ENERGY CONVERSION II

EEE 205
Avijit Saha
Lecturer, Dept. of EEE, UIU

Parallel Operation & Load Sharing of

Synchronous Generator
Parallel Operation of Synchronous
Generator
 Except for the emergency purpose, normally
synchronous generators are operated in parallel
 For example, in our Bangladesh, all generators are
operated in parallel to supply the total load of the
country

G1 Load

G2
Advantages of Operating
Generators in Parallel

Here, a 6 MW generator is supplying a 5 MW load

G1 Load 1
6 MW 5 MW
Advantages of Operating
Generators in Parallel
 After addition of 2 MW load, total load is 7 MW
which is higher than the generator 1 capacity

G1 Load 1
6 MW 5 MW

 One option is to install a new

Load 2
8 MW generator
2 MW

G1
7 MW
8 MW
Advantages of Operating
Generators in Parallel
 Several generators can supply a bigger load than one
machine by itself
 Having many generators increases reliability of the
power system, since the failure of any one of them does
not cause a total power loss to the load

G1 Load 1
6 MW 5 MW

Load 2
G2 2 MW
3 MW
 Advantages of Operating
Generators in Parallel
 Having many generators operating in parallel allows one or more
of them to be removed for shutdown and preventive maintenance
 If only one generator is used and it is not operating at near full
load, then it will be relatively inefficient. With several smaller
machines in parallel, it is possible to operate them at near full
load and thus more efficiently

G1 Load 1
6 MW 5 MW

Load 2
G2 2 MW
3 MW
The Conditions for Paralleling

G1 Load

S
G2

 Synchronous generator G1 supplying power to a

load, with another generator G2 about to be
paralleled with G1 by closing the switch S.

 What conditions must be met before closing the

switch?
Explanation of the Conditions

 Condition #1 The rms line voltages of two

generators must be equal
 Otherwise, circulating current will flow
Explanation of the Conditions

 Condition #2 The two generators must have the

same phase sequence

a
b
G1 c
Load

a‟
b‟
G2 c‟
Explanation of the Conditions

 Condition #2 If they are not, like in the following figure,

phase a-a‟ will be in phase but other two phases will be
1200 phase apart and hence huge current will flow

a
G1 b Load
c

a‟
G2 c‟
b‟
Explanation of the Conditions

 Condition #3 The phase angles of two corresponding

phases must be equal
 If there exists a phase difference in two corresponding
phases of two sets of voltages a circulating current will
flow
Explanation of the Conditions
 Condition #4 The frequency of the new generator,
called oncoming generator should be slightly
higher than the frequency of the running system

 The frequency of the two generators must not be far

apart, if they are, a huge time will be required to
stabilize to a common frequency
 Again they can not be set to equal. If they are equal and
if there is difference in phase angle, that phase angle
will remain fixed as time goes by. So, we can not close
the switch
 If there is a slight difference, and if the speed of the
oncoming generator is adjusted gradually, there will be
a situation when phase will be equal and switch will be
closed at that situation
Procedure for Paralleling

 Step #1: By varying the field current, the voltage of the

oncoming generator G2 must be adjusted so that its
terminal voltages are equal to the line voltages of the
running system.
 Step #2: The phase sequence of the oncoming
generator must be same as that of the running system.
This can be achieved by a number of ways.
 Method #1: Connect an induction motor alternately
with the oncoming and the running system. If its
rotates in the same direction in both the systems, then
it is sure that the phase sequences are same. If in the
opposite direction then any two phases of the
oncoming generator must be interchanged.
 Procedure for Paralleling

G1 Load

Method #2: Three light bulb method –

Connect three bulbs as shown in the
figure below. The bulbs get the voltage
difference between the phases of two
G2 different systems. So. in case of
correct phase sequence, all three
bulbs will glow simultaneously and
also darken simultaneously.

But it is found that one bulb glows other two darken and then another bulb
glows and then other. This is an indication of opposite phase sequence.
Procedure for Paralleling

 Step #3: Next the frequency of the oncoming generator

is adjusted to be slightly higher than the frequency of the
running system.
 This is done by observing the frequency meter until the
frequencies are close and then by observing the
changes in the phase between the systems.
 Once the frequencies are nearly equal, the voltages in
the two systems will change phases with respect to each
other very slowly.
 When phase difference become zero, switch is closed.
 Although the system is simple but it is not very accurate.
A Better Approach: Synchroscope
 Synchroscope is a meter which measures the phase
difference between two „a‟ phases of two systems.
 The face of the meter is as follows:
 The dial shows the phase
differences between two phases „a‟
0 of two different system, with „0‟
(meaning in-phase)
slow fast
fast
fast
 If the oncoming generator is faster
than the running system (the
desired situation), the phase angle
advances and needle of the
synchrosope will rotate clockwise.
 In case of large generators, the
system of paralleling is automated.
Sharing of Load Currents by Two
Alternators in Parallel
Prime Mover Characteristics
 As the power drawn from a prime mover (input to our
generator) increases, its speed decreases.
 The decrease of the speed is generally non-linear.
 But some form of governor mechanism makes this decrease
in speed linear with the increase in power demand.
 The governor action is so adjusted that the decrease in
speed characteristics is slightly drooping.
 The speed drop (SD) is defined by the equation
(nnl  n fl )
SD  X 100%
n fl
 Most of generator have a droop of 2-4%.
 In addition, most governors have some kind of adjustment
mechanism to set the no load speed of the turbine.
 Speed and Corresponding
Frequency Characteristics
Mechanical speed, r/min

