MAIN MENU:

INTRODUCTION
DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF EXC. SYSTEM
STATIC EXCITATION SYSTEM
BRUSHLESS EXCITATION SYSTEM
ASSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION: 1.
2.
3.
4.

NEED FOR EXCITATION

TYPES OF EXCITATION
EXCITATION VOLTAGE RESPONSE
EXCITATION POWER REQUIREMENTS

In a synchronous generator when a rotor rotates of a constant speed in the bore of a

stator, an instantaneous voltage is induced in the stator conductor, which is given by
the equation.

Stator

Rotor

E = k.d $ I
Dt
Where
E = insutaneneous voltage induced along the length of conductor in volts.
L = length of the conductor exposed to the flux in mt.

D$ = rate of change of flux in Weber /sec.

Df
K = constant.

90

180

270

360

The magnitude of the flux will decide the generated voltage and its rotation will
decide the frequency of the voltage produced so for a 50 Hz voltage to be produced,
the field is rotated of 3000 rpm for a two-pole machine.
Thus the flux in the generator rotor is produced by feeding direct current in the coils
wound over the rotor surface in a manner to from two-pole magnet of the rotor.
Generator
FLD WDG
D.C. Exciter

The supply of DC power thus needed for the field coils is usually provided by another
source like.
DC exciter
DC distribution system
Or
Static power converter etc.
According to the excitation system requirements.
Type of excitation: The generator excitation system can be categorized into following two main group: -

Excitation system

static exc. System

Rotating system

Rotating system
Static system

Rotating systemIn the system DC power source is of rotating type, which in normally coupled to the
main generator rotor.
In this type excitation, three types of arrangements are available they are.

Excitation system

ROTATING SYSTEM

Conventional DC system

Static exc. System

high frequency exc. System

Brush less exc system

Conventional DC excitation system
High frequency excitation system
Brush less excitation system
Conventional DC system
Conventional DC system employs the shaft driven DC exciter.
DC exciter produces DC voltage on armature by commutation process through
brusher when its field coils are excited by anger DC source
The output of the DC exciter is taken to the rotating field winding of the generator
through the generator field breaker.
High frequency excitation
The system has the following components:
1. AC main exciter
2. AC pilot exciter
3. Static rectifying (Diode) unit.

In this system AC main exciter generators AC voltage at a frequency of 400 Hz

which is rectified by stationary diodes and fed via field breaker to the field winding of
the main turbo generator as a DC power.
In this system on, the conversion of AC power to DC power is done with the help of
stationary diodes not by commentators as done in conventional DC excitation
system.
Since the frequency of power generated by the AC main exciter is more then 50 Hz.
this is known as high frequency excitation system.
In this system AC main exciter is directly coupled with main generator rotor.
Brush less excitation system: In this type of excitation system the output of the main exciter which is on AC power
is fed directly to the rotating diodes to convert it into DC power and the same is fed
to the rotor winding through electrical contact assembly with out involvement of the
field breaker.
So, this system has the following componts

A min exciter
A pilot exciter
Rotating diodes
Electrical contact assembly
AVR (automatic voltage regular)

In this arrangement the output of PMG (permanent magnet generator) is fed to the
thruster (in AVR panel).
The controlled DC output from the thruster bridges is fed to the field of the AC exciter
or main exciter via a field breaker.
AC output of main exciter is fed to the rotating rectifier diodes located between the
AC exciter armature and generator field, which converts it in to DC and feeds to the
field winding of the generator through electrical contact assembly.
As there is no involvement of commutator and slip ring brushes in this system. it is
called as brush less excitation system.
In this system, the excitation power (AC) is taken from the main generator terminals
and is stepped down by a separate transformer (excitation transformer) and than
rectified to DC by controlled rectifier (thyreister converter).
This DC power is fed to the generator rotor winding via slip rings through field
breaker for excitation, there by controlling the generator terminal voltage.
Static excitation system

In this system, excitation power can also be taken from the station supply.
Since there is no involvement of moving (rotating) parts in this system, this is termed
as static excitation system.
EXCITATION VOLTAGE RESPONSE
In a synchronous system when a generator is delivering power to the grid, the quality
of power interims of voltage is one of the main requirements from the user point of
view which means the voltage of a generator should be within the permissible
percentage variation (+_ 5 %) under all conditions of the grid.
Since the excitation decides the quality of the voltage to be produced. This system
should meet the following requirements.
Reliability
Stability
Quick response
Operational requirements of excitation systemIn order to achieve these operational requirements and to understand the
performance of excitation system, the following parameters are necessary to known

Response
Ceiling voltage
Steady state stability and its accuracy
Transient and dynamic stability
ResponseExc.system volt.
Actual buildup of exciter volts slope rated field voltage

Time

0.5 (SECS)

For any system disturbance excitation of the machine has to be changed.

Let us consider the excitation voltage changes per curve AP during first 0.5 seconds.

