A New Generator Static Excitation System Using Boost-Buck
Chopper
Hong-Woo mew, SeUng-Ki SUI, Member, IEEE, and Min-Ho Park, Member,
Electrical Engmeering, Seoul National University
Kwanak Ku, Seoul 151-742, Korea
Abstract - A new generator excitation system using
a boost-buck chopper a s a kind of static exciters is
proposed to overcome the lack of field forcing
capability of the bus fed exciter under the input
line fault condition. It increases or maintains the
generator field current by boosting the field voltage
in the case of the input AC line voltage drop during
and immediately after a fault. The validity of the
proposed excitation system is verified with the
computer simulation. The generator stability
according to the each difference exciter is tested
using a commercial software package-CYME. The
simulation results of the stability analysis on the
generator with the proposed exciter is better than
that of the bus fed exciter. This boost-buck chopper
exciter can be simply implemented and controlled by
the modem power electronics technology.
1. INTRODUCTION
DC exciter, AC exciter or static exciter has been
used to provide the generator field current[lI-[31.
With the developments of the power semiconductor
and control technology the static exciter -
especially the bus fed type - is widely used
because of its simplicity, cost effectiveness, and
easy maintenance [3,41. The conventional bus fed
exciter whose input power coms from a main
generator terminal through a step down tsansformer
has its inherent drawback that the variation of the
genemtor terminal voltage affects the characteristics
of the excitation systed3,51. The terminal voltage
fluctuation within normal operating range can be
tolerated with the gating angle control of the
thyristor converter of the bus fed exciter. However,
under a severe line fault the generator terminal
voltage may drop considerably, and then the field
current of the generator supplied by the bus fed
exciter would be decreased. The electric power
transmitted from the generator to the network can
be determined by P= ( E , - E , sin 6 )/X, where are
the generator terminal voltage (Es), network voltage
( E r ) , and power angle ( 6 ) and line h p d a n c e
(x,)between thed3,51. The voltage of the
generator could be continuously getting clown and
the generating power transmitted to the electric
network could decrease with this reduced excitation
$4.000 1996 IEEE
0-7803-2775-6/96 1023
IEEE
and eventually the generator could be out of
synchronization[3,5]. To solve this pmblem the
comlpound source exciters are proposed and used[31
-[51, but the compund source exciter is not
normally justifiedE41. Self-dual excited synchronous
machine has been proposed for the generator
stability enhancemnt[61. One of the two field
windings is fed from the machine terminals
through a thyristor bridge while the other is fed
from a constant external DC sourcell61. But the
machine has two different field windings that make
the complex. This paper suggests a novel circuit to
i"ve the stability of the generator. The circuit
has a few extra compnents compared to the bus
fed exciter. Under the normal operating condition,
the buck chopper controls the generator terminal
voltage. But under the fault condition with the
reduced input line voltage the field voltage can be
step@ up to maintain or to increase the field
current by the boost choppr. The simulation
results of the current step function response tests
on the proposed exciter are the sam as those of
the bus fed exciter under normal o ~ r a t i n ginput
voltage, and shows that it is better than the bus
fed exciter for the generator stability enhancemnt.
2. CIRCUIT DESCFUF'TION
Fig. 1 shows the propsed circuit which has a
buck chopper to control a generator terminal
voltage and a boost converter to control DC link
voltage to be constant during and i"diate1y after
a fault. The generator field except the stator is
included in the proposed circuit of Fig. 1. The buck
chomr is consisted of a single self comutated
switching device such as Gate Tum- off
thyristor(GT0) for output voltage control and a
diode for freewheeling.In a fault condition a diode
bridge and a GTO are used as a boost chopper
with an AC input reactor. The output of this boost
chopper is used as the input power of the buck
chomr. The boost choppr does not operates
under riormal operating voltage but controls DC
link voltage to be constant by stepping up the
input voltage when the exciter input voltage is
below the normal range.

