Under excitation limiter and its role in preventing excessive synchronous generator stator end-core heating

The process of synchronous generator stator end-region (SER) heating in the under-excited condition is investigated using a thermal model based on flux densities consideration. The parameter of the model are identified using the least-square method and from which the SER steady-state and transient thermal responses are determined. A new SER heating limit is derived and used for the design of the under-excitation limiter. The proposed method makes more effective use of the generator capability to absorb reactive power without causing instability, SER overheating, and serious system overvoltage problems.