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Performance Improvement of Brushless Generator Voltage Regulation by

Using a Controlled Non Linear Discharge Resistor

Conference Paper · September 2018

DOI: 10.1109/ICELMACH.2018.8507159

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 Performance Improvement of Brushless Generator
Voltage Regulation by Using a Controlled Non
Linear Discharge Resistor
A. Barakat, Senior Member, IEEE and S. E. Chouaba
Abstract—The fast de-excitation capability of Synchronous
Generators (SG) using Standard Brushless Excitation (SBE)
system is one of the most challenging problems. Thus, sup-
plementary de-excitation system may be necessary to improve
the dynamic performance of the voltage regulation for SG.
This paper aims to provide an advanced dynamic de-excitation
system based on a de-excitation power structure connected to
the rotor winding of the SG and associated with a dedicated de-
excitation control strategy. This proposed system consists of an
IGBT connected in parallel with a non linear discharge resistor
and controlled continuously by a dedicated PID controller to
provide a fast dynamic de-excitation during loads rejections
or excitation shutdowns. An excitation H∞ voltage regulator
is also designed by considering the de-excitation system as
perturbations. Consequently, the stability of the system is
ensured during the dynamic operation of the discharge system.
A comparison between the SBE and the proposed de-excitation
system is presented and analyzed. Realistic simulation results
show significant improvement in the dynamic regulation of
the generator terminal voltage in terms of voltage overshoot,
response time and stability.
Index Terms—Brushless excitation system, feedback control,
H∞ control, PID control, synchronous generators, state space
modeling.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Standard Brushless Excitation (SBE) system includes an
inverted synchronous generator called the Exciter Machine
(EM) and a uncontrolled rotating diode bridge rectifier that
excites the synchronous generators. Fig. 1 shows a repre-
sentation of a synchronous generator (SG) with brushless
excitation system. The main advantage of this structure is
the elimination of the power ring-brush system on the rotor
winding of the SG, which reduces maintenance costs. Some
papers [1], [2], [3] have shown that the performances of SBE
systems are limited by the impossibility to de-excite very
fast the generator as the rotating diode bridge is unable to
deliver negative excitation voltage. This reduces the dynamic
behaviour of the generator voltage regulation during load
shedding and may induce high voltage overshoot on the ter-
minal of the SG [3]. Researchers presented advanced control
strategies to improve the dynamic of the voltage regulation
loop [4], [5], [6], [7]. However, during loads rejections, it
A. Barakat is with the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering,
Beirut Arab University, Lebanon (e-mail: a.barakat@bau.edu.lb).
S. E. Chouaba is with DAC Laboratory, Setif1 University, Algeria. (e-mail:
seif.chouaba@univ-setif.dz).
978-1-5386-2476-0/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE
Synchronous
Rotating Rotating Generator
Exciter Rectifier
Variable
EM SG Load
Voltage
measurement
Chopper
Umes
vexc
Main −
AVR +
U 1ref
Fig. 1. Schematic of the Standard Brushless Excitation system.
is seen that the control strategies cannot reduce the voltage
generator overshoot because of the intrinsic limitation related
diode bridge which is unable to deliver negative excitation
