Docu. Ref.

:CT-B(2)-05-R1-070906

GUYANA
SKELDON SUGAR MODERNIZATION PROJECT (8400T/D)

Training Material
Auxiliary Units for Diesel Generation Plant

Electrical Course

Compiled by:
China Light Industrial Corporation for Foreign Economic and Technical Cooperation

Reviewed by:

Approved by:

CNTIC
CNTIC TRADING CO., LTD.
2007.08
 Catalog

Chapter 1 Introduction of Power System

Section 1 Process of power generation
Section 2 General knowledge of power system and its operation
Chapter 2 Electrical equipments of power plant
Section 1Generator
Section 2 Voltage Transformer
Section 3 HV breaker and its operation mechanism
Section 4 Isolation Switch and its operation mechanism
Section 5 Transformer
Section 6 HV Fuser
Section 7 Insulator, bus bar, cable
Section 8 Arrestor
Chapter 3 Relay protection and automatic equipments
Section 1 Function and basic parts of relay protection
Section 2 Protection of distribution circuits
Section 3 Protection of the generator
Section 4 Protection of the power transformer
Section 5 Protection of Bus Bar
Section 6 Back-up power line-in equipments
Section 7 Frequency control load-shedding equipments
Chapter 4 Authorized Operation Scheme of Synchronized Power Generator
Section1 Allowable Temperature of Iron Cores and Windings
Section 2 Effect of the variance of voltage on the operation
Section 3 Effect of the variance of frequency on the operation
Section 4 Operation in the variance of power factor
Section 5 Allowable unbalanced load
Section 6 Regulation on the rate of load increase
Section 7 Allowable overloading
Section 8 Measurement and allowable value of insulation resister
Chapter 5 Incident analysis of synchronized generator and method of processing
Section 1 Asynchronous parallel of generators
Section 2 Overheating of windings and iron cores
Section 3 Failure of internal insulation of generator
Section 4 Fire on generator
Section 5 Automatic switching off of generator
Section 6 Loss of excitation of generator
Section 7 Asynchronous oscillation of generator
Section 8 Frequency out of rating limit
Chapter 6 Loaded and empty-loaded operation of generator
Section 1 Empty-loaded operation and variance of generator
Section 2 Load and voltage regulation of generator

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Section 3 Polarity and the wiring group of three phase voltage transformer
Section 4 Operation in parallel of voltage transformer
Section 5 Operation and incident countermeasure of voltage transformer

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 Chapter One Introduction of Power System
Section 1 Process of power generation

Power system of power plant comprises of generator, voltage transformer, HV and LV power
distribution facilities, power line and plant-service system

1. GeneratorTransformation of mechanical power into electrical power

2. Voltage transformer: raise or lower the voltage of the transmitted power from the
generator
3. HV and LV distribution facilities: a combination of the switches, protection and
measurement equipments, bus bar and necessary auxiliary constructions formed in accordance
with the requirement of the main wiring. The function is to receive and distribute electrical power
in normal situation and shut the failed section in case of system failure, to recover the operation.
4. Power Line: transmit power to the users and connect with the system to maintain the
stability of power supply.
5. Plant service system: power supply for the production, illumination and mechanical
maintenance of the power plant

Electrical system
More than serving the power plant, the power generated by the power plant is transmitted to
wide area through the HV and LV power distribution equipments and the power line, after voltage
boosting by the main voltage transformer. The power consumed by the power plant is supplied to
the plant through the plant service voltage transformer.
The total power transmitted by the power plant balances with the load at any moments. If the
active power transmitted by the power plant is bigger than that demanded by the load, then the
frequency increases; and vise versa. If the inactive power transmitted by the power plant is
bigger than the demand of the load, the voltage increases and vise versa. To keep the stability of
the frequency and voltage of the power, methods of frequency and voltage regulation should be
adopted.

Section 2 General knowledge of power system and its operation

I Concept of power system

To improve the reliability and economy of power supply, the current approach is a lot of
power plants running connected in parallel.
The system compounded by the various power plants, transformer station, power lines,
power user and the thermal energy users is called dynamical system; power system is part of the
dynamic system, which comprises of the electrical section of the power plants, power lines
(except plant service equipments).

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 II. Main electrical equipments of power plant and transformer station
The respective task of the power plant and the transformer station is to generate and
distribute electrical power, which requires equipments for direct generation, distribution and
transmission, including generator, voltage transformer, SF5 breaker, isolation switch, automatic
switch, contactor, knife switch, fuser, bus bar and electrical cables, etc. Generally, the current
equipments that sustain the voltage and power are called the primary equipments. Other than the
above, the primary equipments also include arrestor, voltage transformer, current transformer,
etc.
To guarantee the reliability of the primary equipments, equipments for controlling, measuring
and monitoring the primary equipments and the relay protection that shuts the failed section in
case of failure, and automatic control and signaling equipments, such as relays, gauges,
controlling, automatic and signaling equipments, control cable, etc., should be incorporated,
which are called secondary equipments.
III. General knowledge of electrical operation.
(1) Major parameters and the computation in operation
1. Electricity
Computation of electricity involves the computations of electricity generated, plant
consumption of electricity, electricity received (electricity received from the system when the
power plant is paralleled with the system), transmitted electricity, average electricity, maximum
electricity and minimum electricity. Purchased & generated electricity is the sum of the generated
and received electricity, the transmitted electricity is the difference between the purchased &
generated electricity and the plant service electricity.

2. Electrical power
The computation of electrical power involves the computations of generated electrical power,
received electrical power, transmitted electrical power, plant service electrical power, maximum
load and minimum load.

3. Indicators (computation of rate of plant service electricity, load rate)

Average generation power:

Load rate: K= PP/Pmax100%
Rate of plant service electricity a=Qa/A100%
Of which PmaxMaximum generation power(KW;
A-total generated electricity (KW-h)
T-Time of operation (h)
A-plant service electricity (KW-h);

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 Chapter Two Electrical equipments of power plant

Section 1 Generator

Synchronous motor is an AC motor of wide application, which is mostly used in the operation
of generators, and is the mechanical device that produces electrical power in the power plant,
and also could be used as just as a motor. The velocity of the synchronous motors always
remains the same with the magnetic field generated by the winding of the stator, which is why it is
called synchronous motor.

I. Principle of generator

Synchronous generator is formed of stator and rotors, just like any other generators. The
stator is the three phase AC winding stuck in the laminated silicon steel iron core, and the rotor is
usually formed of the magnetically poled iron core and the excitation windings.

When the rotor is driven by a prime mover, and is rotating at the velocity of n turns/m, and at
the same time there is a certain DC electrically excited magnetic flow that passes the excitation
winding on the rotor, then the poles of the rotor form a magnetic field of four poles, which rotates
at the velocity of n turns/m with the rotor. If the stator has three windings, then three AC potential
could be obtained. Expressed in the following formula:

E=4.44FNk1E=4.44FNk1
Of which N-numbers of serial connected turns of each phase of the stator windings.

FFrequency of the potential (HZ);

---primary wave magnetic flow of each pole (Wb);

K1Primary wave winding ratio.

The potential frequency f is determined by the velocity of rotor n and the number of bi-poles
P. Their relation is:
N=(60f)/p
II. Basic structure of generator.
The synchronous generator is formed by stator and rotors, with three phase AC winding on
the stators and excitation winding on the rotors, which produces the magnetic field when
connected with DC current. Stator is some times referred to as armature, and the rotor is some
times called magnetic pole. There are generally two basic forms of rotor, of which one is the

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salient rotor and the other is the cylindrical rotor.

