Module 1

Alternators

Engr. Gerard Ang

School of EECE
 AC Generator

Alternator (AC Generator) or Synchronous

Generator it is an electrical machine converting
mechanical energy to ac electrical energy.
 Principle of Operation
The principle of operation of the alternator is exactly the same as that of
the dc generator that is there is induced emf in the stator conductors when
they cut the magnetic flux produced in its magnetic field poles. However in
an alternator it is not essential for the armature to rotate or and either the
armature or field can be made to rotate while the other is kept constant.
Nowadays the armature is kept stationary and the field rotates around it.

Rotating armature alternator Rotating field alternator

 Advantages of Revolving
Field Stationary Armature

The armature winding is more complex than the field and can
be constructed more easily on stationary armature.
The armature winding can be braced more securely in rigid
frame.
It is easier to insulate and protect the high-voltage armature
winding common to alternators.
The armature winding is cooled more because the stator
case core can be made large enough and with many air
passages or air ducts for force air circulation.
The low voltage field can be constructed for efficient high-
speed operation.

 Alternator Construction
The main parts of the alternator are the following:
1. Stator. It is built up with stampings which are
insulated with paper varnish. The stator is housed in
frame which is fabricated from electrically welded
steel plates. Slots are cut around the inner surface
which accommodates the windings.
2. Rotor. It has rotating magnetic field poles as in dc
generators which are separately excited from a dc
source known as exciter.
 Types of Rotor Construction
Two Types of Rotor
Construction:
1. Salient (or projecting)
poles. It is made of cast
iron steel of good
magnetic quality. These
types of rotors are used in
low speed and medium
speed machines. These
machines have short axial
length and large
diameters. Hydropower
alternators and diesel Types of rotors used in alternator.
engine alternators are of (A) Cylindrical type; (B) Salient-pole type
this type.
 Types of Rotor Construction
2. Smooth-cylindrical type.
It is made of a solid steel
piece and slots and made
on the circumference of the
rotor to hold the field
windings. This type of rotor
is suitable for high speed
turbo alternators. This type
of rotor is cylindrical and
has a large axial length
and small diameter

Types of rotors used in alternator.

(A) Cylindrical type; (B) Salient-pole type
 Alternator Construction (cont.)
2. Alternator Construction
a. Stationary field revolving armature
b. Revolving field stationary armature

3. Damper Windings (Squirrel Cage Windings)

Functions of Damper Windings:
Useful in preventing hunting (momentary speed
fluctuations)
Provides the starting torque needed in synchronous
motor
Tends to maintain balanced 3-phase voltage under
unbalanced load conditions
 General Types of Alternator
1. Synchronous Generator. It is a generator which is driven
at constant speed (synchronous speed) and it is used in
almost all types of applications.

2. Induction Generator. It is an induction motor which runs

as a generator with a speed above synchronous speed. Its
p.f. is normally leading and usually connected in parallel
with a synchronous generator in order to supply power for
lighting loads.

3. Induction Alternator. It generates voltage at higher

frequencies (500 Hz to 10 kHz). It is used to supply power
to induction furnace in order to heat and melt the metal.
 Prime Movers for Alternator
The following are the various prime movers used for
alternators:
For large AC generator
a. Steam turbine
b. Gas turbine
c. Hydraulic turbine
d. Internal combustion engine

For small AC generator

a. Internal combustion engine
Generated Voltage in an Alternator
= . = .

Where: E = rms voltage generated per phase

m = maximum flux per pole
N = number of turns per phase
Z = number of conductors in series per phase
kp = pitch or chording or coil span factor
kb = breadth or distribution or winding or spread factor

Frequency of Generated EMF

Where:
f = frequency in Hertz
=
p = number of poles
nS = synchronous speed in rpm
 Pitch Factor
Pitch Factor or Chording Factor or Coil Span Factor it may be
defined as the ratio of the vector sum of the induced emfs per coil
to the arithmetic sum of the induced emfs per coil. It is may also be
defined as the ratio of the emfs of short pitch coil to emfs of full-
pitch coil. By formula, it is given as

= = [ ]

.
=

Where: kp = pitch factor

q = qth harmonic (1 for fundamental or first harmonic, 3
for third harmonic, 5 for fifth harmonic and so on.
= span of coil (coil pitch) in electrical degrees
 Pitch Factor
Short-pitched winding or chorded winding a winding is
said to be short-pitched or fractional-pitched if its coils are
placed less than one pitch (180 electrical degrees) apart.

Reasons for using Short-pitched winding

They save copper of end connections.
They improved the waveform of the generated emf by
reducing or totally eliminating distorting harmonics
They reduced the eddy current and hysteresis loss by
eliminating high frequency harmonics.
 Breadth Factor
Breadth or distribution or winding or spread factor it is
defined as the ratio of emfs of distributed winding to emfs of
concentrated winding. By formula it is given as:

=
=

Where:
kb = breadth factor
n = number of slots per pole per phase
= number of electrical degrees between adjacent slots
 Sample Problems
1. Calculate the pitch factor for the given windings:
a. 36 stator slots, 4-poles, coil span = 1 to 8
b. 72 stator slots, 6-poles, coil span = 1 to 10
c. 96 stator slots, 6-poles, coil span = 1 to 12

2. Calculate the breadth factor for a 36-slots, 4 pole,

single-layer, three phase winding.

3. An alternator has 18 slots per pole and the first coil lies
in slots 1 and 16. Calculate the pitch factor for (a)
fundamental (b) 3rd harmonic.
 Sample Problems
4. A 3-, 16-pole alternator has a star-connected winding
with 144 slots and 10 conductors per slot. The flux per
pole is 0.03 Weber sinusoidally distributed and the
speed is 375 rpm. Find the frequency and the phase
and line emf. Assume full-pitched coil.

5. The stator of a 3-, 16-pole alternator has 144 slots and

there are 4 conductors per slot connected in two layers
and the conductors of each phase are connected in
series. If the speed of the alternator is 375 rpm,
calculate the emf per phase. Resultant flux in the air-
gap is 5 x 10-2 Weber sinusoidally distributed. Assume
the coil span as 150 electrical.
 Sample Problems
6. An alternator on open circuit generates 360 V at 60 Hz
when the field current is 3.6 A. Neglecting saturation,
determine the open-circuit emf when the frequency is
40 Hz and the field current is 2.4 A.

7. A 4-pole, 3-, 50 Hz, star-connected, alternator has 60

slots, with 4 conductors per slot. Coils are short-pitched
by 3 slots. If the phase spread is 60, find the line
voltage induced for a flux per pole of 0.943 Wb
distributed sinusoidally in space. All the turns per phase
are in series.
 Sample Problems
8. A 4-pole, 50-Hz, star-connected alternator has 15 slots
per pole and each slot has 10 conductors. All the
conductors of each phase are connected in series. The
winding factor being 0.95. When running on no-load for
a certain flux per pole, the terminal emf was 1825 volts.
If the windings are lap-connected as in a dc machine, what
would be emf between brushes for the same speed and the
same flux/pole. Assume sinusoidal distribution of flux.
Assume full-pitched winding.

9. Calculate the rms value of the induced emf per phase of

a 10-pole, 3-, 50-Hz alternator with 2 slots per pole per
phase and 4 conductors per slot in two layers. The coil span
is 150. The flux per pole has a fundamental component of
0.12 Wb and a 20% third component.
 Alternators on Load

The variation of terminal voltage of an alternator on

different types of loading is due to the following reasons:
1. Voltage drop due to armature resistance, Ra
2. Voltage drop due to armature leakage reactance, XL
(also called as Potier reactance)
3. Voltage drop due to armature reaction
 Generated Voltage
of an Alternator

= + = + = +

Where:
Eg = generated voltage per phase
E = induced emf due to armature reaction
VT = terminal voltage per phase
ZS = synchronous impedance per phase
Ra = armature resistance per phase
Xs = synchronous reactance per phase
XL = armature leakage reactance per phase
Xf = fictitious reactance per phase due to armature reaction
 Vector Diagrams
of a Loaded Generator
1. For lagging p.f load

Eg
IaZS
E

IaZ
VT
IaRa

Ia
 Vector Diagrams
of a Loaded Generator (cont.)
2. For unity p.f. load

IaXf
Eg
IaZS
IaXS
E
IaXL
IaZ

Ia VT IaRa
 Vector Diagrams
of a Loaded Generator (cont.)
3. For leading p.f load

IaZS
Eg
E
Ia
IaZ

IaRa

VT
 Generated Voltage
of an Alternator
By Formula

= ( + ) +( )

Use:
(+) if power factor is lagging
(-) if power factor is leading
 Voltage Regulation
The voltage regulation of an alternator is:

% = %

Note:
When the alternator has a leading load p.f, it will have a
negative voltage regulation
When the alternator has a lagging load p.f, it will have a
positive voltage regulation
 Sample Problems
10. A 3-phase, star-connected alternator supplies a load of 10 MW
at p.f. 0.85 lagging and at 11 kV (terminal voltage). Its
resistance is 0.1 ohm per phase and synchronous reactance
0.66 ohm per phase. Calculate the line value of e.m.f.
generated.
11. A 60-kVA, 220 V, 50-Hz, 1-phase alternator has effective
armature resistance of 0.016 ohm and an armature leakage
reactance of 0.07 ohm. Compute the voltage induced in the
armature when the alternator is delivering rated current at a load
power factor of (a) unity (b) 0.7 lagging and (c) 0.7 leading.
12. A 1000 kVA, 3300-V, 3-phase, star-connected alternator
delivers full-load current at rated voltage at 0.80 p.f. lagging.
The resistance and synchronous reactance of the machine per
phase are 0.5 ohm and 5 ohms respectively. Estimate the
terminal voltage for the same excitation and same load current
at 0.80 p. f. leading.
 Sample Problems
13. A given 3-MVA, 50-Hz, 11-kV, 3-phase, Y-connected
alternator when supplying 100 A at zero p.f. leading has a
line-to-line voltage of 12,370 V. At no-load, the terminal
voltage falls down to 11,000 V. Determine the regulation of
the alternator when supplying full-load at 0.8 p.f. lag. Assume
an effective resistance of 0.4 per phase.
 Operation of
Salient Pole Machines
A multipolar machine with cylindrical rotor has a uniform air-gap,
because of which its reactance remains the same, irrespective of
the spatial position of the rotor. However, a synchronous
machine with salient or projecting poles has non-uniform air-gap
due to which its reactance varies with the rotor position.

A salient-pole machine possesses two

axes of geometric symmetry:
a. field poles axis, called direct axis
or d-axis
b. axis passing through the centre of
the interpolar space, called the
quadrature axis or q-axis,
Equivalent Circuit for a Salient
Pole Synchronous Machine
Ra
Xq, Xd

Eg Ia
VT

= + + + = +

Where: Xd = direct axis reactance per phase

Xq = quadrature axis reactance per phase
Id = direct axis current per phase
Id = quadrature axis current per phase
 Phasor Diagram for a Salient
Pole Synchronous Machine
For a lagging power factor load
Eg
IqXq
Iq IaXq
VT

IdXd
Ia IaRa

Where: = internal power factor angle

Id
= load angle
= power factor angle
 Generated Voltage of Salient
Pole Synchronous Machine
Assuming Eg as the reference vector
Iq Eg

IqXq
IaXq
VT
Ia
Id
IaRa
IdXd
Where: = internal power factor angle
= load angle
= power factor angle
 Generated Voltage of Salient
Pole Synchronous Machine
By Formula

= =

= Use:
(+) For synchronous generator
= (-) For synchronous motor

= Use
+ For lagging power factor
- For leading power factor
 Power Developed by a Salient
Pole Synchronous Generator
Neglecting Ra, the power developed (Pd) by a a salient-
pole alternator is derived as:

= +

Where: Eg = emf generated per phase

VT = terminal voltage per phase
 Sample Problems
14. A 3-phase alternator has a direct-axis synchronous reactance of
0.7 p.u. and a quadrature axis synchronous reactance of 0.4
p.u. For full-load 0.8 p.f. lagging, obtain (a) the load angle and
(b) the no-load per unit voltage.
15. A 3-phase, star-connected, 50-Hz synchronous generator has
direct-axis synchronous reactance of 0.6 p.u. and quadrature-
axis synchronous reactance of 0.45 p.u. The generator delivers
rated kVA at rated voltage. For a full-load 0.8 p.f. lagging load,
calculate the open-circuit voltage and voltage regulation.
Resistive drop at full-load is 0.015 p.u.
16. A 3-phase, Y-connected synchronous generator supplies
current of 10 A having phase angle of 20 lagging at 400 V. Find
the load angle and the components of armature current Id and
Iq if Xd = 10 ohm and Xq = 6.5 ohm. Assume armature
resistance to be negligible.