nnl fnl
nfl

Frequency, Hz
ffl

0 Power, kW Pfl 0 Power, kW Pfl

(a) (b)

Speed-power curve Frequency-power curve

of a prime mover of a prime mover
Power VS Frequency Curve
 The relationship between power and frequency can be
described quantitatively as follows,
P  s p ( f nl  f sys )
where, P = power output of the generator
fnl = no load frequency of the generator
fsys= operating frequency of the generator
sp= slope of the curve

 The relationship plays a significant role in parallel

operation of generators.
Reactive Power VS Terminal
Voltage
VTnl
VTfl

Q
-Q 0 Qfl
kVAR kVAR
consumed supplied

 For lagging load terminal voltage drops, and for leading load terminal
voltage rises.
 The variation, naturally, is not linear, but the voltage regulator is used to
make it linear.
 This relationship also plays important role in parallel operation of
generators.
Generator Working Alone

 When a single generator is operating alone, the

real power and reactive power supplied by the
generator will be the amount demanded by the
load.
 The P and Q supplied cannot be varied by the
generator‟s control.
 Therefore, for a given real power the governor set
points control the operating frequency, f and for
any given reactive power the field current controls
the generator‟s terminal voltage.
Numerical Problem 01
 A generator supplying a load. A second load is to be
connected in parallel to the first one.
 The generator has a no-load frequency of 51 Hz. And has a
slope sp of 1 MW/Hz.
 Load 1 consumes a real power of 1000 kW at 0.8 power
factor lagging.
 Load 2 consumes a real power of 800 kW at 0.707 power
factor lagging.

(a) Before switch is closed what is the operating frequency of

the system.
(b) After load 2 is connected, what is the operating frequency
of the system.
(c) After load 2 is connected, what action could an operator
take to restore the system frequency to 50 Hz.
 Solution
 (a) The initial system frequency is given by
P 1000 / 1000
f sys  f nl   51   50 Hz
sp 1
 (b) After load is connected,
P 1800 / 1000
f sys  f nl   51   49.2 Hz
sp 1

 (c) After load is connected, the system frequency

falls to 49.2Hz.
 To restore the system frequency to 50 Hz, the
operator should increase the governor no-load set
point by 0.8 Hz, to 51.8Hz.
 This action will restore the system frequency to
50Hz at 1800 MW load.
Infinite bus

 When a synchronous generator is connected to a

power system, the power system is often so large
that action on generator has little effect on the
power system.
 This idea is idealized in the concept of infinite bus.
 An infinite bus is a power system which is so large
that its voltage and frequency do not vary
regardless of how much real and reactive power is
drawn from or supplied to it.
 Such ideal characteristics is shown in the next slide.
Operation of generators in Parallel
with Large Power System
 A generator is connected with a large power system
supplying a load.
 The generator‟s prime mover has a governor mechanism.
 But the field is controlled manually by a resistor not by an
automatic voltage regulator.
 This will cause a slight difference in our analysis and we
shall ignore them.

Infinite Load
Bus

Generator
House Diagram
f
fnl

Pinf bus, kW PG, kW

Pinf bus 0 P
G

PL
 When two characteristics are plotted back-to-back then
it is called house diagram.
 After parallel connection the frequency and terminal
voltage of all the machine must be same.
 Situation Just after Synchronization
f f
fnl fnl

Pinf, kW Pinf bus 0P

G PG, kW Pinf , kW Pinf bus PG0 PG, kW
(a) (b)

 If a generator is parallel following the procedure discussed in

the last lecture the generator will be essentially “floating” on
the line.
 It may supply small amount of real power and little or no
reactive power (curve a).
 If paralleling is done at a slightly lower frequency (curve b),
generator will supply negative power, it will actually consume
power and runs as motor
 How to Increase Power Delivery?
f
E‟‟A
(a) (b)
E‟A

