Synchronous Motor

Synchronous Motor
• A synchronous motor is a motor which moves in tandem with the
phase of the alternating current that drives it
• Most synchronous motors will have a static armature winding (stator)
and a rotating field winding (rotor)

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Synchronous Motors
• Generally constructed with stationary armature windings and rotating
poles
• Otherwise, if the machine was constructed with stationary poles and a
rotating three-phase winding, three slip-rings would be required, each
capable of dealing with high current, and the insulation of each ring
together with that of the brushgear would be subjected to a high working
voltage.
• Advantages of this arrangement are:
• The extra space available for the a.c. winding makes it possible to use more
insulation and to enable operating voltages of up to 33 kV.
• With the simpler and more robust mechanical construction of the rotor, a
high speed is possible, so that a greater output is obtainable from a
machine of given dimensions.

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Operation of Synchronous Motor
• The alternating current supplied to the armature winding, which is
sinusoidal in nature, produces a rotating magnetic field in the motor
which rotates in synchronization with the frequency of the supply
current.
• The direct current supplied to the field winding produces another
non-rotating magnetic field, having fixed pole pairs.
• The interaction between the rotating and non-rotating magnetic field
will thus cause the rotor to rotate at the speed synchronous to the
supply frequency

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Types of Synchronous Motors
• Synchronous machines can be divided into two categories: (1) those
with salient or projecting poles; and (2) those with cylindrical rotors.

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Expression of Emf

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Production of Rotating Magnetic Field

If n1 is the speed of the magnetic flux in revolutions per second

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Reversal of Direction

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Summary
• The speed of a synchronous machine depends on the frequency and
the number of pole pairs.
• The rotor can be salient or cylindrical and is excited by direct current.
• The stator has three phase windings which if excited by a three-phase
supply can produce a rotating magnetic field.
• The direction of rotation can be reversed by interchanging two of the
phase supplies.

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Starting of Synchronous Motor

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Synchronous Motor
• A synchronous motor is not a self-starting machine, which means that
it needs another mechanism to start the rotation from a stationary
condition before it can rotate by itself at the synchronous speed
• In a stationary mode, while the armature rotating poles sweep across
the field poles, they tend to pull the field poles alternately back and
forth, resulting in no motion
• Therefore, an additional starting mechanism is required to bring it to
its operating speed

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Starting of Motor
• One way to start a synchronous motor is by using a squirrel cage,
which is placed in the rotor to bring the rotor into its synchronous
speed from stationary
• After achieving the synchronous speed, the rotor is energized with
the necessary DC voltage, and the motor can now operate
independently

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Synchronous Speed
120 × 𝑓
𝜔=
𝑝
• where speed ω is in revolution-per-minute (rpm), frequency f is in Hertz,
and p is the number of poles
• When a synchronous motor is required to operate at more than one speed
• The manipulation of poles grouping is an approach that can be
implemented
• In this approach, the poles are grouped to effectively reduce the number of
poles, which in turn increases the speed
• The options of speed variation, however, are not flexible
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Armature Reaction

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Armature Reaction
• ‘Armature reaction’ is the influence of the stator m.m.f. upon the
value and distribution of the magnetic flux in the airgaps between the
poles and the stator core.
• The balanced three-phase currents in a three-phase winding produce
a resultant magnetic flux of constant magnitude rotating at
synchronous speed.

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Principle of Action
• The current in a synchronous motor is approximately in phase
opposition to the e.m.f. generated in that machine.
• In a synchronous generator the current is in phase with the generated
e.m.f.

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Principle of Action
Magnetic Flux due to Rotor Current Magnetic Flux due to Stator Current
Alone Alone

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Armature Reaction
• The magnetic flux in the airgap between the rotor and the stator is
due to the sum of the effects created by the rotor excitation and by
the stator excitation. The stator component is called the armature
reaction.
• The effect of armature reaction is to increase the flux in the leading
half of each pole and to reduce it in the trailing half.

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Principle of Action
• The flux is distorted in the direction of
rotation and the lines of flux in the gap
are skewed in such a direction as to
exert a clockwise torque on the rotor.
• Since the resultant magnetic flux due to
the stator currents rotates at
synchronous speed, the rotor must also
rotate at exactly the same speed for the
flux distribution to remain unaltered.

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Characteristics

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Characteristics of Synchronous Motor
• When a synchronous motor is
pulling a constant load, the
current that excites the armature
winding and the field winding is
varied in a certain fashion
• However, when the motor is
required to drive a variable load,
the field current is usually kept
constant at the maximum load

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Excitation of motor field
• The motor field can be excited by:
• a separate exciter set, driven by an induction motor
• a constant DC voltage supply

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Torques
• Starting torque (pull-in torque)
• The starting torque of a synchronous motor is the torque developed by the
motor when the full-rated voltage is applied to the armature winding (Low)
• Running torque
• The running torque is the torque developed by the motor during its full-rated
operation (determined by the power of the motor)
• Pull-out torque
• The pull-out torque is the maximum torque that the motor will develop
without being pulled out of step, i.e. out of synchronization with the rotating
field winding

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Advantages of Synchronous Motor
• The ease with which the power factor can be controlled. An over-excited
synchronous motor having a leading power factor can be operated in
parallel with induction motors having a lagging power factor, thereby
improving the power factor of the supply system.
• Synchronous motors are sometimes run on no load for power-factor
correction or for improving the voltage regulation of a transmission line. In
such applications, the machine is referred to as a synchronous capacitor.
• The speed is constant and independent of the load. This characteristic is
mainly of use when the motor is required to drive another generator to
generate a supply at a different frequency, as in frequency-changers.

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Disadvantages of Synchronous Motor
• The cost per kilowatt is generally higher than that of an induction
motor.
• A d.c. supply is necessary for the rotor excitation. This is usually
provided by a small d.c. shunt generator carried on an extension of
the shaft.
• Some arrangement must be provided for starting and synchronizing
the motor.

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Applications of Synchronous Motor
• Power Factor Correction
• This is a very desirable characteristic of a synchronous motor, as the power
correction of power factor can be made adjustable. When a synchronous
motor is employed exclusively for the purpose of correcting power factor, it is
often called synchronous capacitor
• Voltage Regulation
• By installing a synchronous motor with a voltage regulator to control its field
winding voltage. When the voltage drops, the field of the motor is
strengthened so that its power factor rises and the line voltage is maintained
and vice versa
• Constant Speed Load
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