Alternator-Part II

Prof. Atif Iqbal

Dept. of Electrical Engineering
AMU
• This part contain:
– Parallel Operations
– Infinite Bus
– Prime Mover Characteristics
 Parallel Operation of Alternators
• In parallel with the infinite bus (large Power
System)
• In parallel with other synchronous generator

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 Why Parallel Operation

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• The process of connecting one machine in
parallel with another machine or with an
infinite busbar system is known as
Synchronization.
• The machines already carrying load are known
as ‘running machine’.
• Alternator which is to be connected in parallel
with the system is know as the incoming
machine.

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 Conditions for Parallel Operation
• Condition-1: The rms line voltages must be equal.
• Conditions-2: The voltages of the incoming
machine and running machine must be in phase.
Phase angles of Phase ‘a’ of both should be same.
• Condition-3: The phase sequence must be same.
• Condition-4: The frequency of incoming machine
should be slightly higher than the running
machine.

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• Conditions-1 and 2: (Equal voltage, and same
phase): In order for two sets of voltages to be
identical, they must of course have the same
rms magnitude of voltage. The voltage in
phase a and a’ will be completely identical at
all times if both their magnitude and angle are
same.
• Condition-3: (Same Phase Sequence)
• This condition ensures that the sequence in which the
phase voltages peak in the two generators is the same.
If the phase sequence is different (as shown in last
slide), then even though one pair of voltages (phase a)
are in phase, the other two voltages are 120 out of
phase. If the generators were connected in this
manner, there would be no problem with phase a, but
huge current would flow in phase b and c, damaging
both machines.
• To correct a phase sequence problem, swap the
connection on any two of the three phases on one of
the machine.
• Condition-4 (Frequency): If the frequencies of
the generators are not very nearly equal when
they are connected together, large power
transient will occur until the generators
stabilize at a common frequency.
• The frequencies of the two machines must be
very nearly equal but they cannot be exactly
equal.
• They must differ by a small amount so that the
• The phase angles of the incoming machine will
change slowly with respect to the phase
angles of the running system. In that way, the
angles between the voltages can be observed
and Switch can be closed when the systems
are exactly in phase.
 Infinite Bus
• The large power system behaves like a large
generator having virtually zero internal
impedance and infinite rotational inertia. Such as
system of constant voltage and constant
frequency regardless of the load is called infinite
busbas system.
• The infinite bus is a power system so large that its
voltage and frequency remains constant
regardless of how much real and reactive power
is drawn from or supplied to it.

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• The voltage is constant (incoming machine is
too small to increase of decrease)
• The frequency is constant (because the
rotational inertia is too large to alter the
speed of the system)
• The impedance is very small since the system
has large number of alternators in parallel.

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 Zs
Z eq =
n
Zs
Vt = E f − I
n
n − L arg e
Zs
=0
n
Vt = E f
• If n is large (large number of generators are
connected in parallel), the voltage of the bus
remains practically constant.
 Proof of constant frequency
• Let J is the inertia of one alternator and there
are n alternator then overall Inertia will be
• J+J+J+…..+J=nJ
• Therefore torque is given as:

d 2θ r dωr
T = (nJ ) 2 = (nJ )
dt dt
dωr T
= ≈0
dt nJ
Synchronization Procedure
• Step-1: Using voltmeter, the field current of
the incoming machine should be adjusted
until its terminal voltages is equal to the line
voltage of the running system.
• Step-2: The phase sequence of the incoming
machine must be compared to the phase
sequence of the running system. Several
methods are used to check the phase
sequence;
• Method-1: Alternately connect a small
induction motor to the terminals of each of
the two generators. If the motor rotates in the
same direction each time, then the phase
sequence is correct. If the motor rotates in
opposite direction, then the phase sequence o
differ and the two phase of the incoming
machine has to be interchanged,
• Mthod-2: Three-light-bulb method: In this
approach, three light bulbs are stretched across
the open terminals of the switch connecting the
generator to the system. As the phase changes
between the two systems, the light bulb first get
brighter (large phase difference) and then get dim
(small phase difference). If all the three bulbs get
bright and dark together, then the systems have
the same phase sequence. If the bulbs brighten in
succession, then the system have the opposite
phase sequence and one of the sequences must
be reversed.
• Step-2: The frequency of the incoming generator
is adjusted to be slightly higher than the
frequency of the running system. This is done first
by watching a frequency meter until the
frequencies are close and then by observing
changes in phase between the systems.
• The incoming generator is adjusted to a slightly
higher frequency so that when it is connected, it
will come on the line supplying power as a
generator, instead of consuming it as a motor.
• Once the frequencies are very nearly equal,
the voltages in two systems will change phase
w.r.t. each other very slowly.
• The phase changes are observed, and when
the phase angles are equal, the switch
connecting the system together is shut.
• How to ensure that the two systems are finally
in phase?
• A simple way is to watch three light bulbs.
When the three bulbs all go out, the voltage
difference across them is zero and the systems
are in phase.
• This technique is not very accurate.
• A synchroscope is used to make sure that the
two systems are in phase.
• A synchroscope is a device that measures the
difference in phase angle between the a phases
of the two systems.
• The dial shows the phase difference between the
two a phases
• With 0 meaning in phase at the top.
• 180 degree out of phase at the bottom.
• Since the frequencies of the two systems are
slightly different, the phase angle on the meter
changes slowly.
• If the incoming generator is faster than the
running system (desired situation), then the
phase angle advances and the synchroscope
needle rotates clockwise.
• If the incoming machine is slower, the needle
rotates counterclockwise. When the needle is in
the vertical position, the voltages are in phase
and the switch is closed.
• Synchroscope checks the relationship on only one
phase. It gives no information about phase
sequence.
 Frequency-Power and Voltage-
Reactive Power Characteristics of an
Alternator
• Alternators are run by Prime Movers
• Regardless of the original power source, all prime
movers tend to behave in a similar fashion-as the
power drawn from them increases, the speed at
which they turn decreases
• The decrease in speed is in general 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:
• 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.
• Since the shaft speed is related to the resulting
electrical frequency the power output of a
synchronous generator is related to its frequency.
• Frequency-power characteristics of this sort play
an essential role in the parallel operation of
synchronous generators.
• The relationship between frequency and power
can be described quantitatively by the equation
• Similarly a relationship exist between the
terminal voltage and reactive power.
• When lagging load added, voltage decreases
• When leading load added, voltage increases
• This characteristic is not intrinsically linear, but
many generator voltage regulators include a
feature to make it so.
• The characteristic curve can be moved up and
down by changing the no-load terminal
voltage set point on the voltage regulator.
• As with the frequency-power characteristic,
this curve plays an important role in the
parallel operation of synchronous generators.
• It is important to realize that 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.
• Therefore, for any given real power, the governor
set points control the generator's operating
frequency fe and for any given reactive power,
the field current controls the generator's terminal
voltage VT.
 Summary-Generator Operating Alone
• 1, The real and reactive power supplied by the
generator will be the amount demanded by
the attached load.
• 2. The governor set points of the generator
will control the operating frequency of the
power system.
• 3. The field current (or the field regulator set
points) controls the terminal voltage of the
power system.
 Generator operating in parallel with
infinite Bus
• When a generator is connected in parallel with
another generator or a large system, the
frequency and terminal voltage of all the
machines must be the same.
• Therefore, their real power frequency and
reactive power- voltage characteristics can be
plotted back to back, with a common vertical
axis. Such a sketch, sometimes informally
called a house diagram,
• Assume that the generator has just been
paralleled with the infinite bus according to
the procedure described previously. Then the
generator will be essentially "floating" on the
line, supplying a small amount of real power
and little or no reactive power.
• Suppose the generator had been paralleled to the line
but, instead of being at a slightly higher frequency than
the running system, it was at a slightly lower frequency.
• The incoming machine works as a motor consuming
power.
• Generator have reverse-power trip connected to them,
so it is imperative that they be paralleled with their
frequency higher than that of the running system. If
such a generator ever starts to consume power, it will
be automatically disconnected from the line.
 Change in Governor Set-point
• Once the generator has been connected, what
happens when its governor set points are
increased? The effect of this increase is to
shift the no-load frequency of the generator
upward. Since the frequency of the system is
unchanged (the frequency of an infinite bus
cannot change), the power supplied by the
generator increases.
Explanation using Phase Diagram

