Chapter-3

Synchronous Machine

November, 2019
Hawassa, Ethiopia
 SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR

Types of Synchronous generator

According to the arrangement of the field and armature

windings, synchronous machines may be classified as

1. Stationary Armature - Rotating Field (Above 5 kVA)

2. Stationary Field – Rotating Armature (Below 5 kVA)

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Advantages of stationary armature - rotating field:
i) The High Voltage ac winding and its insulation not
subjected to centrifugal forces.(11kV - 33 kV) (better
insulation)
ii) Easier to collect large currents from a stationary
member.
iii)Rotating field makes overall construction simple.
iv)Problem of sparking at the slip ring can be avoided.
v) Ventilation arrangement for HV can be improved.
vi)The LV(110 V – 220V) dc excitation easily supplied
through slip rings and brushes to the rotor field winding.
vii) Noiseless running is possible.
viii)Air gap length is uniform
ix)Better mechanical balancing of rotor
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 CONSTRUCTION OF ALTERNATOR
Stationary Armature - Rotating Field
An alternator has 3 phase winding on the stator and
DC field winding on the rotor.
STATOR
Stationary part of the machine.
It is built up of Sheet-Steel Lamination Core (Stampings) with slots
to hold the armature Conductor

Armature winding is connected in STAR

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 ROTOR:
There are two types of rotor

i) Salient Pole type (Projected Poles)

ii) Non - Salient Pole type (Non – Projected Poles)

Smooth Cylindrical Type

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I) Salient Pole type (Projected Poles)
It is also called Projected Poles.
Poles are mounted on the larger circular
frame.
Made up of Thick Steel Laminations.
Field Winding are connected in series.
Ends of the field winding are connected
to the DC Supply through Slip Rings
Features
Large Diameter and short Axial Length.
Poles are Laminated to reduced
Eddy Current Losses
Employed for Low and Medium Speed
120 RMP to 500 RPM
(Diesel & Hydraulic Turbines)
This cannot be used for Large speed

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 DAMPER WINDING

Pole faces are provided with damper winding

Damper winding is useful in preventing Hunting

EMF generated will be sinusoidal

Copper Bar

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 II) NON SALIENT POLE TYPE
Smooth cylindrical rotor or TURBO ALTERNATOR
field winding used in high speed alternators driven by steam turbines .
Features
Smaller diameter and larger axial length compared to salient pole type machines, of
the same rating.
Less Windage loss.
Speed 1200 RPM to 3000 RPM.. Better Balancing..

Noiseless Operation

Flux distribution nearly sine wave

Frequency 50 Hz

Ns = 120 F / P

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 EMF Equation of an Alternator
Let Φ = Flux per pole, Wb
P = Number of Poles
Ns = Synchronous Speed in RMP
Z = Total Number of Conductors or coil sides in
series / Phase
Z = 2T
T = Number of coils or Turns per phase
Tph = Turns in series per phase
= ( No. of slots * No. of cond. per slot) / (2 x 3)
Zph = Conductor per phase
Zph = Z / 3. No. of phase 3
Kc or Kp = Pitch factor or coil span factor
Kd = Distribution factor
Kp = Cos (α / 2 ) &
Kd = Sin (mβ / 2)
m Sin(β / 2)
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ARMATURE WINDING
3 Phase alternator carry 3 sets of winding arranged in slots
Open circuited
6 terminals

Can be connected in Star or Delta

Armature Winding Classification

1. Single Layer and Double Layer Winding
2. Full Pitch and Short Pitch Winding
3. Concentrated and Distributed Winding

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 Single Layer and Double Layer Winding
Single- layer winding

• One coil-side occupies the total slot area

• Used only in small ac machines

Double- layer winding

• Coil-sides in two layers

• Double-layer winding is more common used

above about 5kW machines

The advantages of double-layer winding over single layer winding:

a. Easier to manufacture and lower cost of the coils
b. Fractional-slot winding can be used
c. Chorded-winding is possible
d. Lower-leakage reactance and therefore , better performance of the machine
e. Better emf waveform in case of generators

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 POLE – PITCH
It is the distance between the centres of pole
faces of two adjacent poles is called pole pitch.