1 1. Rotor
The steam turbine is the critical part of the steam turbine generator. In the steam turbine
generator of large volume, the lineal velocity of rotor is extremely high and therefore it is
necessary that the bulk and the various parts of the rotor is bearing large centrifugal pressure,
which presents extreme requirements upon the material of the rotor. And at the same time, the
diameter of rotor is restricted by the centrifugal force, and with the volume of the motor increasing,
only the length of the rotor could be increased, therefore the rotors of the modern large steam
turbine generator are of the cylindrical shape. The critical parts of rotor are categorized into two
classifications:

1 Iron core

The iron core of rotor is formed of magnetic guide and the fixed excitation windings,
therefore it is cast with chromium and nickel aluminum alloy that has high mechanical strength
and magnetic conductivity, and is integrated with the shaft.

2 Excitation winding
It is formed of the flat copper wire concentric winding. The winding is in the slot and could
be fixed with the slot wedge. Due to the high velocity of the steam turbine and the large
centrifugal force, there is strict requirement on the material of the slot wedge, and the wedge
should also be magnetic insulated. Therefore it is usually made of the aluminum and brass and
hard aluminum alloy.
2. Stator
The stator of the steam turbine generator is formed of the magnetically conductive stator
iron core, electrically conductive stator winding and some parts to fix the iron core and the
windings. Such as the crankcase, iron core press, winding frame and slot wedge.
(1) Stator iron core

It is stacked with the lamination of silicon steel, and the silicon steel used should have little
iron loss and good magnetic conductivity. The inner circle of the stator iron core has slots, inside
of which the three phase stator winding is placed.

(2) Stator winding

It is formed with copper wires double enameled with glass fiber, and covered with sick mica
layer for insulation. Modern steam turbine generators are mostly using three double layer
windings. Due to the extremely large current, therefore the intersection of the winding is large. To
reduce the additional loss introduced by the skin effect, wires of each phase of the winding is
braided with a number of thin wires, and these wires could be constantly changed of their position
in braiding.

(3) Crankcase
The function of it is to fix the iron core of the stator, and therefore it requires sufficient

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strength and rigidity to sustain the various forces in the process of machining, transportation, and
the operation.
3. AC exciter
The method of excitation of the AC exciter. The AC exciter is also fixed on the main shaft,
and the AC current output produces the excitation after rectification. Then the excitation of the
generator is separated excitation. It is also called static separate excitation because of the use of
static rectifier. The AC secondary exciter provides excitation current. The AC exciter could be a
permanent magnetic machine or an AC generator of self excitation with constant voltage. To
increase the regulated velocity of the excitation, the AC exciter generally uses the middle
frequency generator of 100----200 HZ, and the secondary exciter generally uses the middle
frequency generator of 400---500 HZ. This type of generator has the DC excitation winding ad the
three phase AC windings fixed in the stator slot, and the rotor has only the teeth and the slot, with
no windings, like a gear wheel. Therefore, there is not contacting parts such as electrical brush
and slip ring, which makes it reliable in operation and simple in structure and manufacturing. The
disadvantage of it is the big noise and the big harmonic component of the AC potential.

Section 2 Voltage Transformer

I. The function and the principle of voltage transformer

From the perspective of power system, voltage transformer is a critical part. As we all know,
it is impossible to transmit large electrical power through long distance with low voltage, because
on the one hand the large current incurs large power loss on the transmission line; and on the
other hand, the large current produces large voltage on the line, which is prohibitive to the
transmission of electrical power. Therefore, the longer the distance of transmission, and the
larger the power to be transmitted, the higher the required voltage would be. And the more
severe the requirement would be to the voltage transformer.
Transformer is a static electrical equipment, which utilizes the principle of electromagnetic
sensing to transform the AC voltage of a certain value to one or two different voltage(s) of the
same frequency, which is why it is called voltage transformer. Through the voltage transformer,
not only could the AC voltage could be transformed, but also is transformed the value of current.
Yet the transformer cannot change the sum of energy. The operation of the transformer causes
loss too, which makes the transmitted energy less than the input energy.

It is known from the Basic Electrical Engineering, that the apparent power of three phase
circuit is:
S3UxIx
Of which the Ux and Ix the line voltage and line current. As can be seen from the formula,
with the same power delivered, the line current Ix reduces proportionally to the increase of the
voltage Ux. This way, not only the material of the wire could be economized, but also the loss of
energy and voltage drop in the line could be mitigated. Yet from the perspective of electricity utility,

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and considering the safety of electricity ad the cost of the electrical equipments, the voltage could
not be too large, which presents the conflict between the high voltage transmission and the low
voltage in electricity using. The transformer could solve the conflict in a easy and economic way.
S3UxIx

The function of voltage transformer is based upon the principle of electromagnetic sensing.
The most important part of the voltage transformer is a sealed iron core and two coils rolled
around the core (usually called windings). In accordance with the principle of electromagnetic
sensing, energy could be transmitted between the first and secondary windings. When the first
winding is connect to the AC power, there appears an alternative magnetic flow in the iron core
due to the alternative current in the first winding. This alternative magnetic flow produces
alternative potential in the first and secondary windings, the magnitude of which is proportional to
the rate of change of the magnetic flow an the number of turns of the winding. Therefore,
changing the number of turns of the secondary winding, without changing the first winding, the
output voltage could be changed. If the secondary winding is connected with load, there will be
current going through the secondary winding, which relays the electrical energy to the load.
Therefore, the electrical energy in the first winding was conducted to the second through
electromagnetic sensing. And the objective of changing the voltage and transmitting the energy is
reached. This is the basic principle of the functioning of voltage transformer.

II. The structure and the function of the major parts.

As could be known from the basic principle of the voltage transformer, the voltage
transformer is mainly formed of the iron core and the first and secondary winding rolled around
the iron core.
1 Iron Core
The iron core of the transformer is made of core limb and yoke. The part that is rolled by the
winding is called core limb. And the yoke is for circling the magnetic path. The iron core is the
most basic part of the transformer, which is the main path of magnetic flow. To reduce the iron
loss, the material of the iron core should be thin silicon steel with a certain content of silicon. The
iron core of the voltage transformer is stacked with several dimensionally different silicon steel
according to a given plan.

2 Winding
Windings of voltage transformers are generally in the form of a circle, because it has better
mechanical properties in the force of electromagnetic force, and is less susceptible to
deformation. The windings of the voltage transformer is generally made of the round or flat wires
insulated with paper.
According to the relative position of HV and LV windings, the windings could be categorized
as concentric and lap windings.

3 Oil tank and cooling equipment

Electrical voltage transformers are mostly of the oil immersed type. To strengthen the

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insulation and cooling, the iron core and windings of the assembled voltage transformers are
usually immersed in the oil tank of the transformer. The function of the oil in the transformer is to
provide insulation between the phases, the phase and the ground; and the other one is heat
dissipation. Oil tanks could be categorized into barrel type and bell type.To enlarge the surface of
heat dissipation, the oil tank is fixed with round or flat pipes as heat dissipater.And there is also oil
pillow (also called expander), on the top of the oil tank, the function of the oil pillow is to keep the
sufficient oil din the tank when the transformer is running and sufficient room for expansion, and
also to reduce the contact surface between oil and air, to minus the humidity and oxidation.

4 Insulation tube
The leading wire of the winding of the transformer goes through the insulation tube to the
outside of the oil tank. According to different voltage, the insulation tubes could be categorized as
the porcelain oil tube or the capacitive tube.

(5) Tap switch

When the voltage of the power varies, the secondary voltage could be regulated with tap
switch.The regulation lever of the tap switch is fixed on the top cover of the voltage transformer.

(6) Gas relay

The relay is fixed on the pipe that connects the oil tank and the oil pillow. The function of the
relay is to reflect the internal failure of the oil tank and the dropping of oil level.

Section 3 HV breaker and its operation mechanism

HV breaker is the most important controlling electrical devices in the power plant. No matter
what kind of status the system is in, such as empty loading, loading of short circuited, the breaker
could reliably connect or disconnect the circuit according to the instructions.

