I

Excitation of isolated three-phase induction

generator by a single capacitor
Y.H.A. Rahim

Indexing terms: Generators, Induction motors

Abstract: This study attempts to determine the

steady-state performance of an isolated, selfexcited, induction generator when a single capacitor is connected across one phase or between
two lines. The work is concentrated on the case
when the machine is supplying one or two loads.
With the aid of the equivalent circuit, an analytical technique has been used to obtain nonlinear
algebraic equations for operation frequency and
magnetising reactance. A numerical solution
method is applied to solve the nonlinear equations. Performances for different load configurations, and different load conditions have been
considered. Where possible, computed results have
been confirmed with experimental results.
List of symbols

V
I

X
R
F
v

voltage (V)
current (A)
= reactance (ohm)
= resistance (ohm)
= per-unit frequency
= per unit rotor speed
= effective turns ratio
=

Subscripts
1 = stator winding
2 = rotor referred
f = forward sequence components
b = backward sequence components
c = excitation capacitance components
m = load side winding
n = capacitor side winding
g = air gap
1

Introduction

The phenomenon of self-excitation in isolated induction

machines has been known since the 1930s 111. The utilisation of such an idea in the generation of electric power
was realised after the recently energy crisis, and the
growing interest in the use of other energy sources. This
has been motivated by concern t o reduce pollution by the
use of renewable energy resources such as wind, solar,
tidal and small hydropotential.
Preference is given to self-excited induction generators,
in conjunction with the conversion of wind energy,
Paper 9069B (PI), first received 24th January and in revised form 30th
June 1992
The author is with the Electrical Engineering Department, King Saud
Univerwy, PO Box 800,Riyadh 11421, Saudi Arahia

44

because of their ability to convert mechanical power to

electrical power over a wide range of speeds. These
machines are also characterised by their simple construction, the absence of current collection gear, their robustness, and their low unit price and maintenance costs. This
type of conversion has been found particularly convenient for isolated and remote loads.
Considerable work has been done on the analysis of
capacitor-excited, balanced, three-phase induction generators 12-81, However, the unbalanced operation of such
machines has been given no attention. This mode of
operation may sometimes be of great interest for various
small-scale applications where balanced conditions are
not necessary, such as single-phase emergency supplies,
portable sources for remote construction sites and isolated line repeaters. In case of the failure of one or two
capacitors in a machine with balanced excitation, the
drop in power output will not be very great if the remaining capacitor is used for excitatlon - a matter which
does not affect unbalanced loads.
In this study, attempts have been made to determine
the steady-state performance of an isolated induction
generator when a single excitation capacitor is connected
across one phase (phase excitation) or between two lines
(line excitation), Because there are many modes of operation for unbalanced operation, this work concentrates
on the case when one or two loads are connected to the
free lines or phases. Symmetrical components have been
used to obtain the equivalent circuit. With the aid of this
circuit, an analytical technique has been applied to
obtain nonlinear algebraic equations for circuit parameters, load impedance, operation frequency and magnetising reactance. A numerical method was applied to solve
the nonlinear equations, and hence the machine performance. Where possible, computed results have been
confirmed with experimental results.
2

Mathematical model

Some of the possible connections of the stator of a threephase induction generator, whereby the machine can be
excited by a single capacitor, are shown in Fig. 1. A connection which is analogous to that of Fig. la, is when the
loads and the capacitor are connected across phases, and
the one that is analogous to that of Fig. Ib, is when the
load and capacitor exchange places. The case where the
load is connected across the capacitor has the disadvantage that the excitation current is sometimes high enough
to make the winding to which they are connected operate
near to its heating limit. The little residual flux available
on the rotor is enough to produce small voltages in the
stator winding upon the movement of the rotor. With
sufficient capacitance connected across one of the stator
windings, this voltage will be enough to begin the process
/ E t PROCEEDINGS-8, Vol. 140, No. I , J A N U A R Y I Y Y 3

