EE360 - Synchronous Machines

EE 360
Electric Energy Engineering

Synchronous Machines
Dr. Mohammad Al-Muhaini

Where these course notes come from
• On-Line EE360 Notes
• Electrical Machinery Fundamentals,

Stephen J. Chapman, 2012, 5th edition
• Electromechanical Energy Devices and

Power Systems, by Zia A. Yamayee, Juan L.
Bala. Jr., 1994.
• Prof. M. A. El-Sharkawi’s notes, university of

Washington,USA.
• A synchronous machines is an ac machine in which
➢ Alternating current flows in the armature windings

➢ DC excitation is supplied to the field winding
• The armature winding at the stator is designed to carry large

currents at large voltages.
• The field winding at the rotor is excited by smaller current at a

lower voltage.
Synchronous Generator
• 99+ % of all power are generated by the synchronous generators
• Synchronous machines can operate as generators or motors
Types and Construction
• Round, or Cylindrical Rotors: high speed synchronous machines

1800 or 3600 rpm (2-4 poles).
• Salient Rotors: low speed synchronous machines like those in

hydro electric power plants have several pairs of poles
Round-Rotor Generator
Stator with
laminated iron core B
A
Slots with
phase
C- winding
A+ +
+ +
B+
+
+
N S
Rotor with
-
-
dc winding
B- -
-
-
A-
C+
C
Major components of a round rotor two-pole generator
The main features of a Round Rotor Machine are:
• The stator is a ring shaped laminated iron-core with slots

• Three phase windings are placed in the slots
• There is a round solid iron rotor with slots
• A single winding is placed in the slots. DC current is supplied through slip rings
Generator
Exciter
View of a two-pole round rotor generator and exciter.
Salient Pole Generator

Stator with
B+
C- laminated iron core
N
- +
- +
-
A-
+
A+ - +
Rotor with - + Slots with
dc winding S phase
C+ winding
B-
Two-pole salient pole generator concept.

B+ A-
C+
C- N
- +
- + B-
+
+
-
-
A+
S
S A+
+
+
-
-
B- + -
+ -
N C-
C+
B+
A-
Four-pole salient pole generator concept.
The main features of a Salient Rotor Machine are:
• The stator has a laminated iron-core with slots and three phase windings placed in
the slots
• The rotor has salient poles excited by dc current
• DC current is supplied to the rotor through slip-rings and brushes
• The number of poles varies between 2 - 128
Stator of a large salient pole hydro generator; inset shows the

insulated conductors and spacers.
Large hydro generator rotor with view of the vertical poles.

b c
X X N
c b S
X
Rotor
Stator
El-Sharkawi@University of
Washington
a
f c
b X X
Vaa’ Vbb’ Vcc’
N
Time
S
c b
X
Washington
The synchronous speed is related to:
1- The frequency of the stator currents.

2- The number of poles of the rotor. The relationship expressed
as:
Where : Ns = synchronous speed

P = number of poles.
f= frequency, f = 60 Hz or 50 Hz;
For 60-Hz systems, typical rotor speeds are 3600 rpm for 2-
poles, 1800 rpm for 4 poles and 450 rpm for 16 poles.
The Internal Generated Voltage of a Synchronous Generator
• The induced voltage is proportional to the rotor flux for a given rotor
angular frequency in electrical Radians per second.
• Since the rotor flux depends on the field current IF, the induced voltage EA
is related to the field current as shown below. This is generator
magnetization curve or the open-circuit characteristics of the machine.
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission required for reproduction or display.
Equivalent Circuit of a Round-Rotor Machine.
In general, at No-load , Ia = 0 ➔ Et = Ea
The rotor magnetic field BR induces the internal voltage Ea
• consider lagging power factor load connected to the generator

