Bishop Conrad Senior Secondary school

Bareilly, UP

Physics investigatory
project

NAME:

CLASS:
ROLL N0:
SESSION:

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 TOPIC

AC GENERATOR

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 INDEX

CONTENT PAGE NO.

Certificate 4

Acknowledgement 5

Introduction 6

Theory and Working 7

Component of AC 8-11
Generator
Efficiency 12

Result 13

Uses 14

Losses in AC Generator 15-16

Precautions 17

Bibliography 18

CERTIFICATE
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This is to certify that Kushagra Sharma of

class XII A has successfully complete the

project on the topic AC GENERATOR under

the guidance of Dr. SM Ahsan Sir during

the year 2022-23 in the partial fulfilment

of the physics practical examination

conducted by the CBSE

SIGN. OFEXTERNALEXAMINER SIGH OFTEACHER

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my immense gratitude to

my physics teacher Dr.SM Ahsan Sir for the help
and guidance he provided for completing this
project.

I also thank my parents who gave their ideas and

inputs in making this project. Most of all I thank
our school management, for providing us the
facilities and opportunity to do this project.

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 INTRODUCTION

 An electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to

electricalenergy.

 A generator forces electric current to flow through an external circuit. The

source of mechanical energy may be a reciprocating or turbine steam
engine, water falling through a turbine or waterwheel, an internal
combustion engine, a wind turbine, a hand crank, compressed air, or any
other source of mechanicalenergy.

 Generators provide nearly all of the power for electric powergrids.

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 THEORY AND WORKING

 The strong magnetic field is produced by a current flow through the

field coil of therotor.

 The field coil in the rotor receives excitation through the use of slip rings
andbrushes.

 Two brushes are spring-held in contact with the slip rings to provide the
continuous connection between the field coil and the external
excitationcircuit.

 The armature is contained within the windings of the stator and is

connected to theoutput.

 Each time the rotor makes one complete revolution, one complete cycle
of AC isdeveloped.

 A generator has many turns of wire wound into the slots of therotor.

 The magnitude of AC voltage generated by an AC generator is

dependent on the field strength and speed of therotor.

 Most generators are operated at a constant speed; therefore, the

generated voltage depends on field excitation, orstrength.

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COMPONENTS OF AN AC GENERATOR

 Field

 Armature

 Primemover

 Rotor

 Stator

 Sliprings

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FIELD

 The field in an AC generator consists of coils of conductors within the

generator that receive a voltage from a source (called excitation) and
produce a magneticflux.

 The magnetic flux in the field cuts the armature to produce a voltage. This
voltage is ultimately the output voltage of the ACgenerator.

ARMATURE

 The armature is the part of an AC generator in which voltage isproduced.

 This component consists of many coils of wire that are largeenough.

PRIME MOVER

 The prime mover is the component that is used to drive the ACgenerator.

 The prime mover may be any type of rotating machine, such as a diesel
engine, a steam turbine, or amotor.

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ROTOR

 The rotor of an AC generator is the rotating component of the generator, as

shown in Figure1.

 The rotor is driven by the generator’s prime mover, which may be a steam
turbine, gas turbine, or diesel engine. Depending on the type of generator,
this component may be the armature or thefield.

 The rotor will be the armature if the voltage output is generated there;
the rotor will be the field if the field excitation is appliedthere.

STATOR

 The stator of an AC generator is the part that isstationary.

 Like the rotor, this component may be the armature or the field,
depending on the type ofgenerator.

 The stator will be the armature if the voltage output is generated there;
the stator will be the field if the field excitation is appliedthere.

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SLIP RINGS

 Slip rings are electrical connections that are used to transfer power to and
from the rotor of an ACgenerator.

 The slip ring consists of a circular conducting material that is connected to

the rotor windings and insulated from the shaft. Brushes ride on the slip
ring as the rotor rotates. The electrical connection to the rotor is made by
connections to thebrushes.

 Slip rings are used in AC generators because the desired output of the
generator is a sinewave.

