Three Phase Alternator or Synchronous Generator

Books
1. Alternating-current machines -​A.F. Puchstein, T.C. Lloyd and A.G. Conrad
2. Advanced Electrical Power and Machines - G. S. Brosan and J. T. Hayden
3. Rotating Electric Machinery and Transformer Technology – D. V. Richardson
4. Alternating Current Machines - M. G. Say
5. Electric Machinery & Transformers - Irving L. Kosow

05/06/2024 1
 Synchronous Generator

 Similarities between the alternator and the two-winding transformers

Fig. 1 : Structure of a single phase alternator

05/06/2024 2
 The Elementary Alternators
Voltage Generation
1. Stationary Field Type Generator

Fig. 2 : The generation of voltage

2. Rotating Field Type Generator

Fig. 3 : The generation of voltage

05/06/2024 3
 The Elementary Alternators
Voltage Generation in Three Phase Generator

Fig. 4 : Generation of three phase balanced EMF

05/06/2024 4
 Speed and Frequency

 The frequency is dependent upon the number of poles and the speed.
 The rated speed depends upon the type of prime mover.
1. Engine-driven alternators run at slow speed (high efficiency) and require many
poles to rated frequency.
2. Stem turbines operate most efficiently at high speed and 2, 4, or 6 poles are used.
3. Hydraulic turbines and waterwheels operate at various speeds from low, in wheels
of low-head developments, to high, in high-head developments.

The frequency is given by the equation

P rpm P N
f     Hz
2 60 2 60
 Pole pairs  rps Hz

where f is the frequency in Hz, P is the number of poles and N is the speed in rpm.

05/06/2024 5
Generated Electromotive Force (EMF)

Fig. 5 : Shapes of the flux waves

 Assumed that the flux density B is sinusoidal in space when measured around the
inside periphery of the stator.
 The flux density B can be expressed as follows:
B  Bm sin 
 The total flux per pole is then
 
P   L Bm sin  d   L Bm cos  0  2 L Bm
0
05/06/2024 6
Generated Electromotive Force (EMF)

 The voltage induced in conductor a will be

ea  BLv
(1)
v  2 f
where v is the velocity or
 Put, the value v in Eq. (1), then 
ea  Bm L 2 f sin   Bm L 2 f sin t  P 2 f sin t
2

 Similarly, the voltage

P induced in conductor b
eb  2 f sin t
2

 The voltage induced in conductors a and b (single turn coil) is

eturn  2 P f sin t

 If a coil having N turns, the voltage per coil would be

ecoil  2 P f N sin t
volt
2 or rms value of induced voltage is
 The effective value
E P f N  4.44 P f N
2 volt
05/06/2024 7
 Flux Distribution
 In salient-pole machines, the shape of
the pole face and the ratio of the pole
arc to pole pitch are the principal
determining factors in the distribution
of flux in the air-gap.
 Figure 6 shows two pole shapes and
the resulting flux waves. Fig. 6 : The flux waves of salient-pole machines

 A single-valued periodic wave can expressed by Fourier’s theorem:

y  A sin x  B cos x  A2 sin 2 x  B2 cos 2 x  A3 sin 3 x  B3 cos 3 x 
 The cosine terms can be replaced by displaced sine terms
y  A sin x  A sin(2 x   2 )  A sin(3 x  3 )  A sin(4 x   4 ) 
 The first term of the above equation is called the fundamental and the others are
called harmonics.
 Thus A sin(2 x , 2 ) A sin(3 x  are  the second harmonic, third harmonic,
3 ) , called
etc.

05/06/2024 8
 Flux Distribution
 The typical of wave distortion caused by
a second harmonic and a third harmonic
are shown in Fig. 7.
 The relative displacement of the
harmonics is important in determining
the final wave shape.
(a) Second harmonic

(b) Third harmonic

Fig. 7 : Wave shapes
05/06/2024 9
Flux Distribution
 In nonsalient-pole machines, the distribution of the winding in the face of the rotor
determines the flux and emf wave shapes.
 Figure 8 shows a spiral field winding and the resultant wave shape that it builds up.
 A properly distributed field winding is capable of producing a sinusoidal wave with
little error.