voltages. The authors in [8] proposed a self de-excitation
structure based on inserting a discharge resistor connected
between the rotating diode bridge and the main machine
field winding via a transistor switch. This solution improved
significantly the generator behaviour during excitation stop.
However, the proposed solution is only provided for a quick
excitation shutdown. In this paper, we will study a new de-
excitation system for a quick excitation shutdown and a real
time regulation of the generator voltage. The proposed system
is presented by Fig. 2. It is based on a IGBT connected in
parallel with a non linear discharge resistor. The IGBT is
controlled by a PID regulator. Consequently, the proposed
Advanced Brushless Excitation (ABE) includes two voltage
regulators. The standard regulator based on H∞ control law
and called the automatic voltage regulator (AVR) controls the
excitation of the exciter machine. The new proposed regulator
controls the IGBT opening and closing.
II. DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW EXCITATION
As presented by Fig. 2, the new excitation system includes
two closed loops:
∙ First, the main control loop is based on the (AVR). The
voltage reference (𝑈 1𝑟𝑒𝑓 ) given to the AVR is equal
to the generator rated voltage. The AVR design can be
based on PID law or advanced control strategies (e.g.
𝐻∞ , adaptive, etc.) [7], [9], [10]. In this study, we
used an H∞ voltage regulator in the SBE and the ABE
systems.
365
 ∙ Second, the de-excitation regulator is a PID one. The ∙ 𝑀𝑠𝑄 is mutual inductance between stator and transverse
voltage reference given to the PID is 𝑈 2𝑟𝑒𝑓 = 105% damper; 𝑀𝑠𝐷 is mutual inductance between stator and
of the generator rated voltage. Consequently, in steady direct damper;
state, when the generator voltage is less than 𝑈 2𝑟𝑒𝑓 , ∙ 𝜔𝑒𝑝 and 𝜔𝑒𝑒 are the electrical angular speed of the SG
the IGBT will be always ordered to be closed. The and EM.
rotating rectifier bridge directly feeds the field winding ∙ C1 represents a virtual three-phase virtual capacitor at
of the synchronous generator. However, during generator the terminal of the SG used to model the generator load
voltage overshoots (e.g. during loads shedding), the PID current as perturbation to be rejected by the voltage
controller will open the IGBT via a PWM signal in order regulator.
to discharge fast the main field winding of the SG. The Where 𝑎 = 𝑘4 𝑘3 𝐿𝑑𝑒 𝜔𝑒𝑒 + 𝑅𝑓
field winding current decreases very rapidly through the k1, k4 and (k2k3) are constants that depend on the EM
non linear discharge resistor 𝑅𝑑 . parameters (leakage inductances, the main inductance etc.)
and the operating mode of the rectifier. k2 is a correction
A. The Main control Strategy factor [3]. In order to ensure the system stability during
The opening and closing of the IGBT influence the
stability of the complete system. The originality of the Direct control
proposed excitation control is that the H∞ voltage regulator IGBT
performing a positive excitation is designed to take into Synchronous
Generator
consideration the status of the IGBT as a perturbation to Rotating Rotating
Exciter Rectifier
be rejected. By this way, the system stability is ensured in Rd
closed loop.
EM Variable
The H∞ regulator is designed in [3], [11] based on the VR
d SG Load
mathematical model that describes the behavior of the
complete system (exciter machine, rotating diodes, the main Non linear Resistor
Voltage
measurement
generator and the unknown loads) given by the following
equations: Chopper
Umes
vexc Main −

