THEORY

Derive the equation for terminal voltage of synchronous generator for load current I
Let consider the load is connected and the load current is I. Hence per phase equivalent circuit can be
drawn as,

For the circuit, using Kirchhoffs law,

E = V + I ( ra+ j Xs )

= V + j I Xs ; Neglecting ra

= V + ( I Cos + j Sin ) j Xs

E = ( V I XsSin ) + j ( I XsCos )

By Taking the modulus of E,

E2 = ( V I XsSin ) 2 + ( I XsCos ) 2

E2 = V 2 + I 2 Xs2 2 V I XsSin

V 2 - 2 V I XsSin + I 2 Xs2 - E 2 = 0

Prove that (), =

Let consider the Per phase equivalent circuit as,

Vo/c - Open circuit voltage

Is/c - Short circuit current
VT - Rated voltage
If - Field current for rated O/C voltage
If - Field current for rated S/C current
Ia - Rated armature current
Ia - Current In armature for rated voltage

By considering the circuit,

/
Zs = = 2 + 2
/

If rsis very small,

/
Xs = Zs= =
/

Also at rated voltage,

Xs( SAT ) =

Field Current For Rated Open Circuit Voltage
Short circuit ratio =
Field Current For Rated Short Circuit Current

SCR = =

But, Xs( SAT ), pu = / =

Xs( SAT ), pu =

 Open Circuit Characteristic And Short Circuit Characteristic

280
Open Circuit Characteristic

260

240

220

200
Open Circuit Voltage ( V) / Short Circuit Current ( A )

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

Short Circuit Characteristic

40

y = 39.72x + 0.3898

20

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 0.55 0.6 0.65 0.7 0.75 0.8
Field Current ( A )
 Using thevenins equivalent circuit,

/
= ( 2 + 2 ) =
/
sincera is small we can write

/
=
/
Where VO/C - Open circuit phase voltage
IS/C - Short circuit current

Therefore synchronous reactance (XS) can be determined by using the plotted characteristics
curves for a given field current.

Short Circuit characteristics equation can be defined form the graph as;
/ = y = 39.72x + 0.389 ;WhereIf Field Current

Sample calculation for field current 0.1 A,

VO/C = ;Where 110V is the L-L Voltage obtained from the graph

= .
/ = . . + .
= .
.
=
.
= .

Similarly, we can calculate synchronous reactance (XS) for given field currents and results are
listed below.

Per Phase Open

Field Current , Short Circuit Synchronous
Circuit Voltage, Vo/c
If Current ,Is/c Reactance,Xs
(V)
(A) (A) ()

0.1 63.51 5.08 12.5

0.2 103.92 9.77 10.64
0.3 125.86 14.46 8.70
0.4 138.56 19.16 7.23
0.5 146.65 23.85 6.15
0.6 154.15 28.54 5.40
0.7 160.50 33.24 4.83
 Synchronous reactance, XsVs Field Current, If
15

14

13

12
Synchronous Reactance ( )

11

10

6
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
Field Current ( A )
 Short Circuit Ratio is defined as,

() =

By considering the name plate data of synchronous generator,

Rated Voltage = 240 V

Rated Current = 6.65 A
By considering the open and short circuit characteristics curves,
Field current for rated open circuit voltage ,I`f= 0.4 A
..
Field current for rated short circuit current= = = 0.13 A
.

.
() = = .
.
Saturated synchronous reactance (XS(sat))in per unit,
1 1
XS(sat) = = = .
3.0769

Saturated synchronous reactance (XS (sat))in ohms,

/
() = = . = .
.
 Load Voltage Vs Load Current

240

239

238

237

236

235

234
Load Voltage (V)

233

232

231

230

229

228

227

226

225
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Load Current (A)
e.) Calculate the terminal Voltage theoretically for load currents of 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10,12A for purely
inductive ( = ),capacitive ( = )and resistive ( = )loads.Also calculate the
terminal voltages for load of 0.9 power factor ( = . )

Terminal voltage can be calculated theoretically by the following equation,

V 2 - 2 V I XsSin + I 2 Xs2 - E 2 = 0

Sample calculation for load current 4 A, = V = 138.564

XS = 6.772
When Cos = 0

= 900 = 900
V 2 (2 XS I Sin ) V + (XS 2 I 2 - E 2) = 0 V 2 (2 XS I Sin ) V + (XS 2 I 2 - E 2) = 0
V = 165V V = 111.476V

When Cos = 1

=0
V 2 (2 XS I Sin ) V + (XS 2 I 2 - E 2) = 0
V = 135.89V

When Cos = 0.9

= 25.840 = - 25.840
V 2 (2 XS I Sin ) V + (XS 2 I 2 - E 2) = 0 V 2 (2 XS I Sin ) V + (XS 2 I 2 - E 2) = 0
V = 148.21V V = 124.6V

Terminal Voltage
Load (V)
Current
(A) =0
= 900 = -900 = 25.840 = - 25.840

1 145.34 131.792 138.40 141.38 135.48

2 152.12 125.02 137.9 143.93 132.12
4 165.65 111.48 135.89 148.21 124.60
6 179.20 97.93 132.47 151.36 115.94
8 192.74 84.39 127.53 153.31 106.09
10 206.28 70.84 120.89 153.96 94.92
12 219.83 57.30 112.23 153.11 82.27
 Terminal Voltage Vs Load Current

220

210

200

190

180

170

160

150
Terminal Voltage ( V)

140

130

120

110

100

90

80

70

60

50
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
LOad Current (A)
DISCUSSION
01.) Discuss the importance of SCR with respect to the generator performance.