I. Vacuum breaker:
1. Vacuum pipe is mainly:
Vacuum arc extinguishing chamber, shell, ripple pipe, shielding cover, and contactor, etc.
2. Contactor distance
The voltage resistance of vacuum gap is subject to vacuum degree, material of contactor, and
surface quality, distribution of electrical field of shielding cover and the cleanness of parts. The
distance of the 10KV products are usually somewhere between 1216mm, and that of the 36KV
products are usually 354-mm.
3. Structural features of vacuum breaker.
Other than vacuum arc extinguishing room, the vacuum breaker is not much different from
the oil breaker, which is formed of vacuum arc extinguishing room, insulation support,
mechanical transmission system and crankcase.

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 4. Preventing the operation of vacuum breaker in excess voltage.
The excess voltage and high frequency multiple flame excess voltage of capacitive load, and
chopping excess voltage could be cut through parallel connecting the oxidized zinc arrester at
the end of the lead wire of vacuum breaker.

2. SF6 Breaker:
1. Overall structural features
The SF6 breaker is working with SF6 as the arc extinguishing media, which follows the
principle of self arc extinguishing. The breaker has phase separated structure, and the phases
share one spring operation mechanism.The three levels SF6 gas is interconnected, and the pin
type sealed relay monitors the pressure and density. The features is strong capability of on and
off, little operation power, and high reliability.

2Terminal

Each terminal of the breaker is a air tight unit. From the top to the bottom the terminal could
be separated to upper lead wire, arc extinguishing tube, lower lead wire, supporting porcelain
tube, insulation handle, bell crank box, operation shaft.
3. Spring operation mechanism
The spring operation mechanism is fixed under the base of the crankcase,
1) Energy saved in the switching spring
The motor starts when receiving the instruction of energy saving, and drives the gear wheel,
and the motion is transmitted to the big and small ratchet clutches after 90 direction
conversion, the clutches propels the wrench. And the spring fixed on one side is compressed
by the driven handle and saves energy. The motor is stopped by a micro switch that shuts
down the power.The motor has the functions of excess current protection and enforced shutting
down of the power in 15 seconds.
2) The switching in winding makes the operation handle prepare off the shunt release, and the

keep the mattress up to release the wrench, the saved energy in the spring is released to propare

the rotation of the cam, and the cam bumps the roller to complete the operation of switching

in.The oil catchy at the end of the switching in absorbs the surplus of energy.

And also, the result of the switching in is the spring that connects the bell crank is

compressed.

The motor saves energy again in 15s immediately, and there are mechanical and electrical

locking to prevent the switching in of the operation mechanism. At that time, the breaker is in the

status of switched in and saving energy.

3) Operation of switching off

The switching off winding makes the handle propel off the shunt release, and the switching

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off lug is sustained up to release the bell crank to complete the switching off operation driven by
the spring. The energy left from the switching off operation is absorbed by the end bumper of
switching off.
4) Switching in again
When the breaker is in the position of switching in, the springs of switching in and off have
saved energy, and the breaker could perform the operation of O-0.3s-CO.The mechanism of the
operation is as the above.

Section 4 Isolation Switch and its operation mechanism

I. General description
The isolation switch is usually called knife switch, which is one of the HV switches. Due to
the absence of special arc extinguishing devices, therefore, it could not be used to connect and
shut the load current and short circuit current.

II. Function of isolation switch

1. Isolating the power

2. Reverse the bus bar
3. Connect and shut the circuits with small currents.

III. Types of isolation switches

The isolation switches could be categorized in single, double and three terminal types
according to the number of insulation terminals. According to the method of operation there are
vertical horizontal, oscillation and insertion types. According to the existence of ground
connection knife, there are types with and without ground connection knife. Also there are types
for indoor and outdoor use. According to the existence of ground connection knife, there are
types with and without ground connection knife. Also there are types for indoor and outdoor use.

Section 5 Transformer

I. Function of transformer
Main functions:
1The function is to connect secondary equipments such as gauges and relays to be
insulated from the main circuit, which avoided the direct introduction of high voltage into the
gauges and relays, and also avoided the failures of the gauges and relays to effect the main
circuit, and improve the reliability and safety of the performance of both.

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 2Enlarge the scope of application of the gauges and relays. Generally the rated secondary
voltage is 100 V and the rated secondary current is 5A or 1A. It also standardizes the gauges and
protection equipments.

II. Basic principle of function of the voltage transformer

The first winding of the voltage transformer has large number of turns N1 and that of the
secondary winding has small number N2. In operation, the first winding is parallel connected to
the first circuits of the system, and the second winding is parallel connected to the voltage
windings of the gauges and relay. Due to the large resistance of the voltage winding of the relay,
therefore the voltage transformer is close to the status of empty load in operation.

III. Operation principles of current transformer

The number of turns in the first winding is little, and some times just one, and that of the
secondary winding is large. In operation the winding is connected to the first circuit of the system,
and the secondary winding forms a circuit with in serial connection with the current winding of the
gauges or relay. Therefore in operation, the secondary one is almost running in short circuit
status.

Section 6 HV fuser

Fuser is one of the simplest protection devices, to protect the electrical devices in the circuit,
and keep it from harms way in case of short circuit or overloading.
The fuser is mostly made of metal fuse, contactor, and shell. Some of the fusers haves arc
extinguishing materials like quartz sand in them, to facilitate extinguishing the electrical arc.
In case of short circuit, the heat caused by the short circuit breaks the fuse before the
protected devices, and keeps the devices safe.

Section 7 Insulator, bus bar and cable

I. Insulator
The insulator is to support and fix the current bearing conductors, and keep them insulated
from the ground or keep the different phases insulated from each other. Therefore, the insulator
should have sufficient insulation strength and mechanical strength, and also be capable of
resisting heat, humidity. The insulators could be categorized as power stator insulator, electrical
devices insulator and circuit insulators.
II. Bus bar
In power plant, the connection between the bus bar wires of various devices, the various
devices, and the connection between the generator, transformer and the corresponding
distribution devices are made of rectangular or round copper wire, or pipe wire or braided wires,

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which are generally called bus bar. The function of bus bar is to collect and distribute electricity.
The bus bar is usually bearing large electrical power in operation and therefore in case of short
circuit of bus bar, the short circuit current produces heat. Also the bus bar will sustain large
electrical force, therefore the material intersection area and shape must be calculated and
compared to reach the objectives of economy and security.
III. Cable
The wiring in the power plants are mostly the electrical cables, which are numerous in types
and the structure are usually of cable core, insulation layer and protection layer.
The connection between cables and equipments must be realized by electrical cables, which
is complex in manufacturing, and severe in the requirement of insulation strength. The
distribution of electrical field is uniform and well sealed from humidity. The cable is also well
shaped and solid to have high mechanical strength, and the chemical stability keeps long terms
of operative life.

Section 8 Arrester

The arrester is used to protect the inroad of the voltage from lightning to cause damages to
the protected devices.

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 Chapter 3 Relay protection and automatic equipments

Section 1 Function of relay protection and basic parts

I. General requirements
The relay protection and automatic devices, which is called protection has the following
requirements:

1None of the electrical devices must be running isolated from the protection or without
protection.

2The conditions of correct switching of the protection devices must be maintained.

1Correct wiring;
2Rated values equal with the calculated values;
3Sufficient insulation;
4The DC voltage no less than 80% of the rated value;
5The protection devices kept tidy and the connection pieces and correctly used;
3The line-in and disconnection of the protection devices must comply with the regulation of
operations.
II. Function of the relay protection
The electrical system include the generation, transformation, transmission, distribution, and
using. It has wide spread coverage, tight interconnections, and swift variation. To keep the safety
of generation of the system, and improve the quality of electricity for the maximum economic
profit, the electrical system is equipped with various advanced micro relay protection and
automatic devices. The function of them is to prevent the occurrence of the failure of electrical
system and limit the effected area of failures.

Section 2 Protection of distribution circuits

I. Three types of excess current protection

The three types of excess current protections are time limited excess current protection,
transitional shutting excess current protection and time limited swift shutting excess current
protection.

