THREE PHASE AC

GENERATORS
An electrical generator can be defined as an electrical machine that
converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.
A synchronous generator is a machine that produces AC voltage when
its shaft is rotated.
A synchronous generator is called synchronous because the generated
voltage waveform it produces is synchronized with the rotation of the
generator.
Construction of Synchronous
Generator/Alternator

An alternator is made up of two main parts:

The rotor and
The stator.
The rotor: This is the rotating part of the machine, on which, the field
poles are held.
The stator: The stator is the stationary part on which armature
conductors are housed.
An alternating three-phase voltage represented by aa’, bb’, cc’ is induced
in the armature conductors thus resulting in the generation of three-
phase electrical power.
In most practical construction of alternator, the armature winding is
stationary, while the field is made to rotate.
This arrangement is made to cope with the very high power generated in
an AC generator contrary to that of a DC generator.
To accommodate such high power, the conductor weight and dimensions
naturally have to be increased for optimum performance. For this reason
is it beneficial to place the high power armature windings on the stator
and the low power field windings on the rotor, This reduces the weight
on the rotor, thus reducing the centrifugal force required to turn the
rotor and permitting higher speed limits.
There are mainly two types of rotors used in construction of alternator:
• Salient pole type.
• Cylindrical rotor type.
Salient Pole Type
The term salient means protruding or projecting.
The salient pole type of rotor is generally used for slow speed machines
having large diameters and relatively small axial lengths. The poles, in
this case, are made of thick laminated steel sections riveted together
and attached to a rotor with the help of joint.
The salient pole rotor The cylindrical pole rotor
Salient and cylindrical pole rotors.
The salient pole rotor structure has the following special feature:
• A large horizontal diameter compared to a shorter axial length.
• The pole shoes covers only about 2/3rd of pole pitch.
• Poles are laminated to reduce eddy current loss.
• The salient pole type motor is generally used for low-speed
operations of around 100 to 400 rpm, and they are used in power
stations with hydraulic turbines or diesel engines.
• Salient pole alternators driven by water turbines are called hydro-
alternators or hydro generators.
Cylindrical Rotor Type
• The rotor, in this case, consists of a smooth solid steel cylinder, having
a number of slots along its outer periphery for hosting the field coils.
• The cylindrical rotor is generally used for very high speed operation
and employed in steam turbine driven alternators like
turbogenerators.
• The machines are built in a number of ratings from 10 MVA to over
1500 MVA. The cylindrical rotor type machine has a uniform length in
all directions, giving a cylindrical shape to the rotor thus providing
uniform flux cutting in all directions.
The cylindrical rotor alternators are generally designed for 2-pole type
giving very high speed of

or 4-pole giving the speed of

Where f = frequency of the generated emf = 50 Hz and
p = number of poles on the rotor.
The cylindrical rotor synchronous generator does not have any
projections coming out from the surface of the rotor. Rather, the central
polar area is provided with slots for housing the field windings as we can
see from the diagram above.
The field coils are so arranged around these poles that flux density is
maximum on the polar central line and gradually falls away as we move
out towards the periphery. The cylindrical rotor type machine gives
better balance and quieter-operation along with lesser windage losses.
Cylindrical rotors are cylindrical in shape having parallel slots on it to
place rotor windings. It is made up of solid steel. Sometimes, they are
also called as drum rotor.
• They are smaller in diameter but having longer axial length.
• Cylindrical rotors are used in high speed electrical machines, usually
1500 RPM to 3000 RPM.
• Windage loss as well as noise is less as compared to salient pole
rotors.
• Their construction is robust as compared to salient pole rotors.
• Number of poles is usually 2 or 4.
• Damper windings are not needed in non-salient pole rotors.
• Flux distribution is sinusoidal and hence gives better emf.
• Non-salient pole rotors are used in nuclear, gas and thermal power
plants.
Synchronous generator construction diagram
Slip rings and carbon brushes:
There are basically two types of AC synchronous generators
• In one type, the armature is the rotor, and current from the armature is
generated in the rotor; this is called a rotating armature ac generator.
In this case, slip rings and brushes are used to pass current from the
rotor through insulated porcelain bushings to the electrical terminals on
the frame of the generator.
• The other type has the field on the rotor and the armature on the
stator. In this case, slip rings and brushes may not be necessary because
power is produced in the stationary stator, and rotor current can be
supplied from a separate rotating exciter that is mounted on the same
shaft. This is called a rotating-field ac generator.
In either case, the rotor shaft is connected to a prime mover that causes
it to spin.
In large generators, the field rotates and the armature windings are on
the stator
Rotating field Ac generator:
Three phase synchronous generator
Principle of operation of a
synchronous generator
When the rotor is rotated by the prime mover, the stator
windings or conductors are cut by the magnetic flux of the
rotor poles. Hence, an emf is induced in the stator
conductors.
Because the rotor poles are alternately N and S, they induce
an alternating emf in the stator conductors. The frequency of
this induced emf is given by: f = PN/120 Hz.
Where P = Number of poles
N= speed of rotation of the rotor in revolutions per minute.
The above equation shows the relationship between the number of
poles, speed and frequency.
The emf generated in the stator conductors is taken out from the three
leads connected to the stator winding as shown in the figure above.
The direction of this emf is determined by Fleming’s Right Hand Rule.
Example
Determine the frequency of a 16 pole alternator operating at a speed
of 450 rev/min. (60 Hz)
Synchronous generator
characteristics
When current is drawn from the generator, there will exist a voltage
drop due to the generator impedance.
The load current causes a voltage drop, IaRa, in phase with the current
due to the resistance, and IaXa leading the current by 900 due to
synchronous reactance.
This is represented in the phasor diagrams below, where (a) is for the
lagging power factor, (b) for unity power factor, and (c) for a leading
power factor.
Phasor diagram of a synchronous
generator
Phasors:
Example
A three phase generator is rated at 100MVA, unity power factor, 11KV,
star connected, 50 HZ and rotating at 120 r.p.m. Determine:
i. The number of poles
ii. The KW rating
iii. The current rating
iv. The input at rated KW load if the efficiency is 97%
Synchronous generator tests