Fig. 8 : Stepped curve shows field built up by a non-salient pole-field winding,

approximating a sine wave.

05/06/2024 10
Pole Pitch
 The pole-pitch is the distance between the centerlines of two adjacent poles, measured
along the circumference at the armature surface.
 Pole-pitch is expressed in electrical degrees and the pole pitch is equal to 180 electrical
degrees or π electrical radians.
 Pole pitches are indicated in Fig. 9(a) for two-pole machine and Fig. 9(b) for four-pole
machines.

Fig. 9(a) : Two pole machine Fig. 9(b) : Four-pole machine

05/06/2024 11
Coils Pitch, Full Pitch Coil and Short Pitch Coil
 Figure 10 shows the full pitch and short pitch coil.
 Coil-span or coil-pitch is defined as the distance between the two coil-sides of one coil.
 If the two sides of a coil on the armature are apart a distance equal to pole pitch, the
coil winding is full pitch.
 The coil-span of a coil is less than 180°, this coil is called a short-pitch coil, or chorded
coil.

Fig. 10 : Full pitch and is short pitch coil

05/06/2024 12
Full Pitch Winding
 Figure 11 illustrates a coil pitch of 180 electrical degrees.

 If E1 and E2 are the respective value of the effective voltage built up in each coil side.

 The resulting voltage of the coil is the vector sum of E1 and E2, 180° apart.

Fig. 11 : Full pitch coil

05/06/2024 13
Fractional Pitch or Short Pitch Coil
 If the coil pitch is less than 180 electrical degree, the winding is called a fractional-pitch
winding.
 Figure 12 illustrates a coil pitch of 160 electrical degrees.
 This 20° less than full pitch.
 If E1 and E2 are the respective value of the effective voltage built up in each coil side.
 The resulting voltage of the coil is the vector difference of E1 and E2, 160° apart, or the
vector sum of two if they are considered as 20° apart.

Fig. 12 : Fractional pitch coil

05/06/2024 14
Fractional Pitch or Short Pitch Coil
 Assume that the flux wave is so distorted as to be equivalent to a functional and a third
and fifth harmonic.
 Since the third harmonic repeats itself 3 times in one cycle of the fundamental, 20°
displacement (between the coil sides) of the fundamental is equivalent to 60°
displacement for the third harmonics voltages, 100° displacement for the fifth harmonic
voltage, etc.
 Figure 13 shows the vector additions of the fundamental and third and fifth harmonics
in the two coil sides.

05/06/2024 Fig. 13 : Vector additions of the fundamental and harmonics 15

Advantages of Short Pitch Coils
The short pitch coils are used as it has following advantages :
1. The length required for the end connections of coils is less i.e. inactive length of
winding is less.
2. Less copper is required, hence, short pitch coils are economical.
3. Short pitching eliminates high frequency harmonics, which distort the sinusoidal
nature of emf.
4. The waveform of an induced emf is more sinusoidal due to short pitching.
5. As high frequency harmonics get eliminated, eddy current and hysteresis losses
are minimized.
6. The efficiency is increase.

05/06/2024 16
Pitch Factor
 In a full-pitch winding the voltages generated in the two coil sides add directly.
 A fractional pitch gives a vector addition that is always less than the arithmetical sum.
 For that reason a factor must be introduced in the emf equation to account for the
reduced resultant voltage.
 This is called the pitch factor.
 The voltage Ec, built up the two coil
sides, is the vector addition of E1 and E2.
 The effective value of the two voltages
are the same as: Fig. 14 : Phasor sum of voltages

Er  E1  E2  2 E1 cos  E1  E2 
2
 As it is sometimes written as
Er  2 E sin  ( / 2)
where   coil pitch  pole pitch

difference between pole pitch and coil pitch in electrical degrees.

 emf induced in a short pitched coil 2 E1 cos( / 2) 

Pitch factor, K p    cos
emf induced in a full pitched coil 2 E1 2
05/06/2024 17
Distribution Winding
 Assume that the flux produced by the pole has a density wave B as shown in Fig. 15a.
 The stator winding of one phase of a 3-phase alternator are not concentrated in one
slot under each pole.
 To place the stator winding of one phase in several slots under each of the poles.
 In Figure 15b the pole pitch is shown by the 180 0 pitch that embraces the space
assigned to three phases.
 In the Figure 15b, there are three slots per pole per phase.

