NAME: IGBINEDION EVBUOMWAN KELVIN

MAT. NUMBER: ENG1406963

LEVEL: 500
DEPARTMENT: ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
TITLE: GENERATOR FAULTS, CAUSES, EFFECT AND PROTECTION
GENERATOR FAULTS
1. STATOR OVERHEATING
Generally, stator overheating is caused by sustained overloads or by cooling system failure.
Overheating because of short-circuited laminations is very localized, and it is just a matter of
chance whether it can be detected before serious damage is caused.
CAUSES
Overheating of a synchronous generator may occur due to one of the following causes:
i. Overload
ii. Failure of the ventilation or hydrogen cooling system
iii. Shorted laminations in the stator iron
iv. Core bolt insulation failures in the stator iron
It is not practicable to provide overload protection by backup stator fault overcurrent
protection as backup overcurrent protection is usually set for sensing fault currents and should
not trip for overloads. Electrical overcurrent relays cannot sense the winding temperature
accurately because temperature rise depends on I2Rt and also on cooling. Electrical protection
cannot detect failure of the cooling system.
EFFECTS
If the generator starts overheating, the alternator will overheat, and it will burn out the
windings affecting their insulating properties. The winding insulation will begin to soften, and
then they can either melt or catch fire. When the slip rings and brushes are exposed to such a
high temperature, they can unsolder themselves. Other problems you might encounter include:
i. Warping of the rotor.
ii. Bearings start to melt.
iii. If the cylinder head overheats it could crush the head gasket resulting in restricted
coolant flow to the cylinder.
iv. Overheating can cause damage to the radiator core.
v. The exhaust valves will also expand damaging the valve guide.

PROTECTION
Stator windings and bearings overheating protection is usually performed by RTD and
thermistor to monitor the temperature.
The overheating is detected by embedded temperature detectors at various points in the stator
winding. The temperature detector coils are normally resistance elements which form one arm
of the Wheatstone bridge circuit. In the case of smaller generator normally below 30 MW, the
generators are not equipped with embedded temperature coil but are usually fitted with
thermal relay and they are arranged to measure the current flowing in the stator winding.
This arrangement only detects overheating caused by overloading and does not provide any
protection against overheating due to failure of cooling systems or short-circuited stator
laminations. Although over current relays, negative phase sequence relays, and devises for
monitoring constant flow are also used to provide a certain degree of thermal overload
protection.

2. UNBALANCED STATOR LOADING

Unbalancing in loading produces negative sequence currents in the stator circuit. This negative
sequence current produces a reaction field rotating at twice of synchronous speed with respect
to the rotor and hence induce double frequency current in the rotor. This current is quite large
and causes overheating in the rotor circuit, especially in the alternator.

If any unbalancing occurred due to fault in the stator winding itself, that would be cleared
instantaneously by the differential protection provided in the generator. If the unbalancing is
occurred due to any external fault or unbalanced loading in the system, it may remain
undetected or may persist for a significant period of time depending on the protection
coordination of the system. These faults then be cleared by installing a negative phase
sequence relay with the characteristics to match the withstand curve of the machine.

3. OVERVOLTAGE
Mostly Overvoltage occurs because of the increase in the speed of the prime mover due to
sudden loss in the load on the generator.
Overvoltage is due to over speeding of generators and due to faulty operation of voltage
regulators. There are not only the internal but also, the external factors which cause the
overvoltage such as lightning strikes due to which the surge voltage generated by the lighting
may reach to the generator and cause severe damage and so to get protection from this surge
arrestor and surge capacitor is generally used.

At the time of restriking across the contacts of circuit breakers, the transient’s overvoltage gets
generated. This overvoltage is generated due to the switching hence they are called switching
surges and can be limited by the modern circuit breaker, R-C surge suppressors also help in
reducing it.
During the arcing grounds, the transient voltage has amplitude 5times more than the normal
line to neutral peak amplitude and to get protection against such transient use of resistance
earthing is often employed.

CAUSES OF OVERVOLTAGES

Overvoltage can occur as either:

 a high-speed transient or

 a sustained condition at system frequency.

PROTECTION

Protection for generator overvoltage is provided with a frequency-compensated (or frequency

insensitive) overvoltage relay. The relay should have both an instantaneous unit and a time
delay unit with an inverse time characteristic. The instantaneous unit is generally set to pick up
at 130–150% voltage while the inverse time unit is set to pick up at about 110% of normal
voltage.

Overvoltage protection is normally applied to unattended automatic machines, at say a

hydroelectric station. The normal setting adopted are quite high almost equal to 150% but with
instantaneous operation. Typical permissible overvoltage at no-load are:

4. LOSS OF EXCITATION
Generator loss of excitation fault means that the excitation current provided by the excitation
system suddenly disappears completely or partially. After the synchronous generator is out of
magnetic, it will be transferred to the asynchronous running state, and the reactive power will
be absorbed from the original reactive power conversion.
CAUSES
The causes of generator loss of magnetism fault are: generator rotor winding fault, excitation
system fault, automatic demagnetization switch trip and circuit fault.
i. Accidental tripping of a field breaker,
ii. Field open circuit,
iii. Field short circuit (flashover of the slip rings),
iv. Voltage regulation system failure, or
v. The loss of supply to the excitation system.
vi. Human error for putting the AVR in manual mode and not controlling efficiently while
generator operation under power factor leading (Under-excited mode) 
Two distinct effects of Loss of Excitation Protection are that the machine starts drawing
magnetizing current of large magnitude from the system, and the slip frequency emfs induced
in the rotor circuit; both of them cause overheating of the rotor.