𝑑𝑖𝑒𝑥𝑐 𝑑𝑖𝑓 AVR +

𝑣𝑒𝑥𝑐 = 𝑅𝑒 𝑖𝑒𝑥𝑐 + 𝐿𝑒 − 𝑘3 𝑘2 𝑀𝑠𝑒 (1a) U 1ref
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑣𝑑𝑝
𝑖𝑑1 = 𝑖𝑑𝑝 + 𝐶1 𝜔𝑒𝑝 𝑣𝑑𝑝 − 𝐶1 (1b)
𝑑𝑡 De-excitation −

𝑑𝑣𝑞𝑝 Controller +
𝑖𝑞1 = 𝑖𝑞𝑝 − 𝐶1 𝜔𝑒𝑝 𝑣𝑞𝑝 − 𝐶1 (1c) U 2ref
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑝
0 = −𝑣𝑑𝑝 − 𝑅𝑠 𝑖𝑑𝑝 + 𝐿𝑞 𝜔𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑞𝑝 − 𝑀𝑠𝑄 𝜔𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑄 − 𝐿𝑑
𝑑𝑡 Fig. 2. Schematic of the Advanced Brushless Excitation system.
𝑑𝑖𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝐷
+ 𝑀𝑠𝑓 + 𝑀𝑠𝐷 (1d)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 the opening and closing of the IGBT, we will represent
𝑑𝑖𝑞𝑝 the negative excitation structure (IGBT with the discharge
0 = −𝑣𝑞𝑝 − 𝑅𝑠 𝑖𝑞𝑝 − 𝐿𝑑 𝜔𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑑𝑝 + 𝑀𝑠𝑓 𝜔𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝑓 − 𝐿𝑞 resistor) by a variable voltage 𝑉𝑅𝑑 and it will be considered
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑖𝑄 as an exogenous input. According to the circuit shown in the
+ 𝑀𝑠𝐷 𝜔𝑒𝑝 𝑖𝐷 + 𝑀𝑠𝑄 (1e) fig.2. We can write the equation (1f) as following:
𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑖𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑝
0 = −𝑘1 𝑀𝑠𝑒 𝜔𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑒𝑥𝑐 + 𝑎𝑖𝑓 + 𝐿𝑓 − 𝑀𝑠𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑝 𝑑𝑖𝐷
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑉𝑅𝑑 = −𝑘1 𝑀𝑠𝑒 𝜔𝑒𝑒 𝑖𝑒𝑥𝑐 +𝑎𝑖𝑓 +𝐿𝑓 −𝑀𝑠𝑓 +𝑀𝑓 𝐷 (2)
𝑑𝑖𝐷 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
+ 𝑀𝑓 𝐷 (1f)
𝑑𝑡 with
𝑑𝑖𝐷 𝑑𝑖𝑓 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑝 {
0 = 𝑅 𝐷 𝑖𝐷 + 𝐿 𝐷 + 𝑀𝑓 𝐷 − 𝑀𝑠𝐷 (1g) 0 (when the IGBT is close) or
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑉𝑅𝑑 =
𝑑𝑖𝑄 𝑑𝑖𝑞𝑝 −𝑅𝑑 𝑖𝑓 (when the IGBT is open)
0 = 𝑅 𝑄 𝑖𝑄 + 𝐿 𝑄 − 𝑀𝑠𝑄 (1h)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
This model has several parameters with: The model given by (1) combined with the equation (2) can
∙ 𝑅𝑒 and 𝐿𝑒 are the resistance and inductance of the EM
be represented by:
main field winding. 𝑈 = 𝑅𝑋 + 𝑀 𝑋˙ (3)
∙ 𝑅𝑠 , 𝐿𝑓 and 𝑅𝑓 are the stator resistance, the inductance
and resistance of the main field winding; ( )𝑇
𝑈 = 𝑣𝑒𝑥𝑐 , 𝑖𝑑1 , 𝑖𝑞1 , 0, 0, 𝑉𝑅𝑑 , 0, 0 and
∙ 𝐿𝑑 and 𝐿𝑞 are direct and transverse stator main induc- ( )𝑇
𝑋 = 𝑖𝑒𝑥𝑐 , 𝑣𝑑𝑝 , 𝑣𝑞𝑝 , 𝑖𝑑𝑝 , 𝑖𝑞𝑝 , 𝑖𝑓 , 𝑖𝐷 , 𝑖𝑄 .
tances;
∙ 𝑅𝐷 , 𝑅𝑄 are dampers resistances; 𝐿𝐷 and 𝐿𝑄 are direct with 𝑖𝑑1 and 𝑖𝑞1 are load currents in dq frame. The voltage
and transverse dampers inductances; and current of the EM main field winding are, respectively,
∙ 𝑀𝑠𝑓 is mutual inductance between direct stator winding 𝑣𝑒𝑥𝑐 and 𝑖𝑒𝑥𝑐 . The variables 𝑣𝑑𝑝 , 𝑣𝑞𝑝 , 𝑖𝑑𝑝 and 𝑖𝑞𝑝 are voltages
and main field one; 𝑀𝑓 𝐷 is mutual inductance between and currents in 𝑑𝑞 frame and 𝑖𝐷 and 𝑖𝑄 that represent the
main field winding and direct damper one; direct and transverse dampers currents. 𝑖𝑓 is current of the