II. Ground connection protection

85% of the failures of the electrical system are failures of ground connection short circuit
failures. The zero sequence component that appears in the ground short circuit flows only in the
connected grid. Therefore, it is necessary to attach a ground connection protection to protect the

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rated value, and the time limits of switching that are less than the over current protection.
The zero sequence component is that the currents in each phase are the same of magnitude
and direction. This component does not appear in normal operation and shortage between
phases. It only appears in case of ground connection failure.

Section 3 Protection of generator

I. Failure and protection devices of generator

The most valuable equipment in the electrical system is generator, and its operation security
is critical to the reliability of power supply and the quality of electricity. Therefore, the
generator should be fixed with complete devices that deal with all the different abnormalities.
The generator with capacity of 6MW and up should be equipped with differential protection,
to protect the stator windings and the insulation between the lead wires. The single phase
protection should be equipment to keep the stator insulation from being damaged. The
complex voltage starting excess current protection should be equipped to keep the excess
current that are caused by external shortage from damaging the internal devices. The rotor
ground connection protection is to protect the one point and two points ground connection of
the excitation circuit. Overloading protection is to counteract the excess current caused by
the overloading. And also, in case of internal failure, the short circuit current could not be
eliminated from acting on the arc extinguishing switches, just by shutting the breaker, the
breaker must be switched off at the same time to eliminate the failure current in the inside of
the generator.

Section 4 Protection of transformer

I. Failure and protection of voltage transformer.

The voltage transformer is a critical and valuable electrical device in the electrical system,
the failure of which gives significant effect on the operation and running of the system. Therefore,
protections of good performance and reliability should be equipped. The protections for the
voltage transformer are as follows:
1. Gas protection for transformers of capacity of 1000KVA and up, as the main
protection in the inner side of the oil tank, which reflects the dropping of oil level. And
the switches by signaling or switching off according to the severity of the failure.
2. For transformers of 56ooKVA and up in parallel operation, or 7500KVA in single
operation, differential protection should be equipped, to protect the windings, tubes
and the short circuits between the lead wires of phases and the short circuits
between turns and ground connections. Current swift shutting protection should be
equipped with transformers of small capacity.

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 3. Electrical transformer should be equipped with excess current protection, as the
back-up protection in case of external and internal short circuits.
4. Overload protection should be equipped as the balancing overload to protect the
transformer.

Section 5 Bus bar protection

I. Bus bar protection

There are two types of bus bar protection. One is to use the protection of the bus bar power
supply parts as the protection for bus bar; and the other one is the exclusive protection for bus
bar. Currently the exclusive protection for bus bar are mostly made according to the differential
principle.

Section 6 Automatic switching in of back up power

The automatic line in equipment for back up power is the device that can automatically and
swiftly switch in the back up power or switch the user to the back up power when the power is off
due to some failure, which prevents blackout. The device is formed of starting section and
switching in section.

Section7 Frequency controlled automatic load shedding equipment

Frequency is one of the fundamental indicators that gauge the quality of electricity. The
frequency of electrical system is 50 or 60 HZ. The frequency is determined by the rotation
velocity of the generator running in parallel. If the balance of frequency is disrupted, then the
rotation velocity reduces or increases. Therefore the frequency changes accordingly. In case of
normal operation, the active power of the load varies in a small range. Then only the steam
volume into the main steam gate of the turbine will be regulated to make the total power of the
generator reach the new balance wit the total power demand of the load, and the rated frequency
is then recovered. In case of failure, such as the switching off of a large capacity generator or
failure of an important power line, then the back-up capacity in the system fall far from the lost
active power, then the frequency of the system drops sharply. And if there is no effective action
taken, the security of the whole electrical system could be compromised. Therefore the frequency

17
controlled automatic load shedding system is the effective preventive measure for the failure. It
automatically shuts the load by batches and periods according the priority of the loads and
according to the extent to which the frequency has dropped, to keep the balance of loads in the
system, and recover the frequency.

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Chapter 4 Authorized Operation Method of Synchronous
Generator

Section 1 The allowable temperature of the iron core and windings

The continuous operation capacity of generator is mainly determined by the stator winding,
rotor winding and the temperature of the stator iron core. The generator will deteriorate in the
course of operation and the heat of the insulation has significant effect upon the aging of the
insulation. The higher the temperature, the faster the aging, and the shorter the life will be.
Therefore in the operation o the generator, attention must be particularly addressed to the
temperature, to keep it within the allowable limits.
For ordinary small generators, the temperatures should not exceed the following values:
stator windings: 105 to 120 ; and 105 to 130 for the rotor windings; the temperature of the
iron core that contacts with the windings must not be higher than the allowable temperature of the
windings (according to the specifications of the manufacturers).
The reason that the allowable temperature for the rotor winding than that of the stator
winding in steam turbine generator is that: (1) low voltage; (2) uniform distribution of temperature
of the rotor winding, different from the sectional over heating in the stator winding caused by the
temperature of the iron core; (3) difference in measurement.

Section 2 Effect upon the operation in the variance of voltage

Allowable limits of variance

Voltage is one of the indicators of the quality of electricity. It is not only negative to the users
by the over high and over low voltages, it is also negative to the electrical system and the
generator itself. In the operation of the generator, the voltage could hardly be kept on the rated
value for all the time, therefore the voltage of the electrical system varies according to the
variance of load.
The continuous operation of the generator should observe the specification o the
manufacturers for the maximum allowable voltage, but not more than 110% of the rated value.
When the voltage is within 105 to 110% of the rated value, the allowable current of the stator
should follow specification of the manufacturer or be fixed according to experience.

Allowable current of the stator in variance of the generator voltage

Percentage of line 110 109 108 107 106 105 100 95 90 85

voltage to the rated value

19
Percentage of the stator 84 86.5 88.5 91 93 95 100 105 105 105
current to the rated value
The minimum operation voltage should be fixed according to the requirement of stable
operation, which is generally no less than 90% of the rated value. When the voltage drops to 95
and 90% of the rated value the allowable value of stator current in long must still be kept below
105% of the rated value. If this value is exceeded, the temperature of the stator winding could go
beyond the rated value.

Section 3 Effect of variance of frequency on the operation

I. Allowable limit for the variance

Frequency is also one of the indicators of electricity quality. The significant variance of
frequency would present negative effect upon the operation of the generator and the user's
driving motor.
In the operation of the generator, when the frequency exceeds a certain limit, it will be
regarded as an incident. Then the incident will be handled according to the onsite operation
procedures. The frequency limit of the generator is not allowed over 60HZ (-1+3%). In the limited
range, the generator could operate according to a given capacity.
I. The effect of the variance of frequency on the operation of the generator
the frequency of the generator will not increase in normal operation, due to the timely
regulation. If the frequency increases, then large tense will be applied on the steam turbine
and the rotor of the generator, which is detrimental to the security of operation, and should
be regulated immediately. What happens more commonly is the decrease of frequency,
where the operation could be continued if the decrease is not severe; when the decrease is
too significant, the operation of the generator will be effected greatly.
Also blade will be running on overloading when the steam turbine is running on low velocity
and the power of the generator remains the same. Significant vibration could be caused and
the life of the blade will be shortened.