I
of build-up of the excitation current. In such a case, the
stator flux and the residual magnetism lie on the same
axis, thus aiding each other to produce more voltage and
more excitation current. As the excitation current builds
up, the resulting air-gap flux drives the machine into

the capacitor is connected, and that of the rotor, has been

transferred to the winding to which the load is connected,
by the use of referred parameters. Because isolated induction generators are characterised by their operation at
variable frequencies, all parameters are referred to the
operating per-unit frequency F . Also in the equivalent
circuit, the per-unit rotor speed 1' has been used in place
of the slip. Core losses can be taken into account by
placing a resistor in shunt with the magnetising reactance, but the derivations will be lengthy.
The relation between the two-phase symmetrical component voltages and currents, shown in the equivalent
circuit, and the actual voltages and currents of the windings are given by the following:

I
where the subscripts

and ,refer to the stator windings

across which the capacitor and load, respectively, are
connected and I and refer to the symmetrical forward
and backward components, respectively, and k is the
effective ratio of the turns of winding
to those of
winding m . The two loop equations for the equivalent
circuit are

<

2= Z,,I,
F

Z,,I,

(3)

Fig. 1 Some possible stator connections for three-phuse induction yenerutor when excrted b y one cupacitor and supplying U single loud

(4)

saturation. Thus the magnetising reactance is gradually

decreased until a stable operating condition, determined
by the saturation characteristic, excitation capacitance,
rotor speed and terminal load, is reached. Relationships
between these variables are obtained by considering the
equivalent circuit of the machine.
The analysis of the machine is based upon the following assumptions:
(i) Of all machine parameters, only the magnetising
reactance is affected by magnetic saturation. The magnetising reactance is assumed to be proportional to frequency at fixed flux levels.
(ii) Core losses are neglected.
(iii) Space harmonics on the air-gap flux are ignored.

where

Saturation may have some effect on the values of the

leakage reactance, but this is expected to have little effect
on the results. For low frequencies and low levels of saturation, core losses are small and in most cases little
error is introduced by neglecting them. Ignoring air-gap
harmonics means neglecting the effect of the 5th and 7th
components, which are usually dominant in induction
machines. Good winding designs may reduce or totally
eliminate the effect of these components.
To simplify the analysis, the case where the machine is
excited by a capacitor, connected across phase or line,
and supplying a load connected to one of the other lines
or phases, is considered first. This may then be extended
to cover the operation of the machine when supplying
two loads. As only two windings are involved, the twophase symmetrical component transformation method
[9] can be used to develop the equivalent circuit shown
in Fig. 2. In this circuit, the effect of the winding to which

Z,,

/ E PROCEEDINGS-B, Vol. 140, No. I , J A N U A R Y I Y Y 3

Zl,
Z,"
z,,
= - +2+ + Z2k
zI

z,, = z,,+ 2
Z," + z,
2k

Z , , = - +R jl X, , ,
F
RI"
F

=-

+j X , , + Z ,

Winding ,is terminated by the excitation capacitor,

whereas winding is terminated by the load impedance
Z = R + j F X . Hence the terminal voltages are given by
V, = 21, = (II

V, = 2, I ,

+ 1,)Z

=j ( I , -

I,)Z,/k

(6)
(7)
45

I
If these voltages are substituted in eqn. 1, the sequence
voltage will be given by

V, = (I,(Z

Zc/k2) Ib(Z Z,/k2))/2

(8)

V, = (I,(Z

+ Z , / k z ) + I,(Z - Z,/k2))/2

(9)

expressed in terms of air-gap voltage V,/F and magnetising reactance X , for one-line and one-phase supplies,
are shown in Fig. 3. For computation purposes, the saturation curves are represented by appropriate curve fits.
Table 1 : M a c h i n e parameters for phase and l i n e supplies
Measured parameters

SUPPlY
connected
across

Stator resistance (ohm)

Stator leakage reactance (ohm)
Rotor resistance referred
to stator (ohm)

phase

line

21.2
15 0
76

10.6
32.4
18.3

250r

tJX

R,/F

JXI,

Fig. 2
Equivalent cirruit of a three-phase induction generator when an
excitation capacitor i s connected across one winding and a load is connected across another

If the sequence voltages are then substituted in eqns. 3

and 4, with a little manipulation it can be seen that

( Z - 2 F Z , , - Z , / k 2 ) ( 2 - 2FZ2,)
-

(Z + 2FZ,,

+ Z/k2)'

0 (10)

,,

Substituting for Z , Z , , , Z , , , Z , , Z, and Z, from eqn.

5 into eqn. 10, and equating the real and imaginary parts
to zero, leads to the following two nonlinear simultaneous equations in terms of the per-unit frequency F and
the magnetising reactance X , of the winding to which the
load is connected.
f ( F , X,)

g(F, X,)

+ C , X , + C, X i ) F 5
+ ( C , + c, x, + c, X 3 F 3
+ (C, + C 8 X , + c,X;)F = 0
= (Dl + D , X , + D , X i ) F 4
+ ( D 4 + D , X , + D, X i ) F 2
+ D, + D , X , + D y X i = 0

175

150
magnetising
1s;
reactance,ll
a

(11)
100)

(12)

Computation and results

A three-phase 1 hp, 380/220 V, Y/A, 60 Hz, four-pole

induction machine was found suitable for the laboratory
tests. The parameters of this machine were obtained
using the standard DC, locked rotor and no-load tests,
with the machine running as a single-phase motor, supplied across one phase or between two lines. To obtain
more accurate results for the magnetisation characteristics, the machine was driven, at synchronous speed, by a
synchronous motor, and the input impedance was measured at different values of supply voltage. It has been
assumed that the leakage reactance of the stator winding
is equal to that of the rotor when referred to the stator.
The parameters of the machine for the phase and line
supplies are shown in Table 1. The saturation curves,
46

z501f

=(C,

where the coefficients C , to C y and D , to D, are given in

the Appendix. For capacitive loads, similar forms of
equation can be derived. In case of no load, all coefficients tend to go to their limit when the load resistance R
goes to infinity.
3

$100~
i

5011
0

'
250

xx

'

300

'

'

'

':'

350 400 450

500
magnetising reactance.ll

550

'

600

Fig.

Magnetisation curves

n Single phase
h line supply

~fitted curve
x x x exwrimental

The induction machine was coupled to a variablespeed DC motor. A bank of capacitors is connected to
the terminals of the machine, as appropriate. Performance results were recorded for different speeds,
excitation capacitance and load conditions.
The computation of results is based upon the numerical solution of the two nonlinear simultaneous eqns. 11
and 12. In this study, the numerical method of NewtonRaphson [2,4] has been found suitable to determine the
values of F and X , . An initial guess for the unknowns
has to be provided, together with the rotor speed, excitation capacitance and load impedance. The saturation
curve fits are then used to obtain the air-gap voltages
IEE PROCEEDINGS-B. Vol. 140, No. I , J A N U A R Y 1993

I$,/F and V J F . The symmetrical component voltages V,

and V, in Fig. 1 may then be calculated and, hence, other
performance indices.

35r

manently connected across the machine terminals. For

this case, a fixed resistance, that would draw rated
current at rated voltage, is connected across the load ter-

phase excitation

10

0
1000
1000

1500

2000

2500

1500

3000

2000

speed.r p rn
Minimum capacitance and speed requirement for phase and line
Fig. 4
excitation
no-load

with fixed resistance

~-

600-

500-

400

100

3000

1500

700-

2000

2500

speed,r p m
b

100-

01
1500

1750

2000

2250

speed,r p m
Fig. 5
Variations ofthe no-load line terminal uolfages ofa three-phase
induction generator when a capacitor of 10 p F is connected across one
line
voltage across open circuited lines
voltage across capacitor
x x , 00.+ + experimental results
~~~

~~

When a second load is connected to the machine, the

method of superposition can be used, after applying the
above procedure to each load separately. The use of this
method in a nonlinear system may produce some errors,
but the analysis would otherwise be cumbersome.
3.1 Onset of self-excitation
The process of self-excitation in induction generators is in
some way similar to that in DC self-excited generators.
For each terminal capacitance, the machine continues to
operate successfully until the speed or excitation capacitance goes below specific critical values. Because the
line and phase saturation characteristics are different, different critical speed curves for line excitation and phase
excitation are also expected. Fig. 4 shows the variations
in minimum capacitance required for machine excitation,
with speed, for phase and line excitations. Critical speeds
for line excitation are lower, because of the relatively
higher line magnetising reactance. For some remote
applications, a load of fixed impedance may be perI E E P R O C E E D I N G S - B , Vol. 140, N o . I , J A N U A R Y 1993

Fig. 6
Variations with speed of open-circuit voltage and voltage
across capacitor
U line excltallan
h phase excitation
voltage across capacitor
voltage across phase or between lines
00+ + experimental results

~~~

minals. The computed results of critical speed and capacitance are included in Fig. 4. It is apparent that, for a
certain speed, more capacitance is required to start the
excitation, in the presence of a load.

3.2 Open circuit characteristics

The open-circuit performance of the machine with line
and phase excitation is considered. It is interesting to
show, first, the voltage across the three lines, for line
excitation. The results for a capacitance of 10pF are
shown in Fig. 5 . The agreement between the measured
and the calculated values is good, except for some discrepancy at higher speeds. This may be due to a failure to
obtain accurate measurements for highly saturated values
of the magnetising reactance, because of the danger of
overheating the winding. It can be seen that the line voltages are not equal. The net air-gap flux produces equal
EMF in the three lines. The excitation current in the line
containing the capacitor leads the induced E M F in that
line by a right-angle, thus causing a higher terminal
voltage. With the aid of a simple phasor diagram, it can
be shown that the voltage drop due to this current in the
phases common with open circuited lines, affects the
47

I
magnitude and phase of the respective terminal voltages,
but to different extents. When the excitation capacitor is
connected across one phase, the terminal voltages of the
two other phases are almost equal.
4OOr

operates in the range above rated speed, whereas line

excitation operates in the range below rated speed.

3.3 Load characteristics

According to the available range of capacitance and
speed, loads may be connected across lines or phases.
Fig. 7 shows the load characteristics of the generator

300 >
a

I
0
0

100

01
a

'0

Fig. 8

_ _
.~
~

00+ +

05

10
15
load current, A

20

25

Fig. 7
Variations of load characteristic and excitation and common
phase currents with load current, when excitation capacitor and load are
connected across different lines
U load characteristic
h excitation and common phase currents
__ excitation current
~~-~~ common phase current
00+ + measured values

Fig. 6 shows the variations with rotor speed, of the

no-load voltage across the free line and phase, for line
and phase excitation and a range of excitation capacitances. The figure also includes variations of voltage
across the excitation capacitor. The agreement between
the measured and the calculated results is reasonable. It
can be seen that, for phase excitation, and at the beginning of onset, the voltage between the terminals across
which the capacitor is connected, and that of the open
circuited line, are nearly equal. This is also true for the
voltage between the terminals of the line across which the
capacitor is connected, and that of the open circuit phase.
When excitation starts, the rate of increase of the open
circuited line voltage is greater than the corresponding
phase voltage. The results in Fig. 6 also show that phase
and line excitation complement one another, in the sense
that, for the same range of capacitance, phase excitation
48

:?'
/
C=ZOuF
N ~ Z rOp m

CzlOpF
CzlOpF
N=2220 r p m

lb

Ob
1'2
1'4 1'6
load c u r r e n t , A
Variations ofload coltage with load current
capacitor a c m b line and load across phase. predicted
capacltor across phase and load across line
predicted measured
0'2

0'4

06

1;

when line excitation is used and a pure resistive load is

connected to one of the free lines. The results include
variations in the load voltage and excitation current, in
addition to the current in the phase that is common
between the load and the capacitor circuit, for two values
of excitation capacitance, namely 10 and 2 0 p F . The
correlation between the measured and the calculated
results is good. In the normal operation regions of the
machine, the maximum error in voltage is about lo%,
and that in the excitation current is about 7% of the
measured values. The load voltage gradually decreases
with increased load, until it doubles back on itself in a
way similar to that in DC shunt generators. The two
voltage curves are almost parallel to one another. The
excitation current takes a shape similar to the shape of
the load voltage. In such cases, one should be concerned
that the current in the common phase does not exceed
the winding heat limit, until rated power is supplied. The
results show that this current decreases sharply with
increased load, leaving no doubt about any possibility of
going above the no-load value. This may not be true for
other types of load, or when a second load is present.
Phase and line excitation are also compared by connecting the capacitor across a line, and a load across a
free phase, and vice versa. The load characteristics for the
two cases are compared in Fig. 8, for the same rotor
speed. Although a higher no-load voltage is used in the
case of phase excitation, a relatively lower range of operation and less output power is obtained. Comparison of
the results with those in Fig. 7 shows the superiority of
line excitation and line supply.
3.4 General performance
Having established the validity of the computer model,
the technique is used to study the performance of the
machine under different operating conditions. Because of
IEE PROCEEDINGS-B, Vol. 140, No. I , J A N U A R Y I Y Y 3

its superiority over phase excitation, the following discussion will be limited to the case of line excitation, when
equal load impedances are connected to the free lines. To
generalise their applicability, the results in this section
will be presented as per-unit values for the test machine.
Fig. 9 shows the variations in the supply frequency
and terminal voltage of the two loads, with load currents

01
0

curves, which are almost parallel, indicate a regular

increase in the terminal voltage with excitation capacitance. However, the rate of this increase goes down
with increased capacitance, a matter that indicates an
operation in the deep saturation region.
The inherent characteristic of wind energy implies
changes in the prime mover speed over a wide range. To
provide suitable excitation and regulators, the effect of
speed on the load voltage should be determined. Fig. 11

05

10
15
load current, p u

20

25

Fig. 9
Effect of power .factor on load voltage and supply frequency.
speed = 1800 r.p.m., C = 15 p F
load voltage (unity pi)
....... load voltage (0 8 pi lag)
load voltage (0 9 pf. lag)
frequency

"0

10

20

30
40
load current, pu

50

60

70

Fig. 11

~~~~

for different values of power factor. The frequency results

for the considered cases are almost identical. Within the
operation range, the results show very little change in frequency. As expected, the voltage regulation increases
with the decrease in power factor. The regulation for the
line with the higher open circuit voltage is greater than
that of the other.
Power calculations have shown that the total power
supplied to the two loads at rated conditions is about
85% of that supplied by the machine when balanced
excitation is used. If, in addition, a small load is connected across the capacitor, the load supplied to the two
other loads will decrease a little, but the overall load will
be increased to about 91 %.
Another family of load characteristics for different
values of excitation capacitance is shown in Fig. 10. The

C=lOpF
0

10

Fig. 10
~

20
30
load current, p u

40

50

Effect ofexcitation capacitance on the load characteristics

load voltage allrnc I

load voltage of line 2

I E E PROCEEDINGS-B, Vol. 340, N o . I , J A N U A R Y I993

Effect of roror speed on the load characteristics

load voltage of h e I
load voltage of line 2

shows the family of load characteristics for a fixed capacitance of 15 p F and a wide range of rotor speeds. The
terminal voltages have a regular increase with speed. Also
the voltage regulation shows greater reduction with
speed.
4

Conclusion

In this study the steady-state performance of an isolated,

self-excited, induction generator, excited by a single capacitor connected across one phase, or between two lines,
has been described. The work is concentrated on the case
when the machine is supplying one or two loads. Symmetrical components have been used to obtain the equivalent circuit, which is used to derive nonlinear algebraic
equations for operation frequency and magnetising reactance. The numerical method of Newton-Raphson has
been found suitable to solve the nonlinear equations, and
hence the machine performance.
The computed and the measured results, which show
reasonable agreement, confirm that the induction generator can be successfully excited by a single capacitor. In
general excitation with a single capacitor, the result
causes some differences in the line and phase voltages of
the generator. Results have shown that phase and line
excitation complement one another in the sense that, for
the same range of capacitance, phase excitation operates
in the range above rated speed, whereas line excitation
operates in the range below rates speed. However, line
excitation gives a wider range of operation and a greater
output power. The machine thus provides a good potential for wind generation, in almost balanced and unbalanced modes of operation. The results have shown the
ability of the machine to convert power comparably to
when balanced excitation is used, but the supply would
then be suitable for unbalanced loads.
49

I
5

6 . 2 Coefficients of eqns. 1 1 and 12

References

I WAGNER, C.F.: 'Self-excitation of induction motor with senes capacitors', Trans. AIEE, 1969, IO, pp. 1241-1247
2 RAHIM, Y.H.A., MOHAMADIEN, A.L., and AL KHALAF, A S
'Comparison between the steady-state performance of self-excited
reluctance and induction generator', IEEE Trans., 1990, EC-5, (3)
pp. 519-525
3 ARRILAGA, J., and WATSON, D.B.: 'Static power conversion from
self-excited induction generators', IEE Proc., 1978, 125, (81, pp 743746
4 MURTHY, S.S., MALIK. O.P., and TANDON. A.K.: 'Analysis of
self-excited induction generators', 1 E E Proc. C.. 1982, 129, (6). pp.
260-265
5 ELDER. J.M.. BOYS, J.J., and WOODWORD. J.: 'Self-excited
induction machine as a small low-cost generator'. I E E Proc. C, 1984,
131, pp. 33-41
6 OUAZENE, L., and MrPHERSON, G.: 'Analysis of the isolated
induction generator', IEEE Trans.. 1983, PAS-102, ( X ) , pp. 2793-2797
7 MURTHY, S . S . NAGARA, H.S., and KURIVAN, A.: 'Design-based
computational procedure for performance prediction and analysis of
self-excited induction generator using motor design packages'. IEE
Proc. E., 1988, 1 3 5 , ( l ) , pp. 8-16
8 MURTHY, S.S.. and SINGH, B.P.: 'Studies on the use of conventional induction motors as self-excited lnduction generator', IEEE
Trans., 1988, EC-3, (4). pp. 842-848
9 HANCOCK, N.N.: 'Matrix analysis of electrical machinery'. 2nd ed.
(Pergamon Press, 1974)

Appendix

6.1 Derivation of the equivalent circuit

The voltage equations for the two involved windings are:

c, = x,x,,x:
C,

k2X,X2+ k2X:

C,= - R , R , , X ;

2RlR,X,,X2

v~X,X,,X:

V2kZXlX; - vzx,,x;

C,

+ R,R, X I , + R , R l n X Z )

-2(kZR,R, X ,

kZR:X,

2R,,R,X,

-kZR,R,
kZR:

2XiX,X,

2v~x,x,,x,

X,X:

- R:X,,

2R,,R,X2

R,R,,

R,,R,

vZk2X,X,- vZk2X:

- vzX,X,,

x , x , - x,x, - v 2 x , , x ,
C , = R , ( R , , R ; + 2 R 2 X , X , + v2R,,X:)
+ v2X,X, X : + R; X , X ,
C 8 = 2 R , ( R , X , + vzR,,X,)
-

+ vz(2X, + X , ) X , X , + R : X ,
c, = V ~ R , R , +, V ~ X , X+, v 2 x , x ,
=

- 2 R 2 X , X , , X 2 - R,,X,X:

-R,X,,X:

D, = - k Z R , X :
-

VJ.
+5
= Z,,(l, + I b ) + Z,l, + Z,l,
F
F

+ X,X,, + X,,X,

- X l X , X : -R:X,Xln-2R1,R,X1X2
C,

Dl

Substituting for V , I and V, in eqns. 13 and 14 in terms of

the symmetrical components of eqns. 1 and 2 gives

+ k 2 X l X : + X,,X:

C, = 2X,X,,X2

2RzXiX1,

- 2R,,X,X,

D, = - k 2 R , X 2

(1 5 )

2R1X,,X2 - 2 k Z R 2 X , X 2

2R,X,,X,

- R,,X:

R I X , , - k 2 R , X I - 2k2R2X2

- RZX," - R l " X 1
D, = 2 R , R , , R , X 2

RI"X2

+ 2 R , X l X , X 2 + R,,R:Xi

+ R i X , X : + v 2 X : ( R i , X 1 + R,X,,)
When these two equations are solved simultaneously, the
results are given by

The simplified form of these two expressions is given by

eqns. 3 and 4. Since the machine is terminated by the
load impedance Z across winding m,then

+ RlR:X,,
D, = R , , R:

+ 2R2 X , X , + 2R2 X , X I

+ 2R1RinR2 + 2R1X, X 2
+ v 2 ( 2 R l X l n+ 2 R , , X i + R,,X,)X,
+ k Z R , R : + v2k2R,X:
D, = R , X , + R , X , + Y ~ R , X , ,
+ v2R,,(Xl + X,) + v 2 k Z R , X 2
D , = -R,(R: + v'X;)X,
D, = - 2 v Z R i X , X ,

Substituting for the values of V, and V, in eqns. 17 and 18

gives two loop equations which can be expressed by the
circuit in Fig. 2.
50

D,

-vZRiX,

RI

+ RI,

x , = x + x,,
The resistance of the capacltor may be included in R , ,

I E E PROCEEDINGS-B, Vol 140, No. I , JANUARY 1993