Fig. 15 : (a) Shape of flux wave Fig. 15 : (b) Shapes of coil voltages and phase voltage
05/06/2024 18
Distribution Winding
 If a full pitch winding is used, one coil will occupy the slots a-a’.
 The second coil will occupy b-b’ and the third c-c’, etc.
 Then, as the pole is moved from left to right, a voltage Ea will be induced in a-a’, as
shown on the time axis.
 The voltage Eb induced in the coil b-b’
will have the same shape as Ea but
delayed in time.
 Since there are nine slots per pole,
the space angle between slots is 20
electrical degrees.
 Consequently Eb must lag Ea by 20
electrical degrees.
 For the same reasons, Ec will lag Eb by
20 electrical degrees.
 If the three coils of phase-I are
connected in series. Fig. 15 : Shapes of coil voltages and phase voltage
 The terminal voltage of this phase,
EI  Ea  Eb  Ec  3E.
05/06/2024 19
Distribution Factor
 The root mean square value of EI is always less than the arithmetic sum of the rms
values of Ea, Eb, and Ec.
 In any winding having its coils distributed in two or more slots, the winding voltage
will always be less than the arithmetic sum of the voltages in the individual coils by a
constant defined as the distribution factor (Kd).

Fig. 16 : Sum of coil voltages – fundamental component only

 If the voltage of Ea, Eb, and Ec of Fig. 16 were sinusoidal instead of trapezoidal.
 The distribution factor could be expressed as
Vectorial sum of ems's EI Ea  2 Ea cos 200 2.878
kd      0.96
Arithmetic sum of ems's Ea  Eb  Ec 3Ea 3

05/06/2024 20
Distribution Factor
Let, E = emf induced per coil side
m = number of slots per pole per phase,
n = number of slots per pole
β = slot angle = 180/n
 The emf induced in concentrated winding with
m slots per pole per phase = mE volts.
 Figure 17 shows, the vector sum of the voltages
in a distributed winding having a mutual phase
difference of β.
 When m is large curve ACEN will form the arc of
a circle of radius r.
 Fig. 17: Phasro sum of distributed winding
 From the Fig. 17, AC  2  r  sin
2
 The arithmetic sum of m slots emf’s  m  2r sin  / 2
 The vector sum of the emf’s AN  2  r sin(m / 2)
m
vector sum of the emf's 2r  sin( m / 2)sin
 Distribution factor, K d    2
arithmetic sum of the emf's m  2r sin( / 2) m sin 
2
05/06/2024 21
Effect of Distribution on Harmonics
 If the flux distribution in the air gap is not sinusoidal, the voltage waves built up in the
armature turns in the various parts of slot can be analyzed into their component
harmonics.
 Assume a flux distribution as shown Fig. 15a.
 When applied to a 3-phase generator with 9 slots per pole, the instantaneous value of
the resultant voltage are shown on curve EI in Fig. 15b.
 The value of EI is
EI  Ea  Eb  Ec

Fig. 15 : (a) Shape of flux wave Fig. 15 : (b) Shapes of coil voltages and phase voltage
05/06/2024 22
Effect of Distribution on Harmonics

 Since these curves are shown 20 electrical degrees apart, the fundamentals are
displaced 200.
 This is equivalent to a displacement of 200 × 3, or 600 for the third harmonics, 1000 for
the fifth harmonics, etc.
 The resultant wave EI is made up of the vector sum of three fundamentals displaced
200, three third harmonics displaced 600, and three fifth harmonics displaced 1000, etc.
 The net result of distributing the winding in the separate phase of an alternator is to
reduce the voltage and the relative effects of the harmonics, the wave form of a
distributed winding is more nearly sinusoidal than the wave form of the field flux as
shown in Fig. 15a.
 Let the flux-space distribution in the air-gap contain a third and a fifth harmonic so
that the voltage induced in each armature turn would be

