Synchronous Generator:

 Synchronous machines are classifies as:

i) Synchronous Generator and
ii) Synchronous motor
 Synchronous generators are widely used to generate constant voltage output, that is
why synchronous generators are used in power plants (for examples- Thermal power
plants and hydro power plans, Diesel power plants etc.)
Construction of Synchronous generator:
 Construction wise, an alternator consists of field poles placed on the rotating
fixture of the machine i.e. rotor as shown in the fig. below.
 All modern electrical power generating stations use this technology for
generation of three-phase power, and as a result, the alternator or
synchronous generator has become a subject of great importance and interest
for power engineers.
 An alternator is basically a type of AC generator which also known as
synchronous generator. The field poles are made to rotate at synchronous
speed Ns = 120 f/P for effective power generation. Where, f is the alternating
current frequency and the P represents the number of poles.

Fig. Synchronous generator construction

 In most practical construction of alternator, it is installed with a stationary

armature winding and a rotating field unlike in the case of DC generator
where the arrangement is exactly opposite.
 This modification is made to cope with the very high power of the order of few
 100 Megawatts produced in an AC generator contrary to that of a DC
generator.
 To accommodate such high power the conductor weighs and dimensions
naturally have to be increased for optimum performance.
 For this reason is it beneficial to replace these high power armature windings
by low power field windings, which is also consequently of much lighter
weight, thus reducing the centrifugal force required to turn the rotor and
permitting higher speed limits.
 There are mainly two types of rotor used in construction of alternator,
 Salient pole type.
 Cylindrical rotor type.
o Salient Pole Type
 The term salient means protruding or projecting.
 The salient pole type of rotor is generally used for slow speed machines
having large diameters and relatively small axial lengths.
 The poles, in this case, are made of thick laminated steel sections riveted
together and attached to a rotor with the help of joint.

Fig. Salient pole type rotor

 An alternator as mentioned earlier is mostly responsible for generation

of very high electrical power.
 To enable that, the mechanical input given to the machine in terms of
rotating torque must also be very high. This high torque value results in
oscillation or hunting effect of the alternator or synchronous generator.
 To prevent these oscillations from going beyond bounds the damper
winding is provided in the pole faces as shown in the fig.
 The damper windings are basically copper bars short-circuited at both ends
are placed in the holes made in the pole axis.
 When the alternator is driven at a steady speed, the relative velocity of the
damping winding with respect to the main field will be zero.
 But as soon as it departs from the synchronous speed there will be relative
motion between the damper winding and the main field which is always
rotating at synchronous speed.
 This relative difference will induce the current in them which will exert a
torque on the field poles in such a way as to bring the alternator back to
synchronous speed operation.

 The salient pole type motor is generally used for low-speed operations of
around 100 to 400 rpm, and they are used in power stations with hydraulic
turbines or diesel engines.
 Salient pole alternators driven by water turbines are called hydro-alternators
or hydro generators.
 o Cylindrical Rotor Type
 The cylindrical rotor is generally used for very high speed operation and
employed in steam turbine driven alternators like turbo generators.
 The machines are built in a number of ratings from 10 MVA to over 1500 MVA.
 The cylindrical rotor type machine has a uniform length in all directions,
giving a cylindrical shape to the rotor thus providing uniform flux cutting in
all directions.
 The rotor, in this case, consists of a smooth solid steel cylinder, having a
number of slots along its outer periphery for hosting the field coils.

Fig. Cylindrical Rotor

The cylindrical rotor alternators are generally designed for 2-pole type giving
very high speed of

 Where, f is the frequency of 50 Hz. The cylindrical rotor synchronous

generator does not have any projections coming out from the surface of the
rotor, rather central polar area is provided with slots for housing the field
windings as we can see from the diagram above.
 The field coils are so arranged around these poles that flux density is
maximum on the polar central line and gradually falls away as we move out
towards the periphery.
 The cylindrical rotor type machine gives better balance and quieter-operation
along with lesser windage losses.
Working Principle of Synchronous Generator:
The alternator works on the principle of electromagnetic induction. When there is a
relative motion between the conductors and flux, emf gets induced in the conductors.
Consider a relative motion of a single conductor under the magnetic field produced by
two stationary poles. The magnetic axis of the two poles produced by filed is vertical
shown dotted in fig.

Let conductor start rotating from position 1. At this instant, the entire velocity component
is parallel to the flux lines. Hence there is no cutting of flux lines by the conductor. So
dϕ/dt at this instant is zero and hence induced emf in the conductor is also zero.
As conductor moves from position 1 towards position 2, the part of the velocity
component becomes perpendicular to the flux lines and proportional to that emf gets
induced in the conductor. The magnitude of such an induced emf increases as conductor
moves from position 1 towards 2.
At position 2, the entire velocity component is perpendicular to the flux lines. Hence there
exists maximum cutting of flux lines. And at this instant, the induced emf in the conductor
is at its maximum.
As the position of conductor changes from 2 towards 3, the velocity component
perpendicular to the flux starts decreasing and hence induced emf magnitude also starts
decreasing. At position 3, again the entire velocity component is parallel to the flux lines
and hence at this instant induced emf in the conductor is zero.
As the conductor moves from 3 to 4, the velocity component perpendicular to the flux line
again starts increasing. But the direction of velocity component now is opposite to the
direction of velocity component existing during the movement of the conductor from
position 1 to 2. Hence an induced emf in the conductor increases but in the opposite
direction.
At position 4, it achieves maxima in the opposite direction, as the entire velocity
component becomes perpendicular to the flux lines.
Again from position 4 to 1, induced emf decreased and finally at position 1, again becomes
zero. This cycle continues as conductor rotates at a certain speed. So if we plot the
magnitudes of the induced emf against the time, we get an alternating nature of the
induced emf as shown in fig.

Fig. Alternating Nature of Induced emf.

Advantages of Rotating field over Rotating armature:

The various advantages of rotating field can be stated as-
 As everywhere ac is used, the generation level of ac voltage may be higher as 11
kV to 33 kV. This gets induced in the armature. For stationary armature large
space can be provided to accommodate large number of conductors and the
insulation.
 It is always better to protect high voltage winding from the centrifugal forces
caused due to the rotation. So high voltage armature is generally kept stationary.
The avoids the interaction of mechanical and electrical stresses.
 It is easier to collect larger currents at very high voltages from a stationary
member than from the slip ring and brush assembly. The voltage required to be
supplied to the field is very low (110 V to 220 V) and hence can be easily supplied
with the help of slip ring and brush assembly by keeping it rotating.
 The problem of sparking at the slip rings can be avoided by keeping field rotating
which is low voltage circuit and high voltage armature as stationary.
 Due to low voltage level on the field side, the insulation required is less and hence
field system has very low inertia. It is always better to rotate low inertia system
than high inertia, as efforts required to rotate low inertia system are always less.
 Rotating field makes the overall construction very simple. With simple, robust
mechanical construction and low inertia of rotor, It can be driven at high speeds.
So greater output can be obtained from an alternator of given size.
 If field is rotating, to excite it by an external dc supply two slip rings are enough.
One each for positive and negative terminals. As against this, in three phase
rotating armature the minimum number of slip rings required are three and
cannot be easily insulated due to high voltage levels.
 The ventilation arrangement for high voltage side can be improved it is kept
stationary.
Applications:
 Salient pole generator is used for law speed upto 1000 rpm maximum.
 Salient pole generator is used in hydro-power plant.
 Cylindrical rotor type synchronous generators are high speed machine upto
3000 rpm.
 Cylindrical rotor type synchronous generators are used mostly in thermal power
plants.