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Application Aspects of Generator and Excitation System For Process Plants
Application Aspects of Generator and Excitation System For Process Plants
Application Aspects of Generator and Excitation System For Process Plants
3, MAY/JUNE 1999
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I. INTRODUCTION
AND
PARAMETERS
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Fig. 2. Typical brushless excitation system. Rotating components are mounted on the same shaft.
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(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
The static excitation system is used for large turbogenerators, hydrogenerators, and where fast transient response is
required. The system comprises a power transformer, thyristorcontrolled rectifier, electronic regulator, and a de-excitation
unit. The excitation power is taken from the generator terminals, rectified, and fed to the generator field winding via
collector rings. The system can provide a high ceiling voltage,
extremely short voltage response time, and negative field
forcing.
Excitation systems for hydroelectric generators are generally provided with a three-phase full-wave thyristor bridge.
This arrangement has the ability to provide both a positive
or negative voltage to the field and decreases the recovery
time during a full-load rejection accompanied by overspeed
condition.
The neutral current is limited to 515 A. The main advantages are the following:
minimum damage from internal ground faults;
transient overvoltage is limited.
The criteria for HR grounding are
C. Voltage Regulator
The voltage regulator shall be an automatic/manual, high
speed, continuously active, negligible deadband, static type,
complete with the following features:
voltage- and current-sensing elements responsive to generator voltage and current, respectively;
var/power factor and volts/hertz controls;
limiters to control rotor angle and current;
loss of potential protection, including transfer of controls
from automatic to manual;
manual voltage-adjusting device follows the regulator
voltage-adjusting device;
transfer of voltage control from regulator to manual mode
and vice versa from a remote point.
or
where
is the effective neutral resistance and
is the
capacitive reactance of the three phases.
1) Resistor Directly Connected to Neutral: This method is
not recommended as high resistance and low current make the
resistor more fragile and prone to mechanical damage.
2) Distribution Transformer/Resistor Combination [Fig.
3(c)]: In this arrangement, a single-phase distribution
transformer is used for the neutral grounding, and the resistor
is connected to the secondary. This combination permits
the application of a robust and higher current-rated resistor.
References [8] and [18] have provided guidelines for sizing
transformer and resistor.
C. Low-Resistance Grounding [Fig. 3(b)]
This method permits coordination with other equipment
connected to the system and is generally used where:
generator is connected directly to the plant load bus with
outgoing feeders;
two or more generators bused at generator voltage are
connected to the system through one step-up transformer.
The resistor rating is usually from 100 A to 1.5 times generator
full-load current with a short time rating of 10 s.
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(a)
Fig. 4. (a) A typical protection scheme.
(b)
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TABLE I
SUGGESTED TRIP LOGIC
ated with human error and shall be used when the machine
is brought to speed and paralleled to the system. Set the
synchronizer to close the breaker with machine frequency and
voltage being slightly higher than that of the system to prevent
reverse power flows.
Manual synchronizing becomes a necessity when the generator is supplying the load in an isolated mode of operation
and has to be paralleled to the system. It shall be supervised
by a synchronizer that will check phase angle, frequency, and
voltage and shall allow closing within a small window. The
synchronism check relay shall include the following features:
adjustable phase-angle settings;
adjustable slip-frequency settings;
adjustable voltage settings (undervoltage and differential
voltage);
adjustable time settings.
A typical synchronizing scheme with manual/auto features is
shown in Fig. 4(b).
VII. INTEGRATION
INTO THE
POWER SYSTEM
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A. Higher Reactance
will reduce the short-circuit
Higher value of generator
contribution. However, a limit of 15% is recommended, as
explained earlier. This approach is not practical for existing
installations with low margins in switchgear rating.
B. Current-Limiting Reactor
In applications where the short-circuit level exceeds the
switchgear rating by a small margin when the synchronous
generator is operating in parallel with the network, a currentlimiting reactor with a bypass breaker can be used. The reactor
will be bypassed when the generator is not tied to the network.
C. Duplex Reactor
A duplex reactor is formed when two identical single-phase
reactors are physically arranged so that their magnetic fields
are interlinked in an opposite sense.
In a duplex reactor, the normal working currents in one
winding partially erase the voltage drop in the other. With
balanced loading, the reactive kilovoltampere loss and reactive
voltage drop are lower than for two independent reactors.
With current flow in one winding section only, the duplex
reactor behaves the same as one of the two reactors. Further
explanation is provided in [13].
