DC Generators (Unit-1)

Basic Construction And Working Of A DC Generator.

DC Generator
A dc generator is an electrical machine which converts mechanical energy into direct current
electricity. This energy conversion is based on the principle of production of dynamically induced
emf. This article outlines basic construction and working of a DC generator.

Construction Of A DC Machine:
A DC generator can be used as a DC motor without any constructional changes and vice versa is also
possible. Thus, a DC generator or a DC motor can be broadly termed as a DC machine. These basic
constructional details are also valid for the construction of a DC motor. Hence, let's call this point
as construction of a DC machine instead of just 'construction of a dc generator'.

The above figure shows constructional details of a simple 4-pole DC machine. A DC machine
consists of two basic parts; stator and rotor. Basic constructional parts of a DC machine are described
below.

1. Yoke: The outer frame of a dc machine is called as yoke. It is made up of cast iron or
steel. It not only provides mechanical strength to the whole assembly but also carries the
magnetic flux produced by the field winding.

2. Poles and pole shoes: Poles are joined to the yoke with the help of bolts or welding.
They carry field winding and pole shoes are fastened to them. Pole shoes serve two
purposes; (i) they support field coils and (ii) spread out the flux in air gap uniformly.

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3. Field winding: They are usually made of copper. Field coils are former wound and
placed on each pole and are connected in series. They are wound in such a way that,
when energized, they form alternate North and South poles.

4. Armature core: Armature core is the rotor of a dc machine. It is cylindrical in shape

with slots to carry armature winding. The armature is built up of thin laminated
circular steel disks for reducing eddy current losses. It may be provided with air ducts
for the axial air flow for cooling purposes. Armature is keyed to the shaft.

5. Armature winding: It is usually a former wound copper coil which rests in armature
slots. The armature conductors are insulated from each other and also from the
armature core. Armature winding can be wound by one of the two methods; lap
winding or wave winding. Double layer lap or wave windings are generally used. A
double layer winding means that each armature slot will carry two different coils.

6. Commutator and brushes: Physical connection to the armature winding is made

through a commutator-brush arrangement. The function of a commutator, in a dc
generator, is to collect the current generated in armature conductors. Whereas, in case
of a dc motor, commutator helps in providing current to the armature conductors. A
commutator consists of a set of copper segments which are insulated from each other.
The number of segments is equal to the number of armature coils. Each segment is
connected to an armature coil and the commutator is keyed to the shaft. Brushes are
usually made from carbon or graphite. They rest on commutator segments and slide
on the segments when the commutator rotates keeping the physical contact to collect
or supply the current.
Working Principle Of A DC Generator:
 According to Faraday’s laws of electromagnetic induction, whenever a conductor is
placed in a varying magnetic field (OR a conductor is moved in a magnetic field), an
emf (electromotive force) gets induced in the conductor.
 If the conductor is provided with a closed path, the induced current will circulate
within the path.
 In a DC generator, field coils produce an electromagnetic field and the armature
conductors are rotated into the field.
 Thus, an electromagnetically induced emf is generated in the armature conductors.
The direction of induced current is given by Fleming’s right hand rule.

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Need of a Split ring commutator:

 According to Fleming’s right hand rule, the direction of induced current changes
whenever the direction of motion of the conductor changes.
 Let’s consider an armature rotating clockwise and a conductor at the left is moving
upward. When the armature completes a half rotation, the direction of motion of that
particular conductor will be reversed to downward.
 Hence, the direction of current in every armature conductor will be alternating. If you
look at the above figure, you will know how the direction of the induced current is
alternating in an armature conductor.
 But with a split ring commutator, connections of the armature conductors also gets
reversed when the current reversal occurs. And therefore, we get unidirectional
current at the terminals.

Derivation of EMF Equation of a DC Machine – Generator and Motor

Let,

 P – Number of poles of the machine

 ϕ – Flux per pole in Weber.
 Z – Total number of armature conductors.
 N – Speed of armature in revolution per minute (r.p.m).
 A – Number of parallel paths in the armature winding.

 In one revolution of the armature, t he flux cut by one conductor is given as

 Time taken to complete one revolution is given as

 Therefore, the average induced e.m.f in one conductor will be

 Putting the value of (t) from Equation (2) in the equation (3) we will get

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 The number of conductors connected in series in each parallel path = Z/A.

 Therefore, the average induced e.m.f across each parallel path or the armature
terminals is given by the equation shown below.

