- BBe BROWN BOVERI Publication No. CH-E 3.0120.0 E Series Compounding of Self-Excited Synchronous Generators Offprint from the Brown Boveri Review, No, $0, 1974Series Compounding of Self-Excited Synchronous Generators P. Leens If an isolated network is fed from a self-excited generator, selective interruption of short circuits must be ensured either by appropriate protection equipment or by suitable con ponding. Attention is drawn briefly to the significance of selectivity in isolated networks and common compounding circuits for generator excitation are touched on. Fiaally, the characteristics and advantages of series compounding ‘are described as applied in conjuetion with Unitral voltage regulators. Introduction It is common practice in today’s power stations to take the supply for the synchronous generator excitation equipment direct from the terminals of the machine (Fig. 1). If the protection equipment is properly designed, this arrangement has no drawbacks in comparison to separate supply and is considerably more economical 12}. Under normal circumstances the protection equip- ment in industrial networks can be adapted such that a purely shunt connection without load current dependent support for the excitation results in correct response even under fault conditions (3) However, in small isolated systems compound connec- tion can become indispensable for various reasons: for instance in cases where an existing, simple protection concept cinnot be easily adapted or where the starting currents of individual motors are greater than the rated ‘current of the generator itself. Fig. 1 Generator with direst shunt excitation 1 = Generator 2 = Voltage transformer 43 = Covent tansformer 4 Nighevoltage transform 55 = Lowevollage supply transformer {6 © Supply transformer forthe electronics : = Voltage regulator In the case of indirect excitation of small and medium- sized machines additional small regulators are used which, do not operate in such a large voltage range as the equipment for large exciter powers. Here the recovery voltage following clearance of a short-line fault with a purely shunt connection, ean be lower than the permis- sible limit for functioning of the voltage regulator. and therefore a compound circuit must be provided. ‘There is a whole series of circuits for compound excita tion but all have their specific advantages and drawbacks. The Brown Boveri concept of simple voltage addition on the d.c. side, referred to briefly as series compounding, has the following advantages = Ordinary current transformers are used as high-voltage components. No special circuitry is necessary. = Simple and reliable lv. equipment; surge diverter, choke and rectifier bridge are easily accommodated in the regulator cabinet (2, 4, 5]. ~ The circuit can take relatively large deviations between the calculated and actual excitation data without jeopardizing its function. ~ The compounding circuit can be installed subsequently without change to the voltage regulator and its supply. = In normal operation the control range of the voltage regulator is in no Way restricted by the compounding. ~ Security in the event of a short circuit; the predeter~ mined necessary short-circuit current flows until the protection equipment responds. Selectivity of Protection in Isolated Systems As can be seen from the single-phase diagram in Fig. 2, the public supply network feeds the factory through breakers 7 and 9 and transformer 8, The generator 1 is, connected direct to the 6:3 kV bus through breaker 11 Connection to the Lv. consumers is through transformers 12 and breaker 10. The consumers are protected by fuses 13 or instant-trip breakers. Breakers 10 and 11 are equip- ped with overcurrent/time relays. In the event of a fault resulting in any considerable voltage drop in the supply, the coupling circuit-breaker 7 is tripped by various criteria (voltage, frequency or power) depending on the protection concept. The factory network is thus an isolated system. In the event of a symmetrical three-phase short-circuit the generator can be represented as the voltage source £° connected in series with the transient direct-axis. syn- chronous reactance Xa’ (Fig. 3a). The effect of the d winding is neglected. Where simple shunt excitation systems are concerned the voltage regulator no longer supplies excitation currents because the supply is inter- rupted.1oKV 8 9 6.3Ky 0 ut ‘0 2 2 80 ¥ © 380 V 3 f a ft Fig. 2~ Simplified diagram of factory network 1 = Selfexcited generator 1 = Coupling cireut breaker 4 Main transformer 9 Load isolator 10 — Breaker for consumer feeders 11 = Generator breaker 12 = Supply teansformer for Lv. feeders 15 = Fuses and protective breakers The initial values of the three phase currents differ widely in accordance with the flow at the instant of short cireuit (d.c. components of the short-circuit current). However. if we consider only the envelope of the ac. components, the current shows equal behaviour in all phases (Fig. 3b). Fig. 3~ Symmetrical three-phase short cltcut at selfexcted generator with preloading a: Equivalent circuit igram “Transient e:m.f [Nevload tine constant of generator Te) = Load time constant of generator Synchrons« reaetance ‘Transient fenctance in ditect axis EL = External reactance = b: Envelope of ac. component of phase short-circuit eurcent at generator i Peak value of rated eurrenp-sefare short circuit nial value of shortcicuit sarge carsent Peak value of short-circuit surge curtent The initial valudrk’ depends on ~ the loading of the generator before the short circuit ), ~ the effective reat wees (Nu and Xe), ‘The short-circuit current then drops virtually to zero at the time constant Ta’. The short-circuit current curves for various fault con tions are shown in Fig. 4. The initial values and time constants vary according to the distance at which the fault occurs. Selective interrsption of short circuits is ensured if the instant «rip is set to a value between fry and 155 x Ix (curve oy the fuse responds (curve d) is below curve e, the overcurrent relay of breaker 10 is set for a delay of less than 0-28 s for Zpx (curve d), and ~ the overcurrent relay of breaker 11 is set for a delay of les than 0:22 s for the rated generator current fy (curve a). Itis obvious therefore that the normal settings of 1-6 x fox for 03 s or 1°6 X Js for 1s do not permit selective clear- ance of short circuits. Only the compound excitation system described in the following permits adequate short- circuit currents to be maintained for tripping, Current Compounding In normal duty the compound excitation current duced in the tertiary winding of transformer 14 (Fig. 5) from vectorial addition of two ac, components from different phases. This provides us with a dc. vector diagram of the synchronous machines (Fig. 6). It com- prises pro- Fig, 4 Envelope curves of a. components of short ‘various locations 4¢ = Terminal short circuits at gonerstor Short cieuit a¢ Lv. busbors ‘c= Short circuit at Lv. consumer (d= Fuse characterise Ix — Rated generator eure dns ~ Permissible current at breaker 10 dng = Permissible current at consumer feeder aly 26y |Fig. $~ Selfewited generator with curreat compounding 14 = Ewinding et 15. = Resetor for compounding 16 = Rectifier Je Compounding current Ti = Ouiput current of volace regulator Ie © Rotor curent of gonerstor ‘Sir. = Power stage of regulator Other symbols as Fig. | Fig. 6- Vector diagram of current compounding Us Xa, Estes Characteristic dati of generator in rated apes Ja Voltagesdependent eamponent of compound current J = Load-dependeat component of eompound curreat 1h) e Resultant compound excitation current Jn ~ Output current of repulater Xel Fig. 7- SelPexcited generator with vollage compounding 17 = Supply and compound transformer 18 = Corrent/voltage transformer foe compounding ~ Compound voltage dependent on generator voltage i: == Compound voltage dependent on generator leading Ug ~ Resultant compound veltage tn © Correction factor of egulator Other symbols as Fig: t = current feo Which is determined by reactor 15 and depends on voltage, = current fox supplied by transformer 14 and is portional to the generator loading, ~ the resultant current J pro- The missing component Jy necessary for excitation is supplied by the voltage regulator. Under short-circuit conditions the magnitude of the cur- rent is determined by the saturation of current trans- former 14 alone. If this transformer is designed for half’ saturation induction at rated load, after completion of the subtransient and transient phenomena of a short- circuit the current rises to approximately twice the rated current. This form of compounding has proved an interesting arrangement from the economics point of view in con- nection with voltage regulators equipped with magnetic amplifiers for the power stages. Here the compounding supplied a considerable proportion of the excitation cur- rent and allowed the voltage regulator output to be seduced. Thyristor regulators of any desired