Section 4 Operation mode in case of the variance of power factor

I. Rated value and the maximum value of power factor

Power factor of most of the generator is rated at 0.8, and 0.85 or 0.9 for some large generators.
When the power factor of generator varies from the rated value to 1/0, the rated output force
could be preserved (capable of more output force if admissible to the prime motor). To maintain
the stable operation, the factor of the generator should not exceed the phase lag (the lag of the
phase of the stator current behind the terminal voltage ) 0.95; if the automatic excitation regulator
is available, the generator could be running under the power factor of 1.0 if necessary. And the

20
operation in phase advance (the phase of the stator current ahead of the terminal voltage) for
short time is admissible with the power factor in the range of 0.95 to 1.0.
II. Effect of the drop of power factor
When the cooled air of generator remains at the rated value, and the power factor of the load
drops, to keep the terminal voltage of the generator constant, the output KVA force of the
generator must be maintained too. Then the rotor current must exceed the rated value and cause
overheating of the rotor, which is not permissible. Therefore when the rotor current is not allowed
to go beyond the rated value and when the power factor is relatively low, then the KVA output
force of the generator will drop (which means that the terminal voltage of the generator remains
the same, while the current of the stator drops below the rated value). In case of various power
factors, the ratio of the maximum allowable stator current to the rated value are as follows:
Allowable stator current in various power factor

Power factor 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8
Ratio of the allowed 0.8 0.81 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.85 0.87 0.93 1
stator current to the
rated current

As can be seen from the table, when the power factor is 0.6 the KVA output of the generator
drops by 13%. In case of a 1875KVAgenerator (rated power factor 0.8, 1500KW), it delivers the
following value when the power factor is at 0.6:
18750.871631.25KVA
1631.250.6978075KW
Therefore in the operation of the generator, when the power factor is lower than then rated
value, the inspector must keep attention to put the load under regulation to maintain the rotor
current within the allowable value of the generator that are currently running.
To increase the power factor of the generator, electrical capacitor should available at the
users side. Also the electrical capacitor other inactive power devices could be connected to the
voltage bus bar of the generator to increase the power factor of the generator.

Section 5 Allowable limit of the unbalance between loads

I. Cause of unbalanced load

The three phase AC synchronous generator is designed assuming that it is running when the
loads are balanced. Yet unbalanced loads are possible. For example: in normal operation, when
the generator is supplying the single phased motor, and the illumination user of unbalanced three
phases; in case of incidents, when the supplying line or one of the phases is broken. All these
might cause the unbalanced load current in three phases to various extent.
II. Allowable limit of the unbalanced load
The allowable unbalanced current of generator should following the specification of the
manufacturer. When a manufacturer specifies the a certain model of steam turbine generator as:

21
when the current of each phase does not exceed the specified value and the allowed negative
sequence current component should not exceed 8% of the rated value, where the continuous
operation could be maintained. When the specification of the manufacturer is not available, the
following specifications could be followed for the steam turbine cooled by air:
(1) the difference between the currents of any two phases of he three must be no more
than 10%, and any one of the phase current must be no more than the rated value at
any moment, where the continuous operation could be maintained according to the
load.
(2) When the continuous operation is under the rated load, the difference of the currents
of the various phases could be more than the afore specified value, yet is subject to
the experiments case by case; the experiment should follow the three conditions
below:
1. the temperature of rotor winding no more than the rated value;
2. current of each phase of the stator no more than the rated value;
3. the vibration of the generator no more than the rated value;
(3) for the bundled wire rotor steam turbine generator, operation in unbalanced load in
not admissible (when the negative sequence current is no more than 5% of the positive
sequence, the currents of the three phases could be regarded as balanced).

Section 6 Regulation on the rate of load increase

The generator could be directly connected to the load when in parallel with the system, and
the current of the stator and the active load should increase gradually when connected with load.
The rate of increasing the active load of the generator is mainly determined by the
requirements of the steam turbine. The boiler steams will fall short in supply if it increases too fast,
and the pressure and temperature of the steam will be dropped; in severe cases, water will be
contained in the steam, and dripped into the steam turbine, which causes water pressure that
damages the blade. If the active load increases too fast, the volume of the steam into the turbine
increases dramatically and caused uneven heating of the parts of the turbine and therefore the
uneven expansion, which causes additional vibration. On top of that, the dramatic increase of
steams in the condenser could make the circulation water fail to be discharged and lessen the
vacuum degree of the turbine.
Increase of the velocity of the generator is subject to the capacity, age a and the current
cooling and heating status and other factors (normal or failure). If the temperature of the winding
and iron core of the generator exceeds 50% of the allowable temperature, the generator could be
regarded as in the heated status; when the temperature is lower than the 50%, the generator
could be regarded as in the cooled status. If there is not embedded thermometer available, the
generator should be regarded as in heated status after 4 to 6 hours of running without load and
with excitation.
In case of cooled status, the copper parts expands first when the current increases fast,
while the iron parts expands slower, due to the difference in expansion between copper and iron,

22
which might cause the frustration stress applied to the stator winding and damages the insulation
after several times.
The rate of increasing the load of each generator should follow the provisions concern the
onsite operation in the specification from the manufacturer.
In case of heated status of the generator or failure of the grid, there is no restriction on the
rate of increasing the currents of stators and rotors.

Section 7 Admissible overloading

In case normal operation, the generator in not allowed to be running overloaded for long time
when there is no special heating experiments; yet in case of failure in the grid (of switching off of
the generator due to some incidents), that results insufficient electricity or the abrupt change of
the operation of the grid that threats the stability of the electricity system, the overloaded
operation of generators could be admitted. At that time the temperature of rotor and stator
windings should not go over the rated value of the insulation, excepted in enforced excitation.
Overloading for short time should follow the specifications of the manufacturer.
When the generator is running overloaded, the excitation current could be reduced first,
which means the inactive load is reduced; yet when the excitation current is being reduced, the
power factor of the generator should not exceed the rated value. And the bus bar voltage of the
generator should be noted to be kept from being too low.
Failing the above, the active output of the generator should be tried to be reduced; or shut
some of the less important lines according to the priority of the lines if necessary.

Section 8 Measurement of the insulation resistance and the

admissible value

To command the insulation status in the operation of the generator, the insulation resistance
should be checked each time the generator is turned on, shut done or standing by.
I. Measuring the winding resistance
The voltage of the insulation voltage meter used for measuring should be 1000---5000V, but
no less than 1000V. The cables should be included when the stator winding resistance is being
measured. If the transformer group is connected, the LV winding of the transformer should be
included too. The isolation switch of the voltage transformer should be switched off first in
measurement, or the HV fuser be removed.
Due to the fact that the insulation resistances decreases when the temperature increases, to
make the tested insulation resistance comparable with the last tested value, the value tested
each time should be translated to its equivalent in 75.

23
 The safety insulation resistance of the stator winding is free from any specific regulation
principally. Yet the qualification of the tested insulation resistance should be based on the value
tested last time. If the value drops to one fifth or one third of the last value, the insulation is
regarded as defective, and the cause should be investigated and eliminated. For example, the
tested value of the generator before the maintenance was 1000M, while the value after is
200M, which is just one fifth, the insulation might have been subject to humidity in the
maintenance and should be heated and dried before being tested again.
At the same time with the test of insulation resistance, the insulation absorb ration should
also be tested, and the ratio tested in 60 and 15 insulation resistance (absorb ratio) should be 13
or up. Otherwise the motor insulation has been damped.
II. Insulation resistance of the rotor winding, which is the excitation circuit
In measurement, the insulation gauge of 500V should be used. And the insulation of the
rotor winding are generally tested together with the excitation circuit (including the exciter,
automatic magnetic field suppression equipment, and cables). The are tested separately only
when there is problem or in maintenance.
In heated status (such as just after shutting down) the total insulation resistance of the whole
excitation circuit should be no less than 0.5M. If the insulation resistance fo the rotor winding is
found to be less than this value, actions should be taken the identify the cause for process.
In the operation of the generator, the voltage meter should be used to test the insulation
resistance of the whole excitation circuit, which is also not admissible under 0.5M.

24
Chapter 5 Incident Analysis and countermeasure of
synchronous generator

Section 1 Asynchronous parallel of generator

I. Syndrome of the incident

In the instant when the breaker of the paralleled generator is switched on the
current of stator increases drastically and the system voltage drops, the bulk of the
generator issues booming sound followed by the dramatic oscillation of stator current.
All these are the indications of asynchronous parallel.
II. Countermeasure
Identifying the above, the breaker and the magnetic suppress should be switched off
immediately and the generator should be lined out and shut down. The stator winding
insulation resistance should be checked and the top cover of the generator should be
opened to check if there is any deformation on the top of the stator winding, after the
generator stops running. When it is confirmed that the failure is caused by human
mistake or secondary system, and that the generator is intact, the generator could be
started again, the point of parallel could be changed if necessary.
III. Cause of failure
When the voltages of the generator and the system, the frequencies and the sequence
and phase are consistent and the same, the generator will be switched in, which is the
ideal condition for switching in the generator. In practice, it is nevertheless difficult to
meet these conditions. Therefore the following two conditions should be meet before the
generator could be switched in: in the first instant of switching in, the current impact
should be reduced as much as possible, and the generator should be kept in stable
paralleled operation after switching in. To meet both, the following should be observed in
paralleling: the voltage of the generator to be switched in must be no more than 5 to
10 % different from that of the system; the frequency of the generator to be switched in
must be no more than 0.2 to 0.5% different from that of the system; the phase difference
between them must be no more than 10. If the conditions are far from the above
conditions, asynchronous parallel of generator could take place when being switched in.
IV. Preventive measure
Defective equipment should be fixed as possible. Manual pre-paralleling devices are
generally used and semi-automatic pre-paralleling devices or automatic devices could
be used if available.

25
 Section 2 Overheating of the winding and iron core

I. Syndrome of failure
The generator is operating in the rated load or close to the rated load, due to the overheating
of the winding or the iron core; or due to the excess current in the rotor, the rotor is overheated.
II. Countermeasure
When the overheating is identified, the air cooling should be checked immediately. For
example the temperature of the cooling air; cooling water should also be checked to see it meets
the requirements. Failing the above, the inactive and active load on the generator must be
reduced till the temperature recovers.
III. Cause of failure
There are generally three causes for the overheating:
(1) malfunctioning of the cooling and ventilation system
(2) defect on the winding of the generator
(3) overheating of the stator iron core, which is mostly because of the short circuit between
laminations or eddy current.
IV. Preventive measure.
(1) strengthen the maintenance and inspection of the cooling and ventilation system;
(2) particular attention to the generators that are susceptible to overheating at the terminals
(3) damages to the insulation of the iron causes overheating, therefore they require
particular care.

Section 3 Internal Failure of Generator

The breaker and the excitation switch turn off abruptly in the operation, and all the
indications of the gauges in the generator circuit fall back to zero; when the switching of the
protector is checked, the differential protection is found to have switched. Some time it is found
that there is smoke or sparks in the internal or the air way of the generator, with smell of burning,
all these are the indications of internal insulation failures of generator.

I. Countermeasure
Identifying the above, the staff on duty should switch off the breaker and the remote control
of the excitation switch, and shut down the operation for inspection. In case of fire the fire
extinguishing procedure of generator should be followed (section four herein).
II. Failure process
Internal insulation failure of generator is caused by the damage of the generator winding
insulation or the short circuit of iron core. The failure is usually spread to the short circuits
between phases through single phase ground connection of short circuits between turns, which
triggers the protection relay.
The causes for the ground connection failure are as follows::

26
 (1) Excess voltage
(2) Overheating of the winding or overheating due to short circuits of iron core;
(3) Some tools inadvertently dropped in the generator in maintenance;
(4) Poor welding at the terminals of the stator winding, which is overheated in operation and
broken with arc that damages the insulation.
III. Preventive measures
To prevent the internal insulation failure of the generator winding, the major solution is the
regular voltage test of the generator insulation to check if the insulation is deteriorated. To
keep the generator of direct distribution line from the harm of lightning, lightning proof
facilities should be available and checked regularly.
To eliminate the failures caused by bad contacts, the DC resistance of the windings of each
phase in maintenance, if they are unbalanced or increases simultaneously, then the causes
should be tried to identified and eliminated. In maintenance, the fastened parts shall be
checked of the firmness, the site, tools and other objects should be checked.

Section 4 Generator on fire

I. internal fire of generator

When smoke, spark or burning smell is detected, the generator is on fire.
When the above takes place, the generator should be lined out from the system and the
excitation switch should be turned off, with the danger protection knocked off, and the generator
slowed down but not stopped lest that the uneven heating in the shaft causes bending. The main
steam gate controls the rotation at low velocity: the generator rated for 1500 turns/m should be
maintained at 100 to 150 turns, and the generator rated for 3000 turns/minute should be
maintained at 200 to 300 turns/m. Then the special fire extinguisher should be used to put out the
fire.
When the fire is out, cooling should be continued to reduce the internal temperature of the
generator. Rotation of the main steam gate should be shut down and the motor should be
regularly checked according to the particular specifications of the onsite procedures.
II. Ball bearing of the generator
Fire on ball bearing could be caused by: overheating of lubricant oil, disrupted or insufficient
oil feed, tiny hard particles in the bearing (such as sand), etc. The initial stage of fire on ball
bearing is the increased external temperature, oil burnt smell and smoke issuing fro the gaps of
the bearing, the fire could spread to the whole system, which is dangerous, the fire could be put
out by carbon dioxide of carbon tetrachloride extinguisher.

Section 5 Automatic tripping off of the generator

I. Cause of automatic tripping off of the generator

27
 Internal failures of the generators, such as the ground connection of the stator windings,
ground connection of two points of the rotors, fires; external failures of the generator, such as the
short circuit of the bus bar, misconduct of the operator on duty, mistaken switching of the
protection devices of breaker systems.
II. In case of the automatic tripping off of the generator, the following actions should be taken
first:
1) Cut off the forced excitation system and automatic excitation regulator;
2) Inspect if the magnetic blow-out switch is turned off, if not, turn off the switch through
remote operation switch to prevent internal spreading of the failure.
3) Identify the protection device that triggers the breaker of the generator;
4) Check the possibility of the misconduct of the operator on duty;
5) Check if the emergency protector of the steam turbine is triggered.
III. Internal insulation failure of the generator that causes the switching of the differential
relay to trip off the generator
IV. The switching of the over current relay causes the tripping off of the generator
If the generator is fixed with over current protection and differential protection, and only the
over current protection is triggered, it means that there is short circuit on the lines or the bus bar
of the power plant. Then the internal inspection of the generator is not necessary. With the
external failure cleared, the generator could be switched in the electrical network. If the generator
has only the over current protection, then the inside and leading wire of the generator should also
be checked when the generator is tripped off to tell if it is the failure of external or internal.
V. Trip off of the generator due to misconduct or mistaken switching
Tripping off of the generator could be the result of other causes than the correct switching of
the protection systems, such as the misconduct of operator, mistaken switching of the outlet relay
of the protection system, and mistaken switching of the breaker. When tripping off due to causes
like these occurs, there will be no indication of failure on the gauges, and no signal of the
switching of protection system could be seen, and the generator will keep the voltage at high
level. If there is automatic excitation regulator, the voltage could be normal.
When situations above take place, the operator on duty should regulate the voltage, frequency to
identify the cause, and switch the generator into the line after eliminating the failure. If the cause
of tripping off is not identified, and yet the power system is expecting the switching in of the
generator, the generator could be switched in again, but must switched off when the summit load
period passes for identification and therefore elimination of the cause of tripping off. It must be
noted that, if tripping off occurs again, and the generator is incapable of being switched into the
line after fire, the cause must be thoroughly identified and eliminated.

