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Direct estimation of the generalised equivalent circuits of synchronous

machines from short-circuit oscillographs

Article  in  Generation, Transmission and Distribution [see also IEE Proceedings-Generation, Transmission and Distribution], IEE Proceedings C · December 1990
DOI: 10.1049/ip-c.1990.0060 · Source: IEEE Xplore

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Direct estimation of the generalised equivalent
circuits of synchronous machines from short-circuit
osciIlographs
I. Karnwa, PhD
P. Viarouge
J. Dickinson, PhD
Indexing term: Synchronous generators
Abstract: The calculation of equivalent circuits
parameters from short-circuit time constants has
been subject to a number of unnecessary assump-
tions and approximations. The present paper
describes and validates a procedure to circumvent
this problem by estimating the equivalent circuit
parameters directly from the oscillograph data.
The synchronous machines’ models are gener-
alised to include nd and n4 dampers in the direct
and quadrature axes, respectively, thus providing
a feasible approach for analysing short-circuit
oscillographs when the machine is either a solid
rotor turbogenerator or possesses a particularly
complicated rotor geometry. Although the pro-
posed least squares-based nonlinear strategy
avoids all the various approximations necessary to
relate the circuit parameters and the dynamic con-
stants, it is shown that it does inherently lead to a
suboptimal solution of the identification problem.
1 Introduction
Given the equivalent circuits, a conventional state model
of the synchronous machine can be obtained by express-
ing the circuit loop equations as a coupled set of first
order, ordinary differential equations that can be incor-
porated in a stability study program [l, 6, 71. Since a
lumped parameter equivalent circuit is used to approx-
imate a distributed parameter system, an exact match
cannot be achieved, especially when the machine rotor is
solid. However, a reasonably accurate match can be
achieved for a specified frequency range, with the accu-
racy increasing as additional circuit elements are appro-
priately added to the equivalent circuits [2, 141.
A standard method of obtaining these equivalent cir-
cuits is the sudden short-circuit test in which a simulta-
neous three phase short-circuit is applied to the stator
terminals of the unloaded generator [8]. Various time
constants can be extracted from the measured currents
[3, 81, whereupon the direct axis circuit parameters can
Paper 7429C (Pl, P9), first received 24th July 1989 and in revised form
23rd March 1990
Dr. Kamwa is with the Institut de Recherche $Hydro-Quebec, CP
1O00, Varennes, PQ, Canada J3X 1S1
Dr. Viarouge is with the Electrical Engineering Department (LEEPCI),
Universite Laval, Quebec, PQ, Canada G1K 7P4
Dr. Dickinson is with the Mechanical Engineering Department, Uni-
versitk. Laval, Quebec, PQ, Canada G1K 7P4
JEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, P t . C, N o . 6, N O V E M B E R 1990
then be calculated [4, 51. Unfortunately, the conventional
treatment of this test does not include the measurement
of the quadrature axis parameters. Consequently, the
utilities have had to rely on calculated, rather than mea-
sured, values for parameters in this axis. An alternative
method is to measure the frequency response of the
machine by applying small signal excitations to the stator
terminals with the rotor at standstill. From these data, it
is possible to determine the relevant operational imped-
ances [12-141. On-line tests may also be used to refine
the parameters to reflect the actual magnetic operation
point [SI.
A method of growing interest and importance involves
the numerical solution of magnetic fields within the syn-
chronous machine for a specified range of frequencies
[27]. This method has the advantage that it can be used
to determine parameters of a machine based upon its
physical design. It is then possible to predict the dynamic
behaviour of the machine during the design process.
Once the operational impedances are known, either by
calculation or measurement, equivalent circuits can be
deduced whose impedance characteristics match, as
closely as possible, the known characteristics. This
approach is indirect in nature as it requires two steps to
infer the equivalent circuits’ parameters. These param-
eters are the quantities we really need for power system
studies [l]. The second step poses a particularly compli-
cated problem regarding the algebraic equations that
permit the deduction of the equivalent circuit parameters
using a minimum number of simplifying hypotheses. This
implies the resolution of a nonlinear system where the
complexity of the algebraic equations depends on the
number of simplifying assumptions [25]. For models
with fewer than three windings per axis, many authors
[4, 5, 131 have managed to provide a satisfactory reply
t o this question from certain points of view. However,
the need still exists for a more general methodology,
requiring fewer approximations and removing all
unnecessary assumptions, especially in the case of
complex rotor machines.
To bridge these gaps, we present a new algorithm that
uses all the available information to determine directly
the equivalent circuits in the two axes from an analysis of
the short-circuit measurements. Furthermore, by struc-
turing these circuits to include an arbitrary number of
amortisseur windings in each axis, we open the door to a
general identification of solid rotor turboalternators from
short-circuit tests. This development seems important to
achieve since it is generally agreed that the circuit
445
resulting from short-circuit tests is, by its origin, likely to
simulate satisfactorily a wide range of machine transients
[ 7 ] , compared with those resulting from standstill fre-
quency response tests. It is now commonly accepted that
the latter suffer the drawback of indicating much larger
damper impedances than actually exist when the machine
is running [ 2 1 ] .
Following a generalised formulation of the equations
for synchronous machines, a strategy is proposed for esti- yDmd = xDm,,d id + XD.df if + XD.dD1 + ' ' ' + xD.dDnd iD.d
mating the equivalent circuit parameters directly from
the short-circuit data. This problem is of a highly non- (14
linear nature. However, as we shall see, the most critical
problem arises from the fact that an infinite number of On modelling the quadrature axis in a similar manner the
solutions is possible, all possessing the same time con- following may be obtained:
stants and only differing as regards the rotor input
impedance with stator open. The method is validated by
'€=
',x,, i , + x4QIi Q , + . . . + x,Qnqipnq
means of several numerical simulations. y Q=~x Q i q iq -k X Q ~ Qi Q~ ~+ ' . . + x Q ~ Q .iQn,
q
...
2 Generalised mathematical models of the
synchronous machine = X Q " , ~i, + X Q " , Q ~i ~ +, . . + XQ.,Q.,~Q.,
YQ", ' (W
The Park's transform permits the treatment of the gener- The mutual reactance between the windings k and 1, x k l ,
ator as two electrical networks [16, 203 representing the can be evaluated as follows:
direct (d) and quadrature (4)axes as viewed from the
stator. Research some years ago led various authors to
suggest structures for these networks ranging from the
simple [ 4 ] to the extremely complex [ 7 ] . However, since
Shulz et al. [lo], a general consensus seems to be emerg-
ing that favours one particular structure for equivalent
circuits (Figs. 1). This is aimed at providing a compro-