Pole pitch = 180 Phase angle

COIL :
A coil consists of two coil sides.
Placed in two separate slots

SLOT PITCH:
It is the phase angle between two adjustment slots

COIL SPAN OR COIL PITCH

It is the distance between two coil sides of a coil

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 Full Pitch and Short Pitch Winding
Full Pitch Winding

If the coil span is equal to pole pitch then the winding is called Full Pitch Winding

Coil Span = Pole Pitch

e1 V e2 V

Short Pitch Winding

If the coil span is less than Pole

Pitch is called Short pitch
winding

e2 V
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e1 V
Advantages of Short Chorded winding or Chorded Pitch Winding

1. Copper is saved
2. Mechanical strength of the coil is increased
3. Induced EMF in improved

Slot Angle : The angular displacement between any two

adjacent poles in electrical degree

Slot angle (β) = 180

(Number of slots / Pole)

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PITCH FACTOR or COIL SPAN FACTOR or SHORT CHORDED FACTOR
Kp or Kc
Pitch factor is defined as the ratio EMF induced in the Short
pitch winding to the EMF induced in the full pitch winding

Vector Sum EMF = AB

= AC + CB
Kp = AC + CB
AD + DB
B

C α/2 EV AD = BD

α/2 α
A
EV D EV
2E Kp = Cos (α / 2)
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DISTRIBUTION FACTOR OR BREATH FACTOR (Kd)

E in coil 1
β
β
E in coil 2

E in coil 3

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 B C
e2 β
r
x e1 e3
m(β/2)

A E D
β β β/2
β/2
r β
β/2 Vector Sum
mβ
O

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 Arithmetic Sum of EMF = AB + BC + CD
From Vector diagram AB = Ax + xB
= r Sin (β/2) + r Sin (β/2)
AB = 2 r Sin (β/2) AB = BC = CD = 2 r Sin (β/2)
Arithmetic Sum of EMF = 3 x (2 r Sin (β/2) )
If there are ‘m’ slots for distribution, then
Arithmetic Sum /phase of the EMF = m x (2 r Sin (β/2) )
Vector Sum of EMF AD = AE + ED
Vector Sum of EMF AE = ED = r Sin (mβ/2)

Vector Sum of EMF = 2r x (Sin (mβ/2))

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 Causes of Voltage drop in Alternator

1. Armature Effective Resistance (Reff )

2. Armature Leakage Reactance (XL )
3. Armature Reactance

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Armature Leakage Reactance(XL)

Three major components -Slot leakage reactance, end

winding leakage reactance and tooth tip leakage reactance.
Synchronous reactance / phase
Xs = XL + Xa
Where:
Xa is the fictitious armature reaction reactance.
Synchronous impedance/phase
Zs = (Ra + jXs).

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Armature Reaction

Effect of the armature flux on the main field flux.

Armature Reaction effect depends upon the PF of the

Load

1. UPF - cross magnetizing.

2. Lag PF - demagnetizing.
3. Lead PF - magnetizing

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Unity Power Factor ,UPF (Pure Resistive Load)
cross magnetizing
Main Flux Φf Armature Flux Φa

N S

Main Flux
Φf

Iaph
Φa

Eph
Induced EMF due to Main Flux Φf
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 Lagging PF (Purely Inductive Load)
Demagnetizing
Main Flux Φf Armature Flux Φa

N S

Armature Flux
Main Flux
Φa
Ia Φf

Load current
Lag the Voltage by 90

Main Flux
Decreases
DC excitation
Eph
Induced EMF due to Main Flux Φf

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 Lead PF (Purely Capacitive Load)
Magnetizing
Main Flux Φf

N S
Armature Flux Φa

Armature Flux
Main Flux
Φa
Φf
Ia

Load current Lead the

Voltage by 90

Main Flux Increases

DC excitation

Eph
Induced EMF due to Main Flux Φf
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Equivalent circuit of a synchronous generator
 The internally generated voltage in a single phase of
a synchronous machine EA is not usually the voltage
appearing at its terminals. It equals to the output
voltage only when there is no armature current in
the machine. The reasons that the armature voltage
EA is not equal to the output voltage are:
1. Distortion of the air-gap magnetic field caused by
the current flowing in the stator (armature reaction);
2. Self-inductance of the armature coils;
3. Resistance of the armature coils;
Armature reaction:
When the rotor of a
synchronous generator
is spinning, a voltage
EA is induced in its
stator.
When a load is
connected, a current
starts flowing creating a
Lagging load
magnetic field in
machine’s stator.
This stator magnetic
field BS adds to the
rotor (main) magnetic
field BR affecting the
total magnetic field and,
therefore, the phase
voltage.
 The load current IA will create a stator magnetic field BS,
which will produce the armature reaction voltage Estat.
Therefore, the phase voltage will be