terminals. Ia will flow thought the stator. This current produces a
synchronously rotating field at the same angular speed as the rotor
magnetic field
• The armature reaction voltage is directly proportional to the amount of the
stator current flowing. Its 90 behind the stator current Ia.
E ar = − jX ar Ia
• Where Xar is a proportionality constant ( armature reaction reactance ).
E t = E a − jX ar I a
• In an actual physical synchronous generator, the net magnetic field
present in the air gap is realistically not linked completely by the stator
windings. The portion of the magnetic flux that does not link the winding
is referred to as the leakage flux Φl. This leakage flux leads to a voltage
drop across what is called leakage reactance Xal. The stator windings are
inherently contain resistance. Thus, the overall equivalent circuit of the
synchronous generator is:
• This equivalent circuit is on a per-phase basis.

• X s = X ar + X al synchronous reactance
Equivalent Circuit
V t = E a − (R a + jX s )I a
In the circuit,
Ra = Armature Resistance
Xs = Synchronous Reactance
Ia = Armature Current
Vt = Terminal Voltage
Ea = Armature induced EMF given in equation
The phasor diagram with lagging power factor illustrating the relationships
among the different phasors is shown as:
E A = V + I A (RA + jX S )
Phasor diagram for a round-rotor synchronous

generator with lagging power factor
Example
Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators
Figure 4-15
The power-flow diagram of a synchronous generator
Power-angle Characteristics
The generator armature current can be calculated as:
S = complex power delivered by the synchronous generator to the external system is:
Power Characteristics of Generator
P
3 | V || E A |
Pmax P= sin 
Xs
3 | V || E A |
Pmax =
Xs
l 90 o

El-Sharkawi@University of Washington
POUT = 3V I ACos( )

QOUT = 3V I ASin( )
3 V
Qt = 3 V I A sin  =
Xs
(E A cos  − V )
If EA cos  > Vφ ; Qt is positive (produced by generator) ,

Current is lagging
If EA cos  < V φ ; Qt is negative (consumed by generator) ,
Current is leading
If EA cos  = V φ ; Qt is zero, Current is in phase
Remember: EA can always be controlled by adjusting IF
El-Sharkawi@University of Washington
Shown here is the power-angle characteristics of a synchronous generator.
The maximum Torque that can be

applied to the shaft without stepping
out of synchronism ( Pull-out torque) is
related to the maximum power by
Also Pmax is determined from the MVA

rating, which specifies the maximum
power that the generator can deliver
to electrical load at certain p.f.
Power-angle characteristics of synchronous

generator
Modes of Operation
There are three modes of operation of synchronous generator.

Voltage Regulation
Just as in transformers and DC machines, a measure of the performance of a

synchronous generator is its voltage regulation, which is defined as
Where:
Vnl = voltage at open-circuit, or no-load condition
Vfl = voltage at rated, or full-load, condition
The full-load voltage Vfl is the same as the terminal voltage Vt, and Vnl is equal to the
corresponding generated voltage Ea. Thus, voltage regulation may also be expressed
as:
Voltage Regulation
• Lagging power factor leads to high (+ve) voltage regulation.

• Unity power factor leads to low (+ve) VR.
• Leading power factor leads to (-ve) VR.
Example
Parallel Operation of Synchronous Generators

Requirements:
1. Must have the same voltage magnitude.
2. The phase angles of the two phases must be the same.
3. The generators must have the same phase sequences.
4. The frequency of the oncoming generator must be slightly higher
than the frequency of the running generator.
Synchronous Motor
The Equivalent Circuit of a Synchronous Motor
• Same equivalent circuit as a synchronous generator,

except that power flows in the opposite direction.
E A = V - ( RA + jX S ) I A
Figure 5-2
The per-phase equivalent circuit of a synchronous motor.
Modes of Operation
The modes of operation of synchronous motor are similar to that of a generator. Three
modes of operation are there based on the excitation level and the output load. The
three modes of operation are:
• Under-Excited
• Normal-Excited
• Over-Excited
Over Excited Motor