 Where n is the speed in revolution per second (r.p.s) and given as

 For a given machine, the number of poles and the number of conductors per parallel
path (Z/A) are constant. Hence, the equation (5) can be written as

 Where, K is a constant and given as

 Therefore, the average induced emf equation can also be written as

 Where K1 is another constant and hence induced emf equation can be written as

 Where ω is the angular velocity in radians/second is represented as

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 Thus, it is clear that the induced emf is directly proportional to the speed and flux per
pole. The polarity of induced emf depends upon the direction of the magnetic field
and the direction of rotation. If either of the two is reverse the polarity changes, but if
two are reversed the polarity remains unchanged.

 This induced emf is a fundamental phenomenon for all the DC Machines whether
they are working as a generator or motor.

 If the machine DC Machine is working as a Generator, the induced emf is given by

the equation shown below.

Where Eg is the Generated Emf

 If the machine DC Machine is working as a Motor, the induced emf is given by the
equation shown below.

 In a motor, the induced emf is called Back Emf (Eb) because it acts opposite to the
supply voltage.

Types Of A DC Generator:
Each DC machine can act as a generator or a motor. Hence, this classification is valid for
both: DC generators and DC motors. DC machines are usually classified on the basis of
their field excitation method. This makes two broad categories of dc machines;
(i) Separately excited and (ii) Self-excited.

 Separately excited DC machines: In separately excited dc machines, the field winding

is supplied from a separate power source. That means the field winding is electrically
separated from the armature circuit.
Separately excited DC generators are not commonly used because they are relatively
expensive due to the requirement of an additional power source or circuitry.
They are used in laboratories for research work, for accurate speed control of DC
motors with Ward-Leonard system and in few other applications where self-excited DC
generators are unsatisfactory. In this type, the stator field flux may also be provided with
the help of permanent magnets (such as in permanent magnet DC motors). PMDC
(permanant magnet DC) motors are popularly used in small toys, e.g. a toy car.

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 Self-excited DC machines: In this type, field winding and armature winding are
interconnected in various ways to achieve a wide range of performance characteristics
(for example, field winding in series or parallel with the armature winding).
In a self-excited type of DC generator, the field winding is energized by the current
produced by themselves. A small amount of flux is always present in the poles due to the
residual magnetism.
 So, initially, current induces in the armature conductors of a dc generator only due to the
residual magnetism. The field flux gradually increases as the induced current starts
flowing through the field winding.

 Self-excited machines can be further classified as –

 Series wound dc machines – In this type, field winding is connected in series with
the armature winding. Therefore, the field winding carries whole of the load current
(armature current). That is why series winding is designed with few turns of thick
wire and the resistance is kept very low (about 0.5 Ohm).
 Shunt wound dc machines – Here, field winding is connected in parallel with the
armature winding. Hence, the full voltage is applied across the field winding. Shunt
winding is made with a large number of turns and the resistance is kept very high
(about 100 Ohm). It takes only small current which is less than 5% of the rated
armature current.
 Compound wound dc machines – In this type, there are two sets of field winding.
One is connected in series and the other is connected in parallel with the armature
winding. Compound wound machines are further divided as -
 Short shunt – field winding is connected in parallel with only the armature
winding
 Long shunt – field winding is connected in parallel with the combination of
series field winding and armature winding

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Characteristics Of DC Generators
Generally, following three characteristics of DC generators are taken into considerations:

(i) Open Circuit Characteristic (O.C.C.), (ii) Internal or Total Characteristic and
(iii) External Characteristic.

These characteristics of DC generators are explained below.

(i)Open Circuit Characteristic (O.C.C.) (E0/If)

 Open circuit characteristic is also known as magnetic characteristic or no-load

saturation characteristic. This characteristic shows the relation between generated
emf at no load (E0) and the field current (If) at a given fixed speed.
 The data for O.C.C. curve is obtained by operating the generator at no load and
keeping a constant speed. Field current is gradually increased and the corresponding
terminal voltage is recorded.
 The connection arrangement to obtain O.C.C. curve is as shown in the figure below.
For shunt or series excited generators, the field winding is disconnected from the
machine and connected across an external supply.

 Now, from the emf equation of dc generator, we know that Eg = kɸ. Hence, the
generated emf should be directly proportional to field flux (and hence, also directly
proportional to the field current).
 However, even when the field current is zero, some amount of emf is generated
(represented by OA in the figure below). This initially induced emf is due to the fact
that there exists some residual magnetism in the field poles.
 Due to the residual magnetism, a small initial emf is induced in the armature. This
initially induced emf aids the existing residual flux, and hence, increasing the overall
field flux.
 This consequently increases the induced emf. Thus, O.C.C. follows a straight line.
However, as the flux density increases, the poles get saturated and the ɸ becomes
practically constant.