e  E (sin t  1 sin 3t  1

5 sin 5t )
3

05/06/2024 23
 Effect of Distribution on Harmonics
 Suppose that an alternator has 8 turns per pole per phase and they are concentrated in
one pair of slots, the resultant voltage is
e  E (8 sin t  8 sin 3t  8 sin 5t )
3 5
 The relative magnitudes are
Fundamental 100 percent
Third harmonic 33⅓ percent
Fifth harmonic 20 percent
 Suppose that the 8 turns are distributed in 4 slots per pole, i.e. three are 12 slots per
pole on this three-phase generator, or 4 slots per pole per phase.
 The angular displacement between each slot is 15 electrical degrees.
 The equations for the emf of each coil, referred to the center of the phase (two coils
per slot) are
e1  2 E[sin (t  22.5 o )  1 sin 3(t  22.5 o )  1 sin 5(t  22.5 o )]
3 5
e2  2 E[sin (t  7.5 o )  1 sin 3(t  7.5 o )  1 sin 5(t  7.5 o )]
3 5
e3  2 E[sin (t  7.5 o )  1 sin 3(t  7.5 o )  1 sin 5(t  7.5 o )]
3 5
e4  2 E[sin (t  22.5 o )  1 sin 3(t  22.5 o )  1 sin 5(t  22.5 o )]
05/06/2024 3 5 24
Effect of Distribution on Harmonics
 The resultant voltage is the vector sum of these, or relative magnitudes are

e  E (7.65 sin t  1.75 sin 3t  0.328 sin 5t )

 Now, the relative magnitudes are now

Fundamental 100 percent
Third harmonic 22.7 percent
Fifth harmonic 4.3 percent

 The distribution of the winding has reduced the effects of the harmonics, producing
more nearly a sinusoidal-resultant emf wave.
 The effective values of the voltages in this example can be obtained as follows.

8E E
1  0.33  0.2 
2 2 2
 Concentrated: Er   8.56
2 2

8E E
7.65  1.74   0.328
2 2 2
 Distributed: Er   7.98
2 2
05/06/2024 25
Effect of Harmonics of Pitch Factor and Distribution Factor:

 The pitch factor is given by

K p  cos  / 2
where α is the chording angle.

 For any harmonic say n-th harmonic the pitch factor is given by
 n 
K p  cos  
 2 
 The distribution factor is given by
m
sin
Kd  2

m sin
2
 For any harmonic say n-th harmonic, the distribution factor is
 n 
sin m  
 2 
Kd 
 n 
m sin  
 2 
05/06/2024 26
Form Factor
 The ratio of the effective or root-mean-square value of a wave to its average value is
called the form factor.
 Thus for a sine wave with a maximum value of unity: the effective value is 0.707, the
average value is 0.636, and the form factor for a sine wave is then
0.707
Kf   1.11
0.636
 In the elementary voltage equation for generated emf, the factor 4.44 occurs.
 This is 4×(form factor) since the analysis was based on a sine wave.
 The wave had been of different shape this factor for would have been another value.
 For non-sinusoidal waves the equation for the generated voltage per coil can be
written
E  4  (form factor) f N P
where N is the number of turns per coil.
 Obviously, if E is desired in terms of phase voltage, the member to the right in this
equation must be multiplied by the number of coils per phase.
 Allowance must also be made for distributed windings.
05/06/2024 27
Summary
 In dealing with sine waves the elementary voltage equation can now be modified by
the previously described correction factors, thus
E  4.44 k p kd f max N volt
 in which k p and k d are the pitch and distribution factors, respectively.
 Flux distribution in an alternator changes with load, particularly in the salient-pole
machines.
 If non-sinusoidal waves are generated, the factor 4.44 is changed in the above
equation.
 If the wave is analyzed into its harmonic components, the voltage equations are
then written for the fundamental, using the fundamental pitch and distribution
factors, for the other harmonics, using their corresponding pitch and distribution
factors, and the root mean square voltage obtained from these components is

E  E12  E32  E52  E12 

where E1 applies to the fundamental, E3 to the third harmonic, etc.

05/06/2024 28
05/06/2024 29