Excitation System of Synchronous Generator

Excitation system is an important part of AC synchronous generator, which controls the voltage and
reactive power of the synchronous generator.

The excitation control system is a feedback control system composed of synchronous generator and its
excitation system.

The main role of the Excitation System

1) Adjust the excitation current according to the change of generator load to maintain the
terminal voltage as a given value
2) Control the parallel operation of reactive power distribution between generators
3) Improve the static stability of the parallel operation of the generator
4) Improve the transient stability of the parallel operation of the generator
5) When there is a fault inside the generator, de-excitation is performed to reduce the degree of
fault loss
6) Maximum excitation limit and minimum excitation limit are applied to the generator
according to the operation requirements.
 Types of Excitation System

AC Excitation System

 Most commonly the Brushless excitation method is adopted in all industrial

synchronous Generators.

 Generator at SECMC Substation are working on principle of Brushless Excitation.

Brushless Excitation System

This system is shown in the figure below. The rotating portion being enclosed by a dashed line rectangle.
The brushless excitation system consists an alternator, rectifier, main exciter and a permanent magnet
generator alternator. The main and the pilot exciter are driven by the main shaft. The main exciter has a
stationary field and a rotating armature directly connected, through the silicon rectifiers to the field of
the main alternators.

The pilot exciter is the shaft driven permanent magnet generator having rotating permanent magnets
attached to the shaft and a three phase stationary armature, which feeds the main exciter field through
silicon rectifiers, in the field of the main alternator. The pilot exciter is a shaft driven permanent
magnetic generator having rotating permanent magnets attached to the shaft and a 3-phase stationary
armature, which feeds the main’s exciter through 3-phase full wave phase controlled thyristor bridges.

The system eliminates the use of a commutator, collector and brushes have a short time constant and a
response time of fewer than 0.1 seconds. The short time constant has the advantage in improved small
signal dynamic performance and facilitates the application of supplementary power system stabilizing
signals.
Advantages of Brushless Excitation System:

The advantages of the brushless system are

 Reliability is excellent
 The flexibility of operation is good
 System responses are good
 There is no moving contact in the brushless system, so maintenance is low
Working Principle of DVR/ AVR:

A synchronous generator regulator that maintains the synchronous generator voltage at a

predetermined value or changes the terminal voltage as planned.

When the terminal voltage and reactive power of the synchronous motor change, the output current
of the exciter is automatically controlled according to the corresponding feedback signal to achieve the
purpose of automatically regulating the terminal voltage or reactive power of the synchronous motor.

Excitation System Essential Components at Generator at SECMC Substation

MAGNAMAX MARATHON Alternator (MXH-1800-4)

Alternator Power : 1800 KW, 250 KVA

Rated Current : 118 Amps

Voltage : 11000 V AC

Field Current : 2.7 Amps

Field Voltage : 56 Amps

PMG:
Exciter with Wheeling Diodes

Digital Voltage
Regulator
(BE2000E) Basler
Electric

Power Input
: 80~ 140 V AC,
1 or 3 Phase
Output : 75 V DC, 3 A DC

Sensing Instrument for Voltage Regulation

1- Potential Transformer (PT)
2- Current Transformer (CT)

Excitation ON &
Interlocking
Condition:
Excitation OFF Conditions: