DRIVE SYSTEM and

POWER ELECTRONICS
ENT 289
Lecture 4:
DC Generators
 Content
• Introduction
• Theory of Operation
• Commutator Action
• Effect of Adding Additional Coils and Poles
• Electromagnetic Poles
• Differences Between AC and DC Generators
• Drum-Type Armature
• Terminal Voltage
• Value of the Induced Voltage
• Field Excitation
• Classification of Generators
• Internal Losses
Introduction
• A generator is a machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy by
using the principle of magnetic induction. The principle is explained as follows:
• Whenever a conductor is moved within a magnetic field in such a way
that the conductor cuts across magnetic line of flux, voltage is
generated in the conductor
• Nowadays, universally ac voltage is generated through AC generators, and being
used for transmission, and distribution and later rectified to get DC voltages
whenever needed.
• Hence, no practical use of dc machine as power generator.
• Which is why commercial DC generators and motor are built in the same way. DC
generator can be operated as DC motor and vice versa hence DC generators
sometimes may be referred to as DC machines.
Theory of Operation

DC generator has 4 basic parts:

• A magnetic field;
• A coil;
• A commutator (mechanical rectifier)
• brushes
Components of 4-pole DC machines
Direction of the induced current flow can be determined using “Fleming’s right-hand rule”
Fleming's left-hand rule is used to find direction of shaft rotation for electric motors, while
Fleming's right-hand rule is used for electric generators.
Differences between AC and DC Generators

To conducts the current

induced in the armature
to an external load

The machines only differ

in the way the coils are
connected to the external
circuit.
AC generators carry slip
rings while DC
generators require a
commutator.
An elementary AC generator
Elementary DC generator equipped with mechanical rectifier called a commutator
 Coil at NEUTRAL zone
position
A conductor, shaped in formed of a loop or coil, is positioned between the
magnetic poles. If we rotate the loop, the loop cuts through the magnetic field, and
an Electro Motive Force EMF (voltage) is induced into the loop.
The magnitude of the induced EMF depends on the field strength and rate at
which the flux line are cut. The stronger the field and the more flux lines cut for a
given period of time, the larger the induced EMF. Neutral zones are places on the
surface of armature where the flux density is zero. At no-load operation, neutral
zones are located exactly between the poles.
Commutator Action
(Copper)
(Carbon)

The commutator is essentially

two semi-cylindrical metal The brushes are made of soft,
pieces separated by an conducting material that slides
insulating material easily on the commutator
Commutator segments and brushes

• The commutator converts the AC voltage generated in rotating loop into a DC voltage. It
also serves as a means of connecting the brushes to the rotating loop
• The purpose of the brushes is to connect the generated voltage to an external circuit.
• Each half of the commutator segments is permanently attached to one end of the
rotating loop, and the commutator rotates with the loop
• The brushes rest against the commutator and slide along one half of the
commutator and then along the other half
• Every time the ends of the loop reverse polarity, the brushes switch from one
commutator segment to the next. This means that one brush is always positive
with respect to another
Commutator mounted on armature
Effects of Adding Additional Coils and Poles
4 commutator
• The commutator has 4
segments segments since there are 4 coil
ends.
• The graph shows generator
output when two coils used.
• The two dotted curves indicate
individual coil voltages
• Combined at the output,the
voltage cannot fall any lower
2 brushes than point A with maximum at B.
• Hence, ripple is reduced from B
to (B-A)

Ripple
effect

The additional magnetic poles have the same effect on ripple as did the armature
coils. In addition, the increased number of poles provides a stronger magnetic field.
This, in turn, allows an increase in output voltage because the coils cut more lines of
flux per revolution
Electromagnetic Poles • Nearly all practical
generators use
electromagnetic poles
instead of the permanent
magnet.

• The electromagnetic field

poles consist of coil of
insulated copper wire
wound on soft iron cores.