366
main field winding. The model can be written in the state Augmented plant

space modeling shape as follows Exogenous

w Inputs System Model
𝑋˙ = 𝐴𝑋 + 𝐵𝑈 (4) -
Reference e w1(s)
𝐴 = −𝑀 −1 𝑅 is the state matrix and 𝐵 = 𝑀 −1 is the control +
z
vexc
matrix. w2(s)
In order to represent the load currents (𝑖𝑑1 , 𝑖𝑞1 and 𝑉𝑅𝑑 ) as
exogenous inputs, the system model given by (4) is rewritten u y
as
{ H1

𝑋˙ = 𝐴𝑋 + 𝐵1 𝑊1 + 𝐵2 𝑈1 Controller
(5)
𝑌 = 𝐶𝑋
Where Fig. 4. Block diagram of the H∞ configuration.
⎡ ⎤
𝑖𝑑1
𝑊1 = ⎣ 𝑖𝑞1 ⎦ , 𝑈1 = 𝑣𝑒𝑥𝑐 ,
w z
𝑉𝑅𝑑
⎡ ⎤𝑇
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Augmented plant
𝐵1 = 𝐵 ⎣ 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 ⎦ , u y
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
[ ]𝑇
𝐵2 = 𝐵 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ,
[ ]
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 H1
𝐶= .
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 Controller

𝑈1 is the control signal, 𝑊1 is the exogenous input and 𝑌

is the output of the system model. A block diagram for the
representation of the global system is now given by Fig.3.
The proposed modeling method has two advantages:
id1
vdp
W1 = iq1
X_ = AX + B1 W1 + B2 U1
VRd
vqp
Y = CX
U1 = vexc
Fig. 3. Block diagram of the global system in state space form.
∙ First, the model considers the load current as an exoge-
nous input. As a result, it is possible to design a robust
voltage regulator with respect to sudden variations of
the load.
∙ It is important to note that as 𝑉𝑅𝑑 is expressed as an
exogenous input, the regulator can take into account the
variations of 𝑉𝑅𝑑 (opening and closing of the IGBT)
as perturbations to be rejected. Consequently, the con-
troller can regulate the output voltage and guarantee the
stability of the system in the case where the voltage 𝑉𝑅𝑑
changes and during load variation.
The system dynamic response is controlled by 𝐻∞
controller. According to Fig.4 and Fig.5, we obtain the
augmented system associated with the 𝐻∞ voltage regulator.
The plant has two inputs, the exogenous input vector 𝑤,
that includes disturbances to be rejected (𝑖𝑑1 , 𝑖𝑞1 , 𝑉𝑅𝑑 and
reference), and the control signal 𝑈1 . 𝑧 denotes the output
signals to be minimized and 𝑦 is used to calculate the control
signal 𝑈1 . 𝑧 represents the signals to be controlled which are
Fig. 5. Block diagram of the generalized plant.
the weighted error between reference and system output and
the weighted control signal. The reference signal is the r.m.s
value of the generator voltage. The role of the 𝐻∞ controller
Y
is to bring back the output voltage to its steady state very
quickly. In our case, the 𝐻∞ voltage regulator is designed
by using two weighting filters 𝑤1(𝑠) and 𝑤2(𝑠) that shapes
the disturbances and the outputs [12], [13]. 𝑤1 is a weighting
filter which is chosen as a low-pass filter of the first order.
𝑤2 is a scalar weighting (constant) makes it possible to act
completely on the dynamics of the control signal. From the
augmented plant, we use the ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑓 𝑠𝑦𝑛 function of Robust
Control Toolbox Matlab to synthesize the H∞ controllers
[14].
B. De-excitation control
A fast de-excitation system increases the dynamic be-
haviour of the global system and reduces the voltage over-
shoots during loads rejections. As presented by Fig. 2, we
use the supplementary control system for the high voltage
overshoot based on the rotating IGBT with the nonlinear
discharge resistor. The IGBT opening and closing control is
based on PID controller. The PID, i.e. Proportional-Integral-
Derivative, is used because of its simplicity and it does not
require an accurate modeling of the system. It is widely
used in industries and it can be adjusted according to the
application [15]. Fig. 6 shows the block diagram of the PID
de-excitation control system. The transfer function of the PID