Response ratioExciter response ratio is defined as = the rate of increase of exciter voltage
Nominal excitation voltage of the generator
The normal exciter response ratio is given by
AC
OA

= 2BC
OA

So the exciter response ratio is twice of the ratio of increase in excitation voltage
achieved in 0.5 sec. From the original voltage.
A rough measure of response is how fast the exciter output circuit voltage will rise
within a specified time, when the excitation control is adjusted in the maximum
increasing direction.
Ceiling voltageIt is the maximum voltage that can be impressed on the field under specified
conditions.
For normal disturbances, ceiling condition prevails for a few cycles (max 10 secs) to
either increase or decrease the excitation until the system returns to steady
operating state.
So, ceiling voltage ultimately determines how fast the field current can be changed.
Ceiling voltage ranges from 1.6 to 2 times the rated one, which is considered to be
adequate for a fast system response.
The term stability refers to ability, of synchronous machine or a part of a power
system to develop restoring forces equal to or more than the disturbing forces so as
to remain in synchronism.
So accordingly two distinct terms are involved1. Steady state stability.
2. Transient stability
Steady state stability is the ability of a system to respond to a small gradual change
in power at a given point of the system.
Power produced by a synchronous generator can be written by the power equation
asP= eXv
Xs
sin $
Where,
E= generator internal voltage or Excitation voltage

V= infinite bus voltage or system voltage

$ = Load angle or power angle or Rotor angle
(The angle between E and V)
XS = Synchronous reactance (steady state) neglecting series resistance.
For a given machine , operating at a terminal voltage V, the synchronous reactance
is a constant parameter and if the internal (excitation) voltage E is kept constant
power flow from the generator will vary proportional to sin $
For values of $ from 0 to 180, P will vary as per curve a as shown in this figure.
At rated values, the load angle $ is about 45 to 55
From the position say $ 1 a sudden increase in stem throughput, or ( more likely ) a
sudden demand for more power in to system, perhaps because of a fault on the
lines, results in an increase in $ 1 and in generated power P1 until a new equilibrium
position is reached say it $2 and power P2 as shown in the figure.
This is valid if the value of $ is less than 90 before the sudden change.
For values of P above p max corresponding to $ = 90 stability is lost.
Hence P is max at a value of $ = 90 i.e.
P max = e X v
Xs
Is the steady state stability limit?
So steady state stability limit is the maximum possible power that can be transferred
at a given point of the system without loss of synchronism, with very gradual
increase in power.
Transient stability refers to the conditions of stability in response to sudden change
of load of large magnitude.
When, a synchronous machine is subjected to a sever disturbances (during fault )
For a short time this results in dip in the machine terminal voltage V and power
transfer P of the power transfer equation
P = ExV
Xs

sin

Transient and dynamic stability limit

In this condition if the power transferred P1 and sudden increments of load (dP) are
such that the value of load angle becomes greater than 90 corresponding to power

P2 than a demand for more power can not be met by an increase in load angle and
the generator rotors can not attain a position of equilibrium at power P2 this results
an instability in this region.

Power P2
0

Power Angle

Stable zone

90

180

Unstable zone

The figure shows instability at P2 the rotor then accelerates (swings) to just above
synchronous speed and operates in a non-synchronous mode (pole slipping) with
large power and voltage oscillations, which are unacceptable to either the
transmission system or boiler control.
To prevent this
Instability i.e. for maintaining the power transfer P2 the excitation should be fast
acting enough to boost up the field to ceiling by increasing the excitation voltage E in
the equation and the by holding the bus voltage V at the desired value. The fig.
Shows maintaining stability by increasing excitation voltage.
The transient stability limit is the maximum power that can be transferred at a given
point of the system without loss of synchronism for given sudden large change in
power.
A power system is a constant voltage control.
The success of excitation control lies upon the extend of meeting the requirement of
capability of the machine and there by giving the dynamic performance of the
system.

Stable zone
POWER angle

Unstable zone
P1

P2

90

Increased excitation
180

Fast exhilaration helps during disturbances and contributes to the system stability by
allowing the required transfer of power even during the disturbances.
Thus it is advantageous to have higher speed and calling values in excitation control
circuitry.
Again after the fault is removed, the reactance X suddenly changes.
This causes unbalance conditions due to power swings, which in turn needs fast
corrective action through excitation systems to bring the machine to normal
operating conditions.
So, modern fast and high response excitation system helps in two waysIt reduces the severity of the machine first swing during transient disturbances.
It ensures that the subsequent swings are smaller than the first one.
Thus it helps increasing the transient stability limit.
Excitation system performance is judged by the exciter voltage V/S time
characteristics in response to a step change in the generated voltage.
Then any change in the exciter current as a step voltage will cause a change in the
generator voltage with respect to time.

VOLTAGE RESPONSE IN P.U.

So, there are three factors which decides the system response
Rise time
Setting time
Overshoot

SYSTEM RESPONSE IN P.U.

Over shoot

setting time Rise Time

Time

For ideal performance, have one overshoot and one undershoot with quicker rise
time to have a smaller steady state error. The requirement for each of the
parameters very from case to case.
Steady state accuracy
It is the degree of correspondence between the controlled variable and the ideal
value under specified steady state conditions. The accuracy of the excitation system
for changing the field parameters to keep the generator terminal voltage at affixed
level depends on its static gain and time constants.
By choosing a higher static gain lower constant with electronic integral control
equipment for the system, the steady state error can be minimized appreciably and
there by improving the steady state accuracy within + 0.5%.