t I
Fig. 1 Boost-Buck Chomr Exciter
The three phase AC input reactor is used the
stepping up chopper. The leakage inductance of the
input transformer can be used as the input reactor.
If needed, an e m mctor can be inserted
between the transformer and the diode bridge.
The input transformer provides the proper input
voltage to the dkde bridge step@ down from the
generator terrrrinal voltage. Under normal operating
voltage condition, the power switching device
connected in pamllel to the diode bridge is switch
off state, and the current flows to the generator
field only through the mctor and the buck
chopper. By the control of the buck chomr, the
field current can be maintained as desmd. If the
bridge diode can not maintain the DC link voltage
to be constant under the line fault condition , the
power switching device of the boost chopper is
turned on and off by the DC link voltage controller.
The boost chopper controls the DC link voltage
desired for the buck chomr. During the on time of
the switching device the current flowing through
the reactor increases and field current is supplied
from the stored energy of the DC link capacitor,
and during the off tinx the stored energy in the
reactor and the source power are transferred to the
Dc link capacitor and the genemtor field If the
input voltage decreases continuously the boost
chopper can not maintain the DC link voltage to be
constant. But the DC link voltage can be
maintained as much higher than that of the diode
bridge only. This means that the proposed
boost-buck chopper exciter has more field forcing
capbility than that of the bus fed exciter, It is
well known exciter which has a strong field
forcing capability is helpful for the generator
stability e r h m e m n t during and M a t e l y after
a fault[31-[51.
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The initial flashmg circuit of the boost-buck
chopp- exciter compared to that of the existing
static exciters is difference. The existing static
exciten including the bus fed exciter which are
operated in the field do not have any soft voltage
build up techniques for the generator at starting
period. Generally some amount of their initial
flashing current is supplied directly to the field for
building up the generator terminal voltage in an
instant. They do not have any flashing c m n t
control system That means there is a magnetic
step change and the mechanical stress. But that of
the proposed exciter supplies the Dc power to the
DC link for initial flashing. And the buck choppr
increases the generator field current slowly for soft
build up the generator terminal voltage. Therefore
the increasing rate of initial flashing c m n t can be
adjusted according to the d e m d rate. Then the
initial flashing dose not produce any magnetic
transient state because there is not any field
current step change. The soft voltage build up is
another advantage of the proposed exciter system
3. COMPUTER SwruLATION
Step function tests of the bus fed exciter and the
prupsed boost-buck choppr exciter are simulated
to compare the performance of the each exciter
with data given in Appendix A based on the small
and large signal performance testings['ll. The
computer simulation is done on the c m n t step
response test of a generator field except the
generator stator. The results of the generator field
current step response test and the generator
terminal voltage step response test would be
different. But if the results of the field c m n t (If)
step response tests of them are same, those of tlie
generator t e e voltage (V,)step response tests
Should be sa~nebecause Of Vt=KP = K & .
A. Bus Fed Exciter
Fig. 2 shows the bus fed exciter circuits for the
simulation The results of the simulation are shown
in Fig.3-5. Fig. 3, 4 show the simulation results
of the 6% current step up and down Fig. 5 shows
that the ceiling current of the exciter is about
18[Al with the rated input voltage, 110 Vac.
B. Boost-Buck Chopper Exciter
Fig. 6, 7 show the simulation results of the 6%
step up and down response of the proposed exciter.
The simulation results are just the same as the
bus fed exciter, The ceiling current of the proposed
exciter is the same as the bus fed exciter. current, 18[Al, even if the input voltage is down to
<VSINJ<ll0. I I
55% of the rated input voltage. Fig. 8 shows the
"m input voltage which maintains the
60. 0 . 1

HLC2

constant DC link voltage and the ceiling current.

The boost-buck choppr exciter supphes the field
current that is decreased propxtionally to the

1 LW" .........................................................................................,

-ZW"2..
0
......................................................................................
V(P31 'I
/

Fig. 2 Simulation circuit of the bus fed exciter

Fig. 3 Simulation result of 6% current step up resmnse of the

bus fed exciter.
11R ............................................................................................

