Synchronous Generator

Synchronous generator is a synchronous machine which converts mechanical power into AC

electric power through the process of electromagnetic induction.

Synchronous generators are also referred to as alternators or AC generators. The term

"alternator" is used since it produces AC power. It is called synchronous generator because it
must be driven at synchronous speed to produce AC power of the desired frequency.

A synchronous generator can be either single-phase or poly-phase (generally 3phase).

Construction of Synchronous Generator or Alternator

As alternator consists of two main parts viz.
 Stator – The stator is the stationary part of the alternator. It carries the armature winding
in which the voltage is generated. The output of the alternator is taken form the stator.
 Rotor – The rotor is the rotating part of the alternator. The rotor produces the main field
flux.
Stator Construction of Alternator

The stator of the alternator includes several parts, viz. the frame, stator core, stator or armature
windings, and cooling arrangement.

 The stator frame may be made up of cast iron for small-size machines and of welded steel
for large-size machines.

 The stator core is assembled with high-grade silicon content steel laminations. These
silicon steel laminations reduce the hysteresis and eddy-current losses in the stator core.

 The slots are cut on the inner periphery of the stator core. A 3-phase armature winding is
put in these slots.

 The armature winding of the alternator is star connected. The winding of each phase is
distributed over several slots. When current flows through the distributed armature
winding, it produces an essential sinusoidal space distribution of EMF.

Rotor Construction of Alternator

The rotor of the alternator carries the field winding which is supplied with direct current through
two slip rings by a separate DC source (also called exciter). The exciter is generally a small DC
shunt generator mounted on the shaft of the alternator.

For the alternator, there are two types of rotor constructions are used viz. the salient-pole
type and the cylindrical rotor type.

Salient Pole Rotor

The term salient means projecting. Hence, a salient pole rotor consists of poles projecting out
from the surface of the rotor core. This whole arrangement is fixed to the shaft of the alternator
as shown in the figure. The individual field pole windings are connected in series such that when
the field winding is energised by the DC exciter, the adjacent poles have opposite polarities.

The salient pole type rotor is used in the low and medium speed (from 120 to 400 RPM)
alternators such as those driven by the diesel engines or water turbines because of the following
reasons −

 The construction of salient pole type rotor cannot be made strong enough to withstand the
mechanical stresses to which they may be subjected at higher speed.

 If the salient field pole type rotor is driven at high speed, then it would cause windage
loss and would tend to produce noise.

Low speed rotors of the alternators possess a large diameter to provide the necessary space for
the poles. As a result, the salient pole type rotors have large diameter and short axial length.

 Salient pole Generators will have large diameter and short axial length

 Pole shoes cover 2/3 of the pitch

 Salient Poles are laminated in order to reduce eddy currents

 They are used in hydraulic turbines or diesel engines

 Salient pole generators will have typical speed about 100 to 375 rpm.
  As the speed of the water turbine is slow hence more number of poles are required to
attain the frequency. Therefore Salient pole machines will have typically number of poles
will be between 4 to 60.

 Cheaper compared to cylindrical rotor machines for speeds below 1000rpm.

 Causes excessive windage losses

 Flux distribution is not uniform due to the presence of salient poles, hence emf waveform
generated is not good compared to cylindrical machine

 Salient Pole Synchronous Generators are employed in Hydro-Power plants.

Cylindrical Rotor
The cylindrical rotors are made from solid forgings of high-grade nickel-chrome-molybdenum
steel.

 The construction of the cylindrical rotor is such that there are no-physical poles to be
seen as in the salient pole rotor.

 In about two-third of the outer periphery of the cylindrical rotor, slots are cut at regular
intervals and parallel to the rotor shaft.

 The field windings are placed in these slots and is excited by DC supply. The field
winding is of distributed type.

 The unslotted portion of the rotor forms the pole faces.

 It is clear from the figure of the cylindrical rotor that the poles formed are non-salient,
i.e., they do not project out from the rotor surface.

