EEE 205 Energy Conversion II

Synchronous Motor

A H Chowdhury, PhD
Professor
EEE, BUET
January 2020
 Topic Content

▪ Construction

▪ Principle of operation, starting

▪ Effect of variation of load at normal excitation

▪ Effect of variation of excitations

▪ V curves, inverted V curves and compounding curves, power factor

adjustment

▪ Synchronous capacitor and power factor correction

▪ Synchronous motor starting

 Synchronous Motor Construction

• The same physical machine as a

synchronous generator

• All of the basic speed, power,

and torque equations for
synchronous generator are
valid for synchronous motor
Principle of Operation

• Stator magnetic field is rotating

• Rotor "chases" the rotating stator

magnetic field around in a circle

• Larger angle between the two

magnetic fields (up to a certain
maximum) → greater torque on rotor
 Equivalent Circuit

• Synchronous motor is the same in all respects as a synchronous generator,

except that the direction of power flow is reversed

→Equivalent circuit of a synchronous motor exactly the same as that of a

synchronous generator, except that the reference direction of IA is reversed
 Synchronous Motor from a Magnetic
Field Perspective

(a) Phasor diagram of a

synchronous generator
operating at a lagging power
factor (b) Corresponding
magnetic field diagram

(a) Phasor diagram of a

synchronous motor (b)
Corresponding magnetic field
diagram
BR → EA , Bnet → Vφ
Bs → Estat (= -jXsIA)
Synchronous Motor from a Magnetic
Field Perspective

Induced torque in generator

torque is clockwise →
opposing direction of rotation
→ countertorque, opposing
the rotation caused by
external applied torque

Generator: EA lies ahead of Vφ,

BR lies ahead of Bnet
Motor: EA lies behind Vφ, BR lies
behind Bnet
 Torque-Speed Characteristics
• Maximum or pullout torque
occurs when δ = 90o

Speed of motor
constant → speed
• Pullout torque typically 3 regulation is zero
times full-load torque
• Larger field current (hence
EA), greater maximum
torque of the motor
→Stability advantage in
operating motor with a large
field current
 Torque-Speed Characteristics

Torque > pullout torque

• Rotor can no longer remain locked to stator → starts to slip → stator

magnetic field "laps" it repeatedly → direction of induced torque reverses
with each pass → huge torque surges, first one way and then the other
way → severe vibration

• Loss of synchronization after pullout torque is exceeded is known as

slipping poles
 Effect of Load Changes

Effect of an increase in load on operation of a

synchronous motor

Phasor diagram of a motor

operating at a leading PF

Load increase on the motor shaft → rotor initially slows down → torque angle δ
increases → τinduced increases → increase in τinduced speeds the rotor back up →
motor again turns at synchronous speed but with a larger torque angle δ
 Effect of Load Changes

• EA = Kφω → |EA| must be constant as load changes → but EA sinδ and IA cosθ
increase → EA swings down
• As EA swings down further and further, jXSIA has to increase to reach from tip of EA
to Vφ → armature current IA increases
• Power-factor angle θ changes, becoming less and less leading and then more and
more lagging
Effect of Load Changes
Effect of Load Changes
Effect of Load Changes
Effect of Load Changes
Effect of Load Changes
Effect of Load Changes
 Effect of Field Current Changes

• Increase in IF increases magnitude of EA, but does not affect real power supplied by
motor
• Change in IF does not affect shaft speed nm, and load attached to shaft is unchanged
→ real power supplied is unchanged
• Distances proportional to power on phasor diagram (EA sin δ and IA cos θ) constant

• EA can only slid along the line of constant power

 Effect of Field Current Changes

• As EA increases, IA first decreases and then increases again

• At low EA, IA lagging → motor is an inductive load, consuming reactive power Q

• As IF is increased, IA eventually lines up with Vφ, and motor looks purely resistive