 PG 3
I‟‟A  PG 2
3
I‟A EA
IA 2
 PG1
1
Pinf, kW PB1 PB2 PB3 0 PG1 PG2 PG3 PG, kW

 In figure a, the power delivery by the generator will increase if the

no load frequency setting of the generator is shifted upward.
 This is because of the fact that the frequency of the system is
unchanged.
 This is supported by the phasor diagram shown in figure b.
 In power equation, when VT is constant, E A sin  makes the
increase in power.
Summary for Generator Operating
in a Infinite Bus System
 The frequency and the terminal voltage of a
generator are controlled by the system to
which it is connected.
 The governor set points of the generator
control the real power supplied by the
generator to the system.
 The field current in the generator controls the
reactive power supplied by the generator to
the system.
Operation of Generators in Parallel
with Other Generators of Same Size
 When a single generator operated alone, its real and reactive
powers (P and Q) supplied by the generator were fixed.
Because it is determined by the load.
 The frequency and terminal voltage vary with the initial set
point of the governor and field current respectively.
 On the other hand, when a generator is operated with an
infinite bus, the frequency and terminal voltage were
constraint to be constant by the infinite bus.
 And in that case, the variation of initial set point and field
current change the real and reactive power respectively.
 What happens when a synchronous generator is not
connected to an infinite bus rather it is paralleled with a
generator of same size?
Operation of Generators in Parallel
with Other Generators of Same Size
 The system below shows the case of a generator connected
parallel with another generator of same size.
 The summation of real power and that of reactive power must
be equal to summation of load‟s P and Q respectively.
 The system frequency is not constraint to be constant and
neither is the power of a given generator constrained to be
constant.

G1 Load

G2
Immediately after synchronization

PG1 PG1 0 P PG2

G2

Pload=PG1+PG2

 Figure above shows the power diagram

immediate after paralleling has been made.
 If the Governor Set Point of One of the
Generators is Increased
 If governor set point is increased for generator 2, the power frequency
curve will shift upward, as shown in the figure below.
 The frequency of system does not remain fixed, because if it remains,
then total power delivery will increase exceeding the load demand.

 In fact there is only one

frequency at which the sum of the
f
f1 f2 powers out of the two generators
is equal to Pload.
 That frequency, f2 is higher than
the original system frequency.
 PG2 supplies more than before
PG1 PG1 P’G1 0 P P’
G2 G2 PG2 and PG1 supplies less than
Pload=P‟G1+P‟G2 before.
If the Field Current of One of the
Generators is Increased
 The case is analogous to the real power situation and is shown in
figure below.
 It shows when two generators are operating in parallel when the field
current of generator 2 is increased.
 The system terminal voltage is increased.
 The reactive power supplied by the generator 2 is increased while
the reactive power supplied by the other generator is decreased.
VT
VT1 VT2

QG1 QG1 Q’G1 0 QG2 Q’

G2

Qload=Q‟G1+Q‟G2
How to Change Power Sharing without
Changing the Frequency?
 If we want to change power sharing without changing
the frequency, we should increase one‟s set point whose
power we want more and decrease the other‟s set point.
f

PG1 PG1 P’G1 0 PG2 P’G2

Pload=P‟G1+P‟G2
How to Change Frequency without
Changing Power Sharing?
 If we want to change frequency without changing the
power sharing, we should increase both set point.

f1

f2

PG1 PG1 0 PG2

Pload=P‟G1+P‟G2
Maintaining Same Terminal Voltage
OR Same Reactive Power Sharing
 Reactive power and terminal voltage adjustment
work in analogous manner.
 To shift the reactive power sharing without change
in VT, simultaneously increase one‟s field current
and decrease other‟s field.
 Similarly, to adjust the terminal voltage, VT without
changing the reactive power sharing,
simultaneously increase or decrease both field
currents.
Numerical Problem 02
 Generator 1 has a no-load frequency of 61.5 Hz and a
slope (sp1) of 1 MW/Hz. Generator 2 has a no-load
frequency of 61.0 Hz and a slope (sp2) of 1 MW/Hz. The
two generators are supplying a real load totaling 2.5 MW at
0.8 pf lagging. Draw the house diagram for the system.
(a) At what frequency is the system operating, and how
much power is supplied by the two generators?
(b) Suppose an additional 1-MW load are attached to this
power system. What would be the new system frequency
be, and how much power would G1 and G2 supply now?
(c) With the increased load, if the governor set point on G2
is increased by 0.5 Hz, what will be the system frequency
and generators‟ power?
Solution
 The Power equations will be
PG1=Sp1(fnl1-fsys)
PG2=Sp2(fnl2-fsys)
fnl1=61.5 and fnl2=61 Hz,
Sp1=Sp2=1 MW/Hz

