Synchronous Machines
H.O. Bansal
BITS Pilani Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani
Pilani Campus
Introduction
A Synchronous machine is one of the important types of
electric machines.
All generating machines at power stations are of
synchronous kind and are known as alternators.
The frequency of emfs and currents on the stator is
given by
P = number of poles
Ns = speed of rotor in rpm
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•The rotor gets locked to the RMF and rotates unlike induction
motor at synchronous speed under all load condition
•All conventional power plants use synchronous generators for
converting power to electrical form
•They operate at a better power factor and higher efficiency than
equivalent induction machines
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Physical Description
Consists of two sets of windings:
3 phase armature winding on the stator distributed with
centers 120° apart in space
field winding on the rotor supplied by DC
Two basic rotor structures used:
salient or projecting pole structure for hydraulic units (low
speed)
Cylindrical rotor structure for thermal units (high speed)
Salient poles have concentrated field windings
Cylindrical rotors have steel rotors with distributed windings
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Construction and Operation of a Synchronous Generator
Stator : (Similar as in Induction Motor).
•The stator, also known as the armature, of a synchronous machine is made of thin
laminations of highly permeable steel in order to reduce the core losses.
•The stator laminations are held together by a stator frame.
•The frame may be of cast iron or fabricated from mild steel plates.
•The frame is designed not to carry the flux but to provide mechanical support to
the synchronous generator. The inside of the stator has a plurality of slots that are
intended to accommodate thick armature conductors (coils or windings).
•The armature conductors are symmetrically arranged to form a balanced poly-
phase winding
•The induced emf per phase in large synchronous generators is in kilovolts (kV)
with a power handling capacity in megavolt- amperes (MVA).
Rotor
Two types of rotors are used in the design of synchronous generators, the cylindrical rotor
and salient-pole rotor.
•The rotor is rotated at the synchronous speed by a prime mover such as a steam turbine.
•The rotor has as many poles as the stator, and the rotor winding carries dc current so as to
produce constant flux per pole.
•The field winding usually receives its power from a 115- or 230-V dc generator.
•The dc generator may be driven either by the same prime mover driving the synchronous
generator or by a separate electric motor.
•The salient-pole rotor is used in low- and medium-speed generators because the windage
loss is small at these speeds.
• It consists of an even set of outward projecting laminated poles.
Synchronous Machine Construction
•The salient-pole rotor is used in low- and medium-speed generators because the windage
loss is small at these speeds
•The cylindrical rotor is employed in a 2- or 4-pole, high-speed turbo generator.
•It is made of a smooth solid forged steel cylinder with a number of slots on its outer
periphery.
Stators
8
Principle of Operation
The current flowing through the field coils will set up
stationary magnetic poles of alternate North and South
3-phase currents flowing in the armature winding produce a
rotating magnetic field rotating at synchronous speed. i.e. there
will be moving North and South poles established in the stator
due to the 3-phase currents i.e at any location in the stator
there will be a North pole at some instant of time and it will
become a South pole after a time period corresponding to half a
cycle
9
Generation of emf
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Generation of emf
Instantaneous Voltage, e = Blv Volts
where
B= flux density in Tesla (Wb/m2)
l = active conductor length (m)
v = relative linear velocity between the conductor and the field (m/s)
e = Emsinwt = Emsin θ
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Emf Equation
The emf induced per coil is given by:
The rms value of this emf:
For a distributed winding:
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Fractionally Pitched Coils
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Pitch Factor
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Distribution Factor
Here m=3 , if the
AB = Es = 2.r.sin γ /2
m value is more
then A,B,C,D,E
Vector sum = AD = Er = 2 r sin ( m γ /2) curve forms a
portion of circle
with radius ‘ r ‘
Vector sum of coil emf s
Kd =
Arithmetic sum of emfs
= 2 r sin ( m γ/2) /(m * 2 sin γ/2)
Kd = Sin (m γ /2)/ m sin γ /2
Basic Synchronous Machine Model
The rotor has distributed windings which produce an
approximately sinusoidally distributed mmf wave in
space rotating at synchronous speed along with the
rotor.
