one algebraic equation [9] M.senthil,N..kumaresan, R.karthigaivel and M.subbiah, Determination
is used iteratively to find out the value of angular frequency of boundary values of excitation capacitance and minimum load
impedance for wind-driven SEIGs, International Conference on
and then corresponding is computed. The results Intelligent and Advanced systems (ICIAS), 2010,vol.,no.,pp.1-6,15-17
obtained by this method are compared with those obtained in june 2010.
reference [1-2] which in turns confirms the accuracy and [10] M.H. Haque and AI Maswood, "Determination of excitation capacitance
of a three-phase self-excited induction generators", Proc. Of the 2012
validity of the proposed method. IEEE PE S GM, San Diego, California, 22-26 July 2012.
[11] Sachin Kumar, Sovit Pradhan and Alok Yadav, Effect of capacitive
VI. LIST OF SYMBOLS excitation on volatge stability of three phase self excited induction
= angular frequency of self excitation voltage, rad/sec. generator, International Journal of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering Research (IJEEER),Vol.3, Issue.1,March 2003, pp.87-96.
=angular frequency of rotor speed, electrical, rad/sec. [12] P.C. krause, Analysis of Electric Machinery, Mcgraw-Hill, 1986.

=frequency of self excitation, Hz.

=speed of rotor, rpm.
=per phase load resistance, .

=per phase load reactance, .

=per phase unsaturated magnetization reactance, .

370