Capability diagrams of generators give the safe operating regimes and limitations of
the machines to the operating engineers.
Operators have to be informed through this diagram safe limits for operation to allow
for various unpredictable change such asa) Sudden power increase
b) A draft in bus bar voltage due to lines or plant tripping etc.
The capacity diagram gives the following information
Rated MVA
Rated power factor
Rated MW
Reactive power lagging and leading.
EF is the constant power line it is also termed as maximum turbine capacity line.
AE. Can also be termed as load current or stator current.
No load field current AG is the no load field current.
H, A, B,D,& F is the practical stability line for a 10% power margin.
Excitation limit or rotor heating limit
Full load excitation current or rated excitation current of the generator.
Line GE represents the full load excitation current or rated excitation current of the
generator.
Angle EGA represents the rotor angle or load angle.
Logging zone is also called as over excited region and leading zone as under excited
region.
UsefulnessSo, the capability diagram gives the information regarding full load rotor (excitation)
current and maximum rotor angle during steady P.F. zone operation that are
essential for safe operation of the various limiters in the excitation control.
EXCITATION POWER REQUIREMENTSExcitation power requirement is dependent on the output power from a generator.
Typical values for different rating of the machine are as followsCapacity of

Exc. Power in

Exc.current at

Exc.voltage at

Exc. Ceiling

generators

KW

210/200 MW
500 MW

2000
3700

full load in
Amps
2600
6300

F.L. in DC
volts
310
600

voltage in volts
610
1000

DIFFERENT COMPONENTS OF EXC. SYSTEM

INTRODUCATION
AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE REGULATOR
FIELD SUPPRESSION SYSTEM
D.C. POWER GENERATING SOURCE
ASSESSMENT

In any excitation system, the followings are the main components, which are
necessary to meet the operational requirements Automatic voltage regulator
Field suppression system
D.C. power generating source.
The AVR is electronic control equipment. It is an essential part of the operation of a
Modern power system.
The main function of AVR is to maintain generator terminal voltage constant under
all operating conditions like load variation, frequency variation, grid voltage variation
and fault conditions by controlling the supply of D.C. current to the main generator
rotor winding.
In addition to this, there are, however, a number of other functions which are
required from the AVR, if a large generator is to operate satisfactorily under all
operating conditions.
The automatic voltage regulator or AVR is closed loop electronic controller, which
uses a signal proportional to the generator terminal voltage and compares it with a
steady voltage reference the difference or error voltage thus obtained is then used to
control the generator output voltage.

Comparator
Reference voltage

Voltage regulator
V in put

PT

CT

If the load on the generator changes, the generator terminal voltage also changes
causing an increase or decrease of the error signal, this error signal is processed by
the regulator and is used to increase or reduce the excitation as necessary to bring
the generator terminal voltage back to its original value.

Limit controllers
Generators running in parallel with the power with the power network under extreme
conditions must remain in synchronism without the maximum load limit on it being
exceeded and without the protective relays operating.

In addition to the basic voltages control requirements, the AVR is also influenced by
a number of additional limiter circuits to ensure optimum utilisation of the generator
under extreme condition. These limiters are.
Stator current limiter.
Rotor current limiter
Rotor angle limiter.

FIELD SUPPRESSION SYSTEM

When a fault on the generator terminal occurs, the fault current has to be reduced as
quickly as possible to limit the resulting in order to do this, it is necessary.

FIELD

FDR

EXC

SOURCE

1. To disconnect the excitation source to reduce the fault current quickly

AND
2. To suppress induced voltage across the rotor winding
In order to achieve these requirements field suppression system has two main
components.
1.
2.

Field breaker or DC breaker

Field discharge resistor.

The field breaker of DC breaker is used to feed the field windings of the generator so
that under any disturbance / fault condition the field is disconnected from the source

and simultaneously the magnetic energy stored is discharged through the discharge
resistion.
In this figure 1----2-3---4--- are main poles and 5----6 is the discharge poles
FDR is the field discharge resistor and e is the excitation source.
Because of the above mentioned requirement field suppression breakers are having
main poles through which the field current is fed and discharge poles, which shortcircuit the field main poles, open.
Normally, the field breaker is of make before type.
Accordingly the breaker performs its function is the following manner.
While closing, the discharge pole opens first and the main poles close later
This avoids current flow to the discharge circuit from the excitation source.
While opening, the discharge pole closes first and the main poles open later.
Thus the magnetic, energy is discharged in this way and the voltage on the field is
also avoided.
So the field breaker is selected in such a way so that it is fully capable of with
standing the high electrical and mechanical stresses associated with the effect of
three phases short-circuit in the stator circuit of a turbo-generator.
Basic components of a DC breakerThe field breaker consists of the following main components Main poles or main contacts
Arcing contacts
Secondary arcing contacts
Trip coil and trip lever
Auxiliary contacts
Discharge poles
Discharge resistor
Field discharge resistorThe field discharge resistor is selected so that rapid de-excitation takes place and
the voltage developed across the discharge resistance following the three phases
fault current is less than the insulation level of the field winding.
The size and dimension of the resistor is determined by the heat storing capacity of
it.
Normally for large generator voltage dependent non-liner resistors made of silicon
carbide are used to enable faster de-excitation.

DC POWER GENERATING SOURCE

DC power necessary for exciting the field winding is obtained from this equipment
this equipment varies according to the type excitation used.
DC exciter
In conventional DC excitation system DC power is obtained from the obtained from
the shaft driven DC exciter.
DC exciter has the following main components
Field winding
Armature winding
Commutator and brush gear
DC exciter produces DC voltage in its terminals by commutation and brush gear
when its field cons are excited by another DC source like power transistor or
thyrisistor.
Excitation transformerIn static excitation system the excitation power is taken from the rectifier transformer
it is connected with the generator main terminals
For 210 MW T.G. set the voltage rating of the excitation transformer is 15.75
Kv/575V.
AC main exciterIn brush less excitation system, the excitation power is taken from the AC main
exciter via silicon diode rotating rectifier.
The diode rectifier converts AC output of the main exciter to DC and feeds it to the
field winding of the main generator through electrical contact assembly.
This rotating main exciter consists of the following components
ASSESSMENT
STATIC EXCITATION SYSTEM

INTRODUCATION
STATIC EXCITATION ARRANGEMENT
AVR CONTROL SYSTEM
ASSESSMENT

In order to maintain system stability it is necessary to have fast excitation system for
large synchronous machines which means field current must be adjusted externally
fast to changing operational conditions.