'a xa xKfl XKf2 'f

and
U

I ... I The voltage values can be derived from eqns. l a and lb:
b
1 dY
Fig. 1 Generalised equivalent circuits of the synchronous machine ud = r a i d +-
wn dt
- O,Y,
(a) d-axis: e, = w , Y q
(b) q-axis: e, = o,Y,
1 dY
vq=raiq+--9+comyld
on dt
mise between older models and present requirements for
increasing accuracy and realism in describing complex 1 dYf
rotor machines [ 2 ] .
vf = rfif +-
on dt
~

From these equivalent circuits, a convenient state

model may be obtained by expressing their loop equa-
tions as a set of coupled, first order differential equations.
dyD~
+
vD1= rD,iD, - - 1 = 1, ..., nd
on dt
The effects of magnetic saturation can be approximated
by adding a nonlinear correction term to the total mag-
netising flux [lS, 261. Saturation is represented by deter-
mining the excursion of the open circuit saturation curve
from the linear, nonsaturated, relationships (air gap line), where onand w, are the nominal frequency in rad/s and
and using this difference to correct the magnetising flux the mechanical speed in P.u., respectively. If we define the
for a given current. The effects of saturation on leakage current and voltage vectors as
inductance are usually neglected.
With the notation of Fig. 1, the flux equations
i = [id i , i,, . . . iDndi, iQl . . . 'Qn,] (34
associated with the synchronous machine direct axis are v = [VdUf0 ... o v , o ' . . o ] = (3b)
446 IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, Pt. C, N o . 6, N O V E M B E R 1990
the basic eqns. 2 will then take the following matrix form: lation permitting a direct estimation of the optimal equiv-
alent circuits (i.e. in the sense of minimal quadratic
1 di errors).
-X-= -{R+o,G}i+v
w, dt
3.1 Nonlinear estimation problem
where To determine the vector y T = [ + i f ! ¶ ] during the short-
circuit, one first calculates the variation y' of y given by
-di'= A i ' + E u t>O
dt
OI , nq+ 1 y' = Ci' (64
L anq,nd+2 Onq.nq+l J u = [O 0 0 ... 0 -u,(o-) 0 ..' OIT

