EET 221

Synchronous Machines
Rafiqi

Synchronous Machines
(Introduction)

A synchronous machine rotates at a constant speed in

the steady state.
Unlike induction machine, the rotating air gap field and
the rotor in the synchronous machine at the same
speed, called the synchronous speed.
Synchronous machine can operate as both a generator
and a motor.
Synchronous machines are used primarily as
generators of electrical power.
Synchronous machine can be used to compensate the
reactive power in the power system.

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 Synchronous Machines
(Introduction)

Synchronous Generator

Synchronous Motor

Synchronous Machines
(Introduction)

A synchronous motor can draw either lagging or

leading reactive current from the ac supply.
A synchronous machine is a double excited machine.
Its rotor poles are excited by a dc current and its stator
windings (armature winding) are connected to the ac
supply.
The air gap flux is the resultant of the fluxes due to
both rotor current and stator current.
In induction machines, the only source of excitation is
the stator current, because rotor currents are induced
currents. Therefore induction motors always operate at
a lagging power factor.

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 Construction of Three Phase Synchronous Machines

The stator winding of the three phase synchronous

machines has a three phase distributed winding similar
to that of the three phase induction machine.
Unlike the dc machine, the stator winding, which is
connected to ac supply system is called the armature
winding.
The rotor winding has a winding called the field
winding, which is carries direct current. The field
winding on the rotating structure is fed from an external
dc source through slip rings and brushes.

Construction of Three Phase Synchronous Machines

Two common approaches to supplying the dc supply

to the rotor winding (filed winding):
• Supply the power from an external dc source to the
rotor by means of slip rings and brushes.
• Supply the dc power from a special power source
mounted directly on the shaft of the generator.
On the larger synchronous machine, brushless
exciter are used to supply the dc field current to the
machines. A brushless exciter is a small ac
generator with its field circuit mounted on the stator
and its armature circuit mounted on the rotor shaft.

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 Construction of Three Phase Synchronous Machines (A
Brushless Exciter Circuit)

A small three phase current is rectified and used to supply the

field circuit of the exciter, which is located on the stator. The
output of the armature of the exciter (on the rotor) is then
rectified and used to supply the field current of the main
winding.

Construction of Three Phase Synchronous Machines

Synchronous machines can be divided into two groups:

1. High speed machines with cylindrical (or non salient

pole) rotor.
2. Low speed machines with salient pole rotors.

The cylindrical or non salient pole rotor has one

distributed winding and essentially uniform air gap while
salient pole rotors have concentrated winding on the
poles and a uniform air gap.

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 Round Rotor Generator

Generator

Exciter

View of a two-pole round rotor generator and exciter

Round Rotor Generator

Cross-section of a large turbo generator. (Courtesy

Westinghouse)

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 Round Rotor Generator

Metal frame

Laminated iron
core with slots

Insulated copper
bars are placed in
the slots to form
the three-phase
winding

Details of a generator stator

Round Rotor Generator

Rotor block of a large generator. (Courtesy Westinghouse)

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 Round Rotor Generator

Generator rotor with conductors placed in the slots

Round Rotor Generator

Steel
retaining
ring

Shaft
Shaft

Wedges
DCcurrent
DC current
terminals
terminals

Large generator rotor completely assembled. (Courtesy

Westinghouse)

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 Salient pole generator

Stator of a large salient pole hydro generator; inset shows

the insulated conductors and spacers

Salient pole generator

Large hydro generator rotor with view of the vertical poles

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 Salient pole generator

Slip
rings

Pole

DC excitation
winding
Fan

Rotor of a four-pole salient pole generator

Synchronous generator

Mechanism of ac voltage generation

• Rotor flux is produced by a dc field current If.
• Rotor is driven by a prime mover, producing rotating
field in the air gap.
• A voltage is induced in the stator winding due to
the rotating field.
Induced voltage is sinusoidal due to the sinusoidal
distributed flux density in the air gap.

