Synchronous Generator – Construction and Working

Principle
A synchronous generator is a synchronous machine which converts mechanical power into AC
electric power through the process of electromagnetic induction.
Synchronous generators are also referred to as alternators or AC generators. The term
"alternator" is used since it produces AC power. It is called synchronous generator
because it must be driven at synchronous speed to produce AC power of the desired
frequency.
A synchronous generator can be either single-phase or poly-phase (generally 3phase).

Construction of Synchronous
Generator or Alternator
As alternator consists of two main parts viz.

 Stator – The stator is the stationary part of the alternator. It carries the armature winding in which the
voltage is generated. The output of the alternator is taken form the stator.
 Rotor – The rotor is the rotating part of the alternator. The rotor produces the main field flux.
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Stator Construction of Alternator

The stator of the alternator includes several parts, viz. the frame, stator core, stator or
armature windings, and cooling arrangement.

 The stator frame may be made up of cast iron for small-size machines and of welded steel for large-size
machines.
 The stator core is assembled with high-grade silicon content steel laminations. These silicon steel
laminations reduce the hysteresis and eddy-current losses in the stator core.
 The slots are cut on the inner periphery of the stator core. A 3-phase armature winding is put in these
slots.
 The armature winding of the alternator is star connected. The winding of each phase is distributed over
several slots. When current flows through the distributed armature winding, it produces an essential
sinusoidal space distribution of EMF.
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Rotor Construction of Alternator

The rotor of the alternator carries the field winding which is supplied with direct current
through two slip rings by a separate DC source (also called exciter). The exciter is
generally a small DC shunt generator mounted on the shaft of the alternator.

For the alternator, there are two types of rotor constructions are used viz. the salient-pole
type and the cylindrical rotor type.
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Salient Pole Rotor

The term salient means projecting. Hence, a salient pole rotor consists of poles projecting out
from the surface of the rotor core. This whole arrangement is fixed to the shaft of the
alternator as shown in the figure. The individual field pole windings are connected
The salient pole type rotor is used in the low and medium speed (from 120 to 400 RPM)
alternators such as those driven by the diesel engines or water turbines because of the
following reasons −

 The construction of salient pole type rotor cannot be made strong enough to withstand the mechanical
stresses to which they may be subjected at higher speed.
 If the salient field pole type rotor is driven at high speed, then it would cause windage loss and would
tend to produce noise.

Low speed rotors of the alternators possess a large diameter to provide the necessary
space for the poles. As a result, the salient pole type rotors have large diameter and
short axial length.

Cylindrical Rotor
The cylindrical rotors are made from solid forgings of high-grade nickel-chrome-
molybdenum steel.

 The construction of the cylindrical rotor is such that there are no-physical poles to be seen as in the
salient pole rotor.
 In about two-third of the outer periphery of the cylindrical rotor, slots are cut at regular intervals and
parallel to the rotor shaft.
 The field windings are placed in these slots and is excited by DC supply. The field winding is
of distributed type.
 The unslotted portion of the rotor forms the pole faces.
 It is clear from the figure of the cylindrical rotor that the poles formed are non-salient, i.e., they do not
project out from the rotor surface.
The cylindrical type rotor construction is used in the high-speed (1500 to 3000 RPM)
alternators such as those driven by steam turbines because of the following reasons −

 The cylindrical type rotor construction provides a greater mechanical strength and permits more
accurate dynamic balancing.
 It gives noiseless operation at high speeds because of the uniform air gap.
 The flux distribution around the periphery of the rotor is nearly a sine wave and hence a better EMF
waveform is obtained.
A cylindrical rotor alternator has a comparatively small diameter and long axial length.
The cylindrical rotor alternators are called turbo-alternators or turbo-generators. The
alternator with cylindrical rotor have always horizontal configuration installation.

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Working Principle and Operation of Alternator

An alternator or synchronous generator works on the principle of electromagnetic
induction, i.e., when the flux linking a conductor changes, an EMF is induced in the
conductor. When the armature winding of alternator subjected to the rotating magnetic
field, the voltage will be generated in the armature winding.

