🔍 Key Concepts

• Trace how current flows from the capacitor bank through the reactor coils into PRI.1 in the excitation transformer. • Recall how a compounded self-excited alternator maintains its terminal voltage as load increases: part of the excitation comes from no‑load conditions and part changes with load. • Compare the roles of PRI.1 and PRI.2 in the excitation transformer and how each one responds (or does not respond) to changes in load current.

💭 Think About

• Looking at the illustration, does PRI.1 see current that changes when the load on the alternator changes, or is it fed from a more constant source? What does that imply about the kind of excitation it provides? • If the capacitor bank supplies leading reactive current, how would that affect the excitation current produced through PRI.1 when the alternator load increases? • In a compounded alternator, one part of the excitation system provides base/no‑load excitation and another part adds or subtracts excitation with load. From the diagram connections, which job is PRI.1 doing?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify whether PRI.1 is directly involved in the no‑load build‑up of voltage from the capacitor bank, or if that is primarily handled elsewhere in the circuit. • Check if the current through PRI.1 increases or decreases as real/load current increases, i.e., is its effect on excitation proportional or inversely proportional to load. • Confirm that improving power factor would mainly be the job of the capacitor bank itself, not specifically of the PRI.1 windings.