367
 TABLE I
block is given by: PARAMETERS OF THE SG AND EM ( RESISTANCES IN Ω, INDUCTANCES
( ) IN M H).
1 𝑁𝑠
𝑢𝑃 𝐼𝐷 (𝑠) = 𝑃 1 + 𝐼( ) + 𝐷( ) (6) Characteristics of the SG (rated apparent power 11.2kVA)
𝑠 𝑠+𝑁
Poles 𝑅𝑠 𝑅𝑓 𝐿𝑓 𝐿𝑑 𝑀𝑠𝑓 𝐿𝑞
where 𝑠 is a complex number frequency parameter of the 4 0.71 2.06 695 63.6 200.5 38.6
𝐿𝐷 𝐿𝑄 𝑀𝑓 𝐷 𝑀𝑠𝐷 𝑀𝑠𝑄 𝑅𝐷 𝑅𝑄
0.0685 0.0236 6.7 2 0.9 8.6e-4 9.9e-4
U 2ref Generator Characteristics of the EM
+
PID
Direct orders to IGBT Poles 𝑅𝑠𝑒 𝑅𝑒 𝐿𝑒 𝐿𝑑𝑒 𝑀𝑠𝑒 𝐿𝑞𝑒
- PWM
8 0.26 24.5 1750 5.8 89 3.1
Umes Synchronous
Controller IGBT Generator

Rd
From exciter
machine
VR
d SG
r.m.s value
Voltage measurement
Fig. 6. Block diagram of the PID de-excitation control system.
Laplace transform of the inputs and the outputs. The regu-
lator input includes the error signal, which is the difference
between the reference value (𝑈 2𝑟𝑒𝑓 ) and the measured gener-
ator voltage (𝑈𝑚𝑒𝑠 ). The PID regulator is the combination of
the three basic actions P, I and D. A first-order pole filter the
derivative action. The filter coefficient N sets the location of
the pole in the derivative filter. Noting that in this work, PID
controller gain parameters are set in order to have a trade-off
between performances and stability of the system.
Non linear resistances are widely used in field discharge
circuits with Crowbars in order to perform a quick shutdown
of the excitation of the generator [16], [17], [18], [19].
Noting that the non linear discharge resistor decreases the
de-excitation time significantly. So, in this work, the used
discharge resistor is a non linear one. Inspired from different
configurations control schemes of excitation systems, it is
A. Excitation stop
Variable
Load
During these tests, the generator is unloaded and operates
at rate voltage. Suddenly, the generator operator asks to stop
the excitation (i.e. normal stop order or trip order sent by
protection systems). In ABE, when the excitation system
receives a stop order, an order will be sent directly to the
rotating IGBT to open. The DC chopper associated with the
exciter machine will be controlled to deliver a zero excitation
voltage. In SBE, the DC chopper associated with the exciter
machine will be only controlled to deliver a zero excitation
voltage.
The generator voltage (r.m.s., p.u.) is presented in fig.
7. As we can see, compared with SBE structure the de-
excitation duration using a controlled non linear discharge
resistor decreases significantly. The de-excitation time (at
63%) for ABE structure using the non linear discharge
resistor, is reduced from 429 ms to 100 ms so is reduced
with ratio of 4.
Normal Stop De-excitation
1 SBE
ABE
0.9
0.8

possible to send the opening and closing orders to the ro- 0.7
tating IGBT via wireless communication, brush ring system, 0.6
U SG [pu]