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 Synchronous generator
(The Speed of Rotation of a Synchronous Generator)
Synchronous generators are by definition synchronous,
meaning that the electrical frequency produced is
locked in or synchronized with the mechanical rate of
rotation of the generator.
The rate of rotation of the magnetic fields in the
machined is related to the stator electrical frequency is
nm P
fe 
120
Where fe = electrical frequency (Hz)
nm = mechanical speed of the magnetic field, rpm (=
speed of rotor)
P = number of poles

The Internal Generated Voltage of a Synchronous

Generator
The magnitude of the voltage induced in a stator phase
is

E A  2N C f

or
E A  K

Where
NC = no of conductors at an angle of 00
NC
K
2

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 The Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Generator

The voltage EA is the internal voltage generated produced in

one phase of a synchronous generator. However, this
voltage EA is not usually the voltage that appears at the
terminals of the generator.
There are many factors that cause the difference between
EA and VФ.

1. The distortion of the air gap magnetic filed by the

current flowing in the stator called armature reaction.
2. The self inductance of the armature coils.
3. The resistance of the armature coils.
4. The effect of salient pole rotor shapes.

The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction

Figure (a) shows a two pole rotor spinning inside a three

phase stator. A rotating magnetic field produces the internal
generated voltage EA.
There is no load connected to the stator. The rotor
magnetic field BR produces an internal generated voltage
EA whose peak value coincides with the direction of BR.
With no load on the generator, there is no armature current
flow, and EA will be equal to the phase voltage VФ.

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 The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction

Figure (b): The resulting voltage produces a lagging

current flow when connected to a lagging load

The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction

Figure (c): The stator current produces its own magnetic

filed BS, which produces its own voltage Estat in the stator
windings of the machine

The current flowing in the stator in the stator windings

produces a magnetic filed of its own. This stator magnetic
filed is called BS and its direction is given by the right hand
rule. The stator magnetic filed Bs produces a voltage of its
own in the stator, and this voltage is called Estat.

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 The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction

Figure (d): The field BS adds to BR, distorting it into Bnet. The voltage
Estat adds to EA, producing VФ at the output of the phase.

With two voltages present in the stator windings, the total

voltage in a phase is just the sum of the internal generated
EA and the armature reaction voltage Estat:

V  E A  Estat

The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction

The net magnetic field Bnet is just the sum of the rotor
and the stator magnetic fields:
Bnet  BR  BS

Since the angles of EA and BR are the same and the

angles of Estat and Bs, are the same, the resulting
magnetic field Bnet will coincide with the net voltage VФ.

We know, the voltage Estat is directly proportional to the

current IA. If X is a constant of proportionality, then the
armature reaction voltage can be expressed as:

Estat   jXI A

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The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction

The voltage on a phase is

V  E A  jXI A

The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction

In addition to the effects of armature reaction, the stator

coils have a self inductance and a resistance. If the
stator self inductance is called LA (and its corresponding
reactance is called XA) while the stator resistance is
called RA, then the total difference between EA and VФ is
given by

V  E A  jXI A  jX A I A  RA I A

Combine the armature reaction effects and the self

inductance in the machine

XS  X  XA

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The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction
So
V  E A  jX S I A  RA I A

The Development of a Model for Armature Reaction

If the machine is Wye (Y ) connection

VT  3V

If the machine is Delta (Δ) connection

VT  V

The Per Phase Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous

Generator

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The Phasor Diagram of A Synchronous Generator

The Phasor Diagram of A Synchronous Generator at

Unity Power Factor

The Phasor Diagram of A Synchronous Generator

(a) Lagging (b) Leading

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 Per Unit System

Definition:

Actual value
Per Unit , pu 
Base value

Base value (in normal):

– Choose rated power for base value of power
– Choose rated voltage for base value of voltage

Other variables:

S base  S rated Sbase

Vbase  Vrated I base 
Vbase
2
Vbase
Z base 
Sbase

Per Unit System

Select
V LL ,rated
S base  S rated ,Vbase 
3
then

S base V
I base   I L ,rated , Z base  base
3Vbase I base

VLL / 3 I
V pu  and I pu  L
Vbase I base

XS R
X S , pu  and RA, pu  A
Z base Z base

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 Per Unit System
Equivalent circuit in per unit system

If, pu XS, pu RA, pu

+
IA,pu

EA, pu VT, pu

E A-, pu  I A , pu ( RA , pu  jX S , pu )  VT

Usually
VT,pu = 1.0, which is the rated voltage of the generator

Power and Torque in Synchronous Generator

Input mechanical power

Pin   app m
Power converted from mechanical to electrical is
Pconv  ind m  3E A I A cos 

Where γ is the angle between EA and IA

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 Power and Torque in Synchronous Generator

The difference between the input power to the

generator and the power converted in generator is
mechanical (friction & windage), core and stray losses.

