Parallel Operation of Alternators

Module : Electrical Engineering MT 3011
Topic : Parallel Operation of Alternators

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Parallel Operation of Alternators
Aim
Understand the principle of parallel operation of generators.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• Describe the conditions necessary for the safe connection of a generator to live
bus-bars.
• Describe the “lamps dark” and “sequence lamps” operation.
• Explain the meaning of kW, kVA and power factor.
• Explain with a phasor diagram, the effect of change of prime-mover input during
parallel operation, making reference to power factor, kW and kVA .
• Explain with a phasor diagram, the effect of change of field excitation during
parallel operation, making reference to power factor, kW and kVA .
• Explain how parallel operation may be continued if the AVR of one generator
should fail to regulate automatically.
• Explain why reverse power protection is necessary in the event of power loss by
the prime mover of one generator.
• State with reasons whether two alternators with different number of poles may be
run in parallel.
Overview
This lesson provides students with an understanding of synchronisation of

alternators to run in parallel. The effects of variation of prime-mover speed and field
excitation of alternators in parallel on power factor, acitve load and reactive load are
also discussed.
Paralleling Alternators to Live Bus Bars
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PTM / Jul 2002 76 SP / SMA

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To parallel an ac generator with another already on load, the following operations
are necessary. See Figure 1and Figure 4.
(a) The terminal voltage of the incoming machine and the already running alternator
on the bus bar must be equal.
(b) The frequency of the voltage sources must be equal.
(c) The phase sequence of the two voltages must be the same.
(d) The emf of the incoming generator and the bus bars must be in phase.
The circuit breaker of the incoming generator must be closed when the voltages of
the two generators are in phase with each other i.e. waveform of both bus bar and
incoming generator are synchronised.
This is done by adjusting the frequency/speed of the incoming generator and

watching the synchroscope or synchronising lamps for the moment when the two
voltages are in phase.
If a synchroscope is used in parallelling, the two waveforms will be in phase when

the synchroscope pointer remains stationery at 12 0’clock. This is not easy to
achieve so in practice, when the pointer is rotating not faster than 1 revolution in 5
seconds in the fast direction, initiate closing of the circuit breaker when the pointer is
at about 11 0’clock (considering circuit breaker mechanism also takes some time to
close).
In this way, with the incoming machine slightly fast, it will immediately assume load.
If switch on when running slow, it would take motoring load which might possibly
operate the reverse power relay. That is why reverse power relays are provided
with time lag, to give sufficient time to correct the fault.
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Bus Bars
R
Line Voltage
Y
Line Voltage
B
Circuit
Breaker
Alternator
Phase
Winding
Phase
Voltage
Figure 1
Dark Lamp Synchronising
Three lamps can be connected across the switch as shown in Figure 2 to form a
simple synchroscope.
When the phase angle, Ø, between bus bar and in-coming machine voltages
becomes zero, VR, VY, VB, all become zero and the lamps becomes dark. The e.m.f.
of the bus bar and the incoming generator are in phase. This is the required
condition for closing the switch.
There are two problems however.

Bus Bars
1) The lamps
R need a fair bit of voltage before their light becomes visible so they are
not very accurate.
Y
2) When the speed is not quite correct there is not indication of whether the speed
is too high or too slow.
B
L L L
Y1
B1
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PTM / Jul 2002 R1 78 SP / SMA
Incoming
Generator

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VR
R2 R1
VB
B2
B1
VY
Y2 Y1
VR V R1 V
V Y2 Y
V V Y1
R2
V VB2
B1
VB
Figure 2
Sequence Method of Synchronising
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The condition for synchronising is indicated when the red lamp is out and the yellow
and blue lamps are of equal brightness. This is much more accurate. Furthermore,
the sequence of brightness reverses from too slow to too fast.
Bus Bars
R
L L L
Incoming
Generator
VR
R2 R1
VB VR V R1
V Y2
V
Y1
V
B2 B1 R2
VY
V
B1
Y2 Y1
Bus Bars V
B2
R Figure 3
Paralleling with Synchroscope

Y
B
Incoming Voltmeter
V S F V
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PTM / Jul 2002 80 Bus SP
Bar/ SMA
Incoming Synchroscope Voltmeter
Generator

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Figure 4
Synchronising Power
If one alternator is ahead of another in phase when the synchronising switch is

closed; i.e. the generator emfs are not in phase, a resultant emf, Ec ia set up in the
local circuit even though the alternator e.m.f.s or terminal voltage are equal.
The synchronising current, Ic set up by this e.m.f. takes power from the machine that
is running faster and delivers it to the machine that is running slower. Thus the faster
machine is pulled back or accelerated by motor action, until their voltages come
more nearly into phase.
(A time delay of say 5 seconds prevents reverse power tripping due to surges at
synchronising).
This action reduces Ec and therefore reduces Ic so that again, the synchronising
current limits itself. The greater the phase displacement of the e.m.f.s when the
synchronising switch is closed, the greater are Ec and Ic and the more violent is the
action pulling the machines into phase. This sets up dangerous high values of
torque on the shafts against the driving torque of the prime movers.
Assume machines are synchronised when E1 of alternator 1 is Φ° in advance of its

proper phase relation to E2 of alternator 2 shown as E1’. IC
E'1
0-
Ec φ
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PTM / Jul 2002 81 E1
SP / SMA
E2