Again, PL=PG1+PG2
So, we can write, PL=2.5=1(61.5-fsys)+1(61-fsys)
This gives, fsys=120/2=60.0 Hz
At that system frequency, PG1=1*(61.5-60.0)= 1.5MW
and PG2=1*(61-60)= 1.0 MW
(Total = 2.5 MW)
Solution
 When load is increased to 3.5 MW, the power equation
will be,
PL=PG1+PG2
So, we can write, PL=3.5=1(61.5-fsys)+1(61-fsys)
This gives, fsys=119/2=59.5 Hz
At that system frequency, PG1=1*(61.5-59.5)= 2.0MW
and PG2=1*(61-59.5)= 1.5 MW
(Total = 3.5 MW)
Solution
 If generator2‟s set point is increased t0 61.5 Hz, then the
power equation becomes,
Since, PL=PG1+PG2
Now, we can write, PL=3.5=1(61.5-fsys)+1(61.5-fsys)
This gives, fsys=119.5/2=59.75 Hz
At that system frequency, PG1=1*(61.5-59.75)=1.75MW
and PG2=1*(61.5-59.75)= 1.75 MW
(Total = 3.5 MW)
Numerical Problem 02
 Two generators are connected in parallel. They have frequency
droops of 1 Hz/10MW and 0.75 Hz/10MW respectively. And their
voltage droops are 0.1kV/10MVAR and 0.2KV/10 MVAR
respectively. The no load settings of their governors are 51.5 Hz
and 51 Hz respectively. The no load settings of their Automatic
Voltage Regulators (AVR) are 6.6kV and 6.8kV respectively. If a
load of 22 MVA at 0.8 lagging pf is supplied by the two generators
determine the real and reactive power sharing between the
generators and also determine the system frequency and system
terminal voltage.

freq. droop=1Hz/10MW P1= ?, Q1=?

Volt. droop=0.1kV/10MVAR
fnl1=51.5 Hz, Vnl1=6.6 kV f=?, VT=?

freq. droop=0.75Hz/10MW Load=22 MVA,

Volt. droop=0.2kV/10MVAR P2= ?, Q2=?
0.8 pf (lagging)
fnl2=51 Hz, Vnl2=6.8 kV
Solution

PL  jQL  22  cos1 0.8  17.6  j13.18

PL  17.6 MW , QL  13.18 MVAR
s p1  1 / f droop1  10.00 MW / Hz, s p 2  1 / droop 2  13.3333 MW / Hz
s q1  1 / v droop1  100 .00 MVAR / kV , s q 2  1 / v droop2  50.0MVAR / kV
PG1  s p1 ( f nl1  f sys ), PG 2  s p 2 ( f nl 2  f sys )
QG1  s q1 (Vnl1  VTsys ), QG 2  s q 2 (Vnl 2  VTsys )
Solution

PL  PG1  PG 2  s p1 ( f nl1  f sys )  s p 2 ( f nl 2  f sys )

11  10(51.5  f sys )  13.33(51  f sys )  f sys  50.7429 Hz
so, PG1  10(51.5  50.7429 )  7.57 MW PG1+PG2=11 MW
PG 2  13.33(51  50.7429 )  3.43 MW
QL  QG1  QG 2  s q1 (Vnl1  VTsys )  s q 2 (Vnl 2  VTsys )
13.18  100 (6.6  VTsys )  50(6.8  VTsys )  VTsys  6.5788 kV
so, QG1  100 (6.6  6.5788 )  2.12 MVAR QG1+QG2=13.2 MVAR
QG 2  50(6.8  6.5788 )  11.06 MVAR
 Solution

Slope=1 Slope=0.75 Slope=0.1 Slope=0.2

Hz/MW Hz/MW MVAR/10kV MVAR/10kV

f VT
51.5 Hz 6.8 kV 6.6 kV
51.0 Hz

50.7429 6.5788 kV
Hz

PG2 PG1 QG2 QG1

3.43 0 7.57 11.07 0 2.13
MW MW MVAR MVAR
Some Other Problems
 Two parallel generators are supplying a load of 2.5
MVA at 0.8 PF lagging. Generator 1 has a no-load
voltage of 450 V and slope SQ1 of 0.5 MAR/V.
Generator 2 has a no-load voltage of 433 V and a
slope SQ2 of 0.5 MVAR/V.

 i. At what terminal voltage, is this system

operating? And how much power is contributed by
each generator?
 ii. What could be done to make the power sharing
equal by keeping the terminal voltage same?
 iii. How could the terminal voltage be reduced by 10
V keeping the power sharing same?
Some Other Problems
 A load of 100 MW is supplied by two synchronous
generators operating in parallel. The governor
settings of the individual generator are given
below.
 Generator 1: No load frequency=50.5 Hz,
droop=0.03 Hz/MW
 Generator 2: No load frequency=51.0 Hz,
droop=0.04 Hz/MW
 How will the load be shared by two generators? If
the load sharing are not equal, how can you make
them equal? What will be system frequency at
that time?