The ratio of the field current for rated open circuit Voltage and field current for rated short
circuit current give SCR. In addition, An SCR is given by the reciprocal of per unit synchronous
reactance.The synchronous reactance is higher when the SCR is low. So it becomes comparatively
very high value than armature resistance. This results in a significant phase angle (lagging) between
the induced Voltage and the armature current.
Also the short circuit ratio of a synchronous generator is a measure of the transient stability
of the generator unit. Synchronous generators with higher SCR values operate more stable under
transient conditions while the generators with lesser SCR values have less stability under transient
conditions. Because when the SCR value is lower, to maintain a constant terminal voltage for a
given change in load, a larger change in field current is required when compared with a higher SCR
value.
When SCR is low, the synchronous reactance is higher. Therefore it becomes
comparatively a very high value than the armature resistance. This results in a significant phase
difference (lagging) between the induced voltage and the armature current. When SCR is higher, the
Synchronous reactance reduces considerably causing a good voltage regulation at the output
terminals.
In the cases of parallel operation of generators, Synchronous reactance is essential in
determining the circulating current within the two generators. As Xsis a function of SCR we can have
an idea about the circulating current by knowing the SCR.The physical dimensions and properties
are relatively smaller on low SCR machines, so their cost is also lower

02.) Comment on the variation of synchronous reactance with field current

The synchronous reactance is defined to be as follows,

/
=
/

The graph of Open circuit characteristics and Short circuit characteristics can be divided in
to two parts as a linear region and a nonlinear region. When observe the characteristic curves we can
see that ratio between Voc and Iscvalues are constant for lower values of the field current. Because both
curves are straight lines for lower values. But after machine begins to saturation situation will be
change and synchronous reactance start to drop down.This is because of the fact that the rate of
increase of open circuit characteristic is reducing faster and at the saturated region the slow growth of
flux affects to the armature reaction and the self-inductance of the armature coils.
03.) Synchronous Generator has characteristics of a Current Transformer .Briefly account for
this.
If we take the rotor winding of a synchronous generator to be the primary winding of a
transformer, the field winding to be the secondary, the field current to be the primary current, and the
armature current to be the secondary current, then a synchronous generator can be taken to resemble a
step-up current transformer since the armature current is much higher than the field current. In a
current transformer, when the secondary winding is short circuited, that short circuit current is
proportional to the primary current. Similarly, when the armature is short circuited in a synchronous
generator, we can observe that the armature current is proportional to the field current by the short
circuit characteristic curve. Hence, the synchronous generator shows characteristics of a current
transformer. A synchronous generators field current depends on the connected load. Similarly in a
current transformer, the primary current depends on the load connected to the secondary winding.

04.) Comment on the variation of the terminal voltage with load current for various power factor
loads.

Terminal voltage tends to reduce with increasing field current when power factor is lagging
in the Inductive Load, and it tends to increase with increasing field current when power factor is
leading in the Capacitive Load. That reduction or rise becomes rapid and linear when power factor
tends to zero while it becomes non-linear when power factor tends to unity.Value of Xs is essential in
finding the terminal Voltage and each curve is nearly straight at the beginning but tends to bow with
the load current increases

05.) Discuss the importance of synchronization, conditions for synchronization and Dark lamp
method of synchronization
Synchronization is important in that it ensures quality, reliability as well as optimizing
efficiency within the system. By synchronizing generators within a grid, it ensures no destructive
interference occurs. This then in causes a more consistent energy supply to the consumers since all
generators are working in unison. Finally, not only will the grid not have destructive interference,
constructive interference will occur which increases the total power the grid can produce which
optimizes the grid.

To synchronize, several important factors must be checked.

Frequencies must be equal.

Magnitude of terminal voltage must be equal with grid voltage.
Output voltage phase sequence of the generator must be equal to the phase sequence of the
grid and Output voltage of the generator must be in phase with grid voltage.

So during subsequent synchronizations of an AC generator, the operator is usually only

responsible for matching the voltage and matching the speed (frequency), since the phases were
verified during initial synchronization and the conductors (bars or tubes) don't ever usually get
disassembled in such a way that they might get reassembled incorrectly. Many generators have
automatic "relays" that will perform voltage- and speed matching for the generator operator
 Dark lamp method of synchronization
The generator is connected to grid through three lamps (L1, L2 and L3) as shown in
the below figure. If the frequencies of generator output voltage and the grid are not equal becauseof
the generator is not rotating at synchronous speed, there would be a phase difference across the lamp
causing the three lamps to flicker. Also If the lamps are not lighting and darkening simultaneously we
have to interchange the connections to two terminals of the generator and the motor speed must be
adjusted until the lamp glow and darken in a very slow rate. When all the three lamps go fully dark we
can strictly say that theterminal voltage,frequency matches the grid ,phase sequence,and the generator
voltage is in phase with the grid. Therefore at that moment the generator can be connected with the
grid.
Even though this is a very simple method it is not very widely used in practice. One
reason for this is there can be a large voltage difference across a lamp when the lamp is burnt and it is
possible that the connections are closed with a large voltage and phase difference between the two
systems. Another reason is for small capacity machines operating at low speed, the phase difference
may not affect the operation of the machines. However, when large capacity units having low armature
reactance operate at high speed, a considerable amount of damage may result if there is a large phase
difference and an attempt is made to parallel the units.