AC Generator Reverse KVAr Issue

Please correct me if I am wrong but:

4. it will induce currents in the rotor at 120hz or 100hz if your in Europe. also the impedance of the rotor sturcture
is so high that when you have you I^2R the heat build up can start to weld.

Motoring of Generator/Reverse Power, Its

impact on generator and turbine,protection
practices-An Extract from Routine Study
Published on December 7, 2019

Hafiz Shahzad Ahmad MukhtarFollow

 Power Plant Electrical Maintenance Specialist, Amazon FBA PL Business, e-commerce
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(“I start in the name of Allah, Most Gracious Most Merciful”)

Motoring of Generator is among one of those abnormal operating conditions to which a

generator may be subjected that may not necessarily involve a fault in the generator.

During motoring, The real power flow into the generator, which will happen if the generator
loses its prime-mover input. Since the generator is not faulted, CTs on either side of the
generator would give the same measured current.

This article discusses situations which may lead to Motoring (reverse power) of generator, Its
impact on generator and turbine, the typical means for detecting this abnormal operating
condition and the tripping/protection practices against this condition. Following is the content of
article:

1.    Comprehensive Overview of Loss of Prime-Mover: Generator motoring

1.1  Brief Introduction to Motoring of an Electric Generator and Its Impact on turbine

and/or     Generator

1.2 Purpose of Reverse Power Relays

1.3  Typical values of reverse power that are required to spin a generator

1.4 Recommended actions for Operator/electrical engineer post reverse power incident

2.    Impact of Generator Motoring on Turbine(s)

3.    General cautions

4.    Reverse-power relay Sensitivity/Setting Consideration for different turbines

5.    Additional Monitoring Recommendations to protect against Motoring of Generator

5.1  Exhaust hood temperature Monitoring

5.2  Turbine steam flow Monitoring

6.     Tripping Schemes

7.    Protection summary
1.    Comprehensive Overview of Loss of Prime-Mover: Generator
motoring

1.1.  Brief Introduction to Motoring of an Electric Generator and Its

Impact on turbine and/or Generator
Motoring of an Electric Generator is a situation during which power flows from the system to the
generator. This situation will happen If the prime-mover supply is removed while the generator
is connected to the power system In this situation, depending on the generator’s field condition,
the alternator is driven as:

·      a synchronous motor (if field remain excited)

This is particularly critical for steam and hydrounits. For steam turbines it causes overheating
and potential damage to the turbine and turbine blades. Low water flow for the hydrounits can
cause cavitation of the blades of the turbine.

This can occur by closing the steam or water flow valves very rapidly during a load-reduction
phase or by tripping the turbine, while not corresponding ly tripping the generator breaker.

 ·      induction motor (if excitation is OFF)

If it is driven as an induction motor, negative-sequence currents will be established in the rotor,
potentially damaging damper windings, wedges, retaining-rings, and forging.

Motoring is not damaging to generators as long as proper excitation is maintained. In

steam turbines, the LP turbine blades will overheat from windage. Typically steam
turbine blades can withstand motoring conditions for 10 minutes before damage.

However, in either case, reverse power condition may adversely affect the integrity of the prime
mover. Of all the prime movers, steam turbines are the most sensitive to motoring. They also
happen to operate on less power input (only a few percent of rated load, compared to combustion
turbines requiring up to 50% of rated power). For these reasons steam-driven generators require
sensitive settings for the reverse power relays (32).

1.2.   Purpose of Reverse Power Relays

Reverse power or anti-motoring relays are often applied for both control purposes and for
protective relaying.

In the control mode, they are typically used to automatically remove units from service
during planned shutdowns and to ensure that prime movers have no output before isolating units
electrically to prevent overspeed conditions.
In the protection mode, they are used to protect turbine blades from windage overheating
and sometime to protect combustion turbine units from flameout conditions. The reverse power
or anti-motoring protective relays should have enough time delay before tripping to allow for
synchronizing excursions (typically around 6 seconds).

1.3.   Typical values of reverse power that are required to spin a

generator
Typical values of reverse power that are required to spin a generator at synchronous speed with
no power input in percentage of the nameplate kilo watts are:

·      Steam turbines, condensing types 1 % to 3%

·      Steam turbines, non condensing types 3+%

·      Hydro turbines 0.2% to 2+%

·      Diesel engines +/- 25%

·      Gas turbine 50+%

1.4.   Recommended actions for Operator/electrical engineer post reverse

power incident
Following a reverse power or anti-motoring protection trip, the operators should determine if the
trip was caused by control instability by reviewing recorder or DCS trending of unit megawatt
output. If control instability is evident, electrical engineers or technicians should investigate and
resolve the problem before re-synchronizing the unit. If control instability is not evident,
engineers/technicians should check the calibration of the protective relays before returning the
unit to service.

2.    Impact of Generator Motoring on Turbine(s)

Motoring causes many undesirable conditions.

