Product Overview
Model. The 1020FDL1100 3-Phase is a Marathon FDL 4-pole alternator. Marathon reads the model as frame 1020 followed by the FDL family code and the winding number 1100. The frame sets the mechanical envelope and the family code sets whether the machine is wound for single-phase or three-phase service. It is wound for three-phase service at 60 Hz. Electrical rating. At 0.8 power factor lagging this machine is rated 2300 kW, which is 2875 kVA, delivered as three-phase at 480 V 60 Hz. At 480 V line-to-line that is 3458.1 A per line. At this rating the machine is normally ordered with a PMG excitation system rather than plain shunt excitation, because the fault current available from a permanent magnet pilot exciter is what lets the downstream protection discriminate properly on a set this size. The 1800 rpm figure is synchronous speed, so there is no slip and no speed-dependent voltage droop. Frame and core. The 1020 frame carries the 1100 core. Frame size fixes the stator bore and the shaft centre height; the core length fixes how much active iron sits in that bore, and therefore how much output the machine can make at a given temperature rise. The exact finished weight and outline drawing depend on the winding and the coupling, so they are confirmed on the certified datasheet issued with the order. The cooling circuit is direct air cooled, IC01, and the frame is fabricated steel frame, cast iron end brackets. Three-phase winding. This is a three-phase machine with a 12 re-connectable winding brought out to 12 re-connectable terminals, so it can be reconnected on site for the usual voltage pairs β 380/220 V, 400/230 V, 415/240 V, 440/254 V and 480/277 V on the 50 Hz build, and the 60 Hz pairs on the 60 Hz build. Reconnection is done on the link board inside the terminal box, not by rewinding, which is why one machine can serve a 380 V job and a 480 V job. The 2/3 pitch design is what keeps the fifth and seventh space harmonics down without skewing the stator, and it is the reason the line-to-line waveform stays within the distortion limits the standards ask for. Four-pole build. A four-pole machine turns at 1500 rpm on 50 Hz and 1800 rpm on 60 Hz. That is the standard choice for generator sets from a few tens of kVA up to the low megawatt range, because the lower rotor speed gives a longer bearing life, a quieter fan, a higher subtransient reactance that is easier to coordinate with downstream protection, and a rotor that can carry a substantial damper cage for parallel operation. The trade is weight: a four-pole machine of a given kVA is roughly twice the mass of a two-pole one. Excitation and voltage regulation. The excitation system is self-excited brushless with SE350E AVR, regulated by SE350E standard / PM500 / DVR2400 with PMG, holding steady-state voltage to +/-1.0%. Marathon fits the SE350E as the standard regulator on the smaller frames, with the PM500 and the DVR2400 available where a PMG is specified. On the Mariner and harsh-duty builds the excitation stator is fully encapsulated and the rotating rectifier is a heavy-duty assembly with a 300% diode margin and sealed welded stud terminations, which is the difference between a machine that survives a damp boat hold and one that does not. Mechanical build. The frame is fabricated steel frame, cast iron end brackets. Bearings are sealed for life ball bearings. Mounting is single bearing SAE flange or two bearing. Maximum overspeed is 2250 rpm, and the machine is rated for 1000 m. On the 280 to 430 frames the machine ships with twelve leads and a link board as standard, and the minimum inlet clearance is six inches. On the 570 frame and above the terminal box is mounted on top with the link board inside it, and a selenium surge suppressor is fitted as standard from the 360 frame up. Harsh-duty builds get multiple dip-and-bake cycles on the main stator. Where it fits. Power station and large marine duty. Machines in this band are engineered to order around the prime mover, with the excitation, cooling and protection all coordinated at the system level rather than picked from a catalogue. On a three-phase machine of 2300 kW the practical constraint is usually the downstream protection and the cable, not the alternator itself. Core stack position. The 1100 core is stack position 1 of 5 in the FDL family, roughly 20% of the way along the family's lamination length range. It is the shortest stack the FDL family is built with. Short-stack builds like this one are picked when the set has to fit a compact canopy or a tight skid: the frame carries the rating with the least iron and the shortest overall length, at the cost of a slightly higher flux density in the teeth and a little more excitation current at part load. Where it sits in the range. The FDL family is catalogued from 2500 kW up to 3300 kW, and this page covers the 2300 kW / 2875 kVA point. The step above it is the 1020FDL1102 3-Phase at 2500 kW, 3125 kVA. It is the smallest build in the family, so it is the one to quote when the load is fixed and the budget is tight. Reading the model code. A Marathon designation is read as the frame number, the winding family (PSL, CSL, CSA, RSL, FSL or FDL), and a four-digit winding code. Here that gives 1020FDL1100 3-Phase for the model, 1020 for the frame, 1100 for the core and three for the phase count, so the code on the nameplate and the code on this page match one for one. Quoting the full code rather than just the frame matters on this family, because the same frame number is built in several core lengths and the winding changes with the voltage. Frame position. The FDL range is built on 2 frame sizes β 1020, 1030 β and the 1020 frame is number 1 of them. No other frame in this range carries exactly this rating, so the 1020 is the only build at 2300 kW and there is no cross-frame decision to make. What the nameplate means once it is wired in. At 2300 kW and 2875 kVA this machine pushes 3458 A down each line on a 480 V three-phase supply. That current, not the kVA figure, is what the switchgear and the cable have to survive, so the outgoing breaker should be a 5000 A frame device set to trip above 4323 A, and the run from the alternator terminals to the first panel should be 630 mm2 copper per phase for a normal 25 to 30 m span. Longer runs, aluminium conductors or tray-installed cable all move that number up, and the volt drop at full load is what decides it in the end. On the mechanical side the prime mover has to deliver about 2576 kW at the coupling. The usual 1.10 to 1.15 margin over the alternator rating covers the fan, the excitation loss and the governor droop, and it is the reason a 2300 kW alternator is normally quoted against a 2576 kW engine rather than a 2300 kW one. Fuel burn follows the electrical load almost linearly in this range. At a realistic 0.29 L per kWh for a modern common-rail set, running this alternator at full rating takes roughly 667 L per hour; at 75 per cent load it drops to about 520 L per hour and at half load to about 367 L per hour, because the fixed losses stay put while the variable ones fall away. Quote the breaker frame, the cable size and the engine rating together with the alternator, because a set that is right on paper and undersized on the cable is the most common way a good alternator gets blamed for a bad installation. Where this rating sits in the frame ladder. Within the 1020 frame FDL carries 5 distinct ratings, and this is number 1 of them at 2300 kW. This is the smallest rating the 1020 frame carries; the step above is the 1020FDL1102 3-Phase at 2500 kW / 3125 kVA, 200 kW over it. Every step inside one frame is one more lamination stack length. The shaft, the bearings, the foot pattern, the terminal box and the AVR are the same part across the whole ladder, and only the core length and the winding change. That is why the price gap between two neighbouring steps is small while the gap between the last step of one frame and the first step of the next is large. It also sets the value-engineering rule: dropping one core size inside the frame saves money and axial length but eats the margin to the load, while stepping up one size costs far less than jumping to the next frame and buying a bigger skid, a bigger breaker and a bigger cable with it. Supply. Supplied as a genuine Marathon unit β Regal Rexnord, built in United States. Marathon alternators are built by Regal Rexnord in the United States. Each alternator ships with the routine test certificate, the winding connection diagram, and the AVR commissioning sheet. Export packing is seaworthy plywood on a pallet sized to the frame, and the machine is strapped and shrink-wrapped inside it. Tell us the engine make and model, the coupling arrangement (single or two bearing), the voltage and frequency, and whether you need a PMG, and we will confirm the build before it leaves the works.