It is because of these reasons the static excitation system is preferred.

In this system all components are solid state and no moving parts.
STATIC EXCITATION ARRANGEMENT
The static excitation system consist of the following equipment

Rectifier transformer
SCR bridge (thyrister conventor)
Field flashing equipment
Field breaker and field discharge equipment
Automatic voltage regulator (AVR)
Gate control circuit

The figure shows the view of the control panel of the static excitation system for a
210 MW turbo-generator set.
1)
2)
3)

AVR control panel

Field breaker panel
Thyristor bridge panel

In static excitation system, the excitation power is derived from the generator output
through an excitation transformer.
In 210 MW set, the primary voltage of excitation transformer is 1575 Kv.lt steps
down to 575V (SCR) bridge or thyristor bridge.
The Thyristor Bridge delivers a variable DC output to the generator field for excitation
via field breaker
The functions of the transformer are
1.
To supply the rated excitation current at rate voltage continually
2.
To supply the ceiling current at the ceiling existing voltage for a short
period of ten seconds.
Normally the excitation transformer has Dyn5 vector group connection because it
facilitates easy many fracturing activities.
For static excitation system, a dry type cast coil transformer is preferred and
advantageous due to the following reasons

High over load capacity

Short circuit proof
Moisture proof
High impulse strength
Immediate switch on
Non-inflammable
Maintains free
Resistant against temperature flotation

 Compact installation
The dry type rectifier transformer is embedded with temperature dependent resistors
on the low voltage windings with rise in temperature the resistance value changes
sharply after ascertain level. This change with one resistor is used for warning and
with another for tripping.
The transformer is forced cool by natural air . Air is circulated with the help of a fan
provided in the cubical
Forced cooling arrangement is provided to increase the rating of the transformer by
40% than that of the natural air-cooled transformer.
The following protections are provided on the transformer
1
2

Over current
Over tempters

The over current protections unit consists of two over current relays
One is meant for instantaneous over current protection
Another is set for delayed over current protection with adjustable ranges and tripping
timer to suit the field foreign requirements
The current supply for the relays is obtained from each phase of current transformer
mounted on HT side of the excitation transformer as shown in the figure.
SCR Bridge --- thyristor converter in static excitation system the SCR Bridge or the
thyristor converter consists of a suitable number of Thyristor Bridge coveted in
parallel
The fig A shows the BCR configuratational of a thyristor and fig B shows 3 phases
6 pulse full wave.

In all the excitation system DC power generated or derived from different means is
fed to the generator field through brushes to the slip ring.
The brush gear and slip ring are such items that require relatively high maintains and
are a source of failure thus forming a weak link in this system this weak link can be
eliminated by using the brush less excitation system.
With the advent of mechanically robust silicon diode capable of converting AC to DC
of high power levels brush less excitation system has been developed.
The brush less excitation system consists of the following main components

Permanent magnet pilot exciter or permanent magnet generator (PMG)

Three-phase main exciter
Silicon diode rotating rectifier set or rotating diode wheel
Automatic voltage regulator
Multicontact connector
Three-phase stator winding of turbo gen. Set.
Quadrature axis measuring coil
Slip rings and measuring brush less for field ground fault detection.

In this system permanent magnet pilot exciter and three phase main exciter with
rotating rectifier are directly driven from the generator rotor.
In brush less excitation system a common shaft carries the rectifier wheels, the rotor
of the main exciter and the permanent magnet rotor of the pilot exciter the shaft is
rigidly coupled to the main generator rotor.

Rectifier wheels with built in diodes

Armature of the main exciter
Ventilation fan
Permanent magnet wheel
Coupling with the turbo-generator rotor

PRINCIPLES OF BRUSH LESS EXCITATION ARRANGEMENT

In this unit, the arrangement of the following principal components of the brush less
excitation system have been described

Permanent phase main exciter

Three phase main exciter
Rotating diode wheel
Main exciter cooling arrangement
Cooling arrangement of the rectifier set
Metering and supervisory system

The permanent magnet pilot exciter is of salient pole design.

The permanent magnet are mounted on a rotor which from the pole.
The frequency of the voltage produced of from the exciter depends upon the speed
of the rotor and the number of poles mounted on the rotor by the formula
F = PN / 120
Where P = number of poles
N = speed of the machine in RPM
F = frequency of the machine