ItW I

Fig. 6 Simulation result of 6% current step up response of the

boost-buck chopper exciter.

w;

Fig. 4 Simulation result of 6% current step down res4xnS test

of the bus fed exciter

But the minimum input voltage to obtain the

ceiling current in the boost-buck chomr exciter is
the Go[Vacl in this specific design case. Its ratio of
boosting the inmt voltage is about 184%. So the
W .7 Simulation result of 6% current step clown response of
p"sed exciter can supply continuously its ceiling

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 the boost-buck chopmr exciter. exciter could maintan the cedmg voltage even if
the generator terminal voltage is reduced to 55% of
voltage drop when the input voltage is less than its rated value, and after that its voltage decreases
55% of the rated input voltage. But the current to the Vu= KO- V T according to the generator
forcing capability of the proposed exciter is much
better than that of the bus fed exciter under the terminal voltage proportionally.
same input condition. The maximum field currents Fig. 9 shows the fictitious demo network
of the exciters at different input voltages are configuration by CYMfZ International Inc. for the
shown in Table 1. software verification. Two different cases are
simulated with this network
0 3 phase short circuit fault at 7 0 2 OTAWA
bus and cleared after 10 cycles.
0 Line to line fault with 0.015 impxlance at
the same bus and cleared after 10 cycles.

0 MPZ! l The reference bus of the generator power

angles is 7002 OTAWA bus. The simulation
analysi's of the generator stability is carried out on
the generator 12, ITAIPU 3 with different exciters.

Fig 8 Minimum input voltage to obtain constant Dc link

voltage and the ceiling current

Table 1 Simulation results of the field current with input volts

Input volts [VI 1 110 1 70 I 60 I 50 1 35 I 20 1 10

Bus Fed TA1 1 18 I 11.3 I 9.7 1 8.1 I 4.8 I 3.2 1 1.6
1 I 1 I I I

4. STABILITY SIMULATION Fig. 9 The fictitious network for stability simulation

The comrcial software package CYMEl81 of A. Stability on 3 Phase Short Circuit Fault
CYME International Inc. is used for the generator
stability analysis. The exciten which are used for Fig. 10, 11 show the power angle simulation
the simulation of the power system stability are results of the generator with the proposed and the
the bus fed, the boost-buck choppr and the bus fed exciter, and the compound source exciter
compound source exciters. The "lek of the bus on 3 phase short circuit fault at the 7002 OTAWA
fed and the compound source exciters are from the bus. The heavy black lines are the proposed
IEEE Std 421.5 1992[91. But the model of the exciter, It is better clamped than those of the bus
boost-buck chopper exciter is built by using fed and the compound source exciter. Fig. 12, 13
CyMSTAB-WM[81 based umn the commkr show the field current of the proposed and the bus
simulation results. The bus fed exciter nMe1 is f e d exciters, and the compund source exciter
used as the basic model for modelling of the boost under the s m condition.
-buck chopper exciter. The difference between the
two models is the magnitude of the ceiling voltage, B. Stability on Line to Line Fault.
Vm. The , V of the proposed exciter is given Fig. 14, 15 show the sirnulation results of the
according to the the simulation results of the proposed and the bus fed exciters, and the
previous section. Therefore the boost-buck choppr compound source exciter respectively on the line to

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line fault with 0.015 impedance at the 7002 25.00 X 1.OE-01 R)
I I I
FLT CUR AT 3 PH FLT OTAWA
I I I
OTAWA bus. The simulation results show the 24.00

same trend as those of the 3 phase short circuit

fault. The proposed exciter has more genemtor 22.00

stability enhancement than the others. Fig. 16, 17 20.00

show the field c a n t of the each exciter.
~
18.00
5.50 1 OEtOl DEG ANGLE AT 3 PH FLT WAWA
I I I I
16.00
5.00

14.00
4.50

1200 I
a00
I
0.50 i 00
I
I M
I
200
I
250
I I
3.110 3.50
I I
400
4.00
X 1 OEr02 CYCLE
! : E ~ l - ~ & K r CHOP
3.50

Fig. 13 Fleld currents of the boost-buck and commund

ma some exciters at 3 phase short circuit fault
45.00 DEC ANGLE AT L TO L F L l OTAWA
2.a
I I I I I I

2.00 I I I I I I I 44.00
O 0.50 I Ofl I M 2110 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00
1 OE-U2 CYCLE
BUCK LHGP
~

Fig. 10 Power angle simulation result of the bus fed and the
buck-boost exciters on 3 phase short circuits fault.