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Thus, even we increase the If further, ɸ remains constant and hence, Eg also remains
constant. Hence, the O.C.C. curve looks like the B-H characteristic. The above figure shows a
typical no-load saturation curve or open circuit characteristics for all types of DC generators.

2. Internal Or Total Characteristic (E/Ia)

 An internal characteristic curve shows the relation between the on-load generated emf
(Eg) and the armature current (Ia).
 The on-load generated emf Eg is always less than E 0 due to the armature reaction. Eg
can be determined by subtracting the drop due to demagnetizing effect of armature
reaction from no-load voltage E0. Therefore, internal characteristic curve lies below
the O.C.C. curve.

3. External Characteristic (V/IL)

 An external characteristic curve shows the relation between terminal voltage (V) and
the load current (IL). Terminal voltage V is less than the generated emf Eg due to
voltage drop in the armature circuit. Therefore, external characteristic curve lies
below the internal characteristic curve.
 External characteristics are very important to determine the suitability of a generator
for a given purpose. Therefore, this type of characteristic is sometimes also called
as performance characteristic or load characteristic.

Internal and external characteristic curves are shown below for each type of generator.

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Characteristics Of Separately Excited DC Generator

 If there is no armature reaction and armature voltage drop, the voltage will remain
constant for any load current. Thus, the straight line AB in above figure represents the
no-load voltage vs. load current IL.
 Due to the demagnetizing effect of armature reaction, the on-load generated emf is
less than the no-load voltage. The curve AC represents the on-load generated emf Eg
vs. load current ILi.e. internal characteristic (as Ia = IL for a separately excited dc
generator).
 Also, the terminal voltage is lesser due to ohmic drop occurring in the armature and
brushes. The curve AD represents the terminal voltage vs. load current i.e. external
characteristic.

Characteristics Of DC Shunt Generator

 To determine the internal and external load characteristics of a DC shunt generator the
machine is allowed to build up its voltage before applying any external load.
 To build up voltage of a shunt generator, the generator is driven at the rated speed by
a prime mover. Initial voltage is induced due to residual magnetism in the field poles.
 The generator builds up its voltage as explained by the O.C.C. curve. When the
generator has built up the voltage, it is gradually loaded with resistive load and
readings are taken at suitable intervals.

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 Connection arrangement is as shown in the figure below.

 Unlike, separately excited DC generator, here, I L≠Ia. For a shunt generator, Ia=IL+If.
Hence, the internal characteristic can be easily transmitted to Eg vs. I L by subtracting
the correct value of If from Ia.

 During a normal running condition, when load resistance is decreased, the load
current increases. But, as we go on decreasing the load resistance, terminal voltage
also falls.
 So, load resistance can be decreased up to a certain limit, after which the terminal
voltage drastically decreases due to excessive armature reaction at very high armature
current and increased I2R losses.
 Hence, beyond this limit any further decrease in load resistance results in decreasing
load current. Consequently, the external characteristic curve turns back as shown by
dotted line in the above figure.

Characteristics Of DC Series Generator

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 The curve AB in above figure identical to open circuit characteristic (O.C.C.) curve.
This is because in DC series generators field winding is connected in series with
armature and load. Hence, here load current is similar to field current (i.e. I L=If).
 The curve OC and OD represent internal and external characteristic respectively. In a
DC series generator, terminal voltage increases with the load current. This is because,
as the load current increases, field current also increases.
 However, beyond a certain limit, terminal voltage starts decreasing with increase in
load. This is due to excessive demagnetizing effects of the armature reaction.

Characteristics Of DC Compound Generator

 The above figure shows the external characteristics of DC compound generators. If

series winding amp-turns are adjusted so that, increase in load current causes increase
in terminal voltage then the generator is called to be over compounded. The external
characteristic for over compounded generator is shown by the curve AB in above
figure.

 If series winding amp-turns are adjusted so that, the terminal voltage remains constant
even the load current is increased, then the generator is called to be flat compounded.
The external characteristic for a flat compounded generator is shown by the curve AC.

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 If the series winding has lesser number of turns than that would be required to be flat
compounded, then the generator is called to be under compounded. The external
characteristics for an under compounded generator are shown by the curve AD.

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