 In a DC generator, a commutator was used to provide an output whose

current always flowed in the positivedirection.

FIGURE-1

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 EFFICIENCY

 Efficiency of an AC generator is the ratio of the useful power output to

the total powerinput.

 Because any mechanical process experiences some losses, no AC

generators can be 100 per centefficient.

 Efficiency of an AC generator can be calculated usingEquation.

 Efficiency = (Output /Input) X100

OR
Efficiency = (POWER OUT/POWER IN) X 100

EFFICIENCY OF ELECTRIC GENERATOR

POWER= VOLTAGE X CURRENT

EFFICIENCY = POWER OUTPUT * 100

POWER INPUT

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 RESULT

 WHEN THE AXLE OF GENERATING MOTOR IS ROTATED, E.M.F. IS PRODUCED

BYIT.

REASON:CHANGE IN FLUX THROUGH THE WINDING OF MOTOR.

 THIS E.M.F. REMAINS IN THE CIRCUIT AS LONG AS AXLE ISROTATED.

HENCE, FARADAY’S LAW OF ELECTROMAGNETIC INDUCTION IS VERIFIED.

 AS THE SPEED OF ROTOR IS INCREASED, THE VOLTAGE AND CURRENT

PRODUCED BY GENERATOR ALSO GETINCREASED.

REASON:RATE OF CHANGE OF FLUX INCREASES.

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 USES

 Aircraft auxiliary power generation, wind generators, high speed gas

turbinegenerators.

 Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) drive systems, automotive startergenerators.

 An ac generator, or 'alternator', is used to produce ac voltages for

transmission via the grid system or, locally, as portablegenerators.

 All of our household appliances run on ac current. Ex: Refrigerator, washing

machines, oven, lights, fanetc.

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 LOSSES IN AN AC GENERATOR

1.) Internal VoltageDrop

 The load current flows through the armature in all AC generators. The
armature has some amount of resistance and inductivereactance.

 The combination of these make up what is known as the internal resistance,

which causes a loss in a n ACgenerator.

 When the load current flows, a voltage drop is developed across the
internalresistance.

 This voltage drop subtracts from the output voltage and, therefore,
represents generated voltage and power that is lost and not available to the
load.

2.) HYSTERESISLOSSES

 Hysteresis losses occur when iron cores in an AC generator are subject

to effects from a magneticfield.

 The magnetic domains of the cores are held in alignment with the field in
varying numbers, dependent upon fieldstrength.

The magnetic domains rotate, with respect to the domains not held in
alignment, one complete turn during each rotation of the rotor. This
rotation of magnetic domains in the iron causes friction andheat.

 The heat produced by this friction is called magnetic hysteresisloss.

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  After the heat-treated silicon steel is formed to the desired shape, the
laminations are heated to a dull red and then allowed tocool.

 This process, known as annealing, reduces hysteresis losses to a very low

value.

 To reduce hysteresis losses, most AC armatures are constructed of heat-

treated silicon steel, which has an inherently low hysteresisloss.

3.) MECHANICALLOSSES

 Rotational or mechanical losses can be caused by bearing friction, brush

friction on the commutator, and air friction (called windage), which is
caused by the air turbulence due to armaturerotation.

 Careful maintenance can be instrumental in keeping bearing friction to a

minimum.

 Clean bearings and proper lubrication are essential to the reduction of

bearingfriction.

 Brush friction is reduced by ensuring: proper brush seating, proper brush

use, and maintenance of proper brushtension.

 A smooth and clean commutator also aids in the reduction of brushfriction.

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 PRECAUTIONS

 Do all the connectioncarefully

 Fix all the component on cardboard with strongglue

 Do not take a high voltage LED bulb (1.5Vpreferred)

 Use only DC motor in making themodel

 Before doing any experiment please consult to your

subject teacher or labassistance

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Wikipedia.com

 Google searchengine

 Physics NCERT book

 www.youtube.com/c/knowledgecycle

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