I , I I I I I

34.00

31.00
uoo o m I 00 I 517 200 250 3.00 3.50 4.00
X 1 OErOZ GKLE
- :=- . . LHsP
1:ECXXT-EU:ti
p

Fig. 14 The simulation result of the bus fed and the boost-buck
chomr exciter on line to line fault.
ANGLE AT L TO L FLT OTAWA

48.00
2.00 I I I I I I I
ooo 0.50 I 00 I EO 200 2.60 3.00 3.50 400
X 15E102 GKLE
l ~ g ~ T ~ - U U _ CC.HOP
K_

Fug. 11 Power angle simulation result of the comund source

and the boost buck chopper exciter on 3 phase short
circuits fault
__ X 1.UE-01 W FLD CUR A1 3 PH FLT OTAWA
z.mo
1 I I I I I I

24.00

22.00
32.00 I I I I I I I
0,Ofl 0.50 100 I50 2.00 2.50 3.m 3.50 4.00
X 1O E d 2 CYCLE
20.00
!:SocST-SU~CK C p P

18.00
Fig 15 Simulation result of the compound some and the boost-
moo buck chopper exciter on line to line fault.
woa
5. CONCLUSIONS
12.00

10 00 1 I I I I I I I
A novel circuit for the generator excitation
0.00
X
0.50
1 OEcO2
1 ff0
CYCLE
I 50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 system is proposed to improve the genemtor
l : p 5 ~ : ~ U c K CHOP
stability under a fault condition. The proposed
Fig 12 Field currents of boost buck chop and bus fed exciter exciter can supply the ceiling current with the 55%
at 3 phase short circuit fault of the rated input voltage by using boosting

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'operation. The number of controlled switching for Excitation Systems for Synchronous
devices is less than that of the bus fed exciter. Machines. Approved June 13,1985.
iq,oo X t OE-Ot FU FLD CURR AT L TO L OTAWA
[2] JlEE Rep% Specification and Characteristics
I I I I I of Synchronous Generator Exciters, JIEE
15.00 CB (Japan) Technical Reprt No.536, 2. 1995.
[31 P. Kundur, Power System Stability and
Control, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1993,
pp. 315-340.
[4] Brown Boveri Review, NO. 9/10,1974,Series
Compounding of Self-Excited Synchronous
Generator.
[5] General Electric, Power System Stability
Lecture Note of 1979/1980 Power System
1 I I I I I I I Engineering Course.
(1.00 (1.50 im 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00
X 1.0E-U2
liBW5TFaUCK CHOP
CYCLE [6] S. E. Am-Shady, F. I. A M
El-Hakirn, M A Badr, "Analysis of Self-Dual
Fig. 16 Field currents of the boost-buck and the compound --Excited Synchronous Machine(part(I),(II>",
source exciter at line to line fault IEEE Transaction on Energy Conversion, vol.
20.00 X 1 OE-a1 pu
I I
FLD CURR A-r
I I
L TO L
I
FLT OTAWA 3, no. 2, June 1988, pp.305-322.
1'loo ' [7] IEEE Std 421.2-1990, IEEE Guide for
Identification, Testing, and Evaluation of the
1800
Dynamic Perjtormance of Excitation Control
17 oa Systems, Approved May 31,1990.
io00
[81 CYME International Inc.. User Guide and
Reference Manual(CYMEFLOW, CYMESTAB)
1400
, March, 1995.
14 oa [91 lEEE Std 421.5 1992, IEEE recommended
13aO
Practice for Excitation System Models for
Power System Stability Studies, Approved
March 19,1992.
Appendix A
Fig. 17 Field currents of the boost-buck and the bus fed exciter
at l i e to line fault
Generator Volt
The bus fed exciter uses basically 6 thyristors
but here only 2 GTOs with 8 diodes. Under the
normal input voltage the operating characteristics of Exciter AC Input Volts 110 Vac
the proposed excitation system is just same as the
bus fed exciter's. But under the fault condition it
can boost the input voltage to maintain the DC link
voltage to be constant by a stepping up chopper.
Through the computer simulation the operation of
the proposed exciter has been verified And also by
using commercial simulation software package,
CYME$ the stability test of the generator is done
for three different exciters on the fictitious demo
network The results show that the prowsed
boost-buck chomr exciter has better stability
characteristics for the generator compared to the
other excitation system.
6. REFERENCES
[l] ANsI/IEEE Std 421.1 1986, A n American
National Standard/IEEE Standard Definitions

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