ELECTRICAL MACHINES

AC Motor

DC Motor

Synchronous Motors
http://www.learnengineering.org/2014/0
4/Synchronous-motor-workingprinciple.html
3 phase AC supply to produce the stator
RMF and a DC supply to produce rotor
magnetic field (or permanent magnet)
Rotating Magnetic Field rotates at
Synchronous speed.
Not self starting, unless use squirrel
cage.
Produce constant speed, if load not too
much. If too much load then get slip.

Brushed
(see LabView DC motors sheet, and
following website)
http://www.learnengineering.org/2014
/09/DC-motor-Working.html
Seperately
Series
Shunt
Compound
BLDC(BrushlessDC)
http://www.learnengineering.org/2014
/10/Brushless-DC-motor.html
Avoids using brushes but need ECU

Asynchronous / Induction Motor

Single Phase
http://www.learnengineering.org/2013/0
8/single-phase-induction-motor.html
Low power applications
3 Phase
(Squirrel Cage as an example)
http://www.learnengineering.org/2013/0
8/three-phase-induction-motor-workingsquirrel-cage.html
Induction - electricity is inducted in the
rotor through magnetic induction, rather
than direct electrical connection.
Self starting
Has Slip therefore asynchronous
motor. Only works through rotor
experiencing varying magnetic field.
Different to Synchronous motor whereby
the RMF is locked to the fixed magnetic
field of the rotor.
Induction motors are the most
commonly used electrical machines
Generator (Fixed Speed)

Generator (Variable Speed)

3-phase asynchronous(induction)

DFIG (See LabVolt notes)

generators are generally used.

Generator o/p tied directly to the grid
(local ac power network), therefore
rotation speed of
the generator is fixed (in practice, it can
generally vary a little as the slip is
allowed to vary over a range of typically
2% to 3%), and so is the rotation speed
of the wind turbine rotor.
Fluctuation in wind speed causes
mechanical power at the turbine rotor to
vary (and as rotation
speed is fixed) this causes the torque at
the wind turbine rotor to vary
accordingly.
Whenever a wind gust occurs, the
torque at the wind turbine rotor thus
increases significantly while the rotor
speed varies little.
Therefore, every wind gust stresses the
mechanical components (notably the
gear box) in the wind turbine and causes
a sudden increase in rotor torque, as
well as in the power at the wind turbine
generator output.
Any fluctuation in the output power of
a wind turbine generator is a source of
instability in the power network to which
it
is connected.

Most widely used type of doubly-fed

electric machine
Most common types of generator in
wind turbines
Rotation speed of turbine rotor is
allowed to vary as the wind speed
varies.
This precludes the use of
asynchronous generators as the
rotation speed of the generator is
quasi-constant when its output is tied
directly to the grid.
The same is true for synchronous
generators which operate at a strictly
constant speed
when tied directly to the grid.
This is where doubly-fed induction
generators come into play, as they
allow the generator output voltage
and frequency to be maintained at
constant values, no matter the
generator rotor speed (and thus, no
matter the wind speed).
As seen in the previous section,
constant V and F is achieved by
feeding ac currents of variable
frequency and amplitude into the
generator rotor windings.
By adjusting the amplitude and
frequency of the ac currents fed into
the generator rotor windings, it is
possible to keep the amplitude and
frequency of the voltages (at stator)
produced by the generator constant,
despite variations in the wind turbine
rotor
speed (and, consequently, in the
generator rotation speed) caused by
fluctuations in wind speed.
By doing so, this also allows operation
without sudden torque variations at
the wind turbine rotor, thereby
decreasing the stress imposed
on the mechanical components of the
wind turbine and smoothing variations
in
the amount of electrical power
produced by the generator. Using the
same

means, it is also possible to adjust the

amount of reactive power exchanged
between the generator and the ac
power network.
This allows the power factor of
the system to be controlled (e.g., in
order to maintain the power factor at
unity).
Finally, using a doubly-fed induction
generator in variable-speed wind
turbines allows electrical power
generation at lower wind speeds than
with fixed-speed wind turbines using
an asynchronous generator.

Synchronous (Alternator)
Alternators are the workhorse of the
power generation industry.It is
capable to generate AC power at a
specified frequency.
In an Alternator - Magnetic field rotate
with respect to rotor.
Rotor produces RMF, stator magnetic
field stationary.
Armature is the stator in this case,
where as it is a rotor in a motor!
DC supplies the rotor (field current)
and can control the o/p voltage
http://www.learnengineering.org/2014
/04/working-of-alternator.html
It would be possible to obtain similar
results in variable-speed wind
turbines using a three-phase
synchronous generator and power
electronics.
In this setup, the generator rotates at
a speed that is proportional to the
wind speed.
The ac currents produced by the
generator are converted into dc
current by an AC/DC converter
between the alternator and the grid,
then converted by another AC/DC
converter back to ac currents that are
synchronous with the ac power
network.
Thus the frequency of the generated
current is released from the grid
frequency, which may also result into

the abolition of the gearbox.

The rotor consists of a direct current
electromagnet or of permanent
magnets.