Development of a new digital synchronous generator shaft-speed deviation transducer

The authors present an electrical synchronous machine shaft speed deviation transducer. The transducer uses the synchronous machine terminal voltage and current to calculate the machine internal voltage and its frequency, which is proportional to shaft speed. Unlike the more usual shaft-mounted transducers, this transducer has no mechanical interface with the machine. Therefore the errors introduced by machine shaft vibrations, temperature changes, and other factors are virtually eliminated. The transducer was implemented using an Intel 80C196 single-chip microcontroller together with the supporting analog and digital transducers. The results of various tests of the transducer accuracy, together with the transducer main hardware and software design features, are presented and discussed.<>