Electrical power with 3 phase AC

So far we have considered AC supplies which use 2 conductors with the voltage varying from
positive to negative with a single sinusoidal waveform.

This is known as a single phase supply.

Single phase supplies are good where power levels are only a few kilo Watts but when power
levels increase there are disadvantages to using a single phase.

In practice most electrical power that is generated, distributed and utilized on the ship is in the
form of 3 phase alternating current.

To understand the problem, consider a simple two pole rotor turning past a coil in an alternator
stator.

When the electrical load is low then mechanical power input is also low.

However as the electrical load increases, so must the mechanical input.

 If we look at the output wave form from a single phase generator we can see that the
instantaneous power from the generator is greatest when the output waveform is at a positive or
negative peak, falling as the voltage crosses through zero.

The instantaneous mechanical input power varies in the same way.

To keep the output frequency constant, the driving engine speed is kept constant, which means
that the engine will feel power demand changes as changes in torque.

These torque variations cause torsional vibrations and can lead to mechanical failures.

To make a 3 phase generator we use 3 stator coils, set 120 degrees apart.

Each generating a coil produces a sinusoidal waveform identical to that of a single phase
machine.

If we superimpose the 3 waveforms we can see the total output.

There are no2 6 peaks per cycle instead of 2, greatly reducing the size of the torque variations.

The same benefits apply when the power is used in an electric motor.

The 3 phase motor output torque varies less and the drive is smoother.

An additional benefit of 3 phase systems is reduced cable costs.

 It can be show that delivery of 45 kilo Watts typically require 6 copper conductors, each of 6
square millimeters area, for single phase operation

Or 3 copper conductors of 10 square millimeter a re if running on 3 phases

And 30 square millimeters of copper for the 3 phase cables, a saving in copper of 17%.

In practice few systems rated above 10 kilo Watts use single phase.

Example:

For instance a 13,8 kilo Watt load supplied at 400 Volts, 3 phase will draw a line current of 20
Amps while the same load supplied at 230 Volts single phase will require a 60 Amps.

To summarize : three phase generation and utilization is smoother, more realiable and cheaper
than a single phase.
 Delta

The generator shown has 6 output leads but there is no circuit for current to flow around.

Three phase loads, like transformers or motors, will also consist of 3 separate coils and face the
same problem.

The 3 pairs of coil leads must somehow be joined to make a continuous circuit or what we
would have is 3 single phase systems.

You have probably noticed that in practice most 3 phase equipment is supplied though a cable
with 3 conductors, or cores, although sometimes there are 4 conductors.

Let’s call the 3 phase coils U V and W.

Each coil has a 1 terminal and a 2 terminal so coil U has an lead U1 and another marked U2, etc.
 The obvious connection is to daisy chain the coils into a circular series.

The ends of the leads are joined together in pairs with U1 connected to W2, W1 connected to
V2 and V1 connected back to U2.

This leaves us with 3 joints where we can attach the 3 cores of the normal supply cable.

This connections is called delta as it is often shown on diagrams in the shape of the Greek letter
delta.

In the terminal box it really looks like this.

Star

The alternative is to connect the coils to a common point.

In this case one end of all 3 coils are connected together, U2 to V2 to W2,

And the free ends, U1, V1 and W1, are connected to the 3 cores in the supply cable.
 This connection is called star as it is often shown on diagrams in the shape of a star.

In the terminal box it really looks like this.

The star connection can be changed slightly by the addition of a fourth conductor connected to
the place where al 3 coils meet, known as the star point for obvious reasons.

With any star or delta connection the 3 output lines are normally referred to as R, S and T.

If a fourth line is connected then it is referred to as the neutral or N.

If we loo at a delta connected 3 phase load with 3 supply lines, R, S and T, it can be seen that a
Volt meter measuring between any 2 lines is also measuring across 1 phase.
 The voltage measured between lines, VL , is therefore equal to the voltage generated inside one
phase, V phase.

Now consider the connection points between this star connected machine and the 3 phase
supply system.

It has 3 supply lines, R ,S and T, with a neutral connected to the star point, N.

If we measure between any two of the supply lines, R, S, or T we get the same answer.

The line voltage VL.

If we now measure between any supply line and the neutral there is a different voltage as we
are measuring the voltage generated by one phase only, V phase.

VL is measured across 2 coils and is of course bigger than V phase which is measured across only
1 coil.

The relationship turns out to be that VL. is V phase times the square root of 3.

The phase voltage on a nominally 440 Volt star connected system is therefore line voltage
divided by the square root of 3.

That is 440 divided by the square root of 3 or 254 Volts.

On the delta connected system the line and phase voltages would be the same, 440 Volts.
 If we consider the relationship between line current IL , and phase current I phase for a star
connected machine we can see that the current flowing through the phase must be the same as current
flowing in the line, so IL , equals I phase.

With the delta arrangement we found that line and phase voltages are equal but we can see
that the current through 2 phases join to flow in the line.

We find that the line current IL equals the phase current I phase times the square root of 3.

Example:

For example, if a delta connected 3 phase motor draws a line current of 20Amps the current
level in each phase is the line current divided by square root of 3.

On the star connected system the line and phase currents would be the same, 20 Amps.