with
X = [ xd

anq+l,nd+Z
Ond+2.nq+1

xq 1 where A and E are known from eqn. 5, once equivalent

circuits and rotor speed are specified. Then at each
i'(O+) = 0 (6b)

instant
Y = Y' + Y K - 1 (64
Xd= may be applied, knowing that id(O-) = i,(O-) = 0.
Direct identification of the turboalternator consists
essentially of being able to construct a prediction model
(eqn. 6) of the short-circuit of the machine, which is
xqq xqQi x4Q2
... optimal in the sense of minimising the quadratic predic-
... tion error, based on certain equivalent circuits which a
'Qiq XQiQi 'QiQz
x, = xQ2q xQ:Qi xQ2Q2
... priori are unknown. The problem of optimally estimating
the latter (in the short-circuit test sense), from p observa-
... tions of the current vector, can be formulated as follows
LXQ.,q XQn,Qi XQ.,Q2 XQ.,Q., J ~171.
Gd = CXdd xd f X d D l .' ' xdDdl ' q = Cxqq XqQi ' ' ' XqQnql Let
(44 x T = [ r a r f rD, . . . I
rDOd r Q I . IQ", I
O i j is the null matrix with dimensions i x j . These Xf X D , ". xD,, IX Q ~ .. XQ,, I xCI

relationships lead to the following state equation :

x c = Cxmd x m q x k f i . . xkfdl ' (7)
di
- = Ai
dt
+ Eu be the q-dimensional vector of all unknown parameters
necessary to specify the equivalent circuits. The scalar
error function to be minimised is defined as
y = Ci (54
with f: W + %
l P
B = w n X - l A = - E ( R + o,G) (5b) f ( x )= 5 c eT(k)we(k)
k=l
(84
The generalised matrix formulation adopted is very effi-
cient at carrying out various types of numerical simula- with
tions required in power systems studies with high order
synchronous machines models [11. The modelling of y(k) = [id(k) if(k) iq(k)lT