Section 6 Loss of excitation of the generator

I. Cause of failure
The cause for the generator to loose excitation is that the wire is broken in the excitation circuit,
such as the broken wire in the circuit of the rotor, in the armature circuit of the excitation machine,
in the excitation winding of the excitation machine. The magnetic blow-out switch vibrated, or the

28
switch knocked off by mistaken and the imperfect contact of the excitation rheostat might cause
the open circuit.
1When the indication of the current gauge of the rotor is zero (in case of broken circuit of
the rotor of the generator), or approaches zero (when the circuit of the excitation winding of the
excitation machine is open);
2The voltage of the stator drops down, and the excitation voltage approaches zero, with
the indication of the power gauge opposite to the normal (which is also called the indication of
phase advance) or the indication of the reactive power is below zero.
3The current of the stator significantly increases with the over load relay issue signals.
II. Countermeasure
When the above phenomena are identified by the operators, it could be confirmed that the
generator has lost its excitation, and the generator should be immediately turned off from the line.
In small power plants, the generators are usually not allowed to be running without excitation.
III. Preventive measures
The best way to prevent the loss of excitation is to strengthen the service and maintenance
of excitation circuit. The resistance of the excitation circuit should be checked in service to
confirm if the excitation circuit is open, and if the contact is perfect. The excitation rheostat spins
out of the hand wheel in operation, and the tight contact of its spinning contactor with the fixed
terminal should be checked. For the clip of the excitation switch and its operational system
regular services should be kept, to maintain its reliability in switching.

Section 7 Asynchronous Oscillation of Generator

I. Syndrome of the failure

In case of major failure of the system, when the balance of the electromagnetic power and
the mechanical power of the steam turbine are upset, the rotor of the generator acquires
acceleration (positive or minus), where the generator delivers power to the system at one
instance, and withdraws power from the system at another instance. The to and fro of the power
is called asynchronous oscillation, which could be detected through the following phenomena:
(1) Pin of the current gauge of the state sways rapidly at large range;
(2) Pin of the stator and bus bar voltage meter sways rapidly, mostly showing the drop of
voltage;
(3) Pin of the power meter sways on the whole face of the meter;
(4) Pin of the current meter sways around the normal operational value;
(5) Pin indication of the frequency meter goes up and down, with rhythmic buzzing, and the
buzzing agrees with the swing of the pin on the gauges;
(6) Impulsive excitation devices on the generator could be triggered.
II. Source of failure and its impact
The generator running in parallel with the system could generate severe oscillation, and
loose synchronization when severe short circuit failure occurs in the power system, or when the
generator of large capacity in the power system switches off, or when the speed regulation
system of the steam turbine is not stable that the static or dynamic balance of the generator is

29
upset. In extremity, the generator could be damaged, and the power system could crash.

IV. Countermeasure

Conditions for synchronization should be tried to be fulfilled as soon as possible to facilitate

the synchronous operation of the generator, of which the methods are as following:
(1) When impulsive excitation device is not triggered yet, the operator should increase
the excitation current immediately;
(2) Reduce the active power of the asynchronous generator, which is to reduce the
power transmission of the steam turbine, so that the generator will be easily
synchronized.
Failing the above, the generator should be switched off the line in three to four minutes.
Considering the safety of the whole power network, the power supply for the consumption of the
plant must be secured. III. Countermeasures:
To keep the operation of the generator stable, the following must be done:
(1) Equip the impulsive excitation device and automatic excitation regulation device;
(2) Equip fast relay protection device and automatic switching in device.

Section 8 Frequency off limit

Frequency out of the limit could be detrimental to the electrical system. The frequency could
change out of the allowed limits due to the instability of the speed regulation system of the stream
turbine or the dramatic change of load in the grid. It is regarded as accident when the frequency
is out of the range of 60Hz (-1+3%). When requires immediate countermeasures.
I. Frequency below the limit
(1) When the frequency of the power net goes below 59.5Hz, the operator could increase the
transmission without waiting for the instruction of the chief on duty till the frequency returns
above 59.5Hz, or turn the transmission to the maximum possible, and then report the issue to the
chief on duty. When the generators are on full capacity, yet the frequency fails to reach 59.5Hz,
the contact should be made with the coordinator on duty on the one hand, and preparation of the
backup generator should be made available for further instruction.
2When the generators are on full capacity, and the frequency remains below 59Hz, the
following measures could be taken according to the extent of the drop of the frequency to try to
recover the frequency to the normal value.
1) Cut some of the load, or contact with the user for cutting some loads of secondary
importance without waiting for the report of the chief on duty;
2) Wait for some time, when contact with the chief on duty fails, cut some loads immediately,
and prepare for starting backup generators. The specifications of the measures above and the
priorities of the load to be cut, should be clearly specified on the procedures on site.
(3) If the system frequency fails to be controlled and drops to the extent that the normal
operation of the power plant could be compromised, the control room of the generator should
take the following actions according to the procedures preset.
(1) Start the backup power immediately, such as the diesel generator;
(2) Switch some generators off the line to supply power exclusively for the power plant;

30
 (3) Separate from the system one or some of the generators with some wiring that could be
separated from the system (including the most important users) for separated operation;
(4) Detach the power plant and the load of the region from the system pending operation.
II. Increase of frequency
When the frequency of the system goes higher than 61.8Hz, regulate the frequency from
one the generators in the system that could be regulated for frequency. If the frequency fails to
drop below 60Hz, and contact could not be acquired with the coordinator on duty, transmission of
the power plant should be reduced to put the frequency back below 60Hz.

31
 Chapter 6 Empty load operation, load operation of the
generator

Section1 Empty load operation of transformer and the

transformation ratio

When the first winding of transformer is connected with sine AC voltage U 1, and the
secondary winding is open (the secondary current is zero), the transformer is in empty load
status.
The ratio of the rating voltages of the various windings of the transformer is called the
transformation ratio. The ratio of the single phase transformer is approximately the ratio of the
numbers of turns of the first and secondary windings. In three phase transformer, the ratio is the
ratio of the line voltages in various windings. Due to the different wiring of the three phase
transformer windings, the line voltage of the transformer could be different from its phase
potential (in case of Y connection, the line voltage is 3 times of the phase potential). Therefore,
the ratio of three phase transformer is the ratio of the numbers of turns of the first and secondary
windings, which should be distinguished. For example, a SJ1800/35 transformer, of which the
capacity is 1800KVA, and the ratio is 38.55/6.3KV, with Y/11 connection, the ratio of turns
of the high and low voltage windings is 38.5/36.3.

Section 2 Load status and voltage regulation of transformer

Status of the load of transformer: with the load current I2 increasing or decreasing, the first
current I1 increases or decreases accordingly. Neglecting the loss in the transformation of energy
in the transformer, the electrical power absorbed by the first winding equals that delivered by the
secondary winding, which is U1I1U2I2
Or I1I2U2U1W2W 1
The formulas above show that the currents in the first and secondary windings are reversely
proportional to the number of turns of the windings. The number of turns of first winding in the
voltage increasing transformer is smaller than that of the secondary, and the opposite to the
voltage decreasing transformer.
When the transformer is running in empty load, the secondary voltage varies according to the
variance of the voltage of the first network. When the variance of voltage goes beyond limit, the
normal operation of the electrical equipments could be jeopardized. Therefore, the power supply
departments must guarantee the quality of power supply, which means to keep the variance of
voltage within its limits. To reached the goals above, certain numbers of branches could be drawn
out from the first winding of the transformer, and the use the branch switch to adjust the number

32
of turns to regulated the voltage, which is a method commonly used.

Section 3 Polarity of transformer and the wiring group of three

phase transformer

When two or more than two transformers are paralleled, the first rating voltage of each one
should be the same, and the voltage and phase at the secondary side of each one should be the
same, otherwise circular current could be generated in the windings, due to the fact that the first
and secondary windings of all the transformers are connected to the same bus bars. The factors
that effect the phase relation of the first and secondary phases, are the marks on the terminals of
wires and the direction of turns of the windings for single phase transformers; and besides the
above two, it also depends upon the connection between windings for three phase transformers.
I. Polarity of transformer
In DC circuit, the anode and cathode of power has different potential, which is called the
polarity of DC power. In transformer, even though the first and secondary voltages are alternative,
but there is one of high potential and another one of lower potential at any given instance. In the
same instance, there must be one terminal of high potential and another one of low potential of
the terminals of both windings. To confirm the direction of potential at the first and secondary
windings, the polarity of the windings must be confirmed.
If the directions of windings of both transformers are the same, and the marks on the same
side agree, then the first and secondary potentials are of the same phase; if the directions of the
two are opposite, with same marks on the terminals (or same direction, with different marks),
then the first and secondary potentials are opposite. Therefore, the polarity of transformer is
related to the direction of windings and marks on the terminals.

