A Visual Tool for Building Synchronous Generator
Capability Curves
P. da Costa Jr., A. Nunes de Souza, P. S. da Silva, and J. E. do Cogo Castanho
Department of Electrical Engineering
UNESP - Univ Estadual Paulista
Bauru SP, CEP17033-360, Brazil,
costajr@feb.unesp.br
Abstract Synchronous generators are essential components of
electric power systems. They are present both in hydro and
thermal power plants, performing the function of converting
mechanical into electrical energy. This paper presents a visual
approach to manipulate parameters that affect operation limits
of synchronous generators, using a specifically designed
software. The operating characteristics of synchronous
generators, for all possible modes of operation, are revised in
order to link the concepts to the graphic objects. The approach
matches the distance learning tool requirements and also
enriches the learning process by developing student trust and
understanding of the concepts involved in building
synchronous machine capability curves.
Keywords- Electric machine, synchronous generator,
capability curve, distance learning, Java script.
I. INTRODUCTION
The growing volume of knowledge being created has
became a real challenge for teaching/learning. To keep up to
date with this growth, e-learning can be used to integrate
new technologies and knowledge to assist students in the
learning process without constraints of time and space, and at
their own pace [1], [2]. Also, the increasing globalization
process brings tough challenges in design, construction and
production of knowledge [3], [4]. Many schools have been
investing on remote laboratory [5], [6], virtual education [7]
and support systems for the mobile student [8].
Nowadays, the on-line teaching is a major issue for
power engineering web-based learning programs [9]. The
difficulties that slow down the teaching on some on-line
electrical engineering courses are usually related to question
formulations, design, students' evaluation and reliability of
assessments [10].
In facing these issues, several authors have been
contributing to the development of specially designed
software to support teaching on dynamics of electric power
systems [1113]. E-learning programs, providing the
appropriate support, contributes to the customization of
learning and motivates the students activity [14]. Several
approaches have been used to create e-learning platforms.
For instance, Labview has been used to develop a virtual
platform for a Web-based remote applications [6]. The Java
programming language running as an object of Matlab's Java
978-1-4673-1375-9/12/$31.00 2012 IEEE
virtual machine can also be used to deploy remote
laboratories [5]. Virtual education system SEI-VLab, which
is based on the "Remote Lab" developed by Microsoft
Corporation can be also a choice to set up virtual laboratory
teaching systems [7].
Although many e-leaning solutions are based on
commercial software, this brings undesirable constraints. An
alternative approach is to use free tools or to develop custom
solutions. This work follows the latter way by using free
Java script libraries to develop a Web-based graphical
application for building capability curves of salient-pole
synchronous machines.
A synchronous machine has its rotational speed
proportional to the frequency of the armature current, which
is responsible for the rotating magnetic field, creating a
constant torque under these conditions. In other words, the
electrical frequency present in the armor is synchronized
with the angular velocity.
Under the constructive point of view, a synchronous
machine has a basic layout with three static windings
connected in star (Y ) or delta ( ) enveloping a circular
stator magnetic circuit or armor. On the other hand, a rotor,
on the same axis as the armature circuit, has a field winding
supplied with direct current, forming pairs of rotating
magnetic poles. Depending on the excitation level of the
magnetic field, the machine operates with inductive or
capacitive nature.
Synchronous machines can operate either as a motor or
as a generator. As a generator, the rotor is driven by a prime
mover attached to its axis, which can be a hydraulic or a
thermal turbine. The relative motion between the rotor and
the stator produces a magnetic flux, which varies in time and
induces an electromotive force (emf) in the armature
windings of the machine.
The geometry of the rotor of these machines can be
classified as being of round-rotor or nonsalient, for large
angular velocities, or salient-pole for lower speeds. Due to
the greater complexity of drawing of the operation diagram,
the graphical approach is constrained to salient-pole
generators.
 In the next sections, the operating characteristics of
synchronous generators, for all possible modes of operation,
are reviewed in order to link the concepts to the graphic
objects. After, the implementation and results are presented.
V X d . On the other hand, the segment AB corresponds to
the generated reactive power, if it is multiplied by the same
proportionality constant V X d , according to (5).

II. SALIENT-POLE SYNCHRONOUS GENERATOR V

P= E sin ( ) + I q ( X d X q ) cos ( ) (4)
The analysis of the operation of salient-pole generators is Xd
based on the theory of dual response or dual reactance. From
the phasor diagram of salient-pole generator, we obtain the
operating modes and the corresponding capability curve
[15], [16].
The phasor diagram in Fig. 1 is built from the terminal
voltage, the direct-axis reactance, the quadrature-axis
reactance, the load current, and the load power factor.