E A Sin(δ )
Is proportional
to power is
increasing (Vt is
constant)
Ef or EA is
greater than Vt
• What happens in this system if the power
output of the generator is increased until it
exceeds the power consumed by the load? If
this occurs, the extra power generated flows
back into the infinite bus. The infinite bus, by
definition, can supply or consume any amount
of power without a change in frequency, so
the extra power is consumed.
Excitation Change
• How can the generator be adjusted so that it
will supply some reactive power Q to the
system?
• This can be done by adjusting the field
current of the machine. To understand why
this is true, it is necessary to consider the
constraints on the generator's operation
under these circumstances.
Summary for Generator connected to
Infinite Bus
 Summary
• When a single generator operated alone, the
real and reactive powers (P and Q) supplied by
the generator were fixed, constrained to be
equal to the power demanded by the load,
and the frequency and terminal voltage were
varied by the governor set points and the field
current.
• When a generator operated in parallel with an
infinite bus, the frequency and terminal
voltage were constrained to be constant by
the infinite bus, and the real and reactive
powers were varied by the governor set points
and the field current.
 Generator connected to another
generator
• If a generator is connected in parallel with
another one of the same size, the basic constraint
is that the sum of the real and reactive powers
supplied by the two generators must equal the P
and Q demanded by the load.
• The system frequency is not constrained to be
constant, and neither is the power of a given
generator constrained to be constant. The power-
frequency diagram for such a system immediately
after G2 has been paralleled to the line is:
• Here, the total power Ptot (which is equal to Pload) is
given by

• What happens if the governor set points of G2 are

increased? When the governor set points of G2 are
increased, the power-frequency curve of G2 shifts
upward, as shown
• The total power supplied to the load must not change.
At the original frequency f1 the power supplied by G1
and G2 will now be larger than the load demand, so
the system cannot continue to operate at the same
frequency as before. In fact, there is only one
frequency at which the sum of the powers out of the
two generators is equal to Pload'
• That frequency f2 is higher than the original system
operating frequency.
• At that frequency, G2, supplies more power than
before, and G1 supplies less power than before.
• Therefore, when two generators are operating
together, an increase in governor set points on
one of them
• 1. Increases the system frequency.
• 2. Increases the power supplied by that
generator, while reducing the power supplied
by the other one.
 Change in Field Curent
• What happens if the field Current of G2 is
increased?
• The resulting behavior is analogous to the
real-power situation and is shown in below
Fig.
• When two generators are operating together
and the field current of G2 is increased,
• 1. The system terminal voltage is increased.
• 2. The reactive power Q supplied by that
generator is increased, while the reactive
• power supplied by the other generator is
decreased.
• Since the total power supplied by the
generators must equal the power consumed
by the loads, Pload = PI + P2
• These equations can be used to answer all the
questions asked,
Summary Two Generators operating in
Parallel
• When two generators of similar size are
operating in parallel, a change in the governor
set points of one of them changes both the
system frequency and the power sharing
between them. It would normally be desired
to adjust only one of these quantities at a
time. How can the power sharing of the power
system be adjusted independently of the
system frequency, and vice versa?
• To adjust power sharing without changing the
system frequency, increase the governor set
points of one generator and simultaneously
decrease the governor set points of the other
generator (see Figure 4-40a). Similarly, to
adjust the system frequency without changing
the power sharing, simultaneously increase or
decrease both governor set points
 To adjust the system frequency without changing the
power sharing, simultaneously increase or decrease both
governor set points
 To shift the reactive power sharing without changing VT,
simultaneously increase the field current on one generator and
decrease the field current on the other
To change the terminal voltage without affecting the reactive
power sharing, simultaneously increase or decrease both field
currents
• It is very important that any synchronous
generator intended to operate in parallel with
other machines have a drooping frequency-
power characteristic. If two generators have flat
or nearly flat characteristics, then the power
sharing between them can vary widely with only
the tiniest changes in no-load speed
• To ensure good control of power sharing between
generators, they should have speed droops in the
range of 2 to 5 percent.