Reverse Power Relay
Reverse Power Relay
Reverse Power Relay
If reverse power relay does not works what damages will be occured with respect to all machineries, what will happen to direction of alternator when changes to motor situation?
The reverse power relay prevents an alternator from becoming a motor. Once connected to the busbar, an alternator or synchronous generator will always run at the speed/frequency of the
grid. If the throttle/steam valve has been advanced or opened from synchronous or no-load speed, it exerts torque against the rotor in the forward direction which generates electricity. If the
throttle position is below synchronous or no-load speed, it is "Motorized" or driven in the same direction as before, except that energy now has to be supplied to the alternator from the grid to
keep the same speed (A waste of energy, and not what is intended at all).
The reverse power relay watches voltage and current to ensure this does not happen. If the generator/alternator begins to be motorized, the reverse power relay trips the generator breaker so
no damage to either system occurs.
One problem is that running a generator as an electric motor is horribly wasteful. Driving the whole valve train or turbine rotor with purchased power is never intentional, and can only occur if
there is a problem with some part of the control system. Damage can occur to the engine or turbine because it is not designed to be a driven element
The failure can be caused to a starvation of fuel in the prime mover, a problem with the speed controller or an other breakdown. When the prime mover of a
generator running in a synchronized condition fails. There is a condition known as motoring, where the generator draws power from the bus bar, runs as a motor
and drives the prime mover. This happens as in a synchronized condition all the generators will have the same frequency. Any drop in frequency in one generator
will cause the other power sources to pump power into the generator. The flow of power in the reverse direction is known as the reverse power relay.
Another cause of reverse power can occur during synchronization. If the frequency of the machine to be synchronized is slightly lesser than the bus bar frequency
and the breaker is closed, power will flow from the bus bar to the machine. Hence, during synchronization(forward), frequency of the incoming machine is kept
slight higher than that of the bus bar i.e. the synchroscope is made to rotate in the "Too fast" direction. This ensures that the machine takes on load as soon as the
breaker is closed.