A New Self-Regulated Self-Excited Single-phase

Induction Generator Using a Squirrel Cage

Three-phase Induction Machine
Tadashi FUKAMI, Michinori IMAMURA, Yuichi KABURAKI and Toshio MIY AMOTO
Department of Electrical Engineering, Kanazawa Institute of Technology
7- 1, Ohgigaoka, Nonoichi-machi, Ishikawa-prefecture, 92 1, Japan

-
Abstract A new single-phase capacitor self-excited
induction generator with self-regulating feature is
presented. The new generator consists of a squirrel cage
three-phase induction machine and three capacitors
connected in series and parallel with a single phase load.
The voltage regulation of this generator is very small due
to the effect of the three capacitors. Moreover, since a Y-
connected stator winding is employed, the waveform of
the output voltage becomes sinusoidal. In this paper the
system configuration and the operating principle of the
new generator are explained, and the basic characteristics
are also investigated by means of a simple analysis and
experiments with a laboratory machine.

I. INTRODUCTION Fig. 1. Schematic of the new capacitor self-excited

single-phase induction generator.

F OR applying to a single-phase portable engine

generator with a power rating of a few kilowatts,
we will propose a new single-phase capacitor self-
excited induction generator with “self-regulating fea-
ture” by which the voltage regulation can be automatical-
ly compensated, and this paper will clarify its operating
principle and basic characteristics by experiments.
A single-phase portable enginc generator has been
widely used as a power source for construction work,
leisure, emergency, and so on, and with a few hundred
watts to about 5-kilowatts, has been put on the market
[ 1,2]. It is desirable that the generator should be much
simpler in the structure, and has highly reliability and
durability.
Unlike a single-phase synchronous generator, a
single-phase capacitor self-excited induction generator
[3,4] has certain advantages, e.g., maintenance-free,
simple, cost-effective and rugged structure according
to comprise the rotor with squirrel cage, and therefore
the induction generator is the most suitable for use as a
portable engine generator when considering just its
structure. However, the single-phase induction generator
has few uses for the portable engine generator in
practice, because of its inherently poor voltage regula-
tion. Particularly,there is a problem in the inductive load
condition due to the following reasons; i.e., since the
conventional single-phase induction generator [3,4] is
excited with a single capacitor externally connected in
parallel with the stator winding, the excitation system
is unstable, and so the voltage regulation can’t be com-
pensated.
Accordingly, for improving this problem, we propose
a new single-phase capacitor self-excited induction
generator, which consists of a squirrel cage three-phase
induction machine and three capacitors. The three
capacitors are externally connected in series and parallel
with the stator winding of the induction machine in order
to supply an electric power with a single-phase load,
and they will provide a self-regulating feature as well
as a self-excitation with stable excitation system. Thus,
in the single-phase capacitor self-excited induction
generator based on this scheme, a good voltage reg-
ulation will show with respect to both resistive and
inductive loads without any control.
Consequently, if this generator is adopted, with highly
reliability and durability, high-performance portable
engine generator would be constructed.
We will describe below the system configuration,
operating principle of the proposed generator and the
experimental results with a laboratory machine.
11. SYSTEM
CONFIGURATION
AND OPERATING
PRINCIPLE
A. System Configuration
Figure 1 shows a schematic of the proposed generator.

IEEE Catalogue No. 95TH8130

0-7803-2981-3/95/$4.00@1995IEEE
308
 C. Method of Voltage Build-up

Figures 2(a) and (b) show the methods by which the

voltage is built up across the output terminals. In the
proposed generator, it is a basis to excite the generator
itself by using a residual magnetism of the rotor core.
Figure 2(a) shows a circuit example for exciting the
generator itself based on this method only. In this case,
rotating the rotor by prime mover and turning on the
(a) Example-1 switch S, the voltage will automatically build up across
the output terminals. Although it is enough with this
Initial excitation circuit
\
method, there is a case where the voltage does not
generate due to a shortage of the residual magnetism.
In such a case, it is desirable to use a method shown in
Figure 2(b) by which, supplying a dc current to the stator
winding with a battery for a short time, the voltage can
be easily built up.

111. THEORETICAL
STUDY
OF CHARACTERISTICS
cs 0’ CS
(b) Example-;! In this Chapter, we will theoretically study the
operating principle and performance characteristics of
Fig. 2. Circuit diagrams showing the method of the proposed generator. For making analysis easier, the
voltage buld-up. study will be carried out by neglecting a magnetic
saturation and a demagnetization of the air gap flux
The new generator consists of a Y -connected squirrel under loaded. Here, we will derive the relationship
cage three-phase induction machine and three capacitors, between the output voltage U and currents isq and isd (isd
CS, Cp, connected in series and parallel with a single- = ip, when at no load) from the external circuits
phase load. As shown in Figure 1, all phases of the stator consisting of the capacitors CS, Cp and load. With this
winding, thus, are used both as a load winding and an result, we will clarify behavior of maintaining the output
exciting winding. Excited with the three capacitors CS voltage v constantly with respect to the load variation
and Cp, the generator will produce an excitation MMF due to the capacitors CSand Cp.
efficiently, and so it can be obtained a stable excitation
system even in the inductive load. Moreover, since the A. Symmetrical Components of Line-To-Line Voltage
two capacitors CSare connected in series with the load,
the generator will be capable of adjusting a leading In Figure 1, if the vector expressions of line-to-line
current according to the load variation automatically. voltages vu,, U,,, vwuof the stator winding are Vu,,,Vvw,
Therefore, the generator can be obtained the self-reg- Vwu,respectively, the following equations are obtained:
ulating feature. Furthermore, employing a Y -connected
stator winding, the suppression of harmonic voltage will
be easy, and the output voltage can be made a sinusoidal.
vu,= V-(-j/uC,)( Isq)-++
B. Operating Principle
.................................... (1)
When the rotor of the generator is rotated by a prime vuw-- - 2. ( -j/oc,)I,, .............................. (2)
mover, the output voltage o will be build up across the
load terminals by the self-excitation phenomenon due
to the residual magnetism of the rotor and leading
currents flowing in the three capacitors CSand C p . Then,
the output voltage v is expressed by a sum of the u- ....................................
phase voltage vu and the voltage voroacross the terminals (3)
0’-0,and as will be seen later, the voltage uotoacts so as where V,I , and Is are the vector expressions of v,
to boost the output voltage v due to the effect of two i and iSq respectivly; ?Zl is the load impedance; o = 2nf;
series capacitors CS.Therefore, if the values of the three ?is an output frequency.
capacitors, CS,Cp, are properly selected, the output Here, dividing the line-to-line voltages Vu”,Vvw,V,,
voltage U of about constant can be obtained without of the stator winding into a positive-phase-sequence
control in both resistive and inductive loads. component Vl and a negative - p h a se - seq ue nce

309
component V,, they can be expressed as follows:
Ip (=Is4
t -U

3 . 2 ( -jJWC,)a l . q ] ...........................
+-
2 (4)
n( + a2VU" + a V w u )
VlZ = 1 vu, V'
(a) At no load

3 2( -j/&)
+-2-. clz I,,
1 ........................ (5)

where a = &Jznn.
In right sides of equations (4) and (5). the first and
second terms show voltage components across the stator
winding produced by the currents ,i and isq, respec-
tively. As clear from above two equations, even if the
generator supplies an electric power to the inductive
load, the capacitor Cp in the first terms of the right sides
will act so as to make up for lagging current component (b) At resistive load
due to the load impedance 2,. Therefore, the capacitor
C p will provide stable components of the line-to-line
voltages for the generator.
Also, a vector sum of the positive- and negative-
phase-sequencecomponents shown in equations (4) and
(5) gives the line-to-line voltage V,, across the generator
terminals U-v.

B. Output Voltage

The output voltage V can be expressed by a vector (c) At inductive load

sum of voltages v u of u-phase and vogoacross the
terminals 0'-0,
and it is given by
I/= vu- v,,
.....................
where Vu and V,, are vector representations of vu
and U,,, respectively.
By using the preceding equations (1) to (3,we will
give ideal vector diagrams of voltages and currents under
the cases when the proposed generator is operating at
no load, at resistive load and at inductive load. Here,
for making the consideration easier, it is assumed that
values of Cs and Cp are equal, i.e., CS= Cp, and that the
exciting current is, lis constant independent of the load.
(However, in reality, the current ,i does not become
constant due to the influences of the magnetic saturation
and demagnetization of the air gap flux under loaded.)
With these assumptions, the vector diagrams can be
illustrated as shown in Figure 3. It is seen from equation
(6)and Figure 3 that the voltage V,,, which expresses
Fig. 3. Ideal vector diagrams of voltages and
currents (when CSand C p are equal).
the vector sum of v-phase voltage Vv and the voltage
drop of CS, acts so as to boost the output voltage V with
the increase of the load due to the effect of CS.
As shown
(6) in Figures 3(b) and (c), the output voltage Vin loading
condition becomes larger theoretically than that in no
load condition. However, in reality, it decreases due to
the influences of the magnetic saturation and
demagnetization of the air gap flux under loaded that
are ignored in this study. Therefore, if the values of the
CSand C p are properly selected, the variation of the
output voltage Vcan be automaticallycompensatedwith
respect to resistive and inductive loads.
IV. EXPERIMENTAL
RESULTS
In this Chapter, we will first describe the outline of
experimental equipment, and will experimentally back
up the aforementioned theory and performance of the
proposed generator by illustrating its basic char-
acteristics in the resistive and inductive load conditions.