electromechanical transients with the generator con- e(k) = y(k) - j ( k ) q = 3nd + 2n, +5
nected to an infinite grid through a transmission line, and
the modelling of small perturbations of the state variables w = diag (wd wf w,) (8b)
under the same conditions, are good examples for these k is the discrete time index and j ( k ) is the measure of y at
kind of problems. time k. Consequently, e(k) represents a prediction error
vector. An optimal estimation of the equivalent circuit
3 Direct estimation of the equivalent circuits parameters consists of determining the q-dimensional
vector ?. which is the solution of the following nonlinear
Faced with the difficulties encountered in inferring the optimisation problem:
d-axis circuit from the given operational impedances [ 13,
251, the question arises as to whether it would be possible min f (x)
to determine the equivalent circuits directly from the
experimental data. Electrotechnical tradition generally xmin(i)< x(i) < xm.,(i) i = 1, . . . , q (9)
attempts first to characterise the synchronous machine by where x,, and xminrepresent bounds fixed by experience
its time constants, and only then to deduce the circuits. It and common sense.
would, however, seem just as reasonable to determine the The choice of weighting factors wi can be quite arbi-
circuits first and subsequently calculate the operational trary, but we have found in practice that choosing wd =
impedances. This inverse procedure allows, the various wx = w,/2 gives good results. The detailed numerical sol-
approximations required to construct the algorithms ution of the above nonlinear least-squares optimisation
published in Reference 13 to be avoided. In the present problem (eqn. 9) involves a Newton-Raphson procedure
section we will present a nonlinear programming formu- well documented in the mathematical programming [18,
1EE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, Pt. C , N o . 6 , N O V E M B E R 1990 447
191 and system identification [17, 221 literature. The original machine (in Table 3). Although the solution
present authors have had recourse to a code adapted differs (mainly in the q-axis) from the true solution x*, the
from the NL2SOL program described in Reference 19. short-circuit data associated with 2 and x* are not very
The program, chiefly conceived to determine the vector different.
of parameters providing the best least squares fitting of
Table 1 : Direct estimates of the equivalent circuits: Model
experimental data, has proved particularly efficient over a
2.2
wide range of applications. It seems to be one of the best
programs available for the solution of nonlinear least
squares problems in general, and more specifically, those ra 0.0033000 0.0030000 1.36 0.00
involving, at the same time, mediocre initial conditions r, 0.0008361 0.0009290 9.44 -0.00
and an eventual nonzero sum of residues at the solution rD1 0.0146740 0.013361 6 0.783 -0.1 6
point [1 71. ra, 0.001 6020 0.0015255 2.05 14.30
ro2 0.0092510 0.0085698 0.260 -1.90
x, 0.127260 0.141 388 0.0686 0.01
3.2 Numerical validation xD, 0.897750 0.0812405 0.106 0.01
Using a slight modification of the NL2SOL code [19], xo, 0.731 250 0.7048457 0.01 1 1 13.25
xaz 0.103290 0.0947551 0.1 13 -0.91
the proposed method will now be illustrated by means of x ~ ,0.0000010
~ 0.0000045 651 0 0.00
the simulated identification of two turboalternators with xmd 1.44900 1.608191 7 0.00143 0.112
solid rotors. xmQ 1.77100 1.8959851 0.00164 17.76
(&) f(x,) = 0.349; f(R) = 0.316 x 10-5
Example 1 : nonlinear estimation of the equivalent circuits
of a machine with rotor 2.2 We would like to stress here that the particular solu-
The first machine studied was a steam turbine generator tion R obtained in this example depended on the short-
described by Krause in Reference 20 (page 240). Its circuit data available, and could have been substantially
experimental model provided by this author involves a improved with an increased number of data points and a
rotor (2.2) with two equivalent windings in each axis, i.e. best sampling period.
one damper in the direct axis and two in the quadrature
axis. We have used this a priori model, termed the true Example 2: Nonlinear estimation of the equivalent circuits
equivalent circuits in the sequel (x*), to calculate a of a machine with rotor 3.3
sudden short-circuit solution of the generator. The simu- The preceding example is not really complicated enough
lated oscillographs were covered by p = 1500 points with to illustrate the efficiency of the method. Therefore, we
a sampling rate of T = 0.8 ms and o,(O-) = 0.1 p.u. To analysed another alternator requiring a more complex
validate the applicability of our estimation scheme, an model. This time, however, we chose richer test condi-
attempt is then made to reassemble the equivalent circuit tions, both from the point of view of sampling rate and
which produced the simulated responses; the latter being number of data points. Let us consider the Nanticoke
considered to have been measured in a noise-free machine [14], modelled with nd = 2 and n, = 3 dampers
environment for the purpose of our demonstration. In the in the d and q axes, respectively. This type of equivalent
analysis, we assumed that x , and 8, were known, which circuit realisation represents the level of model soph-
seems reasonably realistic. In addition, we took istication widely accepted for turbogenerator and solid-
w = diag (1, 1, 2) to achieve an adequate weighting of the pole machines [2, 71.
three currents. For this example, the initial estimates xo The well established model 3.3 of the Nanticoke
were obtained by forcing a mismatch of f 10% on all the turboalternator used in the sequel, has three windings in
exact parameters defined by x*. each axis and was derived by Dandeno and Poray [14]
The results of the estimation are summarised in Table from experimental standstill frequency response tests.
1. The last column clearly shows that the final circuit is Once again, we numerically simulated a short-circuit test,
very different from the true one. Nevertheless, with basing our calculations on the parameters given in Refer-
respect to the initial circuit, there is a considerable ence 14 and with the following: T = 0.6 ms, v,(O-) =
improvement; the residual error being reduced by a 0.1 pu and p = 2020. The question is whether it is pos-
factor of 100,OOO to 1 (passing from 0.349 to sible to recover directly the equivalent circuits from this
0.316 x lo-'). In fact, plotting the measured responses 'test' data. The proposed formulation led to a nonlinear
* A