II. Wiring classifications of three phase transformer

There are three high voltage windings and three low voltage windings for the three phase
transformers. And the high or voltage windings could be connected in forms of Y or , then the
phase difference between the high and low voltage side of the windings depends on: the direction
of the windings, marks on the terminals of wires and the way of the windings being connected. To
indicate the phase relation between the line voltage of both sides, the connections of three phase
transformers could be separated into certain groups, which is called wiring groups. The
connection groups of transformers are usually denoted clockwise. As we know, there are 12
numbers on the face of a clock, and the angle between the next two is 30while in the
transformers of different connections, the phase difference between both sides is always the
multiple of 30 . According to this feature, the longer pin of the clock represents the vector of the
high voltage side remaining pointing to 12 oclock, and the short one represents the low voltage
side vector. Then the number pointed at by the short pin represents the phase difference
between both sides. For example, if the voltage of the lower side is of the same phase with that of
the higher side, and the short pin points to the 12 oclock, then the connection is of 12 th group. If
the voltage of lower side is 30 ahead of the higher side, the short pin is supposed to point at the

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11 oclock, and the connection is of the 11th group.
To simplify the grouping of domestically made three phase transformers, it is specified by
the national specification that: the marks on the first and secondary windings and their direction
should be consistent, which makes the domestically made three phase transformers boiled down
to the three groups of: o 1211ando11(connection of high voltage side
on the upper side of the slash and the lower side connection on the lower side of the slash).

Section 4 Parallel operation of transformers

The parallel operation of transformers is that the first windings of two or more than two
transformers are connected to the same voltage bus bar, and those of the secondary windings
are paralleled to another bus bar.
In the parallel operation, the distribution of load is in accordance with the characteristics of
each transformer. The most ideal situation is that the distribution of load being proportional to the
capacity of each transformer. If there is heterogeneity of the characteristics of transformers, then
one of the transformers could be running on full load or even over load, and another one running
on inadequate load, which makes the capacity of the equipments wasted. To reach the ideal
scenario, the transformers running in parallel should meet the following three conditions:
(1) The first and secondary rating voltage of all transformers being same, which means that
the ratio of each one is the same;
(2) The resistance voltage of each transformer must be same;
(3)Same connection group of each transformer.

Section 5 Operation of transformer and countermeasures to failure

I. Overload operation of transformer

The overload operation of transformer includes normal overload and accidental overload.
1. Overloading
Overloading of transformer in normal cases is acceptable, yet the rate of overloading and the
time acceptable for overloading have bearing to the rate of loading of transformers (the rate of
the average electricity to the rating electricity that passes the transformer) and the oil
temperature of the upper level.
2Accidental overloading
The overloading caused by the switching off of one of the several transformers running in
parallel due to some failure, resulting to the overloading of others, or overloading caused by
some abnormality of the system, is called accidental overloading.
When the transformer is overloaded, the indication of the current meter exceeds the rating
value, and the overload protection triggers, issuing audio or visual signals. The time and rate

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permitted for the overloaded transformer is specified by the manufacturer.
II. Service and inspection in the operation of transformers
The operator on duty should perform regular patrolling on the operating transformers for the
knowledge of the status of their operation, and timely identification of problems, then the
problems could be nailed in the bud.
1Check the color of the surface of oil in the oil pillow and the oil charging pipe.
2Check the oil temperature of upper level, which is usually supposed to be under 85.
3Check the sound of the transformer. In normal operation, regular buzzing is audible.
III. Failure inspection of transformer

The cause for failure of transformers could be rather complex some times. To reach the
cause of failure easily and correctly, the following information should be available ahead of
the accident:
(1) Operation status of the transformer, such as load status, and type of load;
(2) Temperature increase and voltage status of the transformer;
(3) The climate and environmental conditions, such as the existence of lightning, rain and
snow, etc, before the accident;
(4) Existence of maintenance tasks around the transformer;
(5) Type of the protection devices triggered;
If the oil temperature in operation is found to be higher than normal situation for
more than 10, or the incessant increase of oil temperature is identified without
any variance of transformer load, then the cooling system and the thermometers
should be checked first. If everything remains normal, then it could be said that
there is failure internal of the transformer. If the protection device has not
triggered yet, the load should be reduced immediately. Failing, further reduce
the load till the operation of transformer is off.
The operation of transformer should be stopped when any of the following is identified:
1 Severe and irregular noise, with sound of explosion from inside;
2 Oil jetting from the oil pillow or the explosion proof pipe;
3 Large quantity of fragments or cracks found of the ceramic pipe, with electrical
discharges visible;
4 The transformer catches fire. Then all the switches must be turned off before
extinguishing the fire with fire fighting devices.
IV. Several common internal failures of transformer
1Failure of the windings of transformer
The commonest one is the failure of winding, of which the short circuit between turns is the
commonest. The major cause is the natural damage of the insulation between turns, or the poor
heat radiation, deterioration of insulation over long time overloading; or deformation of the
winding due to external short circuits. Also it might be some defect escaped identification when
the winding was made. When short circuit between turns takes place, the temperature of oil
increases, sometime with bubbling sound inside, and the first current will slightly increase. Grey
gas issues from the gas relay. In severe case, the switches on both ends of the transformer turn
off, and the transformer shuts down.
Ground connection is another one of the failures frequently encountered, which is mostly

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because of he aging of the main insulation that results in breaking or cracking, or humidity in the
insulation oil, particles fallen in the windings, deformation of windings caused by short circuit or
voltage breakdown. The ground connection of winding usually occurs close to the iron posts iron
frames. When the failure of ground connection of windings occurs, the pins of the meters swing.
If insulation monitoring meter is available (network of 13.869KV), indication of one phase drops
and that of the other two phases increases; the oil decomposes when there is arc on the spot of
ground connection. The gas relay switches.
Short circuit of the windings of two phases usually occurs at the legs or the insulation pipes.
It might also be caused by the break down to ground on the wining of one phase, and then
spreads to the short circuit between phases due to the default of protection. In case of short
circuits between phases, loud noise is audible from the transformer, and oil breaks through the
glass of the explosion proof pipe. Sometime oil also jets from the cover. All the protections of gas
relay, differential and over current switch off the transformer. The iron core should be suspended
for service, and usually the wing should be changed.
2Failure of iron core of the transformer
Failure in the iron core commonly encountered is the broken insulation between laminations,
sections of iron core melt down, broken lamination or loose parts. The broken insulation between
laminations is usually due to the aging of insulation, or poor quality of silicon steel, bad coating.
The phenomena are the increase of empty loss, oil temperature, deterioration of oil (lower flash
point, higher acidity, and lower breakdown voltage, etc). The iron core should be suspended for
inspection when phenomena like these are identified. The out look of the iron core goes first, then
the insulation resistance between laminations should be tested with DC voltage or current test. If
the damage is not severe, insulation paint on the broken part will be sufficient.
The sections of the iron core melt down could be the results of broken insulation of iron core
screw that causes short circuit in laminations, severe damage of the insulation between
laminations and incorrect ground connection of iron core. When accidents like these happen, the
oil temperature increases, the oil blackens, and the flash point drops, with strange smell. Gas
could be found in the gas relay, and signals will be issued through the circuit of the gas signally
circuit. Then the iron core should be suspended for inspection. The out look of the iron core
goes first and the insulation resistance between laminations should be tested with
DC voltage or current test. The burnt part could be scratched before being coated
with insulation painted.
When the ground connection lamination breaks, there could be heard some slight sound of
electrical discharge in the inside of the transformer, where the iron core should be suspended for
inspection too, and the ground connection lamination should be fixed.
Abnormal noise could be heard in the transformer when any part goes loose. The iron core
must be suspended for inspection and the loose part be fastened.

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