The effect of generator loss of excitation on the system:

1. Low-excitation and magnetic-loss generators absorb reactive power from the system, causing
the voltage of the power system to decrease. If the reactive power reserve in the power system
is insufficient, the voltage in some adjacent points in the power system will be lower than the
allowable value, which destroys the stable operation between the load and each power supply,
and even collapses the power system voltage.
2. When a generator is demagnetized, due to the voltage drop, other generators in the power
system will increase their reactive power output under the action of the automatic adjusting
excitation device, thereby causing some generators, transformers or circuits overcurrent, its
backup protection may be mis-operated due to overcurrent, which will widen the scope of the
accident.
3. After a generator loses its magnetism, due to the swing of the generator’s active power and
the decrease of the system voltage, it may cause the step-out between the adjacent normal
operation generator and the system, or between the parts of the power system, causing the
system to oscillate.
4. The larger the rated capacity of the generator, the larger the reactive power shortage caused
by low excitation and demagnetization, and the smaller the capacity of the power system, the
smaller the ability to compensate for this reactive power shortage. Therefore, the greater the
ratio of the unit capacity of the generator to the total capacity of the power system, the more
serious the adverse effect on the power system.

PROTECTION
There are mainly two schemes available for protection against loss of field or excitation of a
generator. In 1st scheme, we use an undercurrent relay connected in shunt with main field
winding circuit. This relay will operate if the excitation current comes below its predetermined
value. If the relay is to operate for complete loss of field along, it must have a setting lies well
below the minimum excitation current value which can be 8% of the rated full load current.
Again, when loss of field occurs due to failure of exciter but not due to problem in the field
circuit (field circuit remains intact) there will be an induced current at slip frequency in the field
circuit. This situation makes the relay to pick up and drop off as per slip frequency of the
induced current in the field. This problem can be overcome in the following manner.

5. OVERSPEEDING FAULT
The simplest explanation for an overspeed is when the generator has been allowed, or has
been forced to operate beyond its designed limits. Depending on the generator’s capabilities,
this will likely result in either a catastrophic failure, as well as a reduced power life going
forward. 
Very often overspeed leads to serious damage, not only to the engine itself, but also to
generators and gears.

CAUSES
1. Loses or changes its speed regulations
Most diesel generators, if not all modern generators are designed with appropriate speed
regulations within the system, though this doesn’t mean that they function properly. If the
regulator faults by losing or changing its speed regulations, then it can potentially result in a
wealth of damage. 

2. Additional fuel enters the combustion chamber

Of course, you want your generator full of diesel oil to ensure that consistent power is
available, but having your engine oil level too high can also increase the chance of a generator
overspeed. This is because the excess oil will enter the combustion chamber to burn, causing
the pistons to operate quicker than usual, potentially leading to the overspeed. 
3. Damage to other components
Like with any machinery, almost all components within are designed to work hand in hand to
operate. This is why any potential failure with any parts can influence whether or not
overspeed can occur, and how dangerous it can be. A few of the most notable issues include
the speed regular as mentioned above, fuel injection pump, accelerator pull rod and the gear
rod adjusting arm.
4. The malfunction of the governor or fuel oil pumps.

EFFECTS
As engine overspeed can result in damage to the crankshaft (deformation to push rods), broken
valve seats, defective camshafts, breakdown of turbocharger and breakdown of generator and
gear, the consequences can prove to be costly. Mechanical connection strength can be
overcome by the exceeding stresses due to the increase in operational speed. These can result
in breaking of rotating parts or damage to the machinery itself. Over speed is thus a serious
safety hazard and can lead to a fatal situation.

PREVENTION

1. Mechanical overspeed trip

Fortunately, there are two primary approaches that can be implemented to aid with preventing
an overspeed, with the most notable name being ‘trips. Mechanical trips often work such as a
brake system, where a series of components work together in order to slow down and stop the
generator’s pistons or turbines from being able to function. 
2. Electronic overspeed trip
Electrical trips are perhaps the most used trip for most modern generators, as they work
automatically without the need for manual interaction. This is through the use of numerous
detectors and signals, where it will compare the set value, often 10% over the rated speed,
against the detected value, at which point it will register if an overspeed has occurred. At this
stage, the generator will automatically cease operation and begin to slow down in accordance. 
6. PRIME MOVER FAILURE

It’s the mechanical system that rotates the rotor in alternator or just in simple word runs the
alternator. Typical prime movers are diesel or gas engines, steam turbine, wind – tidal force,
water flow static force in hydroelectric plant with dam etc. It is clearly understandable that any
time a prime mover might fail to keep the alternator running.

CAUSES

The root causes can be traced to simple things like fuel flow shut up in gas /diesel engine,
inadequate water flow in hydroelectric plants etc.

EFFECTS

If the prime mover fails to supply mechanical energy to the generator, the generator will
continue to rotate in motoring mode that means it takes electrical energy from the system
instead of supplying it to the system.

In a steam turbine the steam acts as a coolant maintaining the turbine blades at a constant
temperature. Failure of the supply will therefore result in overheating due to friction, with
subsequent distortion of turbine blades.

PROTECTION

The failure of steam supply can cause severe mechanical damage in addition of imposing a
heavy motoring load on the generator. Reverse power relay is used for this purpose. As soon as
the generator starts rotating in motoring mode, the reverse power relay will trip the generator
set.