ET – ‘08 227 CHAPTER 23 EXCITATION SYSTEM 23.1 CLASSIFICATION OF EXCITERS Excitation systems for synchronous machines can be classified as below 23.1.1 DC EXCITATION This is the traditional method. A DC generator is mounted on the main shaft & separately or shunt excited, the output being fed to the rotor of the main generators through slip rings or brushgear. Commutation difficulties at high speeds have sometimes led to geared or separately driven exciters. 23.1.2 STATIC EXCITATION Direct current excitation can be obtained by means of a rectifier & suitable supply of alternating voltage. By this method, the commutation limits inherent in the rotary DC generator are avoided. With an AC exciter machine mounted on the main shaft, its field fed from a pilot exciter whose field in turn is derived from a permanent magnet generator, the exciter output is fed to the floor standing rectifier. The rectified current is supplied to the main rotor winding through conventional slip rings. The rectifier unit has no rotating parts, requires little maintenance & is immune to dust or hazardous atmospheres. 23.1.3 SELF EXCITATION Self-excitation can be obtained by means of a bridge connected rectifier deriving its alternating voltage from a transformer with two primary windings per phase; one primary is excited from the generator terminal voltage, the other from the load current as indicated in the fig. As a result the excitation is responsive to both output voltage & load current and is said to be compounding or self regulating. As most generators have a residual rotor field too small to occur from a standstill start, a permanent magnet pilot exciter is provided to establish an adequate generator terminal voltage for initiating self-excitation. D.C excitation through batteries can also be provided till sufficient generator terminal voltage is available. POWER GENERATION AND EVACUATION EXCITATION SYSTEM ET – ‘08 228 Self-excitation system initiated by station batteries is used for exciting the rotor windings of Steam turbine generator (STG). 23.2 BRUSH-LESS EXCITATION SYSTEM: The term ‘Brush-less’ is applied to a machine in which the conventional brush gear is eliminated. An exciter with a fixed field and rotating phase windings is mounted on the main shaft, the AC output being converted to DC by means of shaft mounted rectifiers & fed directly to the main rotor windings; no slip-rings or brush gear being needed. The exciter consists of: Rectifier wheels Three-phase pilot exciter Three-phase main exciter Metering & supervisory equipment. 23.2.1 COMPONENTS OF BRUSHLESS EXCITER The 3-phase pilot exciter system has a revolving field with permanent magnet poles. The 3-phase AC is fed to the field of a rotating armature main exciter via a stationary regulator and rectifier unit. The 3- phase AC included in rotor of the main exciter is rectified by the rotating rectifier bridge and fed through the DC lead in the rotor shaft. 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 generator POWER GENERATION AND EVACUATION EXCITATION SYSTEM ET – ‘08 229 rotor & supported on end bearing shield. The generator & the exciter bearings are thus supported on a total of three bearings. Mechanical coupling of the two shaft assemblies results in the central shaft bore through the Multikontakt electrical system consisting of plug in bolts and sockets. 23.2.2 RECTIFIER WHEEL The main components of the rectifier wheels are the silicon diodes, which are arranged in the rectifier wheels in a 3-phase bridge circuit. A plane spring assembly produces the contact pressure for the silicon wafer of the diodes. The contact pressure is such that this contact pressure is increased by centrifugal force during rotation. One diode is mounted each in the light metal heat sink and then connected in parallel. Associated with each diode is a fuse that serves to switch off the diode from the circuit if it fails. The 3-phase connection between armature and diodes is obtained via copper conductors arranged on the shaft circumference between the rectifier wheels and the main exciter. The conductors are attached by means of the binding clips and equipped with the internal diode connections. One conductor is provided for each arm of Diode Bridge. The conductors originate at a bus ring system of the main exciter. Three Phase Pilot Exciter The three phase pilot exciter is a six-pole revolving field unit. The frame accommodates the laminated core with the three-phase winding. The rotor consists of a hub with mounted poles. Each pole consists of separate permanent magnets that are housed in a non-metallic enclosure. The magnets are braced between the hub & the external pole shoe with bolts. The rotor hub is shrunk onto the free shaft end. Three Phase Main Exciter The three phase main exciter is a six-pole revolving armature unit. Arranged in the frame are the poles with the field & damper windings. The field winding is arranged on the laminated magnetic poles. At the pole shoe, bars are provided which are connected POWER GENERATION AND EVACUATION EXCITATION SYSTEM ET – ‘08 230 to form damper winding. Between the two poles a Quadrature-axis coil is fitted for inductive measurement of the field current. The rotor consists of stacked laminations that are compressed by through bolts over compression rings. The 3- phase winding is inserted in the laminated rotor .The winding conductors are transposed within the core length and turns of the winding are secured with steel bands. The connections are made on the side facing the rectifier wheels; the winding ends are run to a bus ring system to which 3- phase leads leading to the rectifier wheels are also connected. After full impregnation with epoxy resin and curing , the complete rotor is shrunk onto the shaft. 23.3 AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE REGULATOR 23.3.1 FUNCTION The voltage regulator is intended for the excitation & control of generators equipped with exciters employing rotating non controlled rectifiers. Excitation control is required to maintain: normal operating voltage, to vary generation of reactive power, the voltage during external faults, to increase the steady state, dynamic & transient stability. Manual control of an exciter field rheostat suffices for very small machines, but otherwise the use of automatic voltage regulators (AVR) is universal. 