UNDERSTANDING DROOP

NIMESH PATEL

2010

DROOP IN A POWER GENERATING STATION IS AN IMPORTANT SETTING

FOR THE GAS TURBINE & STEAM TURBINE, WHICH IS TO BE SET
PRECISELY FOR EFFECTIVE LOAD SHARING.

COMBINE CYCLE POWER PLANT

VADODARA
 UNDERSTANDING DROOP IN POWER GENERATING STATION
BEFORE UNDERSTANDING THE DROOP CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING POINTS STATED BELOW.

1.) UTILITY -- GRID / INTERCONNECTED POWER SYSTEM OF GENERATING STATIONS & LOAD
2.) GRID FREQUENCY -- CAN NOT ALTER BY ONE MACHINE LOADING i.e. MACHINE SPEED DEPENDS
ON GRID FREQUENCY, ONCE IT IS SYNCHRONISED IT CAN NOT CHANGE IT’S SPEED. IT’S SPEED IS
DETERMINED BY GRID FREQUENCY.
3.) DROOP -- 1.) POSITIVE DROOP
2.) NEGATIVE DROOP

4.) DEFINITION OF DROOP: CHANGE IN LOAD WITH CHANGE IN FREQUENCY.

DESCRIPTION:

POSITIVE DROOP: IS A SPEED GOVERNER FUNCTION WHICH REDUCES THE SPEED REFERENCE WHEN
FUEL POSITION (LOAD) INCREASES.

NEGATIVE DROOP: SPEED REFERENCE INCREASES AS LOAD INCREASES

IN POWER GENERATION ALL MACHINES ARE SET TO POSITIVE DROOP OF 4%, SO, THAT THEY CARRY
EQUAL LOAD SHARING BASED ON THEIR CAPACITY.

TERM EXPLANATION:

IF HOWEVER SINGLE ENGINE GENERATOR CONNECTED TO UTILITY BUS, UTILITY FREQUENCY

WILL DETERMINE THE SPEED OF THE ALTERNATOR. SHOULD THE GOVERNER SPEED REFERENCE BE LESS
THAN THE UTILITY GRID FREQUENCY, POWER WILL FLOW FROM UTILITY BUS TO ALTERNATOR CAUSING
MOTOR THE UNIT. IF THE GOVERNER SPEED EVEN FRACTIONALLY HIGHER THAN THE UTILITY GRID IT
WILL GO TO FULL SPEED IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE BUS SPEED.

IN DROOP GOVERNER ACTION DROOP CAUSES THE GOVERNER SPEED REFERENCE TO

DECREASE AS LOAD INCREASES. THIS ALLOWS THE GOVERNER TO VARY THE LOAD AS SPEED CAN NOT
CHANGE.

TO UNDERSTAND THIS CONSIDER THE GRAPH SHOWN BELOW. IN THE GRAPH INCREASE IN
THE SPEED SETTING CANNOT CAUSE A CHANGE IN SPEED OF THE BUS, BUT IT WILL CHANGE IN THE
AMOUNT OF LOAD IT IS CARRYING. THE GRAPH SHOWS THAT THE AMOUNT OF LOAD IS DETERMINED
WHERE THE DROOP LINES INTERSECTES THE SPEED OF THE BUS

PREPARED BY: NIMESH PATEL (ENGINEER – POWER PLANT)