EE301 Lesson 37

Reading: See website for reading supplement

1

AC GENERATORS PART II

Learning Objectives

(a) Use the power conversion diagram to describe power flow for a three phase generator.
(b) Find line voltages and current for a Y-connected three phase generator.


Recall our power conversion diagram for the DC Motor, discussed a few weeks ago. We put electrical
power in and got mechanical torque (a spinning rotor) out:

For the AC Generator, we put mechanical torque (a spinning rotor) in, and we get three-phase electrical
power out:


Note that in the mechanical end of the AC generator, is the speed of the rotor, not the angular velocity
of the AC current.


where f (in Hz) is the frequency of the generated AC voltage and N
P
is the speed of the rotor (in RPM).

Solets jump right in with an example!

EE301 Lesson 37
Reading: See website for reading supplement
2

Example. Consider a 3-phase, 4 pole, 60Hz, 450 V synchronous generator rated to supply 1687.5 kVA
to a ship distribution system requiring a 0.8 lagging power factor.

(a) If this machine was operating at rated conditions, what would the real (P) and reactive (Q) power
and the current being supplied?
(b) If the generator has an efficiency () of 95%, what torque does the prime mover provide?
(c) What is the speed of the rotor (rpm)?

Solution.







































EE301 Lesson 37
Reading: See website for reading supplement
3

Example. : Consider that we have a 3-phase, 1800 rpm, 450V synchronous generator rated to supply
3.75 MVA apparent power to a ship distribution system requiring a 0.8 lagging power factor.

(a) If this machine were operating at rated conditions, what would be the real and reactive power and
the current being supplied?

(b) If the generator has an efficiency of 98%, what torque does the prime mover provide?

(c) Sketch the power conversion diagram for this AC generator.

Solution.





































EE301 Lesson 37
Reading: See website for reading supplement
4

The AC Generator Single-Phase Equivalent Circuit

J ust as was the case for 3-phase loads, it is useful to look at just a single phase of the AC generator.


In the above:

E
AN
is the phase voltage of the a-phase
I
a
is the phase current for the a-phase
E
induced
is the induced armature voltage.
R
S
is the resistance of the generators stator coil.
X
S
is the reactance of the stator coil.

Thus, the equations for the AC power balance can be viewed as:






EE301 Lesson 37
Reading: See website for reading supplement
5

The following template is useful for solving some AC generator problems:

1. Determine the rms value of the line current I
L





2. Determine phase angle of I
L
from the given power factor F
P
(using phase voltage as the reference)



3. Determine the electrical losses (zero for a negligible stator resistance). This is PER-PHASE, so
you must multiply by 3 when adding this to other powers.



4. Determine P
IN






5. Determine torque supplied to the generator if needed.













3 cos (since cos )
3
L
L L L L P
L P
P
P V I I F
V F
= = =
1
cos
P I V
F

= =
2
3
ELEC LOSS L armature
P I R

=
IN OUT LOSS MECH ELEC LOSS
P P P P

= + +
2
2
rotor
IN
IN
rotor
f
Poles
P
T

=


=
EE301 Lesson 37
Reading: See website for reading supplement
6

Example. A submarine has a 3-phase, Y-connected, 2-pole, 60Hz synchronous generator rated to
deliver 1687.5 kVA at a F
P
= 0.8 lagging with a line voltage of 450-V. The machine stator resistance R
S

= 0.004 . The synchronous reactance X
S
= 0.08 . The actual system load on the machine draws 900
kW at F
P
= 0.6 lagging. Assume that a voltage regulator has automatically adjusted the field current so
that the terminal voltage is its rated value. Mechanical losses are 100 kW.

(a) Determine the reactive and apparent power delivered by the generator.
(b) Find the current delivered by the generator
(c) What is the overall efficiency?

Solution




































EE301 Lesson 37
Reading: See website for reading supplement
7

Example. An Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer has a 3-phase, Y-connected, 4-pole, 60 Hz synchronous
generator, rated to deliver 3.75 MVA with a 0.8 lagging power factor and a line voltage of 450 V. The
machine stator resistance is negligible and the synchronous reactance is equal to 0.04 . The actual
system load on the machine draws 2 MW at a 0.8 F
p
lagging. Assume that a voltage regulator has
automatically adjusted the field current so that the terminal voltage, V
AN
, is at its rated value.

(a) What is the rated speed?
(b) Determine the reactive and apparent power delivered by the generator.
(c) Find the current drawn from the generator using the terminal voltage, V
AN
, as the reference phasor.
(d) Determine the induced voltage, E
induced
.