Application Guidance Notes: Technical Information from Cummins Generator Technologies

AGN 039 – Marine Shaft Generators

DEFINITION

A shaft generator is a term used by the Marine industry. It means an a.c. generator (alternator)
that is to be driven by the Ships main engine. The main ship propulsion shaft from the engine
to the propeller passes through a large gearbox, and this gearbox can have more than one
auxiliary shaft for driving pieces of equipment such as compressors or hydraulic pumps, or
maybe an alternator. This application for an alternator just having the general description, and
known to all as: the shaft generator.

Before the shaft generator can be used to supply power, the ships main engine and therefore
propeller shaft, must be running at a fixed speed appropriate for the shaft generator to supply
a useable output of voltage and frequency. Most ships operate at 450V, 60Hz. This means that
the only time the shaft generator may be used to supply power, is when the ship is at sea and
cruising at a constant speed.

Under cruising conditions, the ships main engine has plenty of power to spare. It therefore
makes good economic sense to make use of the main engine and 'stand down' the diesel-
engined generators that are used at all the times when the ships main engine is either running
too fast or too slow. This happens mostly, when the ship is approaching or leaving port, or in
heavy traffic areas, or in difficult navigational areas.

SHAFT GENERATOR DESIGN

Two bearing alternators are always used for shaft generator applications. The shaft generator
will be turning – unexcited – on all occasions when the shaft running speed is outside the
required speed for the shaft generator to supply power. The generator to gearbox coupling will
be quite an elaborate flexible coupling. The ship’s design engineers will consider carefully, the

AGN 039 ISSUE C/1/10

weight of the coupling half that is to be fitted to the generator shaft. If this coupling half is too
heavy it could stress the shaft generator’s bearings.

With the shaft generator spinning for many hours at many different speeds and for much of
this time unexcited, the ships maintenance schedule should include clear guidance about
bearing regreasing instructions. It is recommended that the shaft generator is fitted with re-
greasable bearings, which should be specified at time of order.

When the shaft generator is aligned with the gearbox drive shaft, the ships design engineer
must take great care to allow for the thermal expansion of the hot gearbox, which may well
expand and lift the shaft centre line by < 1 mm.

If the alignment is not accurate, then excessive vibration is likely to damage the shaft
generator. There can also be lots of generator damaging vibration when the main engine is
running at slow speeds and also when the ship is in storm conditions, because the ship’s hull
flexes and so the gearbox to generator alignment becomes distorted.

An experienced ship design engineer will know of these potential problems and will ensure that
the coupling between gearbox and the shaft generator is a high quality, designed for purpose
unit, which can absorb misalignment, and also torsional vibrations to help the generator remain
reliable.

POWER TAKE OUT (PTO) / POWER TAKE IN (PTI) / POWER TAKE HOME (PTH)

Marine shaft generators are often required to operate in a multi-function role. They could
operate as an alternator to provide the vessels primary electrical power supply. This is the
conventional use of an alternator for Power Take Out (PTO). They could operate as an electric
motor to provide a short/medium term power boost alongside the propulsion engine. This is
known as Power Take In (PTI). Alternatively, the shaft generator could operate as an
independent method of propulsion, when the main engine is out of commission. This is
normally a very short term or emergency use known as Power Take Home (PTH). The
following drawing shows a typical ship’s arrangement and layout of a shaft electrical machine.

AGN 039 ISSUE C/2/10

PTO (Power Take Out) mode of operation

The shaft generator is operating as an alternator, driven from the main propulsion engine,
providing the primary power supply for the vessel electrical systems. The following drawing
shows a typical PTO layout with power flow direction.

PTI (Power Take In) mode of operation

In this mode of operation, the shaft generator is operating as a synchronous motor (electrical
power being supplied by the vessels auxiliary diesel generator sets). It can either provide a
boost in power, working alongside the main engine to increase vessel speed, or it allows the
main engine to reduce power, thereby lowering fuel consumption and wear on the main
engine. In this PTI mode of operation, the shaft generator does not require a self-starting
capability, because under normal circumstances, it will already be spinning as an alternator
before switching over to motor mode. The following drawing shows a typical PTI layout with
power flow direction.

AGN 039 ISSUE C/3/10

PTH (Power Take Home) mode of operation

As with PTI, the shaft generator is operating as a synchronous motor in this mode of operation.
However, this time it is providing 100% of the ship’s propulsion power. In emergency
situations, this could be due to failure of the main engine or the main engine requiring critical,
unplanned maintenance. In other cases, this can be a normal mode of operation. Occurrences
such as the main engine requiring routine maintenance or the main engine being stopped
when the ship is entering port. Unlike PTI mode, in this mode of operation, the shaft generator
needs to have a self-starting capability to run up as a motor from zero speed. The following
drawing shows the layout of a typical PTH application with power flow direction.