• The main advantages of

electromagnetic poles
are:
• Increased field
strength
• A means of controlling
Four poles generator (without armature) a strength of fields. By
varying the field
strength, the output
voltage of the
generator can be
controlled
Armature

Drum-Type Armature

• The rotating part of a generator, consisting essentially of copper wire wound

around an iron core
• The armature windings are placed in slots cut in a drum-shaped iron core
• Each winding completely surrounds the core so that the entire length of the
conductor cuts the magnetic field
• Drum type armature are wound with either of two types of windings:
• LAP WINDING
• WAVE WINDING
Lap winding
 For high-current applications
 The windings are connected to provide several parallel paths for current in the
armature
 For this reason, lap-wound armatures used in dc generators require several pairs
of poles and brushes
Wave winding
• For high-voltage applications
• Notice that the two ends of each coil are connected to commutator segments
separated by the distance between poles
• Only requires one pair of brushes
Value of the Induced Voltage
The voltage induced in a dc generator is given by:

Eo = ZnP / A60
Eo = voltage between the brushes [V]
Z = total number of conductors on the armature [1 turn = 2 conductors]
n = speed of rotation [r/min]
= flux per pole [Wb]
P = no of poles, A = no of parallel path: A = 2 for wave winding, A = P for lap winding
Example:
Coil / Segments
The armature generator, has 4 slots.
Each coil has 4 turns. The total number of
armature conductors is:

Solution:
4 coils are required to fill 4 slots
The total number of armature conductor is
Z?
Z = 4coils X 4turns/coil X 2conductors/turn
= 32
16 turns 32 conductors
Slot 4 slots = 4 coils
Exercise
• A lap connected DC generator has 8 poles and 120 slots
with 8 conductors in each slot. If flux per pole is 0.04 wb:
• Find emf generated when speed is 600rpm
• Find speed of rotation, if induced emf is 500V
• A 6 pole wave connected armature has 300 conductors
and runs at 1000rpm. Emf generated is 600V. Find the
useful flux per pole.
Field Excitation
• When a dc voltage is applied to the field windings of a dc
generator, current flows through the windings and sets up a
steady magnetic field. This is called FIELD EXCITATION.

• This excitation voltage can be produced by the generator itself or it can be

supplied by an outside source, such as a battery. A generator that supplies its own
field excitation is called a SELF-EXCITED GENERATOR. Self-excitation is possible only
if the field pole pieces have retained a slight amount of permanent magnetism,
called RESIDUAL MAGNETISM. When the generator starts rotating, the weak
residual magnetism causes a small voltage to be generated in the armature. This
small voltage applied to the field coils causes a small field current (THIS IS
BECAUSE FIELD COILS AND ARMATURE COILS ARE CONNECTED IN SELF-EXCITED
GENERATOR).

• Although small, this field current strengthens the magnetic field and allows the
armature to generate a higher voltage. The higher voltage increases the field
strength, and so on. This process continues until the output voltage reaches the
rated output of the generator.
Classification of Generators

Instead of having permanent magnets as poles, we can create

the poles by electromagnets (through windings). These are
called as FIELDS

Generators are usually classified according to the way in which

their field are excited

Generators may be divided into:

• Separately-excited generators
• Series-wound generator
• Shunt-wound generator Self-excited generators
• Compound-wound generator
Generated voltage is dependent on three factors:
• The number of conductor loops
in series in the armature

• Armature speed, and

• Magnetic field strength

• Usually, it is impractical to change the number of conductors in the armature

however, the armature rotational speed can be easily varied while the strength of the
magnetic field, can be changed easily by varying the current through the field
winding.
Separately Excited Generator

The poles (Main Field) are excited by separate supply. Armature is

connected to load separately. The armature is driven by another motor,
diesel/petrol engine etc

1) Main Field (a,b)

2) Battery (or any source)
connected to (a,b)
3) Armature voltage is
available at (x,y)
4) Field windings and
armature windings are
independent to each
other