i d , .-,L 2, and the responses i d , i,, i , , calculated from the
solution 2, it is virtually impossible to discern any differ-
ence. To quantify this statement, we calculated the ana-
lytical values of the short circuit for x = 2 (see Table 2).
The reader can compare these values with those of the
least squares' problem whose solution is summarised in
Table 4. The initial estimate xo was obtained by per-
turbing the true solution x* by _+ 15%.
As the last column indicates, the simulation was gener-
ally most successful. Apart from x p l and x,,, which

Table 2 : Analytical solution of the no-load short-circuit calculated from

the estimated circuits I21
Machine modes I, ( t ) I, ( t) '"1 I ( t p
i F,(t) 'Jd r/f r/ 9
1 exp (-4.446t) cos (376.89r) 0.4163 -0.1 481 -3.793 x 10-3
2 exp (-4.446t) sin (376.89t) -4.044 x -0.0128 -0.3704
3 exp (-32.485t) -0.0948 -0.1 379 1.527 x 1 0 - 3
4 exp (-13.941t) -5.237 x 1 0 - 5 7.969 x 1 0-4 6.413 x 1 0 - 3
5 exp (-1.101t) -0.2657 0.2859 -2.173 x
6 exp (-0.651t) 1.146 x ~ O - - ~1 . 4 2 3 ~ 1 0 - ~ 1 . 1 6 O ~ l O - ~
7 exp (0.000t) -0.0556 4.091 x 1 O-* -8.000 x 1 0 - 5

448 IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, P t . C , No. 6 , N O V E M B E R 19YO

 Table 3: Analytical expression of t h e no-load short-circuit calculated
from the true circuits ( x * )

i F,U) '
i
d rlf r/0
1 exp (-4.446t)cos (376.89t) 0.4163 -0.1481 -3.781x 1O-j
2 exp (-4.446t)sin (376.89t) -4.032x 1 0-3 -0.0128 -0.3704
3 exp (-32.431f) -0.0949 -0.1379 1.520x 1 0-3
4 exp (-13.616f) -5.250x 7.832x 6.351x
5 exp (-1.101t) -0.2660 0.2859 -2.083x
6 exp (-0.678t) 1.263x -1.540x 1.126x
7 exp (0.000f) -0.0556 4.994x 10-9 -9.259x 10-5
9
IC) i,(t) = x r l lF,(f), I = d , f, 9
,=1