The rotor of permanent magnet pilot exciter consists of hub with mounted poles. Ten
permanent magnets are housed in a non-magnet is enclosure and this makes one
pole. There are 16 numbers of such poles in this revolving unit.
Use of PMG exciter has given the facility of making they system independent form
any external supplies.
This concept has been found very useful during an Black Start conditions.
The fans shrunk fitted on the rotor shaft for circulation of cold air in to the exciter and
other components as shown in the picture.
This is a rotating three-phase AC power-producing machine. It has a number of
poles based on the frequency of which AC power is to be produced.
It is directly driven from the main generator rotor through a solid coupling its field coil
is mounted on the stator and the three phase AC winding is provided on the rotor.
The field poles and damper windings are arranged in the stator frame. The field
windings is arranged an magnetic poles and damper windings are provided of pole
shoe with the help of bars in order to reduce diode commutation reactance.
Between the two poles, a quadrature axis coil is fitted for measurement of the exciter
current.
The main exciter cooling is done by air medium
The entire exciter assembly is housed in an enclosure through which the cooling air
circulates. The main exciter receives the air from the fan, which draws the cold air
through the PMG.
Air enters into the main exciter from both ends and is passed on to the ducts below
through radial holes. The warm air passes over the coolers and returns back to the
main enclosure.
In the event of the cooler failure, emergency cooling is provided. Three flaps are
provided on the exciter for emergency cooling.
One flap is provided on the main housing for admitting cold air.
Two flaps are provided below the coolers for discharged the hot air through the
operating in the base frame.
These flaps open when cold air temp. in exciter housing rises above 48c and an
open circuit cooling is maintained in the exciter.
The rotating diode rectifier set or rotating diode wheel comprises of the following
components in a three-phase bridge configuration as shown in this picture.
Rotating diode rectifier set or rotating diode wheel.

The figure shows the connection of three-phase rectifier bridge configuration.

The components of rectifier sets are arranged on a wheel called rectifier / diode
wheel.
Two such rectifier wheels one for positive polarity (A) and the other for negative
polarity (B) are provided in brush less excitation system.
The rectifier wheels are rotating units
1.
2.
3.
4.

Rectifier wheels with built in diodes

Armature of the main exciter
Ventilation fan
Coupling with the turbo generator rotor

The cross sectional view of the internal arrangements, of the components on two
diode wheels are shown in this figure.
1. Figure
2. Diode
3. Heat sink
4. Rectifier wheel (- Polarity)
5. Tension bolt
6. Hot air outlet
7. Rectifier wheel (+ Polarity)
8. AC lead
9. DC lead
In this arrangement there are two diodes in parallel on each heat sink. A fuse is
associated with each heat sink. This fuse serves to switch off the two diodes of onediode foils.
A fuse connected in series of the two diodes in each arm to avoid short circuit of two
other arms due to breakdown of one of the diodes.
These fuses operate of a high current value and high electrical rupturing capacity
with externally high mechanical resistance to centrifugal force.
The two-diode wheels are identical in mechanical design but differ only in the
forward direction of the diodes.
Two wheels insulated and shrunk fitted serve as DC buses for the negative and
positive side of the rectifier bridge. This arrangement ensures good accessibility to
all components and a minimum of circuit connections.
The DC leads run through the bore of the shaft and the connection to the diodes is
made via radial bolts the three phases AC power is supplied to silicon diode rectifier
from the three phases main exciter by the conductors taken axially along the surface
of the shaft.
For suppression of the mom entry voltage speaks arising from diode commutation
each wheel is provided with suppressor RC circuit, which are combined in a single
resin encapsulated unit. There are six RC circuits per wheel in this system.

Rectifier wheels draw the cold air in of both ends and expel the hot air to the
compartment beneath the base plate.
The following monitoring arrangement is provided in the brush less exciter.
A stroboscope for fuse monitoring
Slip ring for rotor ground fault detection
The generator field current is measured through a quadrature axis coil mounted on
the exciter.
Fuse monitoring
During operation of the exciter set, the fuses on the rotating rectifier wheel are
monitored with the help of a stroboscope on each of the two wheels A and B
separate flash tubes are provided.
A common control unit is provided to control these flashing tubes the control unit is
mounted on the exciter enclosure where as the tubes are permanently installed in
the rectifier wheel enclosure this facilities easy monitoring from out side the exciter
enclosure without any adjustment.
Slip ring for field ground fault deletion
Two slip rings are provided on the exciter shaft. One of the slip rings is connected to
the neutral point of the exciter armature winding and the other slip ring is the shaft
reference.
These two reference points are taken through leads to the relay unit mounted on the
generator protection panel. This is two-stage relay system.
The first relay system activates an alarm if the values of resistance to earth
falls below 80 kilo ohms and
The second relay system trips the turbo set if the resistance value falls below
5-kilo ohms.
Field current measurement For measurement of excitation current the principle of development of the voltage in
the quadrature axis coil of the main exciter due to armature reaction is employed.
This voltage is preoperational to the excitation current and is measured by placing a
coil between the poles.
BRUSHLESS EXCITATION SYSTEM

INTRODUCATION
PRINCIPLES OF BRUSHLESS EXCITATION
BRUSHLESS EXCITATION ARRANGEMENT
AVR CONTROL SYSTEM

INTRODUCATION
In all the excitation systems is a power generated or derived from different means is
fed o the generator field through brushes to the slip ring.
The brush gear and slip ring are such items that require relatively high maintains and
are a source of failure thus forming a weak link in this system. This weak link can be
eliminated by using the brush less excitation system.
With the advent of mechanically robust silicon diode, capable of converting AC to DC
at high power levels, brush less excitation system has been developed.
The brush less excitation system consists of the following main components.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Permanent magnet pilot exciter or permanent magnet generator

(PMG)
Three phase main exciter.
Silicon diode rotating rectifier set or rotating diode wheel
Automatic voltage regulator
Multi contact connector
Three phase stator winding of turbo-Gen. Set
Rotor winding of turbo-Gen. Set
Quadrature axis measuring coil
Slip rings and measuring brushes for field ground fault detection

In this system permanent magnet pilot exciter and three phase main exciter with
rotating rectifier are directly driven from the generator rotor.
In brush less excitation system a common shaft carries the rectifier wheels, the rotor
of the main exciter and the permanent magnet rotor of the pilot exciter, the shaft is
rigidly coupled to the main generator rotor.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Rectifier wheels with built in diodes

Armature of the main exciter
Ventilation fan
Permanent magnet wheel
Coupling with the turbo-Generator Rotor

PRINCIPLES OF BRUSHLESS EXCITATION In brush less excitation system the field of pilot exciter or PMG is a permanent
magnet.

