Power Plant Instrumentation and Control Handbook

4. Generator

The generator in a thermal power plant is a very significant subsystem driven by the steam turbine and is necessarily synchronous or, in other words, an alternator as it is popularly called. It is one of the most important types of electrical equipment and is categorized as the rotating machine that is used for converting mechanical energy into electrical energy or electricity when operated as a generator and vice versa when operated as a motor. In general, they are called a synchronous machine and the name is so given because they operate with a constant speed and are very much synchronized with the frequency of the alternating voltage that appears at the terminals. Synchronous generators are also used in the hydroelectric or hydel ...