Figure 2. The supplied power derived from the phasor diagram.

V
Q= I d X d cos ( ) I q X d sin ( ) (5)
Xd

To generalize, the diagram in Fig. 2 is modified and the

Figure 1. Phasor diagram of salient-pole generator. salient-pole effect on both internal emf, I q ( X d X q ) , and
active power, I q ( X d X q ) cos( ) , can be seen in Fig. 3.
Equation (1) gives the voltage phasor across the
armature.

E = V + j Id X d + j Iq X q (1)

The segment AF supports the direction of the vector


E , providing the load angle . Equation (2) gives the
voltage drop I q X q as a projection of the segment AF on
Figure 3. Modified phasor diagram.
the perpendicular to E .
The loci of the every E origin takes the shape of a
I q X q = I X q cos( + ) = AF cos( + ) (2)
semicircle of diameter HO = V ( X d X q 1) . From the
diagram in Fig. 3, we get the complete diagram of Fig. 4,
The perpendicular segment to the vector I is given in
which can be used to describe the operating conditions for
(3):
any power angle.

AF = I X q (3)

The direction of the vector E is found together with the

decomposition of the armature current I. The amplitude of
E is found from (1) and the phasor diagram can now be
built, as shown in Figure 1.
According to (4), the segment CB , in Fig. 2, is
proportional to the generated active power by the factor of Figure 4. Saliency effect on the phasor diagram.
 To derive the capability diagram of the salient-pole
synchronous generator from the diagram in Fig. 4, it is
necessary to examine the behavior of this diagram for
various operating conditions, which are presented next.
A. Operation with constant active power and variable
excitation
The upper and lower operating limits of the prime mover
can be obtained from the diagram in Fig. 5.
Figure 5. Operation with Constant Active Power.
The lengths of the segments D1 B , D2 B , and D3 B
correspond to the contribution from the saliency of poles on
the active power, while CD1 , CD2 , and CD3 correspond to
the active power due to the excitation.
Similarly, AB1 , AB2 , and AB3 correlate to the reactive
power.
B. Operation with fixed apparent power and variable
excitation.
The stator heating limit of the stator can be obtained from
the diagram in Fig. 6.
Figure 6. Operation with fixed apparent power.
To keep a fixed apparent power, the magnitude of the
armature current must be constant too.
As the excitation is varied, the locus of the point C (rays
AC1 , AC2 , AC3 , and AC4 ), then the vector AC = X d I
defines a semi-circle.
C. Operation with constant excitation and variable power
The rotor heating limit and the residual magnetism can be
established from the diagram in Fig. 7. The lengths
G1C1 , G2 C2 , ... Gi Ci in the direction of the lines HCi have
the same value.
Figure 7. Operation with constant excitation.
D. Theoretical stability limit
The theoretical stability limit can be drawn as in Fig. 8.
Figure 8. Obtaining the theoretical stability limit.
The HT curve is obtained by building several circles, all
with the same diameter as the saliency circle. All the circles
are tangent to the line OR at the points O1, O2, On. The
lines connecting the point H to the points O1, O2, On cross
the circles in H1, H2, Hn. The curve that passes through
H1, H2, Hn, defines the theoretical stability limit.
E. Full Operation Diagram
All previous phasor diagrams are made in per unit figures
and scaled in power by multiplying the voltage segments by
V X d . The concatenation of these diagrams provides the
complete capability diagram of salient-pole generator. The
stable and secure operation region of the generator is
outlined by the thicker closed line in Fig. 9.
 The points ( x, y ) on the theoretical stability limit are
1.4
Theoretical stability limit Field current heating limit
Practical stability limit
1.2
determined by the simultaneous solution of the equation of
1
Armature Heating Limit the circle (6) and the associated line (7).
Upper prime mover limit
per unit of MW

0.8

( x xc ) 2 + ( y yc ) = r 2
2
0.6
(6)
0.4

0.2 Residual magnetism

Lower prime mover limit y yh yc y h
= (7)
0
-1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 x xh ( xc + r ) xh
per unit of Mvar

Figure 9. Full capability diagram of salient-pole generator.