As this permanent magnet rotates of a speed of 3000 Rpm with generator shaft there
is a constant magnetic flux of the permanent magnet and a constant voltage is
induced into the 3 phase stationary armature of the PMG.
The output voltage of this PMG is 220 volt. 3 phases, 400 Hz this voltage is constant
of 220 volts as long as the speed of the shaft is maintained of rated value.
The controlled rectified DC output of the voltage regulator is fed to the non-moving
field winding of three-phase main exciter depending upon the excitation power
requirement.
The three phases AC voltage of 150 Hz is induced in the rotor of the main exciter,
which is fed to the rotating rectifier bridge.
The induced three phase AC voltage is rectified in the rectified bridge and fed to the
generator rotor winding through the DC leads arranged in center bore of the shaft via
radial bolts.
Electrical coupling between exciter rotor and generator rotor is made by a special
electrical contact system called the Multikontakt system.
In this system three is no need for brushes. Thus brushes and slip rings are
eliminated in thus system.
BRUSHLESS EXCITATIO SYSTM
In this unit the arrangement of the following principal components of the brush less
excitation system have been described

Permanent magnet pilot exciter

Three-phase main exciter
Rotating diode wheel
Main exciter cooling arrangement
Cooling arrangement of the rectifier set
Metering and supervisory system

The permanent magnet pilot exciter is of salient pole design.

The permanent magnets are mounted on a rotor which from the pole.
The frequency of the voltage produced from this exciter depends upon the speed of
the rotor and the number of poles mounted on the rotor by the formula
F = PN /120
Where
P = number of poles
N = speed of the machine in RPM
F = frequency of the machine

The rotor of permanent magnet pilot exciter consists of hub with mounted poles. Ten
permanent magnets are housed in a non-magnetic enclosure and this makes one
pole. There are 16 number of such poles in this revolving unit.
Use of PMG excite has given the facility of making the system independent from any
external supplies.
This concept has been found very useful during any Black start conditions.
The fan is shrunk fitted on the rotor shaft for circulation of cold air into the exciter and
other components as shown in the picture.
This is a rotating three-phase AC power-producing machine. It has a number of
poles bases on the frequency of which AC power is to be produced.
It is directly driven from the main generator rotor through a solid coupling its field coil
is mounted on the stator and the three-phase AC winding is provided on the rotor.
The field poles and damper windings are arranged in the stator frame. The field
winding is arranged on magnetic poles and damper windings are provided of pole
shoe with the help of bars in order to reduce diode commutation reactance.
Between the two poles a quadrature axis coil fitted for measurement of the exciter
current.
The rotor consists of stacked laminations, which are compressed by through bolts
over compression ring. The three-phase winding is inserted in lots of the laminated
rotor.
After full impregnation with synthetic resin and curing. The complete rotor is shrunk
fitted on the shaft.
The entire exciter assembly is housed is an enclosure through which the cooling air
circulates. The main exciter receives the air from he fan, which draws the cold air
through the PMG.
Air enters into the main exciter from both ends and is passed on to the ducts below
through radial holes the warm air passes over the coolers and returns buck to the
main enclosure.
In the event of cooler failure emergency cooling is provided three flows are provided
on the exciter for emergency cooling.
One flap is provided on the main housing for admitting cold air.
Two flaps are provided below the coolers for discharging the hot air through the
openings in the base frame.
These flap open cold air temperature in exciter housing rises above 40c and an
Open circuit cooling is maintained in the exciter.

The rotating diode rectifier set or rotating diode wheel comprises of the following
components in a three-phase bridge configuration as shown in this picture.
Silicon diode
Fuse (F)
Resistor capacitor circuit (RC circuit)
Rotating diode rectifier set or rotating diode wheel.
The figure shows the connection of three-phase rectifier bridge configuration.
The components of rectifier sets are arranged on a wheel called rectifier diode
wheel. Two such rectifier wheels one for positive polarity (A) and the other for
negative polarity (B) are provided in brush less excitation system.
The cross sectional view of the internal arrangements, of the components on two
diode wheels are shown in this figure.