Separately excited 2-pole generator

Characteristics of separately
excited generator
Characteristics of separately
excited generator
• The external characteristic of the separately excited DC generator is
obtained by subtracting the drops due to ohmic loss ( Ia Ra ) in the
armature from generated voltage ( Eg ).
• This curve gives the relation between the terminal voltage (V) and
load current. The external characteristic curve lies below
the internal characteristic curve. Here, AD line in the diagram below
is indicating the change in terminal voltage(V) with increasing load
current. It can be seen from figure that when load current increases
then the terminal voltage decreases slightly. This decrease in
terminal voltage can be maintained easily by increasing the
fieldcurrent and thus increasing the generated voltage. Therefore,
we can get constant terminal voltage.
Applications of Separately Excited
DC Generator
• These types of DC generators are generally more expensive
than self-excited DC generators because of their requirement of
separate excitation source. Because of that their applications are
restricted. They are generally used where the use of self-excited
generators are unsatisfactory.
• Because of their ability of giving wide range of voltage output, they
are generally used for testing purpose in the laboratories.
• Separately excited generators operate in a stable condition with any
variation in field excitation. Because of this property they are used
as supply source of DC motors, whose speeds are to be controlled
for various applications. Example- Ward Leonard Systems of speed
control.
 Saturation curve

• Saturation curve (left) was obtained when when field current, Ix was gradually
raised so that mmf of the field and flux per pole increased
• There are linear portion 0a and saturated portion of bc
• Driven at constant speed, induced voltage E0 is directly proportional to the flux
• By plotting E0 as function of Ix, we obtain curve called no-load saturation curve
• Rated voltage of DC generator is usually a little above knee of curve
• By varying exciting current, induced voltage also can be varied
• Reversing the Ix will reverse the flux and thus the polarity of induced voltage
• For given exciting current, induced voltage increases in direct proportion to speed
 Series-Wound Generator

• In series-wound generator, the field

windings are connected in series
with the armature

• If the load has a high resistance

and only draws (pull/attract) a small
amount of current, the excitation
current is also small.

• Therefore, the magnetic field of the

series field winding is weak, making
the generated voltage low.

• Conversely, if the load draws a large

current, the excitation current is
i) Field winding/coil is the magnetic field also high. Therefore, the magnetic
is which is produced by an electromagnet field of the series field winding is very
arrangement strong, and the generated voltage is
ii) Load circuit is the external circuit high.
connected to the generator
Characteristics of series generator
Characteristics of series generator
• The external characteristic curve shows the variation of
terminal voltage (V) with the load current ( IL). Terminal voltage of
this type of generator is obtained by subtracting the ohomic drop
due to armature resistance (Ra) and series field resistance ( Rsc) from
the actually generated voltage ( Eg).
• The external characteristic curve lies below the internal
characteristic curve because the value of terminal voltage is less
than the generated voltage. Here in the figure OD curve is showing
the external characteristic of the series wound DC generator.
Applications of Series Generator
• These types of generators are restricted for the use of power supply
because of their increasing terminal voltage characteristic with the
increase in load current from no load to full load. We can clearly see
this characteristic from the characteristic curve of series wound
generator. They give constant current in the dropping portion of the
characteristic curve. For this property they can be used as
constant current source and employed for various applications.
• They are used for supplying field excitation current in DC
locomotives for regenerative breaking.
• This types of generators are used as boosters to compensate
the voltage drop in the feeder in various types of distribution
systems such as railway service.
• In series arc lightening this type of generators are mainly used.
Shunt-Wound Generator (parallel)

• In a shunt-wound generator, the field

coils consist of many turns of small wire.
They are connected in parallel with the
load. In other words, they are connected
across the output voltage of the armature.

• Current in the field windings of a shunt-

wound generator is independent of the
load current (currents in parallel
branches are independent of each other).
Since field current, and therefore field
strength, is not affected by load current, the
output voltage remains more nearly
constant than does the output voltage of
the series-wound generator.