 The net magnetic flux will be

 Since the armature reaction

voltage lags the current by 90 degrees,
it can be modeled by

 The phase voltage is then

 However, in addition to armature reactance effect, the

stator coil has a self-inductance LA (XA is the
corresponding reactance) and the stator has resistance RA.
The phase voltage is thus
 Since – for balanced loads – the three phases of a
synchronous generator are identical except for phase
angles, per-phase equivalent circuits are often used.
Phasor diagram of a synchronous generator
Measuring parameters of synchronous generator
model
 The three quantities must be determined in order to
describe the generator model:
1. The relationship between field current and flux (and
therefore between the field current IF and the
internal generated voltage EA);
2. The synchronous reactance;
3. The armature resistance.
 Open circuit Test
 The generator is rotated at rated speed, All terminals are
disconnected from the loads, the field current is set to zero first.
Next, The field current is increased in steps and the phase
voltage is measured.
 Since the unsaturated core of the machine
has a reluctance thousands times lower
than the reluctance of the air-gap,
the resulting flux increases linearly first.
When the saturation is reached,
the core reluctance greatly increases
causing the flux to increase much slower
with the increase of mmf.
 Short Circuit Test
 the generator is rotated at the rated speed, with the field
current is set to zero first, and all the terminals are short-
circuited through ammeters.
 Next, the field current is increased in steps and the
armature current IA is measured as the field current is
increased. The plot of armature current (or line current)
vs. the field current is the short-circuit characteristic (SCC)
of the generator.
Example 3.1
 VOLTAGE REGULATION
Voltage Regulator of an alternator is defined as the change in
terminal voltage from NO load to full load divided by full-load
voltage.

% Voltage Regulator = E0 – V x 100

V
There are different methods available to determine the voltage
regulation of an alternator,
1.Direct loading method
2. Synchronous impedance method or E.M.F. method
3. Ampere-turns method or M.M.F. method
4. Zero power factor method or Potier triangle method
5. ASA modified from of M.M.F. method

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 Direct loading method

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The star connected armature is to be connected to a three phase load
The field winding is excited by separate d.c. supply.
To control the flux i.e. the current through field winding, a rheostat
is inserted in series with the field winding.
The prime mover drives the alternator at its synchronous
speed.

Eph Φ ..... (From e.m.f. equation)

For high capacity alternators, that much full load can not be
simulated or directly connected to the alternator. Hence method
is restricted only for small capacity alternators.
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Synchronous Impedance Method or E.M.F. Method

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The method is also called E.M.F. method
The method requires following data to calculate the regulation.
1. The armature resistance per phase (Ra).

2. Open circuit characteristics which is the graph of open circuit

voltage against the field current. This is possible by conducting
open circuit test on the alternator.

3. Short circuit characteristics which is the graph of short circuit

current against field current. This is possible by conducting
short circuit test on the alternator.
Zs is calculated.
Ra measured and Xs obtained.
For a given armature current and power factor, Eph
determined - regulation is calculated.
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 (Ia)SC (Voc)ph
OCC

C
D SCC

Full
Load
Iasc
E B

O A
field current. If in Amps

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 Synchronous Impedance

Regulation Calculation

Zs = √(Ra)2 + (Xs)2
Xs

Xs = √(Zs)2 - (Ra)2

Eph = √ (Vph Cos Φ + Ia Ra)2 + (Vph Sin Φ ± Ia Xs)2

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 Phasor Diagram of a loaded Alternator
C
Unity PF Load

Eph
IaZS IaXs

O Ia IaRa B
Vph A
Reference as Voltage (V)
OA – Vph Consider Δ OBC
AB – IaRa (OC)2 = (OB)2 + (BC)2
BC – IaXs
(Eph)2 = (OA + AB)2 + (BC) 2
AC – IaZs
OC – Eph (Eph)2 = (Vph + IaRa)2 + (IaXs) 2

Eph = √ (Vph + IaRa)2 + (IaXs) 2

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 C
Phasor Diagram of a loaded Alternator

Lagging PF Load Eph IaZS

IaXs

O Vph A
Φ
IaRa
Ia B

Consider Δ OBC
(OC)2 = (OA)2 + (BC)2
(Eph)2 = (OA + AB)2 + (BC) 2

(Eph)2 = (Vph + IaRa)2 + (IaXs) 2

Eph = √ (Vph Cos Φ + Ia Ra)2 + (Vph Sin Φ + Ia Xs)2

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 Phasor Diagram of a loaded Alternator
C
Lagging PF Load

IaZS
Eph IaXs

Vph
IaRa
Vph Sin Φ

Φ
Ia
O Vph Cos Φ A IaRa B

Eph = √ (Vph Cos Φ + Ia Ra)2 + (Vph Sin Φ + Ia Xs)2

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 Phasor Diagram of a loaded Alternator

Leading PF Load C

IaZS
Eph IaXs

Ia
IaRa

O Ia A B

Eph = √ (Vph Cos Φ + Ia Ra)2 + (Vph Sin Φ - Ia Xs)2

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 Advantages of Synchronous Impedance Method

The main advantages of this method is the value of synchronous

impedance Zs for any load condition can be calculated.