Real output power is

Pout  3VT I L cos  (Line quantities)

Pout  3V I A cos  (Phase quantities)
Reactive output power is
Qout  3VT I L sin  (Line quantities)

Qout  3V I A sin  (Phase quantities)

Power and Torque in Synchronous Generator

If the armature resistance RA is ignored (since Xs >> RA)

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 Power and Torque in Synchronous Generator

Since the resistances are assumed to be zero

3V E A sin 
Pconv  Pout  P 
Xs

Where torque angle, δ is the angle between VФ and EA

The power of the generator is maximum when δ = 900

3V E A
Pmax 
Xs
The maximum power indicated by this equation
called static stability limit of the generator.
The induced torque is
3V E A sin 
ind 
m X s

EXAMPLE 1

A 25kVA, 415V, three phase, 4 pole, 60Hz, wye connected synchronous

generator has a synchronous reactances of 1.5Ω/phase and negligible
stator resistance. The generator is connected to an infinite bus (of
constant voltage magnitude and constant frequency) at 415V and 60Hz.

a) Determine the excitation voltage, EA when the machine is

delivering rated kVA at 0.8 pf lagging.
b) The field excitation current If increased by 20% without changing
the power input from the prime mover. Find the stator current IA,
power factor, and reactive power Q supplied by the machine.
c) With the field excitation current If as in part (a), the input power from
the prime mover is increased very slowly. What is the steady state
limit? Determine stator current IA, power factor, and reactive power
Q.

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Measuring synchronous generator model parameter

The behavior of a real synchronous generator is determine by

• The relationship between field current and flux (and therefore between
field current and EA)
• The synchronous reactance, Xs
• The armature resistance, RA

The quantities above are determined by open circuit test and short
circuit test

Open Circuit Test

First step:
• To perform this test, the generator is turned at the rated speed.
• The terminals are disconnected from all loads.
• The field current is set to zero.

Second step:

The field current is gradually increased in steps, and the terminal

voltage is measured at each step along the way with the terminals
open. (IA = 0, so EA is equal to VФ)

Plot EA or VA versus IF from this information

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 Open Circuit Test
Air gap line
The curve almost perfectly linear, until
some saturation is observed at high field
currents.
The unsaturated iron in the frame of the
synchronous machine has a relunctance
several thousand times lower than the air
gap reluctance, so at the first almost all the
magnetomotive force is across the air gap,
and the resulting flux increase is linear.
When the iron finally saturates, the
reluctance of the iron increases
This plot called open circuit characteristics dramatically, and the flux increases much
more slowly with an increase in
magnetomotive forces. The linear portion
of an OCC is called the air gap line of
characteristic.

Short Circuit Test

Adjust the field current to zero again and short circuit terminals of the
generator through a set of ammeters. Then the armature current IA or the
line current IL is measured as the field increased.

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 Short Circuit Test

When the terminals are short circuited, the armature currents IA is

EA
IA 
RA  jX S

Its magnitude is

EA
IA 
R  jX S2
2
A

Refer to Figure (b), BS almost cancels BR, the net magnetic field Bnet is
very small, so the machine is unsaturated and the SCC is linear.

Short Circuit Test

The internal machine impedance is

EA
Z S ( unsat )  RA2  X S2( unsat ) 
IA

If XS >> RA, this equation reduces to

E A V ,OC
XS  
IA IA
Therefore, an approximate method for determining the synchronous
reactances at a given field current is

1) Get the internal generated voltage EA from the OCC at the field
changing.
2) Get the short circuit current flow IA,SC at that field current from SCC.
3) Find XS by equation above.

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The saturated synchronous reactance may also found by taking the
rated terminal voltage (line to line) measured on the OCC and dividing
by the current read from SCC corresponding to the field current that
produces at rated terminal voltage.

E A ,rated E A
Z S ( sat )  RA  jX S ( sat )  
I A ,SC I ba

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