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Society of Petroleum Engineers

SPE 39838

Automatic Synchronization of Electric Generators Based on PLC’S

Abelardo Rivera / Grupo Industrial del Atlantico

Copyright 1998, Society of Petroleum En~meers, Inc,

bus, called reference generator, requires synchronization.
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 199s SpE I“temational petroleum Electric synchronization means to satisfi three electric
Conference and Exhtbitlon of Mextco held In Vlllahermosa, Mextw, 3-5 March 1998
conditions before closing its respective circuit breaker._The:e
This paper waa selected for presentation by an SPE Program Committee followlng review-of
information contained in an abstract suti!tied by the author(s) Contents of the paper, as conditions are: Frequency, Phase and Voltage.
presented, have not been reviewed by the Society of Petroleum En~ineers and are subj~ to
Wrrection by the author(s) The material, as presented, doea not necassarlly reflect any
Frequency. Synchronizing generator frequency must be as
psibon of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Its officers, w membars. Pa@rs ~esented al close as possible to the frequency of the reference generator.
SPE meetin~s are subject to publication raview by Editcmal Committees of the Society of
Petroleum Engineers Electronic reprcductlon, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper This condition is obtained by speed adjustments of the engine
for commercial purposes without the written wnsent of the .swtety of Petroleum Enginears is
prohibited Permission to reproduce in print is restrictd to an abstract of not more than 300 (a motor or a turbine) slowing it if the frequency is high or
words illustrations may not be copied The abstract must wntai” ~spimous
acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was presented, Wte Librarian, SPE, P, O
raising it if the frequency is low.
Box S338%, Richardson, TX 7WS3-3S3S, U S A, fax 01-972-952-9435, Phase. Once the synchronizing generator frequency value is
within acceptable limits, the synchronizing generator phase
Abstract must be moved toward the reference generator phase. This
Pemex Exploration y Production offshore marine platforms condition is obtained by small speed adjustments of the engine
are located in the Gulf of Mexico. Inhabited platforms need avoiding putting the adjusted frequency out of limits.
electric energy to operate their processes and motors. This Voltage. It is important that the synchronizing generator
energy is supplied by motorgenerators and turbogenerators. voltage must be as close as possible to the reference generator
Typically, a marine platform has 2, 3 or more generators to voltage to avoid parasite reactive currents between generators.
always have electric energy available. The motorgenerators This will be reflected in the J! lue of the power factor of each
and turbogenerators have a control system where operating generator, the greater the volts<: difference, the greater the
personnel can start, stop and parallel them. Parallel generators power factor difference.
mean to connect 2 or 3 generators to the same bus. The energy Once these three condition}; are satisfied, the
supplied to the bus is divided among the paralleled generators synchronizing generator circuit breaLer is closed and then the
and each generator supplies energy proportional to its load-sharing circuits are used to share the connected load
maximum capacity. The greater the capaci~, the greater the among the paralleled generators.
energy it supplies. Most electric generator systems are stoped, Figure 2 shows the 3 electric conditions to be satisfied
started, and paralleled manually, but some systems have before closing the circuit breaker.
changed to automatic control systems based on Programmable
Logic Controllers (PLC). Engine and Generator Control Loops
How the 3 synchronizing conditions are controled requires
Electric Generator Systems understanding two important control loops found in any
An electric generator system consists of 1 or more 3-phase turbogenerator or motorgenerator: one for the engine (motor
turbogenerators or 3-phase motorgenerators, each one is or turbine) and the other for the generator.
connected to the same electric bus by means of a circuit The engine control loop is used to control its speed with
breaker. The system has a control panel where personnel can great accuarcy, it basically consists of an electronic circuit
start, stop and, parallel the generators if the system has more board called Load Sharing and Speed Control (LSSC), a
than 1. Also, from the control panel, operators can monitor magnetic pick up to sense the speed and an actuator to control
the electric parameters of each generator such as voltage, the quantity of fiel to the engine. The magnetic pickup senses
current, fiecuency, etc. Figure 1 shows an electric generator the speed from a gear inside the engine and converts it to a
system with 3 generators. frequency signal proportional to engine speed. The greater the
Systems with more than 1 generator require synchronizing frequency, the greater the speed. A frequency to voltage
circuits to parallel them. Paralleling an electric generator, converter receives the pick up frequency inside the LSSC
called synchronizing generator, with another connected to the board and changes it to a proportional dc voltage. A speed-