23.3.2 TYPES OF AVR The AVR may be of the following types. Carbon Pile Regulator – For very small machines makes use of the resistance variation of a pile of carbon plates with variation of comprehensive force, the mechanical pressure being provided by an electromagnet energized from the supply to be controlled. POWER GENERATION AND EVACUATION EXCITATION SYSTEM ET – ‘08 231 Torque-motor Regulator – Is a sensitive quick acting device comprising multi tapped resistors connected into the exciter field circuit & brought out to closely spaced rows of silver contacts. Short circuiting sectors roll over the contacts in accordance with the torque of a small split phase disc motor against spring loading & eddy current damping. Voltage setting is simple, & droop & compounding effects can be adjusted independently. Vibrator Regulator – Is the type of AVR in which the exciter field rheostat is rapidly switched in & out of circuit to correct deviations from nominal voltage setting. A control magnet is energized from the voltage to be regulated & its main contacts are closed by a spring. If the voltage rises, the pull of the spring is overcome & the contacts open, inserting the field rheostat into circuit. The resulting fall in voltage causes the contacts to re-close. The cyclic process takes place rapidly & repeatedly, holding the voltage within the limits prescribed. High Speed Regulators – The above mentioned electromechanical regulators are unsuitable for large machines owing to large field currents required for the main exciter. High-speed regulators are required that can give rapid response rates with the largest generators. Such an automatic voltage regulator comprises error detecting, follow up, under excitation limiter & under voltage protection units, with appropriate amplifiers. 23.4 DESCRIPTION OF HIGH SPEED REGULATORS The automatic voltage regulator is a fast response, transistorised, dual channel type regulator with the provision of application of negative ceiling voltage across the field windings of the turbo generator. The main parts of the regulator equipment are two closed loop control systems including a separate gate control set and thyristor set each, field discharge circuit, an open loop control system for exchanging signal between the regulator equipment and the control room, and the power supply circuits. POWER GENERATION AND EVACUATION EXCITATION SYSTEM ET – ‘08 232 The closed loop control systems are AUTO mode MANUAL mode The AUTO control system performs the following functions Generator voltage control Field forcing limiter - undelayed limiting control for the output current of thyristor set. Under-excitation limiter Over-excitation limiter-delayed limiting control Automatic field suppression during shutdown of generator. Stator current limiter- delayed limiting control V /Hz limiter.(Over fluxing protection) For optimum utilization of inductive & capacitive load capabilities of the generator, the A.V.R is provided with Rotor current limiter and Rotor angle limiter. The MANUAL control system controls the excitation current in the main exciter field winding. Normally, the automatic voltage regulation system (AUTO) is operative, including the start-up & shutdown of the machine. The set point adjuster of the excitation current control (MANUAL) is possible at any time. Under certain emergency & fault conditions, the changeover from AUTO to MANUAL mode is initiated automatically. Correct operation of the follow-up control is monitored & can also be observed on a matching instrument (null voltmeter) in the control room. This instrument also permits manual matching. 23.5 LIMITERS Under Excitation Limiter – It ensures that, in the under-excited range the minimum excitation required for stable parallel operation of the generator with the system is available & the under-excited reactive power is limited accordingly. The response characteristic is formed on the basis of the generator reactive current, active current & terminal voltage & can be matched to generator and system data. POWER GENERATION AND EVACUATION EXCITATION SYSTEM ET – ‘08 233 Stator Current Limiter – Ensures delayed reduction of the excitation current in the over-excited part of the capability diagram. The delay time depends on the magnitude by which the limit has been exceeded. Lowering of generator excitation in the under-excited area of the capability diagram would increase the stator current instead of limiting it. Therefore the limiter is disabled by a limit monitor, when the reactive current falls short of an adjustable reactive current limit. V / Hz Limiter – Prevents excessive magnetic flux increase and thermal stressing of the unit transformer & of the generator. The function of the V / Hz limiter is to issue a signal to the voltage regulator, to reduce the excitation current when a pre-set V / Hz limit value is increased. Field Forcing Limiter – With the voltage regulation calling for maximum excitation, the thyristor set supplies a higher voltage to the field winding of the main exciter than that actually required for exciting the main exciter to the ceiling voltage.(maximum excitation voltage of generator). Yet the output current of the thyristor set is limited by the field forcing limiter to the ceiling voltage. Automatic Field Suppression – On shutdown of the generator by a reverse power relay or speed dependent, or in fault conditions, by the generator protection equipment Field discharge commands drive the thyristor set to the maximum negative output voltage (inverter operation)via the gate control set. This causes the main exciter to be de-excited in less than 0.5-sec. Generator de-excitation follows depending on the generator time constant. The main exciter field breaker is tripped after the inverter operation of the thyristor set. The field breaker & its discharge resistor is suitably rated to effect field suppression even in case of failure of electronic field suppression. POWER GENERATION AND EVACUATION EXCITATION SYSTEM ET – ‘08 234 Rotor Current Limiter – If the generator is operating with a rotor current more than the permitted value, the magnitude of the rotor current can be brought back to a safe permitted value by increasing the firing angle & decreasing output of thyristor bridges. Rotor Angle Limiter – If the generator is operating on capacitive mode with a rotor angle (load angle) more than the permitted value, the magnitude of the rotor angle can be brought back to a safe value by decreasing firing angle of firing pulses & thereby increasing output from thyristor bridges.