Regulation of the alternator at any load condition and load power factor
can be determined.

Actual load need not be connected to the alternator

This method can be used for very high capacity alternators

Limitations of Synchronous Impedance Method

The main limitation of this method is that this method gives large
values of synchronous reactance.
This leads to high values of percentage regulation than the actual
results.
Hence this method is called pessimistic method.
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 MMF method (Ampere turns method)
This method of determining the regulation of an alternator is also
called Ampere-turn method or Rothert's M.M.F.
method.

The method is based on the results of open circuit test and short
circuit test on an alternator.
For any synchronous generator i.e. alternator, it requires M.M.F.
which is product of field current and turns of field winding for
two separate purposes.
1. It must have an M.M.F. necessary to induce the rated terminal
voltage on open circuit.
2. It must have an M.M.F. equal and opposite to that of armature
reaction m.m.f.

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 OC & SC tests conducted.

field currents
(field current required to produce a voltage of (Vph
+ Iaph Ra cosΦ) on OC)

(field current required to produce the given armature

current on SC) are added at an angle of (90±Φ).

For this total field current, Eph found from OCC and
regulation calculated.

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 Short Circuit Current
Open Circuit Voltage

OCC
Rated
Voltage

SCC

Full Load
Short circuit
Current

FAR FO
field current. If in Amps

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 Parallel operation of synchronous generators

There are several major advantages to operate generators in parallel:

i. Several generators can supply a bigger load than one
machine by itself.
ii. Having many generators increases the reliability of the
power system.
iii. It allows one or more generators to be removed for
shutdown or preventive maintenance.
 Figure 1 shows a synchronous generator G1 supplying
power to a load, with another generator G2 about to
be paralleled with G1 by closing the switch S1. If the
switch is closed, the generators are liable to be
severely damaged, and the load may lose power.
 If the voltages are not exactly the same in each
conductor being tied together, there will be a very
large current flow when the switch is closed.
 To avoid this problem, each of the three phases must
have exactly the same voltage magnitude and phase
angle. In other words, the voltage in phase a must be
exactly the same as the voltage in phase a' , and so
forth for phases b-b' and c-c’.
 Before connecting a generator in parallel with another
generator, it must be synchronized. A generator is said to
be synchronized when it meets all the following
conditions:
1. The rms line voltages of the two generators must be equal.
2. The two generators must have the same phase sequence.
3. The phase angles of the two a phases must be equal.
4. The frequency of the oncoming generator, must be slightly
higher than the frequency of the running system.
 Condition 1 in order for two sets of voltages to be identical,
they must of course have the same rms magnitude of voltage.
The voltage in phases a and a' will be completely identical at
all times if both their magnitudes and their angles are the same.
 Condition 2 If the phase sequence is different, then even though
one pair of voltages are in phase, the other two pairs of voltages
are out of phase. There would be no problem with phase a, but
huge currents would flow in phases c, damaging both machines.
 If the frequencies of the generators are not very nearly equal,
large power transients will occur until the generators stabilize at
a common frequency. They must differ by a small amount so
that the phase angles of the oncoming machine will change
slowly with respect to the phase angles of the running system.
Figure 1 a) The two possible phase sequences of a three-phase
system. (b) The three-light-bulb method for checking phase
Frequency-Power and Voltage-Reactive Power Characteristics
 All generators are driven by a prime mover. The most
common type of prime mover is a steam turbine, but other
types include diesel engines, gas turbines, water turbines,
and even wind turbines.
 As the power drawn from the generator increases, the
speed at which they turn decreases. The decrease in speed
is nonlinear, but some form of governor mechanism is
usually included to make the decrease in speed linear with
an increase in power demand.
 Whatever governor mechanism is present on a prime
mover, it will always be adjusted to provide a slight
drooping characteristic with increasing load. The speed
droop (SD) of a prime mover is defined by the equation

 where is the no- load prime-mover speed and is the full-

load prime-mover speed.
 Most generator prime movers have a speed droop of 2 to
4 percent. In addition, most governors have some type of
set point adjustment to allow the no-load speed of the
turbine to be varied.

