Teaching Synchronization of Synchronous Generator Using Virtual Laboratory

Abstract

Synchronization is the process of connecting an alternator to an already running alternator (or bus-bars), without any interruption. The synchronous machine, which is to be synchronized, is termed as incoming machine. Certain conditions are required to be fulfilled before synchronization is carried out. This paper therefore deals with the development of virtual laboratory using simulation tools for the synchronization/paralleling of synchronous machine with that of running alternator or infinite bus bar. For this purpose, experimentation through simulation was conducted to operate an incoming machine, connected in parallel with other running alternator to supply electrical load on virtual platform using MATLAB/Simulink. During the experiment, variation in rotor speed during the synchronizing process was ignored in dynamic response. Hence, together with simplicity, developed model will be very attractive to students to enable them to gain an in-depth understanding of the operational feature of synchronous alternator during the synchronization process. Furthermore, during experiment, developed model is further modified to operate in closed loop, emphasizing the utility of virtual laboratory for higher education (preferably final year engineering graduates) and research purpose.

KEYWORDS:

• Electrical machinery
• Parallel operation
• Synchronization
• Synchronous generator
• Virtual laboratory

Author Contributions

We declare all authors contributed to the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arif Iqbal

Arif Iqbal received his BTech and MTech degrees both in electrical engineering from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India, in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He has completed his PhD from Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India, in 2015. He is having an experience of eight years in industry and teaching in the field AC drives and power systems. Currently, he is working as assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering Department, Rajkiya Engineering College Ambedkar Nagar, Akbarpur, India. His area of interest is multiphase AC machine and drives, power electronics and renewable energy systems.

Girish Kumar Singh

Girish Kumar Singh received his BTech degree from GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, India, in 1981, and PhD degree from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, in 1991, both in electrical engineering. He worked in the industry for nearly five and a half years. Currently, he is a professor in the Electrical Engineering Department, IIT Roorkee, India. He has coordinated a number of research projects sponsored by the CSIR and UGC, Government of India. He is associate editor in IET Renewable Power Generation Journal. He has also served as visiting associate professor, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea, visiting professor, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, and visiting professor, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His academic and research interest is design and analysis of electrical machines, biomedical signal processing, and renewable energy and power quality. He secured rank 1 in India and 250 world ranking (top 0.15%) in the subject area “Networking and Telecommunications” as per the independent study done and published by Stanford University, USA, in 2020. In another report published in 2021 by Stanford University, USA, he secured 266 world ranking (top 0.11%) in subject area ‘Energy’.