When the rotor field winding of the alternator is energised from the DC exciter, the
alternate N and S poles are developed on the rotor. When the rotor is rotated in the
anticlockwise direction by a prime mover, the armature conductors placed on the stator
are cut by the magnetic field of the rotor poles. As a result, the EMF is induced in the
armature conductors due to electromagnetic induction. This induced EMF is alternating
one because the N and S poles of the rotor pass the armature conductors alternatively.

The direction of the generated EMF can be determined by the Fleming’s right rule and the
frequency of it is given by,
 𝑓=𝑁𝑠/𝑃120

Where,

 Ns𝑁𝑠 is the synchronous speed in RP

 P is the number of rotor poles.

The magnitude of the generated voltage depends upon the speed of rotation of the rotor
and the DC field excitation current. For the balanced condition, the generated voltage in
each phase of the winding is the same but differ in phase by 120° electrical.

In an alternator or synchronous generator, the actual generated voltage consists of the

summation of two component voltages. One of these component voltages is the excitation
voltage (𝐸exc); it is the voltage that would be generated because of the field excitation
only. The excitation voltage is the voltage that would be generated when there is no
armature reaction.

The other component of the generated voltage is the voltage that must be added to the
excitation voltage to take care of the effect of the armature reaction on the generated
voltage. This component voltage is known as the armature reaction voltage and is denoted by
(𝐸𝐴𝑅).

Therefore, the actual generated voltage by the alternator is given by,

𝐸𝑎=𝐸exc+𝐸𝐴𝑅…(1)

The armature reaction voltage in a circuit caused by change in the flux by current in the
same circuit and its effect is of the nature of the inductive reactance. Hence, the
armature reaction voltage (𝐸𝐴𝑅) is equivalent to a voltage of inductive reactance, i.e.,

𝐸𝐴𝑅=−𝑗𝐼𝑎𝑋𝐴𝑅…(2)

The inductive reactance (XAR) is an imaginary reactance which results in a voltage in the
armature circuit of the alternator to take care of the effect of armature reaction upon the
voltage relations of the armature circuit. Therefore, the armature reaction voltage (EAR)
can be represented as an inductor in series with the internal generated voltage.

Apart from the effect of armature reaction, the armature winding also has winding
resistance and a self-inductance.

Let

 𝑅𝑎 = Armature winding resistance

  𝐿𝑎 = Self inductance of armature winding
 𝑋𝑎 = Self inductive reactance of armature winding

Thus, the terminal voltage of the alternator is given by,

𝑉=𝐸𝑎−𝑗𝐼𝑎𝑋𝐴𝑅−𝑗𝐼𝑎𝑋𝑎−𝐼𝑎𝑅𝑎…(3)

Where,

 𝐼𝑎𝑅𝑎 = Voltage drop due to armature resistance

 𝐼𝑎𝑋𝑎 = Voltage drop due to armature leakage reactance
 𝐼𝑎𝑋𝐴𝑅 = Armature reaction voltage

The effect of armature reaction and the effect of the leakage flux in the alternator both
are represented by inductive reactances. Therefore, they can be combined into a single
reactance and this single reactance is known as synchronous reactance of the alternator and
is denoted by XS.

Hence,

𝑋𝑆=𝑋𝑎+𝑋𝐴𝑅…(4)

Now, from eqns. (3) & (4), we can write,

𝑉=𝐸𝑎−𝑗𝐼𝑎𝑋𝑆−𝐼𝑎𝑅𝑎
⇒𝑉=𝐸𝑎−𝐼𝑎(𝑅𝑎+𝑗𝑋𝑆)

⇒𝐸𝑎−𝐼𝑎𝑍𝑆…(5)

Where,

𝑍𝑆=(𝑅𝑎+𝑗𝑋𝑆)…(6)

The impedance (ZS) is known as the synchronous impedance of the alternator.

The synchronous impedance (ZS) is an imaginary impedance employed to account for the
voltage effects in the armature circuit of the alternator, which is produced by the actual
armature resistance, the actual armature leakage reactance, and the effect of the
armature reaction.