Fig. 2 (a) The speed-versus-power curve for a typical prime

mover. (b) The resulting frequency-versus-power curve for
the generator.
 Since the shaft speed is related to the resulting electrical
frequency by Equation,
 the power output of a synchronous generator is
related to its frequency. The relationship between
frequency and power can be described
quantitatively by the equation

where P = power output of the generator

fnl = no- load frequency of the generator
fsys= operating frequency of system
Sp = slope of curve, in kW/Hz or MW/Hz
 A similar relationship can be derived for the reactive
power Q and terminal voltage VT. As previously
seen, when a lagging load is added to a synchronous
generator, its terminal voltage drops.
 when a leading load is added to a synchronous
generator, its terminal voltage increases. It is possible
to make a plot of terminal voltage versus reactive
power. and such a plot has a drooping characteristic
like the one shown in Fig. 3. The characteristic curve
can be moved up and down by changing the no-load
terminal voltage set point.
 The relationship between the terminal voltage and
reactive power can be expressed by an equation similar
to the frequency-power equation.
 when a single generator is operating alone, the real
power P and reactive power Q supplied by the
generator will be the amount demanded by the load
attached to the generator- the P and Q supplied cannot
be controlled by the generator's controls. For any given
real power, the governor set points control the
generator's operating frequency fe and for any given
The Fig. 3 The curve of terminal voltage (VT) versus
reactive power (Q) for a synchronous generator.

The Fig. 4 power system connection for

Example 1 Fig. 4 shows a generator supplying a load. A
second load is to be connected in parallel with the first one.
The generator has a no-load frequency of 61.0 Hz and a slope
Sp of 1 MW/Hz. Load 1 consumes a real power of 1000 kW at
0.8 PF lagging. while load 2 consumes a real power of 800 kW
at 0.707 PF lagging.
a) Before the switch is closed. what is the operating
frequency of the system?
b) After load 2 is connected. what is the operating frequency
of the system?
c) After load 2 is connected. what action could an operator
take to restore the system frequency to 60 Hz?
Example-2: Fig. 5 (a) shows two generators supplying a
load. Generator 1 has a no-load frequency of 61.5 Hz and a
slope Sp1 of 1MW/Hz. Generator 2 has a no-load frequency
of 61.0 Hz and a slope Sp2 of 1 MW/Hz. The two
generators are supplying a real load totaling 2.5 MW at 0.8
PF lagging. The resulting system power-frequency or house
diagram is shown in Figure 8.
a) At what frequency is this system operating, and how
much power is supplied by each of the two generators?
b) Suppose an additional 1 MW load were attached to this
power system. What would the new system frequency
be, and how much power would GI and G2 supply now?
c) With the system in the configuration described in part
b, what will the system frequency and generator
powers be if the governor set points on G2 are in
creased by 0.5 Hz?
The Fig. 5

The Fig. 6
 Operation of a salient synchronous machine
 A multipolar machine with cylindrical rotor has a
uniform air-gap., because of which its reactance
remains the same, irrespective of the spatial position
of the rotor.
 Synchronous machine with salient pole machine has
non-uniform air-gap due to which its reactance varies
with the rotor position. Salient pole machine
possesses two axes of geometric symmetry:
1) Field pole axis (or direct axis)-mmf act on this axis are
field and armature mmf
2) Axis passing through interpolar space (or quadrature
axis)- mmf act on this axis is armature mmf
The magnetic reluctance is low along the poles and high
between the poles. The above facts form the basis of
two reaction theory proposed by Blondel, according to
which:
i. Armature current can be resolved into two components i.e Id
perpendicular to E0 and Iq along E0.
ii. Armature reactance has two components
Xd=Xad+Xl and Xq=Xaq+Xl
Since reluctance on the q-axis is higher, owing to larger
air-gap,
 Phasor diagram for salient pole machine
 The angle between Ia and Eo is called internal power factor angle (). The
angle between Eo and V is called power angle ().

Fig. (a) equivalent circuit diagram and (b) phasor diagram of salient pole
machine
 Calculation from phasor diagram
 Dotted line AC has been drawn perpendicular to Ia and CB is
perpendicular to the phasor for Eo. The angle ACB= because angle
between two lines is the same as between their perpendiculars. It is
seen that:
 Power developed by a synchronous generator
 If we neglect Ra and hence Cu loss, then the power developed (Pd) by an
alternator is equal to the power output (Pout). Hence, the per phase power
out put of an alternator is
….(i)
As seen from fig. 37.72 (a), …(ii)
Also, …(iii)
Substituting eqn.(iii) in eqn.(ii) and solving for we get

 Finally, substituting the above in eqn.(i), we get

The total power developed would be three times the above power.
As seen from the above expression, the power developed consists of two
components, the first term represents power due to field excitation and the
second term gives the reluctance power i.e power due to saliency.
If Xd=Xq i.e the machine has a cylindrical rotor, then the second term
becomes zero and the power is given by the first term only. If on the other
hand, there is no field excitation i.e Eo=0, then the first term in the above
expression becomes zero and the power developed is given by the second
Concept of the infinite bus
 When a synchronous generator is connected to a
power system, the power system is often so large
that nothing the operator of the generator does
will have much of an effect on the power system.
An example of this situation is the connection of
a single generator to the Canadian power grid.
Our Canadian power grid is so large that no
reasonable action on the part of one generator
can cause an observable change in overall grid
frequency. This idea is idealized in the concept of
an infinite bus.
 An infinite bus is a power system so large that its
voltage and frequency do not vary regardless of
how much real or reactive power is drawn from
or supplied to it.
Active and reactive power-angle characteristics

Pm
Pe, Qe

Vt
Fig. Synchronous generator connected to an infinite bus.