The cylindrical type rotor construction is used in the high-speed (1500 to 3000 RPM) alternators
such as those driven by steam turbines because of the following reasons −

 The cylindrical type rotor construction provides a greater mechanical strength and
permits more accurate dynamic balancing.

 It gives noiseless operation at high speeds because of the uniform air gap.
  The flux distribution around the periphery of the rotor is nearly a sine wave and hence a
better EMF waveform is obtained.

A cylindrical rotor alternator has a comparatively small diameter and long axial length. The
cylindrical rotor alternators are called turbo-alternators or turbo-generators. The alternator
with cylindrical rotor has always horizontal configuration installation.

 Non-Salient pole generators will have smaller diameter and longer axial length
 They are used for High speed operation (typically speed will be 1500 and 3000 rpm)
 Better in dynamic balancing because of absence of salient poles.
 Less windage loss
 Robust construction and noiseless operation
 Nearly sinusoidal flux distribution around the periphery, therefore gives a better emf
waveform than salient pole machine
 No need to provide damper windings (except in special case to assist the
synchronising) because the field poles themselves acts as efficient dampers.
 Non-Salient pole generators are used in Thermal, Gas and in Nuclear Power plants.

Working Principle and Operation of Alternator

An alternator or synchronous generator works on the principle of electromagnetic

induction, i.e., when the flux linking a conductor changes, an EMF is induced in the
conductor. When the armature winding of alternator subjected to the rotating magnetic
field, the voltage will be generated in the armature winding.
When the rotor field winding of the alternator is energised from the DC exciter, the
alternate N and S poles are developed on the rotor. When the rotor is rotated in the
anticlockwise direction by a prime mover, the armature conductors placed on the stator
are cut by the magnetic field of the rotor poles. As a result, the EMF is induced in the
armature conductors due to electromagnetic induction. This induced EMF is alternating
one because the N and S poles of the rotor pass the armature conductors alternatively.

The direction of the generated EMF can be determined by the Fleming’s right rule and
the frequency of it is given by, Ns=120F/P

 Ns is the synchronous speed in RPM

 P is the number of rotor poles.
The magnitude of the generated voltage depends upon the speed of rotation of the rotor and the
DC field excitation current. For the balanced condition, the generated voltage in each phase of
the winding is the same but differ in phase by 120° electrical.
Why Armature Winding Is Stationary In An Alternator?

 At high voltages, it is easier to insulate the stationary armature winding, which may be as
high as 11 kV or even more in some cases.
  The generated high voltage output can be directly taken out from the stationary armature.
Whereas for a rotary armature, there will be large brush contact drop at higher voltages,
also the sparking at the brush surface will be a problem to look after.

 If the field exciter winding is placed in the rotor, low voltage DC can be transferred
safely to the exciter winding via slip-rings.

 The armature winding can be braced well, to prevent deformation caused by high
centrifugal force if it was in the rotor.

S.no. Salient Pole Type Rotor Non-salient Type Rotor

1. Poles are projected. Outer surface is smooth ( poles are not

projected ).

2. More number of poles are present. Two or four poles are present on the rotor

3. Large diameter (≈ 10m) and small axial Small diameter (≈ 1m) and large axial
lengths (≈ 3m). lengths (≈ 10m).

4. Used for low and medium speeds. Used for high speeds ( 1500 to 3000 rpm ).

5. More windage losses. Less windage losses ( due to smooth surface

).

6. Water turbines are preferred. Steam turbines are preferred.

7. Construction is complicated. Easy to construct.

8. Perfectly not balanced. Perfectly balanced.

9. Air gap is present in between poles. No air-gap in between poles.

10. Flux is not uniform due to inter polar gap. Flux is uniformly distributed.

1) Conductor: The part of the wire, which is under the influence of the magnetic field and
responsible for the induced emf is called active length of the conductor. The conductors are
placed in the armature slots.