The application of a duplex reactor is an excellent solution
to circumvent the problem associated with increased fault level
resulting from the integration. However, system engineering
must be carried out for the equipment selection. A singleline diagram of an integrated system with a duplex reactor is
shown in Fig. 5.
D. Unit-Connected System (Fig. 6)
In this arrangement, the generator delivers the power to the
high-voltage bus through a step-up transformer, which is again
stepped down for utilization. This system is simple, widely
used in utility systems, and has some merit, such as the applications of HR grounding, and is less affected by the system
disturbances. The disadvantage in industrial systems is that the
power has to go through two transformations, thus incurring
additional losses. However, for systems with large units or
where the short-circuit contribution is large, this arrangement
offers the best alternative. The step-up transformer winding
connection shall be Delta on the generator side and Wye with
neutral grounded on the HV side. A guide for the selection of
a generator step-up transformer is provided in [14].
E. Fault-Current Limiters
The fault-current limiter is applied to resolve the problem
associated with the increased fault levels. Their application is
on the rise in existing installations, and we have seen their use
even in generator circuits. There are two problems encountered
with this approach, which must be resolved before the decision
is made. The unit must have been tested and certified as a
system to ensure that the downstream equipment is protected.
The other problem is related to protection coordination, which
is almost impractical to achieve.
A fault-current limiter shall not be used in a generator
circuit. The generator shall be tripped only for faults associated
with the unit (turbine/generator).
Faults within the generator zone are cleared fast by the
generator protective relays. High set voltage restraint phase
overcurrent relays provide backup protection for remote faults
not cleared by upstream or feeder protective devices.
VIII. PLANT POWER SYSTEM AND UTILITY INTERFACE
The majority of process plants receive power at voltage
levels ranging from 34.5 to 230 kV. Reference [7] has provided some guidelines for the protections and interface. Traditionally, two-winding transformers with Delta primary and
grounded Wye secondary are used. There is a potential problem with the Delta (ungrounded) system when synchronous
generators or large synchronous motors are connected within
the plant power system. On line-to-ground faults at the transmission line feeding the plant, the utility remote (sending
end) breaker will trip. However, the high-voltage bus and
(a)
(b)
the line will remain energized from the plant generator and
synchronous motors. Due to the uncleared ground fault on the
HV side, the voltage across two healthy phases will experience
transient overvoltage with a minimum line-to-ground voltage
times their rating, thus stressing the
equal to or higher than
insulation of the connected equipment (surge arresters, etc.)
and leading to their failures.
The utility tie transformer primary winding shall be Wye
with the neutral solidly grounded. This connection will prevent
overvoltages caused by line-to-ground faults. This connection
also facilitates the detection of ground faults, which can be
isolated by tripping the high-voltage circuit breaker.
The main or tie transformer can be provided with two
different winding configurations:
1) Wye primary with neutral solidly grounded, Wye secondary with neutral resistance grounded, and Delta tertiary with one corner grounded;
2) Wye primary with neutral solidly grounded and Delta
secondary. With Wye primary and Delta secondary arrangement, a zig-zag grounding transformer with a neutral resistor is required to achieve system grounding.
Fig. 7 shows the above connections.
IX. SYSTEM DISTURBANCE
AND ISLANDING
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[13] Industrial Power Systems Data Book, General Electric Co., Schenectady,
NY, 1968.
[14] Guide for Transformers Directly Connected to Generators, IEEE Std.
C57.116, 1989 (revised 1994).
[15] M. Shan Griffith, Modern AC generator and control systems: Some
plain and painless facts, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 12, pp.
481491, Nov./Dec. 1976.
[16] C. L. Bencel, Maintaining process continuity during voltage dips,
IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 18, pp. 324328, July/Aug. 1982.
[17] T. L. Dillman, F. W. Keay, C. Rackowski, J. W. Skooglund, and W. H.
South, Brushless Excitation, IEEE Spectrum, pp. 5866, Mar. 1972.
[18] Generator neutral grounding, Genral Electric Co., Schenectady, NY,
Pub. GET-1941A, July 1953.
[19] T. R. Beckwitt, Automatic synchronizing considerations and methods,
presented at the Western Relay Conf., Oct. 23, 1985.
[20] J. C. Das, Limitations of fault-current limiters for expansion of electrical distribution systems, IEEE Trans. Ind. Applicat., vol. 33, pp.
10731082, July/Aug. 1997.