 P>0: generator operation

 P<0: motor operation
 Positive Q: delivering inductive vars for a generator action or
receiving inductive vars for a motor action
 Negaive Q: delivering capacitive vars for a generator action or
receiving capacitive vars for a motor action
Active and reactive power-angle characteristics

Pm
Pe, Qe

Vt

 The real and reactive power delivered by a synchronous generator

or consumed by a synchronous motor can be expressed in terms of
the terminal voltage Vt, generated voltage Ef, synchronous
impedance Zs, and the power angle or torque angle d.
 Referring to Fig. 8, it is convenient to adopt a convention that
makes positive real power P and positive reactive power Q
delivered by an overexcited generator.
 The generator action corresponds to positive value of d, while the
motor action corresponds to negative value of d.
Active and reactive power-angle characteristics

Pm
Pe, Qe
The complex power output of the generator in volt- Vt

amperes per phase is given by

_
S P  jQ V t I *a
where:
Vt = terminal voltage per phase
Ia* = complex conjugate of the armature current per phase

Taking the terminal voltage as reference

_
V t Vt  j 0

the excitation or the generated voltage,

_
E f  E f cos   j sin  
Active and reactive power-angle characteristics

and the armature current,

E cos   Vt  jE f sin 
_ _ Pm
_
Ef  Vt f
Pe, Qe
Ia   Vt
jX s jX s

where Xs is the synchronous reactance per phase.

_ _
*
 
 E f cos   Vt  jE f sin  
S  P  jQ V t I a Vt  
  jX s 
Vt E f sin  Vt E f cos   Vt2
 j
Xs Xs

Vt E f sin 
 P &
Xs
Vt E f cos   Vt2
Q
Xs
Active and reactive power-angle characteristics

Pm
Pe, Qe
Vt

Vt E f sin  Vt E f cos   Vt2

 P & Q
Xs Xs

 The above two equations for active and reactive powers hold
good for cylindrical-rotor synchronous machines for negligible
resistance
 To obtain the total power for a three-phase generator, the above
equations should be multiplied by 3 when the voltages are line-to-
neutral
 If the line-to-line magnitudes are used for the voltages, however,
these equations give the total three-phase power
Steady-state power-angle or torque-angle characteristic of a
cylindrical-rotor synchronous machine (with negligible
armature resistance).

Real power or torque

Pull-out torque
as a generator

generator

-p -p/2
-d +d
0 +p/2 +p

motor

Pull-out torque
as a motor
Steady-state stability limit
3Vt E f
Total three-phase power: P  sin 
Xs
The above equation shows that the power produced by a synchronous
generator depends on the angle d between the Vt and Ef. The maximum
power that the generator can supply occurs when d=90o.
3Vt E f
P
Xs

The maximum power indicated by this equation is called steady-state

stability limit of the generator. If we try to exceed this limit (such as by
admitting more steam to the turbine), the rotor will accelerate and lose
synchronism with the infinite bus. In practice, this condition is never reached
because the circuit breakers trip as soon as synchronism is lost. We have to
resynchronize the generator before it can again pick up the load. Normally,
real generators never even come close to the limit. Full-load torque angle of
15o to 20o are more typical of real machines.
Pull-out torque
The maximum torque or pull-out torque per phase that a two-pole
round-rotor synchronous motor can develop is
Pmax Pmax
Tmax  
m n
2 s 
 60 
where ns is the synchronous speed of the motor in rpm

P or Q

d
Fig. Active and reactive power as a function of the internal angle
Problem 2

A 208-V, 45-kVA, 0.8-PF leading, -connected, 60-Hz

synchronous machine having 1.04 ohm synchronous
reactance and negligible armature resistance is supplying a
load of 12 kW at 0.8 power factor leading. Find the armature
current and generated voltage and power factor if the load is
increased to 20 KW. Neglect all other losses.
 Example 5-2 (pp291)
A 480 V, 60 Hz, -connected, four pole synchronous generator has the OCC
shown below. This generator has a synchronous reactance of 0.1 ohm and
armature resistance of 0.015 ohm. At full load, the machine supplies 1200 A
and 0.8 pf lagging. Under full-load conditions, the friction and windage losses
are 40 kW, and the core losses are 30 kW. Ignore field circuit losses.

a) What is the speed of rotation of the generator?