2) Turn: A conductor in one slot, when connected to a conductor in another slot forms a turn. So
two conductors constitute a turn.
3) Coil: As there are a number of turns, for simplicity the number of turns are grouped
together to form a coil. Such a coil is called a multi-turn coil. A coil may consist of single
turn called single turn coil. Figure(b) shows a multi-turn coil.

4) Coil Side: Coil consists of many turns. Part of the coil in each slot is called coil side of
a coil as shown in the above figure(b).

5) Pole Pitch: It is centre to centre distance between the two adjacent poles. We have
seen that for one rotation of the conductors, 2 poles are responsible for 360° electrical of
emf., 4 poles are responsible for 720° electrical of emf and so on. so 1 pole is responsible
for 180° electrical of induced emf.

For example let us consider 2 poles, 18 slots armature of an alternator. Then under 1
pole, there are 18/2 i.e. 9 slots. So pole pitch is 9 slots or 180° electrical. This means 9
slots are responsible for producing a phase difference of 180° between the emfs induced
in different conductors.

This number of slots/pole is denoted as 'n'.

Pole pitch = 180° electrical = slots per.pole (no. of slots/P) = n

6) Slot angle (β): The phase difference contributed by one slot in degrees electrical is
called slot angle As slots per pole contributes 180° electrical which is denoted as 'n', we
can write,

1 slot angle = 180°/n

β = 180°/n
 In the above example,

n = 18/2 = 9 , while β = 180°/n = 20°

Types of Armature Windings in Alternator:

The different types of armature windings in alternators are,

1) Single layer and double layer winding

2) Full pitch and short pitch winding

3) Concentrated and distributed winding

4) Integral Slot Winding and Fractional Slot Winding

1) Single layer and double layer winding

Basically there are two physical types of the windings. These are i) Single layer winding ii)
Double layer winding. The sequential arrangement of coils around the armature is different for
both these types of windings.

1.1 Single Layer Winding: In this type of winding, the complete slot is containing only one coil
side of a coil. This type of winding is not normally used for machines having commutators. It is
shown in the Fig. 1.

In single layer windings permit the use of semienclosed and closed types of slots. Also the coils
can be pushed through the slots from one end of the core and are connected during the process of
windings at the other end. Here the insulation can be properly applied and consolidated which is
advantageous in large output machines with high voltage.

The single layer windings used in high voltage machines use small groups of concentrically
placed coils. The interlinking between these coils is in such a way so as to minimize the space
taken up outside the slot and in the overhang connections.
1.2 Double Layer Winding

It is shown in the Fig. 1(b). It consists of identical coils with one coil side of each coil in top half
of the slot and the other coil side in bottom half of another slot which is nearly one pole pitch
away.

In the Fig. 1(a) there are two coil sides per slot while in (b) there are eight coil sides per slot.
Each layer may contain more than one coil side if large number of coils is required. For placing
double layer windings, usually open slots are used.

2. Full pitch and short pitch winding

A full pitched coil is defined as the coil whose two coil sides are 180 electrical degree apart. As
the Pole Pitch, which is defined as the space electrical angle between two consecutive poles is
180 degree, therefore in an alternate manner we can also say that a Full Pitch Coil has its two
coil sides one pole pitch apart.

If it happens that the two coil sides are not lying under the pole, then obviously the space
electrical angle between the coil sides will not be 180 degree rather it will be less than 180
degree as shown in figure.

Advantages of Short Pitch Coils:

In actual practice, short pitch coils are used as it has following advantages,
1) The length required for the end connections of coils is less i.e. the inactive length of winding
is less. So less copper is required. Hence economical.
2) Short pitching eliminates high frequency harmonics which distort the sinusoidal nature of
e.m.f. Hence waveform of an induced e.m.f. is more sinusoidal due to short pitching.
3) As high frequency harmonics get eliminated, eddy current and hysteresis losses which depend
on frequency also get minimized. This increases the efficiency.