Capacitive coupling [2], [20]. In this study, the external signal

0.5
voltage control (opening and closing orders) of the IGBT
rotating is sent directly. 0.4

0.3
III. SIMULATION AND RESULTS 0.2
In the following, in order to evaluate the dynamic perfor- 0.1
mance of the proposed new excitation structure (Advanced
0
Brushless Excitation) two types of tests are realized:
1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4
1) Fast de-excitation after a normal stop order;
Time (s)
2) Dynamic de-excitation during sudden loads shedding.
The tests presented in this paper were carried out on an Fig. 7. r.m.s value of the main generator voltage during an excitation stop
11.2𝑘𝑉 𝐴 synchronous generator. The parameters of the SG order.
and the EM are listed in the table I. The discharge resistor
used is a non linear one (Metal-Oxid (ZnO) varistors). Figure 8 shows the excitation voltage of the generator
The ABE and SBE systems are tested with a brushless main field winding (field voltage). In SBE, it is not possible
synchronous generator model developed in Matlab/Simulink to obtain a negative excitation voltage. In ABE, when the
and validated with real experimental test bench [11]. In order IGBT opens, the negative forcing voltage gives a mean to
to present clearly the systems responses, we will present the rapidly dissipate the field energy of the excitation system
r.m.s or root mean square voltage (per unit). via the discharge resistor. These primary results can be used

368
 Shedding 100 0.8
1
SBE
1.12
0 ABE

1.1
−1

0 1.08
−2

U SG [pu]
U f [pu]

−2 1.06
−3

−4 −4 1.04

−5 −6 1.02
1 1.02 1.04 1.06
−6 ABE 1
SBE

1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2
Time (s) Time (s)

Fig. 8. Rotor voltage of the main generator during an excitation stop order. Fig. 9. r.m.s voltage (p.u.) during step load change (shedding), a load that
consumes the 100% of the apparent power with a 0.8 power factor.

to create an overview of the effectiveness of the proposed Shedding 100 0.3

structure for the brushless excitation system. In the next 1.16
ABE
part, the behavior of the ABE structure is evaluated during 1.14 SBE
dynamic de-excitation.
1.12

1.1
B. Dynamic de-excitation
U SG [pu]

The performances of suggested technique in dynamic de- 1.08

excitation are tested with sudden load variation (resistance, 1.06

inductance). Sudden loads rejection and Sudden load impacts. 1.04
The goal of this test is to check the proper behaviour of the
ABE system. 1.02

Table II shows the used loads during the impact/shedding 1

tests. In this table, 𝑃 denotes the active power, 𝑆 the apparent 0.98
power, 𝑄 the reactive power, and 𝑃 𝐹 the power factor.
The loads used consume the nominal apparent power with 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2
different power factor and (%). Noting that, the main AVR Time (s)
is designed by using 𝐻∞ control law for each excitation
structure (ABE, SBE) [3]. The PID parameters are adjusted Fig. 10. r.m.s voltage (p.u.) during step load change (shedding), a load that
consumes the 100% of the apparent power with a 0.3 power factor.
to give a compromise between stability and temporal per-
formance. In this tests, proportional and derivative constants TABLE III
are given by P=100, D=0.6 and N=500, respectively. Under R ESULTS FOR LOAD SHEDDING TESTS .