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Operating Modes
Va = Ea – Ia(Ra + jXs) [Generating Mode]
Va = Ea + Ia(Ra + jXl) [Motoring Mode]
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Three Phase Circuit Equivalent
VL-L
Vt
Ef1
+ jXs Ra
Ia1
VL-L =3Vt
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Voltage Regulation
As the load is thrown off keeping the field current constant,
the terminal voltage rises to:
The percentage voltage regulation at specified power factor
is given by:
Ef – Vt (rated) X 100%
Vt (rated)
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Determination of
Synchronous Reactance
If Ra is neglected, Ef = Vt + jIaXs
Under short-circuit condition (Ia = ISC, Vt = 0)
But Ef = VOC (open-circuit voltage with armature
current zero with same field current), with
linearity assumption:
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OCC/SCC Ckt diagram
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Open Circuit Characteristics
The synchronous machine is driven at the synchronous
speed using a prime mover when the stator windings are
open circuited.
The rotor winding current is varied, and stator winding
terminal voltage is measured.
The relationship between the stator winding terminal
voltage and the rotor field current obtained by the open
circuit test is known as the open circuit characteristic
of the synchronous machine.
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Open-Circuit and Short-Circuit
Characteristics
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Short Circuit Characteristics
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SCC Circuit
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Short Circuit Characteristics
(If corresponding to Vt rated
on OCC)
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Short Circuit Losses
The losses comprise of:
I2R loss in armature winding due to flow of short circuit
current
Local core loss caused by armature leakage flux
Core loss due to resultant air-gap flux. (Small)
Windage and friction loss
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Short Circuit Ratio
Another parameter used to describe synchronous generators is the
short-circuit ratio (SCR). The SCR of a generator defined as the
ratio of the field current required for the rated voltage at open
circuit to the field current required for the rated armature current
at short circuit. SCR is just the reciprocal of the per unit value of
the saturated synchronous reactance calculated by
Ef or Vt (V) Air-gap line
Isc (A)
OCC I f _ Vrated
Vrated
SCC SCR
I f _ Iscrated
Isc,rated
1
X s _ sat in p.u .
If (A)
If_V rated If_Isc rated
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Short Circuit Ratio
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Operating Characteristics
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Operating Characteristics
T-δ Characteristics (Power Angle)
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Operation at Constant Load and variable excitation
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Operation at Constant Load
Generating Machine
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V - Curves
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Inverted V Curves
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Synchronous Condensers
A synchronous condenser is a synchronous motor,
whose shaft is not connected to anything and spins
freely. Its purpose is not to convert electric power to
mechanical power, but to adjust conditions on the
electric power transmission grid.
An over-excited synchronous motor has a leading power
factor.
This makes it useful for power factor correction of
industrial loads as both transformers and induction
motors draw lagging currents from the line.
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At no-load with losses assumed negligible, a synchronous
motor operates at
=0
Behaves like variable inductor/capacitor : improves PF
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Consideration of Ra?
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Synchronizing to Infinite Bus
Necessary conditions for synchronisation:
The rms line voltages of the machine and IB must be equal.
The machine and IB must have the same phase sequence.
The phase angles of the two similar phases must be equal.
The machine frequency is equal to the IB frequency.
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Synchronizing to Infinite Bus
As the two frequencies are not exactly equal, the
machine phasors are rotating slowly with respect
to the bus bar phasors. The acceptable phase
difference is of the order of 5o
The instant of switching on (synchronization) is
determined such that the two voltages are almost
co-phasal.
VaA = 0
VbC = VcB
Where ABC and abc represent the two different
phasor sets.
The same procedure has to be followed for a
synchronous motor which must be initially run by
an auxiliary device since they are not self starting.
A synchroscope is an instrument that can be used
for synchronization.
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Lamp Bright-Dark Method
In this method, the lamps are connected asymmetrically as shown (fig).
Two sets of star vectors will rotate at unequal speeds if the frequencies of
the two machines are different
If the phase sequence is correct, the lamps brighten and grow dim in
sequence.
Synchronization is done at the moment the uncrossed lamp L1 is in the
middle of the dark period. When the uncrossed lamp L1 is dark, then other
two crossed lamps L2&L3 are dimly but equally bright.
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