ELECTRICMACHINERY

PART3
SYNCHRONOUSGENERATOR
ADCcurrentisappliedtotherotorwinding,whichthenproducesarotormagneticfield.Therotoris
thenturnedbyaprimemover(eg.Steam,wateretc.)producingarotatingmagneticfield.Thisrotating
magneticfieldinducesa3phasesetofvoltageswithinthestatorwindingsofthegenerator.
"Field windings" applies to the windings that produce the main magnetic field in a machine, and
"armature windings" applies to the windings where the main voltage is induced. For synchronous
machines,thefieldwindingsareontherotor,sotheterms"rotorwindings"and"fieldwindings"are
usedinterchangeably.
Generallyasynchronousgeneratormusthaveatleast2components:
RotorWindingsorFieldWindings
SalientPole
NonSalientPole
StatorWindingsorArmatureWindings
Therotorofasynchronousgeneratorisalargeelectromagnetandthemagneticpolesontherotorcan
eitherbesalientornonsalientconstruction.Nonsalientpolerotorsarenormallyusedforrotorswith2
or4polesrotor,whilesalientpolerotorsareusedfor4ormorepolesrotor.

Nonsalientrotorforasynchronousmachine

Slipringsaremetalringscompletelyencirclingtheshaftofamachinebutinsulatedfromit.Oneend
ofthedcrotorwindingistiedtoeachofthe2slipringsontheshaftofthesynchronousmachine,anda
stationarybrushridesoneachslipring.
A"brush"isablockofgraphitelikecarboncompoundthatconductselectricityfreelybuthasvery
low friction, hence it doesn't wear down the slip ring. If the positive end of a dc voltage source is
connectedtoonebrushandthenegativeendisconnectedtotheother,thenthesamedcvoltagewillbe
appliedtothefieldwindingatalltimesregardlessoftheangularpositionorspeedoftherotor.
Someproblemswithslipringsandbrushes:
They increase the amount of maintenance required on the machine, since the brushes must be
checkedforwearregularly.
Brush voltage drop can be the cause of significant power losses on machines with larger field
currents.
Abrushlessexciterisasmallacgeneratorwithitsfieldcircuitmountedonthestatoranditsarmature
circuit mounted on the rotor shaft. The 3phase output of the exciter generator is rectified to direct
currentbya3phaserectifiercircuitalsomountedontheshaftofthegenerator,andisthenfedtothe
maindcfieldcircuit.Bycontrollingthesmalldcfieldcurrentoftheexcitergenerator(locatedonthe
stator),wecanadjustthefieldcurrentonthemainmachinewithoutslipringsandbrushes.Sinceno
mechanicalcontactsoccurbetweentherotorandstator,abrushlessexciterrequireslessmaintenance.


Abrushlessexcitercircuit:Asmall3phasecurrentisrectifiedandusedtosupplythefieldcircuitof
theexciter,whichislocatedonthestator.Theoutputofthearmaturecircuitoftheexciter(onthe
rotor)isthenrectifiedandusedtosupplythefieldcurrentofthemainmachine.
Tomaketheexcitationofageneratorcompletelyindependentofanyexternalpowersources,asmall
pilotexcitercanbeused.
Apilotexciterisasmallacgeneratorwithpermanentmagnetsmountedontherotorshaftanda3
phase winding on the stator. It produces the power for the field circuit of the exciter, which in turn
controlsthefieldcircuitofthemainmachine.Ifapilotexciterisincludedonthegeneratorshaft,then
noexternalelectricpowerisrequired.


Abrushlessexcitationschemethatincludesapilotexciter.Thepermanentmagnetsofthepilotexciter
producethefieldcurrentoftheexciter,whichinturnproducesthefieldcurrentofthemainmachine.
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. A
synchronous generator's rotor consists of an electromagnet to which direct current is supplied. The
rotor's magnetic field points in the direction the rotor is turned. Hence, the rate of rotation of the
magneticfieldinthemachineisrelatedtothestatorelectricalfrequencyby:

Voltageinducedisdependentuponfluxandspeedofrotation,hencefromwhatwehavelearntsofar,
theinducedvoltagecanbefoundasfollows:

Forsimplicity,itmaybesimplifiedtoasfollows:

SynchronousMotorVCurvesExperiment
Therotorofthedynamometerisapermanentmagnetcupinsidethecoilassemblyofthe"stator"that
is free to move. The current in the coil is controlled by the power supply. Because of the phase lag
betweentherotorfield(permanentmagnet)andthestatorassembly,adragtorqueisproducedwhich
isproportionaltoappliedcurrent.Thistorqueismeasuredbytheswingofthestatorassembly.Inthe
digitalmodels,thetorqueandthespeedarereaddirectlyonthereadoutunit.
The"noload"positiononthedynamometeriswhenthepowersupplyknobiscompletelyCCW.To
load the motor, increase the stiffness or drag between the rotor and stator assembly, increase the
current in the coil by turning the potentiometer knob of he power supply in the CW direction. The
torque readings of this unit are in lbin. The power in watts can be calculated from the following
expression:

wherenisthespeedinRPM,Tisthetorqueinlbin,andPisthepowerinwatts.
Procedure:
1. Connect the circuit shown in the figure with the dynamometer decoupled. Connect the motor to a
suitable voltage source through a threephase wattmeter. Start the motor as induction motor by
opening the switch of the field circuit. When the speed of the motor gets to about the synchronous
speed,movethefieldcircuitswitchtothesynchronousrunposition.
2. Vary the motor field current from 0.1A to 1A and record the input power, line voltage, armature
current,andfieldcurrent.
3.CouplethedynamometerwiththemotorwiththeknobofthepowersupplyfullyCCW.
4.Repeatstep2for75%,100%,and125%oftheratedmotorcurrentatunitypowerfactor.
5.Adjustthefieldcurrentfor0.8powerfactorleadingatabout75%ofthearmaturecurrentandhold
itconstantatthisvalueforacompleteloadrun.Recordallmeterreadingsataboutfiveloadintervals.
Report:
1.PlottheVcurvesfromdataofsteps2and4ononegraphandthepfvs.fieldcurrentonanother
graph.Drawcurvesthroughthepointsofunitypowerfactor,0.8powerfactorleading,and0.8power
factorlagging.
2.Plotpowerfactorversusarmaturecurrentfromdataofstep5.(ConstantExcitation)
3.Explaintheresultsofstep4fora50%loadbyaphasordiagram.
4.Explaintheresultsofstep5byaphasordiagram.
5.Canyoupredicttheresultsofstep5fromtheVcurves?
6.Explainhowasynchronousmotorassumesloadatconstantspeed.