Figure
Diode
Heat sink
Rectifier wheel (- Polarity)
Tension bolt
Hot air outlet
Rectifier wheel (+ Polarity)
AC lead
DC lead

In this arrangement there are two diodes in parallel on each heat sink. A fuse is
associated with each heat sink. This fuse serves to switch off the two diodes of onediode foils.
A fuse connected in series of the two diodes in each arm to avoid short circuit of two
other arms due to breakdown of one of the diodes.
These fuses operate of a high current value and high electrical rupturing capacity
with externally high mechanical resistance to centrifugal force.
Rotating diode wheels
Cooling arrangement of diode wheel
Rectifier wheels draw the cold air in of both ends and expel the hot air to the
compartment beneath the base plate.
Exciter monitoring and supervisory system
The following monitoring arrangement is provided in the brush less exciter

1
A stroboscope for fuse monitoring
2
Slip ring for rotor ground fault detection
The generator field current is measured through a quartered axis coil mounted on
the exciter.
Fuse monitoring
During operation of the exciter set , the fuses on the rotating rectifier wheel are
monitored with the help of a stroboscope on each of the two wheels A and B
separate flash are provided.
A common control units provided to control these flashing tubes the control unit is
mounted on the exciter enclosure where as the tubes are permanently installed in
the rectifier wheel enclosure. This facilities easy monitoring from outside the exciter
enclosure with out any adjustment.
Two slip rings are provided on the exciter shaft one of the slip rings connected to the
neutral point of the exciter armature winding and the other slip ring is the shaft
reference.
Field current measurement
For measurement of excitation current the principal of development of the voltage in
the quadrature axis coil of the exciter due to armature reaction is employed. This
voltage is preoperational to the excitation current and is measured by placing a coil
between the poles.
For this purpose , two quadrature coils are mounted between two poles on the main
exciter stator due to flow of current in the armature an e.m.f. is induced on the
qudrture coils. This voltage is taken through leads to the excitation panel on the
control room board. As the voltage rises linearly with the current and it is possible to
calibrate the instrument on the control room board in amperes
AVR CONTROL SYSTEM
Normally auto control system or auto channel system is kept. In service and manual
control system or manual channel is kept as stand by.
The auto channel is a closed loop control system, which maintains the generator
terminal voltage at constant value.
The manual channel controls the excitation current in the main exciter field winding.
To achieve bump less change over, a follow up control circuit is provided.
The figure shows the brush less AVR control panel for 500 MW turbo-generator set.

Field breaker panel

Thyristor bridge panel
AVR control panel

In brush less excitation system. The gate control unit is used to control the gate-firing
angle of the associated thyristor set accurately.
In this system two gate control units are provided one for each channel i.e. auto and
manual.
The gate control unit gets its AC input signal of same magnitude and frequency
through filter circuits as that of the thyristor bridge AC input voltage. This is required
for synchronization of gate control pulses along with the Thyristor Bridge AC input
voltage.
The gate control unit also facilitates socking of auto channel pulses for maintenance
of the respective thyristor bridge set when the AVR is an manual channel and vice
versa.
Thyristor sets
To brush less excitation system, two separate sets of fully controlled thyristors in
three-phase bridge connection are provided.
One set is used for voltage control (AUTO) and the other set for excitation current
control (Manual) to meet independently the normal safety requirements regarding the
current and voltage.
Each thyristor is fitted with a branch fuse for thyristor set for auto channel is
equipped with a current flow monitoring system for monitoring the failure of branch
currents so that fuse blowing or failure of thyristor firing system is detected.
The thyristor set for auto channel can be switched off via an isolator switch with
mechanically coupled contacts in the gate control power supply and output side.
This isolator in conjunction with a proper arrangement and design of the thyristor set
enables exchanging of thyristors and fuses during operation it necessary while
operation with excitation current (Manual) is continued.
In manual channel, the thyristor set is equipped with a fuse monitoring system using
MCBs with low current pickup value.
Normally the three phase supply required for the thyristor sets is supplied from PMG
of 220V, 400 Hz the power rating of the thyristor sets should se matched to the
excitation power required.
This power supply can also be provided from station AC auxiliary supply.
The out put side of the thyristor sets feeds variable DC current to the field winding of
the main exciter.
Deexcitation

Normally the field discharge in a generator is necessitated on a shut down of the

generator or in fault situation by any protection system.
So, in this arrangement, a command is transmitted to drive the thyristor set first to
the maximum negative output voltage (inverter operation) via gate control set being
in operation.
This negative (inverter operation) causes the main exciter to be de-excited in less
than sec. How ever he generator de-excitation follows depending on the effective
generator time constant.
Approximately sec. After receiving the de-excitation command, two field
suppression contactors (one seingredundant) along with the field discharge resistors
come in parallel to the main exciter field winding subsequently an off command is
initiated to the field breaker.
In the event of failure of the electronic field suppression by inverter operation field
discharge would be initiated with a delay of sec. By the field discharge resistor and
the field breaker trips.
Automatic voltage regulator
The output of the first integrator is fed to second integrator of current regulator where
it is compared with the excitation current actual value.
Initial voltage build up and field forcing
In auto mode, for smooth build up of the generator voltage during start up a ramp
function generator is used.
The purpose of using this ramp generator in feed back control system is to limit the
rate of rise (Slope) of its out put signal when subjected to a step change in its input
signal.
The output of the ramp function generator fed to the PI controller is shown in this
symbolic graphic figure.
Initially the output of the ramp function generator remains at zero so the output of PI
controller is also restricted at zero. As soon as the field breaker is closed the run up
command is given to the ramp generator starts increasing resulting in the increase in
the output of the PI regulator.
This results in the smooth building up of the generator voltage.
Thus the field forcing limiter limits the out put current of the thyristor set to the
maximum permissible value when the voltage regulation calls for maximum
excitation.
In case of fuse failure of the rotating diode, the field forcing is limited to 1.1 times the
rated excitation, which is achieved by opening of the contact K.

