EXCITATION

CONTROL–TYPE ‘E’
SYSTEM

SHISHIR DUTT
PROFESSOR(WMT)
Function of Excitation System
Purpose :
 To ensure that Traction Generator demand i.e. the power
required to rotate Generator armature, matches the capability
of Diesel Engine through out its entire speed range.
 If adequate control of Generator demand not provided, one of
following will occur:
1. If the Generator demand exceeds Engine ability, the
Engine will slow down (bog) with still further loss of power.
Loco will not be able to do its job and damage to
Engine may result.
 2. If Generator demand is less than Engine ability, the
governor will reduce fuel to prevent the Engine from over
speeding but it will not be possible to utilize the full rated
power of Engine and Loco will not be able to pull its rated
load.
 Excitation system must also impose Electrical limits on the
Main Generator i.e. maximum voltage and current to avoid
the possibility of damage to the insulation by high voltage or
excessive current.
 In a Locomotive, load on Main Generator at any fixed speed
varies as loco track speed increases due to counter EMF
created by rotating armatures of Traction Motors.
 Load is also changed by shunting Traction Motor fields
or changing connections from series to parallel. Therefore, the
excitation controls must act to keep Generator horsepower
demand constant over a wide variation of terminal voltage.
 Type ‘E’ Excitation system used on ALCO Locomotive uses
semi-conductor components.
The System controls exciter-generator field current, the
exciter output in turn controls Traction Generator output. The
system provides the functions of current limit, horsepower
limit and voltage limit on the Generator at each of the eight
engine speeds available.
 Generator Load Curve
 Typical Generator Characteristic Curve is illustrated at Fig. 1.
The curve is drawn for 8th notch (full power) operation.
 The slightly rising line from the origin of the curve at 0
Amperes to the point A is known as the IR Line. This represents
the voltage obtained at various generator currents with the
motors connected, but with the train not yet moving.
Note: The current in the motors at standstill is equal to the
voltage across each motor divided by motor resistance.
 AB indicates current limit for Generator.
Note : Current in excess of values shown by this line would
produce excessive slippage when starting a train.
Fig. 1 Generator Characteristics for one
Throttle Position
 Current and voltage combinations represented by points along
the line BE indicate a constant rated engine horsepower,
expressed in electrical terms.
 Voltage and current to the right of this line would represent an
overload on the diesel engine.
 If excitation system were allowed to overload the engine in
such a manner, the engine speed would drop, resulting in loss of
power and controlled operation could not be obtained.
 Dotted lines represent the characteristic provided by Excitation
System to approximate full Engine Horsepower.
System tolerances (± 2½ %) are such that actual Generator
demand may fall anywhere in the band shown, meaning that
demand may, in some instances, slightly exceed normal Engine
ability.
 When this occurs, generator demand may be trimmed
to meet the actual Engine ability by the Load Control
Potentiometer actuated by the Engine Governor.
 The nearly horizontal EF line at the top of curve indicates
maximum Voltage line.

Note: This Voltage is selected so that all normal operation will

be below the voltage at which the Rotating Equipment
becomes subject to flashover.
Family of Notch Curves

 Fig. 2 shows Family curves representing Generator demand

from first notch through eight notch as developed by the
Excitation System.
 The actual position of each curve is determined by an engine
speed signal continually fed to the excitation control.
 When the Engine accelerates from one notch value to the next
higher one, the generator current increases smoothly until it
reaches a new notch value as the Engine gets to the
corresponding speed for that notch.
FIG.2 - GENERATOR LOAD CURVES
FOR EACH THROTTLE NOTCH
Basic Excitation System

 Exciter shunt field is fed from the Locomotive battery

through a network of resistors and Exciter Field
Transistor EFT1. The Power Transistor functions as a
switch and is turned ‘On’ and ‘Off’ 800 times per
second by pulses generator by Oscillator.
 Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) controls the duration
of ‘On’ time as compared ‘Off’ time during each
pulse, thus, regulating the average current in the
Exciter field.
BLOCK DIAGRAM - TYPE’E’
EXCITATION SYSTEM
 PWM responds to several feed back signals as shown in Block Diagram
and given below :

1. Generator Armature Current :

Measured by Special Reactor called Armature Current Control
Reactor (ACCR).
2. Generator Voltage:
Measured by Reactor called Voltage Control Reactor (VCR).
The outputs of these reactors are fed to Reference-Mixer network.
Only the greater of the two outputs is used at any time. When the output
of either ACCR or VCR is greater than the reference current, a current is
put through the main winding of Pulse Width Modulator to limit
Generator Excitation.
 Function Generator Circuit:
Modifies the output of ACCR in relation to
Generator voltage to produce constant
horsepower portion of generator characteristic
curve for notch 8.