Adjust If until Ia
E f cos   Vt  Vt

Ia X s
 Ef 
3 Vt Ef
Q= cos  − Vt  0
Xs
Main conclusions of over excited machines
Ia Leads Vt
SM delivers reactive power to source
Washington
Under Excited Motor

Adjust If until Vt
E f cos   Vt

Ia  Ia X s
Ef
Q=
3 Vt
Xs
 Ef cos  − Vt  0 
Ia Lags Vt Main conclusions of under excited machines
SM receives reactive power from source
Washington
Exact Excitation
Adjust If until Ia Vt

E f cos  = Vt
Ef Ia X s
Q=
3 Vt
Xs
 Ef cos  − Vt = 0 
Main conclusions of exact excitation machines
NO reactive power at the motor’s terminals
Ia in phase with Vt El-Sharkawi@University of

Washington
The Effect of Field Current under Constant Load: V Curves
Figure 5-9
Synchronous motor V curves
Power Flow of Synchronous Motor
The power flow diagram for a synchronous motor is shown here.
Power flow diagram of synchronous motor

Team Problem
Example
Example
Synchronous Motor Efficiency
When the machine losses are neglected, the expression for the real power delivered
by the motor is
Alternatively, the real power may be expressed as
Ea sin δ and Ia cosθ must be constant

Example
Example
Example
On-line resources:
AC MOTORS AND GENERATORS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07uXnc1C5CA

EE360 - Synchronous Machines

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

EE360 - Synchronous Machines

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

EE 360

Electric Energy Engineering

Dr. Mohammad Al-Muhaini

• On-Line EE360 Notes

• Electrical Machinery Fundamentals,

• Electromechanical Energy Devices and

• Prof. M. A. El-Sharkawi’s notes, university of

• A synchronous machines is an ac machine in which

➢ Alternating current flows in the armature windings

• The armature winding at the stator is designed to carry large

• The field winding at the rotor is excited by smaller current at a

• 99+ % of all power are generated by the synchronous generators

• Synchronous machines can operate as generators or motors

Types and Construction

• Round, or Cylindrical Rotors: high speed synchronous machines

• Salient Rotors: low speed synchronous machines like those in

Major components of a round rotor two-pole generator

The main features of a Round Rotor Machine are:

• The stator is a ring shaped laminated iron-core with slots

Salient Pole Generator

Two-pole salient pole generator concept.

Four-pole salient pole generator concept.

The main features of a Salient Rotor Machine are:

Stator of a large salient pole hydro generator; inset shows the

Large hydro generator rotor with view of the vertical poles.

1- The frequency of the stator currents.

Where : Ns = synchronous speed

Equivalent Circuit of a Round-Rotor Machine.

The rotor magnetic field BR induces the internal voltage Ea

• consider lagging power factor load connected to the generator

• Where Xar is a proportionality constant ( armature reaction reactance ).

• This equivalent circuit is on a per-phase basis.

Phasor diagram for a round-rotor synchronous

Power and Torque in Synchronous Generators

The generator armature current can be calculated as:

POUT = 3V I ACos( )

If EA cos  > Vφ ; Qt is positive (produced by generator) ,

Shown here is the power-angle characteristics of a synchronous generator.

The maximum Torque that can be

Also Pmax is determined from the MVA

Power-angle characteristics of synchronous

There are three modes of operation of synchronous generator.

Just as in transformers and DC machines, a measure of the performance of a

• Lagging power factor leads to high (+ve) voltage regulation.

Parallel Operation of Synchronous Generators

• Same equivalent circuit as a synchronous generator,

Over Excited Motor

Under Excited Motor

Ia in phase with Vt El-Sharkawi@University of

The power flow diagram for a synchronous motor is shown here.

Power flow diagram of synchronous motor

Synchronous Motor Efficiency

Alternatively, the real power may be expressed as

Ea sin δ and Ia cosθ must be constant

AC MOTORS AND GENERATORS

You might also like