capacity can be produced without difficulty today. Current compounding also involves a certain restriction of the control capability in capacitive duty. In the under- excited range the machine is overcompounded and the current component of the regulator x would have to become negative in order to compensate the excess com- pound excitation current Ze, As will be shown in the following, series compounding does not have this draw- back. Voltage Compounding (Vectorial Method) Voltage compounding (Fig. 7 and 8) can be arranged in equivalent form to current compounding, Under normal operating conditions the component Us is supplied by transformer 17 as a function of voltage and added vectorially to the current-ependent component U; supplied by the current/voltage transformer 18. The voltage regulator must correct the resultant vector Ue by a factor zn such that the excitation voltage Ur necessary for maintaining voltage is available. In the event of a short circuit the current rises to a value which is determined by the saturation of special trans- former 18. Consequently, the supply voltage for the control elzc- tronics at transformer 6 fluctuates over a considerable range in relation to the operating condition of the gen- erator. The electronics must therefore be designed for a wide supply coverance, resulting in higher costs. Series Compounding Series compounding is an up-to-date, simple and econo- mical system which is applied in conjunction with Unitrol voltage regulators [1]. Its advantages over compounding methods mentioned above cannot be disregarded, This is also a voltage compounding circuit (Fig. 9). The current/voltage transformer 22 forms an a.c, voltage in the secondary winding which is dependent on the gen- erator loading, After rectification the voltage of the series- 8Fig. 8 Vector diagram of voltage compounding Symbols as Fig. 6'and 7 Fig. 9 Selfoxcted generator with series conipounding 19 = Rotating diodes 20 = Brushless a. ext 21 ~ Corrent transformer 22 = Correntvoltege tra 23 — Rectier 1 = Generator current ip = Field current of excter con: or compounding Fig. 10~ Series compounding under short 4a. ~ Short-circuit characteristic of exciter/generatorsystern 2 = Characteriste of currentvoltage transformer 22 with overcom= pounding bs = ASabove with undercompounding Tx = Rated current of generator ig = Field current of exter 20 cut conditions | | connected regulator is addled algebraically to this voltage, In contrast to the example described above this com- pound voltage isa simple dc, voltage sourve which is totally independent of the regulator supply voltage (Gransformer 4). This is where the Mesibility of the process makes itself felt: If a self-excited machine (Fig. 1) is subsequently to be fitted with a compounding system because, for instance. the selectivity of the protection system is no longer adequate because of changes to the isolated system, this is possible without change to an existing electronic regulator in fully controlled bridge connection. Under short-circuit conditions the regulator looses its supply. The last thyristors to fire remain conducting and continue to carry the field current which is supplied by the compound voltage alone. Following the transient phenomena there is a steady-state value given by the intersection point C (see Fig. 10) of the current/voltage transformer characteristic (by) with the short-circuit characteristic a. Factor k = OBy/OA is referred to as the compounding factor. Here, k is greater than | and the machine is said to be overcompounded. If is smaller than I the machine is undercompounded. There is then no point of inter- section between characteristics @ and ba. It can be shown that, in this case, the short-circuit current decays very slowly with time constant T= Ta'/I —k where kU. It is therefore understandable that the final steady-state current value is reached the quicker the greater that factor k is relative to unity. Project Planning In the case of low-voltage machines the current/vollage transformer 22 (Fig. 9) can be connected direct to the generator terminals, This eliminates current transformer Fig. 11 Type rating characteristic of current/voltags transfor in relation to the fatio Xvaltw Po; = Type eating in single-phase connection Pos = Type rating of th Peer = Necessary excitation for maintaining a sh rated current Fei ross hase connection fr in the fold of the exciter machin teu current of the order of ties the ‘of exciter in the warm condition eactance of current/valtage transformer 6 eFC | Pos Pec : = eke ° 05 1 is —— Xia twFig, 12- Symmetrical three-phase short cicuit , Genertor: 487 MVA, 6-3 RY, 486 8 . Power factor 0%, 30 He 1300 rein Exciter: SHS EVA. 74 V, «20.4 Power factor 098, 125 Hz T, Rated excitation: 89:5 V $9 A fa: Without serct excitation bb With sores excitation we 1 = Generator current U = Generator volte fe = Exeter field current a) ae G TA vu Pp oouw E » : 1 et 21. The compounding can be either single or three phase depending on the necessary short-circuit excitation power required. The type rating, and therefore also the cost of the current/voltage transformer, depends on the ratio of ils reactance to the field resistance. This special transformer is a current transformer with air gaps for increasing the magnetic power, As shown in Fig. 11, in the limiting case where high values of reactance Xm2 ate concerned, a normal current transformer of minimum type rating can be used. In the case of induced voltage peaks, which can endanger transformer 22 itself and the diode bridge 23, this is the most favourable arrangement. However, where small reactance valites (na) are con- cerned, the power tends towards infinity, ie, towards themost expensive arrangement, The range of the ratio Xualrew wsed in practice is shown shaded in Fig. 11 Further protection for the diodes is provided by surge diverters The voltage regulator is always in fully-controlled bridge connection. ‘This means that the output voltage of the final control unit can reverse, not only in the sense of improved dynamic response but also in the steady state, in those ranges where the compounding would supply an excessive excitation current. This property is to advantage both with indirect excitation and in the underexcited range. Finally, it should be mentioned that in the case of a fault in the compounding equipment, which cannot be entirely eliminated statistically, the voltage regulator remains in operation with the reduced ceiling voltage. Test Results Oscillograms a and b in Fig. 12 clearly show the effects of series compounding used here in conjunction with a self-excited generator with brushless excitation (Fig. 9) [6]. Jn each case the generator was brought to rated voltage under no-load conditions. In the case of a short-circuit without compounding the excitation currents and stator current decay rapidly to zero after the starting peak. However, with series compounding both currents assume steady-state values which are determined by the saturation of the current/voltage transformer 22. The collapse of stator current following the surge is the result of a drop in speed of the test equipment because the drive motor was too weak, In actual fact a short circuit would cause an acceleration of the rotor because the active power ‘would no longer be supplied to the network. The only significant factor here is that a continuous short-circuit current of about twice the rated current would appear, and this continues until the fault is cleared. Following, this the voltage regulator reassumes its function and deter- imines the section of the recovery voltage. Conclusion Series compounding ofsynchronous generators isn up-to- date and financially attractive arrangement having certain specific advantages over known traditional metliods of compounding. Their use in conjunction with Unitrol voltage regulators is recommended where the exejtation requires support in the event of a short cirexit, In isolated systems it permits problems concerning selpetive fault clearance to be solved without restricting the con- trol range and reliability. \ Bibliography 4 [1] F. Peneder: Unitrol controllers for generator voliage regulation, Brown Boveri Rev. 56 1969 (9) 453-465, | [2] A. Dudler: Unitrot voltage regulators for synchronous generators. Brown Boveri Rev, 57 1970(1) 41-48. | LB] F. Peneder, H. Butz, M. Fiorentzis: Protection: of industrial networks taking the excitation system into account. Brown Boveri Rev. 6/ 1974 (1) 36-40. [4] F. Peneder, H. Butz: Exciter systems for three-phase generators in industrial and medium-sized power stations. Brown Boveri Rev. 61 1974 (1) 41-50. . [5] 7. Sidley: Dual controt channels—a progressive con- cept for regulating the voltage of synchronous generators, Brown Boveri Rev. 58 1971 (11) 527-531. [6] W. Merhof: Brushless excitation of synchronous machines by rotating semiconductors. Brown Boveri Rev. 54 1967 (9) 539-553. nt in Site Ghosticaion No, 70407 BBC Brown, Boveri & Company, Ltd., CH-5401 Baden/Switzerland