310

A. Experimental Equipment
As a test machine, a standard 4pole, 2.2-kW, 200-
V , 60-Hz, Y -connected squirrel cage three-phase
induction machine was used, and it was driven by an
inverter-fed three-phase synchronous motor. The
characteristics described below show the results when
the power rating of the tested machine for a single-phase
load is etimated as a 1.3-kW (=2.2/&). In this test, the
values of CSand' C p so as to minimize the voltage
regulation were also taken as l5OpF and 94pF respec-
tively by experiments at random. Further, the rotating
speed n was maintained constantly as 1,800 rlmin.
B. Results and Discussion
Figure 4 shows the output voltage characteristics
indicating the variation of the output voltage V with
output power Po at resistive and inductive loads, where
Vis a RMS value of the output voltage v. From Figure
4, it is confirmed that the voltage regulation of the
proposed generator is very small due to the effect of
two series capacitors CSwith respect to each load.
Moreover, the effect of the self-excitation with three
capacitors, CS,C p , is also observed in Figure 4. As clear
0 0.4 0.8 1.2 1.6
Output power PO (kW)
Fig. 4. Output voltage characteristics.
(a) At no load (b) At 1.3-kW resistive load
( P F = 1.0)
Fig. 5. Measured vector &agrams of voltages.
311
from this figure, there is a considerable drop in the output
voltage V when the Cp disconnects across the load
terminals.
Figure 5 shows measured vector diagrams of voltages
at no load, at 1.3-kW resistive- and inductive-loads. It
is seen from Figure 5 that the voltage Vo, acts so as to
boost the output voltage Vdue to the effect of two series
capacitors CSunder loaded condition. Moreover, afore-
mentioned theory can be experimentally backed up by
the fact that the vector diagrams in Figure 5 agree well
with the results shown in Figure 3.
Figure 6 shows load characteristics of the proposed
generator under variable power factor loads indicating
the variations of the output voltage V, output frequency
J efficiency 77 and load current I with the output power
Po.I in this figure expesses a RMS value of the load
current i. As a result of the experiment, the maximum
value of the efficiency 77 of the tested machine showed
76%, and further higher efficiency can be expected if
optimal design as a generator based on proposed scheme
is performed. Moreover, the variation of the output
frequencyfwas small that was about 1Hz at 1.3-kW
load, and thus there is no problem for practical use.
Figures 7(a) ,(b) and (c) show waveforms and
harmonic magnitude spectrums of the output voltage U
at no load, at 1.3-kW resistive- and inductive-loads,
0 0,s 1 .o I .5 2.0
Output power PO (kW)
Fig. 6. Load characteristics.
( c ) At 1.3-kW inductive load
( P F = 0.8 Lag)
 due to odd harmonics of multiple of 3, can be obtained.

400r n
5 ms
’ 2 v
Fundamental
Frequency 59.9Hz V. CONCLUSIONS

In this paper, we have proposed a new single-phase

induction generator with self-regulating feature that
consists of the three-phase induction machine and the

p”,
1 3 5 7 9 1 1 three capacitors, and clarified its operating principle and
Harmonic numbers basic characteristics by experiments.
(a) Atnoload
This new generator has the following advantages.
(1) Exciting with the three capacitors, it can be obtained
400 a stable excitation system even in the inductive load.
~ ~ Frequency
~ F , u
I 59.3Hz ~ n ,
(2) Its voltage regulation is very small due to the effect
of three capacitors in both resistive and inductive loads.
V(V) 0
(3) Since the Y -connected stator winding is employed,
the waveform of the output voltage can be made
-400 z o sinusoidal.
1 3 5 7 9 1 1
Harmonic numbers However, it is necessary in the future to study a
theoretical determination method of the three capacitors
(b) At 1.3-kW resistive load required for minimizing the voltage regulation and a
400 r quantitative analysis of performance characteristics of
Frequency 59.2Hz this generator.

VI. REFERENCES

-4oo.L
1 3 5 7 9 1 1
Harmonic numbers
(c) At 1.3-kW inductive load ( P F = 0.8 Lag)
Fig. 7. Waveforms and harmonic spectrums of the
output voltage.
respectively. In the proposed generator, since the stator
winding is Y -connected three-phase one, the output
voltage of sinusoidal,which has no waveform distortions
1. Yamaha Hatsudouki Co., Ltd.: ‘Yamaha Generators Line
Up (Catalog)”, 1992.
2. Yanmar Diesel Co., Ltd.: “ Yanmar Gasoline Engine
Generators YSG Series (Catalog)”,1993.
3. E. D. Bassett 62 F. M. Potter: “Capacitive Excitation for
Induction Generator”, AIEE Trans. on E. E., Vo1.54,
pp.540-544,1935.
4. B. Singh, R. B. Saxena, S . S . Murthy 62 B. P. Singh: “A
Single-phase Self-Excited Induction Generator for
Lighting Loads in Remote Areas”, Int. J. Elect. Enging
Educ., Vol. 25, pp.269-275,1988.

312