Self-Starting Methods for PTH

In many cases the PTH mode of operation is required comparatively few times during the
lifespan of the shaft generator. Therefore, primarily for reasons of cost, an alternator is
adopted for use as a motor and so will not have the inbuilt robust rotor design (particularly the
damper cage) and excitation system needed to generate the necessary torque for starting
from zero shaft speed, when compared to a designated synchronous motor. Consequently, a
method of soft-starting has to be applied to the shaft generator during start up and in the case
of AvK products, some modifications to the machine are also necessary.

Due consideration must be afforded by the ship’s design engineers to the paralleling of the
shaft generators with the ship’s electrical system, ensuring voltage, phase and frequency is
matching. Once the machine is paralleled and now running as a motor, the excitation system
needs to be controlled to enable it to develop sufficient torque and power to drive the gearbox
and therefore, the propeller.

There are a number of different methods that can be employed for starting the shaft generator
when it is used in PTH mode as a motor. STAMFORD alternators are not suitable for PTH
operation. This Application Guidance Note continues to describe five of the most well-known
solutions; however, Cummins Generator Technologies do not offer any of these five motor
starting methods on AvK alternators.

AGN 039 ISSUE C/4/10

 1. Pony Motor Start
The shaft of the electrical machine (shaft generator) is physically connected and driven up to
speed by an additional (smaller) electric motor, which will then disengage once synchronous
speed is achieved. The following drawing shows a typical arrangement and the equipment
needed.

The starter for the pony motor could be Star/Delta, Electronic Soft Starter, Autotransformer or
Inverter/VFD, fed by the auxiliary generators G1, G2, G3 as shown.

2. Auto-Transformer Start
An auto-transformer is used to reduce the voltage level supplied to the shaft generator main
terminals, thereby restricting the inrush current to acceptable levels. However, it is important
to ensure that sufficient inrush current is provided to produce the necessary breakaway torque
to turn the shaft generator’s shaft. This current level is best determined during the
commissioning process on-board the vessel. The following drawing shows a typical
arrangement and the equipment needed.

AGN 039 ISSUE C/5/10

The shaft generator is started as an asynchronous motor with this method and therefore,
requires some modifications to the excitation system of the machine. These modifications are
explained later on in this AGN.

3. Excitation controlled start (single propeller)

There are two systems to consider with regard to excitation controlled starting; single propeller
system and twin propeller system. In this case, the inrush current can be limited by using a
Stator Current limiting feature on the AVR’s of the auxiliary generators. However, in order to
isolate the vessel’s consumers during machine start up, the main bus requires a tie breaker to
avoid any risk of under voltage interference with consumer equipment. The following drawing
shows a typical arrangement and the equipment needed.

As with the Auto-Transformer Start described in Option 2, the machine is started

asynchronously and so requires some excitation system modifications.

4. Excitation controlled start (twin propeller)

This scenario is very similar to that described in Option 3, above. However, this time the ship
has twin propellers, twin main engines and two shaft machines. Instead of the Stator Current
limiting capability being performed by the auxiliary generators, this time it is present on each
shaft machine, allowing one shaft machine (operating in PTO mode) to start the second
machine (operating in PTI/PTH mode). The consumers on board are completely isolated from
both shaft machines during start up. The drawing on the next page shows a typical
arrangement and the equipment needed.

AGN 039 ISSUE C/6/10

With two identical shaft generators, it is possible to swap over the PTO and PTI/PTH modes
of operation from one side to the other.

5. Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) Start

Here the shaft generator is controlled through a Variable Frequency Drive unit, which gradually
rotates the generator shaft, ensuring the current is limited but the correct amount of shaft
torque is delivered, until synchronous speed is achieved. The shaft generator can be started
as a synchronous motor. The following drawing shows a typical arrangement and the
equipment needed.

This system can also be applied to twin propeller vessels.