When the K opens the potential divider comes in o picture thus reducing the value of
field forcing.
The field forcing limiter is monitored by limit crosses the value 1.1 times of the rated
excitation current (IA) max it changes over to manual channel.
In the brush less excitation system each control system (auto and manual ) has
provided its own motor operated set point adjuster.
Two separate output drivers one for Raise and another for Lower are provided for
supplying the motor in both directions of rotation they are required for adjusting the
set point voltage of the generator.
The set point adjuster is adjusted in such a way so that when one of the end
positions is reached the output voltage of the set point potentiometer blocks the
relevant driver by a limit value monitor.
Under excitation limiter
The automatic voltage regulator only senses the generator voltage and it tries to
keep it constant.
But during light load operation the system voltage slowly increases and in this
condition the capability limit line of the generator in the under excited range may be
exceeded slowly but during switching off and on of the some wrong operation of the
unit transformer tap change it may be exceeded quickly.
So, to keep the generator with in the capability limits, the under excitation limiter is
used with the voltage regulator.
Under excitation limiter
Shows capability curve to be observed for the operation of a generator from which
the permissible active and reactive power combinations as well as the ranges in
which the generator must not be operated can be seen.
R 1-------Point A
R2--------Point B
R3--------Angle b
R4--------Point C
R5--------Angle y
R6--------point d
The actual value of this limiter is the field current of the main exciter which is tacking
from the shunt via a transducer.
Voltage per hertz limiter
The magnetic flux of a unit transformer is directly proportional to the terminal voltage
and inversely proportional to the frequency according to the equation

- 0 = K.V/ F
Excessive magnetic flux increases thermal stress on the unit transformer and
generator
To avoid this excessive flux in unit transformer V/Hz limiter is used with the voltage
regulator.
Over excitation limiter
The actual value of this limiter is the field current of the main exciter which is taken
from the shunt via a transducer.
The figure shows the basic circuit of the over excitation limiter.
The actual value of main exciter field current is compared with the set point, which
sets potentiometer. The range of set point potentiometer is from 100% to 105% of
rated excitation. The gain of the amplifier is so adjusted that its output is at the 140%
of the rated excitation current (say in this case it is s-10V) the response time of the
integrator is so adjusted that it is minimum for this value.
The integrator response time is inversely proportional to the deviation of actual value
from the set point value as shown in the figure.
Normally the output of the amplifier remains positive and it changes to negative
whenever the actual value exceeds the set point. This cause the output of the
integrator to change from negative to positive which in turn result to the reduction in
the excitation. The output of the integrators limited to the value so that it can reduce
the generator voltage to the 80% of its rated value.
The over excitation limiter is active in the EF region of the capability curve.
The over excitation limiter is supplemented by a stator current limiter.
Stator current limiter
In this case the stator current actual value is compared with the set point.
In the under excited region lowering of generator excitation results in the increase of
the stator current instead of limiting it. Therefore, in this region the limiter is disabled
by a limit value monitor when the reactive current falls short of an adjustable limit.
Voltage per hertz limiter
He magnetic flux of a unit transformer is directly proportional to the terminal voltage
and inversely proportional to the frequency according to the equation
= K.V/F
Excessive magnetic flux increases thermal stress on the unit transformer and
generator

To avoid this excessive flux in unit transformer, V/Hz limiter is used with the voltage
regulator.
So the function of the voltage per hertz limiter is to issue a signal to the voltage
regulator to reduce excitation current value to the permissible limit. When a preset
V/Hz limit value is exceeded.
And
The voltage per hertz limiter excitation build up is enabled only when the speed is
95% and it is blocked for the speed less than 90% of rated speed. Thus the
excitation system permits excited operation of the generator with frequency deviation
up to. 1 p.u. Below normal frequency.
Power system stabilizer or slip stabilization
In order to offset the problem mentioned above to improve the system in general the
artificial (or additional) signals are fed into the input node of the voltage regulator of
the excitation which are called supplementary signals and the network used to
generator these signals are known as power system stabilizers or slip stabilizing
units.
So PSS is used for the suppression of rotor oscillations of the generator through the
additional influence of excitation.
In power system stabilizer (PSS) a supplementary signal is derived from the active
electrical power oscillation and than it acts on the generator excitation system by
way of an additional signal of the required phase response. By way of additional
signal the PSS increases the damping effect in a frequency of 0.5 Hz to 2.5 Hz.
Technical datas
Generator
Make BHEL (kwu)
Type - THDF 115/59
Ratings: The apparent power of 500-mw generators is 588 MVA
Speed / frequency RPM/Hz

3000/50

Stator current

16200 amps

Field current (calculated value)

4040 amps

Active power

500 MW

Power factor
Terminal voltage

0.85 (lag)
21 KV

Permissible variation in voltage

+/- 5%

Short circuit ratio

0.48

Field voltage n

340 V

Class and type of insulation MICALASTIC (similar to class F)

Main exciter
The active power of main exciter is 3780 KV
Current

6300 A

Voltage

600 V

Speed

3000 rpm

Point exciter
The apparent power of pilot exciter is 65 KVA
The voltage produced

220 V +_ 10% of 220 V

Voltage regulating system

The type of voltage regulating system of 500-mw generators is thyrisiem 04-2
Type

Thyrisiem 04-2

Maximum output voltage

250 V

Output current for field forcing

152 A

Output current for rated

generator load

88 A

Auxiliary voltages from

Pilot exciter for thyristor sets

Three phase supply, 220 V , 400Hz

DC voltage from station for

Contractor and drives

220 V

Rated secondary voltage

120 V

Power input of voltage

Transformer per phase

2 VA