Graeme Young

MCA ENGINEER OFFICERS Jan 2022

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING KNOWLEDGE

PARALLELING &
LOAD SHARING
 CONTENT
01 | Generating Requirements

02 | Paralleling

03 | Synchronising

04 | Out of Phase

05 | Synchronising Aids

06 | Droop

07 | Isochronous Operation

08 | Loss of Excitation

2
Electrical Systems
 Generating Requirements – I
SOLAS – part D Regulation 40
Electrical installations shall be such that:

– All electrical auxiliary services necessary for maintaining the

ship in normal operational and habitable conditions will be
ensured without recourse to the emergency source of
electrical power
– Electrical services essential for safety will be ensured under
various emergency conditions
– The safety of passengers, crew and ship from electrical
hazards will be ensured…
 Generating Requirements – II
• SOLAS Part D – Regulation 41
– A main source of electrical power of sufficient capacity to supply
all those services mentioned in regulation 40.1 . 1 shall be
provided. This main source of electrical power shall consist of at
least two generating sets

– The capacity of these generating sets shall be such that in the

event of any one generating set being stopped it will still be
possible to supply those services necessary to provide normal
operational conditions of propulsion and safety. Minimum
comfortable conditions of habitability shall also be ensured which
include at least adequate services for cooking, heating, domestic
refrigeration, mechanical ventilation, sanitary and fresh water…
5 of 43
 Paralleling – Basics…..
• To comply with the requirements of SOLAS it is
necessary to operate generators in parallel – even if
only during load transfer procedures
• Parallel operation will also be required to give
sufficient output for certain operating conditions
• There are Two stages to parallel operation
1. Synchronising
2. Load sharing…
 Synchronising – Basics…

• Incoming machine
– Same speed (frequency) as switchboard busbars
(usually a bit faster)
– Same voltage as switchboard busbars (4% - 5% deviation
is acceptable, however the closer the better)
– Instantaneous voltages in phase…
 Out Of Phase Effect
Bus-Bar: RED Incoming Machine: BLUE (ish)

Incoming machine is 180o out of phase

For 3.3kV system, voltage could peak at over 11kV
 Out Of Phase Effect
Bus-Bar: RED Incoming Machine: BLUE (ish)

We must aim for “Zero Volts”

V = I.R where voltages can lead to huge recirculating
currents
 Out Of Phase Paralleling
• Prevented by check synchroniser
• Poor manual operation--
– High instantaneous voltage
– Large circulating current
This circulating current will produce a large magnetic force to
‘pull’ the generators into synchronism, known as torque
reversal
– Physical damage
– Rotor and stator conductor malformation
– Shaft and keyway damage
– Prime mover damage…
Out Of Phase Effect
SYNCHRONISING AIDS
• Frequency meter
• Synchroscope
– Analogue type and digital
type
• Synchronising lamps
– Lamps bright, lamps dark
– 3-lamp sequence system
• Check synchroniser
• Auto-synchroniser
• Emergency synchronising
voltmeter…
Synchroscope Overview
CONSUMERS
LOAD
V

Synchro Switch

Incoming Generator
 Analogue
Synchroscope
 Analogue Synchroscope
There are two coils;

• one providing a magnetic field through the pole

pieces
• the other split in two and arranged at 90° to
each other and allowed to rotate freely –
supplied through slip rings

One of these two coils is supplied through a

resistance with the other through a pure
inductance

This results in a two phase motor…

 Analogue Synchroscope
• The stator winding is connected to the
busbars
• The rotor windings to the incoming
machine

Physically it is arranged so that the needle

connected to the rotor is at 12 o’clock
when the rotor and pole supplies are in
phase;
• The needle rotates clockwise when the
incoming machine frequency is higher
than the busbars
• Anti-clockwise when slower…
 Analogue
Synchroscope
NOTE: these instruments are
normally short-term rated
(typically 15 – 20 minutes) & must
be switched off after use

When commissioning it is
important to check the position of
the needle at synchronism as
indicated by independent means.
If the needle points to 6 0’clock at
synchronism, the busbar
connections must be reversed.
 The digital synchroscope consists of a
Digital Synchroscope series of LED indicator lamps
arranged to show the phase angle
between the incoming and busbar
frequencies

The generator and busbar voltages

are fed to a voltage and phase
LED
Voltage & driver sequence comparator, from which an
phase module LED driver module will be operated to
sequence
comparator Check indicate the phase relationship
synch.
module
A check synchroniser and voltage
comparator may also be fitted, with
their own indicators on the
instrument…
 Check Synchroniser Check
Busbar s

Synchroniser
In addition an
“auto–
synchroniser” will
have a similar
layout, with the
addition of circuits
for remote control of
prime mover speed Breaker Close
and AVR trimmer. Close Enable
Switch
Often combined with
a power Control Voltage
management
system…
20
SYNCHRONISING LAMPS
 Synchronising Lamps