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Figure 5
Resultant e.m.f. is Ec.
The current Ic again lags behind Ec by the angle θ determined by the ratio of
reactance to resistance in the circuit between the machines.
The power P1 generated in alternator 1 is
P1 = E1Ic cos α
and power P2 generated in altrernator 2 is
P2 = E2Ic cos β
Note that P1 is positive, representing generator action and P2 is negative

representing motor action, This results in pulling E1 back (clockwise) and pushing E2
ahead (counter-clockwise) thus bringing them more nearly into phase (180° to each
other in the local circuit) as they should have been when synchronised.
The mechanical power which is exchanged between the machines while they are
out of phase and which brings them into phase is very important for the successful
operation of alternators in parallel. It is called synchronising power and the
circulating or synchronising current is so called because it keeps the machine in
synchronism.°
PARALLEL OPERATION OF 2 ALTERNATORS
After two alternators are synchronised, it is worthwhile to consider how their

operation is affected by a change of either the excitation or power input to prime-
mover.
Consider 2 unloaded alternators running in parallel with E1 = E2 so that the resultant

voltage in the local circuit is zero. Their emf’s are in phase wrt the external circuit
and in phase opposition wrt the local circuit as shown in Figure 6.
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E1
I1
I2
XS
IS
Terminal volttage
R across a load
E1 E2
E1 E2
E2
External Local
Circuit Circuit
Figure 6
Effect of change prime-mover power input on no-load
Suppose the alternator 1 gets extra input, its rotor will accelerate and emf E1
will get ahead of E2. As a consequence there is a resultant voltage Ec = E1 - E2 in
the local series circuit which will drive a current, Ic through the two armatures.
The current Ic lags behind Ec by 90° (because alternator impedance is predominantly

reactive).
From Fig. 7 it is seen that Ic known as synchronising current is almost in phase with
E1 and in phase opposition to E2.
Alternator 1 is generating a power:
E1 Ic cos θ1 which is positive ( θ1 < 90° )
Alternator 2 is generating a power:
E2 Ic cos θ2 which is negative ( θ2 > 90° ).
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In other words, alternator 1experiences a generating action tending to retard it and

alternator 2 receives the power generated by Alternator 1 and thus experience
motoring action tending to accelerate it.
It is thus seen that there is an automatic synchronizing action, tending to retard the
faster machine and accelerate the slower machine, thereby maintaining the
synchronism.
E1
IC
Ec
2
Local Circuit
E2
Figure 7
Effect of change prime-mover power input on load
Suppose the 2 alternators are now equally loaded such that I1 = I2 and internal pf
cos θ1 = cos θ2. If fuel supply to alternator 1 is increased by governor setting Ic is set
up as before.
For alternator 1
New increased value of current = I1’ of pf Cos θ1’
For alternator 2
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New decreased value of current = I2’ at pf Cos θ2’.
From Figure 8 which shows the phasor diagram giving distribution of load, it is clear
that
E1 I1’ Cos θ1’ > E1 I1 Cos θ1 and E2 I2’ Cos θ2.
Thus it can be stated that the effect of increasing fuel to prime-mover is to make it
take an increase share of the load whereas the other alternator operating in parallel
with it is relieved of its load by a corresponding amount.
E1
I '
1
'
1
I
1
1
IC
Ec
'
I2
'
2 2
I2
Figure 8
E1
I '
1 Figure 9 shows the
E
2 graphical summation of
' vectors shown above.
1
I
1
1
IC
Ec
'
I2
' 2
2
2 I
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E2

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Figure 9
Effect of changing the excitation
Consider again 2 alternators running in parallel at no-load with E1 = E2. If the

excitation of alternator 1is increased a resultant voltage Ec = E1 - E2 is established in
the local circuit. Since the impedances of the local circuit is mainly reactive, Ic lag Ec
by about 90°. It is found that Ic produced armature reaction, which is demagnetising
for alternator 1 and magnetising for alternator 2, tending to equalise the 2 alternator
emf’s.
If two alternators are equally loaded and the currents are I1 and I2 at internal pf
angles θ1 and θ2 respectively.
An increase in the excitation of alternator 1 gives rise to a resultant emf
EC = E1 - E2
which circulates a load current Ic. This circulating current Ic must be added to I1 and
I2 to get the new currents. These are I1’ for alternator I and I2’ for alternator 2.
From Figure 10 which is a phasor diagram showing the effect of excitation, it is seen
that though I1’ has increased, its real power component is unchanged and similarly
I2’ has decreased but its real component remains the same.
It can thus be said that a change in the excitation modifies the distribution of reactive
power but the division of active or real power is unaltered.
Thus it can be concluded that for 2 alternators working in parallel
a) a variation of prime-mover governor setting changes the distribution of active

power shared by the 2 alternators.
b) a variation of the excitation determine the terminal voltage and distribution of

reactive power of the two alternators.
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E1 E1
E2 E2
I '
' 1
1 I
1
Ec Ec
IC
IC
2
'
I2 2
'
I2
E2 E2
Figure 10
Parallel Running of Generators
Alternators in parallel must be driven at the same electrical speed; that is at the
same frequency. The terminal voltages of all parallel connected generators must be
the same, since their terminals are all respectively connected together.
Hence a 4-pole alternator, driven at 1800 rpm may be operated in parallel with a 6-
pole alternator driven at 1200 rpm. Each generates a 60 cycle e.m.f. and therefore
is driven at the same electrical speed.
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Parallel Operation of Alternators

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Module : Electrical Engineering MT 3011

Topic : Parallel Operation of Alternators