• In actual use, the output voltage in a dc shunt-wound generator varies inversely

as load current varies.
• The output voltage decreases as load current increases because the voltage drop
across the armature resistance increases (E = IR). As the output voltage
decreases exciting current fall s which further weakens the field.
Characteristics of shunt generator
Characteristics of shunt generator
• The internal characteristic curve represents the relation between
the generated voltage Eg and the load current IL. When the
generator is loaded then the generated voltage is decreased due to
armature reaction. So, generated voltage will be lower than the emf
generated at no load. Here in the figure below AD curve is showing
the no load voltage curve and AB is the internal characteristic curve.
• AC curve is showing the external characteristic of the shunt wound
DC generator. It is showing the variation of terminal voltage with the
load current. Ohmic drop due to armature resistance gives lesser
terminal voltage than generated voltage. That is why the curve lies
below the internal characteristic curve.
Applications of Shunt wound DC
Generator
• The application of shunt generators are very much restricted for its
dropping voltage characteristic. They are used to supply power to
the apparatus situated very close to its position. These type of DC
generators generally give constant terminal voltage for small
distance operation with the help of field regulators from no load to
full load.
• They are used for general lighting.
• They are used to charge battery because they can be made to give
constant output voltage.
• They are used for giving the excitation to the alternators.
• They are also used for small power supply.
Controlling voltage of shunt
generator

• Possible by varying exciting current by means of rheostat

• Suppose E0= 120V when movable contact p at center of rheostat
• No load value of E0 can be determined if we know saturation curve of the
generator and total resistance Rt between point p and b
• A straight line corresponding to slope of Rt is drawn on the curve
• The line must pass through origin and intersection point with the curve yield
induced voltage
Compound Generator

• Compound-wound generators have a series-field

winding in addition to a shunt-field winding.
• As the load current increases, the current through the
series field winding increases, increasing the overall
magnetic field strength and causing an increase in the
output voltage of the generator.
• With proper design, the increase in the magnetic field
strength of the series winding will compensate for the
decrease in shunt field strength.
• Therefore, the overall strength of the combined magnetic
fields remains almost unchanged, so the output voltage will
remain constant.
Characteristics of compound
generator
Characteristics of compound
generator
• External characteristic of DC compound wound generator is drawn between the terminal
voltage and the load current.By adjusting the no. of amp-turns in the series field winding we can
get following external characteristics:
• If the series turns are so adjusted that with the increase in load current the terminal voltage also
increases, then the generator is called over compounded. The curve AB in the figure showing this
characteristic. When the load current increases then the flux provides by the series field also
increases. It gives the additional generated voltage. If the increase in generatedvoltage is greater
than the voltage drops due to armature reaction and ohmic drop then, terminal voltage of the
generator is increased.
• If the series turns are so adjusted that with the increase in load current the
terminal voltageremains constant, then the generator is called flat compounded. The curve AC in
the figure showing this characteristic. When the load current increases then the flux provides by
the series field also increases and gives the additional generated voltage. If the increase in
generatedvoltage is equal to the voltage drops due to armature reaction and ohmic drop then,
rated terminal voltage of the generator remains same as no load voltage.
• If the series field winding has lesser no. of turns then the rated terminal voltage becomes less
than the no load voltage, then the generator is called under compounded. Because, the increase
in generated voltage is lesser than the voltage drops due to armature reaction and ohmic drop.
Curve AD in the figure is showing this characteristic.
Applications of Compound
Generator
• Among various types of DC generators, the compound wound DC
generators are most widely used because of its compensating
property. We can get desired terminal voltage by compensating the
drop due to armature reaction and ohmic drop in the in the line.
Such generators have various applications.
• Cumulative compound wound generators are generally used
lighting, power supply purpose and for heavy power services
because of their constant voltage property. They are mainly made
over compounded. Cumulative compound wound generators are
also used for driving a motor.
• For small distance operation, such as power supply for hotels,
offices, homes and lodges, the flat compounded generators are
generally used.
• The differential compound wound generators, because of their large
demagnetization armature reaction, are used for arc welding where
huge voltage drop and constant current is required.
DC Generator External
Characteristics
Terminal voltage

Armature current
Exercise
• A 1000rpm DC shunt generator is supplying 100 lamps of
60W at 230V. The armature and field resistance are
respectively 0.1 and 115 ohms.
• Determine the generated emf
• If the speed is changed to 900rpm, what is the newly
generated emf?
• A 25kW compound generator works on full load with
terminal voltage of 220V. The armature, series and shunt
field resistance are 0.1, 0.05 and 110 ohms respectively.
Calculate the generated emf when generator is
connected as long shunt machine.
Internal Losses