b) How much field current must be supplied to the generator to make the terminal
voltage 480 V at no load?
c) If the generator is now connected to a load and the load draws 1200 A at 0.8 pf
lagging, how much field current will be required to keep the terminal voltage
equal to 480 V?
d) How much power is the generator now supplying? How much
600 power is
supplied to the generator by the prime-mover? 500 What
is the machine’s overall efficiency? 400
e) If the generator’s load were suddenly disconnected 300 from
the line, what would happen to its terminal voltage? 200
100
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Transient Stability of Synchronous Generators
 We learned earlier that the static stability limit of a
synchronous generator is the maximum power that
the generator can supply under any circumstances.
The maximum power that the generator can supply is
given by the Equation

and the corresponding maximum torque is

 In theory, a generator should be able to supply up to

this amount of power and torque before becoming
unstable. In practice, however, the maximum load
that can be supplied by the generator is limited to a
much lower level by its dynamic stability limit.
 Ifthe torque applied by the prime mover () is
suddenly increased, the shaft of the generator
will begin to speed up, and the torque angle
will increase as described. As the angle
increases, the induced torque of the
generator will increase until an angle is
reached at which is equal and opposite to .
 This is the steady-state operating point of the
generator with the new load. However, the
rotor of the generator has a great deal of
inertia, so its torque angle actually overshoots
the steady-state position, and gradually
settles out in a damped oscillation, as shown
in Figure 10.
 The exact shape of this damped oscillation can be
determined by solving a nonlinear differential
equation.
 The important point about Figure 10 is that if at any
point in the transient response the instantaneous
torque exceeds the synchronous generator will be
unstable. The size of the oscillations depends on
how suddenly the additional torque is applied to the
synchronous generator.
 If it is added very gradually, the machine should be
able to almost reach the static stability limit. On the
other hand, if the load is added sharply, the
machine will be stable only up to a much lower
limit, which is very complicated to calculate.
 For very abrupt changes in torque or load, the dynamic
stability limit may be less than half of the static stability
limit.

The Figure 10 The dynamic response when an applied torque equal

to 50% of is suddenly added to a synchronous generator
 Synchronous Motors

P, Q
Motor

Vt
 A synchronous motor is the same physical machine as a
generator, except that the direction of real power flow is
reversed
 Synchronous motors are used to convert electric power to
mechanical power
 Most synchronous motors are rated between 150 kW (200 hp)
and 15 MW (20,000 hp) and turn at speed ranging from 150 to
1800 r/min. Consequently, these machines are used in heavy
industry
 At the other end of the power spectrum, we find tiny single-
phase synchronous motors used in control devices and electric
clocks
 Operation Principle

 The field current of a synchronous motor produces a steady-state

magnetic field BR
 A three-phase set of voltages is applied to the stator windings of the
motor, which produces a three-phase current flow in the windings.
This three-phase set of currents in the armature winding produces a
uniform rotating magnetic field of Bs
 Therefore, there are two magnetic fields present in the machine, and
the rotor field will tend to line up with the stator field, just as two bar
magnets will tend to line up if placed near each other.
 Since the stator magnetic field is rotating, the rotor magnetic field
(and the rotor itself) will try to catch up (see fig. 11).
 The larger the angle between the two magnetic fields (up to certain
maximum), the greater the torque on the rotor of the machine.
 Figure 11 A two-pole synchronous motor.
 The basic principle of synchronous motor operation is
that the rotor "chases" the rotating stator magnetic
field around in a circle, never quite catching up with it.
 Since a synchronous motor is the same physical
machine as a synchronous generator, all of the basic
speed, power, and torque equations apply to
synchronous motors also.
The Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Motor
 A synchronous motor is the same in all respects as a
synchronous generator, except that the direction of power
flow is reversed. Since the direction of power flow in the
machine is reversed, the direction of current flow in the
stator of the motor may be expected to reverse also.
 Therefore, the equivalent circuit of a synchronous motor is
exactly the same as the equivalent circuit of a
synchronous generator, except that the reference
direction of . is reversed. The resulting full equivalent
circuit is shown in Figure 12- 2a, and the per-phase
equivalent circuit is shown in Figure 12- 2b. As before, the
three phases of the equivalent circuit may be either Y- or -
connected.
 Because of the change in direction of , the Kirchhoff's
voltage law equation for the equivalent circuit changes
too. Writing a Kirchhoff's voltage law equation for the new
equivalent circuit yields
 This is exactly the same as the equation for a generator, except
that the sign on the current term has been reversed.

