Course Name / Code : Electrical Machine II/ EE8401

Degree/Branch : B.E/ EEE

Semester / Section :V

UNIT – II – SYNCHRONOUS MOTOR

Principle of operation – Torque equation – Operation on infinite bus bars - V and Inverted V
curves – Power input and power developed equations – Starting methods – Current loci for
constant power input, constant excitation and constant power developed-Hunting – natural
frequency of oscillations – damper windings- synchronous condenser.
PART – A

1. When is a synchronous motor said to receive 100% excitation? [N/D 2015]

When Eb=V, synchronous motor receives 100% excitation

2. What are the causes of hunting? [N/D 2015]

 Sudden changes of load .
 Faults were occurring in the system which the generator supplies.
 Sudden change in the field current.
 Cyclic variations of the load torque.

3. List the inherent disadvantages of synchronous motor. [A/M 2016]

 Higher cost
 Necessity of a DC excitation source
 Greater initial cost
 High maintenance cost

4. How do you change the operating speed of synchronous motor? [A/M 2016]
There are more than one way to change the speed of synchronous speed as speed is equal to (120
x frequency/no. of poles) and these are
 Change the frequency of electrical supply which can be changed by a two stage AC-DC-AC
conversion.
 Change in number of poles of motor, but this is a hardware feature so it can be decided at the
time manufacturing only

5. What are the various functions of damper winding provided with synchronous
motor? OR What is the role of damper winding in synchronous motor? [N/D 2016] , [N/D
2017], [A/M 2019]
 To reduce hunting or phase swinging.
 To develop necessary starting torque
6. What is meant by hunting? How hunting is minimized? [N/D 2016]
When a synchronous motor is used for driving a fluctuating load, the rotor starts oscillating about
its new position of equilibrium corresponding to new load. This is called as hunting.
Damper windings are used to prevent hunting. Damper windings are short circuited
copper bars are embedded in the faces of field poles of the motor.

7. What are V-curves? [A/M 2017]

The curves drawn between armature current and field current for different power inputs are
called as ‘V’ curves.

8. What is meant by synchronous condenser or phase modifier? OR How the synchronous

motor can be used as synchronous condenser? [A/M 2017], [A/M 2018], [N/D 2018]
Synchronous motor operating at an over excited condition under no load is called as
Synchronous condenser. The synchronous condensers having leading power factor are widely
used for improving power factor of those power sytems. So it is called as synchronous capacitor
or phase modifier.

9. A 3-phase synchronous motor driving a constant load torque draws from infinite
bus at leading power factor. How power angle and power factor will change if the
excitation is increased? [N/D 2017]
When the excitation is increased, the power angle and power factor will also increased.

10. How does a change of excitation affect its power factor? [A/M 2018]
 When the excitation of a synchronous motor is changed, the power factor also changes.
 When the excitation is increased, power factor improves until it becomes unity & again an
increase in excitation the power factor becomes leading.
 When the excitation is decreased, the power factor becomes leading.

1. Define pull in torque and pull out torque in synchronous motor.[N/D 2018]
Pull In Torque:
It pertains to the ability of the machine to pull into synchronism when changing from induction
to synchronous motor operation.
Pull Out Torque:
The maximum torque which the motor can develop without pulling out of step or synchronism is
called the pull out torque.

11. Why does the synchronous motor always run at synchronous speed? [N/D 2018]
A synchronous motor always runs at synchronous speed because of the magnetic locking
between the stator and rotor poles.
12. Draw the typical torque angle characteristics of synchronous machine. [A/M 2015]
13. Name the various torques associated with a synchronous generator/motor. [A/M 2019]
1. Starting torque 2.Running torque 3.Pull in torque 4.Pull out
torque

PART – B

Principle of operation - – Operation on infinite bus bars:

1. Explain the working of synchronous motor with different excitations. (13) [A/M 2018]
2. Explain the effect of variable excitation on the behavior of the synchronous motor under
constant load condition. (13)
3. Draw and explain the phasor diagram of a synchronous motor operating at lagging and
leading power factor. (8) [N/D 2015]
4. Describe the principle of operation of synchronous motor. Or Explain briefly the features and
principle of operation of three phase synchronous motor. (13) [N/D 2017], [N/D 2018]

V and Inverted V curves:

5. Explain the effect of excitation on armature current and power factor of synchronous motor
and thereby obtain V and inverted V curves. (13) [ N/D 2015], [A/M 2016], [A/M 2017], [N/D
2016], [A/M 2015], [N/D 2018], [A/M 2019]

Current loci for constant power input, constant excitation and constant power developed:
6. Draw and explain the current loci of synchronous motor for constant power developed and
Draw and explain the current loci of synchronous motor for constant excitation. Or What are ‘
Constant excitation circles and constant power cycle’ for a synchronous motor? How are they
derived? (13) [N/D 2017]

synchronous condenser:
7. Explain how synchronous motor can be used as a synchronous condenser. Or Explain with
the help of phasor diagram, the operation of synchronous condenser.(8) [N/D 2017], [A/M 2019]

Torque equation - Power input and power developed equations:

8. Derive the expression for power developed in a synchronous motor. Also find the condition
for maximum power developed. Or With the help of phasor diagram, obtain the expression for
mechanical power developed by a synchronous motor. (13) [A/M 2019]

Starting methods:
9. Why synchronous motors are not self starting? Describe the various methods of starting the
synchronous motor. (13) [A/M 2016], [N/D 2016], [N/D 2017], [A/M 2019]

PART – C

1. A synchronous motor absorbing 75KW is connected in parallel with a factory load of 300KW
having a lagging power factor of 0.9 if the combined load has lagging power factor of 0.95, what
is the value of leading KVAR supplied by the motor and what power factor is it working?

2. A 3000V, 3phase, synchronous motor running at 1500RPM has its excitation kept constant
corresponding to no load terminal voltage of 3000V.Determine the power input, power factor
and torque developed for an armature current of 250A with synchronous reactance is 5Ω/ph and
armature resistance is neglected.

3. A 9KW, 400V, 3phase star connected synchronous motor has synchronous impedance per
phase of (0.4+j3)Ω. Find the angle of retard and the voltage to which the motor must be excited
to give a full-load output at 0.8 leading power factor. Assume in efficiency of 90%.

4. A 100V(phase value) synchronous motor having 40% reactance and a negligible resistance is
to be operated at rated load at unity power factor, 0.8P.F lag and 0.8P.F lead, what are the values
of induced EMF.

5. A 3300 V, delta connected motor has a synchronous reactance per phase of 18Ω. It operates at
a leading power factor of 0.707 when drawing 800KW from the mains. Calculate its excitation
emf. (8) [A/M 2016]

6. A 1000KVA, 11000 V, 3-phase star connected synchronous motor has an armature resistance
and reactance per phase of 3.5Ω and 40Ω respectively. Determine the induced emf and angular
retardation of the rotor when fully loaded at 0.8 p.f. lagging and 0.8 p.f. leading. (8) [N/D 2015],
[A/M 2017]

7. A 5KW, 3-phase star connected 50Hz, 440 V, cylindrical rotor synchronous motor operates at
rated condition with 0.8 p.f. leading. The motor efficiency excluding field and stator losses is
95% and Xs=2.5Ω. Calculate:
i) Mechanical power developed. ii) Armature current
iii)Back emf iv) Power angle
i) Maximum or pull out torque of the motor. [A/M 2018]