• There are 4 internal losses that contribute to lower the efficiency of

DC generator
i) Copper losses
ii) Eddy-current losses (core loss)
iii) Hysteresis losses (core loss)
iv) Mechanical losses Electrical losses
• All these losses appear as heat thus raises temperature of the
machine
• These will lower efficiency of machine
i) Copper Losses / Conductor I2R Losses
Is the power lost as heat in the conductor (armature) upon its resistance
and the square of the current it carries.
Attributed to current s in various windings such as armature, and field
Instead of using I2R equation, we sometimes prefer to express the losses in
terms of watts per kilogram of conductor material. The losses are given by
the equation
Pc=1000J2/ [W/kg]
Pc = Specific conductor power loss [W/kg]
J = Current density [A/mm2]
 = resistivity of the conductor [n.m]  = 0(1+t)
= density of the conductor [kg/m3]
1000 = constant, to take care of units

0 = resistivity of conductor at 0ºC [n.m]

Wildi – page 918  = temperature coefficient of resistance at 0ºC
t = temperature of conductor [ºC]
ii) Eddy-Current Losses
• As the armature rotates within the field, it cuts the line of flux at the same
time that the copper coils of wire that are wound on the armature cut the
lines of flux. Since the armature is made of iron, an EMF is induced in the
iron, which causes a current to flow. The circulating currents within the iron
core are called eddy-currents ( Wildi - page 34)

• To reduce the eddy-currents, the armature and field cores are constructed
from laminated steel sheets. The laminated sheets are insulated from one
another so that the current cannot flow from one sheet to the other
iii) Hysteresis Losses
• When armature rotates in magnetic field, it crosses all the north pole and
south pole.
• Inside the armature core, reversal of magnetic flux takes place, while
armature pass from one pole to another each time.
• Reversal of magnetic flux in armature core causes “Hysteresis loss”.
• To minimize hysteresis loss silicon steel is used for the armature core.
iv) Mechanical Losses
• Rotational or mechanical losses can be caused by bearing friction, brush
friction on the commutator, or air friction, which is caused by the air
turbulence due to armature rotation.

• Careful maintenance can be instrumental in keeping bearing friction to a

minimum. Clean bearings and proper lubrication are essential to the
reduction of bearing friction. Brush friction is reduced by assuming proper
brush seating, using proper brushes, and maintaining proper brush tension.
A smooth and clean commutator also aids in the reduction of brush friction.
Summary
• The purpose of the armature is to provide the energy conversion in a DC generator

• The purpose of the rotor is to provide the rotating element in a DC generator

• In DC generator, the purpose of the stator is to provide the field

• The purpose of the field in a DC generator is to provide a magnetic field for

producing a voltage
• There are three conditions necessary to induce a voltage into a conductor are:
1) Magnetic field
2)Conductor
3) Relative motion between the two

• The left-hand rule states that if you point the index finger of the left hand in
the direction of the magnetic field and point the thumb in the direction of
motion of the conductor, the middle finger will point in the direction of
current flow

• The terminal voltage of a DC generator is adjusted by varying the field

strength

• There are four internal losses that contribute to lower efficiency of a DC

generator.
1) Copper losses; 2) Eddy-current losses; 3) Hysteresis losses;
4) Mechanical losses
• A series-wound DC generator is constructed so that the field winding is in series
with the armature winding. Outputs vary directly with load currents. Series-wound
generators have few practical applications.

• A shunt-wound DC generator is constructed so that the field winding is in parallel

(shunt) with the armature winding. The output varies inversely with load current.

• In a compounded DC generator, the series and shunt fields aid one another. These
generators combine the characteristics of series and shunt generators. The output
voltage remains relatively constant for all values of load current within the design
of the generator. Compound generators are used in many applications because of
the relatively constant voltage.
Mid-Term Examination
• 10% of your grade, therefore its very important!!
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• Covers topics from day one until DC Motor.