TABLE II Tests Structures Shedding

U SED LOAD FOR THE IMPACT AND SHEDDING TESTS . Δ𝑡𝑠 Δ𝑈𝑠
1000.8 SBE 226 12.5
Test P(kW) S (kVA) Q(kVAR) PF 1000.8 ABE 165 7
1000.8 9 11.2 6.7 0.8 1000.3 SBE 350 15.1
1000.6 6.7 11.2 9 0.6 1000.3 ABE 175 7.2
1000.3 3.4 11.2 11 0.3 1000.6 SBE 316 13.3
1500.8 13.4 16.8 10 0.8 1000.6 ABE 174 7.5
1500.8 SBE 340 17.8
1500.8 ABE 210 11.4
loaded conditions, the simulated terminal voltage responses
for each excitation structure are illustrated in Figs. 9, 10, 11,
12 for the shedding of the loads and in Figs.13 and 14 for
the loads impact. Some observations can be made: conditions herein, as can be observed, the proposed ABE
Firstly, concerning the ABE structure performance (re- structure with de-excitation closed-loop PID control for
sponse time and voltage overshoot) and under the testing voltage overshoot enhances, greatly, the terminal voltage

369
 Shedding 100 0.6 Impact 100 0.8
1.05
1.14 ABE
SBE
1.12
1
1.1

1.08
U SG [pu]

0.95

U SG [pu]
1.06 SBE
ABE
1.04 0.9

1.02
0.85
1

0.98
1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 0.8
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25 1.3 1.35 1.4
Time (s)
Time (s)
Fig. 11. r.m.s voltage (p.u.) during step load change (shedding), a load that
consumes the 100% of the apparent power with a 0.6 power factor. Fig. 13. r.m.s voltage (p.u.) during step load change (impact), a load that
consumes the 100% of the apparent power with a 0.8 power factor.

Shedding 150 0.8 Impact 100 0.3

1.02
1.18 SBE
ABE 1
1.16

1.14 0.98

1.12 0.96 SBE

ABE
U SG [pu]

1.1 0.94
U SG [pu]

1.08
0.92
1.06
0.9
1.04
0.88
1.02
0.86
1
0.84
0.98
1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 2.1 2.2 0.82
1 1.05 1.1 1.15 1.2 1.25 1.3 1.35 1.4
Time (s)
Time (s)
Fig. 12. r.m.s voltage (p.u.) during step load change (shedding), a load that
consumes the 150% of the apparent power with a 0.8 power factor. Fig. 14. r.m.s voltage (p.u.) during step load change (impact), a load that
consumes the 100% of the apparent power with a 0.3 power factor.

performance of the SG during the load shedding tests. Table
III shows a sum up of the improvement obtained with ABE
system. Thus, the controlled non linear discharge resistor con-
siderably improves the dynamic of the brushless excitation
system. For example, during the load shedding 1000.8 test
associated to non linear resistor (𝑅𝑑 ) (see, Fig. 9), the voltage
overshoot is 7% (peak), which is lower than the standard
brushless exciter with a peak voltage of 12.5%. A significant
reduction of the response time is also noticed. With the power
factor 𝑃 𝐹 = 0.3, 𝑃 𝐹 = 0.6 and the load 1500.8 (see, Figs.
10, 11 and 12), a large amelioration in the system response
is also observed. During all load impact tests, the value of
the output voltage (voltage drop) is almost the same among
both excitation structure (ABE and SBE) because the rotating
IGBT still closed when load is applied to the SG (see for
example, Figs. 13, 14). This is an expected proper behavior
of ABE system as it is mainly used to improve the system
dynamic during de-excitations.
IV. C ONCLUSION
This paper presents an advanced brushless excitation
system for synchronous generators using a dynamically con-
trolled non linear discharge resistor. The studied de-excitation
control system has a simple structure composed mainly: on
the one hand, a rotating non linear discharge resistor con-
nected to the field circuit of the SG and controlled by rotating
IGBT, on the other hand, an control strategy associated with
the PID regulator to control the opening and closing of the
rotating IGBT. Furthermore, this paper presents a robust H∞

370
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University in Lebanon. He worked at General Electric as principal engineer
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