Table 4: Direct estimates of equivalent circuits: Nanticoke tests is a badly conditioned problem. Nevertheless, the
3.3
resulting solution remains the best source of information
xb"' p' Vf(2) Error, % that it is possible to extract from short-circuit testing, if
r, 0.0046000 0.0039995 13.6 0.01 one adopts the least squares based formulation as pro-
rt 0.000799000 0.0009386 75.1 0.14 posed in this paper. Because of this we will call it the
rD, 0.131330 0.1132936 0.741 0.79 suboptimal solution. In fact, one can demonstrate that,
rD, 0.00503200 0.0058192 19.9 1.70 under identical experimental conditions, the estimation of
ro, 0.00618700 0.0055384 4.12 -2.94 the operational impedances leads asymptotically (p + 00)
ro2 0.0918850 0.1082664 1.09 -0.15
ro3 0.0216200 0.0182397 5.33 2.98 to the true solution of the problem (eqn. 9), whereas the
xf 0.0131 750 0.0151 821 0.369 2.05 circuit method leads to biased results.
xD, 3.14180 2.7017588 0.0226 1.1 0 All the above deficiencies are related to the well
xD, 0.00640050 0.0073506 5.42 2.38 known impossibility of recovering a unique solution for
xo, 1.90555 3.5151 30 0.0358 -1 12.15
0.1193854 0.555 -0.07 the equivalent circuits from a single test at constant field
xoI 0.101405
xo3 0.518995 0.4421580 0.0267 2.03 voltage, with the only perturbation coming from the
xkt, -0.599725 -0.5166927 0.181 0.92 stator terminals. This fact can be demonstrated by the
xkt2 1.03213 0.8922227 0.122 0.59 machine equations in operational form [12, 161 as
xmd 1.82920 2.1764536 0.0283 -1.14 follows:
Xm, 2.36555 1.3025091 0.0443 36.68
(Ir) f(x,) f(R) = 0.835x
= 0.276; 1 O-4. Era + Pxd@)lid - O r xq(P)iq = ud - PG@)uf ( 104
x h ) i d + Era + PX&)liq = uq - o r %)vf (lob)
mainly determine the late transient and the steady state with or= o m o nx&), . G(p) and x,(p) are three rational
regime of i,, all the other parameters were estimated with fractions defined by
reasonable accuracy. The reader is referred to Table 5
which illustrates the analytical representation of the pre-
vious short-circuit test. It can be noted that the mode
- 1.114 ( j = 7), which represents the q-axis transient, is
the least vigorous mode, as far as the three currents, i d , if
and i , , are concerned. The fact that the effects of this
mode are too small to be experimentally detectable
renders estimation by short-circuit testing the most diff-
cult. The model is not sufficiently parsimonious, at least
along the q-axis. In fact, it is possible to build a reduced
order model for this machine, with only two dampers in x (1 +pT;)(l +pT,2).-(1 + p T ? + ' )
x,(p) = =9
the q-axis, which is relatively satisfactory if only the accu- Xqd Wn(1 +pT:o)(1 + p T & ) . . . ( 1+ p T : z + ' )
rate prediction of the short-circuit is considered.
(1 1 4
3.3 Discussion of some deficiencies in the They represent a generalisation of the so-called standard
short-circuit testing operational impedances [161. During the short-circuit
The first example of Section 3.2 demonstrates that the operation, the synchronous machine looks like a SIMO
estimation of the equivalent circuits from short-circuit system (single input multiple outputs) with three outputs
Table 5: Analytical expression for the no-load short-circuit: Nanticoke 3.3

Machine modes id (f )(&) if (f )(&) i,Jf)(&'

i F,(O '
i
d r/t r10
1 exp (-5.058t)cos (376.40f) 0.314 -0.08149 -0.06657
2 exp (-5.058t)sin (376.40t) -3.427x -0.03219 0.3585
3 exp ( - 180.454f) -7.140x -2.754.x 0.06514
4 exp (-113.875t) -3.239x 1 0-3 -0.11 1 7 6.848x
5 exp (-20.275t) -0.1133 0.04857 -1.688x lo-'
6 exp (-11.791t ) -6.858x 1 0-6 1.441x 1 0 - 5 -3.658x 1 0-3
7 exp (-1.114f) 8.930x 1 0 - 6 -6.457x lo-' -5.390x 1 0-4
8 exp (-0.557t) -0.1542 0.1449 7.089x 1 0 - 5
9 exp (0.000t) -0.04303 5.978x 1 O-' -7.718 x 1 0 - 5
9
(&) i,(t) = 1rI, F,(f), I = d , f, 9.
1=1