AGN 039 ISSUE C/7/10

Excitation System modifications for Self-Starting PTH mode of operation (AvK
alternators)

The modifications are applicable only to AvK alternators. The excitation system on an AvK
alternator must be modified in a number of ways to enable the alternator to self-start as an
asynchronous motor during a PTH mode of operation. These modifications changes to the low
voltage AvK DSG alternator include the re-designation of the product to AvK DSU alternator.
It should be noted that these modifications are not currently available on STAMFORD
alternators or AvK DIG high voltage alternators. The modifications are listed, as follows:

• Rotor Modifications:
o Enhanced Rotor Damper Winding with bronze alloy is used for DSU
applications.
o An additional switch is introduced in the rotor circuit. During start-up of the shaft
generator as a motor, until synchronous speed is achieved, the machine
behaves as a squirrel cage induction motor. It is necessary to isolate the
Rotating Rectifier and Exciter Rotor from the Main Rotor winding, whilst at the
same time shorting out the Main Rotor winding across a resistance, so that it
acts like a squirrel cage induction motor. This additional switch does the above
function making it safe to start the shaft generator in PTH mode of operation
without damaging the exciter and diodes. This additional module can be up
fitted to any low voltage marine AvK alternator, to achieve the self-start
capability.

• Exciter Stator without magnets:

o All AvK alternator exciter stators have permanent magnets fitted to ensure
positive excitation build up when the alternator is used in its normal PTO mode
of operation. When the alternator is used as a shaft generator running in PTI or
PTH mode of operation, it is not required to build up the excitation and excitation
is open circuited. However, when the shaft generator is started again as an
alternator in PTO mode of operation, it may be necessary to apply a 24V d.c.
voltage to the exciter stator for a short period to ensure excitation build up.

SHAFT GENERATOR SELECTION

Alternator Selection

It is necessary to understand that not all alternators are suitable for use as Marine shaft
generators. The table on the next page indicates the suitability, or otherwise, of STAMFORD
and AvK alternators for use as shaft generators in a Marine application:

AGN 039 ISSUE C/8/10

 Mode of Operation
PTO PTI PTH

STAMFORD
UC22 - 27 ■ ■ Not suitable for PTH
S4 ■ ■ Not suitable for PTH
HC5 - P7 ■ ■ Not suitable for PTH
P80 ■ ■ Not suitable for PTH

AvK
Pony Auto Excitation
VFD
Motor Transformer Controlled
DSG 62-114 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
DSG 114-125 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
DIG 110-156 ■ ■ ■ ■

AVR selection

Some of the AVRs available for use on STAMFORD and AvK alternators may not be suitable
when the alternator is used as a shaft generator. The following table shows a matrix of AVR’s
with suitability for the PTO / PTI / PTH modes of operations:

Mode of Operation
PTO PTI PTH

STAMFORD
MX341 ■ ■ Not suitable for PTH
MX321 ■ ■ Not suitable for PTH
DM110 ■ ■ Not suitable for PTH

AvK
Pony Auto Excitation
VFD
Motor Transformer Controlled
DM110 ■ ■ ■ ■
DECS100 ■ ■ ■ ■
DECS150 ■ ■ ■ TBC TBC ■
DECS250 ■ ■ ■ TBC TBC ■
Unitrol 1010 ■ ■ ■ TBC TBC ■

Information required for product nomination

When a technical request is received for a Marine shaft generator it is important to ascertain
critical information with regards to the application and modes of operation. It is also important

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 to remember that more often than not, each marine project is different, with small variations in
specification requirements and as such, each enquiry must be treated individually. There
follows, a list of minimum items of information that are required from the customer to enable
the correct nomination of an alternator for a Marine shaft generator application:

• Required modes of operation. It is always assumed that PTO is required, but there is
a need to know if there is a requirement for PTI and/or PTH [certain countries in the
Scandinavian region sometimes refer to the stand alone (PTH) operation as PTI, even
though the main engine is not operating].
• The alternator output parameters and specification for power output, voltage, frequency
and speed etc. are required for the alternator when operating as a shaft generator in
PTO mode of operation.
• If the shaft generator is required for PTI/PTH mode of operation, then the mechanical
shaft power output is required. Once an alternator is selected, the mechanical kW
output can be determined.
• If the shaft generator is required for PTH mode of operation, the starting method is to
be employed, is required.
• Information on shaft generator cooling and bearing requirements must be determined.
• Information on the need to comply with a particular Marine Classification Society is
required.

Other considerations

When the shaft generator is used in a PTH mode of operation, the shaft generator should be
mechanically disconnected from the ship’s propeller shaft during start up. A suitable clutch
mechanism is normally used for this purpose. This will reduce the level of starting torque
required and subsequently, the inrush current will also be minimized.

Application Engineering stand ready to assist in any enquiry regarding the application of
Marine alternators. Contact: applications@cummins.com.

Application Guidance Notes are for information purposes only. Cummins Generator Technologies reserves the right to change the contents of
Application Guidance Notes without notice and shall not be held responsible for any subsequent claims in relation to the content.

AGN 039 ISSUE C/10/10