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2 ABEL4RD0 RIVERA SPE 39838

reference circuit generates a dc reference voltage to which the synchronizinggenerator frees its load smoothly, automatically
speed-signal dc voltage is compared. An error signal is opens its circuit breaker and, stops after a 5 minute cooldown
obtained if the speed-signal dc voltage is lower or higher than period. Generator systems with more than 2 generators can be
the reference voltage. This error signal is amplified and fed to implemented with an emergency starting. If one generator
the actuator which responds to this signal by repositioning the connected to the bus fails, non priority loads are quickly
fuel arm changing the speed of the engine until the speed- disconnected and immediately the next motorgenerator
signal dc voltage and the dc reference voltage are equal. available in the emergency sequencing list is started,
The generator control loop is used to precisely control the synchronized and connected to the bus, sharing the load with
output ac generating voltage value. It basically consists of an the remaining generators. The non priority loads are then
electronic circuit board called the Automatic Voltage connected again. Non priority loads could be the habitational
Regulator (AVR), in some cases a set of sensing transformers, plataform, telecommunicationplatform, lights, etc.
and the generator field. The AVR senses the generator voltage
which is rectified and compared with a reference voltage. An Control System Panel
error signal is obtained if the rectified sensing voltage is The most important part of a fully automated electric
higher or lower than the reference voltage. This error signal is generator system is its control system. It controls and monitors
amplified and supplies the field current to maintain the every thing on each motorgenerator. It consists of a PLC
predetermined ratio between the generator voltage and the (ProgrammableLogic Controller) Control Panel, and for each
reference voltage. motorgenerator of the system; a Load Sharing and Speed
Control board, an Automatic Voltage Regulator, a Circuit
Automatic Electric Generation System Breaker and a Local Control Panel.
A fully automated electric generation system with the use of PLC Control Panel. This is the brain of the control system. It
turbogenerators is more difficult to implement because of the has enough intelligence to start, stop, synchronize, load share,
complex starting and stopping sequencing of a turbine. On the and adjust the AC generation voltage. Its size depends on the
other hand, an electric generation system with the use of number of motorgenerators the electric system has, two
motorgenerators is easier to implement because the starting motorgenerators per PLC control panel is recommended,
and stoping tasks do not represent any complexity. For this although if it is desired to increase the fault tolerance of the
reason, automatic electric generation systems have only been electric generation system a PLC control panel per each
implemented with the use of motorgenerators instead of motorgenerator could be implemented. The PLC control panel
turbogenerators. is fed with 24 VDC from the motorgenerator batteries and
The funtional philosop,iy of an automatic electric consists of the folowing electronic modules: Central Processor
generation system require’ obtaining from the user, the need Unit (CPU), 24 VDC digital input (DI) modules, 24 VDC
for full automation or j ~’.lsome tasks like synchronization and digital output (DO) modules, + IO VDC analog output (AO)
load sharing, The f~,llowing is a description of a fully modules and a Line Synchronization Module (LSM) for each
automated electric generation system using 2 or more motorgenerator on the system.
motorgenerators that has been successfully implemented in Central Processor Unit. CPU has 16K memory words and
offshore L1’1production platforms: The first generator a maximum capacity of512 Input/Output (1/0) points. It has 2
connected [o the bus is called the reference generator and it configurable communication ports DH+ / Rem 1/0 to
supplies :!{I the energy to the load. The load does not remain communicate with other PLC control panels or with Man-
fixed and It is continuouslymeasured in kilowatts (Kw) by the Machine Interfaces (MMI) to have graphical control and
control system. When it detects the load has increased to 85°/0 monitoring of the electric generator system.
of the maximum capacity of the reference generator, (Kw 1), a Basically, the CPU receives electric parameters from the
second motorgenerator called the synchronizing generator, LSM and digital signals of engine status through DI modules
(Kw2), is automatically started, synchronized and shares the fi-om the motorgenerator local control panel and circuit
load with the reference generator. Now, the electric energy breakers. It then processes this information inside its memory
capacity of the bus is equal to Kw 1+ Kw2. If the system has using many program files. With its programmed logic, it sends
more than 2 motorgenerators a starting sequence, user power monitoring parameters to the MMI. It starts and stops
programmed, is used to determine which synchronizing the motorgeneratorss, and it opens or closes the circuit
generator would be the first which the second, etc. At this breakers through DO modules. If synchronization or load
point two events can take place in the system; another increase sharing is required it controls engine speed and AC voltage
in load for more than 85°/0 of Kw 1 + Kw2 or a decrease in generation level through an AO module based on voltage,
load below the 30% of Kw 1 + Kw2. If the first event happens, frequency, phase and load-share match errors received from
then a third motorgenerator, called synchronizing generator 2, the LSM.
is started, synchronized and shares the load with the The CPU has Master Control Programs (MCP) and
generators in the bus. If the the second event happens, the subroutines (SBR) running inside its memory. A MCP is a