IEE P R O C E E D I N G S , Vol. 137, Pt. C, N o . 6 , N O V E M B E R 1990 449

( i d , i,, i f ) and one input in the quadrature axis (Fig. 2).
H3(P)is the third column of the admittance matrix
H3(P) = CY,&) Y(P,) Yqq(P)l=
with
Fig. 2 Input-output model of a short-circuited synchronous machine
and
db)= ( X d n x q n ) P 2 + ra(Xdd Xqn + X q d x d n ) P + w:xdn
(124
Clearly, from the previous equations for H3(p), the output
currents during the short-circuit are related only to the
three operational impedances, without recall to the input
admittance of the field winding given by
y,, = = -PG(P)y,d + Y,o
Since the supplementary impedance (x,,(P) = l/y,,(P)) is
necessary to completely specify the d-axis quadripolar
circuit [11, 13, 211, it becomes evident that the short-
circuit is unable to generate a d-axis circuit without
ambiguity. It leads to an infinite number of possible
circuits for a given x,, each correctly representing x&),
G(p), x,(P) without regard to x ,,(p). Consequently, this
cannot guarantee a satisfactory prediction of i , under
operation with varying U,. A glance at Table 2 and 3 in
some way confirms this assertion; an error of 15% on
certain parameters has virtually no effect on the short-
circuit analytical expression. The output currents i d , i ,
and i,, calculated using the true model (jz), are not distin-
guishable [23,24] from those obtained using the approx-
imate model (x*).
The previous point can be examined in relation to the
important issue of choosing good initial conditions for
the estimation. Our algorithm is robust enough to con-
verge even in the case of an initial error greater than 50%
on all the correct parameters. However, owing to the
weak distinguishability of equivalent circuit models
during the short-circuit test, a poor initial estimate leads
to a solution model that is rarely the true one, i.e. the one
used to generate the raw data; the noteworthy point
being that this final solution is able to adequately predict
the whole range of original oscillographs. In a recent
paper [28], an attempt has been made to investigate
more extensively, the effects of various initial conditions
on the uniqueness of equivalent circuits optimally derived
450
from standstill measurements at the stator terminal. The
conclusions were that the convergence by itself was
largely independent of the starting estimate. However, the
(1 2 4 optimal model was not the same from one run to
another, although it still achieved a good prediction of
this type of operation in a least squares sense. Therefore
the published results [28] seem to confirm our own
opinion on this subject.
The above concept of distinguishability is strongly
connected to the identifiability of the equivalent circuits
under short-circuit test. Let us recall that a model is
identifiable [17, 241 if its various parameters can be
determined in a unique manner. In order words, any
change in the values of these parameters would provoke
a change in the output. It does not seem, from Tables 2
and 3, that the circuit model is robustly identifiable, since
different circuits lead to indistinguishable short-circut
responses. O n the other hand, eqns. 12 analytically estab-
lish the fact that modelling synchronous machines using
operational impedances leads to definite distinguish-
ability during short-circuit tests. This represents, perhaps,
its greatest asset.
4 Practical issues and extension t o other tests
With regard to the issues of practical interest, it should
Xqn + perhaps be mentioned that the authors have actually
tested the estimation scheme on experimental data, mea-
sured during a short-circuit laboratory test, on an 8 kW
synchronous micromachine. As the model used for the
fitting of these oscillographs involved only one damper in
each axis, the results were not very appropriate to illus-
trate the power or generality of the proposed analysis
method. This explains why we chose numerical simula-
tions to achieve this purpose. To perform the experimen-
tal data analysis, we first estimated the unsaturated time
constants and reactances of the micromachine in accord-
ance with the ANSI standard [SI. We then used the Sal-
vatore and Savino [4] approach to deduce an initial
estimate of the equivalent circuits. The latter were poorly
defined, as the d-axis damper time constant required by
this identification method [4] was not readily deduced
from the three oscillographs. In addition, the q-axis com-
ponent of the initial estimate was arbitrarily fixed (i.e. the
q-axis damper is supposed to possess an identical time
constant to the d-axis one). However, our estimation
scheme did prove very valuable in refining the poor orig-
inal estimate, leading us to an acceptable circuit model
with good fitting of both phase and field currents.
The experimental data used in the previous study was
not of a very high quality, especially as regards the field
current (we used a 12 bit data acquisition system, dating
back to 1979, that had no anti-aliasing filter). The q-axis
current, resulting from the Park transform, was also
somewhat noisy at the end. The estimation algorithm
