Generator lab: three-phase, from the inside
A spinning magnet makes three voltages, each a third of a cycle (120°) behind the last. Follow the steps, then run the plant in the Control room.
60 Hz230 V / phase RMSFaster shaft → higher frequency and voltage
Higher voltage → less current → much less wire heating
Three equal resistors, one per phase
Generator cutaway
Swipe the gauges sideways to see them all.
Click the turbine, a load block or a breaker in the picture. It scrolls sideways: swipe or scroll to see the whole plant.
Alarms
- Overspeed normal
- Frequency normal
- Voltage normal
- Overload normal
- Reverse power normal
- Loss of field normal
- Pole slip normal
All normal.
More instruments & settings
Current
Power factor
138 kV bus
Field current
Shown as a 300 MVA, 13.8 kV unit behind a 13.8/138 kV step-up transformer; the dynamics are simplified (one machine against an infinite grid). Keys: Tab to a slider, ←/→ to nudge. Space pauses when no control is focused.
Steam turbineCoupling & shaftGeneratorExciter
Simplified two-pole machine, coils and air gap enlarged · the readouts are for a small 10 kVA machine, 230 V per phase (400 V line to line), so the numbers stay readable; a set like this one makes hundreds of MW at 13.8–25 kV (see GSU & power line)
current toward youcurrent away from youA′ is the return side of coil A, so A and A′ always carry opposite currents
Show
Rotor field
Coils' combined field
path of its tip
each coil's field, along its dashed axis
magnetic drag (against the rotation)
steam's push (with the rotation)
Generated voltage
Focus
Phasor tip → same height → instantaneous wave value
Stationary coils · rotating field · A → B → C
Drag left or right for a full 360° orbit · click a part to inspect it
Inspect a part
Connect phase loads
6.9 kW delivered
Three equal phase loads · neutral current cancels.
Next, the relays that find a fault on a line and clear it: line protection → · What the rotors do while a fault waits to be cleared: the stability lab →