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SPE 39838 AUTOMATIC SYNCHRONl~TION OF ELECTRIC GENERATORS BASED ON PLC’S 3

main program executing a specific task, and a subroutine is a Many data files of the same type are defined. To recognize
program that can only be executed if it is called from a MCP. one from the other a number is assigned to each defined file.
MCP’S can be assigned as follows for an electric generator “In”this “way”sets of data are defined and assigned to “-tiach
system with 2 motorgenerators: generator to have an organized information system avoiding a
confused mixing of data from all the motorgenerators. For
MCP General initialization program
02 instance: B3, T4, C5, R6, N7, N8 are general use system data
MCP Alarming
03 files; N1O, Nil, N12 ,..B13–., T!4,.C15, R1.6, F18 are data files
MCP Man Machine Interface (MMI) program
04 assigned exclusively to generator number 1; N20, N21, N22,
McP Motorgenerators Emergency sequencing
05 B23, T24, C25, R26, F28 are data files assigned to
MCP Start and stop sequencing of motorgenerator 1
06 motorgenerator number 2; etc. More files are assigned
MCP Start and stop sequencing of motorgenerator 2
07 depending on the number of motorgenerators in the system.
MCP Synchronization and load sharing of motor-
10 Digital Input modules. DI’s are used to sense on-off input
generator 1 “ signals from generators. 24” VDC from the motorgenerator
MCP 11 Synchronization and load sharing of motor- batteries is used a.sa s.en.singinput voltage. The most comon
generator 2 input signals per motorgenerator are:

SBR’S can be assigned as follows for the same system: FCR = It closes when the motor fuel solenoid is closed.
RR = It closes when the motor has started its cranking
SUB )4 Reference motorgenerator assignment sequencing.
SUB 15 Proportional and integral (PI) control CTR = Itcloses when the motor is running.
SUB 20 Block transfers with LSM 1 GFR = Itcloses when the motor has an emergency shut-
SUB 21 Block transfers with LSM 2 down due to low oil pressure, high water temp-
SUB 24 Block transfers with AO modules erature or motor overspeed.
SUB 30 Motorgenerator 1 alarms CBO = It closes when the Circuit Breaker is open.
SUB 31 Motorgenerator 2 alarms AMS = It is closed when the generator local control panel
SUB 34 General system alarms is required to operate in automatic mode (Auto-
SUB 39 Engine running hours Manual Switch).
SUB 41 Motorgenerator 1 AVR control
SUB 42 Motorgenerator 2 AVR control Digital output modules. no’s are used to control on-off
devices on motorgenerators a)’d their auxiliary control parts
Data files store information for internal use and specific such as the LSSC board and the ? VR board. 24 VDC from the
for each motorgenerator of the system. The CPU uses this data motorgenerator batteries is used as.” n output control voltage.
to make its decisions such as how much it must increase or The most common output signals per <enerator are:
decrease the motorgeneretor speed based on the frequency
match error between the reference motorgenerator and the MAS = It starts and stops the motorgenerator throu~~hits
synchronizinggenerator, or which motorgenerator must start if local control panel.
one on the bus fails, etc. Data is organized inside the CPU MRS = It controls the idle-rate nlotorgeneratt~~speed
memory in many kinds of data files depending on its type. through LSSC board. .
Common data files used in a system are: LSC = It controls the load-sharing LSSC circuits if it is
desired LSSC has the control instead of the LSM.
B= Bit. To store bit information. CCB = It closes the generator Circuit Breaker.
BT = Block transfer. To transfer information to and from OCB = It opens the generator Circuit Breaker.
AO, LSM and interface modules. RL = It turns on a green light to show motorgenerator
c= Counter. To count events. running. --
F= Floating. To store floating point numbers. FL = It turns on a red light to show motorgenerator with
[=Input. To store digital inputs from motorgenerators. fault.
N. Integer. To store integer numbers. VRO = Itconnects the input power to the AVR to turn it
MG = Message. To transfer information among CPU’s via on.
DH+.
0. Output. To store digital outputs to motorgenerators. Analog output modules. AO’S are used for regulating
PD = PID. To store PID control loop data. analog control of engine speed and generator output ac
R. Control. Auxiliary in advanced CPU instructions. voltage value. Analog speed control is used for
T. Timer. To achieve time delays. synchronization purposes only. The LSSC board is in charge
to control the engine speed at its rated value. AO speed control

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4 ABELARDO RIVERA SPE 39838

supplies a -10 to -I-1OVDC to an auxiliary input in the LSSC requirements.

board to decrease or increase the speed from the engine rated- Load Share Match Error = (Load Sharing Input Voltage)/
speed. A special Proportional-Integral (PI) routine is used (Load Share Full-Scale Voltage) - (Actual Kw Power) /
instead of a normal PID control because the control variable (Maximum Generator Kw Power)
can take negative values when it is required to decrease engine
speed to match frecuency and phase conditions in the LSM performs as a multi-function digital power monitor
synchronization stage. for the system. The most important electric monitoring
The analog voltage control supplies a Oto +10 VDC to set parameters obtained from the module are: Synchronizing Bus
the ac ouput generating voltage at bus voltage level (240 Current per phase in Amps, Synchronizing Bus Voltage per
VAC, or 480 VAC, etc.). In this case, a normal PID control is phase in Volts, Synchronizing Bus Frequency in Hz,
used to reach the desired bus voltage level once the input Synchronizing Bus Phase Rotation (ABC, ACB), Power
power has been connected to the AVR and the motorgenerator Factor in Percent, Real Power in Watts, Apparent Power in
is running at rated speed. Voltage contiol is very important VA, Reactive Power in VAR, Potier Consumption in Kw-
when 2 or more motorgenerators are connected to the bus. Hours, Reactive Power Consumption in KVAR-Hours,
When the generating voltage of one generator is slightly Reference Bus Voltage per phase in Volts, Reference Bus
higher than the other, it is reflected in a decrease in its power Frequency in Hz, Reference Bus Phase Rotation (ABC, ACB).
factor and an increase in the power factor of the other because To measure voltages and currents Potential Transformers
the first supplies forward reactive power to the second. The (PT) and Current Transformers (CT) are used. PT’s and CT’s
control system detects this power factor difference and must provide accurate linearity and maintain the proper phase
compensates for it by slightly reducing the ac voltage level of relationship between voltage and current in order for the Phase
that generator with the lower power factor until power factors Error, Power, and Power Factor calculations to be valid. The
of the generators connected to the bus remain almost equal. module allows 3 types of PT connection: Star (wYE), Delta
With this philosophy the system not only shares real power or open Delta. PT’s primary voltage rating must be between
but also reactive power automatically. 120 and 115,000 Volts. CT’s primary ampere rating must be
The 2 output analog signals used per motorgenerator are: between 5 and 10,000 Amps. Figure 3 shows the connection
of PT and CT to the LSM.
SC= It accurately controls the engine speed through an Before the LSM can perform its intended functions it must
auxiliary input in the LSSC board. be configured with the appropriate data store in a CPU integer
VC = It accurately contr[)ls the output generator ac file. Configuration data is sent from the CPU memory to the
voltage level through an auxiliary input in the module memory via block transfers and must be done once at
AVR board. the begining or when configuration data is desired to be
changed. Configuration data is compared with acceptable
Line synchronization Module. One LSM per generator is values and an acknowledgment is received in the CPU from
needed in the PLC control system. It measures 3 phase ac the module if it is correct, if not, an error indication identifies
voltage and 3 phase ac current from the synchronizing the illegal or out of range entries.
generator bu~. and 3 phase ac voltage from the reference Upon successful configuration the LSM will be in one of
generator [Jr main bus. It provides control and the following the following operation modes controlled by CPU program:
error si~f4als to implement engine control speed for Monitor only, Synchronization and Monitor, and Monitor with
synchronization: Load Share.
In Monitor only operation mode, the LSM transfers all the
Voltage Match Error = 100 X (Reference Bus Voltage -
electric data parameters to the CPU data files for power
Synchronization Bus voltage) / (Reference Bus voltage)
monitoring every 200 milliseconds. Voltage, frequency, phase
Frecuency Match Error = (Reference Bus Frequency) - and load share match errors are set to zero.
In Synchronization and Monitor operation mode the LSM
(Synchronizing Bus frequency)
transfers all electric parameters as in Monitor only mode every
Phase Match Error = (Reference Bus Voltage Zero-cross second. Voltage, phase and voltage match errors are valid and
Degrees) - (Synchronizing Bus Voltage Zero-cross Degrees) they are updated every 100 milliseconds. Besides
synchronizing match error values the LSM supplies the
The LSM provides an analog output signal that is following digital signals during synchronization: Voltage
representative of the ratio of the power being supplied by the within limits, Frequency within limits, Phase within limits,
generator to the maximun output rating of the generator. It Phase rotation mismatch failure, No reference Bus voltage
also reads an analog input signal that represents the ratio of present failure, No synchronizing bus voltage present failure.
the total system load being supplied to the total system Once the 3 synchronizing conditions are satisfied for a
capacity and provides an error signal to adjust the generator preconfiguerd lapse time the LSM asserts the close circuit
for proper load sharing based on the instantaneous load