3) Concentrated and distributed winding

Concentrated Armature Winding

The concentrated winding is employed where the number of slots on the armature is equal to the
number of poles in the machine. This armature winding of alternator gives maximum output
voltage but not exactly sinusoidal.

The most simple single-phase winding is shown below in the figure-1. Here, number poles = the
number of slots = number of coil sides. Here, one coil side is inside one slot under one pole and
the other coil side inside other slots under next pole. The emf induced in one coil side gets added
to that of adjacent coil side.

Distributed Armature Winding of Alternator

For obtaining smooth sinusoidal emf wave from, conductors are placed is several slots under
single pole. This armature winding is known as distributed winding. Although distributed
armature winding in alternator reduces emf, still it is very much usable due to following reason.
1. It also reduces harmonic emf and so waveform is improved.
2. It also diminishes armature reaction.
3. Even distribution of conductors, helps for better cooling.
4. The core is fully utilized as the conductors are distributed over the slots on the armature
periphery.

4) Integral Slot Winding and Fractional Slot Winding

Integral Slot Winding:
The value of slots per pole per phase decides the class of the winding.
m = slots / pole / phase
 Key Point: When the value of m is an integer, then the winding is called Integral slot
winding.

Consider 2 pole, 12 slots alternator hence,

n = slots / pole = 12/2 = 6
Pole pitch = 180° = 6 slots
Fractional Slot Winding:

This is another type of winding which depends on the value of m.

Key Point: The winding in which slots per pole per phase (m) is a fractional number is
called fractional slot winding.

In such a winding, the number of slots (S) must be divisible by 3. Thus slots per
phase is an integer which is necessary to obtain symmetrical three phase winding. But
slots per pole (n) and slots per pole per phase (m) both are fractional. As n is a fraction,
the coils cannot be full pitch. Thus if there are 54 slots and 8 poles then the slots per pole
n = 54/8 = 6.75 hence coil span can be 7 or 6.

m = n/3 = 6/3 =2

Advantages of Fractional slot Windings:

• The various advantages of fractional slot winding are,

1. Though appearing to be complicated, easy to manufacture.
2. The number of armature slots (S) need not be an integral multiple of number of poles
(P).
3. The number of slots can be selected for which notching gear is available, which is
economical.
4. There is saving in machine tools.
5. High frequency harmonics are considerably reduced.
6. The voltage waveform available is sinusoidal in nature.
Distribution factor (Kd):

The distribution factor Kd is defined as:

As pitch factor, distribution factor is also always less than unity.

Let the number of slots per pole is n.
The number of slots per pole per phase is m.
Induced emf per coil side is Ec.
Angular displacement between the slots,

Let us represent the emfs induced in different coils of one phase under one pole as AC,
DC, DE, EF and so on. They are equal in magnitude, but they differ from each other by
an angle β.
If we draw bisectors on AC, CD, DE, EF ——–. They would meet at common point O.
Emf induced in each coil side,

As the slot per pole per phase is m, the total arithmetic sum of all induced emfs per coil
sides per pole per phase,
The resultant emf would be AB, as represented by the figure,
Hence, the resultant emf

mβ is also known as the phase spread in electrical degree.

Pitch factor:

The e.m.f. induced in a short-pitch coil is less than that of a full-pitch coil. The factor by
which e.m.f. per coil is reduced is called pitch factor Kp. It is defined as:

This pitch factor is the fundamental component of emf. The flux wave may consist of
space field harmonics also, which give rise to the corresponding time harmonics in the
generated voltage waveform. A 3rd harmonic component of the flux wave, may be
imagined as produced by three poles as compared to one pole for the fundamental
component.
 Emf Equation of Alternator

Synchronous Generators on load: Factors affecting the Terminal voltage

1. Voltage drop in the resistance of the armature

2. Voltage drop in the leakage reactance of the armature

3. Voltage drop due to the armature reaction which depends on the power factor of the load