• Further increase in IF , IA becomes leading → motor becomes capacitive load,

supplying reactive power Q to system
 Effect of Field Current Changes

Synchronous motor V curves • Minimum armature current occurs at

unity power factor

• At any other point on curve, some

reactive power is being supplied to or
by motor

• By controlling field current of a

synchronous motor, reactive power
supplied to or consumed by the
power system can be controlled
 Effect of Field Current Changes
• When projection of phasor EA onto Vφ
(EA cos δ) is shorter than Vφ → motor
has a lagging current and consumes Q

• IF is small in this situation → motor is

Underexcited synchronous motor said to be underexcited

• When projection of EA onto Vφ longer

than Vφ→ motor has a leading current
and supplies Q to the power system

• IF is large in this situation → motor is

said to be overexcited
Overexcited synchronous motor
 Effect of Field Current Changes

(c) Assume that the flux in the motor varies linearly with the field current IF.
How can you make a plot of IA versus IF for the synchronous motor with a
15-hp load?
Effect of Field Current Changes
Effect of Field Current Changes
Effect of Field Current Changes
Effect of Field Current Changes
Effect of Field Current Changes
Effect of Field Current Changes
 Synchronous Motor and PF Correction

An infinite bus connected through a transmission • Three loads:

line to an industrial plant at a distant point i. Two induction motors with
lagging power factors
ii. A synchronous motor with
a variable power factor

• What does the ability to set

the power factor of one of the
loads do for the power
system?
Synchronous Motor and PF Correction
Synchronous Motor and PF Correction
Synchronous Motor and PF Correction
Synchronous Motor and PF Correction
Synchronous Motor and PF Correction
 Synchronous Motor and PF Correction

• Ability to adjust load PF can significantly affect operating efficiency of power

system
• Lower load PF → greater losses in power lines feeding the load
• Overexcited synchronous motors (leading loads) in system can be useful:
1. Can supply some Q for nearby lagging loads (induction motors), instead of
it coming from the generator → reduced line current → lower power
system losses
2. Lower equipment and line current rating →reduces equipment cost
3. Overexcited synchronous motor → increases motor’s maximum torque
and reduces chance of accidentally exceeding pullout torque
 Synchronous Capacitor or Synchronous
Condenser

Real power
supplied to
machine is zero
→ at unity PF
IA = 0

• Synchronous capacitor or synchronous condenser → synchronous motor

operating overexcited at no load
• These special-purpose synchronous motors had shafts that did not even come
through the frame -no load could be connected to them
 Synchronous Motor Starting

Starting problems in a synchronous motor

▪ Torque alternates rapidly in magnitude and direction
▪ Net starting torque is zero
 Synchronous Motor Starting

Three basic approaches to safely start a synchronous motor:

1. Motor Starting by Reducing Electrical Frequency

Reduce speed of stator magnetic field such that rotor can accelerate and
lock in with it during one half-cycle of the magnetic field 's rotation

2. Motor Starting with an External Prime Mover

Use an external prime mover to accelerate synchronous motor up to

synchronous speed, go through paralleling procedure → bring machine on
the line as a generator → disconnect the prime mover

3. Use damper windings or amortisseur windings

Synchronous Motor Starting

Damper or amortisseur windings

 Synchronous Motor Starting
Development of unidirectional torque with synchronous motor amonisseur windings
 Synchronous Motor Starting

• Sometimes torque is counterclockwise and sometimes it is

zero, but it is always unidirectional

• Since there is
a net torque
in a single
direction, the
motor's rotor
speeds up
 Effect of Amortisseur Windings on Motor Stability

• If rotor turns at Nsync → amortisseur windings have no induced voltage

at all
• If rotor turns slower than Nsync → relative motion between rotor and
stator magnetic field and a voltage will be induced in windings
• This voltage produces a current flow that produces a magnetic field
• Interaction of two magnetic fields produces a torque that tends to
speed machine up again
• If rotor turns faster than stator Nsync → a torque will be produced that
tries to slow the rotor down
• Thus, torque produced by amortisseur windings speeds up slow
machines and slows down fast machines