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SPE 39838 AUTOMATIC SYNCHRONIZATION OF ELECTRIC GENERATORS BASED ON PLC’S 5

breaker signal. functions as an interface between the engine and the PLC
In M~nitor with Load Share operation mode the LSM control panel for starting, stoping and alarming.
transfers all the electric data parameters as in Monitor only
operation mode with load share match error valid. Results
Synchronization match errors are set to zero. Automatic PLC based electric generation systems have been
Load Sharing and Speed Control. The LSSC normal successfully installed in some marine platforms in the Gulf of
operation maintains automatically the rated speed of engine Mexico since 1994.
for any load changes. It can perform load sharing capabilities Two small systems with two 205 Kw motorgenerators
with the use of potential transformers and current transformers were intalled on the equipment used for corrosion
connected to the generator AC output to sense the kilowatts maintenance. These systems use 4 row 20 character displays
being supplied to the load. The LSSC board has 2 engine as MMI. Motorgenerators can start manually or by load
speeds controlled by the PLC digital output channel; idle and requirements. In both cases synchronization and load sharing
rated. These speeds are trim adjusted and it changes from idle are automatically performed.
to rated with user adjusted acceleration ramp. An electric generation system with three 205 Kw
It has an auxiliary analog input for speed control. This motorgenerators was fully automated in the telecommunication
input is used by the PLC through an analog output channel to platform called Eco 1. This system has a 4 row 20 character
accurately control the engine speed for synchronization display as MMI and a keypad panel which is used to program
purposes. the motorgenerator start sequence. Motorgenerators can start
The LSSC board is fed with 24 Vdc from batteries. manually or by load requirements. Also if a motorgenerator
Automatic Voltage Regulator. The AVR normal operation fails the next motorgenerator available in the sequencing list
maintains automatically the generator output voltage value for will be started. Synchronization and load sharing are
any load changes. It also reduces circulating parasite reactive automatically performed.
currents between paralleled generators by the use of a current A generation system with four 550 Kw motorgenerators
transformer connected to one phase of each generator. fiis was filly automated on the Rebombeo platform. This system
connection only reduces parasite reactive currents but does not consists of two PLC control panels each one used to control
eliminate them, for this reason, the PLC through an analog two motorgenerators and a color graphic monitor as MMI.
output channel accurately adjusts the generator output The PLC’S are intercommunicated via DH+ LAN. The
voltage level to eliminate parasite reactive currents. This is motorgeneratorss are programmed in an emergency start
reflected in homogeneous power factors of paralleled sequence. If one motorgener(ltor fails the next one available in
generators. the list will be started. Motorgenerators can not start by load
The AVR must be connected only when the engine is requirements but can start man: ?1ly or automatically in case
running at rated speed to avoid damage, for this reason, the of an emergency. There are two op’z.-atingmodes: manual and
PLC turns it on and off through a DO channel. automatic. Manual mode is used in .?se a PLC control panel
Circuit Breaker. The CB connects the 3 phase generator fails and synchronization is done manually by system
power bus to the main power bus where load is connected. It operators.
has short circuit protection and overload protection. The PLC
senses its state (open or close) with an auxiliary switch Conclusions
connected to one DI channel. Automatic electric generation systems base,’ on PLC’s
It can be operated manually or electrically, manual have reduced its size and spare parts. The contro[, alarming
operation is used in case the PLC control panel fails, and shutdown of the motorgenerators are now integrated
electrical operation is controled by the PLC through two DO inside the PLC control panels eliminating many of the general
channels; one to close and the other to open. purpose relays, protection relays, analog indicators, pilot
Local Control Panel. Motorgenerators are located in a room lights, etc. that the old system had. Electric protections such
separated from the control room where the control system as: high generation voltage, low generation voltage, low
panel is found. Local control panels are joined to frequency, low power factor, motorgenerator overload,
motorgenerators and display engine parameters and generator reverse power, are now detected through PLC logic. Only
parameters locally for maintenance purposes such as: oil reverse power protection relay has been installed to protect the
pressure, water temperature, engine speed, running hours, engine in parallel with the reverse power protection done by
battery voltage, 3 phase ac voltage, 3 phase ac current and the PLC logic.
frequency. System control troubleshooting time has been decrease
Also a local control panel allows the operator to start and dramatically because PLC based systems have an average
stop the motorgenerator manually, it is specially useful in case MTTR (Mean Time To Repair) of about 15 minutes.
a PLC control panel fails. Furthermore, in case a PLC control panel fails a
The local control panel is microprocessor based and motorgenerator can be started manually from its local control

13
6 ABELARDO RIVERA SPE 39838

panel.

YT
Human errors have been decreased in the generation G To other
system because it is fully automatic. The system has the ability LSM LSM “S
to log electric alarms and motorgenerator shutdowns in the Load
PT jll~ share
sequence they have occured allowing the first fault in the
Synch.
system that causes the problem to be known.
The system can easily be upgraded or can have its control CT
functions increased by simply adding the corresponding
Input/Output modules and changing, or adding CPU
programs. DH+ and REM 1/0 LAN’s are very useful to enable
the growth of a consistent system.
PT
w.
.,
Fig.3- LSM needs a set of 3 PT’s and 3 CT’s to measure 3
M M M ~hase synchronizing voltage and current, and 3 PT’s to

!!!
.
measure 3 phase reference voltage. Load share lines are
G G G Gen. Bus 3 @ connected to other LSM’s of the automatic electric generation
system.
/

‘ CB ‘ CB ‘ CB
) I
) 1
)I

I Main Bus 3@

Load

Fig. 1- A typical Electric Generation System with 3

motorgenerators. The System capacity is equal to the sum of
the rated Kw of each generat~~ [Kw 1 + Kw2 + Kw3).

Fig.2-” Wave forms to the left show that Synchronizing

conditions are not satisfied by the synchronizing generator,
while the wave forms to the right satisfi them.

114