Note : In the lower notches, the function

generator also over point suppression circuit.
System Components

Exciter-Generator :
 Exciter-Generator is shunt-wound dc machine exactly as used
for battery charging.
 Generator is mounted on Traction Generator Gear Box and
gear driven at a speed proportional to Engine speed.
Excitation Panel :
 Excitation Panel (17FL14) is a steel-fabricated housing with
component parts mounted on 6 plug-in type cards which slide
out of the Housing for inspection.
EXCITATION CONTROL
PANEL 17FL14
 The 7 Cards are as under :
Description Card No
Oscillator 253
Reference-Mixer 186
PWM 188
Power Transistor 254
Voltage Control 292
Function Generator 293
Misc. component 294

Note: 3 Rheostats are mounted on the face on one Card. One

adjusts Main Generator demand and two adjust dynamic braking
loads (if applied).
OSCILLATOR
 Oscillator is an a.c. power supply used to supply power for
various control functions. It operates from dc input voltage from
Locomotive Battery.
 The Oscillator Transformer (OST) has a number of
secondaries to supply ac power to various circuits as follows :
Winding Function
1 Excitation Transistor (EFTI)
2 Oscillator Feedback
3 Pulse Width Modulator (PWM)
4 Spare
5 ACCR
6 VCR
OSCILLATOR CIRCUIT
 Power supply consist of a saturable transformer alternately energized in
opposite directions. Transistors, which function as switches, cause flux
reversal in transformer core. The a-c power supply inverts d-c input to a 400
cps (cycles per second) square wave output.
 Self-pulsing circuit has a secondary winding on the Oscillator Transformer
and feeds rectified output through resistors OVDR 1 and OVDR 2
to maintain a current through these resistors proportional to oscillator
secondary voltage.
Note : If more load is placed on secondaries, more current will flow through
the resistors and the supply voltage to Oscillator will be decreased. This
decreases voltage to secondary supplying constant current through its
rectified ERT3 and bring current through OVDR 1 and OVDR 2 back to
normal.
 StartingCircuit consists of 2 Sections:
(a) Resistor OR54, Capacitor OC16, Shockley Diode ORD3 and
Resistor OR55 in conjunction with transformer winding
connected across Emitter of OT2 and negative.
(b) Section connected across secondary supplying VCR. This
consists of ER13, ER14, EC11 and ERD5.
 On initially starting Oscillator by energizing wire 50, transient
current will flow through OR54 and upward through
Capacitor OC16 and then down to negative side of Battery.
This causes potential at lower plate of Capacitor OC16 to increase. At a
voltage (Shockley breakdown voltage), Shockley Diode ORD3 starts
conducting and current flows from wire 38 to OR54, ORD3, OR55 and
Transformer winding and negative.
 4 windings in series are so wound that voltage produced in them
will all add together.
Note : This is like a single continuous winding with 3 taps.
The current flowing upward through Emitter of OT2 and
battery negative gives an induced emf in all other windings with
positive polarity on lower end.
 Positive polarity on lower winding provides small current flowing
through base to emitter and through resistor OR3 back to negative
side of lower winding. This turns Transistor OT2 on fully.
Top winding has reverse effect on Transistor OT1 as voltage is
applied across base emitter junction with positive voltage on
emitter ‘clamping’ Transistor OT1 off so that no current can flow
from its Collector to Emitter.
 Current will flow from Wire 38 through Transistor OT2 and
transformer winding to Wire 4 only as long as it continues to rise
in the inductive circuit.

 When current reaches a maximum value, lower winding voltage

will collapse and reverse the action on transistor OT2 ,
clamping it off. This will result in reversal in polarity on all
windings.

Transistor OTI will turn on and current flows upward from

wire 38 through collector of transistor OTI and its emitter to
Transformer winding and back to Wire 4.
 The action of each half cycle is the same in each half of oscillator, with each of
these halves alternating in function.
Note
For 1st half cycle and each succeeding odd half cycles, OT2 will conduct and
on second half cycle and all succeeding even half cycles OTI will conduct.
 It is possible that when system was shut off last time, transformer might have
been left saturated in such a direction that current flowing through starting
winding would be such as to try to further saturate. This situation is to be
avoided.
For this reason, secondary feeding VCR during operation of Oscillator,
charges Capacitor EC11 on each positive half cycle
 through ERD5 and ER14,with some slight discharge occurring in
negative half cycle through ER13 but not enough to fully discharge
EC 11. When oscillator is shut off, EC11 will discharge through
ER13 and secondaries feeding VCR in such a direction as to
de-saturate it, so that the above condition, which would
prevent proper starting , cannot occur.
 Rectifier ORD1 and capacitor OC2 permit voltage developed by
inductive effect of transformer windings between wire 38 and
emitter of Transistor OT1 to be discharged without overstressing
transistor OTI with voltage when it is suddenly shut off
Thus, capacitor OC2 in charged on each half cycle. To get it
ready for next charge resistor is provided to discharge it.
Rectifier ORD2 works in conjunction with OC2 in the same
way on alternate half cycles.
 Combination of ORD19 and capacitor OC1 protects transistors on
oscillator circuit from voltage surges resulting from discharge of
other inductive apparatus on locomotive.
Note : These devices provide protection to oscillator and have
nothing to do with its operation.
 Armature Current Control Reactor (ACCR)
 Armature Current Control Reactor (ACCR) is a measuring device
which when powered by AC source produces a signal proportional to
Main Generator current.
Note : Reactor offers advantage of isolating output circuit
from main or high voltage input circuit.
The ac input is fed to ac winding from a secondary of Oscillator.
 Reactor consists of following :
• Large Bus Bar
• 2 Cores
• 2 ac Windings
• One-Turn dc Winding
• 1740 Turn dc Winding
 Note : The large Bus bar is made to encompass dc and ac
windings.
 One–turn dc winding is a copper wire connected to Large
Bus bar forming parallel path for current in Bus bar.
2 Cores, with ac and dc windings, are assembled
around one-turn dc winding. The Reactor is calibrated and
then the complete magnetic structure is sealed in epoxy.
 ACCR is connected in series with Main Generator. The
majority of Main Generator current passes through the bus
bar with only a small fraction of Generator current passing
through one turn dc winding.
 Since the current in one-turn winding is directly
proportional to main Generator current, it may be measured by
Reactor to obtain a signal proportional to main Generator
current.
 The more dc input in one-turn winding, the more ac output. If
current is also passed through 1740-turn dc winding, ac output
will increase.
 The ac output of Reactor is rectified and then fed to Mixer
Circuit.
 Voltage Control Reactor (VCR)
 Voltage Control Reactor (VCR) is a measuring reactor which provides
signal to Mixer circuit to limit Main Generator Voltage.
 Reactor, part of Voltage control card on Excitation Panel, is a device about
size of a large pocket watch and enclosed in epoxy.
 Reactor consists of 2 ‘toroidal’ cores around which is wound an a-c
winding and 2 d-c windings.
 Operation of Reactor is similar to operation of ACCR, the more dc input ,
the more ac output.
One dc winding is connected through suitable resistors across Main
Generator and measures Main Generator Voltage.
Note : A Reactor is used so that output circuit is isolated
from high voltage circuit.
 Circuit is adjusted so that ac output of VCR will be greater than ac
output of ACCR when main generator voltage and current reach
the upper corner point of Horse Power Curve.
 Second dc winding is used for Dynamic Braking. This winding is
connected across Braking grids so as to measure traction motor
voltage during braking.
It operates to increase ac output in VCR the same as the
other dc winding which measures Main Generator Voltage.
 Pulse Width Modulator (PWM):
 Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) mounted on Excitation Panel, is a small self-
saturating reactor having following:
- 5 dc control Windings
- 2 ac Windings
Note: The above Windings are fed by one of Oscillator Transformer
secondaries.
 Action of Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) is to control the time that Exciter
Generator shunt field is excited, thus, controlling Main Generator output.
Note : This reactor is used in Excitation System to control rather than to
measure.
 Pulse Width Modulator contains 2 Cores. There is an
ac winding on each core and 5 dc windings are wound
around both cores.
 Output of each ac winding is rectified and half of the input
cycle is used from each coil. Since oscillator frequency is 400
cps, there will be 800 turn-on pulses per second to the emitter-
base circuit of transistor EFT1. This causes the transistor to be
fully turned ‘on’.
 During positive half cycle of oscillator voltage at OST, current
will flow from point A through ERD13, the top PWM winding
EFT1 and resistor ER5. During negative half, cycle, current
will flow from point A1, through EDR14, the bottom PWM
winding and back to OST via the same path as the positive half
cycle.
Note : This makes both halves of the cycle appear as positive
pulses between points B and C.
 The action of dc-windings is such that when current flows through them, they block ac
output for a period of time during each half-cycle and, thus, reduce the duration of turn-
on pulse being fed to transistor.
The more current flow is in dc windings, the shorter the pulse and in turn, the less
average excitation of main generator.
Note :
1. Each of dc control windings is wound with a polarity such that current flowing
through the winding to the dot (shown at one end of winding) will be additive to currents
similarly flowing in any of the other windings.
2.Effect of current flowing through the winding to the dot is to ‘turn-off’ the pulse width
modulator by making it saturate later in the half cycle, thus, producing shorter transistor
turn-on pulse.
 The principle of changing pulse width or duration controls turn-on time of Excitation
Transistor EFT1.
 Function of each dc winding is as follows :

1. Exciter suicide and stabilization winding :

Reduces Exciter voltage to nearly zero when GF Contactor is open and also provides
Exciter stabilization when GF Contactor is closed.
2. Main excitation control winding fed by mixer circuit turns excitation off to maintain
proper load.
3. Wheel slip power reduction winding reduces excitation during operation of wheel slip
system.
4. Dynamic braking stabilization restrains changes in excitation to avoid roughness
when going from one braking level to another.
5. Dynamic braking anti-negative control prevents
excitation system from producing excessive negative
generator voltage when suddenly reducing braking effort
called for by Enginemen.
Note :
1.After PWM ac winding saturates, its impedance reduces
to zero and all oscillator output voltage then appears
across the transistor and ER5. This causes transistor to
conduct (emitter to collector current).
2.Change in average current flow through EFT1 controls
Exciter field controlling Main Generator output.
Thank You