The nonlinear system (8), formed by (6) and (7) is solved
by the Newton's method.
III. COMPUTER IMPLEMENTATION
The computer implementation can be split in numerical ( x xc )2 + ( y yc ) 2 r 2 = 0
computations and graphical interface. The former deals with (8)
the problem of finding a curve formed by all the points y ( xc + r xh ) yc ( x xh ) = 0
satisfying all operating conditions. The latter refers to the
graphical presentation of results and the user interface. The associated Jacobian matrix (9) is build at every
iteration k.
A. Numerical computation
The construction of the loci of the theoretical and
practical stability limits represents a major complexity in 2 x( k ) 2 y(k )
building the capability diagram for salient-pole generators. (
J x( ) , y (
k k)
) = y
x( k ) + r xh
(9)
c
Here, the theoretical limit of stability is found through the
intersection points ( x, y ) between the supporting circles, The initial estimated values of the coordinates for the
which are centered on the segment AB , and the segments first support circle are given in (10).
HO , as suggested in Fig. 10.
r
x ( ) = xc +
0
B 2
Support circle (10)
r
y(
0)
= yc
2

(xc , yc ) For faster convergence, the points of intersection

O between the support circles and their respective lines, which
(xc +r, yc ) are found using Newtons method, are used as initial guess
of the subsequent pair of support circle and its respective
line. This is true because of the proximity between neighbor
support circles.

(x, y )
The points of the practical stability limit are calculated
from the coordinate pairs of the theoretical stability limit.
The required safety margin on the y axis, namely, active
power is discounted from the respective y coordinate on the
theoretical limit. Then, the coordinate pair on the practical
stability limit is found considering that field current is held
fixed.

(xh , 0 ) A Figure 11 illustrates the process of obtaining equations
from the geometry.
2r

Figure 10. Finding the points of the theoritical stability limit.

 Again, from the Pythagoras' theorem:
(x, y )

(xn , yn ) y n+d = yn 2 + ( xn xh )
2
(17)

Substituting m on (14), we get (18) or (19):

d
d 2r ( xn xh )
+d +
yn 2 + ( xn xh )
2
(18)
yn 2 + ( xn xh ) = 0
2

n or
m

2r ( xn xh ) + d yn 2 + ( xn xh ) +
2

2r
yn 2 ( xn xh ) = 0
2
(19)
Figure 11. Finding the points of the practical stability limit.
for yn > 0 and xn > xh
The circumscribed triangles to the semicircle are always
right triangles. Then, the length of the segment m is: The value of yn in the expression (19) depends on the
safety margin required by the user. Thus, for a safety margin
of 10%, yn = y 0.1 . Generally :
m = 2 r cos ( ) (11)

On the other hand, yn = y ( security margin in % 100 ) (20)

x xh The roots of the equation (19) are calculated numerically

cos ( ) = (12) using the Newtons method.
y 2 + ( x xh )
2

B. Graphical interface
Then, The graphic interface shown in Fig. 12 allows changing
all the parameters that influence the boundaries of secure and
stable operation of salient-pole synchronous generators. The
2r ( x xh ) innermost region of the diagram corresponds to a zone of
m= (13)
y 2 + ( x xh )
2 stable and secure operation of the synchronous generator.

From the Pythagoras' theorem:

y 2 + ( x xh )
2
m+d = (14)

Substituting m on equation (14), obtaining

2r ( x xh )
y 2 + ( x xh )
2
d= (15)
y 2 + ( x xh )
2

Similarly, the length of the segment n is:

2r ( xn xh )
n= (16)
yn 2 + ( xn xh )
2
Figure 12. Web page for building capability curves.
 The y-axis corresponds to the active power (pu of MW)
while the x-axis corresponds to the reactive power (pu of
Mvar).
The functions are implemented using jsDraw2D [17], a
graphics library for JavaScript, which is available from
http://jsdraw2d.jsfiction.com/. The Dojo Foundations Dojo
toolkit [18] was chosen for the sliders and text boxes. The
implemented application is available on the website:
http://pessoas.feb.unesp.br/costajr/.
The developed software allows users a prompt
visualization of the effect of changing the values of machine
parameters and the generator operation limits. To illustrate
this feature, the value of direct-axis reactance is increased
from 1.1 pu to 1.5 pu. The decreasing safety operating area
can be perceived when comparing the diagram in Fig. 12 to
the diagram in Fig. 13.
Figure 13. Effect of increasing direct-axis reactance.
IV. CONCLUSION
The visual tool for building synchronous generator
capability curves described here is ready to be used on
research, teaching and training.
The developed graphical tool, available on the website:
http://pessoas.feb.unesp.br/costajr/, has shown strong
teaching appeal since it illustrates in a clear and consistent
way how to assess the limits of synchronous generators
under arbitrary conditions.
The use of free software to implement a supporting tool
for teaching electric machines concepts can improve the
students understanding, given them the opportunity to
rapidly make sense of the weight of each parameter over the
overall steady state behavior of the synchronous generator.
After learning how to build capability diagrams by hand,
the students have the chance to concentrate their efforts on
the effects of electrical parameters on the capability curves
rather than waste their time on the graphical issues.
The insertion of additional modules to display other
characteristics such as the generator saturation curves and V
curves should be performed in the sequence of this work.
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