Three alternative methods

• Lamps dark
– Two or three lamps, all out at synchronism
• Lamps bright
– Two or three lamps, all lit at synchronism
• Sequence (the most common system)
– Three lamps arranged to indicate relative phase position…
If,we
If however
now 2 we
sinedisplace
take displace the
the blue
waves, blue
wave
at the wave, say, 25 30
to afrequency
same position degrees topeak
degrees
and same right,
the other what
side
voltage & of
in
“kind”
the
phase, of voltage
“in what
phase” Lamp Synchronising
thedifference
is position, isdothere
whatvoltage
effective now?
we find now? at any instantaneous point?
difference

Negative
Positive voltage greater in magnitude than the previous positive one
VRED – VBLUE = 0V

NOTE: Lamps cannot tell the difference between positive

or negative voltages
Lamps Dark Synchronism indicated by lamps being extinguished
Lamps are connected across same phases

Disadvantages: Not always easy to tell when lamps are totally extinguished…

Incoming Generator
Lamps Bright Lamps are connected across different phases

Synchronism indicated by lamps being equally illuminated

Incoming Generator
 3 – Lamp Sequence
Synchronism is indicated by the top lamp being extinguished and the other two lamps being of
equal brightness

Incoming Generator
 Emergency Synchronising

If we have a failure of both the synchroscope and the sync lamps, can we parallel
machines?

Yes
- but with extreme caution

We will need a suitably rated “centre zero” voltmeter

The voltmeter is attached across one phase as shown on the next slide – hence the caution!...
Emergency Synchronising

The incoming machine speed is adjusted

to give a very slow fluctuation of the
meter needle and the breaker closed as
the meter needle passes through zero…

Incoming Generator
Paralleling
 Paralleling Procedure
Let us assume that the checks on the generator have been
completed and the engine is up and running

Check operation of prime mover

Check voltage – AVR!
Set incoming frequency
Prove you have control - Why?
Switch on synchroscope…
Adjust prime mover speed – so synchroscope is turning
slowly in clockwise direction – Why this preference?
Close breaker as synchroscope approaches 12 o’clock
Share kW load equally (governor controls)
View and adjust switchboard frequency if required – Why?
Share kVAr load equally (adjust excitation, if you have
this control)
Check machine operation under load – What do we mean
by this?…
DROOP
 DROOP
• Necessary for stability when sharing load
• Governor droop - Frequency
• AVR droop - Voltage
• In control terms this is referred to as Percentage Offset
(average Governor Droop value is 4%)

The expression “Governor droop” strictly refers to the speed

drop over the entire output shaft travel i.e. the expression
droop is taken to mean the characteristic over the 0 -100%
operating range…
Load Share Without Droop (Isochronous)

No 1 Geny No 2 Geny

35
 With Droop

No 1 Geny No 2 Geny

36
 Droop Characteristic Effects

60 Hz 60 Hz

4%
Generator speed

0 Generator Load 100

 Droop Characteristic Effects
Left side = generator 1 Hz at
100% load

Right side = generator 2 Hz at 60 Hz 60 Hz

0% load

Generator 1 speed

Generator 2 speed
Base line represents load share
of each generator

If we then assume that both 50 % 50 %

generators each take 50% of
the load then their “operating
Profiles” would bring the
speed of each generator down
to 60Hz as we will see on the Switchboard Load
next slide… Generator 1 Load 100 %
100% Generator 2 Load
 Droop Characteristic Effects

60 Hz 60 Hz
Generator 1 speed

Generator 2 speed
50 % 50 %

Switchboard Load
Generator 1 Load 100 %
100% Generator 2 Load
39
 Droop Characteristic Effects
Generator 1 speed Generator 2 speed
4% Droop 2% Droop
If both machines have
different droop
characteristics, then when 60 Hz 60 Hz
loaded up they will not
share load equally

This caters for different

sized engines being
75 % 25 %
common on a switchboard

Different droops ensure

that they only take their
share of the load & not
become overloaded Switchboard Load
Generator 1 Load 100 %
100% Generator 2 Load
I S O C H R O N O U S O P E R AT I O N
 Isochronous Operation
• Isochronous – droop = 0
• Operating two isochronous machines in parallel
– One machine will take up all the load and motor the other, it
will then operate the reverse power trip
• One isochronous machine and one with droop
– Machine with droop – steady load
– Isochronous machine – absorbs load variations
– Isochronous machine normally the larger e.g. shaft generator
No1 Isochronous & No2 with Droop

60 Hz 60 Hz

Switchboard Load
 No1 Isochronous & No2 with Droop

60 Hz 60 Hz

Switchboard Load
L O S S O F E X C I TAT I O N
 Loss Of Excitation
• Single Generator Operation
– Collapse of voltage output
– Trip on under voltage
• Parallel Operation
– Affected machine draws its excitation from the other running generator
– Both generator currents rise rapidly
– Excitation failure trip / overcurrent trip should operate & possible overload
situation
– If good generator trips first then this will deprive the other machine of
excitation resulting in it tripping and causing a blackout…
 Finally … For Parallel Operation
• kW load share:
– Controlled by fuel input, and therefore the governor settings

• kVAr load share:

– Controlled by excitation, and therefore the AVR settings
PARALLELING & LOAD SHARING