Figure 11 (a) The full equivalent circuit of a three-phase

synchronous motor. (b) The per-phase equivalent circuit.
 Phasor Diagram
 The equivalent circuit of a synchronous motor is exactly same
as the equivalent circuit of a synchronous generator, except
that the reference direction of Ia is reversed.
 The basic difference between motor and generator operation in
synchronous machines can be seen either in the magnetic field
diagram or in the phasor diagram.
 In a generator, Ef lies ahead of Vt, and BR lies ahead of Bnet. In a
motor, Ef lies behind Vt, and BR lies behind Bnet.
 In a motor the induced torque is in the direction of motion, and
in a generator the induced torque is a countertorque opposing
the direction of motion
Phasor Diagram
Bs
Ia

q Vt
Bnet
jIa Xs wsync
d d

BR
Ef

Fig. 12 (a)The phasor diagram (leading PF: overexcited and |Vt|<|Ef|) an

the corresponding magnetic field diagram of a synchronous motor.
Vt

d jIa Xs

q
Ia Ef

Fig.12 (b) The phasor diagram of an under excited synchronous

motor (lagging PF and |Vt|>|Ef|).
The Synchronous Motor Torque-Speed
Characteristic Curve
 Synchronous motors supply power to loads that are
basically constant-speed devices. They are usually
connected to power systems very much larger than the
individual motors, so the power systems appear as infinite
buses to the motors. This means that the terminal voltage
and the system frequency will be constant regardless of the
amount of power drawn by the motor. The speed of rotation
of the motor is locked to the applied electrical frequency, so
the speed of the motor will be constant regardless of the
load. The resulting torque-speed characteristic curve is
shown in Figure 13. The steady-state speed of the motor is
constant from no load all the way up to the maximum
torque that the motor can supply (called the pullout
torque), so the speed regulation of this motor equation is 0
percent. The torque equation is
 The maximum or pullout torque occurs when . Normal full-load
torques are much less than that , however. In fact, the pullout
torque may typically be 3 times the full-load torque of the
machine. When the torque on the shaft of a synchronous motor
exceeds the pullout torque, the rotor can no longer remain locked
to the stator and net magnetic fields.
 Instead, the rotor starts to slip behind them. As the rotor slows
down, the stator magnetic field "laps" it repeatedly, and the
direction of the induced torque in the rotor reverses with each
pass. The resulting huge torque surges, first one way and then the
other way, cause the whole motor to vibrate severely. The loss of
synchronization after the pullout torque is exceeded is known as
 The maximum or pullout torque of the motor is given by

Or
 These equations indicate that the larger the field
current (and hence ) , the greater the maximum torque
of the motor. There is therefore a stability advantage in
operating the motor with a large field current or a
large .

Reading assignment
 The Effect of Load Changes on a Synchronous Motor
 The Effect of Field Current Changes on a Synchronous Motor(V & inverted
V-curves)
The Synchronous Motor and Power-Factor Correction

 Figure 14 shows an infinite bus whose output

is connected through a transmission line to an
industrial plant at a distant point. The
industrial plant shown consists of three loads.
Two of the loads are induction motors with
lagging power factors, and the third load is a
synchronous motor with a variable power
factor.
 What does the ability to set the power factor
of one of the loads do for the power system?
To find out, examine the following example
problem.
Application of Synchronous Motors
Synchronous motors are usually used in large sizes because in small
sizes they are costlier as compared with induction machines. The
principal advantages of using synchronous machine are as follows:

 Power factor of synchronous machine can be controlled very

easily by controlling the field current.
 It has very high operating efficiency and constant speed.
 For operating speed less than about 500 rpm and for high-power
requirements (above 600KW) synchronous motor is cheaper than
induction motor.
In view of these advantages, synchronous motors are
preferred for driving the loads requiring high power at low speed;
e.g; reciprocating pumps and compressor, crushers, rolling mills,
pulp grinders etc.
Problem 5-22 (pp.343)

A 100-MVA, 12.5-kV, 0.85 power lagging, 50 Hz, two-

pole, Y-connected, synchronous generator has a pu
synchronous reactance of 1.1 and pu armature resistance
of 0.012.

a) What are its synchronous reactance and armature

resistance in ohms?
b) What is the magnitude of the internal voltage Ef at the
rated conditions? What is its load angle d at these
conditions?
c) Ignoring losses in the generator, what torque must be
applied to its shaft by the prime-mover at full load?
Home Take

A three-phase, Y-connected synchronous generator is

rated 120 MVA, 13.2 kV, 0.8 power lagging, and 60
Hz. Its synchronous reactance is 0.9 ohm and its
armature resistance may be ignored.
a) What is its voltage regulation at rated load?
b) What would the voltage and apparent power rating of
this generator be if it were operated at 50 Hz with the
same armature and field losses as it had at 60 Hz?
c) What would the voltage regulation of the generator
be at 50 Hz?