was, however, sufficiently robust to cope with these
experimental errors. As a matter of fact, despite its
importance, the principal issue in the synchronous
machine identification is not the estimation algorithm.
Keyani et al. [28] have recently proposed that for
optimal time domain estimation, one should use the
maximum likelihood algorithm. This algorithm is well
known from identification theory, and leads to very accu-
rate results, even for poor signal to noise ratio. Unfor-
tunately, a robust estimation algorithm cannot bring out
a piece of information which is missing in the raw data.
This is the case for some q-axis modes or more notably,
for the field input admittance, when the test used is the
I E E P R O C E E D I N G S , Vol. 137, P t . C, No. 6, N O V E M B E R 1990
no load short-circuit. If the accurate knowledge of these
quantities is of prime interest, supplementary tests are
probably required, such as standstill tests involving exci-
tation variations in the time or frequency domain, to
confirm or cross-validate the short-circuit testing outputs.
It has been claimed for a long time that the i, current
is useless when constructing experimental models of syn-
chronous machines from short-circuit oscillographs. The
results of Section 3.3 show that this is a misleading belief.
As can be seen in the Table 5, i, is generally less informa-
tive than id and i, but it actually contains useful informa-
tion that is missing in the d-axis currents; at least about
the mode j = 3 and j = 6. In effect, the latter are about
100 to lo00 times more vigorous in the case of i, than for
id or i,. However, no attempt has been made here to
prove that a short-circuit test can bring out the exact
q-axis equivalent circuit. We only assert that, with
models that involve low numbers of q-axis dampers (n,),
this test can be very effective in providing adequate
parameters to this usually weakly defined component.
It seems worthwhile to stress that the methodology we
advocate in this paper can be extended to cope with data
collected from a loaded machine. Among the suggested
tests, we can mentioned a short-circuit test on a loaded
machine during which an excitation control system drives
the field voltage to ceiling or simply removes the excita-
tion. However, it is our opinion that this will require the
addition of a mechanical equation to the electrical state
equation provided in this paper (eqns. 5), since the rotor
speed would probably vary more substantially during the
on-line data logging process. An additional item needed
in this context is the no load magnetisation curve. This
curve would be necessary in accounting for saturation at
each time step of a Runge-Kutta routine, when solving
the model for the predicted currents [lS]. Since the
equivalent circuits derived by such a procedure are only
valid at the given operating point with no means to
extrapolate the results to another one, we suspect that
the cost of this increased complexity is greater than the
benefits that result from the use of more realistic data.
5 Conclusions
We have presented an efficient nonlinear least squares-
based procedure for estimating the equivalent circuits of
synchronous machines directly from short-circuit data.
Since the latter are generalised to include an arbitrary
number of dampers in each axis, our method seems the
only feasible approach for analysing short-circuit oscillo-
graphs when the machine is a solid rotor turbogenerator
[2, 251. The proposed one-step method for identifying
equivalent circuits arose from the recognition of the need
to remove the various approximations usually employed
to calculate the appropriate parameters from dynamic
constants.
Unfortunately, the standard short-circuit test leads to
poor observability of the q-axis eigenstructure, which
consequently gives rise to a weakly identifiable circuit
model, at least for a high numper of q-axis dampers.
Concerning a more critical issue,! this paper claims that,
whatever the accuracy of our es imation algorithm, the
no load short-circuit test is, by i!iself, insufficiently infor-
mative for the development of a machine model applic-
able to all operating conditions. This results from the fact
that it does not involve any perturbation of the field
voltage. In general, there is no guarantee that equivalent
circuits obtained by this approach will accurately model
the actual field input admittance, which means that they
IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, P t . C , N o . 6 , N O V E M B E R 1990
are good predictors only if the perturbations are intro-
duced through the stator terminal. However, at least for
cross-validation purposes, it seems suitable to re-establish
this old, well used, test in advanced synchronous machine
modelling, since standstill harmonic test techniques are
suspected of suffering from the drawback of indicating
much larger impedances for the dampers than actually
exist when the machine is running, as underlined by Jack
et al. [21].
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IEE PROCEEDINGS, Vol. 137, Pt. C , N o . 6, N O V E M B E R 1990