For example, in a steam turbine, the rotation of the turbine rotor and blades in a steam
environment causes idling or windage losses. Since windage loss is a function of the diameter of
rotor disc and blade length, this loss will usually be greatest in the exhaust end of the turbine.
Windage loss is also directly proportional to the density of enclosing steam. Thus, any situation
in which the steam density is high will cause dangerous windage losses. For example, if vacuum
is lost on the unit, the density of the exhaust steam will increase and cause the windage losses to
be many times greater than normal. Also, when high density steam is entrapped between the
throttle valve and the interceptor valve in reheat units, the windage losses in the high pressure
turbine are very high.
Windage loss energy is dissipated as heat. The steam flow through a turbine has a twofold
purpose—to give up energy to cause rotation of the rotor and to carry away the heat of the
turbine parts. Since there is no steam flow through the turbine during motoring, the heat of the
windage losses is not carried away and the turbine is heated. Even in the situation where the unit
has been synchronized but no load has been applied and enough steam is flowing through the
unit to supply the losses, the ventilating steam flow may not be sufficient to carry away all of the
heat generated by the losses. Although the generator is not motoring under this condition, the
problems caused in the turbine will be the same and protection must be provided.

Since the temperature of the turbine parts is controlled by the steam flow, various parts will cool
or heat at abnormal, uncontrolled rates during motoring. This can cause severe thermal stresses
in the turbine parts. Another problem resulting from this temperature change would be unequal
contraction or expansion of the turbine parts. This could cause a rub between rotating and
stationary parts. Since a rub will generate heat, the problem is made more severe (as with
windage losses) by the lack of ventilation steam flow to carry the heat away.

There is a maximum permissible time that a steam turbine can be operated in a motoring
condition and this time is generally a function of the rated speed of the unit. This data can readily
be obtained from the manufacturer for a particular steam turbine unit.

Windage loss is not a particular problem in other types of prime movers, but they exhibit
additional motoring difficulties.

Gas turbines, for example, may have gear problems when being driven from the generator
end.

With hydro-turbines, motoring can cause cavitation of the blades on low water flow. If
hydro units are to operate as synchronous condensers, the unit will be motoring. This should be
recognized in any motoring protection.

With diesel engine generating units, there is the additional danger of explosion and fire from
unburned fuel.

Motoring protection must therefore be provided for all generating units except units designed to
operate as synchronous condensers, such as hydro units, and can be detected by various means.

3.    General cautions
Since rotational losses are relatively small, destructive overspeeds may occur if the unit is
disconnected from the power system unless the prime mover power is shut off. Steam turbines
are particularly vulnerable, given the complexity of the turbine steam flow paths. Failure of
steam valves to close completely due to warpage or mechanical sticking or backflow from steam
extraction lines could provide sufficient steam flow into the turbine to overspeed the unit. For
this reason, anti-motoring protection by the detection of electrical reverse power flow provides
the highest assurance against excessive overspeed. If other devices are used for protection,
consideration must be given to potential overspeeding of the unit.

Hydro turbine-driven units, in contrast, are frequently designed to withstand even the most
onerous overspeed conditions.

4.    Reverse-power relay Sensitivity/Setting Consideration for different

turbines
From a system standpoint, motoring is defined as the flow of real power into the generator acting
as a motor.

With current in the field winding, the generator will remain in synchronism with the system and
act as a synchronous motor. If the field breaker is opened, the generator will act as an induction
motor. A power relay set to look into the machine is therefore used on most units. The sensitivity
and setting of the relay is dependent upon the type of prime mover involved, since the power
required to motor is a function of the load and losses of the idling prime mover.

In gas turbines, for example, the large compressor load represents a substantial power
requirement from the system, up to 50% of the nameplate rating of the unit, so the sensitivity of
the reverse-power relay is not critical.

A diesel engine with no cylinders firing represents a load of up to 25% of rating, so again

there is no particular sensitivity problem.

With hydro-turbines, when the blades are under the tail-race water level, the percent
motoring power is high. When the blades are above the tail-race level, however, the reverse-
power is low, between 0.2–2.0% of rated and a sensitive reverse-power relay may be required.

Steam turbines operating under full vacuum and zero steam input require about 0.5–3% of
rating to motor. This may be detected by a sensitive reverse-power relay.

There may be operating conditions where a reverse-power relay will not be able to detect a
condition detrimental to the prime mover. Specifically, accurate measurement of very low power
levels at low power factors may not be possible for some reverse-power relays.

Reduction in generator reactive power will reduce the requirement for such high precision. This
action may be accomplished through control actions in the excitation system or by operator
intervention. Additional means of protection or alerting of operators can also be used.

Reverse-power relays are always applied with time delay. Up to 60 s time delay (typically 30 s)
can be used to prevent operation during power swings caused by system disturbances or when
synchronizing the machine to the system. The time delay selected should coordinate with
allowable turbine motoring times.
The power directional relay is connected to operate when real power flows into the generator.
Typical relay sensitivities with microprocessor relays are as low as 1 mA, which may be required
when a generator can operate with partial prime-mover input. The operating time can be
approximately 2 sec.

For example The sensitive directional power element of GE UR G60 relay responds to three-
phase directional power and is designed for reverse power and low forward power applications
for synchronous machines or interconnections involving co-generation. The relay measures the
three-phase power from either full set of wye-connected VTs or full-set of delta-connected VTs.
In the latter case, the two-wattmeter method is used. Refer to the below conventions for details
regarding the active and reactive powers used by the sensitive directional power element.
The element has an adjustable characteristic angle and minimum operating power as shown in
the Directional power characteristic diagram. The element responds to the following condition:

Pcosθ + Qsinθ > SMIN

where: P and Q are active and reactive powers as measured per the UR-series metering
convention, θ is a sum of the element characteristic (DIR POWER 1 RCA) and calibration (DIR
POWER 1 CALIBRATION) angles, and SMIN is the minimum operating power

DIR POWER 1 RCA: Specifies the relay characteristic angle (RCA) for the sensitive
directional power function. Application of this setting is threefold:

1. It allows the element to respond to active or reactive power in any direction (active
overpower/underpower, etc.).

2. Together with a precise calibration angle, it allows compensation for any CT and VT angular
errors to permit more sensitive settings.

3. It allows for required direction in situations when the voltage signal is taken from behind a
delta-wye connected power transformer and the phase angle compensation is required.

For example, the active overpower characteristic is achieved by setting DIR POWER 1 RCA to
“0°”, reactive overpower by setting DIR POWER 1 RCA to “90°”, active under power by setting
DIR POWER 1 RCA to “180°”, and reactive under power by setting DIR POWER 1 RCA to
“270°”.

DIR POWER 1 CALIBRATION: This setting allows the relay characteristic angle to
change in steps of 0.05°. This may be useful when a small difference in VT and CT angular
errors is to be compensated to permit more sensitive settings. This setting virtually enables
calibration of the directional power function in terms of the angular error of applied VTs and
CTs. The element responds to the sum of the DIR POWER 1 RCA and DIR POWER 1
CALIBRATION settings.
By making the characteristic angle adjustable and providing for both negative and positive
values of the minimum operating power a variety of operating characteristics can be achieved as
presented in the figure below. For example, section (a) in the figure below shows settings for
reverse power, while section (b) shows settings for low forward power applications.
5.    Additional Monitoring Recommendations to protect against
Motoring of Generator

5.1.   Exhaust hood temperature Monitoring

Since the prime cause of distress in a motoring steam turbine is the temperature rise due to the
windage losses, temperature sensing devices can be used for protection. Since windage loss is
generally most severe in the exhaust end of the turbine, a temperature sensing device located in
the exhaust hood is often used as auxiliary protection. This device is used to alarm the operator
for this motoring condition.

This device should not be used as primary protection, since the temperatures measured will vary
with the location on the exhaust end of the turbine. Placement of the detector is important. Also,
the reliability of existing detectors is questionable. Some other form of protection should
therefore be used as primary protection.

5.2.   Turbine steam flow Monitoring

Steam flow equal to or greater than synchronous-speed no-load steam flow is an indication that
the unit is not being motored. The steam flow, even at this very low percentage of rated steam
flow, can be determined by measuring the pressure drop across the high-pressure turbine
element. Use of a differential pressure switch across this high-pressure element is a method of
detecting a motoring condition. It functions independently of the type of control system, whether
hydraulic or electrohydraulic. This device is not susceptible to the potential problems associated
with lower power factor operation as are reverse-power relays.Although these pressure switches
are generally reliable, mechanical malfunctioning of the switch can occur.

6.     Tripping Schemes
Motoring of a generator occurs when the energy supply to the prime mover is cut off while the
generator is still on line. When this occurs, the generator will act as a synchronous motor and
drive the prime mover.

While this condition is defined as generator motoring, the primary concern is the protection of
the prime mover which can be damaged during a motoring condition.

In sequential tripping schemes for steam turbine generators, a deliberate motoring period is
included in the control logic to prevent potential overspeeding of the unit. While some of the
devices used in the control logic for sequential tripping schemes are the same as those used in
antimotoring protection, the two functions should not be confused.

Antimotoring protection should provide backup protection for this control logic, as well as for
other possible motoring conditions which would not be detected by the sequential tripping
control logic (such as inadvertent closure of governor valves or high system frequency
conditions).
7.    Protection summary
Primary motoring protection is provided by reverse-power relays for all types of units. The relay
is generally connected to trip the main generator breaker(s), the field breaker(s), and provides a
trip signal to the prime mover.

On steam turbine generators, differential steam pressure across the high-pressure turbine
element can also be used as primary protection. Steam turbine exhaust hood temperature may be
used as an alarm.

A manual trip bypass may be necessary to allow operator intervention in the event of the lack of
operation of the primary motoring protection.

Various detection means are provided as part of the generator and its control, but a
supplementary reverse power relay (32) is recommended as below Figures with device number
32.